I would rather be there in hot weather with no a/c than here in Pittsburgh where we have had a total of like 10 sunny days since last September. Every freakin day it is gray outside and raining. So sick of it. It's depressing. No wonder everyone here is fat and miserable. It's 59 and raining right now...June 4th and its 59 degrees outside at 11am. ugh. The other night it went down to 38 or some ****. -edit...i cant say sheeet. whats up with that, haha.

Push2:
I don't see much skate footage out of Hawaii any more. Something will pop up in the mags now and then, but not often. Maybe I can start shooting for Transworld again and become the Hawaii connection. Spots would probably run dry pretty fast considering the islands are pretty small. I'm going to have to check out the new parks when I am back there in August. If you want to ride, let me know...even if you do suck j/k Keep in touch.

DaveWRX:
Will do. It's still up in the air. We want to come back as often as possible, stay for as long as possible on different islands and see what fits. I have had some friends move there and come back, but they were under the "paradise" spell as well. I had a good friend transfered there for work, and she actually fought to come back here. To each their own I guess. We definitely need to secure her a job if we do it. I can make money doing my consulting (do everything online now anyway) and photography on the side (probably TWS Skate, TWS Surf...and other misc mags). But with cost of living so high, she will def need to have a decent job there. What's up with the 4% excise tax? Why dont they take that off the locals and apply it as a luxury tax to tourists. With the amount of tourism they get, you would think that it would workout. I dont think people would shy away at all. They already have to pay it when they are there...just apply a little more to their airfare or cruise ticket...whatever.

All I know is that I have been all over the world... Europe, South America, New Zealand, Australia, Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, most of the United States....and I have never felt at home anywhere...including the places I have lived (philly, nj, in, oh, pa, dc). I felt totally at home in Kona. She is pushing for Kona, OZ, or NZ.

Guess we'll see what happens.

 

push2:
i shot for tws from 96-2000. not staff, just freelance. also shot for slap, thrasher, strength, warp (well warp sent me film, never had anything published haha), some others.

i stopped shooting when i hurt my knee. just couldnt be around everyone skating and not do it.

i have been skating again the last year or so, so i am getting back into shooting too. have a couple of local guys that are pretty sick...riding for emerica and osiris, nixon, companies like that. if you see the new osiris dvd, not the vhs (in a month or so) pick it up. check out dave kaules part. he is from here...sick as hell. for some reason he will only be in the sponsored / friends part on the vhs.

ill def get in touch when we come out...we will be staying in kona, but plan on going to the other islands as well. heard inter island flights are like 50 bucks one way right now. pretty good!

couple o' photos:

Kevin Taylor, 1998...scan is crappy.....


Dave Kaule, 2002


Patrick something or other, 1999


Kristian Svitak, 1999, (small scan, cant really see top rail, sorry)

 

IS2Scooby:
Thanks and Yep. I would continue with my current company, doing consulting...but would like to make photography my main income again. I miss it. I'd like to hook up with Reef and shoot the girl calendars The guy Kristian in the last skate photo used to ride for Reef, and when he went to their headquarters he said it was nuts. Pretty girls everywhere.

I have actually been contacting some Hawaiian photographers to see what the scene is like. Where the money is. Mostly the fashion guys, but I don't know if I want to get into that area of the biz. Would be easy on the eyes though. We'll see.

Here's a gecko photo I shot at the place we rented in Kona... I didn't think it would turn out cause I hand held the shot from like 5 inches away with a 100m lens...turned out awesome though.


And a self portrait about 15 minutes after getting knocked the f*** out at White Sands. The waves started off so tame, but got big real quick. I had no right taking on a 10-12 footer first time out...haha. Figured I can skate and snowboard, why couldnt I surf. I have a new found respect for those guys. Puffy eye, purple bumps, and scrapes. I had already cleaned the blood off.

 

Never too old to skate, unless my legs fall off. Which they most likely will. I'm 29 (knees are 83), been riding for about 15 years. I have friends that are mid-30's still riding...good too...jumping down 15 stair rails. ugh. Just thought of that impact makes me cringe. haha. Tendonitis sucks.

Hook me up with them even if I don't move out there. Always good to network ya know. Maybe I can shoot some stuff while I am there.

 

Hosoi, yep. He was huge when I started. Him Gator, Gonz, Mullen, Hawk, slew of others. He's in jail now for drug charges I believe. I never had a hammerhead board. A lot of my friends did tho. I always had Gator's deck.

Funny you should bring up the rocket air.... the other day at the park where were all goofing off and I was trying to do ollie rocket airs over the pyramid. It looked so funny. Didn't land it (wuss), but I got some decent height and pulled that board up as high as I could.