Cape Town Update 1

Just getting settled in here in Cape Town, This place is amazing! Soo Amazing I can't even begin to describe it. I'm starting to feel better after being worn out from the jet lag and the 17+ hrs of flying. Toby and his wife Lynn have been amazing hosts, making me feel right at home. I rode my bike around the city a bunch yesterday to try to get familiar with it and I got a nasty sunburn, didn't pack sunscreen cuz it got lost somewhere during my move but I guess a sunburn is better than shovelling snow. I put some photos up on my facebook, http://www.facebook.com/skvarla if we're not friends by now add me. Also been adding status updates on there. I've met some cool locals who showed me around a bunch. I'm gonna ride around around some more later and take photos and video of the city after the mid-day sun passes. Toby and my lobster face reminded me yesterday that the Sun is big in Africa. This weekend we'll be going to a music festival, Monday I'm gonna start working in Toby's screen printing shop, and next weekend we'll be attending Pro X, South Africa's version of the X-Games. Rumor has it I'm signed up to compete in Bmx Dirt. Wow! I'm gonna have to brush the cobwebs off a bit for that. Well keep checking back I'll try to keep the updates coming.

End Of The Superdome

The end of the Superdome from Superfly on Vimeo.

Cape Town South Africa

So somehow, someway my life as a washed up Bmx trail rider has given me the opportunity to travel to Cape Town, South Africa for 5 weeks. It's a long story but to make it short in 2004 when I first visited Austin TX, I met a guy named Toby who I became friends with, a fellow Bmx rider that also had a screen printing business similar to mine. I kept in touch with him ever since. He had always said that whenever I wanted to come to SA he's make sure I was taken care of, so long story short the time was right, So I'm off, not sure If I'll be able to update the site from there but I'll try my best, if not keep track of me on my Spacebook not sure what my internet situation will be. For all the haters leaving comments about how gay I am I prob wont be able to delete them so now is your time to shine, keep posting from your mom's snow covered basement, I'll tell you all about how the toilets in the southern hemisphere flush counter clockwise and I'll delete all the shit talk when I get back from Summer time in Cape Town. Cheers!

Keyko section from SuperBmx's 'Live for Today'

Nothing like a good trails edit in mid winter to keep our spirits up.

Case Zine

Recently a new BMX print Magazine dropped called Case. This is pretty awesome because in my opinion Bmx can use more print and a lot less internet. Coincidently in the mid 90's I made a zine called Case, it was all cut and paste, and xerox since I didn't own a computer. It documenting the LI Bmx scene and the delinquencies and adventures of my friends and I growing up, travelling and riding Bmx. I've been meaning to scan in the originals and put them online forever but have yet to have the time. Here is a small taste tho, the first issue was a print from a linoleum carving I did of a picture of Rob-O from a photo in Bmx Plus. Stay tuned maybe I'll get the originals up in full form.

EXPERIMENT: Stolen Bike on the affluent North Shore of L.I. N.Y.

Well, the stolen bike experiment was going pretty well for about a week, no one stole the bike, and if it lasted a week it probably would have lasted at least a couple months or so. It's safe to say Glen Head NY is fairytale-land. In the end circumstances led me to end the experiment early, a new tenant moved into the shop next to mine and asked me if my bike was locked up, my response was "No, I'm waiting to see how long it takes for someone to steal it"
I got a look from them like I had 5 heads, 4 of which had down syndrome. So they asked me about 5 more times if I was serious. Yes I told them. They were nice and told me of a sob story about a poor employee that needed a bike for transportation, so long story short I said take the bike for Paco.

But a funny thing about this post was that, I hadn't posted anything to my blog in a long long time and since I started this post I got about 20+ anonymous posts telling me how old, gay, and how much of a pussy I am, from everyone claiming to be Myself to Rob-O, Adam22, Oscar, Kaminski, & The Animal & so on. So I guess that someone still reads this blog. And they hate me enough to check it and anonymously fail to be other people.
So Thanks for making me feal special. I'm glad that I'm still making a difference in people's lives.

Day Two: A very interesting day, no one has stolen the bike yet but someone flipped it upside down.
Day One:
Well the bike has been outside my shop for a full day now and no one's stole it yet, I even turned it around so a potential thief can make a quicker get away.
Day Zero:
So my elusive brother suddenly showed back up in my life the other day, after God only knows how long, but with a gift. A shitty foldable Mt. Bike. Obviously he knows I'm into bikes so maybe he thought it was better to try to pawn this gem of a bici-shitty off onto me rather than just put it the curb. So I thought why not do an experiment, place it outside my shop and see how long it takes for someone to steal it. So the experiment begins.

PS. If you're anyone of the many Bmx kids living in the North Shore/Glen Head area of LI that might be reading this blog, please show some respect and don't fuck with my experiment by stealing the bike or ghost-riding it down School street. -Thanks

Birfday Session

Ha! It's not really over, that was just a photo from Halloween. Anyway, Oscar suggested I post some of the photos he took on my birthday a few weeks ago. So that's what I'm gonna do.

It's over

Looks like it's over. I snapped this pic of Supes I don't think he's
doing so good these days.

Brawlin' at the Belmar III

When I was in school I was that kid that would always turn his homework in late but  would get away with it cuz all my teachers liked me. I'm hoping that still applies now. So here's the FBM Brawlin at the Belmar III story...First off Binghamton NY is severely fucked, like really really fucked, one example is of the woman who crawled out of the bushes and said I need to help her by exchanging her Turkish $20 bill for a US $20. Or the fucked up candid photos at the local Burger King of their employees behind the counter goofing around. Aussie Tim told me that he heard there was a big state mental hospital there that lost funding and had to let out all the patients that weren't threats to the public loose on the streets. I don't know if thats true or not but I think its a very likely story. I rolled into town just in time to enjoy a few cold ones with some old friends and coming from the LI-NYC area its always awesome going up to Binghamton and paying $2 for beers as opposed to $7. A couple dozen of cheap drinks later and it was time to find a place to crash. My buddy X came through and hooked up myself, Lil' Paulie, his Aussie buddie Jarrod and 3 other dudes with some floor space. The next morning we rolled up to the Belmar and saw the monstrosity of a jump that Dave King built, Who by the way, still aint shit, we were totally expecting to see the amateurs gettin' broke off and they didn't disappoint. When it came to the Pros they all killed it but BF and Doyle battled it for the top 2 spots with Doyle edging out BF. Other highlights of the weekend included The first Bmx movie since Rad called Accelerate being filmed at the event, SuperBmx was in the house, we just printed up some limited edition shirts custom shirts, all different, a post and a pay pal link will be up soon, we were on the scene sharing a merch table with Shitluck, The Last People, The Heathens, and Super Bad Brad. That was good times, all DIY people being a family and helping each other out. A wild late night adventure with JPR, who by the way I had a picture of out of a BmxPlus magazine on my bedroom wall when I was 13. And last but not least a session at John Lee and Hancock's Endwell trails. This was supposedly the 3rd and final round at the Belmar, but the owner Ed hinted that there wil be some other event there next year even if its not a dirt comp.