Through Another Man's Lens Vol. 1

I have completely blown it.  I really screwed the pooch this time, as some would say.  My attempt at Clogging the final days of Christmas was about as successful as my attempt at passing high school algebra.  Luckily The Clog is no strangler to failure, and half of my posts are concerned with pies, beer and my cat.  never did I say these were unworthy topics for Clogging but let's face it, given the history and style of my blog, none of my followers are going to stress over a missed post or five.  Even after firmly declaring my nonchalant stance on the subject of "blowing it," I still feel compelled to begin 2013 with relatively noteworthy series of posts to compensate for my failure.

Over the years I have known Lane Kerans he has worn a number of hats.  Whether he is Lane the skateboarder, Lane the photographer, Lane the beat maker, or Lane the experimental tagger/stencil artist (that was a weird one dude), the man's creativity and keen eye for the obscure naturally shine through.  Suffice it to say, Lane thrusts himself head first into all his endeavours, for good or for ill, and allows himself to be tossed around in the tempestuous sees of his own mind.  But of all the strange paths Lane has travelled and exotic hats he has worn, the one I most identify him by is that of visual historian of the life and times of his friends and loved ones.  We have all shared quite an interesting existence, and Lane has always been there with a camera, missing not one moment.

I have selected a variety of different photos taken by Lane that not only tell the story of those individuals within them, but of the time period in the which the photos were taken.  I am aware that these images are not mine to repost, and in doing so run the risk of butchering their artistic soul by my own uniformed and biased interpretation of them.  But like I said, it's the freaking Clog.

Bill, Matt, Austin, David young as hell and chilling on some bench at some skate spot in SF that I have always wanted to skate.  During these times San Francisco must have seemed like some far off skateboarding mecca to these boys.  Like many of the photos in this post I was not present, but I can safely that everyone pictured is either tired or pissed off and Lane for taking the photo.  Everyone is looking pretty tough except for Matt, who seems to be looking down at something, or nothing at all.  

Lane took this photo of Cho Cho during high school photo class, or at least I assume so given the type of camera used.  I met Bryan Ochoa, renamed Cho Cho Brown Brown by our dear friend Michael shortly after, through mutual friends and skating.  He looked identical to Lindsey Robertson and had a quite demeanor punctuated by random sarcastic outbursts.  In our eyes he was, and will always be, a legend.   

This photo was taken during the same time period as the previous one, and features another epic human being.  I became acquainted with Matt Hicks through Cho Cho and Lane.  I remember instantly becoming a fan of not only Matt's skateboarding, but his lifestyle as well.  His approach to skateboarding differed completely from mine and his carefree somewhat self destructive ways both intrigued and inspired me.  Matt has been smoking for as long as I have known him, and there is a good chance that while I type this he is sitting in that very same seat enjoying a cigarette. 

I just about shit my pants when I learned of Matt Hicks smith grinding the DMV rail.  He dipped the hell out of this grind to the point of almost rolling off it with his front wheels.  It solidified his status as my favorite skater, and to this day Matt still has a smith grind Ed Templeton would be proud of.

Peter Jensen is pictured here attacking Cho Cho.  I highly doubt anyone could tell you what brought about this situation, but that makes it no less hilarious.  Maybe Peter just wanted to fuck with the Cho man, which would come as no surprise to anyone who knew peter during this time period.  He was notorious for picking on all those who skated during lunch in the parking lot at Leigh.  It was all in good fun though, because Peter is an amazing human and shares 2/3 of Peter Raffin's name.  Think about that one.  

Right after soiling my trousers over Matt's smith grind I proceeded to unleash another turd because of Mikey's salad grind on olinder.  Ok, so I may not have actually had that many bowel movements, but at the time both of these handrail tricks stoked me out significantly.  I love how Drew's ass is the focal point of the shot.  I also love how after learning Mikey did this trick I was able to convince him to do it again, just so I could film it.

Lane obviously didn't take this picture because he is in it.  Well I guess it could be one of those self timer devices, but this was back in 2006 and I don't think they were invented yet.  Either way, this is a Prom picture with Angela and Mikey, Lane and Roshy, Mercede and Jake.  Mikey and Angela dated for quite some time, as did Lane and Roshy, but none are currently together.  Jake had a crush on Mercede for a while and then her and I began dating.  He didn't much care for me after that and had every right not too.  He eventually forgave me, which I am thankful for, because these days we are homies and Jake is a genuinely good guy.    

What would a collection of photos from way back when be without one of Lane shredding.  Observe the steeze of this ollie.  Look at that damn back foot!  Lane is still gnarly on a skatboard, and to this day will not hesitate to pound a few beers and throw himself down the Red Park rail on a zip zinger.