Come Up to the Lab...

Curb slappie shot DIY on a 10 second timer.

...and See What's on the Slab...

The Old Dirty. My favorite spot.

Bert Slide

On This Day In 1987...

...Mike Vallely turned pro for Powell-Peralta. Mike is still to this day one of the most hardcore skaters alive and after 21 years he still has a signature model skateboard despite his existing just below the radar of mainstream skateboarding. Like Bill Danforth (The American Nomad) Mike is 100% Skateboarder and will rip any terrain in any situation. Congratulations Mike! Stand Strong!

Boardslide Pics by Grom

Not a sequence but 4 seperate shots taken by the Grom this afternoon. Good work from a young aspiring photographer.

One of the best things about Memorial Day is...

...the fact that many businesses are closed. This provides a perfect oppurtunity for skaters looking to hit those spots that are usually off limits due to the high "bust factor". I haven't hit this spot in many years and today was one of only a handful of days during the year that you can even get into the place without being busted immediately. So... I took advantage of it. Fully. A concrete wave doesn't come in every day for me so here I am getting my surf on at a high bust factor spot...

Memorial Day Skate Pic by Grom

Grom shot this one early this afternoon while we were making our skate rounds. Wallride at the Old Dirty.

Grom Art

Grom shot this one on Friday morning at Coonskin. We ran the pic through a filter that really made the colors on the board stand out and then spotlighted it to really make the skateboard the focal point of the photograph.

Friday Skate Pics by Grom

Grom shot these pics today as we skated between short periods of sprinkling rain.

Frontside 50/50 grind up the metal bank ramp.

Ben rolls one off of the box.

A Grom's eye view of his dad's boneless on the bank.

Grom War!

The kid offensive is ON! Groms have launched an all out attack on local skateparks as summer fast approaches.

Old men scum lining the bowls pad up and beware. They're out there...

Coonskin Thursday A.M.

Backside grind.


Same Ledge Different Day Again. Not much changes...

Letter from Jay

In our attempt to raise awareness of Myasthenia Gravis and Fibromyalgia we have reached out to many people in the skate community and have had a positive response to say the least. Two days ago Emily recieved a response letter from Jay Adams. Despite his current incarceration Jay is positive and has an awesome outlook on life. His faith in God is more than apparent in his message. As a skater I'm sure he's more than ready to be on board again. Stay UP Jay! You are an inspiration to skaters everywhere...

Go Skateboarding Day

Transworld Business reported that last year over 800,000 people logged on to http://www.goskateboardingday.org/ and crashed the server. I hope to be skating enough to stay offline this June 21st but I'll have pics posted here...

Underview...

...or an overview, if you will, of the top section of Coonskin.

Overview...

...of Coonskin shot from the roll in deck.

More DIY...

Shot this morning at an empty skatepark. Self proclaimed pad nanny in action.

MBS Demo Daze Continued...

Trace, Jeff, Marc and Melissa after entertaining the students of Elk Elementary Center on Friday May 16, 2008.

Inspiration, Motivation, Positive Vibrations

I often accuse myself of being Narcissistic for photographing my skate sessions. These feelings quickly go away when I remind myself that this is after all "A chronicle of my attempt to relive my youth through skateboarding during mid life crisis and beyond..." I don't strive for admiration nor do I suffer from an inflated sense of self importance. Quite the opposite of that I see me as a humble individual who tries not to make too many waves in the life of others while enjoying his own trip. Hippie.

So why do I post pics of myself skating? What is the motivation? The motivation is the end result of skateboarding. The feeling of fulfillment I walk away with after a session. A bad day skating is better than a good day at work in the Babylon. Anytime. And there really aren't too many bad days on board. Skateboarding still brings me the same enjoyment today that it brought to me as a 7 year old kid bombing hills barefooted on a banana board. A rush unlike any other. The sound of trucks on coping or the feeling of grinding cement and riding away. I don't find that anywhere else but on board. I spent two semesters as a photography student in college and then spent the subsequent four semesters as the photo lab tech. I spent three years shooting with a Pentax K1000. Low light black and white with high speed film was a favorite. So now I am able to combine my love of photography with my love of skateboarding and try to capture in pixels the energy of skateboarding.

Humility is defined as "the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc. " I am not skateboarding to get sponsored, recognized, challenged, anything. I skateboard for the love of skateboarding. Pad Goon, Park Troll, Pad Dad, Dinosaur, Barney, Gum Scrapin' Pad Nanny, I've heard 'em all. IDGAF. I never started riding to impress anyone. I don't find my skating that impressive. I'm mediocre at best some days but that doesn't stop me and never will. I'm still going to grind my trucks down to the axles every chance I get. And I'll probably show up wearing pads. I wish I had the cajones to ride ramps without pads but I'm not made out of rubber anymore and would I rather eat it and be laid up and unable to skate for a few or would I rather be a Gum Scrapin' Pad Nanny and knee slide out and walk away to ride again? What do you think?

Marc's Board Shop Demo Daze

Emily and I got up at about 6:30 Friday morning to make the 3 hour drive back home from Canaan. Marc had already called by the time we got home. The demo team is a loose knit conglomerate of local riders and those who are available to make it usually do. He had called to make sure I would be there since Em and I were MIA in the mountains. We were committed to making it back in time to take part in this one. The team was doing a demo for elementary school students who could not have been more stoked at what they saw. Friday's demo team consisted of Marc and his wife Melissa, Trace, and myself on skateboards and Marc's friend Kevin showed up with a grip of unicycles. So you have four skaters and Marc and Melissa pulling double duty riding unicycles with Kevin. The kids absolutely enjoyed this demo to say the least. Check out the video to see how it all went down.

Trace takes the gym floor to school.



Marc and I skate for the kids.

Marc Hangs Ten!

Check Out The Skateboarder's Journal

The Skateboarder's Journal was created by Jack Smith and his mission is "to create a true skateboarding community, one that embraces and respects all types of skateboarding." The Journal is no b/s. It offers skaters a place to post pics and video, join discussions, keep a blog, etc... and best of all it is home to skaters who skate all different types of terrain. Unity.

Sepia Tones

I need a 12 step program to help me stop grinding this ledge... Shot DIY on a 10 second timer.

Curb Slap

It's been a while so here is a nice curb slappie pic. This pic is a nice composition of half man half shadow. Photo credit Emily Hope.

The Boneless...

GSD boneless in motion.

Yours truly doing his best GSD.

...is another classic skateboard maneuver. It was invented by Garry Scott Davis (GSD). I can never touch his original steez but that won't stop me from throwing down the boneless.

Bert

Surfer Larry Bertleman is the name sake of this skateboard move. The "Bert" was among the first tricks I learned on a skateboard. We used to call them "powerslides" until we learned better. Know Your Roots! Photo by my wife Emily Hope.

Saturday DIY Skate Shorts

Frontside Curb Grind.

Old Dirty.

Go Skateboarding Day Update

My friends at Pawnshop Skateboards sent me an updated flyer. The flyer looks great and the corporate sponsorships look even better. See You there!

Coonskin Skate Park Is Now On MySpace!

Charleston's only outdoor skateboard park is now on MySpace. A skater or group of skaters have apparently set up the page and are asking for photo submissions. Check the LINK and see for yourself. And if you have any skate pics or video from the park submit your materials to coonskinskaters@yahoo.com. You just may see some of my Coonskin pics there soon.

The bald and burly beer gutted bohemian blast a big boneless on the bank. Photo by Emily Hope.

Big Things A Gwaan

Pawnshop Skateboards and Marc of Marc's Board Shop are teaming up for Go Skateboarding Day! Don't miss the day long skateboarding event and you best believe that pics will be posted here at Jeff's Skateboard Page.

Tailslide Again...

Fakie to tailslide.

Mark Gonzales Boneless

Mark Gonzales sometimes rides an eight wheeler set up with only 4 wheels. Not sure if that is what he's rockin' here but he's ROCKIN' this boneless.

Photo courtesy of Skate Park Of Tampa.

Matt Hensley Re-Revisited

Matt Hensley's influence on skateboarding still stands strong today. Matt was an early mover and shaker in the early 1990's and the effects of his style on modern day street skating is still apparent. Hensley, along with his contemporaries such as Ray Barbee, Mike Vallely, Natas, and Mark Gonzales took skateboarding to new levels of street tech with step hop tricks. Step hop, or the no comply, if you will, is the brainchild of Neil Blender. It is a no hands boneless. Now that credit has been given where credit is due we can get retrospective. H Street Skateboards was home to Danny Way, Ron Allen, Matt Hensley, and others. Founded by Tony Magnusson the company was synonymous with progressive skateboarding. Their early videos included Shackle Me Not and Hocus Pocus. Perhaps dated by today's stair set and railing standards these productions still warrant regular viewing. Remember how high Kien Lieu (the Donger) could ollie? Ron Allen's ollie airwalks? And then there was Hensley. Cargo shorts. Biker Wallets. Mid top skate shoes. Ska. 180 no complies on flatground. We owe these things to the influence of Matt Hensley. OK. He did not invent ska. But with the mod style crew cut and the Doc Martens...I mean come on. When Matt skates he skates from the soul. This soulful love of skating is what has kept skaters such as Matt and Mike Vallely still kicking and rolling to this day. Hard Core from the soul skateboarding. If you were a skater back in the late '80's to early 1990's you can remember at least one of your friends sporting the biker wallet. You may have even had one your damned self. Mid top skate shoes were unheard of. Airwalk high tops and Etnies high tops were often cut down to mid top or low cut shoes with the same hobby knife you would cut grip tape with. The first skater I can recall sporting some home cut mid tops was... Matt Hensley.

Friday Skate Stuff

Here's how I spent my Friday morning. Not much different from most days. Just the way I like it.

More Friday Skate Stuff