180 South and stuff
Hi there. You should watch this movie. It was there lurking on the Netflix splash page for, like, ever, and last night I finally clicked, “Play.” And was fairly transfixed.
It’s about Yvon Chouinard, and a little 10,000-mile road trip he took to from Ventura to the Southern tip of South America back in 1968. That was before he founded a little company called Patagonia. Maybe you’ve heard of it? I dunno. Anyway. It’s also about a younger dude, the one making the movie, and a similar journey he made recently to the lands of Patagonia—although his was by boat.
Yep certain rad people are still brave enough to split from their workaday lives and just, like, adventure. Lots of sweeping footage of Patagonia’s rugged coastline. And lots of talk about how easy it was to be a mountaineering/surf bum in 1968. "You could buy a car for 15 bucks and just live out of it ... " et cetera et cetera.
I think it's supposed to be an "environmentalist" movie, but what I took away from it is that whole idea about the journey being the thing, not the destination. And how adventures usually achieve their true awesome nature when things go wrong.
Like I said, worth watching and thinking about the world beyond yer computer. Ya know.
thrashin' the musical?
It's not every day that you get a text that says, "Want to come skate in Thrashin' The Musical?" But that's indeed the message that arrived via Sasha the other day. I don't much go in for doing things in front of crowds but this time figured whatever and headed down to Dante's with my board in tow.
It was an .... interesting experience. Sasha built the below ramp, so I'm not gonna hate. It had a cool rat painted on it, and some cool skulls. But other than that it was pretty deadly—small, but deadly. Add in the fact that we were skating it in the dark while it was lit on fire with 151 and you have the recipe for utter nerding-out embarrassment. Slipping and sliding everywhere. Boards shooting out into the crowd. All while some drunken actor types relived scenes from the movie on stage. My board, as luck would have it, actually shot right into the sound board near the stage. I'm sure the sound tech guy was hyped. Oh well. I'm a nerd, and suffice it to say—I'm not on my way to Broadway anytime soon. But thanks for the invite, Sash! Another story for the grandchildren, right?
So Long, Department of Skateboarding
So Department Of Skateboarding is officially shut. That's an indoor skatepark that's been putting a roof over the rainy-day skating of all the above dudes, plus many more, for a decade-ish. I can't claim to be part of the family—I sorta got grandfathered in at the last minute via Lance—but I did pass a hell of lot of time inside these walls and I guess kinda learned to skateboard in the process.
No matter who you are, no matter if you were too cool for this place or thought this place was too cool for school, ’tis a bit of a sad day—it's always sad when something ends, right? But maybe when the rain starts flying, a new spot will pop up like a phoenix out of the ashes....or something.
They had a BBQ blowout and friends and family session last night, to say good-bye. Water balloons everywhere. A hundred sweaty dudes skating for hours. Beers on the street. And the cops came. So long, Department!
Do It Yourself
So...back from big road trip, revisiting skateboarding. Why not? It's still summer.
Stopped in on a ladies' session going down in this backyard bowl—built last summer by some tradesman from around town. Looks fun, right? But get this: it's even funner than it looks. Plus, it's set in a lovely garden with rows of vegetables and a shady grove of birch trees. Thank you, Mark.
Jacki, makin it chirp.
Pretty Hudson with not-so-cute leg brace. Get well soon!
Hit this popular spot on a sunny Sunday and amazingly had it all to ourselves. It's nice when folks build something useful in a place where there was only shards of glass and empty spray paint cans before. We'll see how long it lasts.
"Please take care of the spot."
"Let's go get a beer at the Nightlight." That was my big plan. It worked.
Rock Show, and Visitor
Annie stopped in for a visit recently. She was on her way up to Mt. Hood for some hard-hitting editorial coverage—but stayed over in Portland so we could eat olives and grilled-squash pizza while catching up a lil bit. We met up with Rian, and I took ’em to the Doug Fir to watch Phosphorescent play.
There are certain things about live music that I love. Like seeing exactly where the genius comes from. It's different than just listening to the album really loud. And watching the instruments get played. The lap steel twanging and the maniac keyboard playing et cetera. And there are certain things I hate. Like standing up for three hours straight, knees locked, lower back hurting. And waiting. So much waiting to see what you want to see. And rude tall people who stand right in front of you.
It's one of those love/hate things, you know?
The keyboard player was one step away from being a muppet. See?
