small school news

When will I skate again? Alot of cool stuff going on with the school though… Stay tuned and maybe I will have time to blog it.

 J.

It is rainy and cold in Dallas. Bob is sad…

Not exactly news as such, and not really intresting to anyone but me, but its a trick i never thought i would be able to do or enjoy. But, theyre actually not that hard, or uncomfortable, so here it is:

Went to the Allen, TX skatepark tonight. Rode my newschool (Tommy) setup. I’m sooo close to getting 540 bigspins. I really think that if I can get my knee healed up and feeling good I will get them. I figured out the secret to imparting that extra 180 to them without making the board flip over from the force. I’ve done them before, but that was 19 years ago. But the trick is right there, ready for me to pluck it from the tree. Right right right?

I have also dedicated myself to learning ollie kickflips. That might seem very pathetic to you younger guys out there, but I’ve never bothered to get them down. I’ve made a few here and there. Well, I’ve started trying one at the end of every-single-line I do while practicing. And I started making them tonight. Not great ones, but solid both feet on the board landings.

A few nice things about ollie kickflips:

1)Being 43 and a little fat doesn’t seem to hurt, since you don’t have to bend over like in a fingerflip to do them.

2)Did I mention that you don’t have to bend over to do them? That is nice.

3)You actually feel kind of cool when you make one.

4)As the miserable weather moves into Texas (the cold and rainy miserable, not the 105 degrees F miserable), I can practice the ollie kickflip in my garage.

What actually got me going on them tonight was this: I was taking a water break, and I was watching two groms play SKATE. First trick — the ollie kickflip. Both of ‘em nailed it. I just decided if both of these little crumb-snatchers can do the trick, when they probably can’t even drop into a bowl, then I should be able to master it.

For the record — they were both cool little kids. Gave ‘em both some Small School stickers. Told ‘em to go play in the traffic.

Weather is supposed to turn to crap here in a couple of days. Gonna try to skate tomorrow night too.

Buy Small School. That is all.

Here’s some video that Sean Burke shot at the jam last weekend. Some stuff other than freestyle too, but that’s OK. Nowadays, really, its all freestyle anyway. Some good shots of Connor, Taylor, and even me…as well as the guys who skate for Delicious Skate Shop.

When I go skate with a bunch of really good skaters, I always come away energized to skate more, and often have the desire to “skate like such-n-such did”. I think about how that other guy’s setup was, what kind of tricks he  did, etc. Sometimes I dwell on it. Then when I go out and skate, even if I learn something new, or change my setup, I always still “skate like me”.

I guess I’ll just have to get used to that. Maybe I can learn to “skate like me” a little better.

Click the image for a little video of the school’s master. Make sure your speakers are on, but not too loud if you’re at work…

Here I was post-skate on Saturday evening. Reflecting on the sheer pleasure of having the privilege to devote an entire day to skating and hanging with folks of the same strange breed. The spot was nice, tucked away on the upper level at Tommy Harward’s park; good surface, and at times not crowded at all. When there is enough good freestyle going on folks stand back and appreciate what’s going down. There was definitely some premium freestyle going down. It was great to meet Bob, legendary Bob, famous even. J He is a great person, and his contribution to modern freestyle has been considerable. Again I am grateful to have him as part of the cooperation. He has done a really good job documenting the event of this past weekend. Wish we had gotten more pics and video. What we brought back only begins to scratch the surface of what went down. There should be more of these informal events, no contest, no demo, no wasted time.  

Monica, post-pastry Sunday Morning

As I drove home on Sunday, Monica napping in the passenger seat I was a little down thinking that this doesn’t happen more often. With work, the small school and all of the other obligations sometimes I forget about these simple pleasures. I have been reminded. Thanks to Bob for flying all the way from Texas to hang with us and skate with me. Thanks to Monica for coming along and being there for the support she always gives despite being a bit under the weather. Thanks to Connor for representing the school and going all-out the entire time. Thanks to Sean, Tyler, Taylor Florey, and the occasional grom for throwing down with us Dirtbags. Thanks to Tommy for having a park where freestyle/flatland is welcome and appreciated, and for the nice little session early Sunday afternoon. I am going to have to make Wake Forest a regular thing.

 J.

I made a video today. Glass on the floor and lack of filmer slowed things a little, but i made my feet churn out something to show im still alive. Here it is:

Well, it’s Sunday morning. Got up, went down for more pastries, and the fancy eatin’ room is full of teenage girl soccer (football for you Euros) players taking up all the tables. So I grabbed some food and headed back up to my room. No sign yets of Master Jeremy Elder or the lovely Monica.

I’m less sore than I was expecting. I think the 6 ibuprofen caplets I took last night might have helped.

I think the plan is to skate today from about noon - 2:30, wash up in the skatepark bathroom, and head on back to the airport.

Time for a little Small School testimonial. The Mega Monkeybar worked like a charm as a skatepark board. 8 x 32, Indy 136s, Khiro “insert” bushings, 50mm Bones street tech James Craig wheels, and Mini Logo bearings. Thanks to Tommy Harward for the wheel recommendation.

Time to clean up my mess and pack my stuff. I’ll leave you with another rad “General Lee” shot, along with the two awesome dudes who were discussing the fine points of Gen. Lee reproduction.