KILL THE ENGINE
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My Friend Is a Poet and I Didn't Even Know It
My buddy Dan Boehl handed me a novel for young adults that he'd written titled 'Naomi and the Horse Flavored T-Shirt.' I checked out his website and realized that he has three more books of poetry in print, is writing a new novel titled 'Fire Twins,' and co-owns an independent poetry press. I was impressed. Full story
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I Finally Watched 'Street Dreams'
Last week I reviewed a craphole of a movie called 'Hardflip.' As I mentioned in that review, I'll pretty much watch any film that has skateboarding in it, so this week I decided to watch 'Street Dreams.' I had assumed that this might be the worst film in the boarding genre, but s… Full story
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I Finally Watched 'Hardflip'
I will watch any movie that has something to do with skateboarding. They're all terrible, but the 80s kid in me still thinks there's something cool about watching a flick that has dudes Thrashin' in it. That being said, this Sunday I sat down to watch 'Hardflip,' what might be th… Full story
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I Wonder If Natas Still Skates
A few months ago, a new hip was built at a ditch right down the street from my house. I drive by it every day and think to myself, 'I should go check that out and see if it's skateable.' Well this past Saturday I finally walked down the street to check it out. What follows is how… Full story
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My Studiomate Mike Aho Has a New Book
Unpiano Books recently published a book for my studiomate Mike Aho. It's not every day that somebody publishes a book for my studio-mate Mike Aho, so I thought I'd write something about the project to celebrate. The book is a collaboration between Mike and Mel Kadel. If you're no… Full story
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My Ten Favorite Things in the Local Skate Shop
There's nothing like a tail-sparking slap to the face to remind you that a skate shop is essentially a very sarcastic and opinionated toy store. Full story
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Ten Things That Happened in Skateboarding During 2012
I thought I'd close out 2012 with a list of things that happened in skateboarding this year. I don't consider myself an expert and certainly don't keep up with the staggering skate video output the internet has beseeched us with, so don't consider this a list of the best moments Full story
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All I Want for Christmas
Truth be told, I want absolutely nothing for Christmas. I'd actually like to get rid of some crap in my life Vs. acquiring more stuff, but for the sake of this column I came up with a list of things I'd like for Christmas. Or for the holidays. Or whatever they're calling it these… Full story
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Remember Zulu's?
You might be asking yourself, "Why did two grown men spend their Sunday afternoon in a drainage ditch?" Valid question. Answer: Because we were trying to film some tricks for an upcoming Roger Skateboards video offering. Full story
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Hashtag Gum Soles
Yesterday I totally shredded some ditches with two of my all time favorite dudes, the multigenerational Parsons Crew. Mike P. is pretty much a folk hero amongst older Austin skate nerds. Legendary for jumping in head first without checking the water in terms of skate safety. Full story
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Permitted Snooping
I mentioned last week that the East Austin Studio Tour (E.A.S.T.) was taking place. To me, the most fun part about the tour is getting to step into artists' studios and see their personal workspaces. Permitted snooping. Full story
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Okay Mountain E.A.S.T. Tour
The East Austin Studio Tour is a yearly self-guided tour in Austin, Texas where artists from all walks of life open their studio doors to the public. I co-own an art space/studio space in Austin called Okay Mountain, which seemed like a good place to start the tour. Full story
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The Trading Tortoise
This past Saturday I visited DOMY Books, my local art/photography/design bookstore in Austin, and participated in an event called The Trading Tortoise. The Trading Tortoise is a traveling participatory art tour created and organized by Souther Salazar and Monica Choy. Full story
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Your Mom Is a Nerd
Exactly one year and three days ago I did an art show with my buddy Todd Bratrud at Escapist in Kansas City and I wrote about the experience for this website that you're reading. Fast forward a year and I just did an art show with my buddy Travis Millard at Escapist in Kansas Cit… Full story
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An Interview with Travis Millard
Next Friday my buddy Travis Millard and I are doing an art show in Kansas City at Escapist. I'm pretty sure next week's column will be about the trip/show, so I thought I'd preface that column with a quick interview with Travis. Full story
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I Finally Got an iPhone
I finally got an iPhone a few weeks ago. Fairly positive I'm the last of my friends to get one. I think what sealed the deal was when I was out skating with some old bros and one of my unemployed/unemployable friends pulled his iPhone out of his pocket to Instagram some nonsense… Full story
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A Review of My New Skate Video, 'Second Hand Stoke' (by Me)
It might be somewhat unorthodox—even frowned upon—to write a review of your own company's video. Or maybe the subject has never been broached, as I have a sneaking suspicion that numerous skateboard company owner's might not be able to read and write above a junior-high school le… Full story
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Beggars Can't Be Bitching
I skipped writing this column last week because I was busy doing other stuff. What kind of other stuff? Oh, you know, just making a skateboard video kind of other stuff. We had a premiere for it at a real movie theater and everything. Full story
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Should Skateboarding Be in the Olympics?
Modern vert and mega ramp are essentially gymnastics on wheels anyway, so why not include them? Oh yeah, that's right… because most pro skateboarders are on drugs. Full story
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Guided Tours of the Skate Spots in My Neighborhood
As a freelancer, I spend a great deal of time scheming on ways to bring in more money to my household. One idea I had recently was to start giving guided tours of the skate spots in my neighborhood. Kids are always looking for new skate spots, right? Full story
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Trash Can Omelette
A lot of times this column is easy to write. I go someplace, take a bunch of pictures, come home, make fun of the pictures, and then I'm done. But sometimes I go places, take pictures, come home, and realize that I don't have enough pictures to make fun of (to fulfill my minimum Full story
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I Missed My High School Reunion
But I did find all of my IDs from Seguin High. I was a card-carrying member of the fanny pack/beret society. Full story
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Simpler Times
In 1987 you could make the cover of 'Thrasher' just by bending down and grabbing your skateboard with both hands. Full story
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Skate It or Hang It?
It's a tough question that was answered in Atlanta last weekend. Full story
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Respect Mom Butts
Back when I was twelve, I would have punched your mom in the butt if you told me that one day I'd be included in a skateboard graphics retrospective with Jim Phillips. Full story
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I Get It, It's a Cat
I've said it before and I'll say it again, super detailed monumental dinosaur sculpture wrinkles are going to be the next big thing with the kids. Full story
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Anarchy and Jesus Fish?
Here's some musty dusty stuff I dug up at my parents' house over Memorial Day weekend that makes me get all teary and nostalgic. Full story
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The Weird Is Wearing Thin
Anybody got a jam box I can borrow? And some Kleenex? (For tears, not for anything gross.) Full story
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You Never Know When Radical Is Going to Strike
We went to a skatepark and some professional-level skateboarding happened with some amateur-level photography to accompany it. Full story
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This Looks Like a Good Place to Get Murdered
If you like looking at scenic pictures of Texas, read/look at this. If not, get back on Facebook and make a clever comment about your friend's new hairdo/tattoo/sandwich. Full story
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Hey, Hold My Beer
There's a saying that goes something like this: What do you usually hear just before somebody dies in the South? "Hey, hold my beer." Full story
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Stop Your Whining
Skateboarders complain about skateboarding becoming too mainstream. But there's always going to be rad creative kids skating, so focus on them instead of the X-Games. Full story
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The Idiot Days
The smell of waffle cones wafting out of this place brought me back to a time when I wore pants that were five sizes too big and t-shirts that were two sizes too small. Full story
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Young, Dumb, and Rad
Jeremy Fish is in Austin this week to paint over my mural (jerk). Full story
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Generations Bridged
Instead of posting a column last week about SXSW, I thought I'd wait for the dust to settle, and then sneak back in and blow everybody away with my mind-blowing all inclusive coverage. Full story
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Good Job, Earth
This week I want to share two things with you: a mural project and a creepy putt-putt clown sculpture. Full story
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Because I'm An Asshole
My friends had a hobo art show. Maybe it represented a rejection of commercialism and technology? Or maybe they are just broke, so they have to make stuff out of trash. Full story
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Puppy at the Ditch
To me, there's nothing finer than spending an afternoon with your friends drinking beer in a ditch. Full story
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The Stuff Nightmares Within Nightmares Are Made Of
While in Chattanooga we visited a local attraction called Rock City. The best part of Rock City was getting a behind-the-scenes tour of the workshop where gnomes and fairy tale characters are created and repaired. Full story
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Toughest Cardigan Ever
Since it's Monday and you're trying to avoid doing your work, maybe I could help kill a few minutes of your day by telling you a little bit about the screen printing party at Industry Print Shop. Full story
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An Interview with Mike Aho
Since I wasn't sure how well my first interview for KTE would be received by my nine fans, I didn't want to go to too much trouble right off the bat. So I just interviewed the guy sitting next to me. Full story
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I Pierced My Nose
I left with a beard and had somehow joined a drum circle and a vegan dreamcatcher appreciation group. Strange times. Full story
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Star Trek or Mexico
Sunday was New Year's Day. And like most people, when the world sprouts another white hair in its beard, I like to celebrate by making a to do list for myself for the upcoming year. Full story
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Last Week's Column
I feel like it's necessary to start this week's column by addressing last week's column. Full story
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Who Shaun White Is
It started something like this: a friend asked me if I'd recently designed some t-shirts for Target. I said no. He went on to tell me that he'd seen some shirts at Target that looked like my work. Full story
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It's Not Magic
The four people who read my column might have noticed I was absent last week, so I tried to make up for it this week by getting butt deep into some art stuff. Full story
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Never Forget Dongs
Parodying pot culture has been funny since at least the late 70s, and it's still funny today. Mainly because every time the sun comes up a different kid turns 15. Full story
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Cut Your Arm Off
Today's blog is about the East Austin Studio Tour. Welcome. Full story
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Dreams Destroyed
Every once in a while, my week is so full of bloggable events that this column writes itself. Last week was one of those weeks. Full story
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The Word Vagina
Scenes from an art show in Vancouver. Me: "Dude! I totally drew that t-shirt!" Dude: "Yeah, I know..." Followed by awkward silence. Full story
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Decapitated Dog's Head
I had planned on submitting a travel blog this week about a recent trip I took to Vancouver for an art show, but then I realized that this blog was going to go up on Halloween and I changed my mind. Full story
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Americans Are Stupid
Well, it's finally not hot as balls down here in Texas, which means skateboard season has officially started. Full story
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Permanent Ego Stroke
Last Friday night, my buddy Todd Bratrud and I had an art show in Kansas City, Missouri at a skateboard shop called ESCAPIST. It turned out to be one of the most fun art shows I've ever done. Full story
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Crazy Hot Turds
Imagine being the dude who made the first skateboarding zine. You'd probably think you were pretty hot turd, huh? Full story
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Back in the 90s
Have you ever been to an art show? Do you know what an art show is? An art show is when artists make art and then they exhibit that art and then a bunch of people put on weird hats and funny t-shirts and they go look at the art. Full story
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Television, Cults, Gyms
I'm part of (pardon the overused term) an art collective called Okay Mountain that is based in Austin, Texas. Full story
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The Crowd Goes WIld
I mentioned a few months ago that I have a fairly large zine collection. I also mentioned that I'll be periodically sharing some of the zines in my collection with you. So that's what's going on right now. Full story
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Doritos and Loneliness
When I started this column my intention was to write about little skateboarding missions. Hitting the short road with some buddies and checking out new skateparks in our vicinity, or maybe just rolling around old spots that we've been sessioning forever. Full story
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Screech Rules
Here's some shit that I got all stoked/distracted by today. Full story
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Scary Skull
Last week I took a trip to Domy Books (in Austin), and while I was there I picked up a copy of WARNING: The Art of Marc Mckee. If you're not familiar with Marc Mckee, then I'm going to take a s… Full story
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Something about Weasels
This week I made a little visit to my favorite bookstore in Austin, Domy Books. As far as I know this is the only bookstore in Austin dedicated solely to art, design, and photography. I could be wrong though, so don't quote me on that. Full story
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The Essence of Rad
I'm currently in the process of moving everything out of my home office and into a smaller room in my house because my wife decided that my office would be better suited as a baby room. It's hard to argue with her, since the only thing I really do in my office is look at skateboa… Full story
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Lick the Walls
Texas BBQ is serious business. People get really heated when discussing who (or where) has the best BBQ. But this isn't just a Texas phenomenon. Full story
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The Groundhog Nation
This week I went to another skatepark... Are you starting to see a pattern here? My wife suggested that I should try to write about something more interesting than going to skateparks. So I made a list of other things I do that I could possibly write about. Full story
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Kind of Like Science
The exciting news around here this week was that the new bowl at the San Marcos, TX skatepark was finally being made available for public consumption. Full story
Deportee Purgatory
Welcome to Tijuana’s El Bordo
'Leviathan,' I Love You
James Franco at the Movies
Juggalos Are OK, Cupid
Don’t Be a Tumblr Asshole
Get Rich or High Trying
The Coming Age of Corporate Cannabis
Triple Hate - Part 1
The KKK vs. the Crips vs. Memphis City Council
Rave and Hardcore YouTube Comments
They Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity