Doin it for the streets

Minnesota Trip / Video Review

2012-01-25T22:05:00.000-08:00

Finallllllly Jeffk has gotten around to editing our trip to Minneapolis - and while it is better than his other recent edits, the sound selection is still seriously lacking and there are a few too many stereotypical shots for my taste.

The trip was a really amazing time, one of the more fun trips I've had, though I wish we would have ridden more. Minneapolis street is siiiick. I love the old architecture, the brick buildings - I nearly died when I found that little kinked rail spot off that loading dock, that neighborhood was beautiful. Also, this was the first time I had ridden since I separated my shoulder in june!, so I was happy to have some clips. That mungbox was also a "nooooo way..." moment.

The star of this video is clearly Reed Stark. What you don't see behind my clips in the video is that each one took me like 100 tries to pull. What you don't see behind his clips is that he pulled each either first try, or at worst 3rd or 4th try. That rail ride to 360 turndown bump jump is just unbelievable, and the rail to hard 3 OVER the sign is definitely in the top 5 most amazing things I've ever seen in real life. Add to that a kid who is super positive, and also grounded, he doesn't waste his time dreaming about redbull sponsorship or some bullshit like most kids these days. The kid is just doin it for the streets.. he's definitely my youngest hero right now.

Finally I should mention something about my current trip. I'm still in India, and I haven't posted much on the blog because not much has happened, and what has happened has sucked. At some point I'd like to make a detailed write-up about what my experience of this country has been - including now my 4th intestinal infection which has me pissing out of my asshole - but I just haven't been feeling up to it. I'm tired of this country, the people, the sheer laziness and lack of reflection behind everything here, the slave/caste system, and the layers of hypocrisy so thick that the U.S. looks like a utopia in contrast. And the "spirituality" here would give the negative qualities of fundamentalist christians a real challenger.. So in short, I'm just looking forward to coming home. I'm going to book my flight ticket home soon and if I'm very, very lucky I'll be back in Milwaukee just as february begins.

So, please enjoy this video and press mute as necessary!:

THE LEVEL BELOW - 2011 MN TRIP from The Level Below on Vimeo.

Niggga Bwaaaaaaaah!

2012-01-08T03:20:00.001-08:00

There are these crazy hindu temples everywhere, usually the statues are violent, this is the craziest one I've seen. Those are umbilical cords, and a man-fetus in his 4th left hand.

Hurricaine Thane

2012-01-07T03:55:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to update this blog for sometime, as usual, however it was a decent pain in the ass to use internet before; after the hurricane the power is still out 10 days later so just getting a charge on my computer is really difficult. They predict it will be 3-4 weeks before power is restored. So I'm living the rural indian life without electricity. They've finally got the computer lab back up so even though the place is blown out I've found a plug and took the last chair to sit in this hot corner and post some pics.

The hurricane was.. a real hurricane. The wind picked up wednesday morning (10 days ago), blew all day, and at some point it started raining. By thursday night the winds were raging full blast - the eye of the storm literally passed over us. The winds raged all night, we hardly slept at all wondering when these shitty little window slats were going to blast in, the curtains the only thing between us and the wind (no building is actually sealed with anything but a screen here). Things crashed and the wind would ramp up and down, and it was something like a train. I've been in wisconsin storms and they are vicious but they are almost always over after 20 minutes; the peak of this storm lasted a good 12 hours. In the end 70% of the trees in the area have been knocked down and most people living under thatched roofs are no longer living under thatched roofs. Luckily we were in a solid brick building, so I wasn't really scared, but it was in a way sickening to hear that destruction keep going and going and going..

I think the most amazing part about it was that nobody prepared - nobody seemed to care. I asked people, "Are you aware that they are predicting 130 km/h sustained winds with gusts to at least 150 km/h?" They responded "Ohhhh it's fine, we get storms here a lot". Ok. Well, they didn't even bother taking down the hanging plants. It's sooooooooo bizarre here, it's like using logic has no gravity here, NO sense of emergency preparation. "As you wish!" And then of course it happened, and everyone is in this state of alert, and what a shame it is, and it was so bad, and it wasn't what we expected.. I'm not sure what they expected; it was a fucking hurricane. And as expected, a lot of stuff got broken. A lot of my neighbors houses that I couldn't see before were revealed overnight - almost the entire garden, including trees, was chopped or uprooted.

So below are a few photos of the event. But since it is a rural area it's hard to understand the level - more damage was done in the villages around but I didn't make the trip there to see.

The first is a photo of what I was looking at for 12 hours: a curtain held down by a chair. The light is our LED flashlight - there was no power so all I saw was flapping and all I heard was howling and crashing. (I also took some video - in fact I even tried running outside with the VX, but then when glass was shattering again I ran back in and decided it wasn't worth it.. but I got some good clips I think, to be posted someday..)

The second is the backyard as the storm was calming I guess friday morning. Still pouring. Missing a brick wall and what was a nice little jungle now thinned out a bit..

Next shot is out front where the road out was the day before.

Next is the main road - which was road-sized - now a path. We got there after it had been "cleared". And the dog in the pic adopted us for a good hour, a tiger colored dog, so sick, super sweet.

And the last the remains of what was a little forest..

Nooooo way

2012-01-06T22:11:00.000-08:00

Found by Thomas, an actual village in france. For those who don't know, "le" is the masculine form of "the" in french, in other words it's perfect. Googling it I found there is also a place that is really called "Chatêau du Mung", mung's castle. Maybe I have roots there in small town royalty?.. At least it proves my love for France goes back many generations..

Ummmmmmmmm

2011-12-27T02:54:00.001-08:00

So apparently a "severe cyclone" is headed right for us and is supposed to make landfall like tomorrow. Since we are staying in a place that, literally, doesn't even have any windows.. not sure what the next move is going to be. That pinpoint marks about where I am right now..

Auroville

2011-12-26T00:47:00.000-08:00

I still am planning to make some kind of word update soon.. but I am now in Auroville, near pondicherry, india. This place is fucking weird - that's to say, politically it is basically a religious cult, but the other half is all ecological/sustainable projects where the normal people are. Anyways, more words on that later I hope. For now, according to google earth, as the crow flies I am 8,570 miles (or 13,790 km) from milwaukee. This is approximately the same distance as to the east coast of Australia. It is warm everyday, though it cools off at night to around room temperature. I would say it's between 80 and 90 F during the afternoon (maybe 30 C). There are banana and papaya trees all over the place, and a lot of other things that one would expect in a tropical place, including a good dose of shadiness. I still haven't been taking a lot of photos but there are some still waiting and some I'll add right now:

Indian rice cooker

Monkeys creepin on the lunch

The Hercules "Thriller" weighing in at somewhere between 50-60 lbs. Probably solid iron construction..

A mini roadtrip on the highway outside of auroville..

Pimped out tourbus. The next step in american ghetto wheel size.

And after being hit with a sickness again, my disappearing stomach last week.

SKNY mixtape

2011-12-21T22:33:00.000-08:00

The internet is so slow here I literally cannot watch videos online, no matter how long I wait, so I'm taking a chance by posting a video I've never watched. It's from the wroclaw polish homees, and I'm pretty sure I have at least a clip or two in it as well. Let me know if it's good, I may not be able to watch this for a long time unfortunately. Also I planned to make a post about auroville today but I forgot my camera cable, so maybe I'll add some words in a little bit. For now I'll just say this: this place is CREEPY.

SKnY Mixtape 2011 from channel SKnY on Vimeo.

Anjuna

2011-12-08T01:47:00.000-08:00

I have to pay to use the internet here and sitting on a computer here always feels hot so I have procrastinated about posting some photos. There's too much to say about this place; I'll try to condense it (at least for my own standards). First some words, then some photos.

[A quick summary for those who don't want to read the rest: I haven't worn jeans, or even shoes, in probably a week. It's always warm here, at noon it's fucking hot, at night it's quite nice. I'm here mostly to do yoga, 5 days per week every morning. But I'm also here to explore India a bit. It's dirty, lots of things are sketchy, doing basic things frequently takes a lot longer than you'd think, and almost everyone is a hustler. It's supposed to be inexpensive - it's not, it's about the same as back home. But still, last I checked it was freezing in Milwaukee, and here there are a million beaches and palm trees if I travel north, so for the moment I'm ok with this..]

I was picked up at the airport by a taxi and was driven 45 minutes to a hotel in anjuna. Generally, if there is an oncoming car, that is the time that indians decide it's ok to pass. It's one of the few times I've been genuinely sketched out in a car. A few days later Caitlin and I moved into an "apartment". It's basically two small connected rooms, a bathroom, and a "kitchen" - an counter outside with a burner and a hole for a sink. There's no water in the kitchen so we use a jug to bring it from the bathroom.

It was a hard adjustment to feel comfortable here - though it's hardly a problem of culture shock in my opinion. The first night was kind of a nightmare - wild dogs barking all night, neither of us slept more than an hour (the building is unsealed, it's basically like being in a big tent). Then there's the roaches - after they crawled into both beds we decided it was time to fix that problem by blasting the apartment with roach killer. Haven't seen one in a few days, though my tolerance is much better after dealing with a few monsters. And then there's the rats.. Look at the kitchen photo of caitlin and note the roof. That roof is the same roof as the interior. There's a gap between the wall and the roof. This is the "rat highway". They have their tea parties and construction projects usually starting around 3 am, and it's the squeaking that wakes us up. Seriously, it is fucking loud. Apparently they hate flashlights so this is our only remedy for the moment.

Leaving the apartment was also initially quite difficult - you can't really walk here. The roads are skinny, there are no sidewalks or even trails, and so it's impossible to take a nice walk - or a nice bike ride. And there is no town center to hang out in, it's just random from here to forever. The beach of anjuna, the town we are in, is filled with hustlers, so it's quite uncomfortable to walk there too. One guy even shoved tweezers in my ear as I was walking. It was a middle aged man who handed me a laminated card that said "I am [indian name], I am 21 years old and I am the best ear cleaner in the world". Then he started pulling "pebbles" out of my ear. And all this time I had rocks in my ears without knowing..

But we've adjusted. We know what to expect now. Talking from a zen perspective, it was all about failed expectations - the "bohemian" beachside town with beautiful palm tree photos is actually just a sketchy shithole with a few vegetarian restaurants. Ok. Tough to take, but we are moving forward. The main factor that really helped was renting a moped. We resisted for the first week - everyone is zooming around on mopeds to do anything, even to go down the block. It's like american culture on steroids. But, after realizing the kind of town we are in, renting a moped was the way to liberation. The beaches to the north are much, much, much quieter, and almost hustle free. They are also more beautiful.

On sunday we took the moped on an odyssey - and I say odyssey because even Indians here comment on how vintage my rental moped is (see photo below, the definition of style for sure!) At $2/day, you get what you pay for. We took it north around two hours, searching with obscure directions for a dream beach - apparently uninhabited for kilometers. But the moped couldn't handle it, at least not with two people onboard - the tire overheated and we got a flat, literally at our farthest point. But it was a blessing in some way because it was our first positive interaction with indians - after about a minute we had a small crowd of dudes rushing to find us tools. One guy hopped on his moped and went home, came back to produce a grocery bag full of random tools. Another guy sliced open his hand trying to loosen rusty bolts that probably haven't been moved since 1973. And after about a half an hour they changed it - and insisted that I don't give them any money. All that with a shared vocabulary of "yes", "no", "brake", and "thank you". That really lifted my spirits. But after the flat caitlin lost the motivation to continue our searches and insisted we return. But I have plans to go back and reattempt the journey on my own. I'd tell you how far it was, but both the odometer and speedometer are broken - but I think the gas guage works. And, another note, there are almost no road signs here. A bit north the only signs are in Hindi. Finding anything is through trial, error, and luck.

So now each day we have settled into a pattern. I get up super early, do zen, then go to the yoga shala for a 2 hour session, 5 days per week. After yoga we cook breakfast, chill, and then usually read or do some chores - and we have to do everything here by hand, including the laundry, so the day goes by fast. Later in the afternoon we go off to a beach for a walk, and yesterday for my first swim. Around 6 we start on dinner, and by the time we are done doing the dishes, etc (which takes a long ass time without running water) there's a little time left to chill and then go to bed.

The yoga practice has been good, my flexibility and strength are changing by the day. The students are surprisingly unpretentious, and I made friends with a finish (finland) couple but unfortunately they left yesterday. There are people there from all around the world, and I'm probably the least serious of everyone there. People are throwing their legs behind their heads and I'm just trying to balance on one foot. It's pretty awesome to be a beginner at something - no pressure because I have nothing to prove. The main teacher is this old tiny german guy, he's really awesome. The first few days he would yell across the shala (of like 50 people), "No no no, Riiiiiichard, not like that!" But he does it in a really positive way so I get a big kick out of it.

We will stay here for two more weeks, then we are off to some experimental hippy town on the east coast called auroville, google it, there's lots of info on it. For the moment I don't endorse it, it's just an (also overpriced) experiment for us. We've signed up for yoga there and I'm going to try to volunteer on some projects, they are doing all sorts of hippy shit I could potentially like - though it pisses me off that they offer no food or accommodation in exchange. Sounds like bullshit to me.

I could stay here in anjuna, but what sucks is I literally can't ride, not even to the store - there's nothing, just skinny roads and dirt. Except. I found this spot that is an abandoned resort, they laid the foundation but then quit. That means that it is just concrete, some curbs, and stairways that go into the sky but lead nowhere. It's on top of a bluff sort of overlooking the ocean, no one around. In short, THE best flatland or anything spot, photogenic as hell. When I found it I shit myself. However, on my first and only attempt to date it is guarded well by a pack of wild dogs. I cannot describe what kind of letdown that is, especially when there is nothing else to ride here. The dog problem here is huge, and I honestly don't know how safe they are, or how to tell. I really wish I had a giant can of pepper spray so I could push the limits more. Dog attacks are not uncommon, and I'm not sure if I'm that dedicated to street.. but fuck, I think I'll try one more time anyways..

Ok this is getting long. The photos (I still haven't figured out how to put captions on the photos so it's awkward looking.):

Cockroaches

Geckos

Kitties

[not shown - cows, frogs, and a monstrous six foot long snake]

The only sandals I could find in my size. It was between Che and the Chicago Bulls, but the Bulls were unfortunately one size too small. Maybe the biggest disappointment of the trip. Trying to find anything functional is this town is nearly impossible, by the way..

The "kitchen"

The bedroom - note that there is no screen or mosquito netting. It's like we've been outside since we arrived.

Indians dispose of garbage by burning it. I haven't seen one garbage truck in 2 weeks.

I'm not sure ghandi would be proud of having his mug on the largest currency in India. But with that wad it's seriously baller status here..

Me and the moped.

The moped, the spare tire and the backpack saddlebag.

One of many beaches.

Me, my farmer's tan, emo vibes and ocean water that is warm enough to take a nap in.

[Also not shown: the roads and the crazy driving situation.]

Final Dubai Post

2011-11-25T07:39:00.000-08:00

There's some more photos I might post, but I wanted to post some final, less serious words on the dubai experience as well. Right now I'm in india, the power is out again but I'm at an internet cafe with a generator.. so the photos will have to wait.

First, thanks to jerome and amy for putting me up for 10 days, I had a good time.

We covered, quite literally, almost every neighborhood in the city on bmx while I was there. Given that the city is pretty big, that's a huge success. Dubai is THE land of curbs and gibs. There are some streets with a gib wallride off of every driveway. I saw hundreds of street gaps - where the sidewalk slants up, then a curb, then a car-width alley, then another curb. And dubai is also the land of wedges - if they want some decorative architecture, the wedge is their go-to.

Apart from all the serious talk of slave labor - see below if you are interested - there is also a lot of seriously funny shit that goes on there. My favorite is the security guards. First some background knowledge. The thing with dubai is that since most of the population is low paid immigrants, it sets up a kind of caste system - with the emiratis and the white people at the top. What this means is that all the security guards are either indian or philopino. The lower class. This causes some rather strange results for two tall white kids riding bmx. And add into it the cultural differences and.. when a security guard approaches us, half the time they are giggling, or even outright laughing. As if they were in elementary school and someone were tickling them with a feather. They may not say anything. And if they do, they are scared of us. They feel uncomfortable being the lower class confronting what they assume is the ruling class - us. Just because we are white. So when they do finally kick us out, it's not "get the hell out of here" but rather something like, "Oh hello.. Um. Well. I'm not [giggle] so sure [giggle] that it is the best idea to do that here. [giggle] Maybe, if you don't mind, you could go somewhere else for a bit?" And we get such a kick out of it we have a hard time feeling bad about it. And I would say overall most of the security guards just watch us and don't even bother kicking us out - or they'll only try once but then say "fuck it" and let us be.

Other funny things about dubai. When we went street riding we would sometimes take a cab to get to the farther points. To do this you must order a "big taxi" - a minivan. But it is not a "large" taxi - they won't know taht word. And then, there's the fact that they have no addresses there.. everything is by landmarks. So every time I hear jerome call for a taxi, I hear this: "Hello. Yes, I need a big taxi. A BIG taxi. Yes. I live in Al Nahda 2 by the NMC specialty hostpital. THE NMC SPECIALTY HOSIPTAL. Ok, so after you pass the hospital, you'll see the Karachi Darbar on the corner. The KARACHI DARBAR. Turn right at the Karachi Darbar, then pull over into the first bus stop. The bus stop. Ya. That's my building." That is an address in dubai. It's funny everytime.

There is a plethora of children's underwear that people leave in the sand fields between buildings. No one knows what the deal with that is.

Indians aren't afraid to stare at you. They just straight up stare, even if you look back at them. That's just normal for them, even just on the metro. For minutes. Super uncomfortable sometimes being a westerner with western feelings and habits. Being tall, white, and riding a bmx bike can easily attract a crowd which lasts for 10 minutes or more. But ridinbg it's not like the US - they smile and laugh and are amazed, a quite positive vibe.

The guava juice is the best fruit drink I've ever had in my entire life. Not bad at $3USD for a 2 liter.

"Downtown dubai" is like downtown chicago - but if chicago were dropped into the middle of the desert, spread out along a ridiculous freeway, and then with half the roads literally unfinished so that it is impossible to go anywhere in some places. If I had a dollar for every step I took carrying my bike through the sand..

Crossing roads in dubai can be deathdefying. The only others you will see riding bikes are indian delivery riders - all riding bikes with a double top tube. You are instantly friends with all of them for being white and riding, and getting a smile and a wave is pretty easy to do.

All of dubai is a desert - most of it uncultivated. There are insane golden sanddunes covering much of the south. I took a drive to see it.

There's lots more about dubai too, but that is probably the most interesting stuff. The internet cafe is shutting down, I think the guy doesn't want to pay to run the generator anymore. I'm going to make my way back to the apartment in the pitch black.. I hope to post some thoughts on india soon. A short summary: sketchy as fuck. But the yoga has been fun with this small, old funny german guy.

I N D I A

2011-11-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

After a long winding ride in a taxi, playing chicken with oncoming cars from time to time, I have arrived in anjuna, india.

Slavery in Dubai / Modern Capitalism

2011-11-18T05:43:00.000-08:00

-Slavery in Dubai-

The other day I went to the "labour camps" on the outskirts of Dubai to see for myself. I had a hell of a time finding them, mostly because every so-called investigative reporter didn't bother to mention exactly where the camps were (and you'd think they would if they are really trying to reveal to the world what goes on..) So I'll start by fixing their error, in case anyone tumbles upon this via google: I have found two camps. The larger one seems to be in Muhaisnah 2, also called Sonapur (but not written on the map as such). It is directly east of the airport, just south of Emirates Road (E311), and just southeast of the Al Qusais neighborhoods. It's a huge block surrounded by a wall with barbed wire fence - you can't miss it. The second I've found (though I went through at night, and thus I don't have any photos to post) is in the Al Quoz Industrial Areas (I believe in both 2 and 4), on both sides of Al Marabea Rd (D65), in between the actual factories.

I should preface the rest of this by saying that I'm no expert or journalist. I didn't talk to any of the workers living there. I felt bad enough just being white going around with my camera snapping pics of how shitty these people's lives are. If I were an actual reporter maybe I would have tried to get an interpreter and do interviews, but people have already done that - so google it. Instead, I'm posting this from a personal perspective, some personal reflections, some personal photos. I don't know how these people's lives really are (though I am certain that they are not anything resembling "good"), but I can give an honest vision of what I've seen here so far.

What becomes quite obvious after being in Dubai for a couple days is that there is a distinct class system here. The emiratis are almost always in luxury cars, and the westerners fall into two categories, either tourist or worker, but always somewhere between well-off and wealthy. Something else to notice is that the neighborhoods are quite segregated. There's hardly any westerners east of the river, in fact for how "international" this city is supposed to be, I've hardly seen any westerners at all - because they are all hidden in the ultra-wealthy neighborhoods far to the west, away from all the workers.. but that is nothing new.

What is new here is that, if one pays attention, one will see these little white or beige buses shuttling around all over the place. And they are always filled with either indians (including pakistani, bangladesh, and sri lankan decent) or southest asians (mainly philipino). These are frequently marked by the company that owns them - "Emiratis construction" for example. These are the buses that go back and forth between home and workplace. Not all of these buses are destined for the infamous labor camps, some go to various other highrises (away from the wealthy of course). But, judging by the shear size of the labour camps, most of these buses are destined for the camps. Follow them to find out.

Another thing one notices here is that it seems construction never stops (except on the holy day, Friday, since it's probably some kind of national law). Even in "downtown dubai" after midnight workers are feverishly working, high up above our heads, making all kinds of construction noises. I've heard that they work long shifts (12 or perhaps 14 hours per day) but they must also be working in rotation to keep construction going all night. In any case, I've never seen so much construction going on all over the place.

Here's what I've read: the "labour camps" are the housing provided for the workers. Here's how it apparently works: a recruiter goes to various villages in poverty stricken countries, like those mentioned above. They say that, for a fee of around $2,500 the recruiter can set them up with a company in dubai, with everything covered: work visa, employment, apartment, food. Everything. And that they can pay back the fee within 6 months of arriving. Being poor and therefore probably uneducated, they fall for the ruse. They come to try to send money back to their families. They arrive here. Their employers confiscate their passports: "You are ours now". No passport, no leaving. Then their "apartment" turns out to be one room in a shitty multi-level building to be shared with as many as 8 other people, with triple bunk beds on each side of the small room. People keep their belongings on their beds - there's no other space. The companies own and operate these camps. They own and operate the buses that shuttle the workers to and from each worksite. They dictate every moment of the workers' lives. And they must comply - if they are fired they will have nothing. In 2005 the Indian government registered 971 deaths from Indian nationals in the UAE - since they are mostly young men, presumably this is from either heat exhaustion or starvation. That is the only statistic I've found - perhaps the government here insisted that they stop counting. I've read that there are between 100,000 and 300,000 people living in these labor camps.

Below is some of what I've seen (I post the photos at the end because blogspot is always retarded and never orients anything right, so they are always at the bottom). In the first photo you can see the name of the company owning the building: Dubai Sky Construction. This is one place where the people live that construct those shiny buildings all the white people flock here to see. And this photo is most representative of the kind of habitation I saw: everything is hung out to dry on the walkway for a reason, there's no space inside. The second photo is of another building which, surprisingly, is actually labeled "labour camp". That falls under the category of either stupidity or arrogance.. In the third photo you can see one of the infamous buses exiting passed the barbed wire fence/wall - to keep them in or to keep others out?.. The fourth and fifth photos are two other views.

The camps smelled bad, like garbage - but I don't know if that was the camp itself, or the landfill that was across the street. There are buses all over the place. There are no street lights. There are almost no stores. There is nothing else - no recrational areas (except empty sand lots, of course), nothing to do, nowhere to go. And if one does want to go anywhere, the city is a long way - but they couldn't afford that anyway. The other striking feature is this: there are absolutely no women, only men. Men who leave their homes for years at a time with the hopes of providing something for their families.

In short, Dubai functions on a very simple model. Oil provides wealth for the emiratis, both in their ridiculous levels of capitalism, but also for purchasing building materials in a country which has, literally, nothing to offer except oil (it's one of the driest places in the world, and nothing grows here. It's just sand). Next, by exploiting the ignorance of poor foreigners they create a very, very inexpensive labor class to build things with the materials their oil money has purchased. There's a reason why the emiratis don't address the passport-theft issue.. And of course, they pay some westerners high wages to manage everything - the emiratis couldn't have done any of this themselves. And so it is only with the help of westerners that this slave class can exist - no matter how much they insist that they "feel bad" for what is going on and "wish they could do something". Everything here is built on oil and slavery - it could not exist without it. The expats living here, as well as the tourists, are having a fun time on the backs of the world's poorest - myself included. (And those who rode in the xgames here too.. but it wouldn't be the first time bmxers didn't think about what they were doing). The only way to escape it is to leave - the only way. If you live in dubai you are forever implicated in keeping these people slaves.. but take the gears out of the system and it collapses just like that..

Up until 1962 the UAE was an impoverished shithole. One sheikh brags that his father was riding camels, he a mercedes.. Them discovering oil is like all of a sudden giving hundreds of billions of dollars to a bunch of uneducated rednecks in rural alabama. Of course it's going to be a big fucking mess. The urban planning here is the best example of their lack of intelligence - massive roads where it's literally life-threatening to cross most of them. (And a future city built on the automobile? You'd think a country that is already exhausting it's oil resources would figure out the problem with that.. basic fucking thinking). But driving is equally a nightmare - it's as if a team of monkeys brainstormed the best way to make everyone miserable..

-Modern Capitalism-

But here's the most important reflection. The slavery going on in Dubai is no secret, and this isn't the first time gluttony of the upper classes got the best of the lower class - this happens every single time, without fault. What is amazing to me is that, while the slave situation is obvious to everyone who even takes a glance, the fact is that they somehow have some mental block when it comes to their own lives and economic system. We see slavery in dubai because it is an extreme form of capitalism - maybe the closest to pure market capitalism the world has seen (and the kind that the republican party in the US is always rooting for, incidentally). But it isn't dubai that is slavery - it is capitalism that is slavery. Capitalism is dictatorial, plain and simple. It is the opposite of democracy - if you love democracy you hate capitalism, whether you realize that or not. In Dubai the corporations "take care" of everything by providing the absolute lowest mostly-liveable standard of shelter, transport, and food. But in the ghetto of the US (or any western country), the only difference is that, when you are a low wage worker you get to choose which slum you will live in; the ghetto over here or the ghetto over there. You also get to choose which food you will eat; the discount, chemical laden grocery store over here or over there. And you also get the luxury of picking which bus route you will have to take in your 1.5 hour commute each day, inevitably to serve the wealthy class, directly or indirectly.

And this is how capitalism functions most beautifully: the illusion of freedom. As long as people are able to make "choices", even if they are choices in a list so curtailed as to be nearly negligible, one can still believe that it is in fact a real choice. But it's not. Do you want to get punched on the right side of the face or the left? The only difference between the slave situation in Dubai and the slave situation in my hometown is that people are brainwashed in the US into believing that we live in a free country. But at what moment in any given day are the working poor ever really free? They live check to check, they are stuck in shitty jobs, but most importantly they have absolutely no democratic control over any important aspects of their lives. Can they change what goes on at their company? Can they choose what products their local store will sell (apart from the "activism" of being a "choosy" consumer..)? Do they have a say in how their city will be planned? The architectural design? Or where new businesses will open? Not to mention the government.. No, of course not. If slavery is having no personal decision making ability, absolutely no access to democratic control.. The best form of control is one in which everyone believes that they are free. As long as they believe that, nothing will ever change.

And this is ALSO true for the middle classes. Just because the system rewards you handsomely for your subservience does NOT mean that you are fundamentally any more free than the poorest of the american ghettos; or the poor of dubai. It just means that you fall on a different point in the slavery continuum - your choices are slightly larger in how you will spend your unfairly paid wages. But even the middle class have as little real democratic control over their own lives, work, and city as the poor classes do. Who makes the decisions? They are the dictators. Who must abide by those decisions, who is nearly powerless to counteract those decisions? Those are the slaves. Slavery is not a matter of degree, it's a fundamental matter of the relationship one has with the power structures of society. The workers of Dubai and of Middle America have far more in common than one might think. It's just some people are poor slaves, while others are rewarded more handsomely for the same kind of subservience.

Berlin Sound/Image 1

2011-11-17T06:35:00.000-08:00

Shot on my point and shoot in east berlin next to a squat.

Pour Pascal F. Engel

2011-11-16T02:19:00.000-08:00

A dubai, sur la seule voie piétonne entre le métro et le centre commercial le plus grand du monde, on trouve en bas de la tour la plus haute du monde (et après trop de superlatif comme tout à dubai) une affiche qui s'appelle «Sonnet Binaire».

First words dubai

2011-11-11T02:12:00.000-08:00

Dubai is pretty central in the middle east. Google earth tells me that, as the crow flies, I am this many miles from (1 mi = 1.6 km):

Saudi Arabia 240 mi
Iran 100 mi
Iraq 550 mi
Afghanistan 475 mi
Pakistan 400 mi
Somalia 950 mi
Milwaukee 7200 mi

And at my next destination in Goa, India, it will be 8300 miles from milwaukee - only slightly shorter than the trip to eastern australia.

Dubai has a population of around 2 million, but the first strange thing I notice on arrival is that I hardly see any emiratis - natives to the United Arab Emirates. In fact they only make up 17% of the population. More than half the population is indian or pakistani, and southeast asians make up most of the remainder, with about 1% of the population being from Europe. What this translates to is that Dubai is a slave economy. While it's true that capitalism is slavery, it is particularly obvious here. Young emerati men drive around in incredibly expensive luxury cars, giving a vibe that one is in beverly hills. Apparently they work high paid jobs that are easy and only 4 hours per day, virtually guaranteed given their birthplace. This is juxtaposed against the background of a strange city in the desert, which one is constantly reminded of walking through the sand in between high rise apartment buildings. There are hints of poverty but the poor are tucked away somewhere on the outskirts, there are no shantytowns to be seen in the central city - so western tourists can't tell that they are only paid $7 per day to build this city under dangerous conditions. But I hope to rent a car to go see the slums, as well as the oilfields that they also would rather keep hidden.

The urban plan here is basically a nightmare. Some streets are almost impossible to cross on foot or bike, and while people don't drive as crazy as I anticipated, they don't give a fuck about anyone that isn't in a car. Even for stop signs they generally don't stop, even if you are already crossing the road.

But this country is a very, very rich country. Construction projects on vast scales abound. They are in the process of building three strings of islands, adding literally hundreds of miles of coastline to the city, and they plan to build housing for millions there. Jerome and I joke that the sheikhs just fuck around on wikipedia all day looking for the world's biggest this or that, and then making a bigger one. How else would they one-up milwaukee with a bigger four faced clocktower? They probably don't even know where milwaukee is. They've also built the tallest building in the world - 1000 feet taller than the sear's tower, the tallest in the United States. Most government buildings are in all marble, from top to bottom. But when the wind blows one can't forget that we are still in the middle of a brown desert with nothing to offer but oil and a meaningless spectacle.

The new architecture here is certainly trying to rival that in barcelona; in fact, in terms of bmx I would call dubai the barcelona of the middle east. It's incredible to me that when all those guys came here for the xgames they didn't bother to leave the fucking hotel. But hey, what's new? And this way jerome and I get to be the first ones to ride here - everything is untouched. Riding down the street there is stuff to ride almost everywhere. On one block there is the old architecture with random alley and street gibs; on another block a new skyscraper with a plaza that is basically a marble iceskating rink. In one neighborhood alone, on literally every block, there were wedges to ride, on every side of each building. It could easily be called "the wedge district" (like the hammock district..).

Jerome and I had an amazing session the first day, riding from the evening through half the night. The city is really huge, spread out over a long coastline. There is lots to explore here in terms of bmx, the spectacle, the desert, global capitalism.. I'm super psyched to be here.

First photos dubai - Day/night

2011-11-10T07:22:00.000-08:00

Last days in limoges

2011-11-10T06:25:00.000-08:00

New frame!

2011-11-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was spent doing the 600 km roundtrip to toulouse to pick up a new-used frame. Not only did I get a frame in exchange for a beer and a pack of cigarettes but I also made a new friend. Special thanks to Antony Lille, as well as BSD/Tony Malouf, your generosity is very much appreciated. Street tonight!

Operation Bazooka

2011-11-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

With poetry by Pascal F. Engel.

LES LIQUIDATEURS DE L'ART

Never buy colony. Ever

2011-11-01T07:35:00.001-07:00

It's rare that I rant on my blog - but seriously, never buy colony. Tell your friends to never by colony. Tell your friends to tell their friends to never buy colony. Etc.

This is the second colony frame that I've broken. The first I broke in exactly the same way. I won't warranty this one - why trade shit for shit? They were also assholes when I tried to warranty the first one, by the way. On my current frame I hardly even rode, I was traveling quite a bit and not riding that much, then I was hurt and didn't ride all summer - and it still broke. Seriously, I just ride fucking curbs and the frame can't even handle that? And this one has broken, as the first one did, in the middle of a trip, costing me far more than it should, as I'm losing money on travel and on having to buy a new overpriced frame away from home. Just another shitty parts company. Stick with what's good. Fuck colony.

Limoges

2011-10-27T14:49:00.000-07:00

La rue haute vienne, edouard, au duc etienne.

Life and Limoges

2011-10-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

First thing, I just discovered this "statistics" option on my blog. I don't think that was there before. Anyways it tells me which countries are reading this. There are significant numbers reading from the US, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, the UK, and for some reason also readers in Canada, Argentina, South Korea, and even Iran and India. That's surprising and flattering. What I should have written below when I tried to describe this blog is that, beyond me just posting images of my travels and giving shout-outs to awesome people that I meet, this blog has also become about connection. It began as a way to connect to my friends back home, but I've also realized that this seemingly one-way communication of a blog could afford me new connections - this was how I met my polish friends that will not be forgotten, and how I just passed two really great weeks there.

There's a lot of shit that demotivates me in the world (if I let it..), and I know what it means to me when I see something from someone that shares my vision. Even just a small thing, a photo, a video section, a book, a biography of someone who never created anything, or even a small gesture or a few words, these things motivate me even if I only experience them rarely - and even if they aren't the most "beautiful" or "poetic". These fragments are what has kept me going on a sometimes lonely path. That sketchy clip on some curb gib with just the right vibe. Those words my favorite graffiti artist pulled out of his ass to make him my favorite one-time poet. In fact, when I think about it, it's rare that some kind of perfection touches me. It's just about the motivation, the attempt; as if just by trying with the right motivation we succeed, even in our failures. And this is how I feel about my writing; to be honest, I think my writing sucks. In fact, I think this post sucks. In many ways this blog is itself a kind of failure for me. I rarely touch my sentiments with my words. But I keep writing because, as egotistical as it sounds, I feel something real that pushes me to write what little I've written, some vibes that really go to the core of who I am as a person and that I feel should be shared with a world that has so very little worth paying attention to. These failed attempts at poetry and the rare video edit are really my only "works" - but for the moment I still feel the need to create something because, in the end, these works are an attempt to create a point of contact with others who share the same vision.

So. For real. If you are riding in India and are still reading this blog, send me an email at rjmungall@gmail.com, that would be sick to hook up with some Indian riders (I assumed bmx didn't even exist there, but someone is reading this blog in India..) I just booked my plane ticket to India to arrive on the 21st of November.. also, I'd love to go to Russia too. And argentina. Actually, everywhere I haven't been. I love traveling and I think I'm a good guest.. So holla at me!

Next thing. I'm now in Limoges, france, visiting thomas again. Limoges reprezent. We had a good session today at the skatepark and it's great to see denis, edouard and pierre romain again. We plan to go to bordeaux next week and hopefully a daytrip to angoulême. I haven't taken one photo here yet, but I've added a reminder photo illustrating the two centers of the world for those who don't already know..

Reprezent!

2011-10-23T15:41:00.001-07:00

Here's some shirts that have been donated to my collection. I can't say enough good things about the SKNY crew - they ride hard, they party hard, and are so kind and welcoming. Make your next bmx trip to Wrocław. Keep an eye out for their next video, these kids shred and there's a good chance I'll have a couple nice clips in it too. This is also a good time to formally thank them for welcoming Marian and I, particularly Buzka - I had a fucking awesome time. Love and respect.

While I'm at it, I extend the same warm thank you to the warsaw crew, in particular Marian who has been the most generous host ever, and Jura, Tobin and Martin (sorry if I spelled those wrong..) for hanging out so much and having good times. Once again, I can't say enough good things.

Also check out the polish bmx magazine bunnyhop. I can't read it of course, but I can say that the guys running it, Kuba and Iwo, have been very kind to me as well. I spent a sunny day in warsaw with Kuba doing some photo/video, and in the end none of this would have been possible without the generosity of Iwo. Unfortunately he's in the philippines for the winter but I hope to meet him in person one of these days!..

Shimmy banks

2011-10-23T15:18:00.000-07:00

I have been taking very few photos in Poland, I think I've been too busy enjoying myself and I keep forgetting to pull out the camera. But I thought I would do a spot check of the sickest DIY street spot ever. Called the shimmy banks after the ODB song was used in a old street edit from back in the day poland, it was started in 2006 with a grind box and since then they keep adding to it, and also throw a huge jam every summer (video of the 2011 jam embedded below).

There are two flat grind boxes which slide perfectly, a flat rail/sub rail, a nice wedge and a nice quarter, a tall long flat rail that slides crazy fast, two pole jams, a down rail, a straight ledge off the bank, and a new york style slam wall ride.

Unfortunately my stay was quite short, and losing one day to rain I only got one session there. But I hope to go back.

Polish parties

2011-10-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

The party at buzka's was awesome - and Insomnia was, in fact, as cool as they said it would be. Apparently I have a tolerance for vodka!

SKNY crew

2011-10-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

I'm riding in Wrocław with the skny crew, there's a lot of hidden talent here, some good street spots and a lot of energy. Definitely the strongest street crew I've encountered in Europe. Here's their first full-length video from one year ago, edited by Buzka who has been kind enough to let Marian and I stay at his place. They are currently working on a second video.

2011-10-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

7 hour train to Wrocław yesterday. Rain today.. try the shimmy banks again tomorrow.

2011-10-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

Me, Marian, Kuba in the rearview (thanks for driving today). Wrocław tomorrow.

Warszawa sessions

2011-10-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

It came to my attention a few days ago that my new friend Tobin posted a link to my blog on bmx.pl - this explains the large increase in hits my blog has received. However, being lazy I didn't do right away what I thought of doing, which is writing some kind of introduction to this blog and why I'm in poland, for anyone who cares.

First the random story of why I'm here - feel free to skip this paragraph. I was living in france in 2010 and I was dating this polish girl. I went to poland with her and posted a few pics of poland on my blog. Somehow Iwo Kepka from bunnyhop stumbled upon this. He asked me to do a little interview and send some pictures. Having no photographer in france, I didn't send pictures until I returned home. We exchanged a number of emails. He invited me to poland. I was going to, but I separated my shoulder. I delayed the trip. Then finally, after not riding all summer, I decided I was going to come anyways. A couple weeks before I left I started riding again, and that was enough. But Iwo left - he went to the philippines, I had delayed the trip too long. However his good friend Marian was kind enough to send me an email inviting me to his apartment instead - he met me at the train station, made me some polish food, introduced me to his friends, and I've been chillin here since.

I'm here for a lot of reasons. The first and most important is something that I realized rather late in life - that amazing opportunities are rare and it is stupid to not chase after every one of them. This is how I arrived in france, and soon after how I lived there for over a year. And this is how I arrived in poland too - a random chain of events, requiring only one simple philosophical idea: "yes".

I also like poland quite a bit. The food is amazing, Greenway has become my favorite restaurant (not just because the cashier is really beautiful), and all the other things that are true of the major european cities. The street in poland is unique - there is no other architecture exactly like it in the world. The streets of the world are endless, and the streets of poland make up a part of that endless possibility..

But what I like most about poland, and the time I have spent so far in warszawa, is that I have been more warmly received than anywhere else I've traveled. Each day is full of activity, riding, chilling, conversations, explorations. And even kids who are not usually riding street are joining me, riding with their own particular styles, and making the sessions really amazing and diverse with good vibes for miles (or kilometers..) The amount of generosity and goodwill here is really unmatched. These kind of sessions from these last days are rare, a throwback to the nostalgia of my 1990's street sessions where everyone is having fun and talking shit and no one gives a fuck.

About the blog: it started when I took my first trip with my friend thomas (check his and pascal's blog Limost, out of Limoges and Angoulême, France), 3 months around the western united states. I doubt any trip will ever beat that one. Anyways, I didn't want to be sending a bunch of photos by email to each one of my friends, so I decided to start a blog and post pics from time to time. Then after the trip I kept on with the blog, and it has transformed into a place where I share anything I think is worth posting. You can see below that I'm plugging my favorite zen teacher, adding stuff about things my friends are doing (like vids, news, etc) and very rarely posting a bmx video from an outside source, ones which are beyond awesome for one reason or another. Blogs are always egotistical, and I post videos about myself or work I've made or thoughts I've had, the most egotistical thing; but hey, fuck it. Since I left home September 18th the blog is basically about travel again.

The blog is titled "doin it for the streets" because this sentence has really become one of the most concise ways to describe how I feel about life. Either you get it or you don't, there's no explaining. This is also the name of a new video that I am working on, almost surely the last freestyle video I will edit or appear in. It will be promoted exactly this much before it's release: 0.

For those who care, my travel plans are as follows: I'll stay in warszawa until next wednesday, then we will go to wroclaw until sunday. On the 24th I'm off to Limoges, france, and probably bordeaux at some point. Then I go to Dubai to visit my friend jerome. Then I go to india to do yoga at the end of november until at least christmas. I'm not crazy about yoga or something, but an opportunity has come up and I said "yes".. and I've never been to india, and I think my shoulder could use some serious strengthening and stretching so that maybe I can finally ride at 100% again someday..

Also, a brief note on my travels. No one is paying me to do this, I got a shitty job (as all jobs seem to be) and lived at home and saved up for the summer. I'm putting a few things on my credit card but most of it is in cash that I earned putting vegetables on the the shelf of a supermarket at 7 am each morning. I can afford it because of the kindness of the people that welcome me into their homes and share their lives with me. For me this is the only way to travel; what's the alternative?, sitting in some fucking hotel, cut off from the real people living in the city?

Frequently, especially in the US, people express amazement that I can travel so much or so far. Here's how the conversation goes:

Person: "Wow! How did you manage to do all that travel?.."
Me: "I bought a plane ticket".

I'll finish with a quote from Marian as we walked in the door to the apartment today, which may be the clearest single sentence of why I continue riding a bike at the not-so-old-yet age of 28:

"BMX has always connected me to the basic feelings I love".

Brad Warner

2011-10-14T05:34:00.000-07:00

My favorite american zen writer is apparently doing a tour in europe; I'll miss all his stops, but if you are in the area I would suggest hearing him speak, he's a punk rocker from the 80's who slowly got into zen and now has written several books and has a small but strong following in the US. He also has a blog about zen, about his personal life, politics, philosophy, with a good dose of shit talking. He also writes for suicide girls.

DIF

2011-10-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

Also I should mention that clips have multiplied for the much anticipated, much talked about new video Doin it for the Streets. I've finally begun editing and I've got more than I anticipated, including at least 3 sections worth from milwaukee which I will have to edit down a bit.. I hope to get a few more clips to round out the french section on my next trip to france, I might even get a few clips in poland, and then DIF Dubai with jerome will begin..

Warszawa!

2011-10-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

I've finally moved on from berlin after exactly 3 weeks. I was incredibly welcomed last night as Marian met me at the central train station, brought me to his apartment and cooked me an incredible polish meal, with my first shots of straight vodka for dessert. Pierogie for breakfast. Today we went to the tent skatepark and I had a good time riding, then we went to a squatpark - 100% free including the bootlegged electricity from next door - for a great vibe session with some others. Then I got a driving tour of warsaw in a mercedes from one of marian's friends, looks like there is some shredding to do tomorrow.. hope it doesn't rain again. The vibe has been really great so far and we have some travel plans in the works for going to a city known for good streets and good parties.. for the moment we stay in warsaw.

2011-10-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

Two throwbacks in honor of the upcoming france visit. Thomas at wilson and bernie mac in the sky - no one has (or had..) whiter teeth:

Where there's a will there's a rave

2011-10-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

Probably one of the craziest experiences I've had, maybe even life changing. Doin it for free under a bridge - there is no place in the world like Berlin. This photo could have been taken at 6 pm or 6 am.. saturday or sunday..

Soviet shit

2011-10-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

That dude isn't going to get far with that grenade throwing stance..

The statue in the background is a victorious soviet holding a child and a sword, having defeated "national socialism". Riidiculous.

Truth

2011-10-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

Almost undoubtedly by Blu.. or someone biting him. My second favorite street artist.

2011-10-03T13:53:00.000-07:00

I guarantee you will hear of this kid soon, he is unreal. I only post of photo of Fabian doing a simple kinker..

2011-10-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

Berlin style picnic

Hitlertekture

2011-10-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a salutatory move on the airport constructed by the fuhrer himself; no longer an airport, I desecrated the outer banks of the building that was to be the shoulder bone of a massive agglomeration of buildings to look like a hawk when viewed from outerspace. Yes, he was for real. However he only completed the shoulder bone, but I'm happy to add hitlertekture to my list of exotic architecture freestyled upon.

I'll also add a not-so-good photo of the local meet up spot, the place d'aine or library mall or miller pavilion of berlin: The Frankfurter Tor. Formerly home to GDR (east german) headquarters, the place where they would promenade their military for all the people to see, it is now apartments, there's a mcdonald's, along with a set of stairs shredded daily.

Also I've been compiling a small berlin mungbot spot report, which I plan to edit when I leave this town.

2011-10-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

It looks like the real thing.. it would be funny if my first cope spotting was overseas..

Jerome in Dubai

2011-10-01T13:22:00.000-07:00

Check Jerome's tumblr for his experiences in Dubai.. and probably a good helping of youtube ridiculouslness. He named it "the emotionless robot", but that is probably more fitting for me than him.. I plan to book my flight to dubai shortly.

Here's jerome holding down the mic at a shitty tucson karaoke bar on new year's 2011 before we got kicked out for Cohl creeping on some girls. Later cohl burned a bible and threw it off the hotel balcony.

Anzeigeberlin

2011-10-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

Anzeigeberlin - "classifieds berlin" - the sickest zine I've ever seen, beautiful simple photos of the berlin skatescene released regularly since 2005. Click the cover photo of the zine on the website to access each issue in full online.

LJ blog

2011-09-27T07:57:00.001-07:00

Little Jon started a blog: whysosimple.

2011-09-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

Look closely - the second two photos are graffiti actually carved into the wall.

2011-09-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

Tommy and Garret, my awesome hosts.

In Berlin

2011-09-22T06:31:00.001-07:00

I've only taken a few pictures since I've arrived, none of them very good, but I have a chance to post some so here are two. In the second picture on the left is Tommy (theodor), my awesome host, and a shredder named Fabian. Check Tommy's blog Burb, use google translate to read it into the appropriate language.. The iphone burb edit below is from some local parks.

What to say about Berin.. it's huge and it's very patchwork, I don't think zoning exists here. There are massive abandoned factories with huge murals next to upscale condos. The graffiti scene here is probably stronger than any other city in the world, nearly every wall is covered, even underneath the porches of upscale apartment buildings along each sidewalk.

There seems to be a lot of spots, and looking through an amazing local skate zine (to be posted later) it looks like there are more spots to discover. The Germans are nice (cliché, but it's actually true), I've been very welcomed here in a number of ways, including a free vegan dinner at a sick local bar squat last night, free beers and a mattress with a sheet. Life here is so inexpensive it's really incredible - how about a tall beer for 50 cents? Frozen pizza for 75? For the moment I will stay here, keep living this rhythm of cruising, chilling, discovering, and wait for what comes.

Definitely Not Nothing Vol. 2

2011-09-22T05:55:00.001-07:00

The second installment of the gopro sessions and the first hood edit, edited by Anthony and Logan.

Travels

2011-09-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

I´m off for germany - thanks to all the homees for making this last summer one of the best. I won´t be able to upload photos for awhile but hopefully I´ll figure out something.

The Lyon Map Project

2011-09-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

A sample of one neighborhood - the 7th arrondissement north.

2011-09-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

From Logan's camera earlier this summer:

2011-09-12T20:27:00.001-07:00

Pour pascal f. engel - chicago désaffecté 9/9/11

2011-09-12T20:13:00.000-07:00

From the 2008 archives.. Thomas at his favorite american restaurant, definitely not disappointed. And thomas at our first couchsurfing experience in omaha, nebraska. Was that girl wearing a ballerina dress?..

2011-09-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

Two edits posted by the homees at limost that I love and I've been meaning to add here.. beautiful, non-traditional editing in both.. note the juxtaposition in the first, the sound work in the second..

The Level Below Minneapolis Trip

2011-09-08T23:26:00.000-07:00

We spent 3 full days in Minneapolis with a crew of 10: me, JeffK, Little Jon, Anthony, Cohl, Logan (filming and gibbing), Jake Geisel (taking photos), Tony Malouf, Jon Bartels and Brad Monty (the last two are skaters). Thanks to Kyle Stark and Tall boy for putting us up, and the rest of the MN kids for chillin. The trip was balanced betweens smoking weed, drinking, riding, a small amount of exploring (what I did on my own), skating and graffiti. For how lazy the trip was I think a lot of work got done.. My shoulder is still separated but I managed to ride pretty hard anyways, I should even have a few clips in the edit..

Minneapolis has a huge potential, we found spots around just about every corner. Hilly, industrial, concrete, the ideal recipe. The wedges in the warehouse district were insane, the best street wedges/docks I've ever ridden; it makes west loop in chicago look useless. I spotted tons of gibs from the van window and wished I could have gotten out to cruise more than I did. It's a city to be explored from the ground.

Malouf did the craziest shit, and also made the highlight by lighting a kid's mullet on fire - twice. HILarious. Cohl surprised me with some really smooth tech moves and Mark Hilsen even made a surprise appearance. It was nice to watch some good skating for a change, particularly Bartels. Our urban camping was also sick - I spent 4 fresh nights outside in my yellow tent. Jon got eaten by bed bugs in a mattress he slept on from the alley. Cohl managed to get one night in on the hammock in some cold temperatures.

The best highlight was meeting Reid Stark. This kid is a natural, one of those kids that manages to pull things that shouldn't be pulled with style and ease. Rail ride bump jump to 360 turndown - airing 5 feet out of a jersey barrier - long ice pole jam to hard 180 at speed - going up a rail to hard 360 gap over a sign as fast as I'd jump a gap. Wait for that edit to drop, this kid is unreal, with good vibes for miles..

2011-08-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

Already having fun playing with the online features for my new american express GOLD card..

Retiring early!

2011-08-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

$192 will take me farther than most retirees will go..

Les Trois Petits Pois

2011-08-26T11:26:00.001-07:00

The only store in the world that I know of that rates every food product based on all the important factors: food quality (organic or not), distance traveled (degree of locality), economic factors (equitably exchanged?), and packaging (recyclable or not, or no packaging at all in bulk). "The three little peas": Les trois petits pois. It was one of my greatest discoveries in my France experience.

2011-08-23T15:36:00.001-07:00

2011-08-18T21:14:00.000-07:00

Hoping for a global economic collapse!.. The US economy has been falling apart for 3 years, peak oil is coming, and now several european countries are going bankrupt, the euro is falling, japan's economy has slowed due to the earthquake and tsunami..

2011-08-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

The Ditch Jam

2011-08-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

Here's my ditch jam edit, I think it turned out well considering it's only one spot.

Definitely Not Nothing Vol. 1

2011-08-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

Logan is working on a new gopro video series. He has a lot of footage and so I'm really pushing him to start making some edits.. here's the first one which I'm quite psyched on. I wasn't around for these sessions in the beginning of the year but I should appear in upcoming edits..

DIF hood sessions

2011-08-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

Here's some more pics from logan's camera - some previews for DIF.. posted on the level below. The crowd was for anthony's rail hop, the hood was hot that day.

Urban milwaukee

2011-08-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

Point and shootz

2011-08-03T19:10:00.000-07:00

Recently reminded of my utopian vision for chicago.. photo work from 08

2011-07-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

DIF hood sessions, photos by Logan Reynolds

2011-07-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

Europe tickets / America tickets

2011-07-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

Bomber

2011-07-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

Puttin in work, courtesy of logancam

Ditch Jam

2011-07-19T13:27:00.001-07:00

Mike Hinkens has been putting in work rebuilding the ditch, with an all new bridge that is wide and smooth. Come to the jam, it'll be a good time if the mosquitoes chill out..

2011-07-15T13:13:00.001-07:00

Hahaha this edit is too good for numerous reasons, comical and technical. My favorites were the sprocket to straight hop over fakie wallride line, as well as the sideways 360 street gap.

Matt Leviege " Ready 2 Die pt2 " The Sez aka THE StrEetZ from matt leviege on Vimeo.

DIF hood sessions

2011-07-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

Bunnyhop

2011-07-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

Things always come in groups; on the same day of the level below edit/blog drop I receive my copy from bunnyhop. Thanks to Iwo Kępka for the interview and LukeM for the photos. Shout out to my gold toe socks lurking in the background:

New shit

2011-07-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

So here is the new level below edit:

And you can also check the new writing blog, curbcuts. In my opinion mike needs to revise his first post, it's not very concise, but I like the ideas he has in it. I will try to post some words once every week or two on curbcuts, reflections born in the streets..

Work

2011-07-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

This is the most accessible, enjoyable read on capitalism and economics that I have read. Rather than approaching it as most intellectuals do - a bullshit theory down to practice type of approach - this starts from the practice of daily life and uses that to question the traditional theory. Available here.

New milwaukee blogs

2011-06-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

There are two new websites about to drop in the mke area; a new commercial type midwestbmx.net run by jeffk, with a crew which I think will be me, anthony malvasio, cohl, little jon, dirty dan, couple others.. though I DO NOT vouge for that graphic design or the name!.. but you can check some early pics below..

..and then mike hinkens and I are launching an intellectual freestyle blog, which in all honesty is looking pretty fucking dope.. both should be dropping this weekend, check it soon..

A Preface to Doin it for the Streets

2011-06-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Here's the first edited segment of DIF. I'm posting it here first, feel free to critique it as positively or as negatively as you like in the comments.

--

Doin it for the streets
Doin it for free
DIF

With clips and crews from travels in the US and Europe.

Emphasizing architectures and explorations.

A video in progress.

--

2011-06-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

I've been quite enjoying this guy's videos from the ukraine, below is a vid from some jam but click through his vids on his page for more, particularly these two dudes "max and igor" who have some sick steez.. also, their town looks like it has some really interesting spots, I definitely just bumped up the ukraine on my list of countries to see someday, kids look like they have a good time too..

2011-06-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

Broken?.. PERFECT opp crook down rail.. to hang up to shoulder

Underwear bike ride!

2011-06-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

JeffD and I decided to rock the shirtless jackets for the chilly night, along with cole (featured playing with his dick below) and luke (whose beard is a monster now) who shot something like 250 photos.. I narrowed it down a bit to what's below. It was definitely fun to cruise curb gibs with a pack of girls in their underwear.. I didn't know that many people were into bikes in milwaukee. Good times.

2011-06-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

Anthony on eject

2011-06-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

Newfound austen welter throwback

2011-06-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

2011-06-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

2011-06-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

2011-06-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

2011-06-07T20:38:00.001-07:00

2011-06-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

Pour réfléchir!
(This is a shortened version of the debate but it's the one I found with french subtitles..)

2011-06-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

History of anarchism in america documentary; scroll to 4:51 of the embedded video (part 3 of 8) for a stunningly coherent explanation of anarchism, in particular the mental evolution towards anarchist conclusions.

Riverside rumble part 2

2011-06-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

Below are some photos from LukeM from the riverside jam. Second photo down features Jesse Hapka and Brandon Hoerres, both of whom I've been having really fucking great sessions with lately. Third down is Danny with the tshirt for the jam. The last are essentially the only riding pictures luke took during the jam, subtracting duplicates. That squirrely looking wallride is a 360 wallride, I like the "atypical" moment luke chose to shoot the photo. That is Jesse with the quick bench ride gap to wall, Anthony with the pole jam (both pegs) to 180. As I mentioned for the Esta jam, the scene here has been suprisingly awesome, lots of people riding who didn't for awhile, super good vibes, and the ones that are still riding are mostly the ones that are doin it for free!..

2011-05-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

mungbot→berlin august 17

2011-05-29T17:04:00.001-07:00

I love how phil dolan looks like a middle aged regular dude getting the paper on a sunday morning - and how he does the sickest nosewheelie combos, so simple yet so slow and so dialed..

The second video is another from the same editor from a trip to japan; the edit itself sucks in some parts, but the first and last flatland runs are innnnncredible (upside down one handed peg grab manual on the pedals.. watch it) I always thought that one day, when flatland would come to maturity the japanese would kill it..

Estabrook jam

2011-05-29T13:24:00.001-07:00

The jam was super awesome. It went all day, some really great people showed up and it was one of the better sessions I've had. With the exception of Danny Dahl and half the old school, all my favorite people showed up, including Little Jon who just got back and even Andy Kent. The scene in Milwaukee is smaller than it has been in awhile and there is a surprising lack of new blood. As a result it's only the motivated ones that remain, and tight scenes make good scenes - the mke scene is better than it has been in years. Esta now has a new uprail (welding job courtesy of ryan from LG), the Lena's grocery rail is still holding up well, and the moveable ledges and pole jam are still grinding solid. Some good moves went down at the jam and the afterparty lasted as long as the jam itself.. the camera stayed at home, that was for the streets!

Madison session

2011-05-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

For TVM - a new ledge, an old ledge, and the new union south memorial plaza..

2011-05-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Fox river

2011-05-26T20:59:00.002-07:00

My Italy secret spot

2011-05-26T20:59:00.001-07:00

Money clip

2011-05-25T18:25:00.001-07:00

Now on netflix:

Bunnyhop #16

2011-05-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

Since this is the only interview I'll ever have printed - check out the new Bunnyhop if you speak polish, which presumably thousands of my blog readers do.

2011-05-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

Photo by AVBiphone, probably the coolest thing ever, buying discounted stolen candy mid street session, that's about as street as it gets.

Dallas Post 2

2011-05-20T17:03:00.000-07:00

4 Days spent with Alex Von Bergen in Dallas, TX. Photo 1 is a rooftop view from Deep Ellum, AVB's neighborhood. Photo 3 is "curb street", which has on one street more great curb gibs/slides/grinds/bumps than I've ever seen. The storm photo is the tornado abortion that we watched above our heads on Alex's street. The last three photos are from the Allen skatepark, a glorious place with non-slippery wedges and bowls - 3 amazing bowls actually. One of 3 great concrete skateparks in the area, all with incredible bowls. Normally I don't care too much about skateparks but these are reeeally well built. I didn't take a lot of photos this trip, but overall I'll simply say that Dallas has lots of potential: a somewhat hilly, paved, and grotesquely large manufacturing center. It was nicer than I expected, though my expectations were exceedingly low.. thanks to AVB and Nicole for the hospitality in their concrete cave!