July 4, 2015

Much like New Year's Eve, there is a pressure around 4th of July to do something epic.  So I follow these few steps- I try not to plan anything, set the expectations lower, roll with the punches, and that usually ends up turning into a pretty good time.  This year followed that familiar trajectory.  A crew came together to go skating and that transitioned nicely into a BBQ at Derek's house.  We didn't need to go anywhere for fireworks viewing because Derek's neighbors had the street closed off for a block party and a fireworks display that would be the envy of a small town.  A few beers were thumbgunned and many more were consumed in a normal manner.  Ben blew up a watermelon with a special explosive.  And I had a good old time.

Starting the day off at my favorite spot, Mini West Linn.

Got the new dad, Jesse, out for some skating.

Ben kickflipped into a tailslide.

White and Derek.

Paging Dr. Philips.

Ryan bluntslides into the hip.

This kid Simon showed up.  He probably lives up the street.  Lots of funny commentary and cruising around the park on his bike.

I let that dude take a few photos with my camera and he shot this!

BBQ time.

Exploding melon!

Dance Party.

 

Danielle, Chelsea, and Alicia.

Anastasia brought a lot of sparklers.

Then, bam, Brandon rolled back into town!

House Show!

I think it's time to really revive this blog.  Maybe people will look at it again?  Besides the 5 of you that still check in regularly (Sup JP, Derek, and...?).  The reason for this revival is a digital camera.  I like cameras and I have a lot of them.  But this is my first DSLR.  I love film and I always will, but I don't want to ignore a format of picture taking that is good in many, many ways.  And that's just it.  Digital is another format.  Every camera I own does something a little different and now I can add one more to that.  Digital photos are a perfect match for this blog.  I like the long form and being able to tell the story with them.  So expect more from me and this blog.  And spread the word!

On that note and before I dive into the pictures and story telling, does anyone use Flickr or similar photo sites?  Good, bad, stupid?  I'm interested to hear.  I'll try dipping my toes in and will post a Flickr link soon.

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This summer has been slower with house shows.  Maybe it's because Donkeylips isn't playing.  Maybe everyone's neighbors told them to turn it down.  But last night there was a good one at the Blowout house.  Bread Man introduced me to Winter Break and I've had their record on repeat.  So of course I wouldn't miss their show.  I did have to leave early so I missed Divers.  Apparently it was a secret show for them.  And I've heard they're good, but I've yet to see them.  Last night wasn't the time.  Maybe soon.  I did see Blowout, Winter Break, and Walter something or other (anyone have a link to them?).  All amazing and all before 8:30pm.  So here you go.

First up... Blowout.

With Bread Man on Guitar.

And Travis on the other guitar.

Laken on vocals.

And Nick on drums back there.

 And here's the Walter band.  With socks on the mics.

And finally, Winter Break.  Serisously, give them a listen.

Dudes In Texas - a zine.

Back in February I went to Texas with Conor, Dave Herr, and Nate Coonrod.  Plus new NYC friends Kevin Sanders, Kevin Graver, Paul Coots, and Uncle Ronnie.  We had a lot of fun skating and enjoying the night life of Austin.  A couple months have gone by and I've finally collected photos and drawings from those dudes and put them together into a zine.  So here it is - Dudes In Texas.  I would like you to buy a copy.  It's only $6 including shipping.  Or $5 if you're in Portland and I can hand deliver it to you.  Hit me with that paypal and your address at georgefgd@hotmail.com.  Yeah, I still use hotmail.

Dudes In Texas - 24 pages of photos, drawings, and words.

And check out the video on the post below!

Texas is the reason.

I went to Texas with 7 dudes that live in NYC to ride skateboards and drink Lone Stars.  We did a lot of both those things.  We also met up with some other rad friends along the way.  And this video got made of the trip.  Enjoy.

Surprise!

My point and shoot camera recently died.  It has slowly been on the way out, but finally got to the point of undependability.  With that gone I turned to my trusty old digital point and shoot that created most of the images on this blog.  I'd forgotten about that little guy.  It takes great pictures but it's starting to feel a little slow in this age of ever-faster computing.  Funny that a 6 year old digital camera feels outdated when most of my film cameras are 20, 30, even over 40 years old and still shoot great.  Anyway, stuff happened and sometimes I pushed a little button that makes an image.  Now they are coming at you through the interwebs.

Made a trip downtown for First Thursday fun.  My boys Craig Wheat and Dominic DeVenuta had an awesome show at Upper Playground.  It's up for a couple months and well worth checking out.  Painted car doors, rear view mirrors, and weapons.  Good stuff.

 I also checked out the launch of All Bad Days Fall line.  I didn't get a picture of their gear, but just these 2 lovebirds.

Somewhere in there I made Xeno try this wallride too.

 

The next night I had my own photo show.  29 half-frame prints that are part skateboard portrait and part person portrait.  I had so much fun.  Big thank yous to everyone who came and to Widmer for free beer.  Jen made a good write up on her blog.  It's better than me talking about myself.  Here's what it looked like though.

The next night we celebrated Danny's birthday.  Bread organized a surprise party for him.  I was amazed Danny didn't catch on.  But he did celebrate all day and the friends that were bringing home for the party distracted him with drinks so he didn't attend his party long before passing out.  He was so happy though.  And so surprised.  Full freak out when he saw everyone there.

Then Bread carried him to the fridge to be put on top which is now a tradition for Danny's bday.

 

He did fall off the first time.

 

The partied carried on long after he was asleep. 

 

And for once, Nait wasn't the first guy asleep at a party.