…skate & destroy…
February 14th, 2008
UPDATE: my very good friend Joe was kind enough to post an old shot of me riding that very board on his blog “Everything Under the Sun”
I watched the “Dogtown and Z-Boys” documentary the other night on the Biography Channel. It has since inspired me to do the following:
1. Pull my long neglected board out of the trunk of my car and use it to run errands around Adams Morgan
2. Purchase a new sweet pair of es Jasper shoes (which kind of look like Timberlands but I like them anyway)
3. Dork out and take a series of photographs of my abused/loved board
Next thinks on the list are:
4. remember how to do some damn tricks
5. buy some softer wheels so I can get around with out sounding like a freight train
6. scan in my old skateboarding photos so I can archive them and relive my past glories
7. remember that I’m not 14 anymore and try not to break myself
The set-up hasn’t received much attention since I graduated high-school but here is what I’m riding:
Deck: Alien Workshop w/ sweet homemade OBEY GIANT stickers
Trucks: Venture
Wheels: 56mm Spitfire
Here is a link to a youtube video of my buddy from growing up Willy Akers . Willy stuck with it when everyone else fell off, rumor is he might have a pro board coming out soon from 5Boro (that’s him on the entry page). Sick.
State of the Onion
January 28th, 2008
…so, I turned the State of the Union address just in time to hear Bush do the “God Bless America” thing and have him be received by roaring ovations. Better luck next time I guess. Now for the pundits.
blurthedral
January 23rd, 2008
So, I made Lori climb over the fence on our roof deck to keep me company while I played around with long exposures, traffic lighting, and zoom in the cold. It was fun….until I couldn’t feel my hands any more.
Also, a big congrats to all of the photographers selected for the 2008 DCist Exposed photography show. Unfortunatly, I didn’t make the cut this year but seeing the quality of the photos that were selected I can’t be too disappointed. I am very much looking forward to seeing the exhibit and will try again next year!
I was fortunate enough to have one of my pictures from Bohemian Caverns featured on the “Go Home Already”portion of DCist today so that is always exciting to see.
Talkin’ All That Jazz…
January 22nd, 2008
TALKIN’ ALL THAT JAZZ
Well here’s how it started
Heard you on the radio
Talkin’ ’bout rap
Sayin’ all that crap about how we sample
Given examples
Think we’ll let you get away with that?
You criticize our method of how we make records
you said it wasn’t art, so now we’re gonna rip you apart
Stop, check it out my man
This is the music of a hip-hop band
Jazz, well you can call it that
But this jazz retains a new format
Point, where you misjudged us
Speculated, created a fuss
You’ve made the same mistake politicians have
Talkin’ all that jazz
Talk, well I heard talk is cheap
But like beauty, talk is just skin deep
And when you lie and you talk a lot
People tell you to step off a lot
You see, you misunderstood
A sample is a tactic
A portion of my method, a tool
In fact it’s only of importance when I make it a priority
And what we sample of, is the majority
But you are a minority, in terms of thought
Narrow minded and poorly taught
About hip-hop, playin’ all the silly games
You erase my music, so no one can use it
Step on us and we’ll step on you
Can’t have your cake and eat it too
Talkin’ all that jazz
Lies, that’s when you hide the truth
It’s when you talk more jazz than proof
And when you lie and address something you don’t know
It’s so whack that it’s bound to show
When you lie about me and the band we get angry
We’ll bite our pen, start writin’ again
And the things we write are always true
Suckers, get a grip, now we talkin’ ’bout you
Seems to me that you have a problem
So we can see what we can do to solve them
Think rap is a fad? you must be mad
‘Cause we’re so bad we get respect you never had
Tell the truth, James Brown was old
‘Til Eric and Rakim came out with “I Got Soul”
Rap brings back old R&B
And if we would not, people could’ve forgot
We wanna make this perfectly clear
We’re talented and strong and have no fear
Of those who choose to judge but lack pizazz
Talkin’ all that jazz
Now we’re not tryin’ to be a boss to you
We just wanna get across to you
That if you’re talkin’ jazz, the situation is a no-win
You might even get hurt, my friend
Stetsasonic, the hip-hop band
Like Sly and the Family Stone, we will stand
Up for the music we live and play
And for the song we sing today
For now, let us set the record straight
And later on we’ll have an informal and a formal debate
But it’s important you remember, though
What you reap is what you sew
Talkin’ all that jazz
Talkin’ all that jazz
Talkin’ all that jazz
- Stetasonic: In Full Gear c.1988
Photo: Miles Davis mural behind Bohemian Caverns jazz club. This photo was part of the series I took for use as artwork in the Union Row condo project.
Bark!
January 7th, 2008
….been walkin’ down the backstreets.
I did a nice little Adams Morgan alley walk-about as part of my hang-over prevention on Sunday morning. It helped, moderately.
I miss four day weekends.
I Heart Plywood
January 4th, 2008
I’d just like to say that I Heart Plywood. Not so much in an “I Love Lamp” sort of way, because that would just be weird. It’s more of an appreciation for the forms that modern plywood molding techniques allow. I’m thinking this probably goes back to my skateboarding days when you would spend time inspecting the uniques
curves and
contours of the board, only to then take it outside and beat it into oblivion.The photo above
(series here) is of a pretty sweet “overlap” table designed by
Eric Pfeiffer that I got for Christmas (and am actually using as I write this). Bent plywood furniture has been around for some time though, the
Eames were some of the first designers to fully utilize the plywood molding techniques that were available to them in the 1940’s-60’s and began to push the envelope creating
iconic designs that are still popular today. They even managed to create a very nice
plywood elephant. Furniture designers all around the world continue to push this medium creating
striking forms with more and more innovative uses.I tell you what though, the folks at
SKURNITURE (Skateboard+Furniture=Skurniture) really got it right.
All Star Wall
December 31st, 2007
I spent the better part of the day wandering around the west Dupont/Kalorama area trying to explore all of the back alleys that I came across. This is from a town house block around N St and 22nd. These structural tie-rod stars are keeping the homes wall from bowing/bulging out into the alley. Great little details. View the rest of the photos
here…
