My Day Today

This is the Pier 26 bowl that they moved to 34th Street and 12th Ave just above the heliport in Manhattan, where I skated today. They disassembled this one and put it back together with a 7 foot bowl connected to a 12 foot deep end. A little bit different than the picture.

So, I skated my first swimming pool/bowl today. It was a huge occurrence for me because the reason I got so into this whole deal was to carve the walls of a dry swimming pool as per the Dogtown and Zboyz gang. You gotta go back to the roots and start where it all began, me thinks. I definitely suck, but that is a good thing, because then I can enjoy the growth even more than if I was Tony Alva right off the bat. At first it was just me figuring out the whole spiel, and then some dudes showed up and it got rocking. What I was so stoked about was the drop-in that I was able to do practically every time. It was about 3 feet bigger than what I was used to. Before I was doing 4 foot quarter pipe drop ins, and this thing was around 7! After I saw a dude do it, I just walked up to the ledge, visualized the nature of the drop and went for it. Cracks me up every time because the mind can get you so tied up into this state of suspension that keeps you from doing anything and when you let it all go and just act, it flows naturally. Anyways, Eastern Phil lesson aside, it was rad. And then, on my last run, I totally fell on the drop and added to my bloody knee collection. Oh, by the way, the leg is healed, so expect a collage of the daily healing process in the next few days.

लुक वहत I bought!

I finally did it! I bought an oldskool drum module. Now I get to sound like drummers from the best era on the face of the planet: the early 90s! FYI, once I hook this baby up to my live drum setup, I'm going straight for the 808 on the bass drum and hand claps on the snare. Watch out. I'll post some samples of nastiness within the next 2 weeks.

Also, FYI, if you're wondering about the title of this entry, my browser seems to be partial to devanagri script. For those of you, be it few, who don't read sanskrit, it reads: "Look what . . ."

:)

A Muse,

and,

A well of inspiration

You guessed it! Hill Bombin skills or hospital bills! I took an unfortunate yet thrilling fall while running into a pretty hefty gravel patch at high speeds the other day. Definitely a good learning experience as well as an ironic slap in the face that my injuries would have been reduced perhaps by 90% if I had adorned the proper safety gear that I had purchased not more than a day before. Funny, huh? Not haha funny, though.


Matt Walsh at Winston-Salem Christian Rally.

The tour went wonderfully well. This is probably the tightest the Andy Friedman roadshow has ever been. For the last 3 days, it has been four piece plus Paul Curreri, monster musician/finger-picking guitar extraordinaire. A highlight came while I was reclined on a street bench outside of the Hunter-Gatherer in Columbia, SC where I was mistaken by the cops for a 17 year-old runaway. I had the whole bar rooting for me, but it only went so far that 10 people hit the streets to help my cause before the fuzz realized that I was a mature 24 year old in town on business. Yes, very mature.

Now, Andy, Greg Donahue, Caleb Stine, and myself are held up in the Curreri-Sproule household to record a new record. As I type, I hold a 1950s toy guitar in my hand after having an enlightening lesson with Paul. It's been raining today. The house overlooks the Thomas Jefferson's Monticello residence, even though the mist engulfed it for most of the afternoon.