music survey...

I was tagged by mari for this music survey, so here it goes. Sarita, a fellow knitting blogger in France tagged Mari and I, and said we were cool. Made our day. We think here site is tres cool aussi.

1. Total amount of music files on your computer?
17.4 gig at home on PC... 37 gigs at work, we have iTunes networked, small perk - good music sharing at the office.

2. The last CD you bought was:
Joe Jackson - Greatest Hits... after hearing him sing on Shatner's cover of "Common People", I had to get some more.

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?

the last song I heard was "Narc" by Interpol, but the last song I chose to listen to was "Daysleeper" by REM. I like to listen to that song when I get into work early, and I was there at 5:50am today, so I did.

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you:

I agree a hard question, so many songs mean something to me... I could think about this for hours, here is a quick five.

going to start with an easy one.
"Losing My Religion" by REM, I am a big fan, a big fan. I think this is a amazing song, I think it captures that feeling of loving someone from a far so much, and being so scared to let them know.

"I Grieve" Peter Gabriel. Mari got me into Peter. We bought the album and saw him three times for the UP tour. This song in particular meant a lot to me when my mom passed away two years ago.

Neil Finn, singing "Throw Your Arms Around Me"... makes me think about when Mari and I were first dating.

They Might be Giants - "Birdhouse in Your Soul". Geeks can be smart and cool too.

"Smoke" Ben Folds Five. I kept journals, this song summed it up.

Hope that wasn't to lame.

I have no idea who to tag next... to be continued.

more rain in la

no skating lately. too busy to find a place to skate as it has been raining for days again here in la. to compensate I am going snowboading with my friend matt this weekend up at mammoth. i am psyched.

lunch break

some tidbits from a lunch time session. I watched more then skated.

weldness

I arrived at work this morning to find that the skate elves had left a belated x-mas present for me on my desk. A kick as slide bar. Ed and James fabricated it last night in the office metal shop (after hours). Only 12" high, and small enough to throw in the back of the truck. Ed insures me that he is "going to make me into a steet skater". I think I had better stuff the ass back of my pants with Charmin to protect my assets!

Jim and Ollie to Curb

I finally got to skate with Jim for a while. Jim bought a board about a month ago, and I am guessing has not skated in 20+ years. We decided to skate at a school near Jim's house. Jim did a great job just getting use to being on a board again. Jim's next goal should be "the ollie". I was thinking that since I an trying to relearn what I use to know, as well as learn new tricks, I could have a trick tip section? We'll see. I a may just start with the ollie.

Trick status report: I was able to ollie on to sidewalk and ride off other side. I was stoked. It really is amazing how hard ollie tricks can be. I had my ollie down for a day, but you can really psych yourself out easy. I would say the curb was 6" high, but landing high was hard. Where I was able to ollie over 8" boards before, and seemed to clear them by +4" or more, landing on top of the sidewalk was difficult. I would tend to land with my weight to far back. Although I was able to land this a few times, once right after the first, I definitely need practice. I really want to build a platform to keep in the truck.

Small accomplishments

Last night after work, Ryan, Ed and I skated for an hour or so. We set up the launch ramp and just had fun. Ed tried to ollie, with the ramp, over two oil drums... a little to high. I had a good night as I finally rode off the ramp without holding the board.



I say ride off, becuase I really just rode up the ramp and fell off the other side. But it was a big deal for me.

After trying a number of really high, really crazy tricks, Ed decided he needed to work on the basics with me... I gave him some pointers and I really think his early grab is comming along.

nice helmet

1988-89 I think. Wearing an old hockey helmet and gloves as if I recall correctly, I usually wound up in the pine tree. My mom took this picture.

Ollie Report

On Sunday I was able to ollie, consistantly over about one board on it's side (8"). I am very proud. In the past I have been able to do this for a day, and then on the next I can't ollie again. This minor accomplishment has definitly given me some additional drive to keep skating.



some video too...

Maps to skater's homes, maps to skater's homes, Homes

So on Sunday Ryan and I set out to find some new skate spots. After driving around aimlessly for an hour and a half (an activity, we agreed, our wives would hate) we stumbled upon an empty public skate park. It was so small, maybe it should be called a skate area. All metal ramp construction and very slick, we skated without the required helmet and pads for about half an hour. That's until some 10 year olds showed up, and I decided I was equally intimidated and worried we were setting a bad example. I'm badass, I know.



It is located on Jefferson and Duguerse, I think.