Losing Skin

A few weeks ago I totally blew it. I was taking a nice cruise on my longboard with Ethan; first real skate of the year. We went to the regular spot; just a little neighborhood up against the mountain with enough slope to hit 35 mph if you get into a proper tuck and take it straight on. With months of garbage weather I had not skated for quite some time, aside from an occasional pushing cruise down my street, which, if you have ever skated over 25 mph, you might agree is not that exciting anymore.

Anyway, on just my second ride down the sloped street, at about 30 mph, I caught some heavy speed-wobbles. That is what you call that moment when the board is uncontrollably shaking back and forth under your feet. If you don't know how to stabilize while in motion (a technique I have not mastered), you WILL get bucked off. Now, I have fallen many times. I know very well how to bail at that speed. I would normally fall forward on my hands and knees (gloves with thick plastic and knee pads) and ride it out. No pain, no problem. But this time, i totally panicked. I decided to stand up and try to run it out....at 30 mph. What am I, Superman? No, I am not. I cannot run 30 mph. As soon as my left foot touched the ground I was down. My left hip and both elbows took the entire impact of the asphalt. As soon as I hit, I knew I would be feeling it. The results were captured in photos, though I have chosen not to post those photos here. They are a bit gruesome. I'll just say I lost some serious arm skin and ended up with an enormous bruise on the left. The wounds had a difficult time healing, but have finally mended. The human body's ability to heal is truly remarkable.

This was by far my worst wreck to date, but one I can look back upon as a lesson learned. I am not indestructible. And now that I am finally healed up enough, and have picked up some new knee pads and added elbow pads to my collection of safety gear, I am anxious to try again...but I will most likely keep it to 20 mph for a bit and work back up to the 30 plus. I owe it to my elbows.

Molly and Music

So I posted, in the past, a video of Molly grooving to some of my music. Well, she loves all sorts of music. Of course, whenever it's one of my bands or recordings, she instantly recognizes it and loudly states, "That's daddy's song." If Fleet Foxes or Aloha come on, it's, "TURN IT UP." If it's something a little more up-beat and/or dancy, it's, "Mommy Daddy look," as she is in her car seat grooving out in some way through the constrictive straps that hold her down. She loves music. Over the weekend as we were listening on shuffle, Morning Light by Aloha came on. See vid.

A great show 2010

This was a great one. We were the odd band out and didn't have much of a chance to win, considering the 'left field' from which we came to play, but it was way fun and a privilege. This vid has some highlights and interviews.

Check this one too. A bit more of us.
Another on VIMEO

Google Yourself

Have you ever Google'd yourself? If you say no, you're a liar. Come on, everybody has. It's funny to see what weird crap comes up. I found that I am a weird old guy with nothing important on my website, a basketball player at Stony Point High School (up for college recruitment), an Investment Manager in Rochester UK (and a large number of other positions on LinkedIn), and some Belgian gal. And, although it is rare to actually find yourself on page 1 of a Google search, I found my Flickr page. Not that impressive, but whatever.

Not that I am that interesting of a person; I don't need to be Google page 1, or even page 100. However, I happen to be one of those who does some things in my life that I DO want to see page 1 on Google. And with some hard work I have achieved this. For example, Google the simple term "Bird Eater" and the very first link I see is my Myspace page for Bird Eater. If you search "C-Style" the last link on page 1 is my Big Cartel store for C-Style. Search "Pilot This Plane Down" and the first 5 links on the page go to our store, our Last.fm profile, and a dead link not worth specification. Yay Chris, cool me, right? Not the point. The point is that Google is rad, and blows my mind.

Also good finds on page 1 for Day of Less and Harmony Homes Utah

Longboarding

I'm not one to stay in my comfort zone. I enjoy trying new things; sometimes even when the new thing seems something that is so not like me. Sure, as a kid, I thought skateboarding was rad. I tried skating at the age of 8 when I got my first board. That one lasted a short time, and I got a new one when I was like 12. I remember that one had a preying mantis on it. I tried to do a thing or two, but could never keep up with the other neighbor kids who were getting the asymmetric boards (today's common 'street skateboard'). I could never even ollie, let alone bust out a kick-flip. Needless to say, I gave up pretty quick. But I never forgot how much fun it was to just push around, even at the slow speed of a short skateboard.



About five years ago, my interest was rekindled when I saw a longboard at a Zumies. I put it on the ground and gave a little push. The feel of the soft, giant wheels gliding on the smooth concrete floor felt like a cloud, and I knew that if I could just get one, I'd be fulfilled. It took some time and connections, but I finally realized that my theory was completely true when I acquired a longboard within the last couple of years. An old friend Jake, I found out, had a longboard company in Ogden. He hooked me up with his best board, the Buddha's Streaker. There was no turning back. That very day I completed my first power-slide, and within a couple of months I was increasing speed and developing my slides. Don't get me wrong; I'm far from a champ. But I am somewhat fanatical and always pushing myself to learn more and develop my style. Right now, I can say that longboarding is one of my favorite activities, and I get so much thrill, satisfaction, and stress relief out of the sport. It is great exercise and will keep me young for years to come. I don't think I ever had it in me to skate a half-pipe or grind a rail. But I don't need to. I am pretty sure most of those guys, though INCREDIBLE at what they do, have nothing on me when it comes to speed and sliding. I skate too.

Molly

I love my little girl. Molly is incredible. She is more than I imagined she could be. My life is forever changed for the better. Her laugh, her voice, her face, her smile, her ridiculously advanced vocabulary, her attitude, her imagination...She loves her toys, but would rather play with..well, NOT toys. She loves to eat, but fights it at meal time. She loves to watch movies, but once the movie she asks for starts playing, she wants to watch another one. She can run me in circles until I'm dizzy or frustrated, but then she offers a simple, sincere "I uv you daddy" and it's all better. We call her teeny, tiny, little, and occasionally I call her Sweater (name chosen by members of Bird Eater..it beat other nicknames such as Plague Bringer).

Bowling for Molly's 2nd birthday. She loved it.

Christmas time. She loved it.

Jon and I wrote and recorded this song; the next morning I played it for Molly. She loved it.

Recording

One of my greatest thrills in life is playing music. The difficult part about it is that so much time goes into every aspect. For example, writing a song takes several hours of trial and error, followed by hours and hours of practice time to get it right. Finally, when enough songs are written and perfected, a performance is scheduled. Hours are spent on promoting online and taking fliers to every record store and coffee shop in town. Each band sits and waits for a turn only to play 25-35 min. Where is the value for me? That is the best 25-35 min I've had since the last time I played.

Recording is the exception. It takes even more time; in fact, it probably averages out to about 10 hours of effort per song as each instrument and vocal piece is recorded separately along with  the editing/mixing/mastering, not to mention the time spent adjusting the gear and tone that sound best recorded (there is no 'magic' formula). But the big difference in recording is significant; the final product will last forever. When I'm an old man and can hardly remember the performances that I pushed through, I will always be able to hit play and hear exactly what I have done. Recording is timeless, and even if the style is eventually outdated, it is a piece of me that will always live on. It is my art and my creation.

This one is Bird Eater.

Practicing

Performing

Recording

Bird Eater