While Thinking About Tom

I found myself thinking about tom the other day.  Not my father Tom, who can be found below, but Toms Waits.

After reading a series of interviews from his early career I found myself wondering, "how can someone consistently give a bizzare yet thought provoking answer to every question asked, as if it was all scripted before hand by a team of satirical comedy writers."  Is Tom Waits' overally eccentric persona a device he contrived to boost his career during it's infancy, or was he simply born with razor sharp wit and an eye for the unconventional.

  It didn't take me long for me to realize that my question was irrelevant.  Because as long as Tom's musings include gems like (when asked if he listens to music),"It's hard for me to just sit down and just do that.  I like it best when I hear it coming through the wall in a hotel room.  I like it best on a bad speaker from a block a way," then all that truly matters is that they touch on some genuinely brilliant concepts.

 

An Ode to the Vacation Shirt

Oh vacation shirt, how do I love thee, and all the wonderful emotions you and your various colorful shapes and palm trees evoke.  Nothing says, "sorry I don't give two shits about a damn thing because I'm busy sipping daiquiris," like a Hawaiian or Paisley print shirt.  And as I approach my third Redlands vacation, I find myself eager to prematurely dawn my never-been-worn vacation shirt.  But I must show restraint, because I still have another day of latte pouring and coffee grinding ahead of me, before I can dedicate every waking moment of the next four days to lounging about without a care in the world.  It would be blasphemy to dress myself in that most sacred of vacation attire a day early.  So in the meantime, let us take a gander at some of the greatest men to ever sport a vacation shirt. 

While the vacation antics of these two men were seldom relaxing or mellow, Hunter S. Thompson and Dr. Gonzo certainly lived it up fully and certainly had not a care in the world.  The controversial thing about Hunter and his vacation shirt is that supposedly he was never really on a vacation.  He had journalistic responsibilities throughout his entire drug and alcohol infused stay in Las Vegas.  Eh, could have fooled me.

Here we have another fine example of a man truly embracing the vacation shirt.  Like Hunter S. Thompson, Ace Ventura lived the freewheeling life while still doing his job.  Ace's vacation shirt is exceptionally vibrant and colorful, further accentuating his zany personality.  The world's most famous pet detective never gave a god damn about what people thought about him and took any opportunity to visit exotic lands and soak up the culture.

Ok, so perhaps my list is a little short.  But the point of all this is, as long as you maintain some semblance of work ethic and the desire to be a productive member of society, you can wear a vacation shirt and run around like a maniac annoying all those around you who are too lame to join in the party.

   

Through Another Man's Lens Vol. 2

Yes indeed, it is that time once again my children.  The all knowing, all powerful, supreme leader of The Clog will once again... shirk all creative responsibilities and create a post of stolen photos and memories from one of his dear friends.  That's right, is time for another installment of TAML (Through Another Man's Lens).  At least it's better than sleeping with another man's wife.

This next group of photos takes off relatively close to where the last ones left off.  I say relatively because the source of my material is limited solely to Lane's Facebook, and I can only imagine how seamless this timeline of our lives would be if I had access to his entire collection of photography.  But I digress.  The time period covered in this post spans roughly from 2006 through 2008.  

I have to assume this photo was taken during prom.  Hell, it could even be from the same prom picture I have in the last post, but that's alright.  What you must really take away from this photo is the classy rockstar energy Cho Master Flex bestowed upon any social gathering, be it large or small.  This was during the height of Cho's rise to fame, and for a moment we all thought it might go to his pretty little head.  But the man has kept his cool throughout the whole ordeal and remains a Legend to this very day.

Lane was really bring his camera out a lot during these times.  He also was out skateboarding quite a bit, which led to photos like these.  Jesse, Mikey, Lane, and I had been skating the Guadelupe bank on this cold winter day.  Lane felt that it would be a good idea to take some photo's on these oversized dice, and I managed to get up onto a few bs 180 nosegrinds.  I doubt I actually landed this, but I like the cow trucks I am riding and how small of a board I have.  

This will forever be one of my favorite photos of all time.  As I write this caption I cannot help but wonder who has been behind the lens of all these pictures Lane is in.  Did that lunatic grab and nearest person and ask, "hey dude, take a picture of me and my friend!"  I suppose that is of little importance because the night this picture was taken I turned 21 years old.  On this glorious day I went to biology class, shot my first sequence with Wes, skated sunnyvale with all da homies, and eventually got drunk at Blossom Hill Park with Lane and a handful of other awesome humans.  And on top of that, I was legally able to purchase beer.  That little bottle of Hennessy was given to me at the skatepark by Jon Choi, but I cannot remember whether or not I drank it.  On this night Lane for some reason swore that he would hit me up everyday for a six pack of Corona, which unfortunately he did.  

This picture was taken during Reggae on the River 2007.  I was not a part of this trip, so therefore cannot accurately give an account of the events that transpired.  I can however say that my only real regret in life is not attending one of these functions.  I stayed behind because I could not imagine spending any length of time away from my skateboard.  On second thought maybe I was better off just skating my box.  The truth is, I guess I will never know.

This picture was taken on Jesse's 20th birthday.  J Bone is stoked like he always is when there is red cup in hand, Peter is being a loser and drinking water, Cho Cho is making a mandatory legend appearance, Xtina is looking fine as always, and Lane is fully embracing booze.  Jesse held this party at his mother's house in Almaden and I recall it being an awesome time.  I was somewhat delirious because I had stayed up most of the night making a "Best of Jesse" montage.  I went to Starbucks at two in the morning to buy espresso but they were closed, and then 3 years later, I started working there. 

Hair Styles for Miles

It has been a blazing hot minute since my last Clogging.  And to make matters worse, this post is going to contain a collection of photos I didn't even take.  Unbeknownst to the man himself, this is a Chase Newton guest post.  Try and guess the theme of all these photos.

                                     Taylor is shown here sporting a nice healthy mustache.

Same mustache, different hat position.

I am not sure who is behind the shaver, but the results indicate the work of a true pro. 

  

Old Dirt Unearthed

Of the things I regret doing in life, like going to prom, the one that trumps all others is buying and owning a Canon GL2.  What strange illogical portion of my brain did I use while making this camcorder purchase?  I do not recall getting some unheard of deal on my GL2.  If fact, I am almost certain a VX1000 would have been cheaper.  

Putting the filming knowledge I now have aside for a moment, I do recall having many great times with my Canon GL2.  I captured some priceless moments, some incredible tricks (most of which would have probably looked better through the lens of a VX), and even made a couple mediocre videos.  

I have recently been digging deeper and deeper into the archives to find hidden gems.  Perhaps like dwarfs in a Tolkien novel digging too far into the mountains of Middle-Earth, I have tunneled too deep into the Archives, and unearthed something dark and evil.  Or maybe I have just discovered a treasure trove of intriguing footage, unfortunately filmed with a shitty camera.  

"Don't you just hate it when you're trying to skate, but you can't concentrate because you have Brotha Lynch lyrics in your head."  - Cody Wayne.     

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.  

A Little Late for Day Eight

One of the guiding principles behind The Twelve Days, or five in the case of this particular year, of Clogmas is that posts can be earlier or later than their corresponding day. Typically they come later, but rest assured the posts will arrive.  So without further ado...

On the eighth day of Christmas,
The Clog gave to me
Eight ungodly ounces.

In actuality, the Limerita is really eight glorious ounces of zesty fun! The strange blend of booze, sugar and whatever the hell else Budweiser has decided to pump into it has made Limerita the undisputed king of refreshing beverages. Nothing tastes better on a hot summer day than one of these potent little suckers. And yes, I am well aware it is the dead of winter.

My Christmas came early this friday, because my good pal J Bone slithered down the chimney with a six pack of Limeritas and a unique and inspirational sign to go along with it. I am really starting to get into the spirit of the season.

p.s

This marks my 250th Clog post.