In 1985 I got really into skateboarding. I am not sure what it is that got me so into the sport but I really got into it. I also had gotten some of my friends into it with me so that we could all have something to do together. It didn’t take long for all of us to become enormous skateboarding obsessed fanbois.
I also became a huge fan of the Bones Brigade. So much so that my little clique of friends actually emulated the them down to my friend Jason Theil taking on freestyle skating a la Per Welinder and Adam Green skating in a lanky, gangly fashion like Tony Hawk.
The reason I was thinking about that is because of a totally raw out video I saw the other day. It is a video of Tony Hawk tearing it up on a freakish ramp doing things that really only a skater like Tony Hawk can do. What stood out the most to me was that I got into skating 23 years ago.
Side note: there is no way in hell I am old enough to have picked up a hobby 23 years ago.
Whatever the case, Tony Hawk was only 17 at the time and had just turned pro a few years earlier. He was bad as all get out back then, doing things that no one else was doing, including preparing for the 720 and doing a sick number of consecutive 540 McTwists. I remember watching Bones Brigade Videos and watching the guys skating streets, launch ramps, quarter pipes, half pipes and downhills.
In fact, the most memorable moment I had of the gang was the end of the Search for Animal Chin video when they finished up the movie on that sick back-to-back half pipe that had the inner cut away taken out for a spell and allowed pretty much the whole crew to skate at the same time while some were catching air over others skating through. It was sick.
The ramp had half pipes on the deck too, and the entire thing had to be 60 feet wide. It was awesome. Have a look:
Then along came this little gem. And I am taken aback. I knew Tony Hawk kicked butt. I never knew he kicked butt licked this. Prepare to have your mind blown to bits.
I so want to be this rad when I am Tony Hawk’s age. And if not… well, hopefully I can still find videos of him.
The other day I received an email that detailed how similar politicians are no matter where around the world they may be. I thought that certainly Americans had the upper hand when it came to our elected leaders being political. I may have been wrong.
It seems that Senator Bob Collins from Australia is the example to follow when being political. He recently gave an interview regarding a tanker ship that experience a horrific accident at sea. The accident, one in which the front of the ship detached allowing 20 million tons of crude oil to spill into the sea, happened near Australia.
You gotta see this…
Amazing, isn’t it? I have yet to see an American politician pull something like off.
Side bar: If you hadn’t guessed while watching the clip, it is a satire by John Clarke and Bryan Dawe, an Australian comedic duo that have been doing satires of weekly events, called the 7.30 report, for some time now. You gotta admit, they are darn funny.
The following piece graciously donated by my mother-in-law via my wife.
Anyone that has ever been to the south knows that you can always count on a few things when you are there. One is the hospitality. I mean you can literally have a two hour conversation with a complete stranger and actually feel at home doing it.
Another thing you can count on is the food. It will always be fattening and it will always be delicious. No matter what you are eating, it will just be good eats. Its the south, so you can count on it.
One thing that I can speak of from experience is the state bird of Louisiana. No, I am not talking about the Brown Pelican. I am talking about the mosquito.
Those little buggers are the size of the airplanes that fly you from Fort Worth to Lafayette. They are big, strong, aggressive and relentless. They don’t back down and when you finally smack one of them into oblivion, five of his cousins come back for you.
So it was no wonder that this footage spoke to me as loudly as it did. I have never seen this before, but it does not surprise me. How much farther will this torment known as the mosquito go?
Every now and again someone gets a truly original idea. Sometimes these ideas leads to huge amounts of fiscal wealth. Other times these ideas lead to improvements in living conditions, or perhaps positive changes to our environment.
The following idea is certain to have an impact on everyone’s personal life. I personally hate being disturbed by incessant phone calls at all hours of the day and night. But short of using electroshock defense mechanisms that pulse through the phone, the only recourse I have had until now was to screen my calls or let the machine answer them for me.
Like I said, until now.
Without further introduction, I present to you a video that will forever change how you handle telemarketers and cold callers. Enjoy this lesson.
Many thanks to my colleague Jason for providing this excellent find.