More Kokomo footy

Well, I am doing office hours now and have a huge stack of essays to read. SO as I am reading/grading I decided to upload a few more vids from Kokomo last Friday. It was windy - you can hear.. Cappetto and LS

Logan Square Skatepark

The rest of the weekend it rained and never stopped. I skated the Possum with John on Saturday and Sunday. I tried to sneak a sesh in at Wilson on Sunday afternoon because the weather called for a break. But as soon as I arrived the clouds rolled in and rain came.

I called MC and we decided to check out the Logan Square Skatepark. I was highly against doing this but since I had just driven an hour to get rained out I decided that I might as well be open to more punishment.

I must say that I am surprised how bad it really is. Now don't get me wrong, this is a great park for inner city kids that like to skate street and don't know any better. They have never been to a "good" skatepark and to many, it is a success. But this thing is such a lump of shit people. The city paid $300,000 for modular ramps that are made of plastic and metal. The surface is the same as a Freshpark ramp if you have ever seen one of those folding ramps. And they are about as sturdy.

The coping does not match up, the area where the ramp meets the concrete is a super Chu-Chunk and the park is laid out in a way that will cause you to collide with others. There were a ton of kids there and bikers that were swerving in everybodys way, no park etiquite nothing like what it could have been. I was done before I even entered the place.

But it is a good place for the kids to go and kickflip and switch nollie krook on the rails and get all up in somebodies face... Grafitti is everywhere, the place is already a pit and I am glad I did not sit on the board of that park for 4 years... I'll build my own pool and be very happy thank you very much.

Kokomo 4/22 continued

After that debacle we took it slow down south, just as a precaution. When you get held up sometimes it is good to ease yourself back into the trip. You may have been held up for a reason!


We got there around 11am our time so that was not too bad. Not good for as early as I got up but what can you do. We both had to be back early so it would be a quick sesh for the long drive. I really need to stay over night next time.





It was just us most of the day, I don't remember anyone even lurking around this time. It was good because I immediately began finding new lines. Cappetto too! We were skating pretty hard, I was trying to go faster in the deep but my knees started to ache so I knew it was time to pull out the new bearings and wheels.



I had seshed Wilson the day before for like 7 hours or something again. I found a few new lines and was stoked but kinda did my legs in.

I must have got the last set of Missles as there is a 4 week wait right now. Top that off with some new Rainskates and the speed gets faster! I was immediately hitting the coping where before I would just miss it. You can actually feel the board accelerate as you drop in and pump the next wall. It is utterly amazing. The combination is just perfect. I was also impressed with how easily the Rainskates slid, I started getting my slide tricks in on the big wall.






My OJIIIs seem to be smooth but not fast and they grip the wall really hard. This is good for Wilson because of all the stupid paint but kinda sucks at Whiting and Kokomo. So I decided to keep that wheel set up in a zip lock bag specifically for Whiting and Kokomo. I can deal with less at Wilson. You don't have to work as hard to get up to the lip there.







I got a few pics of Cappetto and some footy, and John took a few of me too! Rare foot of LS.

Kokomo 4/22

Cappetto and I headed out Friday morning early to hit up Kokomo again. MC decided not to go skate and have fun with his close friends and would rather skate alone or with strangers.



I picked Cappetto up by 7am and was all ready to go. I got my coffee and he got his Rockstar and we were on the road. Not a mile into it we were stopped for an hour! Some hillbilly truck caught on fire in front of us and we were blocked by tankers!! Oh did it suck and the fire department did not arrive for a half hour. Wow, I am glad I didn't catch on fire, they just stood around and let it burn for a while.

High Roller

I keep seeing these old cars that kids drove in high school getting new attention. It is cool and affordable. But they go up now instead of low. This one had a "heavy Chevy" sticker on it.

cute

Lil' Ethan is standing up on his own now and has teeth! Top and bottom. I can't wait until school lets out so I can go see him!!

"Collective Resonance" exhibit

I went to the closing for "Collective Resonance" on Friday which was the big show for the 33 Collective gallery I am involved with. The space is on 35th and Morgan and in the Zhou B. Center. We have been around for a while and have a regular gallery space. This month we were able to use the big space in the center of the building.



I thought the show turned out good but the lighting sucked. I guess they had to keep it dark for an artist that had 3-D images or something, but hey, put it in a separate area already... Lets not make the show look like crap just because of one artist. I want my space back so I can do shows again. This whole collective thing is for the birds!

The coolest thing I saw was on the 4th floor (not in the show). It was hanging outside of this dude's studio. It turns out that I had met him years ago and we talked about doing a show in my old gallery. He used to stop by a lot. Well I went to say hello but there were all of these beautiful people hanging out in the studio. A few skaters that I recognized and should have recognized me but you know how it is when "low brow" becomes "high brow"... People get to be too cool for school. oh well, his art is great.

Random

I got some random iphone pics again this week. This is in addition to Horror pic of the week. It seems to be an ongoing series.





I had been hearing about "Shoe Corner" in NW Indiana for some time. I guess we went past it the other day. People just throw shoes out the window!! Next time I go to Cappetto's I am gonna take more pics. It is like a living interactive installation where the contributors do not know each other and are not event trying to make art!! it is illegal and the cops will bust you if you try! But it is fun!




Also, may be pollution or recycling or art or a nuisance or a prank or?

Wilson Barney Sesh!!

Saturday I got in just at the second wave of the Barney Sesh. Dudes get up at like 6am to skate sometimes. I could never skate that early - I might leave that early if the park is worth it but getting up early to skate is not fun!! Getting up early is not fun period!! I take after my mom I guess, 8:00am is comfortable. 6:00am is insane - no wonder the country is so nuts! People need more sleep!



I was planning on getting some breakfast with MC but he messed around so long that by the time he was ready it was time to skate!! We got to the park around 11am and the old dudes were in gossip mode. Standing around, airing out the knee pads, eating donuts and chillin'. It took 'em a while to get to skatin' again but the session was going off for hours after that.




It was soooooo good to see everyone again, all were out from hybrination. Chicago weather is horrible but summer in Chicago is amazing!! So, I look forward to it.



I just took a bunch of crowd shots, I was too busy skating the rest of the day so not action pics accept for Character Al.



I got lunch with "topless Mark", "Such Luck", Alex, and MC. We had wings but the wings sucked, all agreed. I think I need to start eating healthy again. I went back to the park and was all sodium overload... Ugggggg



I stayed until 8pm. I really need to get a life but skating is soooooo fun!! I had a dream that I had a son the other night. And just the other day a thought came up in my head "I think I should take on more responsibility, I seem to be running from it in all directions" well, at least I can push those insane thoughts away especially when it is 70degrees and Wilson is poppin' off!!!



I also wore my "ALEX SHIRT" you must buy one when you can. Look up busterbear on facebook - and get a shirt!!

Kokomo!!

I stayed at Wilson until like 7pm and then remembered that I was going to Kokomo in the morning!! MC crashed on my couch and after consuming mass quantities of Ricobenies Pizza and a 2hr round of "Left 4 Dead" it was time to crash. I must have had way too much caffine because I couldn't sleep. I just kept hearing Otis Redding songs (I have been on a soul kick lately) and seeing the 90degree angled pipe at kokomo!! RAD!



Calabro kept saying his jaw was hurting and he had a head ache - I didn't know killing zombies and eating pizza could do that to someone. But the next day he had it worse?? Not sure. go to the doctor!! or kill more zombies! I should say that if the world did get infested with brain eaters - give MC a shotgun, some orange juice, his laptop and lock him in a fire proof room until it is safe. Don't take him with you or he will pull a Dick Chaney on you every five minutes!! boom - oh I thought you were a zombie... I would be getting surrounded and hacked to death and he would be in the next room trying to find ammo... nice






We left the house at 5:45am and got to Cappetto's house at 7am, picked him up and Moll. On to I-65 for the trek to the best park in the midwest - STILL!



We arrived around 10am after an hour breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Man I love that place but I just keep getting fatter!! Uncle Herschels breakfast rules!! Moll and MC talked about SF the entire way down there and I was in space. Not enough sleep and never enough coffee.






After a long warm up things got rollin' and everyone learned something new that day! New lines, tricks or just a push higher in the pipe. That is what is great about challenging parks like Kokomo. Owen likes to joke and say us old fux will never reach the top of that vert wall, well we keep reaching...

easter and beyond

Calabro and I celebrated the not easter sunday with a sesh at 4 seas. He got a little carried away with the non-season and well, the pic explains it. The "bunny ears" are now a permanent part of his skate anatomy.




Thursday was great!! Cappetto and I warmed up the day with a little sesh at my ramp and then met Owen, Cheryl, MC and many more at WIlson for the "first nice day of the year sesh". It was a little chilly there still, the east wind made things very cool. But I was glad to ride that amoeba as always. I stayed too long of course but got some new lines!!

the week

Horror pic of the week - Ju-On

So the HS show ended on Wednesday evening around 8pm. I had hoped that all of my stress would go away finally. I woke up the next day with vertigo again. I guess the nutty day brought it back. I watched Shackle Me Not that morning, got pumped and decided to hit up the Possum ramp regardless. I figured I had vertigo while building it so why not ride it with vertigo!! I got my bearings and managed to stop spinning enough to drive. But as soon as I dropped in and hit the other side with a nice frontside slasher the spinning was gone!! I actually felt comfy up at the lip. So maybe this counteracted the feeling. It has not returned since and I hope it does not!!

Then later that day I had another back spasm, worse than the one I had the previous Sunday. So I was out of it. I went back on Friday but no luck, I just rolled around and tried to get loose. We had a great sesh on Saturday. Sadly with no pics. Owen, Callahan and Calabro. My back was loose enough to do a little bit of schralp that day. Then I planned to shred Wilson all day Sunday. The forecast called for 50 and sunny. But when I actually got to the park the wind was 12mph from the east right off the lake and it felt like 35 there... I got loose, carefully with my back and warmed up, dropped in to the amoeba and said screw this. I just wasn't feeling it, everything was feeling brittle and stiff... I was like, I am done with cold weather and my body is tired.




So I met up with Calabro and Dacia for a big easter breakfast, even though we do not celebrate - it was an anti-easter breakfast. And after vegging for 2 hours (lots of food) we headed up to 4seas. Everyone was with their families or mocked me for going up there... When we got there, nobody was around I was kinda stiff still and just cruised for a while. Calabro put on his missles and was doing big air all day. Run after run. I was happy for him.




It was a busy week and a pain in the but week. Not so good for skating but for getting things done I guess. Cheryl had a B-day dinner at Joy Yee on Thursday night, that was fun.


I saw this weird orange machine on the way to pick up Callahan. It seemed like some top secret evil brain mechanism for a transformer or something. The trailer had like 60 wheels or something, it was like 4 trailers put together.




So I finally went to the BBQ place in my hood. I was at first like, what the hell, but I finally went and it was good. 18th street, flame murals on the outside that says "BBQ". It was pretty good with a band. Not that I am doing a food blog here but the jugband was cool!! Marcos Raya paintings on the wall. I'll be back. Maybe Such Luck will go with me and do a food review!!!!

My New Ride

I have been surfing the lake for two seasons now. Oh, um, yes we surf Lake Michigan out here!! (for those from the West or East Coast) But I never had my own board so I never really get to go as often as I would have liked. So last year I decided that I was going to set some cash aside and just wait for the opportunity.

I had considered buying a new one but you would have to pay for shipping plus the "new" board price which is really not worth it (for a beginner) considering how much you actually end up using the thing. But at this point I was ready to just bite the bullet and order one up. MC got his last fall and it was nice. Something like an 8' 2" fish shape with cool color ways and all of that. But UPS dinged up the surface of the board before he even got out to ride it. So shipping a surfboard kinda sucks.



So after looking around for a few months and precipitating the arrival of this board I finally found one on Craigslist. The odds of finding a used surfboard in Chicago are pretty slim. But I got a good deal none the less. It is a South Coast CR3 9' longboard. It has a three fin set up with good fins and I even got a wet suit and gloves with the deal!! The leash came with it too, every little bit helps.

It feels good to be ready to go when ever that North East wind blows up. I ordered a soft roof rack and will probably get some booties and a hood for the cold days. But now I can just go whenever. It is great because even if the waves are not building, I can always skimboard or hit the Whiting skatepark. Which I will be riding a whole lot this season.