CB350F/400F Progress

Made some progress with the CB350F/400F bike, got some stuff together, mocked up. Gonna work on the wiring. Gotta get that engine together but I think I found some answers. Been thinking about that BSA too.

Toronto #2: CN Tower, Niagara Falls!

Day two, Saturday, had a couple hours to kill in the afternoon to eat lunch with Sherry. Went to Kensington, Ate a killer, huge meal, and checked out Sonic Boom records (got a couple soul records). Ran into the above killer cafe Norton.

We also went to Hits and Misses, a killer punk record store run by Pete. Folks in Seattle know him for Singles Going Steady (which he sold when he moved to Toronto). He ran a store in PDX before that which was killer too. 

JFA! Die Kreuzen! The Faction! SWA! Killer show fliers! 

CN Tower on Sunday, Meg was a brave soul and laid down on the glass floor. That thing freaked me out. We went to the higher level too, the little bulge above the big bulge in the photo below. 

Wacky Canadian humor! 

Hey! No calisthetics by Niagara Falls! 

Sherry, me and Meg! 

And then I broke the law and did calisthetics on the rail. 

I was threatening to walk around saying stuff like "An average of 17.5 gallons of water goes over the fall every minute" and "Niagara Falls is 38 feet high," but I never really did. I crack myself up sometimes, but not so much other people. 

Our last night, we went to an historic pub in Niagara Falls Lake. The guy saw my Thrasher hoodie and Sherry's Skull Skates hoodie and bought us two rounds. I'm sending him some stickers and swag tomorrow. Thanks man! Oh yeah, there was a soccer goal in the urinal with a black ball to aim at. I scored a goal on a corner kick, but no headers in this men's room.

Toronto #1: Le Poutine Est Sur la Table!

Killer trip to Toronto for a conference. Meg came with, and on our first (official) night out -- we got in late the night before, so that doesn't count -- we met up with our friend Sherry, who showed us around. Suicidal Dates and Arson played at a club, original first wave Canadian punk bands and they killed it! Saw a Jak's dude there, and was gonna snap a photo of his colors but he somehow escaped, so I shot photos of Sherry's Skull Skates sweatshirt, a screaming hand longsleeve, and an Unsane back patch. Sherry wore the same thing a few nights later, and I had a Thrasher sweatshirt on, and it lead to two free rounds at an historic pub at Lake Niagara. Canadians rule.

After the show, we went to a spot called Bovine Sex Club. There was no cow sex, so a little bit of a disappointment, but good times, Ramones paintings, a Christmas tree of Jaeger bottles still standing in mid-March, some great rock photos, and fun was had by all.

Johnny, the right-wing asshole Ramone.

Joey and Dee Dee.

Sherry and Black Halos Jay.

Good and trashed, we got some 2AM poutine, basically fries with cheese curds and gravy. The article says it all: "Drunkards have particular affinity..."

I got Philly Cheese Steak poutine because I didn't have time for a cheesesteak in the Philly airport.

Yes, when Meg gets a little sippy she points out things like how Canadians ride their mini bicycles with training wheels to the bar, and lock them up outside.

Evidence LIV: Small one again, plus cancered but killer

Went back to that small kidney at the party house. Evidence is mounting.

Been digging on how nature overtakes pools.

Killer white aggregate coping and a nautilus design in the tiles.

'Puter won't let me turn this sideways for some reason. 2-Sean, rocko.

Scoped another, but got denied.

Evidence with attitude, and a cool set of tiled stairs.

Uh-mer-ka.

Dickbird, f-side blur.

2-Sean shreds the rad.

Evidence LIII: Small but good

Scoped a few new ones, people living there, shitty surfaces, etc. We can afford to be a little choosy as there are plenty to go around.

Weird big square at an abandoned apt., with sexy mattress?

Hoss found this gem. Small but good, with a layer of caked on dirt.

Dixon lapped.

Found photos of the guys resurfacing the pool(!?).

The inside of the house looked like the party dudes living there just up and left, and left everything behind.

Pool Service.

Colvin dropped in and got the shallow.

Back to our trusted one. Funny to watch how it develops. New sod, new sprinkler system, but the inside of the house remains torn down. "Curb appeal." It won't last too much longer, but we'll get it while we can. Craig through the death.

Can't turn this sideways for some reason, so turn your computer sideways and listen to Dickman get the Anthony.

Evidence: Colvin's mongo footed push.

A Little Merry Clayton?

Been diggin’ some Merry Clayton lately. Out of all of her stuff (LPs that is), from what I’ve heard “Gimme Shelter” is the one. Clayton sung back-up on the original Rolling Stones version – although there still are rumors that it was Bonnie Bramlett, but these I believe to be false, and she’s also rumored to have miscarried because of the intensity of her performance. She did a bunch of studio and live work with folks such as Ray Charles, Neil Young, tom Jones, Joe Cocker, Elvis Presley, Phil Ochs and Lynyrd Skynyrd (?!). After the Stones version of “Gimme Shelter” came out, she recorded her own, and she named her first solo record after the track.

The LP has a bunch of covers that sort of seem unlikely today, but definitely reflect the era in which they were recorded: Simon and Garfunkle, the Doors, the Stones. The song "Country Road" is not, fortunately, a John Denver cover. I dunno if some of the others on the LP are covers, but what I do know is in a lot of them she brings the same intensity that she did when recording for the Stones. She’s putting her all into this shit, her voice strains and cracks, which is the kind of stuff that would be mixed out and redone, but here it adds to the power. It’s got a kind of Janis Joplin feel.

She did some acting later on (Cagney and Lacey, Maid to Order), and some other songs that went kinda big (“Yes” from Dirty Dancing), but it’s this one that I think kills.

First track of the LP...

Final track of the LP...

Stones song...

Doors song...

And her most famous song, off of her next record. Dig it!

Evidence LII: Skatemaster Tait's visit

My buddy Tait Roelofs came into town for a quick visit, and to shred some rad. He's got an 8-month-old, and his wife's mom came to town, so he got a quick 48-hour trip to Phoenix. Haven't seen Tait for about 15 years, great guy from Corvallis, Oregon, who I met and skated with in the '80s at Eugene's cage ramp, Avery Park in Corvallis, and wherever else there was a session.

First up was a quick hit at the one close by. 15 minutes, and then I saw the neighbor on the phone in his driveway, so we bailed. We walked down the alley, gotin the car, and as we pulled away, the neighbor was in his car going slowly in the other direction, eyeballin' us. Got away. Craig was into munching some backside box. That doesn't quite sound right.

We cleaned up Charlottes.

Then skated something else as it dried. Tait boardslid the shallow.

Saturday we hit the Fountain of Youth right off the bat. Cleaned it up for 10 minutes, then skated for 5 and got kicked out. Gotta go when it's closed...

Then we hit Powerline. Taiters FSG.

These photos loaded way our of order... We skated Fountain of Youth first on Sat, then hit up one of our favorite Mexican spots, Del Yaqui, in the plaza in Guadalupe.

Cleaning up Charlotte's we came across a sleeping pigeon.

Back at Guadalupe, Tait gives the murals a thumbs up.

Craig munched another box backside.

Back to Powerline...

Then we hit Charlotte's again. The earth is taking over.

Shrigley met up and took some slams.

Tait grinded Charlotte's.

Shrigley laid one down...

Then rolled in at Adam's.

Twice, apparently.

This is what is known as a "lifestyle shot."

Tait grinded the shallow of Adam's.

Four pools in one day (Saturday), five pools and a fountain overall, two solid nights of beer drinkin' and hell raisin', and we were done. Good to see you Tait, let's do it again. And if you want to see a short film of Tait's exploits as a muralist in LA, check this (here's the first, the video is in 3 part so check the other 2 as well).