Espana

BCN

Hail fi me bredren! Iman and Iqueen gwon Barcelona, Espana haffi crucial times inna distant lands. Iman and fi me bredda bout to haffi bashment and mash it up. Give thanks and praises to di upful vibes. SEEN! FORWARD

Scotty's Body

Scotty “The Body” Conley is my homie, and when my friends are happy I too feel blissful. Scotty’s phone pocket-called me a week ago, and instead of hanging up on my call he related his current position in time and space and what he had accomplished thus far on his mission. I applauded his efforts and looked forward to viewing his southern experience. After surfing through interlinked hypertext documents I visited Steve Ayer’s site, http://sayersphoto.blogspot.com/ , and decided to expose The Scotty Conley Experience.

Body boneless; FLA

read between the lines

you got to read the labels

Classic form, well played

Soy Panday

Cheeky Sarah by Soy Panday, a favorite of mine

Monsieur Soy and Mr. Lindsay; Tokyo 2008

Soy Panday has one of the best names I have ever read, typed, and vocally communicated. With a name like Monsieur Soy Panday, people are sure to store, retain, and recall some bit of information regarding Monsieur Panday. Whether this retention involves his warm laugh and accent, his artistic fabrications, his dance and skateboard moves, or the flowers that spew from his mouth when he serenades his brothers and sisters with his mother tongue, Monsieur Soy is sure to be commemorated. On top of his admirable persona, Soy’s relation to Roy Sunday is desirous, the scar on his neck received when courageously fending off a Bengal Tiger from devouring a frightened child is praiseworthy, and his angelic hair reminds me of the boy in Gustav Klimt's Mother and Child.

Soy's ink and dance manoeuvers are second to none

Mr. Panday, I met you and your mate Mr. Feil in Japan through our buddy Mr. Lindsay. I believe that was your first visit to the land of the rising sun, and you were staying with an ex-missus while escaping Europa. The day we met one another, Mr. Feil was so excited to be a foreigner in the East, embracing his loud use of obscenities, drinking beer where he pleased, and frolicking gaily hand in hand with Mr. Lindsay, that I was momentarily stunned like an armadillo caught in an oncoming car’s high beams. My rudimentary numbness was due to my personal assimilation, the blending of my Floridian cultural characteristics with that of my new home in the Far East. However, our first engagement was fun, refreshing, and loud. Coincidently, we both planned a Japanese sabbatical a year later and our time together was conspicuously amusing, and I then became fond of your dance moves. You then went back to Japan for a third time in the Year of the Ox; 2009. What about Nihon draws you back again and again, and how does it compare with the rest of the world that you’ve been ingenious enough to explore?

First of all, I must say that I can perfectly understand why you got so very fond of my dance manoeuvers; they are quite honestly among the most visually pleasing body movement ever executed by a human being. With that said, there is indeed something about Nihon that keeps me going back. I find big cities very inspiring, and Tokyo is undoubtedly gigantic, and there are therefore an almost unlimited supply of very interesting spots. The people, I must say, are another really big part of my coming-backs. Everyone I have met there was outrageously nice, motivated, understanding and supportive. From an outsider’s point of view, there seemed to be no negativity whatsoever. Their skate culture is very interesting too, as the country is very traditional and peculiar, while at the same time being very “Americanized”. They take what they see from American videos and make it their own, and the result is what Japanese skateboarding means today, an upgrade of the NY-style of skating, just more fun and less serious. Japanese skate videos are definitely very inspiring to watch.
Apart from the skateboarding part, Japan is quite inspirational for art too, as there is a high tradition of design. They have mastered the art of simplicity and subtlety, and pretty much everything is beautiful. It seems that everything has been perfectly designed, well thought of, not overdone. Nihon is definitely one of a kind.

a Monsieur Panday original piece

Parisian culture incorporates opera houses, ballet, both classic and modern, and theatre, as well as independent film festivals. I’ve also read that Parisians tend to follow America’s Hollywood cinema, and that the French cinema ranks second to the United States of freedom fries. When you were growing up in Paris did the abundance of entertainment options have an effect on your acting interests, and what French and American movies, as well as directors and actors are you keen on?

I’ve always loved watching movies, and I’ve also always loved “acting”, doing little improvisations and stuff, although I never went as far as taking acting classes, mainly because skateboarding was taking all my time. But I couldn’t really tell you where that comes from. I think it does come from fighting off shyness, trying to create a different character was an easy way for me to communicate with people. As to what I’m keen on, damn, there are so many. I don’t consider myself a true connoisseur, I actually am pretty easy. Beside being one of Roy Sunday’s biggest fans, I really like Wes Anderson’s movies, I’m a big Zucker-Abraham-Zucker fan (“Airplane”), I really like old gangster movies, like old DeNiro and Al Pacino, the classics…Nothing too crazy in my tastes, I pretty much like everything, every genre… as far as France is concerned, I really like Les Nuls, Le grand détournement…

is Soy acting or skating?

Usually in large metropolises, specific ethnic groups merge together for obvious reasons; language, food, cultural customs, holiday festivals, and symmetrical fornication. Let’s discuss your neighborhood. I remember you mentioning you lived in an Indian neighborhood of Paris, am I right? Have you always lived in this specific vicinity, and if not, why did you decide to make it home base? Also, I’d like to know if growing up as a Hapa, half Asian and European, were you ever scrutinized for being so charming and good looking?

I have actually not always lived in Paris, I moved around France a bit before settling here about 8 years ago. My brother had been living here for a year or two before me, in a different neighbourhood, but yes, as soon as I moved here and with him, we relocated to the Indian part of town. Not because it was the Indian part of town, just because it was a good location, close to many train lines, and pretty cheap. And so I could go eat Indian food every other day at this one restaurant, hahaha. It’s a really cool part of the city to live in.

As far as my Hapa upbringing, hell yes, I mean, if that word actually exists! Actually, thanks to my devotion to skating and my shyness, I didn’t learn about the concept of girls until I was old enough to have kids of my own, hahahaha. Ok, maybe things weren’t that bad, but they really weren’t that good either. Luckily for me, I later realized being shy was rather stupid, and I stopped. That’s when the scrutiny began…hehehe.

Mr. Lindsay and I were discussing life and leisure over a few glasses of Crème de cassis and a plate of Quiche Lorraine, while basking in the tunes of Brigitte Fontaine and critiquing the original painting La Toilette by Edgar Degas that Mr. Lindsay bartered for last month by exchanging one of your illustrations. While our intellect soared high above the heavens and peered down upon the earth, our extreme mental capacities spotted you devouring a strawberry and nutella crepe. Our ascended psyche descended back to Mr. Lindsay’s flat and we were then reminded of your contagiously blissful manner. Mr. Lindsay then disclosed the secret of your master’s degree. Of course this chapter of the Panday saga did not faze me because I know how accomplished and civilized a man of your stature is, and forever will be. What did you study at your institution of higher education, do you use this part of your intellect now, and what knowledge do you prefer to absorb in the present moment? Also, if you ripen into an apprentice, what would you contemplate and who would be your mentor?

Let’s start this one by being very honest: there was no strawberry in my strawberry and nutella crepe. A man of my maneurism would never dip into this nonsense of a nontaste. As far as my education, I studied Business and Econimics, and I guess even if I don’t really use it, being that I don’t work and have long ago prefered to choose to follow the less profitable path of the ‘artist’s’ life, I guess it has developped my intellect. School basically enables you to learn how to read and write properly, to understand and analyse, not only what’s going on in the current economy, but things in general. It trains and sharpens your understanding of things, and what I came to understand about business and economy quickly applied to everything in my everyday life, to my skating life, to my love life even. In a way what you learn mainly, if you’re willing to look a little deeper than what you’re tought and to read between the lines, is to understand the human mind.
As to the second part of the question, I am an apprentice right now. I am currently trying to learn how to paint, following advices from my master, Marke Newton. And closely looking at Gustav Klimt’s paintings to try and understand his technique.

Soy, you are French, and Americans love the French for some reason. What French stereotypes would you presume the citizens of the Land of Freedom hold in regard to your fellow countrymen and women, and what are some predictable stereotypes that your comrades maintain about us over here in the land of the brave? And finally, when visiting the good ol’ US of America, have you experienced any cultural tension or shock, and did all the women discarded their clothes at the first perception of your magical accent?

Stereotypes, damn, there sure are a ton of those that travel back and forth. French people, on top of being as charming as they’re dirty and smelly, are usually thought of as being rude and hateful towards Americans I presume. Which is of course completely false, unless you are in Paris and yes, everyone is quite rude. Hahaha. Or unless you are indeed a loud American. Americans, as well as Brits, do have a tendency, and at this point this is no longer a stereotype but a truth, hahahaha, to be loud. I’ve actually seen that first hand in many countries I’ve visited, touring with fellow American skaters, and have felt embarrassed more than once that our group was being super loud in the quietest of metros and trains…
As to women discarding their clothes at the first perception of my french accent, let me tell you a funny story. Well, I at least think it’s funny. Anyway, I was at a halloween party in Philly with Jack Sabback and Bobby Puleo a couple years ago, we had driven to Philly for two days, pretty much only for that party. Of course the goal was to try and not stay at Jack’s old place, as it was cold and uninviting, at least less inviting than a night at a lovely girl’s apartment. So anyway, we were at this massive party, and since everyone kept telling me that every American girl was easily charmed by French accents, I spat out my Frenchest tongue to a beautiful girl. We chatted for about 20 minutes when she said she had to go to the bathroom but would come back straight away. At that moment she disappeared not only from my direct neighbourhood but also from the party. Vanished. It was late, or actually quite early in the morning, and I was tired and over it, and I abandonned the useless French accent to tell a friend in my regular not so French accent that I was hungry. A no less charming girl then walked towards me saying, “you’re hungry? Come with me, we’ll get you something to eat”. I was a little puzzled but followed her outside, where I thought she was going to take me to a sandwich place close to the party. Instead we walked for a little bit, and she said “there’s this diner there that’s open all night long, and it’s really convenient, because it’s right by my place…” The accent thing hasn’t yet worked for me once.

check out Soy's current works by clicking this link: http://soypanday.carbonmade.com/

Live, Laugh, Love

"Laughter is the shortest distance between people." - Victor Borge

"Laughter can be more satisfying than honor, more precious than money, more heart-cleansing than prayer." - Harriet Rochlin

"He deserves Paradise who makes his companions laugh." - The Koran

"Time spent laughing is time spent with the Gods." - Japanese proverb

“The highest forms of understanding we can achieve are laughter and human compassion.” – Richard Fenyman

Brett "Maiximus" Davis

Brett Davis reminds me of an Andean Condor; they both have wing spans larger than seven feet and they skirt the coasts of Central America. The Andean Condor is the largest flying land bird in the Western Hemisphere and Brett is my largest friend in the Western Hemisphere. Brett’s desire to hunt for pristine beaches with surfable waves, meat on sticks, and contently delighted locals could parallel the Andean Condor’s sporadic bouts of foraging for food and their preferred perches in the raw Andes. In flight, an Andean Condor gracefully glides in circles, riding the wind, propelled by natural forces that have the power of destruction. Brett, like the Andean Condor, floats atop a natural substance stylishly, poised with agility moving in oval-like patterns, to and fro, while in control. The oceans, Brett’s favored transmission mediums, also have the power of summoning large volumes of water and displacing them in harbors or on beaches, reeking havoc and devastation, similar to it’s sister’s temperament, the wind. Other than admiring Brett for his animal instincts, I also respect him for the man he is, any advice he’s given me, and for letting me rent a room from him for next to nothing. Mr. Davis, I hope to be on the beach with you sooner than later, basking in the sun, enjoying the ocean, and living for the moment.

Mr. Davis, I have bombed hills on my skateboard with the aid of gravity and my massive 160 pound frame, and easily clocked 30 mph, or 48 kph, with tears lining my face from the increase in wind pressure on my fair green eyes. My steel framed bicycle weighted with my sack of bones and propelled by the inertia from my chicken legs has more than likely topped my thrashing speed, thus thrusting me forward in time at a decent pace of about 40 mph, 64 kph. Both speeds have been experienced on concrete in San Francisco, and for most of the journeys I was in complete control. However, I have never been launched in to motion by a disturbance in space and time via the transference of energy, or simply put, a surface wave. You on the other hand have experienced all aforementioned means of transportation. What country’s coastline and ocean delivered the largest wave that managed your being, how lofty was it, and what was that feeling like? Also, have you ever been tickled by a 3 layered rack of teeth, sharper than razors and blood thirsty, backed by eyes as black as onyx with a body mass reaching up to 16 feet in length?
If my memory serves me correct, I would have to say the last trip to El Salvador 2 years ago would claim that title. It was a solid 8ft+ wave and perfect. I pretty much said a “Hail Mary” and went for it and somehow didn’t drown. Last winter in PR the waves got pretty big too. I just remember feeling like I would never get to the bottom of the wave and that it was definitely the fastest my 200lb frame has ever moved as a result of Mother Nature. As for close encounters with Florida’s state fish, there have been a number of close calls. However, this year there has been an overabundance of baitfish in the water so I feel like the odds are in my favor. Until I lose an appendage I am going to just assume it was a sea turtle. Ignorance is bliss.

Brettacus, you have been exploring Central America and the Caribbean and from what I can recall you’re having an irie time closer to the equator. I on the other hand have only been to Tijuana twice, for a total of 10 hours, which is not quite centralized enough to even remotely claim as a stopover to the Americas’ intermediate. Let me recap what I’ve collected on Tijuana; Tijuana serves staple Mexican food and beer, taxis are said to be equivalent to pharmaceutical depots, and the nightlife is saturated with fallen women, dancehalls and hideaways, and cheese. Does this brief description sound similar to what you’ve experienced down south, and what about the Americas’ mid section are you keen on?
Central America is pretty much all the same. Greedy crooked police that have no problem telling you your tags on your rental car are expired… $20 later and you are on your way, questionable drinking water, tasty tall cans with names we gringos just can’t seem to pronounce correctly, and just an overall great time. I think what keeps me coming back, aside from the tasty waves and amazing beans and rice with every meal, is how simple life is. It makes you realize how much we don’t need the strip malls, rare Nike collabo dunks, and LCD TV’s in every bedroom/bathroom in your overpriced home tucked away in the gated community, in order to be happy. The focus is more about family, friends, and enjoying life. I love how some of the poorest people living in tin shacks maintain such a strong pride and genuine love for their country and would give the shirt off their back if they felt you needed it.

Your current family, on the books, is recorded at 2.0; Brett + Riley (0.5) + Bella (0.5) = 2.0. When I was first moved in with your family, your children were so excited about me returning home that they would nip at my ankles and shower me with licks. Then after your dogs were acclimated to my scent and the soothing sound of my voice, they fought one another to receive my attention and a possible place on the couch next to my warm skinny leg. Other than devoting equal amounts of attention to your kids, what are some obstacles you’ve encountered since becoming a parent, and were these hurdles expected or unforeseen?
No doubt they are strange dogs! Corgis are affected by a form of dwarfism, which is so random. My biggest obstacles have really been trying to pawn them off on one of my friends when I need to go out of town and really understanding what it is they are trying to say when they just stare relentlessly at you; “Do you want me to let you outside so you can eat dirt or are you wondering why your arms and legs are so short and you are covered with hair?” All valid questions. These dogs were a gift in every sense of the word and I am very fortunate to have such amazing roommates who never seem to mind the fact that they have to sleep and eat all their meals on the ground.
A few weeks ago you sent me an email stating that you were going to a Motorhead concert, you’ve also recommended a Bob Marley biography, and prior to that I remember listening to Boogie Down Productions in your whip. I just mentioned three dissimilar musicians spanning three diverse music genres, and all three artists come correct with clout respective to their styles. So, if the readers don’t realize that your taste in music is wider than a Blue Whale’s belly, they better pick up a whale watching book and do the math. With that said, are you looking forward to any new releases, concerts, shows, or do you have any new or old musical interests that you’d like to mention?
I like music in all shapes and forms most likely due to growing up watching skate videos all day which allowed me to be exposed to a wide array of music. From Neil Young to Nasty Nas, it’s all good. I can identify so many periods of my short existence on this earth to different albums/songs. Lately I’ve been pretty psyched on the new Raekwon album and I recently saw the Iron Maiden “Flight 666” documentary, which was time well spent. Thank God for Iron Maiden! Unfortunately, I really can’t think of anything that stands out with the exception of the classics. I guess I am still a bit keen to the 70’s era Classic Rock (Sabbath, Stones, etc), 80’s Punk Rock/Metal (7 Seconds, Bad Religion, Samhain), and late 80’s early 90’s Hip Hop (Gangstarr, Hiero, G Rap). Not to say there hasn’t been anything good since then it’s just I always find myself going back to the albums that have stood the test of time.

And finally, Mr. Davis, your couch was lucky enough to be included in some fine conversations amongst a solid group of individuals. Topics ranging from art, hurricane forecasts, music, horse shoe throwing techniques, shoes, beer, stories of getting kicked out of the Czar, parasites, surfing, 48 hour trips to the Left Coast, YBor drama, thoughts of opening retail stores, skateboarding, and more parasites. Out of all these amazing dialogues that I participated in or listened to in an inebriated state, one topic that was drilled into my mental was your prophecy of retiring around the age of 50. The current demographics and statistics point to a retirement age of 65, and even at 65, white men, such as you, will most likely live to be 75, on average. Therefore, if you retire at the youthful age of 50, it will be as if you just got out of school again, and everyone asks “so, what will you do now?” So, Brett, what will you do when you retire?
The state of retirement in the US does tend to keep me up at night. However at the age of 50 I see myself swimming through stacks of Benjamin’s since I plan on winning Powerball in the very near future. As Craig would say, “ballin!”. I can pretty much guarantee I will be located somewhere in a tropical environment, hopefully with a hill nearby to bomb and a beach with people selling chicken on a stick. Where I will not be is the suburbs, prison, Pinellas Park, or trying to keep up with the Joneses.

T&A Union

Marriage is a social unification or legal contract between individuals that manifests kinship. When thinking of genealogy, or the ol’ family tree, marriage can represent anew branch reaching towards the sun, seeking fresh air and desiring growth. This cultivation of new bark and boughs can represent two people maturing and flourishing with one another, and possibly sowing the seeds for future twigs, branches, and leaves in an upwardly course, in a direction of development.

I asked Teresa to grow with me, to weather the storms and to reach for the Sun, and she said yes. So just for clarification, the T&A branch has sprouted with unmistakable growth.

Look out for a Momma T interview, coming soon…

The Adventures of Kingsley Ned Zissou

Kingsley, Falcor, and the Childlike Empress, aka Moonchild
Kingsley, Cheshire Cat, Cabaret Lady, and Ms. Mad Hatter
Lucky Asian Cat, The Childlike Empress and others

Teletubby and Kingsley networking outside the bar

fellow deck hands hard at work

Los Muertos y Kingsley

???

Mariners of different millenniums

Those guys again

V and K

a bunch of jokers