Seems like months since the sun shone and there wasn't a gaggle of kids at the skatepark. For Me, Black Friday turned into a shining opportunity to skate in the flat blue light of a late Fall Sun. My moves may have been stiff, but I had tons of fun in the empty and dirty bowls of PA...

But the best part of the day was the company...

Duh-Bowl Trouble in Port Angeles and Forks WA, September 19th and 20th 2009
We had a great weekend. I had obsessed about being the DJ for the contests for weeks and the music was a hit with the dads and older skaters. I overheard the hesh crowd complaining about not enought death metal, but smiled when Slayer cue'd up next in autopilot. Talk about old school death metal. Regardless. Katie and I got some great shots from both days...


Who is this old guy ripping the bowl at Forks? Katie overheard a kid say "wow he skates way better than my dad." I guess that the other Old Men skating looked more like the lifetime surfers and skate company owners that they were....


Sky Siljeg won the PA contest busting airs like this over the waterfall in the keyhole bowl.


local "Homebrew" homeboy Edwin Swaggerty took home the real loot by winning the Forks contest with ripping style, taking second in PA, and raking in the overall contest win.


Miki and his teamate conquering the baby bowl during PA doubles


Gabe "Mexi-fry" and his teamate were the hesh overlords of the day in PA.


This unnamed ripper may not have landed this huge kickflip exit but his board sure looks great in front of the LibTech sponsor sign in PA.


Griffin ruled the groms both days and he and his bud Greg gave Edwin a run for the money in the open finals Sunday in Forks. This little Inouye Pool Service Grom dislpayed old school style backside airs and alley oops in the Forks bowl.


Old Man Mike shows off his sick hand plant over the coping that he carefully and artistically tiled in Forks.


Miki said he was "too tired" from a big out in PA Saturday, but after being encircled and forced to compete on Sunday blasted this wicked frontside over the hip.

The family is way tired but certainly happy everything went so smoothly and we saw some epic duh-Bowl battles over the course of the weekend!

Last week's Saturday session was cut short by Young Dude's demands for doughnuts and refusal to skate. Old Man still got a few runs in. Unfortunately, the camera battery died this morning so no shots of the epic session today That included a sweet rail grind, higher turns in the deep bowl, and an over-vert turn ! Also no pix of the 15 minute mini-session in Silverdale yesterday since Young Dude and Lil Punk were way overstimulated due to the change in location. Their park is mostly lame anyway.

Filthy Bowl

So Port Angeles' skate park has gotten very filthy this summer on account of so little rain to wash out the bowls. Yesterday my wheels got so filthy from skating through Satan only knows what that some filthy rats sprayed in the bowls overnight that I dropped in and my board slid 10 feet perpendicular of my trajectory and dumped me smack on my face and knees on the flat.

A big shout out to all you filty rats out there who can't keep your Monster Energy drinks in your cans or your bladders... I'm hoping for rain (or 300 feet of hose for the skatepark so I can hose it out now and again...) If you need to get a hold of me I'll be in the garage cleaning a couple millimeters of scum from my wheels.

Young Dude says to Old Man "Get offa yer duff and hit the street with me!"

So Old Man drags the longboard down the driveway and shows Young Dude some slides and grinds on the asphalt outside.

Early August Antics

By the First Half of the Eight Month, Old Man and Young Dude Were Hot!

Young Dude's interest in four wheels continued to grow and after one particularly fun week of scootering, the Old Man spotted a tiny Young Dude board at the local shop. Young Dude hopped right on...

Old Man and Young Dude practiced in the yard and then took it to the Park.

The Wife became increasingly adept at timing, placement, and styling. (Little Bro just likes to watch)

Yet the Old Man was having feverish dreams of his inabilities in the Park. Fueled by too much coffee and a variety of new skate videos the poor, fat, old fool was drowing in pools of midnight sweat over the fact that he had no frontside turn, no grindage, and no coping drop in. He swore he would conquer his fears.

He is now bruised and battered but, as you can see, He has grindage. He has a small frontside turn. He figures he's one more shoulder tweak and three more leg contusions away from the coveted Old Mad Drop-in.

Hectic Times For An Old Man in July

July was a month of distraction with Visitors and Vacations for Old Man and his FamDam.

It was off to Montana and then back to entertain visitors from the east. The Old Man found it difficult to squeeze in much needed Park Time. He skated only twice or thrice during July but made some much needed improvement in the style department. He became much more concious of his Vulture Stylings and worked on his arm placement. He reached higher and higher to from the Tranny to the Vert in the Big Bowl. He even snuck in a run or two without his Helmet!

And Young Dude you ask? Young Dude began taking serious interest in riding four tiny wheels...

June Flew By

June was busy with Old Man skating with great vigor

He forsook his family for three straight weeks to attack the park with Old Man reckless abandon. He ordered pads to cover skinned knees and protected scraped elbows and slammed wrists. He stared down the coping- and flet defeated when he only managed the courage to drop in from the smooth edges...Regardless, the Old Man attacked the walls of the bowls going higher and faster than before.

Old Man even began to peice together his first progressions in the Big Bowl with The Wife firing away on the Canon Rebel!

May and Gaining Confidence

By Maythe Old Man was feeling less old, lighter, and more confident

Young Dude became increasingly curious about the bruises and limps that were appearing over the weekend while he slept and demanded explanation why the Old Man was becoming less focused upon the evening street skates. Yound Dude was also growing concerned with the wear marks that were beginnin to show on the Old Man's plethora of new skateboards.

So the Old Man invited the Yound Dude, the Little Bro, and The Wife into his new world. The Wife brought along her camera and found, to her excitement, that she was incredibly gifted and intrigued with capturing the image of her Old Man in the Concrete Bowls. Yet the Old Man still had much room for improvement...

But most of all, Young Dude decided he must try his hand at this. He tried both three wheels and four and for the time being decided that three wheels and a handle were much more his speed.

.

The Old Man was very proud, he skated even better: