Roughneck: Back to Backside 9 Video

Roughneck: Back to the Backside 9
"A Race for Blood and Treasure"
12/13 2009

The contest was last Sunday, unfortunately the NorCal winter rains came down that day as well. When I woke up Sunday morning I thought for sure that it was going to be rained out, so I called Johnny to find out what was happening. He said, "If it keeps raining I'm doing it by myself in the rain. If it stops raining it's still on." Then Jimmy Nelson called me and told me he was setting up a rain board.

The rain dropped to a drizzle, a few soldiers showed up DWTWN, and Johnny said let's do this... or circa dirka, or something like that.

Noah Peacock took it. In the video it looks like Matt Pugh won. Noah won by a lot. The finish line shot in the vid is his second time down the last block.

Abby and I filmed. She was hanging out the passenger side window of the Civic. I was piloting the vehicle with our B-cam mounted via our friend (and fellow schmoo) Ben Youngerman's car mount.

Music:
Les Vieilles Salopes
"La nuit avec vous"
Jamendo.com

Back to the Backside

Get back to Backside 9 Sunday December 13th, San Francisco. That's right Johnny is doing it again, race down Backside 9 round 2. Be there.

"No more Brooklyn Banks, No worries come on BACK to the BACKSIDE 9 next
sunday. Pre-Party with FREE BBQ, BEERS, & GIVEAWAYS at DWNTWN SK8SHOP (644 Hyde @ Post) from 11-1pm. Then at 2pm the flag drops and the speed
wobbles start…BE THERE! Any other questions call 415.913.7422"

We Don't Fear the Water

Bring back the draft

Bill Moyers should be required viewing.

Louisiana Skate History

Vance Carlin, infamous skateboarder, interiewed at Lafayette Correctional Facility for "Old School: An Oral History of Skateboarding in Lafayette, LA"

Carbon Offsets are a C.R.O.C.

Thanks to Scott Bieiben for the facebook post.

The Best Quinoa Salad

On a totally random note, I wanted to share an awesome recipe I found. It's healthy and super easy to make. It also keeps pretty well, so it's nice to take for lunches.

1/4 cup parsley (I leave this out because I'm not a fan of parsley)
1/4 cup currants
1/4 cup chopped raw almonds
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/4 cup chopped mint
1/4 cup scallions- cut thinly diagonally
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil (I don't use this much, but it's up to you)

2 cups cooked quinoa
Salad Greens

Mix all the ingredients together, toss with the Quinoa, and place on top of Salad Greens.
You can put steamed/grilled chicken on top for a fuller meal (or tofu for you veggies)

Hope you enjoy!

This recipe is from Alejandro Junger's CLEAN book (I edited the video below):

Spirit of Service

On October 20th, 2009 Spirit of Service goes on sale. I'm seriously really excited about this one. If you've ever wanted to volunteer or just make the world a better place (I know, that sounds cheesy... but you know what I mean), this book is perfect. Plus, I created that video above and worked with my friend Erik Jessen who created the awesome website (SpiritofService365.com). So go buy a copy, or at least browse inside it... and then you can go save the world.


More about the book:

The Spirit of Service is a dynamic daily devotional that offers a full exploration of 365 aspects of service, organized into seven topics, presenting one from each topic every week for 52 weeks. The reader can start the book at any time of the year. The guided experience allows you to look at a full complement of ways that you can get involved in service to others, from serving the person sitting next to you to your community as a whole, from national service to actions that impact the world. The book is created to offer a daily fifteen- to twenty-minute experience that can prompt you to open your mind, your heart, your pocketbook, your calendar, or your contact list and engage. The book features unique opportunities for involvement in all sectors with every age group and every concern. Throughout the year you will read inspiring stories about what others have done, and discover efforts that you can passionately get involved in. The book also guides you to recalibrate your own awareness of the needs of others, taking you outside yourself and into the joyful state of truly making a difference.

The seven spirit of service topics are:

Money (Donate)
52 ways your money can make a difference - the best organizations where your money can keep paying it forward.

Energy (Volunteer)
52 ways to physically show up and accomplish something - incredible opportunities to put intention into action.

Focus (To bring to the attention of others)
52 explorations that put you in the driver’s seat to create interest or support in order to bring about change.

Influence (Use your personal equity to help others)
52 great ideas that utilize your existing resources and goodwill allowing you to gain momentum and get something accomplished.

Compassion (Open your heart to needs of others)
52 meditations on compassion in action - daily kindness, love and humble service.

Support (Be emotionally available; get involved and stand up for those without a voice)
52 challenges to act on what you believe in and be there when it counts.

Passage (Join someone on their journey as a guide / mentor)
52 passages that inspire you to serve as a guide, companion, mentor, guru or helpmate on someone else’s path.

Leland on the Radio

I think we're officially syndicating the John Doe Zine podcast. But hey, it's funny, and they keep interviewing people we know. Listen to Leland Ware of 48Blocks and Dwntwn.

Faces of American Healthcare

Healthcare and skateboarding, this was made for our blog. Watch it and learn about greed in the healthcare industry, and also how MS took out a great skater. (Props to Lowcard for the original post.)

Gang of Fourstar

Reading Boil the Ocean has become at least a biweekly occurence for me. You've probably noticed the many topics I've borrow from them, and this is yet another.

Gang of Fourstar is a brilliant example of art direction in skate videos (if you can even call them that anymore). ...I don't mean "art" in the way that Workshop vids (which I love) scream Koyaanisqatsi. There aren't any elements in this video that shout "we totally, like thought super hard about how to make crazy interstitials and trippy montages." It's just shot well... really well.

The direction presents itself through thoughtful compositions and portrait b-roll that leans heavily on the long lens, and plays to the strengths of those HD Panasonic's that Ty Evans ushered into skate film vernacular. ...Or to put it another way, the video is pretty... and it has a more real than real, film quality that comes from a combination of that brilliant HD and sparse usage of the fish angle.

Good job to Meza and Bagley. I've enjoyed watching Girl camp quality push skate video production. I get psyched when I see how far we've come from the Century death lens dominated VX1000 days of the 90's.

On a side note... Are we seeing the death of the death lens? I hope so.

If you can't get the vid to play at Fourstar, try this (via the Boil the Ocean comment section):

Sean Says:
October 13, 2009 at 8:03 am | Reply
Some smart cookie at Slap posted this:

open up quicktime
go file > open url
and paste http://www.fourstarclothing.com/videos/gang_of_fourstar.mov_disabled_due_to_saturation_DreamHost_JK
click ok

Hopps Commercial

Awesome Hopps Commercial. We know this already went viral on the skate web, but today we found out that our friend Dave has a cameo in there somewhere. Link via Theories of Atlantis.

Fire Extinguisher

Our homie Rachael Joy goes to bat for Climate Action. She's calling out all those lobbyists/ and politicians on the hill trying block climate change legislation. The planet is melting and she needs your help.

...Love the music, so retro 80's PSA.

Magnet on the Radio

...And in the spirit of promoting interviews with our homies... enjoy.

Lowcard is ReadyMade

Obama's War Episode One

Looks like another good series on VBS.

"In the summer of 2009, Ben Anderson travelled to the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan to document the first military campaign ordered by President Obama. Anderson provides an inside view of what life is like for Echo Company’s U.S. Marines – including getting ambushed by the Taliban and hit by a roadside bomb."

(I tried to embed the video... I don't know if VBS sucks, or if it's Blogger that doesn't work, but somebody needs to handle that.)

Johnny on the Radio

We should have posted it this a couple of weeks ago, but we had to get through all the BART Tour action.

How Would You Feel?

This is a great way to ask for money. We hope it works out for him. Thanks to Allison Davis for passing this one along (via facebook).

Schmoo'd

Some of our former Current TV peeps have started "a creative cooperative of multimedia producers with the intention of advancing the causes of rebuilding media, stable employment and fulfilling work for all." It's called Schmooru. Expect to hear a lot more about it in the weeks and months to come.

In the meantime, Schmooru has started a youtube channel for the purpose of showcasing pilot projects from Schmoos. We shared Make It Happen: Lowcard with the crew. So please watch it again, and give us some hits... also enjoy these other Schmooru related videos.

Supercharged SF

Last night was the S.F. Premiere of Supercharged. You probably missed it.



Congrats to Pete Koff.

I'm going to break your arm like a twig

I love San Francisco. In what other city would random pedestrians argue with a cop over mistreating a skateboarder? (Thanks to Marika for the heads up.)

Where the Wild Things Ought to Be

Crailtap threw a little "Where the Wild Things Ought to Be" contest. Click here for the winner.

What don't you F@#%'n understand?

Yeah, I'm a bit in blog overload this morning. Some might call it procrastination. You've probably already seen this, but some people who read this blog don't even skate, so I thought I'd share. That is an awesome promo, thanks to Boil the Ocean for reminding me of it.

Pete Koff, Supercharged

Pete Koff introducing Supercharged, the Life and Time's of Tim Brauch at the San Jose Premiere, September 26th, 2009.

(Abby iphone photo)

Jazz Funeral

Great stuff from Chuck Perkins.

BART Tour 2009 ESPN Edit

Yep another BART Tour edit. This one is the two days COMBINED! WHAT?! Thanks to ESPN for picking it up. Click here for the ESPN blog entry. Click here for our original versions.

The Tenderloin Project

Cool video I found on bhlandscape.

It's Fly.

I can't get enough of Fly, a blog about design & fashion. The designer from Philly says:

"I have collected images, websites, and photos that continue to inspire me. Along the way I felt that I had to share these things with you hoping to create a train of inspiration."

And yes, her blog continues to provide me with inspiration every day. Check out two of her recent vids:





For more Fly videos YouTube.com/apippins.
To follow on Twitter: Twitter.com/flygirlblog.

MIA Funky in Frisco

...Two rad videos from MIA skate shop, with Ben Gore, Danny Fuenzalida, Brian De LaTorre, Steve McClintock, Yonnie Cruz, and Zack Gonzales destroying San Fran.

"Big Insurance: Sick of It": SF Protesters Rush Anthem Blue Cross Office

This whole video was shot with my iPhone. I edited in some text and a few photos I shot as well.


Yesterday during my lunch break I ventured across the street to participate in a rally called "Big Insurance: Sick of It." I'm pretty bad at estimating crowds, but if you know San Francisco, the protesters took up a good thick city block and then some. I could barely elbow my way through the crowd (a short persons' claustrophobic nightmare), which was filled with giant signs, megaphones, and camera crews. I had my iPhone on me and decided to take some pics and video. I put together this video montage of the events which included a group of people bum-rushing the Anthem Blue Cross offices above the protest. I tagged along (although I think it was suppose to be only "media")... Obviously, Angela Braly, CEO of Wellpoint, Blue Cross, the intended recipient of the "List of Demands," never actually surfaced, but it was a valiant effort on everyone's part. These protests took place across the country, and I hope they made a big dent in the fight against giant Health Industry corporations.

I believe the protests were put on by Health Care for America Now, and possibly MoveOn.org (they both had plenty of pamphlets to hand out).

In the video you'll see Billionaires for Wealthcare singing one of their songs. You can find the lyrics to that song here [you'll need to scroll down to the bottom of that page].

I also met some nice people from change.org and sfnewsfeed.us.

Supercharged this Saturday

Our friend Pete Koff just sent over the premiere dates for Supercharged: the Life and Times of Tim Brauch. If you've been reading the blog then you know that we've helped out a little on this film. In fact the video posted above is the open sequence that Jeremey cut a month or two ago. (It has an alpha channel, which is why it goes to black.)

We can't wait to see the finished project on the big screen. Be there.

SUPERCHARGED DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE DATES:

San Jose at Camera 12 Cinema
Saturday September 26,
First show @7pm(doors at 6:30) and 9pm(doors at 8:30)
201 South Second Street San Jose, CA 95113 (408)-998-3300

San Francisco at the Victoria Theater
Thurs Oct.1 at 7:30pm(doors at 7)
2961 16th Street San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 863-7576

Santa Cruz at the Rio Theatre
Thurs Oct. 15th at 8pm(doors at 7:30)
1205 Soquel Avenue Santa Cruz, Ca 95062 (831) 423-8209

Obama Why?

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

BART Tour 2009 Part 2 Video: SF Library Best Trick

Roughneck BART Tour 2009 Part 2 went off at the San Francisco Library, Sunday September 20th. Paul Trep took it with a switch double heelflip. Enjoy the footage. Thanks to Shane Andrews for running second angle, death lens. The music was provided by Plasma Raygun, via Jamendo.

SF Library Best Trick Screens

BART Tour Round 2 at the San Francisco Library gap is coming. I've been cutting all day... and waiting on slow renders. Not sure why my computer is acting lame. It should be up by tonight or tomorrow. (Edit: It's up... that was quick. Click here.) In the meantime, here's some screens.











You can also peep the 48 Blocks edit:



You can also watch our friend Hidehiko's edit here.


Edit: To watch our video click here.

Top Ten Reasons to Support a Public Option

I've become pretty political lately when it comes to Health Care Reform and the Public Option (you know my whole 'personal story' and all). So much so, that I started a Facebook page for like-minded people.
Anyhoo, one thing I've found (other than realizing why so many people don't get political: angry friends= not fun) is that a lot of people don't see the benefit to a Public Option. They think it will create higher taxes, that it will become "government run", and so on. So, I've put together my top ten reasons why we should have a Public Option. I've even included references/links. They might not be in the order you would put them in, but hey, we can't agree on everything.

Quick Edit: I'd like to add a quote from The Nation's article: What Obama Should Be Saying About a Public Option:

"Obama can still get a public option. But he needs to understand that the public option is, itself, a compromise. It falls short of the "Medicare for All" model favored by serious reformers. As such, the president cannot compromise the compromise."

Top Ten Reasons to Support a Public Option

10. We Love Other Public Options
Imagine what it would be like if we didn’t have these Public Options. If my house is burning down, I really don’t want to call 911 and have them make sure my fire station takes my HMO.

9. People Should Come Before Profits
The Health Industry spends over 6.2 million lobbying against the Public Option, and is known for rescinding insurance coverage of patients in order to get higher bonuses. That says a lot about where the private industry interests go when it comes to your health and wellbeing. Your health should not be someone else’s bottom line.

8. Help the Backbone of Our Economy
A Public Option would help small businesses by saving them thousands of dollars. It would also help contractors and freelancers, college students transitioning into the workplace, and those who recently lost their jobs (can anyone actually afford COBRA?).

7. It's American!
Having as many choices as possible as well as creating competition is “American,” isn’t it? Well, 76% of Americans are asking for a choice between a public and private option. And to those who say it's unfair competition, I hate to break it to you, but public universities have not killed private universities. Bring on the choices, bring on the competition!

6. Put the Breaks on Special Interests
A democratic government is supposed to be run “by the people, FOR the people”. Not “by the rich, for the private interests”. Get it together, Max Baucus. When you receive over 2 million from the health industry, it’s not hard to see why you’re on their side. Except you work for us—the public.

5. Put Our Money Where Our Families Are
This is NOT the issue to wave the "fiscally conservative" flag. Why can we spend near trillions of dollars on wars, but not even close to that on creating healthy American people? PLUS, Obama even says he won't sign a bill that adds to our deficit! AND just because you think you're being economically mindful (looking past the odd moment to be so), doesn’t mean that in the long run you’re actually making a fiscally conservative judgment (you’ll see at #2)

4. Longer, Healthier American Lives
The United States has a life expectancy below that of 41 other nations, and over 45,000 Americans die each year from lack of Health Insurance. A Public Option would give these people a fighting chance that would dramatically improve our ranking.

3. Move Into the 21st Century
Universal health care is available in all industrialized countries except ours. At the very LEAST we should have a Public Option!

2. Save our Economy
The majority of Americans who filed for bankruptcies in 2007 were due to medical costs... and of those people, 80% had Health Insurance. A Public Option will help bring down bankruptcies by lowering costs, creating competition, and in the long run save all Americans money (we won’t be paying for all those bankruptcies!).

And the Number 1 reason to support a Public Option...

1. It's the Right Thing To Do
It’s a moral issue. We, as humans, should not decide who does or does not get help when they need it. Every person deserves health care. Apologies to those who are not Christian, but to quote Susan Brooks’ article: “Jesus was not about debating whether we should or should not heal the sick; Jesus went ahead and delivered health care directly to people who didn't have any health care.”

(The Lord said) “'For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. ' They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. '” (Matthew 25:42-45 NIV)

~~~~~~~~
If you're on the same page as me... come join No Compromise! Americans for the Public Option.

No Compromise! Americans for the Public Option

Extremely Sorry: Flip Premiere SF

Flip Extremely Sorry was awesome. Lance Mountain killed it. Thanks to Shrewgy for hooking TeamJaded up VIP style.

Barack Obama Responds to My Open Letter

Remember my Open Letter to Barack Obama? Well, he wrote me back. Seriously!
And although it's a totally canned email (doesn't the "Dear Friend" give it away?), and I'm sure thousands of other people receive the same one, I thought I'd share.

Dear Friend:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I have heard from countless Americans struggling to afford health insurance and health professionals striving to provide care. I appreciate your perspective.

There is broad consensus among the American people on the need for affordable, high-quality health care. The rising cost of health care is the most pressing financial challenge for families and for our Nation, and controlling this cost is essential to bringing down the Federal deficits we inherited. We must end unfair insurance practices that leave millions of Americans without coverage, denying them access to care, and exposing them to extraordinary burdens. And we should ensure that all small business employees have access to affordable, high-quality health plans so that we can make our economy--and our small businesses- -more competitive. Now is the time to move forward, and I am working to get health insurance reform done this year.

Since I took office, we have done more to improve health care than we have in the previous decade. In February, I signed H.R. 2 to provide coverage for millions of children through the Children's Health Insurance Program, and I signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to make key investments in computerized medical records and preventive services.

Still, more must be done to lower costs, expand coverage, and improve the quality of health care. My 2010 Budget makes a major down payment on health insurance reform by implementing efficiencies in government health care spending while improving the quality of care. To help fulfill the debt we owe to our service men and women, it includes the largest proposed single-year increase in veterans funding in 30 years. It expands health care coverage to an additional 500,000 veterans by 2013, implements technology that eases the transition from military care to veterans' care, and enhances screening and treatment services for those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Looking forward, there are tough choices to be made, and I will seek to bring employers and workers, health care providers and patients, and Democrats and Republicans together to create a system that delivers better care and puts the Nation on a sustainable, long-term fiscal path. To learn more about my agenda or to share a personal story, please join me online at: www.healthreform.gov. For further information on health care and assistance that may be available to you, you may call 1-800-FEDINFO or visit: www.usa.gov.

I share the sense of urgency that millions of Americans have voiced. I watched as my ailing mother struggled with stacks of insurance forms in the last moments of her life. This is not who we are as a Nation; together, we will fix it.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

To be a part of our agenda for change, join us at www.WhiteHouse.gov

Lost and Found

Just in case you thought we forgot about the Make It Happen Project think again. Scott and Liz from Lost Film Fest, stopped by our house Wednesday night (on a brief S.F. detour on their way back from Burning Man) ...and they hooked us up with a TON of awesome footage and stills for Make It Happen: Lost Film Fest. In fact, way more than we could ever use. Thanks guys, you're awesome.

Michael Moore Gives Out Free Lunch to Bankers in SF... and to me.

I stumbled upon Michael Moore today near the Ferry Building. To promote and discuss his new movie Captialism: A Love Story, he gave out free lunch to all bankers. Although I don't even balance my checkbook (do people still do that?), I was given a nice turkey sammich from Specialties. Yum... Thanks Mr. Moore!





Here's the trailer: