Gumby Strikes Again

You remember, Saturday Night Live, a TV Series, those little bendable play toys. For some reason when I was a kid I thought Gumby on SNL was so funny. As I watch it today I am not sure how I thought it was that funny, maybe I just liked the costume.

So enough of Gumby.

A new Rufus Promo was released the other day. Check it out. You will have to click on the F'Ning link because somebody who uploaded it turned off the embedding feature. http://youtu.be/piBUlpXeZ48 Nice job, another lesson learned. See if you don't let people embed your video to their site then your video gets seen a lot less. HMMM, was that the first thing wrong with the video, NO!!

Now that I am pissed because I could not embed the thing here lets see.... Most of this is my fault since I shot most of the footage although Skybaby did the editing.First the Camera Picture quality is only 720p which looks ok on your phone but not so much on my computer screen. I can't imagine what it would look like on my TV at home. Light is a big issue with this camera, huge amounts of light noise when it comes to dimmer lighting. Even during the day during cloud coverage it was noisy. At night, no way, those shots were not great due to ineffective light sensors on the camera.

The other thing wrong was a bit of unease in a lot of the shots, that is, there was shakiness coming from holding the camera. Part of it is the operator and part of it is the camera/ Lenses/angle. There are shots when Skyler is moving with the subject and a bit of shakey seems normal because it is like you are following the skaters movements which works fine. Then on the other hand there are times when i am stationary and its just shaky shaky shaky. Maybe a bipod or tripod for some shots.

Next I was not always impressed with the composition of shots, an editing and camera operator issue. Needs Vantage points that are more interesting. More attention needs to be paid to panning out of a camera shot. What was with the black screen pans/transitions between clips. Pan the camera down into the ground or up or out then just cut straight to the next clip next time. Having the fish-eye frame is good for some shots but not all, especially not good when filming a run in the bowl. There is a lot to learn about making good videos. Look here is another Kevin Kolwaski part that is indicative of a pretty good film. These guys have their shit together.




This is not a rant, I helped produce the video, my name is on it. I have just been studying a bit and its what I am learning. Its part equipment and part technique that will make future videos better. We need to look at the limitations of our equipment and get the best out what we got. It takes planning and patience at this point.

Pick Your Lines Then Your Noses

Ok, I was not looking to post anything today and then this video magically appeared of these guys having a camping mission up in Oregon. Then I thought I would stop with that, I mean really, what a classy piece that was. That guy with the glasses had some crazy hats. So I started to google Ben Rayburn and I found this interesting tiddly bits. Next I start looking for video of Kevin Kolwaski and found this. I thought I had seen this before but I have not. These guys Rip like no bodies business, holy crap.

Unheard: Kevin Kowalski from Bacon Skateboards on Vimeo.

In the end I think that I see a lot of skating of this type. To me I enjoy watching this kind of stuff more so than not. Maybe I will trash some stuff I don't like in the future. O yeah, almost forgot to add one last vid of you know who.

I Croak Monday

Speaking of old times. Do you ever remember the Del Mar Skate Ranch?? We would see pictures in Thrasher or Transworld, that was it. The place was legendary though, I can't imagine what it was like to be there. The only thing I could compare it to was Paige's Pink vert ramp in Levy, AR. I could not go every day but it was my skateboard haven that I loved. Then there is Del Mar, the place was a story with in it self. I wish some person would make a Del Mar movie like they did with the Dogtown and Zboys Story.



The Big Pink Paige ramp was such a nice ramp though, Pros would come to skate it, odd crews from out of town would show up, it was a blast. Then again, I watch and read stuff about Del Mar and it is like a Fast Times at Ridgemont High story, full of all kinds of wacky. Nothing to out of hand ever happen in Levy, we just skated.




 There you go, your education for the day is almost complete but not with out a little fun video of Mark Gonzales of course. Videos for days of this guy.

 

Videos while Talking of Legends: Vallely, Gonzales, Cardiel and Barbee

Ok, I just thought Since I have  a slight agitation of boredom that I would cheer myself up with some good home down entertainment, internet videos. The first one I will start with, someone I was discussing yesterday, came up on my Thrasher radar today. I went from skating a Natas 2 to skating a Vallaley in 88. I did not like the nose and it had no pop, but that is skateboards. Mike freaking rips, just watch:

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Ok, but no way Mike is my all time favorite, he is in my top ten. I just put him first because you always know the best comes last. Now, Ray Barbee is in my top three, maybe he is 2, not sure how I feel today. I think I need some fluids. But here you go, Ray Barbee invented a style: Then there is the last guy, you got to know who it is by now, don't you know. I know... It must be coursing through my veins this week, I have been riding my bicycle a lot lately and not skating due to injury and being a chicken shit. So I reminisce and find excitement and something else, maybe motivation, maybe a pipe dream I will keep to myself because I know how I am. Of Course it is Mark Gonzales, of course of course of course. How can he not be your favorite skater of all time, he invented another style that is mimicked and mimicked. He pulls off what you never thought could be pulled off. He does things with his feet that make you think after you have watched that clip five times in row that you are watching a magic show. Then there is John Cardiel, sorry John, I got all carried away and I forgot about you. Sorry dude, we will watch you first then: Ok OK. So I leave you with your lesson of today. Watch and Watch and Watch and Watch this shit over and over and over. Epic I know. More to come. Later.

Stoked on Cold Weather!!!

Well, not really, I think the cold weather sucks. That is why every year I either bold the cold and spend time out in it or I crawl up into my man cave and come out sometime in march. At the moment, every morning around 6am I have coffee outside on the back porch in nothing but my boxer briefs while I visualize riding my bike to work. It was only a mere 32 degrees Fahrenheit, nothing to extreme just yet, just wait. This whole process helps put in to perspective what riding a bike with clothes on can do for you.

 My favorite thing I did today was fit a $2 dollar light to my helmet so I can be seen.

In Skateboard News I lost one of my skateboards and did something new with the surface of my Ramp. Maybe someone will give that thing back. Look its Pink.

Oyeah, what I really wanted to say was check my site out a little more, look at the videos and check out the music section, been working on it. 

Later.

Steaming Piles, Mumford and Omar

Cole and Skyler ended up at my abode Friday night, they plopped on the couch and yelped "What's for Dinner Poppa Chris?" So we  headed to Kroger where I picked out some veggies and choice meat, since they declined the regular pizza, while Cole stomped around the store exclaiming "I hate Kroger(He works there), they can suck it!"  When the kids say it does not matter what they eat as long as you cook it, don't believe them. Some one hour and 30 minutes after we sojourned Kroger, I served up steaming hot plates of veggies and chicken bratwurst. They were so very pleased to eat but the looks of "WTF" on their face as they picked around the veggies told another story. They brought their plates back and told me they were just not as hungry as they had thought. Next time we'll eat bean burritos and have farting contests.

Saturday morning I woke up and made three new 8.0 popsicles, fixed up eggs for the Buttercups and made passage to the great skatepark of Munford, Tennessee. A contest we ventured out where prize money and other goodies  were suppose to be the end results. We made it to Munford after circling the park several times lost, only to find out that the contest was a game of SKATE. Its kind of like a game of HORSE on the B-Ball court but skate tricks. Not sure what happened after that because instead of competing for the accumulation of dollar bills all I saw Skyler do was blast Melons 10ft into the air off the mini ramp. After collecting some video and strange looks from the locals we piled back in the Civic and drove back to Memphis.

Once we got back to Memphis, Cole left me with the Anklebiter Skyler as he headed to work at the Southhaven Kroger. Anklebiter and I imported video and began editing footage while Pizza (this time) cooked in the oven. By 10:30 I was headed off to sleep while Skyler stayed up until 2am editing video. Just before I went to bed he showed me some clips using a fast forward effect which I liked, for that scene only. The next day we got the video up on YouTube. You will see the Melon I was talking about, after that step back from the screen at least two feet and then squint a little, trust me.

The first response from our contingent in North Carolina (aka Roadkill) was that it caused him to have vertigo,  he had to lay down for a short while after watching it then thought about stabbing himself with a  pencil.  But that is OK, we won't let that happen again for I have sent my friend in North Carolina enough meds to counteract his response. Another friend said that he thought the song was really gay. I guess not everybody likes Sonic Youth these days, more or less a Teenage Riot. The only solution is to have our supervising art director to step in and make Skyler behave. I guess the moral to the video is not to overuse certain effects since they can make people sick to their stomach and have to induce vomiting.

And Finally we gave birth to a new Omar this Sunday around 5pm.

October Cold Beer and Rebate Jam

Awe yes, the weather is turning to temperatures where you no longer need a device to make your Busch 18 pack ice cold. I am not fully bitching about the fact upon leaving at 7am on a my bicycle to make to work by 8 is not a bit nippier. Really, riding in these dropping temps is not my idea of fun riding conditions but what else are you going to do when your goal of getting your girlish figure back exceeds your level of comfort. This little kid is trouble:

What other randomness is out here..... The base player in one of out music projects called to tell us before band practice that he was at the hospital because he had cut one of his fingers off. I mean what the hell man?? Well, it turns out he only badly severed the digit. He said he will just have to use a pick for a while. As long as he does not show up completely shlitzed and drop base lines the wrong way. No really, that shit sucks to sever a finger on your right hand. Makes eating difficult, you can't pick your nose, pants pockets are off limits and then you almost have to wipe your butt with your left hand. I hope he is ok, poor guy.

 Then there is this talk of making skateboards.... So I went down to Little Rock the other day and picked up a whole bunch of uncut blanks from my buddy Paige. Maybe one day I will take you on a tour of Paige's shop, its interesting to some. This shipment of boards are mostly 10.5 blanks decks. So what does that mean?? It means I can make a slue of decks that are 8.5 thru 10 inches wide. Hell Yeah!! That means people are going to have to come out of the wood work. And the fatties are still gunna go for the $30. At some point this week I will have some aluminium silk screens come in. After which I will burn one of the screens for the purpose of making T-Shirts. The point of all this hopefully is ending up in Oxford Mississippi for the Rebate Jam Contest. The contest will be held the 27th of October starting at 12pm thru 5pm. I will be there with the Rufus Crew selling my items. That is the first part of the day at least. After the Rebate Jam, then there will be another back yard sesh back in Memphis. It would be no big deal but this is the Halloween Costume Sesh. You don't want to miss this sesh, people get punched out sometimes a this one, like in the face.

I had to repaint the first three in the picture above because someone kept picking them up and ogling over how cool they were while the paint had not dried fully. The next morning I was like what the hell?? No biggie, I will have improved on the look better anyway. Then there are popsicles:

 Yeap, these shapes differ slightly, but however they are popsicles. You will just have to see it to believe it. And the boys got to see first hand what they had got them selves into, put them to work.

This one worked so hard he missed the bed when it came time for sleep.

And you have to finish with one happy customer. Ask Travis (below) or Garner(above) how these decks skate, do it, I dare you.

If you are interested in a deck ask Cole or Garner for one. You can also email me at the email address listed in this blog profile.