~*...go skateboarding day and summer soulstice...*~

randnorm pikcha


randnorm mind grenade
If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance. ~Bern Williams

randnorm video

go skateboarding day 2006 documentary by brockonomics

normdate 21.6.7

today, all across the world, skateboarders celebrated the pure exhilaration, creativity, and spirit of one of the most influential activities in the world by blowing off all other obligations to go skateboarding!



i met up with over 200 skateboarders at city hall for go skateboarding day. skating with that many people was incredible. it reminded me of critical mass, the monthly bicycle ride through the city promoting environmentally friendly alternatives to transportation, except skaters have way more attitude ;)



there really is nothing like sharing a passion with a couple hundred other enthusiasts. snowboarding with a large krew of friends is awesome, but having over 200 skaters ride together is a site to be seen.

our skate convoy spent the afternoon stopping at all of the downtown skate spots for a gnarly group session.















there were so many people documenting the event.


including brokonomics, a source employee and the man responsible for the doc i posted as today's randnorm video.


my boss terry also showed up with his longboard


i think he and i were the only ones with longboards at this session, but we'd run into a couple longboard enthusiasts later in the afternoon.

style was everywhere










betties kinda rool






enjoyin' a killer session with a few hundred other skaters is an awesome feeling. knowing that thousands of other skaters across the world are also enjoying the raw passion of skateboarding is a fukkin rad feeling too.





our next session was td square: a set of 12 stairs and a skateproofed rail. skateproof...ha!







there are some really good skaters in this town


somtimes too gnarly for their skate...


dude, go skateboarding...


here's a vid i took as we left td square.


next session, more stairs and obstacles






finally another longoarder...a cute one.


more rails




this woman decided to keep her front row seat


no comply - milf style






we sesh'd eau claire center next where i ran into two other longboarders who were passionate about sliding.










one of them lent me his gloves, which he had custom made with cutting board plastic on the palms for sliding. he also lent me his board, a true lowriding carve board, and i experienced my first longboard slide. i leaned back too much on my first slide and scraped up my arm a bit, but i got right back on and did it right the second time. sliding is next shit. i can't wait to craft meself a pair of gloves and start sliding on my board.

while us longboarders were enjoing the open space of eau claire to carve and slide, this gap was the focus of attention for the rest of the skaters.




czech out this calgary go skateboarding day vid by polish negro


i bounced out and headed back to work after 2.5hrs of skating. documenting the event was work for me, and my boss was there too!

back at the office, mark, one of the owners of the source, was busy taking care of our gopher problem...cowboy style.




today was also the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. for the past 8 years i've celebrated the solstice at the om celebration in ontario. not being able to celebrate with my omies this year was a difficult choice for me, but i know i will see them all in october when i return for brennan and bev's wedding, and my sacrifice of summer festivals will be worth it when i stand on the playa at the end of the summer )'(

the om circle celebrating the summer soulstice in 2001.

photo by asif quadir

one of lara's friends was having a soulstice party, so i headed to lara's place after work. with the sun shining so brightly and it being the longest day of the year, we decided to do a little fun in the sun photo shoot.









the soulstice potluck was held at janine's home, a friend of lara. as i walked into the backyard, i was greeted by a beautiful sight that reminded me of hOMe.


new life enjoying her first soulstice


padawans




goddess with a padawan in the oven


what?




om


*bwahahahahaha*


*rwoar*


delicious food. amazing people. gin and tonic ;) and an amazing day skateboarding with a couple hundred skaterz. i may not have been able to celebrate soulstice with my omies in ontario, but i really can't complain about my celebrations here...okay, maybe the hangover that i'm nursing today, but i asked for that ;)

happy soulstice.

~*...normaste...*~