Christmas was a great day for me. Beside enjoying some downtime, footage I have been sitting on for so long with my friend Michael finally came out. It is funny to see spots from Hagerstown, Maryland in a major skate video, especially one based in Europe. I know all the guys at home are getting a kick out of it. I can hear Dusty Ditch now! hahaha....
Enjoy the video and if you are a fan, support Michael and buy his board. The guy definitely deserves his name on one.
Hope everyones Christmas (or 'Happy Presents Day' to some) was a good one. Until soon...
It has been 18 months since my knee surgery from the Italy incident and I am stoked to finally get back on a board. I am physically able to skate again and the first thing I want to do is skate vert. As a friend told me when I said I going to the ramp, 'good luck with that!' haha..
So 16 years after I said I was going to learn how to skate vert, I actually started down the path. Thanks to Jürgen Horrwarth, I have the full pad kit and some wheels bigger than 52mm. Rocking 8 1/4" boards too, quite funny for a tech-decker like me. You have to take baby steps in anything you do and learning to knee slide was the first goal of the night. Who knew learning knee slides could be just as awesome as learning your first kickflip? You have to love skateboarding for that...
I picked up a camera in 1993/94 and have had the opportunity to film with a lot of people over the years. One thing that has had me geeked out more than anything was having the chance to skate with some of the Blueprint guys over the last year. I have been a fan of the company since the first promo they had in Puzzle and thier first video, 'Waiting For The World'. If you have not seen it, look for it online. It is still refreshing to have that 'litle kid' feeling after all these years when going skating with someone.
A few of the guys came through Berlin besides the main team trip. Chewy was here with Adidas and Brady with Matix in the summer. Look for Chewy's part in the new Adidas Europe video in the start of next year. They just started editing it and I wish Torsten Frank (Adidas Euro Filmer) many fun hours in front of his screen and sleepless nights. We are all looking forward to the video, no pressure there.. haha
So during a one day stop in the city at the end of the Germany tour, Chez (former Blueprint Filmer/ TM) and the guys stoped in to enjoy a little of what Berlin had to offer. It is hard to keep the motivation going after a full length tour and especially on your last day but they got business handled. Peep a bit of the footy from the tour they posted a few months ago. They saved back a few clips for their new video coming out in spring or so next year. For me, it will be another quality video definitely for the dvd library.
With the winter here, the work keeps going. I though since it was cold, I might get a little time off. That has not been the case but I am not complaining. I am now really motivated to start blogging again for some reason too. Spending more time in front of my computer than I do, can i really do that? Plus I don't know if anyone is reading this but I can at least ramble in cyberspace and keep my mom up-to-date on what i am doing. That is one way to think about it. So I go on on my drive along the Information Superhighway and see what happens along the way.
Check out Chris Pfanner's Mag Minute and Remix up on 'The Skateboard Mag'. I am super stoked to see friends over here in Euroland getting the coverage in the U.S. they deserve. I had been sitting on that footage for awhile and glad to get it out finally. Keep it up Chris! Glad to see you out there killing it!
PITCREW just launched their new website in which we have a lot of video stuff planned for. Visit the site when you have a chance: www.pitcrewskateboards.com We are also working hard on our Shopliftin' part for the DVS contest. We are 1 of 100 shops in the world invited to be a part of it and everyone has been stacking footage for it.
As for other PITCREW team riders, Bobby Worrest is now working on a Transworld part for the new video. Honestly... it is about time! It is going to be off the hook of course. It is from Mr Worrest, enough said.
Zach Lyons has just wrapped up his new video project with Organika. Look for it on store shelves during the holiday shopping sprees before Christmas. Besides that, he is all over the new Adidas commericals and website too. Is 2009 the year of the Lyons? We will have to see...
Josh Stewart was also through Berlin not too long ago. He was here with Vice shooting something on the European skateboard scene. It will be online in February or so and should be super interesting. I just was there for the interview with Claus Grabke. Jimmy Pelletier would have been in heaven talking with him. It will be a good one to watch so look out for it at the start of next year.
While he was here, I talked with Josh about his upcoming project which has no working title at the moment. I helped Josh out on Sean Mullendore's part in Static 1 & Soy Panday's part in Static 3. For the upcoming video, it looks like Jan Kliewer and Berlin will have parts. The DC part in Static 1 was pretty damn good! I am just hoping to match it in my new home. 2009 will be a big year again here in Berlin from the sounds. First, we have a long cold Berlin winter to get through then we are back to business.
That is it for the moment. I am going to unwind after finishing a music video I have worked the last two weeks on non-stop. Color Correction and Color Grading is a b*%th! So for now, enjoy Sean and Soy's parts from the Josh's past videos and have a Glühwein. It is one of perk of the cold German winter! Until soon...
