Procrastagram ( Arizona & California winter get-away 2012 )

Some people think the world is going to end in 2012. I'm glad to say I don't share that opinion, for if I did then it would mean the end of annual trips to the southern United States in the winter months. Nah son. I'm going again and again.

This year I met up with my re-occurring skate travel crew ( Andrew, Willy, Suskibeatz etc... )and followed them to over 10 backyard pools in Tucson and Phoenix. You can't stick around for long at each pool, so except for a few timid carves here and there, I mostly shot photos of the homies who knew what they were doing. Willy just turned pro for 5BORO and he was all-in at every spot... the proof is in the photos below.

Above : Drew gets a bite of gold dust.

Above : Willy gets a crail in the deep.

Early in the trip I drove 9 hours up to Santa Barbara to meet up with no other than Frank Tanklin and Cam Wisehorse for the premiere of the new Bones Brigade documentary.... we even got a personal tour of the Powell factory by George Powell himself, a great experience all around.

Above, left to right : Mike McGill, Alan Gelfand, Tommy Guererro, Rodney Mullen, Stacy Peralta, Steve Caballero, Craig Stecyk and Lance Mountain at the Santa Barbara premiere of The Bones Brigade Documentary. ( Photo: Daniello ... on the G-Nizzy )

Above : Quick stop to buy records in L.A. and I got a chance to see the Hollywood sign.

Below: This sign was right behind me when I shot the other photo above.

Above : Rolled into San Diego for a day on the way back to Tucson and met up with brother Hoffart for a quick skate and hang.... he's got some cute pups lurking around.

Below : This school was sick. There were perfect Cali tables in back that were set up after a nice bump, and this ramp to rail that Jordan easily heel flipped out front. Wish I had more time there...

Above : Foundation trooper Dakota Servold came out for a shred and was hopping up on this classic spot like it was ankle high. I hit the road for Tucson after he TCB'd that jam.

Above: Our good friend in Tucson and gracious host on many occasions, Jesse, has made some progress on his back yard concrete dreamland. Time trials went down...something like 8 seconds around the yard without pushing.

Below: The only photo of me from the trip is a pivot fakie on the smallest thing in the yard. Balls.

Above and below: It's hard to do pools justice in photos and video. These 2 photos can at least give you an idea of the steepness. JD was grinding off the 1st drop in.

Above: Willy, backside tailslide.

I may have been gone for 2 weeks, but it flew by. Next year I plan to stay for a month. There's some solid homies down in Arizona... big thanks to my folks, Suski, Jesse, Andrew, Willy, Steve, Brad, Jason, Jordan and everyone else for making it a memorable trip ! .... and can't forget Tula Faye !

WOOF !

AAAYYY, WHOA.. I'M BLOGGIN' HERE !! ( New York 2011 in photos )

I'm keeping it simple this time around.... just photos from my trip to New York in late September 2011. I met up with a couple groups of friends, skated, bought records and waited out rain storms. It was my 1st time in the Big Apple and the trusty G9 captured some random stuff. Enjoy.

Above : A record from the 1800's that was laying around Dan V and Drew's place.

Below : Drew Hairymore

Above: Dan V texting and BBQing....man.... c'mon.

Above and below : Pretty dope ledge spot right on the main drag in sketchy Newark.

Dan V BUTR Bro !

Above and below : Drew's slashings in the deep end of this random Jersey skatepark were like, soooooo cute !

Above and below : We hit up a sick DIY spot in Jersey City that the boys had some part in creating.... fun as hell. I ate shit on the 1st attempt of that bluntslide.

Above : Willy Akers on deck !

Above : This is Scraggles. We had a few issues....

Below : Brooklyn Bridge on film. Thanks Pete Miles.

Above : Gianni's Pizza in Bed Stuy made this gem.

Below : Crown Fried Chicken, around the corner from my friend Nick's place in Brooklyn, has this posted in the window. It's right next to the Marcy Projects where Jay-Z grew up.

Above and below : The solid homie Jon Sturge came through for a few days to visit and get some skating in. He got a clip at this classic Queens spot while the DTZ did not.

Above : Drew floating in a bowl that he built.

Below : Willy doing a Texas Plant at the Chelsea Piers Skatepark in Manhattan.

Above : I was wandering around Manhattan on a misty day and found this bench on the waterfront, among many other great spots. Had to use the timer for a self portrait.

I had a great time on my 2 week vacation in New York.... can't wait to go back ! Hopefully I won't get rained out as much ( over half this trip was plagued by rain storms ), but even so, there's a million things to do in NYC even if there's a blizzard. Thanks to Nick, Andrew and Dan V for being such great hosts... see you in Arizona brothers !