Big Skate Week

Big shred week, managed to get four sessions in. So funny when I think about how, as a kid from the ages of, say, 12 to 22 or so, I would skate every day, sometimes all day. I miss those days, but I don't think I'd be walking if I kept it up. Four sessions a week for me here in Boston in pretty good. Got to Attleboro Sunday, then hit Newburyport midweek, covered elsewhere. Friday, Dug hit me up and I broke out to skate the Jamaica Plain DIY spot. One word: tight. Not tight like, "tiiiiight!", but like, tight transitions. Fun, cool scene, good group of kids ripping it up, cool spot. Above, Dug rips one over the titty. But not so great on Lundermuffin's knees.

Yeah, I know it doesn't look like much, but it's a deep bruise right on my knee. Thought I did some internal damage, but I think I'm gonna be good. Always get hurt before going back to AZ I guess.

Figured the knee was gonna be good when I took some runs at Attleboro. some talk about a Halloween party, but nothing really materialized other than a kick ass session with some kick ass dudes (special guest appearance, (fellow) Alva dog Murph). Photo above is Pete, and if you look closely you'll notice he does these slight ollies into his frontside grinds. Gnarly.

Hoodies, jackets, and the flaming barrel are going to be the norm from here on out, I suppose.

Pete felt the need to climb a tree and rock an impromptu rope swing. We kept telling him not to, then changed our tune and egged him on.

Sketchy, but he pulled it. Stayed at the ramp and bullshitted 'til dark. Another good time at Attleboro.

Saturday night it was off to Worcester, to meet up with Davey, Pete, and the crew, and see Dug's band Nothing But Enemies play a punk costume party in a killer DIY spot. Note the guy getting pushed down in the background as he's trying to get up. Shit's gnarly out there!

 

Life in the Dick, part 4

Seasons change (in most places), and the Dick is no exception. Raked up a shitload of leave sin the yard the other day, and as I was bagging them I grabbed a handful of dog shit. Sweet. Put in plastic bags that I bought, and then discovered that when you take your leaves to the dump, if you used plastic bags they make you dump them out and take home the plastic bags. If you buy the paper bags you just drop them off. Cute. I washed the dog shit off of my hands, but it was under a fingernail, so I had to trim my fingernails and take a shower to rid myself of the smell of dog dirt before I made myself a sandwich.

 

Got the CB350F all tuned up -- new points, plugs, valve adjust, timing. I need to change the oil and synchronize the carbs. I've put up with a tiny oil drip, and I thought it was either around the oil pump or the shift shaft, but it's apparently out of some weird plug that's on the backside of the clutch. Might have to take out the whole clutch to fix it? If so, bugger it, I can put up with it. Thing is fast and running like a top.

 

Found out from the nerdy cop who monitors parking when the Saturday farmer's market is going that my license plate is mounted incorrectly on my CB160. Turns out to be true. Gonna have to fab up a horizontal mount, likely put some semblance of a fender on the backside or something. Looking for 1969 and 1973 motorcycle plates for the bikes before I get them inspected and switched over to MA. Got 'em for my car and the SR250. Got to fix the crack in my windshield on the Valiant before it will pass inspection, and am having a devil of a time finding the proper lock strip. 

 

The previous post's photo was when I went out for a ride on the 160 and decided to capture some fall colors. Then I decided it'd be only fair shakes to do the same for the 350F. There is a pond in town, and so I headed there but detoured into this cool, old cemetery. Got a few snaps of the bike, then poked around. Some crazy old graves here. Best part: don't need to worry about getting dog shit under my fingernails since I don't have to rake up the leaves.

This grave can be seen in the photo of the bike, just above the headlight. I noticed it when taking the photo. If you can't zoom in, it's John W. Parker, a vet of the Civil War who died in 1908. Cool statue.

This one I noticed because of the book, and I thought that was cool, but she was born in 1786 and died in 1881 at the ripe age of 95 (or about two weeks shy). Crazy to think of the historical time period, just after Revolutionary War, through the War of 1812 and Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, westward expansion, decimation of the Native Americans, trains connecting East to West, invention of the bicycle, auto and motorcycle... my head is exploding.

Another Civil War vet, this time a lieutenant colonel, who died of appendicitis at the ripe old age of 20, one year afte rthe end of the Civil War. He was a lieutenant of the United States Colored Troops, and served in battle from the age of 17. He was also present for the surrender of Lee. At the end of the war he was shipped off to Austin, but died there.

And look at this big shot. Just read it.

Baked an apple pie with the last of the apples we picked at the orchard. Threw some blackberries in there and left out some butter, and good goddam that thing is edible. My secret for flaky pie dough crust involves vodka, that's all I am going to say. 

 

I went and investigated a local churrascaria -- Brazilian BBQ joint. There are a lot of Portuguese in the NE, especially in some pockets like Rhode Island and New Bedford, but there are also a lot of Brasileiros, too, and Framingham (one town over from the Dick) has a lot, and several churrascarias. Meg went with some friends from work, and I went to the same spot. I was stoked that my Portuguese held up the entire time, and the only English I spoke was the word "self-serve" -- asking in Portuguese how to say it. Grilled meats, rice and beans, fried banana and potato, chicken in sauce -- all to go, and weighed -- you pay according to weight. Leftovers made a killer lunch the next day. I will be back.

Learning the Massachusetts skate routine: get in the car, and if it is after 3 battle insane stop-an-go rush hour traffic to wherever you are going. Seriously crazy driving in the Valiant, from a dead stop to 65 to a dead stop again -- I locked up all four wheels and slid at one of these things because the idiot in the SUV in front of me slammed on his brakes super hard. Drove close to 2 hours to Newburyport to meet up with Jeff, Kevin and Eastie, and got there in time to skate for about half an hour, then drove home. The drive home only took an hour, as traffic had subsided. Park is fun, got its quirks, it was cold as shit, and it's at a school so I had to be on best behavior.

 

That's all from the Dick for this time. Remember: you're always welcome to come kick it in the Dick!

Fall in the 'Dick

Fall has fallen lightly on the Dick -- it's been pretty warm, and there hasn't been too much rain. I've got a bit of a lingering cold, but it's mostly gone and I am back to skating and riding around. I finally got the CB160 completely tuned up and dialed in, and it is running the best it's ever run. The timing was a smidge off, and when I corrected that everything fell into place. The guy at the post office asked me if I was going to continue riding it even if there was snow. The answer to that question was no. But as long as it's dry, I'll keep taking it out. The photo above is on one of the runs I like to do from the house, up the 27, over on the 16 along the Charles River, and back to the 'Dick.

 

I've got the 350F mostly tuned -- I need to synch the carbs, and I have a cover off on the left side to try to see where the minor drip is coming from: either the shifter seal or the oil pump. I've put up with it for years, but since I am changing the oil I figured I would take care of it while the case is empty. Changed the oil and tuned up Meg's SR250, so that thing is running tits too.

Nothing But Enemies, and back to Attleboro

Been under the weather, not skating, not doing much. Got my CB160 super dialed in and it's running the best it's ever run, so that's something I guess. Water heater burst in the basement, so we lost some shit including a lot of Black Sparrow books (Fante, Bukowski, etc.). Gotta total that shit up and see if it's worth an insurance claim. Saturday got to see Dug E Death's band Nothing but Enemies play in Boston. Killer show, much punk, good time.

Got back to Attleboro for a Sunday session. Big Tim blasts the big hip. 

Stoked to finally hang out with Kevin Day. Boston legend, I first skated with him in 1988, then again some time in the mid-90s. I missed him when he came to Seattle as I had shoulder surgery a few years back, but there he was at Attleboro yesterday, talking shit, hyping people up, and offering up baffling skate trivia questions such as who invented the backside rock 'n' roll, who invented the backside ollie, etc. I got him with the ollie blunt -- he thought it was D. Way, but truth be told, Aaron Dieter from Seattle did it first. Stoked to do some more boardin' with this guy (and I won't be the oldest dude at the session).

I'm a putz for forgetting this guy's name, but he ripped a big stalefish. I got to get some practice shooting with my fancypants digital SLR, still figuring shit out. Better get it wired as I am going to Austin in 2 weeks to shoot Fun Fun Fun Fest for Thrasher.

 

Evidence CLI: Blue Meth

After a week of nursing a sore back, it was do or die on Saturday. Craig had to make it an early day because of a previously scheduled work commitment, so we met up around 3 and headed to the blue one. Bright sun, bad back, etc., all added up, but we managed to make do for a quick couple of runs, enough to get some grinds in. I wrenched my neck, but got some blue on the trucks.

Killer tile pattern.

The evidence is swimming with the fishes.

Craigers over death. Wanna see that again:

If it's any consolation, I threw my back out again lifting up garbage the day I got home.

Evidence CL: Dead weight on this mission

So I ruined my back on Sunday moving some furniture around. Pissed because I headed to PHX two days later, which meant I would be on observer status for any pool mission. Heard tale of this blue coping lovely, and sure enough that's where we headed. And sure enough, I sat around, sipped on a beer, and shot a few photos. Back is getting better -- I'd better be able to skate by Friday or Saturday, going home to Boston Sunday.

Court powers through a FSG. Love it when the grass grows over the coping and into the pool.

I'm terrible and I didn't catch this guy's name. He was going for the FSG revert over the DB, but settled for a burly FSG over death. 

Killer decorative fish tile.

Craigers over the stairs. 

Overgrowth in the shallow end too. Gotta do some grinds and cut that shit back! 

Started a second too late to get Craig going over the stairs, but got the BSG over death.