Month: October 2018

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magician Michael Weber podcast unedited

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away I met magician Michael Weber. I was an elementary school kid looking for the latest in magic (the magician type). The time period was the 1970’s and the locations southern California. Michael worked at the The Magic shop. Michael Weber had a strong impact on my young self.  You just don’t meet a guy like this everyday. Weber always made me laugh, amazed me, and was always kind to me. So how do you reconnect from a galaxy far far away (Twitter I guess)? And as you may have guessed Michael Weber is that same force of imagination, creativity and kindness, that he always was!

Lastly, if Michael Weber were to hear this podcast he would gently remind me ” every dance is too long” or “if it can be cut it must be cut”, and of course he’d be correct. But alas my style of conversation (podcast) goes against many of the wise concepts Michael genrously offered up in our chat. Even so, hopefully Michael’s wisdom and good sense will still prevail over my uncut unedited style of  conversation.

Finally lets cut through this SEO-bullshit-intro. Michael Weber is someone I looked up to as a kid and still look up to. And I was surprised also very happy to have a conversation with him. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Michael Weber as much as I did having it.

Every Dance is Too Long Michael Weber complete


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old skateboarders passing on the baton, Skatelab RIP

I read on facebook that Skatelab skate park in Simi Valley is going to be shut down.

The first thing I want to say is that I have only visited this park a few times. And during my first visit  to Skatelab I felt that unmistakable old school skatepark feeling. If you never hung out at one of the old school skateparks you wouldn’t understand. As a matter of fact I used to get the same feeling when I localized and worked at Skatopia Skatepark (in Buena Park California back in the late 1970’s). And as im writing this post I realize that the old school feeling has nothing to do with the skateboard museum or even the park itself. Interstingly I cannot really pinpoint why the place made me feel like I was in a old school skatepark. Maybe its the person or people who made that place?

Mixed feelings about Skatelabs closure

Surprisingly, I am both sad and happy that Skatelab is closing. The reasons I am sad are probably obvious. Whereas the  reason I am happy is less obvious. It has a little to do with old skateboarders passing on the baton.

Why i’m happy about the closure

So I am happy about the closure in more of a changing of the guard sense. Which is to say  (in my opinion) old skaters and old skater culture have hindered skateboarding to some level. Look around, old skate dudes run a lot of the companies and events and in my opinion it drag them down. I for one am curious to see what things new skateboarders will come up with. For me skateboard events, products and skateparks could use a fresh perspective. I believe the younger generation will find something exciting or interesting for skateboarding. So will the old skateboarding generation hand down control to the young? My guess would be no.

Skatelab is an important part of skateboarding history

In closing, to be clear I do not think that Skatelab has held back the progression of skateboarding. I mean what I say in more of a symbolic sense. And in a perfect world the place would be preserved in an even more museum like environment. But sadly old school skateboarding history like Jazz (another American invention) will probably slip into a slumber and ultimately fade away, And maybe thats the natural way of things?