We took another quick trip out to Oregon to ride a little and catch up with everyone. Things were the same as always, including the fact that it doesn’t rain anymore in Oregon now that I no longer live there. This also means no snow on the mountain… It was a whirlwind trip that included the mandatory trip to the Alibi, adidas shoe shopping, and about 12 other usual stops.
More photos here.

 

There’s been 6 months of serious lagging on this site. Recognizing this back around New Year’s, I had the intent of doing a “You Are Next Year in Review” to catch up. Obviously that never happened, so here’s a quick summary of what’s been going on and I’ll be back on track:

• No more van, and there’s a new car that eBay paid for. Take a moment of silence for the van, life will never be the same…
• New house,
  just outside the utopia of Philadelphia.
• A few trips here and there. Lots of time at the beach.
• Lots of good shows in Philly.
• Lance and Vanessa’s wedding in
  Stowe.
• Rail jam in Atlantic City. The Donald puts on a snowboard event on the boardwalk.

Consider this site back on track…

 

My van, which has a solid following and plently of nicknames had a near death experience last week, in the typical way things in my life tend to happen.

After getting the rear end replaced a few months ago (apparently not all that well), it decided to crap out on the Garden State Parkway on the way to New Hampshire, in one of New Jersey’s several armpits, Hackensack. It got just far enough before it seized up to get to a parking lot. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, it almost got scrapped, but is now getting fixed and given a second chance for the bargain price of $2700.

 

Last week I ended up in Tulsa, Oklahoma for work and a few minutes of sight seeing. Aside from the ominous Oral Roberts University, Tulsa looks like it was bought out of some town catalog and dropped in place, since it’s 95% made up of chain stores and restaurants, except for the few local businesses that rise above, like Rocket Lube, The Glamourama, and Lady Godiva’s.

As you can tell by the only postings I’ve put here, I’m a drunk magnet, and this trip proved no different. Whenever I end up in a new town, I always ask the local waiters where the shittiest bar in town is that they don’t go to. Since the waitress here tried to dupe us into going to a gay bar called the Toolbox in a shady Mexican neighborhood, we decided we’d find our own and succeeded when we reached the Southside Pub. Aside from a bunch of locals playing pool in the back, it was just two of us and this drunk woman. After asking me to dance and being denied, she kept waving us over until I finally broke down. This was the conversation that started, unobstructed by her missing teeth:

Her: “Grab a seat.”
Me: “No.”
Her: “Grab a seat.”
Me: “Okay.”
Her: “Do you want to have an affair?”
Me: “No, I’m married.”
Her: “You’re pretty. Are you an alcoholic?”
Me: “No, I’m trying though.” (her laughter, that then turned into a hacking cough)
Her: “Do you want to have an affair?”
Me: “No, I’m married.”
Her: “Can I have a kiss?”
Me: “No. How about a photo instead?”
Her: “Noooooo.”

 

After spending 11 months living in Oregon, somehow we never looked back after we left Portland and managed to go four years without visiting. That lead to this trip which was the end of my two-year vacation since I start a new job tomorrow. Anyway, with some kickass hospitality from the Birches, we managed to catch up with just about about everyone. Portland is a great place to be on the 4th of July, since it sounds like a freakin war zone with everyone taking the matter into their own hands of providing fireworks shows for the city. After buying a batch that lasted a short while, we found the need to run out and get more which we did right the second time around (although we should have thrown down for this one.)


We accomplished a ton and were involved with everything from giving a mohawk,
checking the people hard at work at Bonfire, acquiring more adidas shoes, hitting Pharmacy and the Dept. of Skateboarding, the Faz barbeque, checking Portland from a sneaky rooftop, culminating with one of the greatest bar experiences I’ve ever had.

I used to live around the corner from the Alibi, which is an old school tiki bar in Portland. The whole time I lived there I always wanted to go and never made it, so it was one of the primary goals of this mission. So we show up, all stoked on the 4th and it’s closed. Not giving up, we swing by for a quick one just before leaving for the airport to come home. Aside from being one of the best bars anywhere, we ended up in some heavy conversation with a drunken disabled Viet Nam vet and his girlfriend of sorts, hearing stories about rescuing POW’s in Saigon. This turned into lots of photos and a quick exit to catch our plane, but we still had enough time to meet a homeless guy just outside the door with his new female dog named Nonuts.

 

Sunday was Delaware’s Point to Point horse races, one of the year’s highlights for people who like to get drunk. Some people get dressed up, lots don’t bother, but just about everyone gets shitfaced like this disaster partying next to our parking spot. When she finally fell to the ground, it was like a building coming down…

 

Lots of people have been asking what’s up with the site, so after almost a year of lifelessness, I’m working on getting it rebuilt. I’ve got more photos than I know what to do with, which is really the only reason to look at this thing anyway…

 

One of these days, the archives will be here.