Don't take it personal but...

One day I was stuck behind a "bumper soap boxer" you have seen them. They will shut up and drive but their vinyl rectangles are obnoxious.

You are the ONE!

My Dad says that "ideas are in the atmosphere" anytime you get an idea you can bet that many other people got it at around the same time. Mankind is a community. We are all connected. When any person suffers we all suffer, likewise when any one person is praised we are all praised. The "struggle" for individual is a vain pursuit of youth. Every person on earth was "THE ONE" in a million that won the race to the egg. That fact makes us all original, individual and successful!

I'm thinking...

*NOTE: ok, this post kind-of turned into a sermon of sorts... it is a sermon directed at myself for personal growth... if you see anything here that inspires you... then take it for yourself! YA!


It's not about how many things you can claim as your own invention...
It' not about what you can be the first to do or what can be named after you...
It's not about how well you keep others away from "YOUR" ideas...
it's not even about getting the credit you deserve...
It's about how much inspiration you give to others.


Is talent meant to be owned? Possessed? OR Is talent meant to be shared?

ahhh but I ramble on.. maybe its better stated in the movie SLC Punk:

"Another thing that pissed me off, talkin' about who started punk rock music. Was it Sex Pistols in England? Was it the Ramones an the Velvet Underground in New York? 'It was the Ramones!' 'It was the Sex Pistols!' Raahh! Who cares who started it?! It's music. I don't know who started it, and I don't give a *@#!.The one thing I do know is that we did it harder, we did it faster, and we definitely did it with more love, baby. You can't take that away from us."

If you see someone um "Copying" you... don't get mad... be happy! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! They probably did it first anyway... just with less publicity. ;)

There is nothing new under the sun... to try to find identity in these things is futile.
To inspire others... now that's immortality! ... even if they don't know it was you that inspired them. ;)

How did I get myself into this?

"SOCCERED!" The act of bestowing soccer on someone. Or maybe it's short for soccer-head. Either way my goose is cooked.

It all started when I signed my oldest son up for the city pee-wee soccer league. They asked for volunteers, so I wrote in "maybe" between the "yes" and "No" check boxes. When I was younger I thought my Dads favorite words were "You know better than that!" and he was always right. Yes, I knew better and yet I was suckered into Soccer coaching. RATS! "Its REAL easy" said the League president. Words like "It will be fun" and "No worries" were presented. Well, today I got a coaches packet that consumed more trees then a mortgage closing. rats. I played soccer for one year when I was like eight years old. I have never coached anything. Sure I can tell people what I think they should do, but this time... I may have bitten off more than I can chew.

to be continued...

In case you needed another excuse to buy Adobe Illustrator...

My friend Stephanie Lloyd sent me this cool tutorial for creating your own skateboard graphics using Adobe Illustrator. It looks like a lot of fun. With a little creativity you can crank out a nice piece of art... just in time for that long board slide. ;) This page also has links to other tutorials for "colour palette" selection (color way) and other helpful A.I. stuff.

Thanks for the tip Stephanie! Sorry I kinda gave you a screen full in the comments the other day. I didn't mean to vent on ya.;) You guys rock!

fly or die. VERT IS!

My brother P made this cool vid to document our two hours on legit vert at woodward Denver. Watch as I get schooled by the big ramp. We had SO much fun. Vert is addictive. Right now I can just reach the coping on the 13 foot monster but I have plans to build a behemoth of my own in the back yard *evil laugh*. You can see from the vid that I was stoked and a little giddy. Vert can do that to you!
GREAT JOB on the vid P. I dig your edit decisions. How did you know I was in the mood for a little Type-O... wait that's Sisters of Mercy, or no... who is it? Sounds just like S.O.M. to me, crazy.

UPDATE: O.K. I got the strait scoop now.. The song is obviously a cover of Sisters of Mercy's Lucretia, My Reflection performed by Project 86. Project 86 has done quite well on the remake I might add. I have met Project 86 before but that is a totally different story. A quick you tube search unearthed many versions of Lucretia, My Reflection, including a rather disappointing offering from Wes Borland's band "Black Light Burns". I found this classic Live sisters of mercy performance complete with keyboard drums and a black glove wearing bass player. I LOVE THE 80's! There is not a good youtube vid of projects remake. Oh well I guess I will have to buy it on itunes.

"Kev's Quotes" Vol 01 ep.01

"I can rant.. I can go on... but when I boil it down, it all [most] makes sense."


Welcome to "Kev's Quotes".
A Weekly quote from the K himself! This is the first week so you get two for one!



"We cleaned up all the clutter.... now we have only an empty room."

Hi, I'm Kvon.

I joined this cool forum for vintage skaters. I am excited to have a little camaRADerie with people who have responsibilities and yet still nurture their love for the ride! I had to post a little about my self in the Noobe section. I thought It might be fun to post here on the blog as well.

Hi everyone! Its good to be here. Since it is kind of hard to avoid narcissism in this particular post I decided to take it over the top with an interview of myself. I caught up to myself a while back here is how it went down:

Me: "So you are kvon"
Kvon: "That's my username, yeah."


Me: When did I start skating?
Kvon: 1985 (years earlier on a plastic GT)

Me: What was my first issue of Thrasher?
Kvon: November 1985

Me: What originally drew you to skateboarding?
Kvon: My Mom would drag me to the grocery store and I would head strait for the magazine rack. I read everything... At first I was into BMX but sometime in the late 80's I fully converted to Skateboarding. In Jr. High a couple of the rich kids had cool skateboards... boards like, NATAS, Slasher,etc. I loved the colors, the fat white Tracker copers and the jelly bean wheels. I was into the gear at first.

Me: What was your first "legit" deck?
kvon: I am a real wheeler dealer, I bartered the paper boy out of his Grosso Angel bat, then a kid at summer school talked me out of it and left me with a thrashed Roscopp face.

Me: Did you ever get a full new set up?
kvon: Yeah. My Dad took me on vacation to the west coast. On the way we stopped in Vegas and I went to some cool shop in the suburbs. I bought a teal rat bones t-shirt, A boneite Tony Hawk in navy / grey, White tracker ultra-lights and lime green cross bones.. that ride was sick!

Me: How long did it take you to learn how to ollie?
Kvon: People don't ollie, the board does that, ya get a board that can ollie and you are set.

Me: What was your first Vert experience?
kvon: Rewind a few years to '85, My Mom hauled me to Glenwood springs. There was an 11' (or so) vert ramp there with metal surface. Kids were ripping it. I sat in the car with my Nash executioner, scared to try it. I am glad I didn't, I would have looked like an idiot. In '89 I broke my wrist on that same vert ramp with a backside gone wrong. I took a few years off skating and pursued a music career.

Me: What do you skate now?
kvon: I like to go fast on the road and do big power slides. I like to go from point A to B and ollie every thing in my way. but I mostly ride my back yard mini it is 16' wide 6' tall and 4' tall all with a 7' radius. I ride vert whenever I can, mostly on trips to the city.

Me: Who do you skate with?
Kvon: I am the only known old school skater left in western Colorado.
*laughs*
I skate with my little brother, he is 18 yrs younger than me. I skate with my kids. I skate with my wife and I skate alone.

Me: What is skateboarding to you?
Kvon: as cheese as it sounds The search for Animal chin was right on, it goes back to the surfing roots, looking for that perfect ride that carries you off into the sunset... into infamy.

Me: Do you have goals in skateboarding?
Kvon: I couldn't live without goals, progress and growth in my life. I have a basic need to get better at everything I do. There are countless tricks and maneuvers that I want to learn but mostly I just want to stay stoked, healthy and skate with other people who love the ride!


I hope to get the honor to skate with you all soon!
-kvon

I got a gig!

I gotta gig.... I got A gig! I have mentioned before that I do a lot of hired gun work as a musician. I prefer to play in one band, tour and rock original material but due to the flaky nature of musicians, being a working musician seems to be the best bet for the "now". I still write my own original material, practice and perform daily but the gigs as of late have been of the musical mercenary verity. This week I got a call to play rhythm guitar for a local mega church. I asked them if we could play a few Dead Kennedys tunes and they just stared blankly. (I didn't Really say that, but if I did they would have ben like "whaaat".) [-kong fu panda] I am not much for organized religion but these people are good hearted, I like them. :) Mainly I am a drummer. This week is different because I will be playing the six string axe! I am excited. Wish me luck!
Rock it!

Happy 9!!!

Some things just make good sense. Nine years ago today I married the girl of my dreams. My girl captivates me every day. She is a model Mom and a most wonderful companion. S, You are loved by all! We can't get enough of you. I can't get enough of you! I thank God every time I think of you. Lets grow old together! Happy Anniversary!
-k

LEGENDS SIGHTING IN DENVER

Tony Alva. Christian Hosoi. Stevie Caballero. I could end this blog post with those three names and it would be complete. Howerver, In the presence of Legendary skate talent completely lose my cool and babble like a twelve year old! I got to meet Stevie, Christian and Tony! VERT YES! (thats my new explotive, not as hot as "Hell", more down to earth than "Heaven").

We arrived at the mall one hour early and grabbed lunch at Tokyo Joe's, its a little higher price and not as tasty as PEI-WEI ah but I digress. It was 30 min away from legend time when we strolled up to the Vans store and started our Search for Animal Chin aka "the end of the line". By the time the session (autograph sighing session) started the line was devastatingly long. A guy walked in at 3:10pm with a genuine Skull Skates Hosoi Hammer Head. He undoubtedly hoped to get his prize signed by the man himself... anyway the guy took one look at the line, shook his head and left. I was thinking to myself... "Would I have traded my place in line for that authentic Skull Skates Hammerhead? NOT A CHANCE!" I had driven 250 miles, purchased a hotel room and found something to keep the family busy just so I could have a chance to see three people who have devoted their lives to help shape skateboarding into the incredible gift that it is today. I waited in line with my son D for just over two and half hours. When I finely got to to meet Christian, Tony and Stevie I was as nervous, awkward and clumsy like Chevy Chase in a comedy scene. Thankfully The legends were very gracious. They rocked pictures and gave encouraging words. Thanks Stevie, Christian and Tony. The gift of your time made my day! May you skate forever!

Waiting in line with my boys! The whole family was there at the start but they finely had to bail. Understandably so.

P,A, and their friend Andrew swapped places in line with S,B and ?

Check out my Ripper eyes. Court Johnson would be proud!

Hosoi was so nice... He is one way cool person.

I am right next to Christian Hosoi... I will lose my cool in 5...4..3..2..

Legendary warriors.

I shook Cab's hand, maybe some Radness will transfer!

I wanted a pic with Cab so bad that I accidently leaned in and blocked T.A. from the pic.... RATS! My bad! Sorry T.A. I meant no disrespect.

Andrew kept his cool and got a pic with both T.A. and Cab. I think T.A. is smiling in this one. ;)

I grew up studying the moves and the style, I feel like I know these guys. I hope I get the chance to skate with them someday. I may never be as advanced on the board as them but one thing that we do share is a pure love for the ride!

5293 feet of air...

...above sea level anyway. We took a trip to the mile high city last weekend! We wanted to do something fun with the Family to finish up spring break week. I have been craving VERT and the closest REAL "vert- ramp" is at Woodward indoor skatepark in Denver Colorado. I had vacillated about taking the trip but then I heard that Steve Cabalerro, Christian Hosoi and Tony Alva would be making an appearance at the new VANS store. The news was enough to make me jump off the fence! With four gigs of mp3 sound, my wife, my kids, my brother, my sister and I packed into our suburban and hit the road. Our first stop on Saturday was at Woodward Skatepark. We paid $12 each for two hours and it was worth every penny. The guy at the counter said the Vert ramp was 13 feet tall. It was crazy. We skated for two full hours and then headed over to PEI-WEI for a well deserved feast.


We prayed for a sign... we got one!


"VERT-YA"



"13 feet-whatever... wait... he wasn't kidding!"


Discussing the artistic characteristics of the phallic graffiti on the wall


It has been awhile since I skated something
legit... at first it looked oververt... even though I knew it was just vert.

P contemplates the decision to drop.


P drops first!


K drops.


I LOVE VERT!

P bails but I like the pic


"Today we skated, tonight we FEAST!"



Going into it, I really didn't know what to expect. I dreamed of catching big airs and inverts. I dredded a fall. But with focus.. and balls I rode that ramp until I was close friends with the vert! No Mctwist today... but I am SO stoked! Skateboarding is! Vert is!

The Silhouette

In preparation for my .. uh.. movie (every video producer I know is "going to make a movie" someday... it's kind of a joke) I have been experimenting with a few shots. I want to develop a more artistic style of storytelling. Here is a short clip of a sunset shot I did the other day titled "The Silhouette". No story yet... although I have toyed with ideas that would include middle aged skaters, an unknown punk rock band, an aspiring artist, a small time movie producer... hmmm.

On through the night

I am a big fan of a blog that delivers a skateboarding related cartoon just about every day. Today the cartoon lamented a skateless day and the blanket of darkness that prohibits the ride at night. I often go for a midnight snack and think, "I wish I could go skate but it's dark. Well here is the answer (see above pic). Of course it wouldent work, but photoshop doesn't know that. ;)

The older I get the more I love skateboarding. What's up with that? I guess I am growing younger! Well with three, soon to be four children (ok in 8 months), I should fit in with my clan quite well.

B-Day!

I am a man! I fix things and rescue damsels in distress. So naturally when I noticed my wife attempting to hand cut twenty-three fondant (don't ask how I know this term) bats for B's-BIG-Batman-Birthday-Bash... I sprung into action. Armed only with a small pair of jewelers pliers I salvaged a Christmas tree cookie cuter. The transformation was worthy of an A-Team episode and I was B.A. Baracus.. only smaller and lighter skinned.
The "Bat-Cakes"

"The Bat-Face"

"The Super-Friends" "Hey what's with the Knight? Isn't this suposed to be a Batman party? Oh-well"

It's a good thing that Knight showed up.. the Dragon lurks! photo:Big Wolfe

The Dragon GRINDS! photo:Big Wolfe

The Dragon tried to eat papa A!

Four BEAUTIFUL generations!

Nana B can still bend over and touch her toes without bending her knees! She is 87!

Ya can't top the O's! Two of the best people in the whole world!

If you know Bampa then you are laughing right now! I had to take this pic! LOL!

60's Nash Sidewalk Surfboard!?

I scored this cool old NASH Sidewalk Surfboard at an estate sale this morning. Thanks for the tip Mom! ;)

lady at the estate sale claimed she had ridden it when she was very little. From the looks of it, it is of the 60's verity of NASH Sidewalk Surfboards. It is part skateboard, says it is a "Surfboard" but has handlebars like a scooter. The 60's were a crazy time! ;)

The best days are here!

I love composing all kinds of music. I like experimenting with different styles and attempting different feeling. I love skateboarding, I love springtime and I love working for myself / working from home. I also love making movies. There is a whole lot a love in this post (sans Zeppelin). Today was a double stoker with a mellow session in the morning and an all out ramp assult in the pm. Here is a vid from the morning.

NOTE: The file may take a few minutes to load. It's 90 megs. This was all shot in 1080p full HD. The file you will see has been scaled down but is still pretty high res. I am looking for ways to make HD small in file size. Sorry! :)

Ugliest HAWK ever????

My brother scored a Powell Peralta Tony Hawk 7P "Poker Chip" deck at a yard sale for a buck! I have heard this to be called the Ugliest Hawk ever. We were guessing the age of the deck. My Mom pointed out that under the front truck is stamped 2004. Now I know this deck came out in the 90's. Right? But did they ever do a re-issue? I think the 2004 is some kind of serial number. The deck is still ride-able but what a TANK! One might ask what brand of purple plastic adorns the biggest, ugliest Hawk ever... any guesses?

Old (but good) news!

Remember January 2009? I do! Jan '09 was my first month officialy on my own in the business world. In January we cellebrated my oldest son's birthday. My wife designed a pinata to look like the Death Star then we let all the kids whack it with light sabers. I hung the death star from an eye hook so I could swing it out of the way anytime the kids were moving in for the kill. The kids found this to be annoying, I on the other hand almost amused myself to death... star. Good times! Thanks to Big Wolfe for the pictures.