So I've stayed off here for the last few weeks due to the fact that all of my free time was split up in a variety of stressful events. My last month and a half has been spent trying to get a couple of clips for the new Eastern flick... The Death of fun. When Leigh called and asked if there was any way of getting clips out, I told him that would be no problem. I was just coming off a summer of being sick and hurt and was more than ready to get loose. First off my camera went on a frenzy. Not that it would matter since we were trying to get this thing done in hd and my camera was like ND or NO-Definition. I managed to get the thing back in working order right about the time I dropped some money on new one to replace it. With a new camera comes the need for an updated computer, so needless to say, my summer time show money was spent before I could even hold it in my hands. Then I stuck my cell phone in my milk driving home from the skatepark. Tyler gave me his to use till I can get one from my carrier. So with all the minor details finally fixed, I thought the hardest part of the whole deal was finally over. Boy was I ever so wrong! It's been a LONG month and a half and to the best of my recollection, it went something like this. The first day Tony and I decided to clock some clips, my car decides it wants a new computer also. It took Zane, Joe and I about a week, 2 oxygen sensors, a mass sensor, and a new computer to diagnose that one. So my truck runs better than ever, but no footage other than us towing my truck, turning wrenches and hangin' out. So my next great idea was for us to take a road trip and get some clips (one in particular) at one of my favorite skateparks out here in La Junta, Colorado. Who would have known that it was gonna be record setting temperatures there that day and we would end up with heat exhaustion. So we ended up going back a few days later. I was not feeling real well but wanted to get this one trick knocked out at this park. Plus I had felt defeated from having to leave the park early last time. My payment for my dedication? After about the tenth spinny trick, I started to get sick in the park. And I mean SICK! So I'm ralphing all over the grass with a headache like none other thinking, "this for me is really turning out to be "The Death of Fun" ". Or at least the death of me! So we had to pull over a few times for me to get sick on the side of the road (keep in mind that this is a two hour one way trip), thus completing another page in the story book of excuses that would later contribute to things getting so outta control that I thought this thing would never end. On our final and third trip, 16 hours driving back and forth, over $100 in gas, we finally got the clip, made some new skateboard friends and headed home. The next days would be filled with colder than normal days filled with rain and gloom. We crammed sessions into every little bit of nice weather we could. Built some new ramps, and played the game of getting older with my body. So fast forward to the first week of August when I was told that we were to have our footage out to Mangler . I had some last minute street spots that were definitely body wreckers if things didn't go as planned. One spot I had wanted to hit for a while but knew I had to be on the money or I was gonna get broke off. To make a long story short, I managed to bust the screen out on the second phone in not even a month. That's my new record. That was perfect timing cause I didn't want to have to tell Leigh that I hadn't sent my junk out yet. Then it rained a few days. Then I went to film some jumping stuff on the box and managed to land out of a jump with one foot on the pedal and the other on the tire. I was laughing in disbelief and in pain. I just couldn't believe that things were going so wacky for me due to what I felt was this darn video curse. So I went in that night kind of bummed knowing that things were long over due and now I had a tweaked ankle, my video clips weren't done, and I had to tell Leigh that I STILL hadn't sent things out. So I got out my trusty ice pack and stuffed it in my sock. It stung so bad that at times I put my arms over my eyes. I have to tell this part to give you full understanding of what would happen next. The next day I woke up, rode Ty to school and came home to try and ride some flat since jumping was probably out of the question. My ankle didn't feel super bad with the exception that it stung like it had a sunburn type sting and blotchy type red patches. I would gimp around for the next few days with a stinging sensation on my ankle... the same side I had put the ice pack on in the first place. So about the forth day I was unpadding from a ramp session when I noticed the skin around my ankle bubbling up and peeling away. Once again I had "freezer burned" my skin with the darn ice pack! I had done it a few years back, on my back. The skin turned brown and started peeling off like it does when you get frost bite, but that's another story. It rained the next days, which brings me right around last Saturday. I had wrote Leigh about getting that footage out to McQuuen because I was actually, finally, pretty much done. "ASAP..... overnight it to McQueen... VIDEO WILL BE DONE ON THE 14th. That's cool for me cause it's all ready to export from my computer, to my camera, to Mike. WRONG! Apple took out the share to camera option in their newest software. I just laughed. I knew it would take a few more days. So I transfered some programs from my old computer, moved some files, and wala! Nothing. WHAt? So I started my old "new" program and....Nothing. I was like, "really?". So basically, I would spend the next few days re-logging footage and cramming in some last minute clips that probably won't even be used. Monday was Labor day, couldn't send it. Tuesday I woke up sick as crude. Wednesday I spent all day transferring footage of tapes to the computer. Thursday logged tapes and got some last minute clips and logged through the night. Which brings me to Friday. Knowing that this would be THE LAST POSSIBLE DAY to get this stuff out to Mike and still sort of beat the deadline. So my ding-a-ling self decides to film some last minute jump clips thinking that if I get it done by 4 p.m. I'll have it logged and transfered to the tape by 5 p.m. and I'll send it out from the UPS store at 6 P.M. since that is when the driver arrives at the pick-up. WRONG! Everything went as planned until I decided that it was time to export from the computer to the camera. I hit export and the thing said something like "615 minutes remaining". Really? So it didn't take me long to know that with my basic math skills, I was looking at more than 1 hour. So I was finally beat. I've overcome so many roadblocks over the last month only to have it end like this. I was physically, mentally and emotionally spent. I really didn't even care at this point knowing that I probably could have avoided this, but had no way to now. So with all hope lost, I started to pad up to ride mini and just relax and enjoy riding and take my mind off the series of events that had led up to this point. But then Jenni let me came out to tell me that she had found a store that was open until 6:30 p.m. and could still get it there by Saturday. It was still on! So I took my computer out to my car ,stated my car and noticed that that battery on the camera had only 32 minutes of life left. No problem! I have a power inverter in my truck. So I turned it on, plugged the camera adapter in and then plugged it into the camera. NO CAMERA PRESENT! TRY AGAIN LATER. Huh? So I read it again. NO CAMERA PRESENT! TRY AGAIN LATER. So So once again I was back to square one. I just started to laugh. It was by far out of my control. At this point I am convinced that it has to be someone of a higher power messing with me. So I took it all back inside, plugged everything back in and went out for that much needed session with Ben, Scott and Ty. Once again, Jenni came out...."There is a Fed Ex that can do it if you get it there by 7:30 p.m. Ahh, O.K. At this point, I already know what is gonna happen. Tyler keeps and the guys kept telling me," Don't give up!". But in my mind I know this... the export won't be done before 7:30, or something will short out, or whatever. So at this point I'm enjoying a relaxed mini session, pumping out some airs when I hear Ben yelling...."Look out!!! the truck!!! I fly out on the deck just in time to see my truck rollin straight through my chain link fence, dragging Scott with him holding on to the rack trying to stop it. I'm siting here laughing just thinking about it. Needless to say, the tape didn't finish for like two and a half hours, my car got scratched, and my frostbite ankle is still peeling. I ended up going to bed after that. The tape went out today, which is really yesterday cause I started typing this yesterday but it is now today. It's coming to you Mike. Sorry it's late, but as you can see, my life is far crazier than I could ever write about. It's just another day in the life of me... the master of disaster!
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The 6 a.m. crew
Justin, Tony and the Farmers Market
Cripple Creek
Deep Freeze!
Death From Above!
Command Control Center
