Yesterday I was informed that writing was a dying art and I’d better learn Final Cut if I wanted to still have a job. That statement was followed up by, “Seriously, in 2010 they are going to stop teaching kids to read in school!” The latter may be a bit of an overstatement (considering that’s 8 months away,) but there is definitely some truth to the fact that video is more powerful than writing on the Internet.

I spent the day messing with Final Cut and ended up with enough knowledge to make a video look at least as good as I can with iMovie. Mostly though, I have twitter to thank for that, since I used it as tech support when I had questions and was able to get answers within seconds. Amazing really.

But  this is all just a long winded intro to the new video series we’ve started doing on YoBeat. Jared named it “Conversations,” which admittedly makes little sense since it’s totally one-sided, but what can you do. I asked the questions while Jared filmed and edited it, and today we launched the first installment with David Benedek, snowboarder and filmmaker extraordinaire. The response so far has been great and if you are remotely interested in snowboarding, filmmaking or the current state of media, you’ll probably find it somewhat entertaining. So click on over to YoBeat and check it out.

One of my main professional projects is YoBeat.com. Just saying that sounds weird, given that I’ve been “doing” YoBeat since I was 15 years old, but these days, it is actually a large part of my day-to-day exsitence. I can’t complain. It’s amazing to have a project that I have full creative control over, people seem to like, and even makes me a (very) little bit of money. But the strangest part about concentrating on YoBeat is that students and aspiring extreme journalists have taken notice. I’ve done a few online interviews about it. There was the one on (apparently now defunct) Diablo Snow, before the actual relaunch. And then of course I got my big break on Shayboarder.com last October. The most recently though, was for a senior at Ohio University. She was working on a project for her “business practices for photographers” class and was assigned to interview someone running a business she admired. I was honored she chose YoBeat as that business and I answered her many questions. I’m not going to lie, partially I am proud of my answers, and partially I want to get more mileage out of my hard work. So follow the jump and check out how exactly we make YoBeat magic happen. read more »

Credit: Me. Alliancewakeskate.com

completely unrelated, but still adorable photo

So I am a writer. I know it’s hard to believe because I just started a sentence with so, and I do it often, but shit, this is my blog and I follow no rules. I also am a big fan of NOT TRYING TO HARD. Nothing annoys me more than shitty writers who try to write well and come off sounding like total tools. One of my other trades however, is editing. Editing is fun because you get to sift through bullshit of people who are trying to hard all the time.

But once, a long time ago, I got the chance to work with Chris Heavner. I enlisted him to write an article about wakeskating entitled “Win a Date with Cassette” for the premiere issue of Alliance Wakeskate. Actually it was his idea, and he did an amazing job, but it was way too many words for the pages of the fledgling web zine. I was forced to hack the shit out of it (one of my least favorite things to do) and I told him I was doing so with the disclaimer, “if you are bummed on what I do, you never have to write for me or talk to me again.”

He didn’t talk to me for years (until we randomly bumped into each other in Chicago,) but to this day I am not sure if he just didn’t have any other ideas or if he cried himself to sleep over my editing and didn’t want to face me ever again. We’ve lost touch over the years, but he recently came back across my radar after a conversation with his brother, Chase. It seems Chris is trying to transition from print to web, and I wish him the best with that. I figured I could even check out his efforts now that he’s embraced the ‘net. Thanks to the magic of links, I found him.

Among the well-worded gems on his site was a post entitled “How to Write a Good Story.” It’s funny, informative and much better articulates exactly how I feel about trying too hard.

2. Keep it simple.

Say you and I are friends. Say you’re walking down the street and you see me walking towards you. You smile and you wave and I see you and I smile and wave and when we get closer together we hi-five and I pull you in for a bro hug and even though that’s a little weird for you, you’re cool with it cause we’re such good friends.

“Hey Chris,” you say, “What’s goin on, man? How’s your life?”

I laugh heartily, arms akimbo like a genie, and say “Simply splendid dearest friend. And what an auspicious occasion for our twain tracks to intersect as my satchel is abounding with delectable ephemera and other such pleasantries! Let us feast like the kings of yor, my proprietor of such friendshiply delights!” After staring at me in silence for a moment, you punch me in the face for talking like a fucking idiot and you walk away.

Don’t pull out the big words cause you want to sound smart or more like “a real writer,” whatever that means. That’s not to say you shouldn’t use florid language. If you can wield the language well, like a Zadie Smith or a Jonathan Lethem, then more power to you. It can come out as some truly pleasurable reading. But the truth of the matter is, those people are geniuses and the rest of us are not. Words are tools used to convey meaning and feeling. If you’re not a professional contractor then it’s probably not the best idea to pull out the concrete drill and start boring away at the walls. So leave the fancy talk to the fancy people. Write with your own voice.

While this is my favorite piece of advice, all of his points have merit for fiction, or non fiction, if you want to write well. Of course, if I was going to add my two cents it would be “keep it under 500 words” but that’s what editing on the Internet will do to you. Anyway, check out the full post and don’t ever send me a shitty story again.

There are certain things I only really do when I am in Florida. Eat at Chipotle. Drink about 3 super sweet Dunkin Donuts Iced coffees a day. Listen to the terrible hip hop station. Get sunburned. Etc. But I think it’s these things that keep me coming back (well that, and it’s my job.) My Florida traditions have almost become guilty pleasures, some sort of alternate universe from my every day life. And as I become less interested in traveling (never thought it would happen, either) I think the fact that I have these routines makes it much less painful to be on the road.

New for this trip, my friend Jason constructed a mini ramp in his backyard. I saw pictures of it when they first got it, and were yet to fix it up. It looked pretty junky. But I should have known that once Jason got his hands on it, it would be perfect. It is. One of the most fun ramps I’ve ever skated.

There is awesome skateboarding in and around Orlando no doubt, but I come here for the wakeskating. I got to go out and ride with a boatload (literally) of girls including one of my favorite contributors Lacey Menkin, and Canada’s own Ally Boothroyd. The last two days have mainly been spent at Orlando Watersports Complex for the first stop of the 2009 Byerly Toe Jam. It was nearly impossible to find a decent angle of the montrous pool gap, but I got a few decent ones. This shot of Andrew Pastura is probably my favorite.

Actually no, the shot of Ben Horan I got is my favorite, but you’ll have to wait until Monday to see that one. Check out all my shots on Alliance Wakeskate. Practice session and the big show. Well I am off to get one of those Iced Coffees and spend the day with my favorite haters, James and Silas.

I love digital photography. Preston Strout recently told me I was the first person he ever saw with a digital camera, so it’s not like this is a new thing for me, but now I can’t even imagine shooting any other way. My four or so film cameras haven’t so much as been picked up in years. But there’s one thing that I still haven’t really mastered with digital, and that’s filing them in a way that I can easily find old photos when I need to. Ok, I have a lot more things to master than that, but I really suck at organiziation. Which brings me to the title of this here post. I now have a folder on my desktop called “Chickens and Boardin.” Inside are pictures from snowboarding this weekend, and of chickens from the frat party I accidentally ended up at. It makes sense now, but down the line I somehow don’t think I am going to be able to locate the pictures I shot for an upcoming YoBeat story when I need to. There is really no point to this story so I will stop now. Here are pictures of chickens and boardin. read more »

I have some days where I just can’t put together a punchline. Today is not one of those days. I am doing a really amazing job at making fun of stuff and stealing funny jokes from others for my own benefit. Here’s a quick run down.

I received a Grenade Games press release this morning. Now I am not just going to post an ad for Monster and Grenade without some subtle shit talk. I killed it.

A little bird forwarded me what may or may not be an inter office joke at Burton. It was funny, so I ran with it. I mean, my sense of humor doesn’t lie, they obviously wanted this on Yobeat.

But I do not just limit my humor to YoBeat. Today I think I pulled off a post that might even make wakeskaters laugh! It helps that they actually wrote it unknowingly, but I think the pictures are really what sets it apart. Check out all 99 uses for your old handle.

If none of this succeeds in making you LOL, I feel we might need to reevluate our friendship. That is all.

Someday I will blog about real and important things again (like pirates) but for now…

Everyone wants to be a skateboarder (except of course rockstars and Gods.) Luckily for me, I am totally awesome at skateboarding. That is of course, unless you put me in a video with people who are actually good. I guess since Jared’s video is arsty, I will forgive him for making my stunts look less cool by juxtaposing them against Ben and Scott.

Dude Ranch Mini Ramp: Portland from Souney Media on Vimeo.

I feel like this post requires very few words.

Check out the full gallery.