Skatepunk

Nobody ever got the Clash trivia question (below) right, so here's the answer. It was obscure, I know. The Clash, on their first record, pay tribute to the Ramones by singing/speaking "Going through a tight wind" in the introduction to "Police and Thieves." This line, of course, is from the first Ramones song "Blitzkrieg Bop." The Ramones record came out about a year before the first Clash record.

Got an iPod today.

July 30: Feeling much better now, although I got two doses of reality once again this morning in the form of bad things happening to my friends...

Erich Browne is a Pennsylvania/North Carolina skateboarder and a friend who has recently developed bad kidney problems, and now I know why I haven't been able to get a hold of him. Friends are holding a fundraiser in Mid-August. Hang in there Erich! We're all thinking good thoughts.

Feeling a little better today, maybe I'm getting over this post-traveling depression. Every time I come home from an amazing trip I get into this depressed state, get all screwed up, can't sleep, can't face reality, don't want to go to work, don't want to do anything really. It comes from being out there, traveling, having the time of my life, every time, and not having to face any of the pressures of everyday, so-called normal, responsible life. It's hard to take that plunge, though, and just live that life, traveling all the time.

Where to begin? First, thanks for the kind emails from those of you who asked when the next updates to this silly little journal will be posted. I knew a few people read it but had no idea I'd get that much response after being gone. Makes me wonder if I should keep the personal stuff out of here, but when poeple write that that's the stuff they like, it makes it a little easier.

July 7: I have a flight today at 3pm. LAX to Paris, then onto Lausanne, via Geneva. Hopefully no bombs, or mysterious packages at the airport.

July 6: Went to the airport today to try to fly to Europe, and basically got sent home (OK, it was my decision, but man, was it sketchy there!) because there was a bomb scare in the international terminal at LAX. My flight was at 840pm, and at 6 o'clock they weren't allowing anyone in the terminal. I'll try again tomorrow.

July 3: I've spent the last few days in the company of three new freinds who've been really amazing. It can be really hard to invite people full-on into your life and have things click, just like it can be tough to take that plunge into someone's life, but it's been great. And I can always tell the character of someone when my sister Laura likes them, and she loves Rob, Beth and Carolyn, so I know they're good people. There's something about having warm people in the house that makes me feel really good. Anyway... today is Magic Mountain... tomorrow fireworks.... fun!

My new friends Beth, Carolyn, and Rob arrived tonight. It's going to be a good week full of photos, phun, and phlexible hours. Tijuana, Magic Mountain, Hollyweird, backyard barbeques, a little skateboarding, and lots of beach time, too... good times!

This band I'm in is recording next Tuesday so I'm sure I'll be a little stressed about that. But it's far better to have too much to do than not enough. If I'm nervous now I wonder what I'll be like next week.

A great, amazing book that I've had for a while but that never ceases to grab my attention is called "The Journey Is The Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon." This is a collection of journals from a young photo journalist who was raised in Kenya but also spent some time in Southern California. He has a sense of humor and design that looks like it could be right out of a early 80's skateboard 'zine.

I've been trying to get Todd Congelliere to come skate for a while, but he's always too busy. So the other night I finally went and saw his new(er) band Toys That Kill, and they're so good. Live, they come across like an energetic Rocket From The Crypt mixed with Green Day before they hit the big time. And there's still some of that raw punk rock thrown in, too. Anyway, I got their CD, and although they sound a little more bubble-gummy on some of the songs, it's really, really good.

Went to a couple of new parks yesterday. La Habra has been open about a month, and although I fear that it's doomed for helmet and full pads sessions in the future, they currently use discretion about who to let in without a helmet. All kids who are sketchy don't get let in without a helmet, but he'll let the older guys skate if they show up without one. Anyway, the park is a good sign that maybe they'll all start getting better soon. It's got a 4 foot deep square pool with four round corners, pretty evenly spaced, and a fun street/flow area.

Garry Davis here. My nephew Jon is visiting from Cincinnati for a while, so I picked him up at the Santa Ana train station today and brought him back to Marks' house in Orange to session at the backyard ramp for a spell. I was sitting on the patio watching Jon warm-up for a while when a few old-timers started showing-up, most of whom I wasn't really familiar with. There was former Hell-bow owner Jimmy Arrighi, a couple of his friends, and then (you won't believe this) Neil Blender walked into the backyard. A half-hour later, Lance Mountain and Lance Jr.

Trivia: on which Clash song from the first record do the Clash pay direct homage to the Ramones?

Wow, imagine this: some actual skateboard news. J. Strickland and Andrew Reynolds have parted ways. J. is best known as the former Birdhouse Team Manager who masterminded the Baker Bootleg videos and has been running Baker since the beginning. However, recently J. has been working hard on getting Bootleg off the ground and so Andrew decided he wanted more of a hand in Baker and J. should be free to concentrate on Bootleg. Let's hope that the good stuff continues for both guys.

In the CD changer: Ramones s/t, Sex Pistols Never Mind..., Clash s/t, Stiff Little Fingers Inflammable Material, Wire On Returning. After spending three days in London doing really dorky things like taking pictures of the high-rise tower blocks where Mick Jones lived, and pictures of myself under the Westway on Portobello Road (site of the riots in 1977 that spawned the back cover photo of the first Clash record), and driving through King's Road (it's now 100% yuppie-fied and full of lame shops), I came home with renewed vigor to learn these records in entirety on the guitar.