The New Boredom

When every one else zigs and a select few zag, they get the credit and all the attention. I’m dead sick of seeing the same bmx vids all day, every day. I’m tired of seeing the same doofy kids at the skate park who can tailwhip all day but can’t carve a bowl for thirty seconds.

Tate Roskelly had an interview in a recent RideUk in which he called out street riders as a whole of mostly being a bunch of park rat transplants. I think he mentioned that there are really only a handful of people doing innovative and true street riding out there. I’d have to agree and he should know considering he’s got to be the most fun street rider for many to watch since Steven Hamilton.

Mike Mastroni is doing his own thing. He’s making videos that are not about 100% shred but instead takes the stance that a shot can make it in a video and indeed add to the overall experience simply for being a visually pleasing shot. Flowers, architecture, lifestyle, and empty ride spots are frequently what I remember from his videos as much as the smooth and stylish riding. I love seeing him ride on playgrounds all the time and coming up with creative lines where most people would spend all day on the ledges around the park.

and then this video came up care of Kevin Drake and it blew my mind.

The description given for the video says it all for me: Josh Betley rides “The Best Spot in the World.”

I’ll watch that stuff every day for the next 5 years and while flair-to-footjam boggles my mind, I just don’t give a shit twenty minutes later.

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In other Kevin Drake news, I seem to repost stuff on purpose sometimes. I think he may be onto my scheming?

The reason, Mister Drake, that I reposted this awesome video on this fine Fat Tuesday, is that I am going on very little sleep today and some topics that I’ve been wrestling with lately are now under my bleary eyed, sleep deprived microscope. I’ve been juggling the idea that Joaquin Phoenix may well be the new Andy Kaufman and could be pulling a grand slow one on us all with his recent hip hop venture and Letterman appearance. With that beard he looks sort of like the new Zach Galifianakis.

It makes me wonder if T Pain, the man who proclaimed on his solo album that, “I don’t need your sex, I’ll masturbate,” may have pulled a fast one on the entire Top 40 charts in the last year. He couldn’t possibly be taking himself seriously? That he is so willing to make such an open mockery of himself in the I’m On A Boat video shows either the most amazing sense of self humor in all of show biz, or that show biz and the public alike are a bunch of sucker fools for having bought into this man’s ploy to sell us creepy, crooning, voice box harmonizing. I have no idea. Either way, very impressive.

In a personally dis-concerning area, many modern artists seems to always be playing with this contempt for their critics and patrons even going so far as to reject “fans” of their work. The violating nature of some modern art works is obvious. A big sculpture of a raised middle finger. A neon sign that alternates the glowing words “Fuck” and “You” passed off as an installation piece. Pieces of common street trash stapled to the canvas and sold off for thousands of dollars. I just don’t get it. I’m not sure if there is anything there to be got honestly.

But all the modern art stuff tends to stick within the realm of the art world. It would be down right amazing to me if the same ruse from the art world is successfully pulled off in the mainstream by acts like T Pain and Joaquin Phoenix… bow down to them for they may be truly amazing.