Charlotte's Web Deck

I got a new skate board and gripped it up custom! Check it out.

Seth's School Band Concert

Seth and I went to Frank Faria's ranch in Escalon to skate and watch the new video by the Bacon Skateboard team, Unheard. Seth dropped in to the bowl with the pros! I was too intimidated. He even got some board slaps from Cody Lockwood for his frontside ollie. What a cool place to hang out!

New Addition to the Driveway Skatepark

I built a new little 2 foot tall quarter pipe to learn tricks on. It is more of an Old Man ramp, but fun nonetheless...

School Pictures!

Ray Manzarek

Kelly called me yesterday and asked me if I'd like to participate in a poetry and music workshop at University of the Pacific with Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist from The Doors, so I agreed that it sounded like something we both should do. We arrived at five after three, after having locked ourselves out of Kelly's car; his key doesn't work, so he leaves it unlocked all the time, which I didn't know when I locked it. He said, "Oh no, I can't go in now! This is going to take me three hours to get fixed, you go ahead." I said, "No, I have triple A, let's go." The irony of having almost been foiled by a car door when we were about to go hear one of The Doors lecture was not missed by us as we hurried to find the theater which we imagined would be full of people already listening to Ray's words of wisdom. We had to call Pete Hackett to ask where the theater was, and were surprised to be two of about six or seven other people in the room. We sat in the empty front row with Lisa and Pete. One of the people there was Rob North. He and his dad were sitting behind us, and they came up to join us. At about ten minutes after three, Ray and his wife Dorothy and the poet Michael Ford walk in and say, "Hey everybody, we're here." They took the stage and found that the sound system was "fucked." Kelly volunteered Pete's equipment, and Pete and Lisa drove to the Allan Short Center to fetch the PA and keyboard. I called Jim Ricks and told him to get his ass to the theater pronto, and he brought a keyboard amp. Meanwhile, one of the UOP students in the audience suggested going to a rehearsal hall where there was an acoustic piano Ray could play until the equipment showed up. The handful of us still there followed her there, and Ray played for about fifteen minutes. I recorded all of it on the Edirol, and it sounded really good. Finally, we went back to the theater and got the poetry and music workshop, complete with Q and A after. Kelly asked a few good questions and so did Pete, and the music student requested the piano solo from The Crystal Ship. There were several times when I felt overcome with emotion, but when he was playing that one I was almost in tears. Anyway, I ended up hanging out with Ray Manzarek of The Doors for a couple of hours today, got my LA Woman record autographed, and got a bootleg cd of the whole experience, which I think is pretty blog worthy. I'll post some pictures soon.

Keyboard Lessons Anyone?

OK here is the Cinema Show solo. Get it down!

Totally Tubular, Man!

Saul's Flippy Trick

Saul can flip his board and make it rotate under his feet in a single leap. It's called a varial, or variol, and it is super hard. Check it.

It is done!

I leveled the ground, kind of, screwed down all the top layer of plywood, and reset the coping on the ramp. It is smooth and fast. The boys are progressing with amazing speed! I am sore as heck from falling on my butt... but I am progressing too. Here are some vids:

Backyard Mini Ramp Progress

Well it is looking more like a ramp now. One layer of 3/8 plywood is down. I need to Thompson's water seal it, put down another layer of 3/8, then a top layer of Masonite. It better not rain again like it did yesterday! Unexpected thunder storm came through in the morning and almost soaked the untreated wood. I don't want that to happen again.

Backyard Mini

We began construction on the miniramp today. So far it looks like this. It has been really fun and easy to make! I can't wait to skate it!

School's in for Autumn

The boys and I began the new school year last Monday, August 17. Seth, clad in skinny jeans and plaid, is in fifth grade now, and Saul, with his cheesy "I'm barely awake" smile, is in third grade. I am all ready to teach fourth grade this year. Wish us luck.

Twist and Shout

The boys and their friends Eli, Sammy, Andrew, and TJ played Twist and Shout at their talent show. They sounded pretty tight!

Domo Arrigato, Mr. Amato!

I wrote the words to this song for Mr. Amato, my principal. So Enjoy!Enjoy!Enjoy!Enjoy!

Well I Squeezed the Tubes...

The Tubes played today at the Asparagus Festival. Seth, Sierra, Dad and I got to meet Fee Waybill, Roger Steen, Rick Anderson, and Prairie Prince after they played and got their autographs. Fee even posed with Seth and Sierra! They sounded and looked great, and were super cool dudes.

Derby Park Footage

Wave Park Footage

Fun!

We went to the premiere of the Powell video, Fun! last Wednesday night at Skate Works in Santa Cruz. The boys and I met skate board legend Steve Caballero and got his autograph on our boards. Fun was a great video with impossible tricks and good music. Got to buy it when it comes out. Here are the pics.

Stock Market Melodies