Tuesday, November 29, 2011

rural decay/occupy everything/Boston (tourist nerd stuff)/barnstorming

first things first, bid hard!

a 15 minute session can be the greatest feeling in the world if I haven't rolled around in awhile. some things will just never change.

took the scenic route for some chinese take out and ended up finding a great spot.


picked this up on the cheap while searching for the mountaineering section.


one way to stop wondering is to just pull over and see for yourself



I don't think the officer expected to hear "35" and "37" as responses when she asked our ages. She was cool though. Just wanted to see if we were spray painting the walls.

I tried unsuccessfully to get a "cool" shot of the marathon. Congrats to all who ran.

8 hours to kill so I basically ended up pushing back and forth across the city about 5 times. no complaints. lunch was an old haunt.

searching for the secret "pizza park". I've still never found it.

It felt like 2001. all that was missing was a single Gleason on the couch in morning recommending grilled cheese at Sugar Mom's for breakfast.

I was in the neighborhood so I had to see what all the hub bub was about

damn. couldn't even get my go to city hall line in. (ollie up the bench to boardslide off the wall just in case you were wondering)

don't worry, Occupy Philly still got sessioned. the puddle of urine all over the landing gave just the right motivation to land clean.

when you have to kill some time, Barnes and Noble is a no brainer

it was literally straight from the thanksgiving dinner table to Boston. spent the night to break up the drive in an abandoned Providence, RI. dinner that evening consisted of Goldfish and Chex Mix. No complaints. Here's Friday morning on the harbor.


shitty picture of a nice view from College Hill. (it should be noted I've had a fascination of all things New England"y" or Ivy league"ish" pretty much since childhood when I was exposed to the stories of Rip Van Winkle and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. it was something about the history of the region. the mountains, stone buildings, taverns and the legends that surround them all that always intrigued me. suffice it to say, I was stoked to be visiting Brown, Harvard and Yale all in one weekend)

an hour later, basking in the Southie sun. (if anybody reading this is actually from Boston you should be prepared for my lame, stereotypical quips about your town)

I crept along at 5mph so as not to miss an autograph opportunity.


no parking at the site of the Boston Tea Party

a short while later I was staring through the fence at a spot I've been wanting to hit since '91.



I have a new found respect for anything that was done here


my roll-ins on 12' bowls with 2+' of vert have been lacking lately so for my first run I opted to take the ladder

"don't take the picture until my front leg is full extended on the back smith"

"ready?"

"dude I got this!"

"you got that one right?"

talking "snake boards as christmas presents" with the maintenance manager to stay in his good graces.

get some while you can

comparison shopping (not the first and certainly not the last in links I've made for the sake of 2 people)

had to Occupy Harvard from outside the gates. bummed. I wonder if any of them had signs that said "MY PARENTS ACTUALLY ARE THE 1%"?


a pilgrimage in it's own right


the Old North Church. This church became famous when Jon Voight told Sean Bean to go there in National Treasure. Little did he know that Harvey Keitel would be waiting for him!

wait, how many lanterns did Robert Newman hang in the steeple again? sometimes I find it's easier to remember historical facts and figures if I associate it with a fond personal memory.

8th grade after school art club Brett always finds the horizon line and vanishing point

Copp's Hill cemetery. see that obelisk off in the distance between the tree branches? that is the site of the Battle of Benny Hill. the British occupied Copp's Hill and used its elevation to their advantage to reign artillery shells down on Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's ancestors in Southie.

the gravestones were unreal. they almost looked fake. the details in the engravings were so clear for being over 250 years old in a lot of cases.




This is what I'd like my gravestone to read. Although when I picture my funeral it ideally looks more like this. that reminds me, in my Life Drawing class in college, the professor would always play this instrumental cd while we were drawing that I thought was awesome. one night after class I asked her what it was. she said it was the soundtrack to the Mission which I watched the first chance I got. Rad movie. It would be sick to go out like that too. then thinking of that reminded me how much I love scenes like that.


1672. I wonder if in 2350 someone will go of on a tangent and link stupid YouTube videos when they see a gravestone from 2011.



Peter Paul Revere was a Flemish Baroque painter who also told everybody the British were coming. He's one of my favorite "Pauls". This was his house. Quick! How many lanterns did Robert Newman hang in the Old North Church's steeple? (see I bet you remember now)

I celebrated our country's freedom by eating a cannoli while standing on the Freedom Trail directly in front of it.

This is where Crispin Glover got shot and started the Civil War. Until I got HBO I had no idea that John Adams represented the British soldiers who did the shooting.

note the Freedom Trail running behind it

a Boston Strangler's murder site

been there!

who doesn't enjoy a stroll through the Common?



Sam Malone phone home

told you this was gonna be touristy

"Sam's Starters"...I laughed



Saturday morning breakfast run

a stop in New Haven was mandatory on the way home

then it was time to Occupy Yale


a quick rub in hopes of no traffic and not getting lost on the way home. didn't work.

I totally love stuff like this

B&W to set the appropriate mood


we out

lumber recon mission






don't worry, it was all on the up and up. you're dealing with 2 Eagle Scouts here

Jake's. (I'm haggling more aggressively for the bullwhip next time)



in '96 we woulda had the proper set ups for this hot spot