Munksauce

Good ol' sesh..

2010-11-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

typical convo on FB with Will-E

2010-11-15T20:41:00.001-08:00

what were you doing?

still havent started that spanish homework

23:36

idk was gonna shred idk

23:36

dagg

im so bad at starting schoolwork

23:37

same

23:37

ell

23:37

did you ever do that survey?

23:37

ella

ella to the

23:37

hahah

L-a

L-Ah

2tha

23:38

elel

ellaella

ellahellah

23:38

hahaha

23:38

yeah i did that urvey last night

zick

Refreshing.

2010-11-15T14:52:00.001-08:00

RANDY PLOESSER//WELCOME from theHIGH5 on Vimeo.

Salibury weekend.

2010-11-07T23:45:00.000-08:00

Photo book you all should check out if your into skateboarding.

2010-11-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

"Skate and Destroy is a tome detailing the necessity of honing an approach and wrecking it, of embracing the attitudinal stance of never backing off. Within this volume is absolute proof of the validity of this, a priori assumption. Ignorance of history only assures surprise for the unenlightened when it repeats itself. Be informed and forewarned by the manifesto outlines in these pages. Skateboarding encompasses the difference. Think for yourself. Dare to disagree." - CR Stecyk III

YES.

2010-11-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

2010-10-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

Philly-tage...

2010-10-27T15:38:00.000-07:00

Some random meech-cam footy from the philly trip last weekend.. Not too much put into it, wish we'd've filmed more the first night at the park. Still cool though. CHECK IT.

CLASSIC.

2010-10-26T23:24:00.001-07:00

Philly getaway...

2010-10-26T18:48:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we ventured up to Philadelphia to skate and try to film some stuff for Allen Danze's next video (that has yet to be named). We were fortunate enough have an awesome place to stay at Jeremy Murray's place on temple campus.

The first night we got down there we ended up skating a super fun tennis court surfaced park with a bunch of good stuff to skate. Super fun. Next we got some food and beer and watched the krooked video. "Very cool" - Rt... Seriously the krooked video is awesome, with a bonus section and a 2-D version of all of 3D stuff filmed from different angles. So much stuff to watch.

The first full day, Saturday, we got up and went to the bump to ledge spot in the fifth photo, met up with a bunch of people from Philly and other places, drove around a bunch and didn't really get too much accomplished. During the night we lit up and skated a cool across grinding and sliding 3-stair for a while. Jeremy got a crazy trick, that was tight. After that we skated a bit more, went back to Jeremy's, ate, drank more beer and hung out.

On Sunday we went back to the fifth picture spot, skated, met up with people and moved on to the next spot, a rail into a bank, got lunch, skated a bump to bar, and headed home.

Overall, a good, fun weekend, that is needed more often...

Started the mornings out at the local dunkin' D's. Two Zachs, an Rt, and a George.

Ohhh george...
Rt likes boots.
So geometrically artistic.
First spot of both days... you had to skate it before 2pm and it wasn't the best place to warm up.
Rt may or may not have gotten the best trick you may or may not or will never see...
Large poss.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TD_pSeNelU

3 Ride Video: DAYUM!

2010-10-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here are a few parts from the video that I just came across and someone has posted in the past few weeks... If have the video, watch it on the tele, if not, check em' out...

Las Tres Semanas Pasadas...

2010-10-14T01:12:00.000-07:00

Check this one out...

2010-10-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

Been coming across some rad music videos lately.

EL GUINCHO | Bombay from MGdM | Marc Gómez del Moral on Vimeo.

THE WILL STACKUS INTERVIEW.

2010-10-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

Willy is one of the funniest people I know, studying graphic design at Towson University, never sleeping, and always shredding the streets and beers.

Sauce- Hey willy whats up?

Wily- Whaaaat…ella yeah.

Sauce- Dude what was your nickmane again?

Willy- dooder zcooter…macho chipmunk

Sauce- haha ellyah... what're you doing?

Willy- Raging… syke, just chillen. I havent splet in two days but for some reason I’m still up.

Sauce- For real?

Willy- Cha.

Sauce- Haha damn, why not?

Willy- Schoool.

Sauce- Shit, art?

Willy- Chyeah…I haate this picture bullshit on the side now whaat the fuck!

Sauce- Heard you shredded ledge the other day, any ZICK new tricks?

Willy: Yeah I got a slolem run at the ditch and tried filming this run at Kenilworth but the battery died. How’d u hear that doggy fresh?

Sauce- Cause im creepy as shit! Nahh, from that dude Tim Haan.

Willy- Woah man

Sauce- You know who I'm talking though right?

Willy- Yeha, he was there shredding with us!

Sauce- Haha he's hilarious.

Willy- Yeah he is.

Sauce- Thats sick your filming!

Willy- Yeah son! I’m tryin to get back on that tip, I’ve got like 3 clips from the past two weeks I think. Nothing epic though…

Sauce- Still though, awesome… So you only have one more semester at Towson right? What’re you gonna do once your out?

Willy- Idk man, fuckin Idk. Yo I’m out hit me up tomorrow.

Sauce- Peace out doggy!

Some older Willy footage, can't wait to see what he's working on. Skated a box/quarter pipe/bank to ledge with him the other night post-beer-shredding and he literally did somewhere around 56 tricks in a row.

YES.

2010-10-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

GO HERE!

2010-10-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

AND WATCH ALL OF THE EDITS! SICK!

http://www.beautyandthebeast3.com/

Psyched!

2010-09-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

SUMMER CAMP - Round the Moon from Paddy Power on Vimeo.

Summer Camp - Ghost Train (viral) from Paddy Power on Vimeo.

Funny Old Clip

2010-09-29T23:05:00.000-07:00

Flailing armed nosegrind to plant leaf kick in the face!... Sick green shirt and purple shoes combo too ha!

FUCK.

2010-09-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

YES.

An essay...

2010-09-29T00:09:00.000-07:00

This is an essay I wrote for my english 102 class about skateboarding. Keep in mind, this essay was written for a particular professor and also an audience that knows next to nothing about skateboarding. I do sound like a twerp and there's a lot of crap in this essay, some of which I don't even feel the same way about anymore. (I.E. if your going to build a park, why make a street plaza and replicate exactly something from the street that has been made before, why not build something new and different that you could never find in the streets in the first place. Although, anything to skate is good.) However, some of its points scattered throughout somewhat show what skateboarding is to me. We don't really need parks, although it'd be nice and fun, thats just a bunch of crap I thought of to write about for school. It's funny, I wrote all four of our main essays on skateboarding in that class. Its all I really care to do anything with at this point.

James Munk

Essay #4, Argumentative

December 10th, 2009

Un-knobbed

Do you remember when you were a kid and how much fun you could have with even what now would seem as the most mundane of things? But, why in any world would you ever continue to do something so simple and so much fun, when it may not be paying your bills in the future? When our society seems to be plagued with depression, obesity and varying mental illnesses you wonder if there is something that could be done to help solve such a problem. Skateboarding may just be a viable solution.

Sure, almost everyone must realize that at some point in our lives we need to earn some form of income that is substantial to live healthily off of. In an article titled, If You Like To Skateboard I Hope You Never Have Children, By: Brad Posero, he starts off by stating, “Skateboarding is a cool sport at the professional level. Seeing guys drop off a nearly vertical ramp and accelerate to high speeds, only to go straight up and whirl through the air before landing smoothly, is endlessly entertaining.” I can completely agree with this statement. Anybody who can make a living off of something they love is a lucky person.

Later in the article, again praising skateboarder Tony Hawk, Posero says, “he skateboarded his ass off and made the sport what it is today.” This quote is praising what Hawk did for a living and how he did it. It is again an easy statement to agree with. However, Posero then goes on to attack, ad-hominem, people who go down different paths and who are simply “fat, bearded douchebag, making sex tapes and starring on the worst reality TV shows ever to be green-lit (Dustin Diamond) or dating the ugliest “woman” alive while simultaneously giving credence to the idea that redheads are the spawn of Satan (Lindsay Lohan—kioli!).” Obviously many low blows were laid out in this statement, but it is only leading up to his purpose for the article, which is to state why people should not skateboard simply because the odds are that they will never make a living off of it. Posero attacks skateboarders relentlessly and unjustifiably when stating that, “There are way too many tight jeans wearing, world hating, spoiled skateboarding idiots today.” The purpose of his article is not only to attack skateboarders and make wild assumptions for all of them, but to also state that “There’s a family that lives a few houses down from me, and they have two sons, ages 11 and 9, let’s say. They like to skateboard in the street—whatever, not my problem they’re wasting their youth on a dream they’ll never achieve.”

My question is why can we not simply have fun doing something we love even if we will not become professional at it; despite what Posero says. After all, our overall happiness is affected greatly by our physical activity. As stated by Barak and Achiron, “happiness has been associated with health and success in most areas of life, including performance at work, sporting achievement and social functioning.“ Physical activity is the root of emotional happiness and skateboarding will keep you as physically active as you want it to. Barak and Achiron also note that there are, “Several effective approaches to increase happiness employ activities to engage and stimulate patients who might otherwise be unoccupied and isolated.” Skateboarding will keep you occupied, engage you in learning, help you meet new people, and see new things all the time. Thus skateboarding will lead you towards a greater happiness in your life.

Also, with the recent decline of “traditional sports,” such as baseball, basketball, football, and lacrosse, along with the rise of “action sports,” and in this case skateboarding, there is an obvious need for a lawful place for skateboarders to go. Almost everywhere you look, there are baseball fields, football fields, and basketball courts, yet there seems to be next to nothing for skateboarders. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, “found that among after-school activities, the likelihood of being an overweight adult was reduced 48 percent for those who skated or biked more than four times a week. For those who played soccer or other organized sports three or four times a week, the odds of being overweight later were reduced 20 percent. The researchers found that jogging, dancing and gymnastics did not significantly reduce the chances of being overweight as an adult” (Cohn). Skateboarding is not only a source of emotional well-being, but also a way to effectively keep in shape.

There are an enormously growing number of skateboarders around the world who ride down the street everyday, with nowhere to go legally. In Sacramento California, journalist Michael Pulley, discovered a real estate manager who even said, “ ’It's a horrible battle,’ said Knorr, adding that because skateboarders don't have a place to go in Sacramento, ‘They use shopping centers as a playground(s) (sic).’ “ Real estate managers have taken tolls on their business when they have to pay for damage caused by skateboarders, and at the same time there are no designated skate areas. Skateboarders everywhere need a place to lawfully go.

While businesses and government buildings are Skate Stopping their ledges and rails, public parks that were once legal for skateboarding have also being taken away and some have become completely illegal. For example, “The area under the Brooklyn Bridge has been a popular skateboard park for decades, but its days are soon coming to an end, at least temporarily. The city plans to use the internationally known Brooklyn Banks skate park as a staging area during the Brooklyn Bridge reconstruction, which is starting later this year and will last until 2014” (Under Cover). An influential skate spot on the east coast of the United States that was made illegal a couple of years back is Love Park, also known as JFK plaza, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Love Park is a world-renowned skate spot and tourist attraction. Love is in the center of city, and not only is it a prime destination for meeting up, it is filled with granite ledges ideal for skateboarding. Love Park had been featured in the video game, “Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2,” which attracted even more people to come skate there. Plus, Love Park and all its publicity also brought the X-games to Philadelphia in 1999. The city government may not have realized how much revenue the skateboarders bring in to local businesses. Skateboarders had become a huge part of the community of Philadelphia, even if they were grinding down some of the expensive granite.

In some states, lawmakers have come up with ways of putting in skateparks, or skateplazas, where there is no supervision required. Instead, a series of rules is put in place that mainly state that whoever is there must realize that they are at their own risk of getting hurt. In the recent years, conglomerates such as Nike, Mountain Dew, Adidas, and Red Bull have become involved with the skateboarding community. With the large sums of money these companies are able to commit to skateboarding, and also as the popularity of skateboarding increases, there seems to be a growing number safe spots, skateplazas and skateparks everywhere. Nike, along with their pro team rider, Paul Rodriguez, has recently teamed up to build their own skate park, which they modeled after real world spots. “In the process of crafting a skatespot, low-set ledges and other landscape features are transformed from tools for social order and urban beautification to temporary autonomous play zones” (Bey). Nike, Paul Rodriguez, and many others are trying to create places like what Bey talks of in real cities all over the world. These real spots, that are unintentionally perfect for skateboarding, are the reasons skateboarders are attracted to skate places that are illegal in the first place.

As the problem persists, there needs to be a large movement towards a greater understanding of both sides. Some, such as Lorie, owner of Skate Stoppers, at, www.skatestoppers.com, believe that, "The attitude is 'Hey, screw you, I'm not going to the park anyway,’ ‘That's just the attitude of street skating,’ " (Pulley). Others such as Francisco Vivoni, believe, “Skilled skateboarders perform on a wide range of terrains. Purpose-built spaces such as public skateparks both marginalize skateboarders from city centers and serve as training grounds for appropriating urban spaces. While in the streets, skateboarders are both criminalized for defacement of property and commodified as urban guerrilla performance artistry” (17). In the meantime skateboarders will continue to do as they have for decades, trespassing just to skate somewhere fun, while the businesses will continue to try by any means necessary to deter them.

As more readily available deterrence occurs there is an overwhelming need for a place for skateboarders to go. This space is necessary for the continuance of not only what to the masses is known as a “sport,” but also for what few know to be an art, a way of expression, and ultimately a source for greater happiness. When most people as of the 21^st century view skateboarding as a “sport,” that is shown on TV and practiced in skateparks, it is good to know that there is something beyond the sponsorships of energy drinks, and video games. Skateboarding can be practiced anywhere. To most, it is a nuisance or a crime; to us it is a way to explore uncharted area for new spots, adventure, to meet new people and to learn to focus our mind, body and energy to be more creative. We are taking this modern world of concrete skyscrapers and wasteland and actively utilizing it for a creative “sport” without any rules. We are a community where each one of us can look at one another and know, know the inexplicable feeling exerted when a trick, even the simplest, is accomplished. To be a part of such a unique group is the epitome of the importance of being a part of something, something that is always progressing, and moving forward, and that is what life is about. So therefore, even if you are not able to make monetary advancements from skateboarding, go pick one up at your local shop, ride down the street, get some exercise, and experience the simple happiness that it can bring. Then you will see why it has become so increasingly popular and why there needs to be more skateparks everywhere.

Works Cited

Barak Y, Achiron A. "Happiness and neurological disease". PubMed.gov. November 11, 2009 .

(Bey, 1991). Bey, H. (1991). T.A.Z.: Temporary autonomous zone, ontological anarchy, poetic terrorism. New York: Autonomedia.

Cohn, Meredith. "Ramped-up Exercise". The Baltimore Sun. December 9th, 2009 .

Pareso, Brad. "If You Like To Skateboard, I Hope You Never Have Children". Long Island Press. December 12th, 2009 .

Pulley, Michael. "Property managers battle damage by skateboarders". Sacramento Business Journal. Friday, July 22, 2005 .

"Under Cover". The Newspaper of Lower Manhattan. Volume 22, Number 23 . October 16 - 22, 2009 .

Vivoni, Francisco. " Spots of Spatial Desire: Skateparks, Skateplazas, and Urban Politics ". Journal of Sport & Social Issues. March 23, 2009 .

Oh the good ol' days...

2010-09-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

Over the past years of 12 or 13 of my life I have been skateboarding and using cameras. I have collected hundreds of hours of footage, most of which sits around collecting data dust on a computer, and tons of footage never captured, but occasionally it's fun to reminisce over all of the fun we had. I can without a doubt say that I do not regret anything from these years and would not change a thing. It's sad to say and almost cliché but I seriously doubt that other than those small random occasions that times will ever be so innocent and enjoyable. The innocent enjoyment is why I skateboard. From now on a new feature I've decided to include on my blog will be the inclusion of clips of footage from the past that never made it into our montages. Trust me, they're hilarious.

Here are a few montages that have been up for years. Take your time watching them... its a lot, I know.

hahaha, frontside flips and headbanging...

YESSSSSSS!

I thought it was cool...

Skating in helmets in the street all the time... fuck you.

Lots of the same footage in a lot of these. I just liked to edit and it was something to do.

Some young Tyler Lyles footage in there if you can recognize him.

You know what I don't understand...?

2010-09-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

Almost Everything.

True Words.

2010-09-21T00:22:00.001-07:00

In The Field - Greg Hunt from Joshua Zucker on Vimeo.

A mazimus meech weekend, lots of shred meechin' with some bros! Check it out!

2010-09-20T15:33:00.002-07:00

MEECHY WEEKEND!!!

Patinamos Aquí

2010-09-15T22:56:00.000-07:00

Allen Danze, super-human filmer

Jake- Big meechin'

Pensando...
Viendo...

Monty-CAM

2010-09-12T17:02:00.001-07:00

Around Towson chillin, skating, and randomness.

Aburrido

2010-09-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

I was bored around the house one day so I got out the camera, fiddled around with some of the settings and ended up with these. I thought some of the angles in the photos were interesting.

Check it if you have or haven't.

2010-09-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

Dontae Benjamin

2010-09-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

If you read or follow my blog then you most likely know who Dontae is. If you don't, then I will tell you that he is one of the best skateboarders I've ever met and skated with. Its an honor to ride for the same shop/team as him. Definitely a skateboarder I have looked up to. If you get the chance to watch Dontae skate he will with no doubt amaze you.

We took Hampden to the movies!

2010-09-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I realized that my dad had a flip video thing and that I should break it out from the dusty shelves and put it to some good use, definitely a good time... More to come

Raw, Uncut, Unedited, Gnarchill

Brooklyn, Baltimore

2010-09-01T22:39:00.000-07:00

So, more than a few days ago, and extremely randomly, we all heard of a new skate plaza in Baltimore; Brooklyn, Baltimore to be exact. I say randomly because there are few skateparks at all around Baltimore or Towson where I live in the first place and for one to just pop-up out of no where and to not hear anything of it beforehand is even stranger. So Zach and I drove down there and found the usual people you would expect to find somewhere new to skate in town and we skated for the entire day. People were killing it! As usual.

The park itself was somewhat strange and not very fun to me. It was essentially a square of smooth concrete, 3 ledges (one A-frame, a small one and one over a dirt gap), and 3 small banks. The park had no room to cruize around. If its crowded you get frustrated and too much is going on. But, hey. Its a new park, and thats good. Hopefully there will be more and they will be at least a little bit bigger and more creative... I will say that it was much better with a lot less people there. If your there with 3 or 4 friends with no one else then this park would be a lot more fun.

driving down....

.
Peeps.
Boring.
Switch Back Tails?
The kids there were interesting. Whether the first thing they said was "fuck you," or "Get out of my way," they were all cool and funny little kids that have just been brought up with less manners. The kid in this photo in particular asked us right off the bat if we had a blunt. We proceeded to ask him what he meant, and he said for smoking, pretty obviously. At first we laughed a little but were mostly just astonished when he said he was in 2nd grade. Sad...
Hopefully having a skatepark will turn the community around and help give kids something to do thats good for them.

2 Banana's, 3 Ibuprofen. Ready for Bed.

2010-08-27T01:16:00.000-07:00

A word to the wise is infuriating. - Hunter S. Thompson

2010-08-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

SHRED!

2010-08-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Cover was tight.

Random

2010-08-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

Summer has come to an end. First day of classes is tomorrow. More productivity.

A nice summer song...

SHRED!

2010-08-20T11:44:00.000-07:00

hooo yeahh

DVS WELCOMES NICK GARCIA from DVS Shoe Company on Vimeo.

Found this through the grapevine of facebook... Tis Rad

Shred!

2010-08-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

THRASH

2010-08-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

THRASH

2010-08-17T00:32:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, we thrashed. All day. It was hot. We sweated. A lot. Peter Ate it. Hard. Twice. All in All, a lot of fun.

Probably wondering, "hmmm, which no-comply should I do?" Or he was just amazed at Peter's consistent nollie heels over the wall.

Astonished, Confused, Wondering, Pondering.
Portrait.
Hugh is so badass!
Sam, of course killing it, as usual. - Fs Cruntslide the whole damn thing!
The crew.
MMMMMmmmm.... smells like meat!
I noticed Peter took off his good luck charm, maybe that's why he fell?

A good fall for sure.
Yep. Sometimes you just gotta slam and take it like a man.
What's black and white but really red? ... Peter's blood on his shirt in this photo.

My Life.

2010-08-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

The door to my room that I look at all the time; not just going in and out.

Most of my days usually consist of using these things. Skateboard. Shoes. Ankle Brace.

Alex Olson

2010-08-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

http://olsonstuff.tumblr.com/

(Entertainment)

Freeze Turkeys!

2010-08-15T23:17:00.000-07:00

Just watched Black Dynamite, it was hilarious. You should enjoy it too.

Grandmother.

2010-08-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

"FUCK IT! I just want to charge it and party with the bros, you know?"- LEO

2010-08-13T00:08:00.000-07:00

If you haven't done so yet, go out and buy the new Thrasher mag like I did tonight. If for nothing else than Leo Romero's interview which is hilarious. The rest of the mag is tight too. A good $4 spent. Gnarly rippage throughout.

“They’ve done studies, you know. 60% of the time it works, every time.” - Anchorman

2010-08-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

God I love Will Ferrell...

2010-08-12T12:56:00.001-07:00

Interesting...

2010-08-11T15:12:00.000-07:00

Is this blog... She posts SWEET Music, SICK Photography, Funny SHIT, HOT CHICKS and some skate stuff similar stuff to my blog... HIPSTER SHIT! CHECK ER OUT here...

www.lovelikelightning.com

You'll see cool stuff like this! I may even have to steal some of the best stuff every once in a while! FOUR YOUR VEIWING PLEZURE...

If you haven't noticed...

2010-08-11T01:05:00.001-07:00

HUF (Keith Hufnagel) makes clothes, shoes and what-not and its actually some pretty good stuff... all of the commercials are tight too

Stay Gold

2010-08-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

So pumped for this video! In my opinion Emerica's last video, This Is Skateboarding, was one of the best videos ever. Definitely in my top 5 and Stay Gold, their new release is sure to be the best video of the year.

Andrew Speaks...

From The Bahamas

2010-08-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

Photos from a trip to the Bahamas with my family and my friend Christian Alexis almost two years ago...

-A frog among others we found scattered throughout these palm plants just a few steps away from the hotel we stayed at the first night called the Orange Inn.

My mother across the street from the straw market.
Sunbathing...

The lights from the Atlantis hotel from across the water...

A while ago...

2010-08-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

...Kevin Costigan and I went out to get some photos for our photography class in our senior year of high school. He shot both of these.

100th post!!!

2010-08-03T12:35:00.000-07:00

Traffic skateboards is putting out some of the sickest stuff these days. True skateboarding.
This is a video from their trip to Japan where they cruize the streets and find creative ways to utitlize Japan's unique terrain: definitely worth watchin'.

Traffic Report 8/3/2010 from Traffic Skateboards on Vimeo.

I've been slacking off....

2010-08-02T09:19:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking off for the last week or so and have been at the beach relaxing and without a computer, thus the absence of posts.

This series called "Doin' It Baja" was just completed on an awesome website called vbs.tv. Vbs does tons of mini series on many topics that you probably can't find anywhere else. Of course most skateboarders probably know this website for its "Epicly Later'd" series, but along with that there are tons of other awesome videos that you should watch. "Doin' It Baja," is about a group of motorcyclists/skateboarders traveling down the coast of Mexico from California. Me, being someone interested all of the above topics, this show is awesome and I thought you might enjoy it too.

Hughbot Little and some woodward friends shredding it up... Wish I could've been at woodward this summer.

Notebook. No photographer should be without one! - Ansel Adams

2010-07-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

You only get one sunrise and one sunset a day, and you only get so many days on the planet. A good photographer does the math and doesn't waste either. - Galen Rowell

This is a photo of Scott Just, who is a fellow photographer and friend from high school and this was taken on a class photo trip to nyc. Check back later for a story.

és game of skate

2010-07-23T11:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the és game of skate took place in Frederick and was held by Pitcrew. Allen Beers ended up taking the whole thing. He's pretty much always been up in the top 3 every year since I've been going and its good that he finally won one. All that I can say is sometimes you get stuck with some kid who does all the ollie norths every which way the first round.

This is a photo of me doing a frontside flip from last year that I found on the transworld website, it didn't say my name or anything but I was still hyped it was up there.

Food for thought...

2010-07-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

Artscape Ramp

2010-07-20T18:11:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the weekend of the largest free arts festival in the nation, "Artscape," in downtown Baltimore. A few local artists/skateboarders/architects got together and put together an awesome wave inspired structure for everyone to skate on for the weekend. The sun was scorching, and the heat blistering, but that didn't stop us from skating or 350,000 other people from walking around, enjoying music, being weird, looking at art and enjoying themselves. Overall a great weekend, lots of sweating done, and I only wish I had taken the time to take more pictures and switched it up a bit, but for now there's no such this as too much skating and thats what I did instead. Nothing like carefree skating and not having to worry about your cameras on the side where hundreds of people walk by every 5 minutes. Anyways, until next year.

Here's one of the builders...ripping.

Frontside ollies were a fun trick on the oververt...
Zach skates Zoo
High fives
Doubles were nothing compared to other sessions of 4 to 5...
Don't know what's going on here...
Zach was about as hyped on this photo he took as the dude in it... a true P.A.T.T'er
Zach and Colin getting friendly

A week in Aruba

2010-07-16T11:08:00.001-07:00

Youtube wouldn't allow some of the songs so I had to upload to vimeo.

Went to Aruba for a week with my family and got the chance to go out and skate a couple times. Some with my brother Sam Munk and some by myself, setting up the camera and skating. There were some cool spots and it was a lot of fun. Just wish there was someone to skate the spots with. Anyways, hope you enjoy.

A week in Aruba from James Munk on Vimeo.

ArubaTVing

2010-07-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

LATER THIS WEEK: VIDEO FROM ARUBA WILL BE POSTED...

The view from the top of this rock formation we were on could see 30% of the island; its a very small island.

Some steep stairs to go down, a little intimidating with some wind.
Some cool rocks...
I always have found stands, whether in the city, or like this one out of a truck on a cliff off of the desert and overlooking the ocean, one of the most interesting things to photograph while somewhere new.
Baren...
la costa
A wider look at things...
The islands natural pool is in that cove surrounded by huge rocks. This was a nice place to cool off after riding in the hot sun for an hour or so.
Pretty obvious what these are.
The natural bridge. Pretty cool, pretty cool.
Zoom.

"Oh my god, its a double complete rainbow"

2010-07-13T00:33:00.000-07:00

Dude must be on something...seriously laughed out loud at this one

Some Aruba Randoms

2010-07-11T09:02:00.001-07:00

Taking siege...

Some deserted chairs
blahh
blahhhh

Not good for swimming... better for skateboarding

2010-07-06T22:13:00.000-07:00

First of all, check out Spencer Brown's rip clip, congradulations man... http://theskateboardmag.com/watch/spencer-brown/

This place is right around the corner from the hotel we are staying in; An abandoned water park! I didn't even see it the first couple of ways because of the routes we were taking on the roads, but when i saw it I knew we had to check it out. We drove over yesterday and found out that it was even easier than expected to get in. No fences. No, No Trespassing Signs. No guards. Nothing. We just walked right in the front gate, even though there was no gate, just an open walkway. Even though we could get in so easy my adrenaline was still rushing the whole time.

Probably one of the most exciting sites for a skateboarder to see...
Have to go back at least once... the photos posted are a little out of order of what we hit. This was the last place on the property we went to. I was starting to get sketched out when construction workers from the other building saw us and eventually a few stopped to watch. So once we got some stuff on film we got out and tried not to overstay our welcome too much after an hour and a half haha.
Didn't know what to expect when we climbed up the tunnel to this thing but I wish i had a picture of my face.
ADRENALINE RUSH!!!
So fun. Thats about all that can be said.

First couple days in Aruba

2010-07-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

Talkin' shit about a pretty sunset - its true: Modest Mouse

huh?
The local saturday/sunday market is pretty cool other than the people working will do everything and anything to try to get you to by something. I guess you can't blame them; I obtained a nice Hawaiian shirt
A stand
In the shade...
Baby Beach...
Is awesome... its pretty much like a huge baby pool where you can walk out hundreds of feet and still have the water only come up to your waist. Then if you go around one part with a snorkle mask there's a cove that goes on for a couple hundred feet with all of the most colorful fish and coral you could imagine. You can get as close as you want. I happened to be an idiot and not put sunscreen on my back, and while facing up all day I got a nice burn going...
Far out man... the water is awesome
As far as i could get, those rocks killed your feet. To the left is where it gets deeper and where the fish and coral are.

In Aruba for the week...

2010-07-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

posts could get kind of slow...

Pot Springs Ditch

2010-07-02T00:43:00.000-07:00

To my knowledge this ditch has been skated since the 80's. Today it was a little bit overgrown, but if it was cleaned up and some effort was put in to build some transition, bank to walls, etc. this spot could be amazing. Regardless, it's an awesome place to go hang out; getting kicked out is a rarity.

The view from above

the ditch...
Anyone who is down is welcome...
Some weird grafiti for sure...
haha
An essential cruizer board spot...
Hughbot was bustin out wallies to fakie all day, definitely impressed...

Hugh has seriously gotten away with this, it's pretty insane haha...
Hugh don't give a F*@%

If you haven't checked out telegraph skateboards yet, you should!

2010-07-01T00:12:00.001-07:00

http://www.telegraphskateboards.com/

They have a good thing going.

The small, very small, start of an army...

2010-06-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, two lone wolf bikers, who informed me that they would like to remain anonymous, set out on the open roads of Baltimore County with nothing but themselves, a couple of high speed bikes, and a little bit of music.

Jungle Cruizing. So Fun.

Heading out...

Some photoshop play...

2010-06-29T10:49:00.001-07:00

As seen before, without the effects, here is Jason frontside carving over the light a little before summer.

Out climbing...

2010-06-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

on a foggy night...

ENJOI..

2010-06-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

Last wednesday, the Enjoi team did a demo at Whitemarsh Mall for the Zumiez couch tour. Enjoi has always been one of my favorite companies and they were awesome to witness in person. Here are a few photos I took from the sidelines. I wish I could've gotten closer but since this was as close as I could get at the moment without having to talk to some annoying Zumiez security these photos will have to do. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoi anything from these guys as much as I do.

I didn't get too many good photos of Joe Red but I thought this one came out nicely with the better part of the team watching his smith grinds that he did all day.

These guys have fun together.
This dude was the perfect person to represent Zumiez; extremely flamboyant and annoying.
Cairo pushing around, such a solid skateboarder.
This was one of those, "you had to be there," kind of moments. Cairo did the best backside noseblunt I have seen and probably will ever see.
Caswell, their, "big gun," was the big gun of the day.
Caswell with a huge frontside flip.
Nestor is a staple of style, and his backside tailslide's on the ramp were proof.
Louie, my favorite, did all the tricks you wanted to see him do. Here's an invert for you.
Seriously the most fun person to watch.
Louie had the best sock combination. The best quote I heard from El Capitan was when someone from the crowd yelled to him, "Louie, hold my hand!" Louie replied, "Woh, thats a little weird, but I'll shake it..."
Yep.
Watching these guys, who are legends, do any tricks is a treat. A nice way to cap it off: Cairo with a solid Frontside 5-0.

Peter had a party last night...

2010-06-26T20:43:00.001-07:00

...for his and Dontae's 21st birthdays so I decided to make a post out of it, it was definitely fun to film and edit. I think everybody had a good time.

Pictures from the enjoi demo up tomorrow...

2010-06-25T17:14:00.000-07:00

something to tide the night over... This was a while ago, and my board came up and smacked me in the arm as you can see, I couldn't move my hand for a few days and had the worst bruise on my arm. It was probably one of the more painful experiences I've had. My arm had this crazy throbbing pain for about an hour and a half and I felt like passing out or throwing up.

BUST... too bad

2010-06-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

Went to check out a pool tonight that my friend Kevin Costigan saw from a few yards away while out on a landscaping job one day. We got there when it was pretty much dark outside, the house appeared to be abandoned with everything overgrown, things rotting and falling apart and an unused pool. We headed back to find that it was a BUST and not skateable with none or very little transition from what we could tell.

Too bad...
The pool house/bar was pretty stylish though

My other dog...

2010-06-23T18:29:00.000-07:00

...Belle.

Go Skate Day: Towson and Hampden

2010-06-22T13:29:00.001-07:00

Everyone met up at the run down Burger King in Towson at 12 noon. The heat was scorching and everybody was ready to shreddd...

Jake filmed everything

Totally Badass
fisheye?

And we're off!!!

Wyatt having a good time

The first bomb was a noisy one...

Mall cruize
All the way around...
This security guard was the only one all day to be pretty psyched..
Cops were not so psyched and escorted us off

Towards the circle..

Around the circle a few times

Taking over...

Hughbot being hughbot, charged like no other and filming everything as well.

People were wondering what was going on and taking some pictures

Adam was juiced

Lady at the library got pissed, a few people made it up there

Cops at courthouse knew what was up before we were even there, he was outside waiting

Towson U cops watched us for a while and did not know what was goin on, after watching for a bit he came up and told us to leave

PSYCHEEDDDD

Taking the elevator up at Towson Commons garage

Looking down at the ones who didn't make it up before the security came out

The people who didn't make it up in time
Bombingggg itttt

Lots of people came out, it was awesome

This dude was obviously super psyched on the day and got all geared up

We got out of Towson just in time, kids started getting overwhelmed by the hype and getting into trouble...

Adam took a photo of my Toy Machine board, it is the sickest...

Boards packed into the car... a very nice photo by Adam Gans

Driving down to Hampden park with Adam, Kevin and Dan for the contest and GSD festivities, had to wear my hawaiin shirt for the day... photo by Adam Gans

TJ was super hyped on everything and everyone as usual...

Mike was satisfied with how things turned out
Peter bought tons of burgers, hot dogs, and water for everyone to have for free. It was good while it lasted until we were told you aren't allowed to give stuff away for free.
A ton of people at hampden park all day long... kids were going wild and doing the craziest tricks to try and earn a couple of bucks.

If your around TOWSON tomorrow, ITS GO SKATE DAY...

2010-06-20T15:35:00.001-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=104364939612629&index=1

SOOOOO.....

MEET at 12pm at the closed burger king right out of the towson circle across from the mall...

AT 3pm head down to Hamden Park off falls road where 3 Rideshop will have a contest and throw out bills for tricks

Hamden.

2010-06-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

The artist himself, Stefan Ways, with a wallride under his painting

Part of the crew...
Hugh took a hard slam and got folded pretty bad

Still smiling...
Jason with the backside ollies
Boners all day
Getting high, you know...

Tomcrail
All sorts of maneuvers!

Pippy long stockings...
Matt fs Blunt
Goofy Groovy Grube
Hamden Is Tight!

Hamden...

2010-06-18T23:17:00.000-07:00

A bunch of photos shall be uploaded shortly...

Zach rolled up on the spot the other night and seriously scared people...

2010-06-18T22:46:00.000-07:00

Video says it all sometimes.

2010-06-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I've been skating a lot and just doing a bunch of random stuff. Tons of new stuff to come...

New video idea...

2010-06-16T00:16:00.000-07:00

skated hamden all day, got some tricks, tom did a gnarly one and got a photo.

A Duck?

2010-06-15T01:10:00.000-07:00

Yep. It sure is.

ELLLLy'a

2010-06-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

skating in towson the other night, Jason was filming a trick... lots of distractions on a thursday night, tons of drunk loud bar people and girls. These particular girls were actually so eager to be at the bar they tried climbing the back fence to get in.. DEDICATION!! Anyways, sick hippie jump by one bar-go-er, almost.

Git Down 'Ehr

2010-06-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

THIS.

2010-06-12T12:43:00.001-07:00

Cannonball from California is a place. on Vimeo.

Too ZICK

2010-06-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Am I evil? Yes I am... Am I evil? I am man...

2010-06-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

I could watch these over and over and over and over and over and over...

2010-06-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

Two of my favorites...

"I'd like to quit thinking of the present as some minor insignificant preamble to something else." Dazed and Confused

2010-06-08T23:28:00.000-07:00

Azul y Verde

2010-06-07T13:46:00.000-07:00

Osiris Demo

2010-06-06T17:32:00.001-07:00

Well, a few days ago, on friday we trekked up to York park for the Osiris demo. We skated the park for a minute in the beginning and then headed over to the local shop, Exist, who was holding the demo, for a bbq beforehand. The food was good, we skated some flatground and hung out with yorkians. After we saw the team arrive, after they had been skating spots, we headed back over to the park figuring that there wouldn't be anyone there but instead it was more packed than ever. The clouds were rolling in and by the time the demo had started it had soon enough ended. We headed to Roburrito and from there home.

Evan has a sick ass board. Literally.
Dan was there.
Allen was having a beers stretch session.
This bike was definitely not stolen.
Willy wanted to be fishing

Centro de la Ciudad

2010-06-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

Went downtown today with Will Turner, Jason Spivey, Hugh Little, Tom Geilfuss, Jon Joffee and Zach Renner. We mainly skated lyric.

It was pretty hot out. Jon had the right idea, snacking and hanging out in the shade.

We headed down towards Fells Point, got some pizza and italian soda's, skated around for a little but by the time we got to the rock spot it had started to rain.

Made this..

2010-06-03T00:02:00.003-07:00

... with John and Mark Langley yesterday. Pretty random, but funny. Watch.. or else....!

3 Ride Shop

2010-06-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

a panaramic I took a while ago..

The D.C. crew

2010-06-01T00:47:00.000-07:00

Today, woke up, mowed a lawn, sweated a ton, took the first shower of the day.

Changed clothes, ate, brushed teeth, watched a few videos.

Sent some text messages, thought, hung out.

Left to meet with a few people from D.C. and thats where the day started. Allen, Zach, George, Shawn, Daniel.

First spot was the white rails, I ate shit as you can see...

Second spot was the two cellar doors... so many options... sort of.

Third spot... I left for the Blueprint premiere at the shop.

Fourth spot was the mall, got kicked out pretty much right away.

Fifth spot, home. Refuel.

Sixth spots etc. were some downtown spots and from there... cruizing.

Later on I headed back towards Towson and skated a bit more flat ground then headed home to upload, relax and eat rasberry sorbet.

Things to look forward to: 1. sleeping on my back

2. not falling asleep

3. its really hot

4. another fun day tomorrow

Every now and then say, "What the fuck." "What the fuck" gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future. -RiskyBusiness

2010-05-31T23:19:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken about a year and a half ago or so of Dontae Benjamin (one of the best skateboarders I know) and Matt Grube. At the time I had been working on completing my senior year along with my AP photo portfolio. My focus was a look at skateboarding beyond the tricks.

Chillin... tired from trying a trick for a while

Chillin...

Matt dropped in on this verticle pole
A bunch Matts... Woh

Blueprint Premiere

2010-05-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to go to the premiere at Zen West tonight...

Definitely Joining...

2010-05-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

Hoy fue aventureros...

2010-05-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up around 1 p.m., took a while to get out of bed after watching about an hour and a half worth of skate videos new and old, loathed around some more and finally made my way downstairs to make a few hot dogs. After that, sat around some more, got the moped out, checked the oil, had it out front and ready to go. Instead of leaving then, I picked up the book I've been reading and sat around for a little more. I hurt my back yesterday and just didn't really feel like doing anything.

I read for 30 minutes or so and made the stab at finally leaving. I hopped on the moped and headed around the gas station for a quick fill-up. From there I headed into Towson and arrived at kelly's bridal's to find about 40 skateboarders. Luckily I did not bring my board (hint of sarcasm). Still I hung out, watched everyone and made conversation. Hugh asked if he could engage the moped in some 1 on 1 and knowing this was of course a bad idea I said "yeah sure," right away. If you knew Hugh, you would know what I mean. I told him that he still had to go by street signs just as if he was in a car. He goes, "Dude. I know." He took off, swerving all over the place and headed right up the do not enter part of the alley while I exclaimed, "Idiot..." to myself. After trying to stay calm, he whizzed back around the corner in about 3-4 minutes, still swerving and curving. Everything seemed to be in the clear when he was trying to park against the wall and somehow had mistaken the brake for the accelerator and wheelied into it. Everything was fine, but Hugh lost his privileges. I skated his board for a bit and decided it was time to keep truckin'.

I picked up an Arizona green tea and headed towards Loch Raven Blvd. Only two stop lights and your in the clear with only open roads, the smell of honey suckle, the sunny patches and the cool shaded areas which you seem to be even more sensitive to when moving at a clip of 40-50 miles per hour. I first stopped at Valley view farms and took a few photos. Left there and headed towards the reservoir. I pulled over at the first dam, parked and got the camera out. I took a few photos and then realized I might be there for more than a minute and moved the moped to a safer, more visible area. I proceded to take more photos and talked with a nice Mexican family that was fishing and was able to practice some spanish. The little girl, followed me around and asked me questions and taught me a few new words and drew a picture of me (shown below). As you can and cannot see by the photo of the kind of fish they were catching were small and sickly looking and I could only hope that the small grocery store bag full of them were not their dinner.

After departing, I continued on my route eventually circling the entire reservoir, took more photos and headed home. On the ride home I could not help but pull over at least 6 times to take more pictures. The sun was setting and the riding breeze was much coooler; still addicting. All in all, an unexpectedly interesting day.

Thought this was a good idea?

2010-05-29T17:48:00.001-07:00

For some reason one day last summer I thought that trying this rail was a good idea. It makes me laugh everytime I look at it. Nothing bad happened, didn't land it, knew I didn't even really have the desire to try and land it, I just tried it anyways. Who knows why I did that...