Recently I went on a trip to Breitenbush, Yosemite, and the Bay Area with my homie lover friend Agnieszka, and we had a blast! We loved San Francisco so much it was hard to come home!

Right before that I went to Hood River with Ben, Mike, Lauren, and Agnieszka and had an amazing time at the skatepark and in the river with all of them!

Theeeen after that we went to our friends Jamie and John’s wedding at Bridal Veil Lake, and it was amazingly beautiful, and almost felt like a vacation instead of a wedding.

And last but not least we had a backyard harvest festival! Starring Dan, Mike and TJBA!

Have a look for yourself:

Lot’s more to come, a new pocket zine, an old pocket zine, and photos photos photos!!!

Signing out,

TJBA

Here’s the video evidence:

and here’s Ryan:

So check it. This is the first time I have ever backside tail slid over a gap. It took me forever but it was so fun. It’s really small I know but it’s good training.

Disney Concert Hall

I seriously thought I could make it to San Diego in two or three hours. WRONG. It takes half a day from Lancaster. From LA it would have been a bit faster. But it was kinda cool I got to ride my bike in Downtown LA and have lunch by the Disney concert hall. It was so beautiful.

When I got to San Diego my friend Gina picked me up at the station and we walked over to Pokez. Before I left a bunch of friends had been telling me to go to Pokez so much that I was really anticipating going there. I had a vegan chimichanga, which I never thought I’d ever get to try. It was pretty good too.

Pokez and Gina

The next day was election day!!! It rained in the morning and Gina had to go to school and work . She being from southern california and all wasn’t prepared for the rain and got soaked and I thought she was pissed at me like she used to get. But it was just because she was soaking wet. We were going to get breakfast but she decided to head off to school. I went to whole foods and got some snacks and then ended up meeting my friend T-Bone for lunch at Rancho’s which was another restaurant my friends highly recommended to me.

WIld Chicken at Balboa Park

After lunch I went to Balboa park for a long time. It very quickly became my favorite place in San Diego. I then made it back to the road to Gina’s work and I found a cool bookstore and bought Matt “20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.”

Botanical Garden at Balboa Park

Botanical Roof Balboa Park

Wide Botanical Garden Shot

Tropical Pitcher Plants

Bananarama plant

Weird Baloon Pod Plant on the Roof

Party Time Plant

Awesome Red Plant

Beautiful Orchid(?)

Awesome

Spotted Orchid

Koi and Lotus Pond

Outside Botanicals

Lotus'

More Lotus Flowers

Huge Koi

Chapel(?)

Crazy Cacti

Lorax

I met Gina at work and we got some food at whole foods then went to a bar to watch the election results. It was particularly rad ass because they were doing karaoke at the same time. It was pretty fun. It was mostly a gay bar but a mixed crowd always show up. So a bunch of really good singers went on. I really wanted to do my classic song “Brass in Pocket,” but they didn’t have it, but they did have Gwen Stefani’s “Holla Back Girl.” I must say I fucking killed it. I even overheard some of the regular clientele saying,”That white boy can dance!” Needless to say I had an amazing time.

Neon Sign at the Karaoke Bar

Afterward I talked to Haley on the phone, in Portland, and she said everyone was going nuts and they were outside in the rain celebrating. It got me really excited to hear that. We were in a primarily gay neighborhood and absolutely NO ONE was outside celebrating, so it was hard to get a gauge on the public’s reaction to the election results.

University Heights Sign

We left the bar and hung out and caught up for a while and went to sleep kind of early cause I had to leave early to go hang out in LA and see all my friends there.

I left at around 6 or 7 to catch the first San Diego train to Oceanside which would transfer to the Metrolink and take me to Union Station in LA. I studied the schedules very carefully this time and found a weird inconsistency in the scheduling of the SD and LA trains. The SD train got to Oceanside 1 or 2 minutes after the LA metrolink train left Oceanside, so I figured the transit people would have figured that all out and I wouldn’t have any trouble transferring. But on arrival to Oceanside there were no Metrolink trains in sight. Only Amtrak’s. So I sucked it up and bought an Amtrak ticket which wasn’t as expensive as I had expected and was going to take about half the time as metrolink. But on the way we got stuck behind metrolinks the entire way. So an hour and a half train ride turned into a six hour nap. I was sooo pissed that two of my days were turned into travel days and I didn’t even leave the fucking state.

Amtrak to LA

San Onofre power plant

San Onofre Full shot

Cool Beach from train shot

So I finally got to LA and I took the subway to the valley and then the new orange line rapid bus to Follow Your Heart, again. I then met up with Dennis and we went on an awesome bike ride in Chatsworth.

Reuben at Follow Yr Heart

After that I went and hung out with Daniel, my old band mate in Two White Cats, and his gf Trisha. I kinda screwed up cause I was going to go back downtown and stay at my friend Devon’s, but everything took too long and she had to go to work really early the next day, so Daniel let me stay at his place. We ended up going to our old hang out Cafe 50′s. I had so much fun with Daniel and Trisha. Made me miss my old theater days.

Trisha and Daniel

Cafe 50's Wall

Those Redheads From Seattle movie poster

Dreamy Marilyn Monroe Section

Outside Cafe 50's

I’m pretty sure I then had to get back to Lancaster to meet up with everyone for Brianna and Steven’s wedding party. We were all going out to pre celebrate. So Trisha dropped me off at the orange line and I got back on my way to Lancaster. She also gave me a card for my Birthday with 20 bucks. I was really taken by surprise, and was beginning to be overwhelmed by every ones generosity.

It was really cool seeing Regina and Tom, Daniel’s mom and step dad. They were always really encouraging of us playing music and let us practice in the living room and would make us dinner afterward, where Daniel and Kaitlyn would teach me a new phrase in Portuguese to say to Regina at the dinner table and not tell me what it meant until after I had already said “I poo poo and pee pee my pants!”

Great times!

Next episode Brianna and Steven’s wedding and Mom time!!!

TBJA Out.

I started blogging about LA and then had to go to Europe. So I’m going to start where I left off finishing the LA Chronicles, and I might add in some pics and vids of other things in between and I’ll finish with my Eurodisco excursion.

I took literally a thousand or more photos when I was in europe so I’m only going to put some keystone pictures on the blog and I’ll put a link here so you can look at whatever the online photo album will be, as of right now it’s looking like picasa is going to be it.

I’m also going to throw in some songs, vids and blogs that have been influencing me at the time of posting!!! COOL BEANS!!!

So I’ll start off this second installment of the LA Chronicles with a video of my friends and record label mates Eskimo & Sons covering a Smog song “Ex-Con.”

I found out about Smog a year or two ago from my band mate Darren whom I call Rocky. He showed me the album Supper and I really connected with the song “Butterflies drowned in Wine.” But i didn’t really like the other songs at the time. There’s just something about a deep droll voice and slow sappy songs that turned me off for a while. Until I heard Eskimos cover this song I kind of dismissed Smog. But I was really intrigued after hearing “Ex-con” and I started acquiring a bunch of his albums. And after a couple listens I’ve been pretty hooked lately, mostly to the formulaicly popier songs but I like the delivery and ingenuity of his slower songs as well.

So here’s the Eskimo’s version:

And here’s the original Smog version:

\”Ex-con by Smog\”

I’ve been friends and Boy Gorilla record label mates with Eskimo and Sons for a couple of years now and they have consistently made extraordinary music. They have unfortunately gone on an indefinite hiatus/break up, but they have continued to make music in different projects. DoubleDutch features Dhani, Thomas, and Clayton of Eskimo’s and Jordan of Typhoon. Jordan also has another group called Air Jordan ft. Bone Arrow which features Danielle of Eskimo’s, Norah of Glass Teeth, Maia, and Keeley of Old Believers. They have a song about being in junior high school and trying to get the boy you like to notice you, and in it they say talk to me on aim. They fucking rule live!!!!

I strongly suggest watching some more vids by the Eskimo’s especially “Man on the Frontier,” and “Let em In!”

I’ve also been skating with Thomas quite a bit and I’m planning on putting up some vids of our skate jams with our friends. By the way Pirate town from the Rocktobered post was supposed to be torn down last month. We skated there twice after I got back and I hurt my ankle the second day so I haven’t been back since the injury.

Also a great music blog I’ve been checking out is my friend Greg and co’s Beatswatch.

I just decided I’m going to keep this as a separate post and make another one for the second installment of the LA Chronicles.

P.S. My band 40 Hundred Thousand Locked Up Guns is also on an indefinite hiatus/done. Tyler quit the band and Rocky’s equipment is broken. But I have five new projects going on now. I am playing with my friend Carolyn, Ryan, and Tim and I have two solo projects I’m working on in between. I’ll update as more materializes!!

Check it and get real!!!

TBJA Out

I was asked to go skateboarding by my friend Thomas at a place by the University of Portland that was supposed to have lots of ramps and a rail or two. I had never heard of the place and it sounded too good to be true. We ended up never going.

In the next couple of weeks I was talking to Haley, my girlfriend at the time, and she mentioned going to a place called pirate town which was also by the University of Portland. I don’t remember now if she mentioned that people skated there a lot or not. But I ended up doing some research about the place and found that Thomas and Haley were probably talking about the same place.

I called up my friend Isaac to go skate at this fabled place. It took a while to find it. We parked at the UoP and walked back a ways and walked what seemed like a mile before we found this heaven. Isaac kept doubting if we we’re going to find the place or not but I had hope and kept pushing us forward.

Then we found it… and it was amazing.

Pirate Town

Some of the ramps

Big ups Isaac for coming with me the first time

Some of the graffiti inside the main building with smokestack

Another building on the property with the river behind it

So here is the progression of tricks from the first time I visited to the third. I still got it!!!

You might want to full screen the ollie.

Thanks to Isaac for the first two videos.

I took this video myself on a tripod. The second time I came to Pirate Town Haley and Tyler came with me. I had already frontside ollied in the quarter pipe. As we were leaving I got the feeling I could frontside flip in the quarter pipe in a timely enough fashion so as to not push back our departure time significantly. And what do you know I was able to pull it off in around ten really fast tries and I didn’t fall or get hurt once.

Unfortunately I didn’t have the camera on me, and that meant having to come back later and do it again. Well when I finally made it back it wasn’t as easy as it had been previously. It took me about two hours to get to the point of landing on my board which is the first clip. It took me a good half hour to land it after the fall. Then probably another half hour or so to land the second make, which is not very pretty I know but after three hours of trying the same trick, my bod just doesn’t have the same resiliency it once used to.

The second time I visited Pirate town was at the end of a big outing with Haley and Tyler in which we went to Sauvies Island pumpkin patch and beach and we ate at Proper Eats.

Here are some pics from that day.

L-R Tyler, TJBA, Haley

Haley and Tyler hauling back our booty

Pumpkin patches aren't made for shopping carts or TBJA

Our booty on Dog Mountain

After talking about Pirate Town with many folks I came to hear from Ben that it used to be a crematorium. I haven’t substantiated the facts. But when you go there and see the smoke stack and see that there’s a cavernous basement that could have held bodies, and the fact that it’s all concrete, I can’t help but think that it’s most likely what the place used to be.

In all it is hands down the coolest, funnest place I have been to in my three+ yrs here in Portland. It’s just starting to rain now so no more skateboarding outside for a while. I’m also going to Europe in a week and a half so I will post more videos of me shredding the gnar in February.

TBJA Out

I’m going to split them into parts to make it easy on myself and for everybody reading. So this is the first part which includes Lancaster, and Ryan and Heather’s wedding.

Before I left Portland I had a lot of stuff to do the day before I flew out. I made a list and completed everything on it including; sew a new camera case, vote, sew a chest compression strap on my back pack, bake muffin’s for Jordan, get a new bottom bracket installed on my bike, get a bike box from Jordan, deposit money, laundry, pack my bike. I also went on a date with Haley who helped me with half of the stuff cause it took me forever to finish everything. Even on our date I had to get zip ties, batteries, and packing tape. After our date we went to her house and hung out and tried to relax. But it was kind of impossible cause I still had to pack my bike. So I left her house at 1:30 am or so and stayed up til after 3:30 or so packing my bike, slept til 5:15 and got to the airport at 6ish am with a little help from Polly!! The muffins were pumpkin muffins. I made the pumpkin from scratch, but used too much and I ended up calling them pumpkin pie muffins, cause the insides were soft like pumpkin pie.

I flew from Portland to Long Beach on Jet Blue on Wednesday. I was really looking forward to flying on JB because everyone told me it was so great and builds it up as the most awesome airline. I wasn’t that pleased with them at all. First of all I had no checked baggage and they still charged me 50 bucks each way for my bike box which was lighter than most bags and/or bikes that go on the plane. Also the inside of the plane was just barely better than a United flight I took home from Reno a couple months ago, which was the worst ride and seating I have ever experienced in a long time. I have yet to have a better flight experience than Southwest as of yet, that includes cabin space, efficiency, and fare price.

My mom picked me up from the airport in Long Beach, and we hung out at her house in the OC for a while.  I put my bike together and then we drove up to Lancaster. After dinner with my mom and my sister in Lancaster I went to Katie and Matt’s house and hung out with their dogs Dutch and Lola, who became my new best friends as you’ll see in later pictures.

Knotts Berry Farm

Driving past Knotts Berry Farm to go to Lancaster for Dinner with my mom and my sister.

Medieval Times

We also drove by Medieval Times which I think Maddie went to during the summer. I always think of The Cable Guy when I think of Medieval Times, which is one my favorite movies!

Groomsmen

Some of the handsome men in attendance. L-R Burdick, Bradley Cox, Shika, T-Business, Matt Randall, Burds Brother sorry I forgot yr name, Evan Comer, Burds Brother forgot yr name too sorry!, and Cody Chandler.

The Bride and Groom Heather and Burdick.

The Wedding Party/ Grand Entrance

The REAL Party!!!

L-R Shika, Mike Randall, Bob Nishiyama, Justin Waasdorp (in front), Mike McCoy, Mikey Hallmark (in front), Cholo (in back), Dennis Padgett, Joe Pehanich, Lance McClaine (sp?), and The Jetboat Adventurer!

Money Dancin

Dennis and Lance

Only seconds before that sandwich was resting unwelcomingly on Dennis’ face.

Shika

So you gotta remember the wedding was on Halloween. Even though it was an amazing wedding, these guys take Halloween very seriously every year. By the time we got to the hotel everyone was too tired to switch into their costumes, except for Shika who was all about it!!!

Bride and Groom

Last pic before we all went to bed, and they went to Catalina the next morning. This was an amazing wedding. I was very genuinely moved and had a great time.

When everyone went to IHOP the next day Shika let me borrow his car and I went to Follow Yr Heart. I unfortunately wasn’t in the full mode of taking food pictures yet and was so hungry I forgot to take a pic of my food. I had a Lorenzo’s eggwich which is hands down the best food I had on the trip. I also got a club sandwich to go, so I wouldn’t die of lack of good food in Lancaster.

Shika, Seth, Katie, Matt, and I all went to BJ’s Pizzeria on Saturday night. It was really fun, and with Katies guidance they were able to make me some vegan food. Bruschetta to be exact, it was really good too!

I went back to Lancaster for the rest of Saturday and Sunday then made my way down to San Diego which will be the next post. I also watched more TV on Sunday with Matt than I have in three yrs in Portland. It was awesome though. We watched It’s always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Thank you for Smoking.

Til next time!!!!

First and foremost it is very intimidating driving one of those vans, but fun also. I almost drove off the Marquam bridge here in Portland. Luckily that was the scariest and only alarming thing that happened on the drive down. There was no cd player in the truck so I was subjected to 11 hours of radio station programming. The only saving grace was a pop rock show that comes on at 10 am in Eugene. It was really great.

Here’s a video I made for the blog while waiting for road construction to clear in the Redwoods.

Kelly’s house was beautiful.

Loft in spare bedroom

Inside the Loft

We went to eat at the Pneumatic Diner in Reno on Friday night and Saturday day. It was great and very charming. Wish we had something that cool here in Portland. Then we went to a casino on the way back to Trukee. It housed the infamous Bonnie and Clyde death car, who’s authenticity is very questionable. I also did a magic trick where by I turned 5 dollars into thirty with only my hands and a video poker machine!! Top that Westerly!

Entrance to the Pneumatic Diner

Front Door of the diner

Here's my grub. A calzone with vegan meatballs they call Faux Nards.

Kelly's Grub. Raw zucchini pasta with raw pesto on the fly!!

Dessert! Strawb pie with soy ice cream.

Tight quarters, like the blo lo.

entry view

waiting room decor

random decor

Drove all the way to Tahoe

All I got was this shirt, it's a badass shirt though, jk!

Bonnie and Clyde death car, if that's your real name!

Clydes shirt

On Saturday she took me around Tahoe and showed me where she grew up. Then we went swimming in Donner Lake. It was my first swim of the summer, not counting Oxbo park in the early spring with Chelsea cos it was so cold I could only jump in and then get right out. It was great the water in Donner Lake was perfect.

Donner Lake 1

Donner Lake 2

Donner Dock

Me and Donner Lake

Then after swimming we went back to the Pneumatic Diner, then to the Whole Foods, and then finally to the airport. I had such a wonderful time. I was only gone one and a half days but it felt like a week. Thanks Kelly!!!!

The Beast and the Beast Master

In between Reno and San Francisco

On the way down I chose a scenic route that took me through Susanville, CA. In high school my girlfriend at the time went to Susanville for a while. I had always wanted to see what it was like, so it was really cool to see it for the first time. It was really pretty and quaint. Cute little downtown and some peeps skating around.

California is dry as hell. I am very glad I live in Oregon. I will be travelling back to so cal in late October and Early November for two weddings. I am really looking forward to the visit. It’s the first time I have really anticipated going back to California in these three years that I’ve lived in Portland. I am also taking my new bike too so it’ll super fun riding around.

Enjoy the visuals!!!