More Haste Less Speed

Just finished reading this rad book called Momo about a girl with an extraordinary gift for being able to really listen and understand people. She lives in the ruins of an ancient amphitheater and the children like to hang out there and make up games and tell stories. Meanwhile, the mysterious Grey Men from the Timesaving Bank begin appearing in town and convince people to "invest" their time and stop slacking. So the people are kinda put under this hyper consumerist spell where they become more efficient, but all the time-wasting activities like recreation or art are tossed aside... you get the point, and yeah, it's a children's novel. I'm just reading it now for the first time but it's got some nice explorations on what's really important versus what we strive for, and, of course... it got me thinking about skateboarding!

What a waste of time! There's really nothing productive about hanging around skating spots with your friends, and there's gotta be a quicker, safer way to get from point A to point B. Well yeah, but if you're down with Momo you realize that enjoying your time is the most important use of it.

Last Thursday I was out "wasting" a bunch of time skating with friends in a temporary skate space trying to get this boardslide on the tall box across the pyramid and a funny thing happened. With every attempt, the time through the trick, probably 2 seconds, starts to slow down. The external distractions fade away and all that's left is the present. On one attempt I have a pretty bad wipe-out but a friend encourages me to give it one last try. Running, throwing the board down, two quick pushes, a first pass over the pyramid, up the big flat bank for the setup, quick check to make sure the approach is clear, foot placement good, kickturn back down building up speed approaching the pyramid, crouch down, pop up with the middle of the board sliding across the tall box and popping back out landing on the other side of the pyramid, knees bending to absorb the downward force, smiles and high-fives. Hard to put a value on the feeling but I think Momo would understand.

Coda Skateboards / KCDC Skateshop Skate night in Long Island City, 2/19/15

New SKATEYOGI Series are full but there's still drop-ins weekly at 11am.
New SKATEYOGI series kicked off this weekend and the classes are all full. Sorry if you missed a spot. Dont worry, there's always the drop-in classes. Adults on Saturdays at 11am; Kids on Sundays at 11am. If you need gear we've got boards, helmets and pads of all sizes for you to borrow. For drop-ins still be sure to save your spot since we cap the number of skaters on the ramp. See you there!

Video of the Week: Amigo Skate Cuba Fundraiser
I mentioned this rad event for Amigo Skate Cuba a few weeks ago and included my amateur mobile edit. Well, here's the legit footage from the event edited by Chris Miller. The crew is on it's way to Havana with a bunch of skate product and to help build a skate park there. Check the video here!

Namaskate!
Kevin

Upcoming Classes:
Wed 2/25 Kids Afterschool Skate Club 3:00pm-6:00pm (Drop-in available $85 register here)
Sat 2/28 Kids Groms A Series 9:45am-10:45am (CLASS FULL)
Sat 2/28 Adult Beginners Class 11am-noon (register here)
Sat 2/28 Kids Shredders A Series 12:30pm-1:30pm (2 SPOTS LEFT register here)
Sun 2/29 Kids Groms B Series 9:45am-10:45am (CLASS FULL)
Sun 2/29 Kids Absolute Groms Class 11am-noon (register here)
Sun 2/29 Kids Shredders B Series 12:30pm-1:30pm (CLASS FULL)