frontside grind
Tuesday, September 24 2002
Posted by brockp

Yes, today was my first. Frontside grind, that is. A feeling so good, I am ridiculously writing about it on this website. I can't help it. I grew up seeing pictures of pro-skater guys like Tony Alva grinding those trucks on the coping of pools, so to actually do so myself, even on the five foot end of the bowl, is nothing short of exhilerating. Actually, you skaters out there prolly wouldn't hold my joy against me, would you ? I mean it may be a baby step but, Oh what a great great feeling. I don't think I will ever tire of that. I sometimes wonder what it must feel like to catch a wave on a surfboard. If its as good as grinding your trucks on the coping, it must be something.

As pathetic as it sounds, I immediately called Miss Kim when I got home to tell her about my skate breakthrough. This all makes me think of getting old versus staying young. I know a lot of people my age or older who don't seem too interested in having fun. Maybe their idea of fun is different, but I think that the kids really know how to have fun.

When I was about fourteen we had a big plywood quarter pipe in front of the house. We had no parks or pools around so that was it. No one (except one guy) knew how to pump transition, so we all just burned down the street as fast as we could, fortunately it was a bit of a hill, and hit the ramp as hard as we could. This led to a whole range of early grab type tricks which you would prolly get laughed at for doing today, although I sometimes do 'em when Kirkstone is not too crowded. There's a quarter pipe there which you can slam into but usually traffic flows accross the line you need to hit it right, so that activity is reserved for before the kids get out of school and to the park.

Every now and then some other old dudes show up to skate there, which is also fun. Today, one guy was doing Miller Flips on the short wall where I was grinding. A young kid that was there was so in awe he asked if the guy was sponsored. i guess they don't see old school stuff like that much.

Yup, its a lot 'o' fun. Those of you who are sitting in front of computer monitors all day might want to force yourselves to do something with your body before you forget how...Forgive my pomposity - I'm just glad to be skating again, and knowing my snowboard is waiting to show me a way through the rainy grey winters here without the double tall Columbian-Dark-Suicide-Inhibitor-Roast. That can't be a bad thing.

Galta
Saturday, September 14 2002
Posted by brockp

I was thinking about India today. Specifically, I was remembering Jaipur and Galta and the Galta Gate. Jaipur is one of those places where if you go up inside a building and look out over the various rooftops of the city you can probably make out gangs of monkeys roaming around on dome-shapes and spires and such.

The Galta Gate, If I am remembering right, is the gate out of the walled part of the city that leads to this trail up over some hills and down into a valley on the other side, where a big historical restoration project was going on. By now it is all prolly long done, but last time I was there, Galta, the name of that place, was all part run down ruin and part building covered with bamboo scaffolding and construction chains of men and women carrying bricks and gravel and sand in various ways, mostly on heads.

At the top of the hills just before the road started sloping back down into the valley, there were a couple of temples. One was a bit of a side trip higher up and was dedicated to Surya - the Sun. It was pretty much always abandoned whenever I passed by, but the other little temple was sort of a hang out for a bunch of hardcore Shivaites. Every time I passed there, the sound of clop clop clopping was being kept up by a gnarled loinclothed sadhu guy with tons of white ashes smeared on his forehead in the sign of Shiva. Shiva the Destroyer. The clop clopping came from these two crazy percussion instruments that kind of reminded me of the coconut halves that were fake horses in Monty Python's The Holy Grail. Actually, now that I think of it they were coconut halves. Clop clop clop clop clop clop clop clop....and the murmur of mantra chanting from inside and the heavy smell of incense burning like twnty sticks at a time.

If you kept going passed those babas, you would start heading downhill, either towards Galta or Jaipur depending on which way you were going. Traffic was heavier between there and Jaipur, but by traffic I'm talking hand carts, water buffalo, and big Brahma bulls with horns painted orange or some other bright colour., and whatever villagers went into and out of town daily. On foot.

Heading the other way towards Galta you would start to get the heavy monkey traffic - mostly the red faced ones, with more short, stocky builds and kind of orangey brown fur. I have heard that the macacques are supposed to be more dangerous but I always found those red faced dudes to be way more aggressive. This might have been one of the places I practised my hissing, a habit my present partner in crime finds quite disgusting and uncouth. Whatever. It worked. By hissing I mean making a nasty sound like you were a big cat defending territory, without actually making eye contact with the target in question. I learned this from somebody in Bombay and it worked equally well for touts ("Hello friend, yess...change money ?? Hello friend...this good watch...how much you want this watch...") and those red faced monkeys.

Anyways. Down the hill through the construction areas eventually you would come to some temples and lots of steps and pool like water tanks in dusty courtyards and on landings between sections of steps. Yeah. It was a pretty long walk, but eventually you would get through the monkeys and the temple areas and there would be no more steps and then more green vegetation and occasional short trees. It was a bit shadier down on the other side of the valley, with little traffic but the odd person carrying a big bundle of sticks on his or her head, or maybe a lone bike rider. After about ten minutes of walking on the leveled out gravel dirt road, there is a vipassana center built into a little valley, complete with a pagoda of meditation cells, and the occasional group of peacocks and hens.

Help Wanted
Wednesday, September 11 2002
Posted by brockp
I should probably also mention that Jeff and I are once again officially looking for band members for the live thing. Drummers and Bass players are particularly welcome. Email us.

Vinyl Torture
Wednesday, September 11 2002
Posted by brockp

Today's rant is sponsored by the cool used record store on a street near you. Or even a cool record store near you which also is hip enough to sell, ahem, new vinyl. I am newly re-entering the happy world of wax after a couple years sans-turntable and I must say, I have gone through an odd combination of emotions.

First I had this great joy from listening to Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis records a buddy gave me a long time ago with my young 'un. Then there was the "HA HA I am no longer a slave to YOU RIAA !!!" feeling when I decided I can now prolly afford to buy recorded music to listen to now and then.

Now I am full in the "You mean you want me to pay $15 for a Husker Du record which cost half of that in 1988 !!!" mode. You guys are prolly laughing at me. Oh poor Brock. He's just sooo out of it. Of COURSE it would cost fifteen bucks to buy a pretty clean copy of Flip Your Wig ...

That was the face the guy in the store had on when I was at the cash register. First he noted that I had decided against buying the 10" of Eight Miles High with Masochism World, Love Is All Around Us, etc. I explained that I opted for more songs for less money (the 10" was $14.99) and then he told me the Lp was also fifteen bucks. When I looked at him funny, he offerred in a slightly defensive tone that It was currently being sold at anywhere between $9 and $24. That was supposed to make me feel better. $24 to buy Flip Your Wig on vinyl. I'm sorry folks but I am NOT a collector. I'm just a guy who can never afford to buy records. In 1988 I couldn't afford the $8.99 to buy it new and I still can't afford to buy it almost fifteen years later.

So I figure I can go record shopping at the Salvation Army or Value Village. That's about it. Oh and I guess I could go to any HMV or whatever and pay $19.99 for a new CD, but then I wouldn't find Flip Your Wig even if I was gonna pay that much for it.

I suppose I ought to feel lucky. Hey ! Its only Fifteen Bucks ! At least its not $59.99 like the Nils Sell Out Young ep with like five songs on it. How about that, Alex ! One of your records is selling for $59.99 !!! Ridiculous. I mean I loved the Nils too. Some of our first shows were opening for the Nils...But it is just sick to ask somebody for that with a straight face. I bet Alex doesn't earn sixty bucks tht easy. I sure as hell don't.

Fresh Dough
Wednesday, September 11 2002
Posted by brockp

Well a couple of things have come up after John K's last visit to BC having to do with the Doughboys. First, I've placed a couple songs from an early (1986-ish) demo in a forthcoming mountain bike video from a company in N. Van called Digger Know Fear. I'll post the details for you extreme sports fans as soon as I get paid...

Second, I'm working on a deal with Boss Tuneage for the release of that La Majeure demo as a CD single and 7" vinyl. We are thinking of doing a picture disc, and here's the thing: There is a bit of a dearth of good photos from that time period. Anybody having such photos please send 'em in ! I'll even make up a special email address for ya'll to send .jpgs and stuff to. How about that ?