Handplants we thought we'd never see
I drew Leeder in 1985 busting this handplant. Aaron Fotheringham busts them today. That hand should hit coping any day now.
R.I.P. Wilderness
A moment of silence for a great scene gone by... The wrecking ball has landed on the historic Santa Barbara landmark. The property and pool was host to countless ragers and truck barking for a good 6 year run, all after being the resident shaping hut to legendary wolves such as George Greenough, and others.
Caltrans is widening the freeway, so the property fell victim.
Ouch.
Zoob Noob
Zoob just emailed me this mildly hostile dribble without supplying a valid email address.
"WHY is it so DIFFICULT for you to have links in the blogs OPEN INTO A NEW TAB OR WINDOW? I Love the mag/site but, it is a damn pain in the ass to have to navigate back to the site every time I click a link. A good place to start would be (target= "_blank"). I'm sure that there is some great lengthy explanation as to why this can't be done but, uh...We do it flash/blogger/php/html/text/joomla/wordpress blogs and feeds all the time here in florida. Best of luck working that out..."
—zoob noob
Zoob,
No amount of clever (or stupid) tricks will change the fact that forcing new windows to open is disrespectful and hostile to web site visitors. A number of usability studies have shown that experienced web users will find this behavior annoying and that beginners will get confused by it. Best of luck working that out.
San Francisco
I was finally able to take some time to visit my old hunting grounds last weekend and it was well worth the wait. Gadget, my old room-mate from 966 Market, who now runs a label called Function 8, has been kindly letting me know that it has been too long since I've visited. When he told me that Tommy Guerrero was having back-to-back gigs Friday and Saturday night, I figured that was my cue. A long drive up the coastline started things off, with plenty of sites, and an early evening sesh at Santa Cruz skatepark.
Tommy and I go back quite a ways as well, skate-wise, music-wise when we lived together on 9th Ave. That night was a record release party for his new cd at 12 Galaxies in the Mission. Lots of support showed for TG, and old friends from my days at Thrasher, which all made for a memorable evening!
The next day, running on 1 hour of sleep, I drove around the city recalling my old trails on the BSA, and getting a good dose of fresh air.
Bring on Saturday night! Some interesting older guy in SF rented the Hearst Hall and dropped a huge party in the Presidio for he and his wifes' 50th birthdays and invited TG and his band to play. The hall was also host to the couples' entire art collection, as well as major catoring, open bar and live art production. The painting behind the band was done entirely while they played. Orb and the Gadge were the evening dj's for the event. Orb, OMG. It was gratifying to see that some of the old guard in SF have recognized who is down, and made it a point to stick that fact in the nose of his constituents.
One more hour of sleep and a long drive back to Santa Barbara, I stumbled on a Peet's coffee shop ... thank God, and I found a couple more broken homes to add to my photo collection. It was a kick ass weekend. Thanks guys!
Drive on the far right
If possible. Why? So you don't get hit head on. I'm talking _ignorant_ cell phone abuse. The day it becomes illegal, there won't be enough officers to meet the demand. The State, will no doubt, balance the budget. I will feel better when my significant other gets in her car and drives off with my two children in tow, knowing that there are laws in place to protect them, you and yours, the rest of God's creatures, and me from what I think is actually more dangerous than drunk driving. At least most of the drunks on the road are trying to be careful.
I'm not an aggro driver, but in the last few days, I've done reached the boiling point on this ... the large majority of make-up, mud slinging, self-absorbed California female drivers is statistically sound. June won't come fast enough.
My car has a hands-free phone system. So does Grant. Are you prepared to pull over to have your conversations in a few months? If not, empty your voicemail and prepare to ignore that ring-tone. The law is ready to start cracking. If the shoulder was legal, I would drive there.
Ahh. I feel a little better.
Hardcore Sitting Update
“People call it wheelchair skateboarding,” he says with a shake of the head, “and it’s like, oh man, it’s its own sport. It’s hard-core sitting.”
Check out this recent ESPN article on Aaron and the inspirating life he leads for himself, his family and friends and more and more other challenged, young children, who are down to make it good.
Clearwater
For my pal Jimmy the Greek... the only other skater I know that skated Clearwater. This was my first experience at a skatepark.
Neil Blender : Mountain Manor
I snapped this shot of Neil during a 2 person session he and I had there. He was wearing an electric tape moustache.
Gonzo Built
Ralph Steadman is probably the greatest illustrator of our time. He has moved a lots of books I would imagine. I know I own at least 5 of them. He did a cool portrait of Kurt Vonnegut recently... A new book followed the death of Hunter S. Thompson.
When you encounter someone as prolific as Ralph, you scratch your head, pondering that he:
- Is an insomniac
- Got his half of his art from his dad and grandfather
- Is a raging torrent of creative alternatives who can produce at mach 10
He may even be a better writer than he is an illustrator, which seems impossible. As an artist, he has seen his own scrawling style pillaged by scores of others. I have had to look hard sometimes to finally realize it was not Ralph that drew something I was looking at.
One day he thought he would entertain the idea of putting his art on a skateboard. I wonder if he was drinking wine that day. Fancy Goods? I need some of those cufflinks at the park Ralph.
The Mutt
Rather than bust his sack on a handrail for the mere thrill, the Mutt could arguably be not only the biggest egghead for his vision, but the most skilled practitioner among the truly gifted sktbrd elite.
Skimming the radar for the simple reason that no one can touch that. Not only is his bag different, it came from years of creative juice brewed solo in some garage in Nowheresville, Florida long, long ago.
Then he took it to a larger board... good move.
Millions of YouTube views can't deny. My hat's off to the Mutt.
