All about Ben

Ben Gringeri. He's Italian. And this is his interview. So I've only known Ben a little while, but he's Bolts of Thunder through and through. He was Bolts of Thunder before he even knew what Bolts of Thunder was, which made him automatically fit into the group. Ben always surprises me when we skate because out of nowhere and with no warning he'll pull off some crazy trick you haven't seen anyone do since the 90s, and he pulls them off clean which clearly means he's been practicing. I guess I'm trying to say that he doesn't really care about the latest styles and trends in skating, he's as clueless as I am, so when we skate it's just about skating. Also, Ben reminds me of Dan more than anyone else on Bolts of Thunder because he seems like he's super talented in everything that he touches. Like in church one time he got up and played some amazing song on the piano that I think he just made up. Then last week he said he hit a grand slam in softball.  Anyway, Ben is awesome, and we're happy to have him on board. In this interview you're going to find out more about our friend, what makes him tick, what his aspirations are in life, and why he can love skateboarding, soccer, basketball, baseball, biking, snowboarding, and everything else there is to love in this world all at the same time.

And by way of reminder, don't forget to leave comments asking me some questions for my interview this Friday. Leave them on this or any other post this week before Friday. Thanks to all who have already left questions...

Oh yeah, and welcome blog follower number 43, Elizabeth Earnshaw!!! I think she's Ben's wife (the last name's throwing me off. Could be a maiden name. Could be a trick. Or I could just have the wrong person), which would make the timing perfect for this interview...

(Mr BoltsofThunder) The world wants to know, who are you, and what are you doing to Bolts of Thunder?

(Ben) I was that kid by himself skating the parking lot by himself because I believed that nobody skated in Provo.  (longboarding doesn't count).  I was adopted by Bolts of Thunder and I haven't looked back since.  I guess you could say I'm just trying to keep the dream alive with the rest of the thundies that just cuz you're married, going to school, have a job, or just getting older, it doesn't mean you can't do tricks on a skateboard.  

How did you get involved in this organization, and do you consider it a fairly buoyant vessel or a sinking one?

In church I started using my phone as a finger board, and got embarassed when I realized someone saw me.  That someone was Jon, and he asked if I skated.  After a strenuous tryout period along with AJ, we were ushered into the organization.  It's definitely buoyant..there's a vid coming out!

What motivates you to go out and skate?

I just like doing tricks, learning new things and such.  Also, watching everybody else learn new stuff is cool to see.

How long have you been skating, how did you start, and why did you start?

I started skating about when I was 10 i think. I'm not too sure.  All I know is that my brother got me into it by hustling me for a few bucks to buy his really old crappy board.  I finally got my own for Christmas some time after that, but if it weren't for my brother, I would have never started.

You strike me as the athletic type. Actually, I know you're athletic. What are some of the sports you're involved in, and why do you do so many things?

I think I've tried just about everything, even fencing.  I do a ton of stuff though, and it's because I've always wanted to get good at things.  I don't really know why, it's just a drive to learn how to do everything.  Besides skating, I climb at least 4 times a week, I mountain bike, I'm on a soccer and a softball team right now, I play basketball, and I run.  I normally snowboard too, but that season ended months ago... bad season.  I dunno, there's a different reason for doing each one.

Do you have any good fight stories? When's the last time you were in a fight, and what happened there?

I have more "almost fight" stories than anybody should...complements of Provo.  I'm not exactly intimidating or big or anything, but the 4 times somebody has tried to start a fight here in Provo THEY have been the ones to change their minds (or a friend intervened).  Crazy how that works.  

However, this one time in 4th grade there was this kid playing soccer and he got all up in my face for some reason, so I tripped him like Ryu from street fighter and he slammed his head on the ground.  Everybody crowded around cuz he was crying and the Vice principal showed up out of nowhere so I left the crowd and never got in trouble for it.  

Not much of a fight story but it was the first one that came to mind.

You always seem like you're down to skate whatever, whenever. When you go out skating, do you have a preference of what to skate, or are you just down to skate whatever? 

I'm just down to skate whatever, except I'm really bad at skating the ledge at King's park (I think that's the name) everybody else can 50-50 it all the way across and I still haven't done that.  I still like skating gaps a lot though.  Gaps and banks.  and ledges.  and manual pads.  I guess it depends on the day.

Who would win in a fight, Bruce Lee or Bruce Willis?

Bruce Lee for sure!  A fair fight anyway.  Sure, Bruce Willis could win with a gun, and he could probably take me out easy, but Bruce Lee would crescent kick him in the face and he'd be out.

Have you ever had to fight an animal? If so, what went down?

A goose.  They are vicious birds that will come after you if you get too close.  I was being a little nosier than I should and the thing came after me.  I panicked and kicked that thing so hard.  It let out a crazy squawk, and we left it at that.  

Still, I've always wanted to jump on a cow's or an ostrich's back or some other big animal and see what it would do.  

Ok, so let's say that you were on one of your little nature hikes out in the woods. Not much unlike the scene from "Old Yeller", you found yourself trapped up against some rocks, surrounded by wild boars with razor sharp tusks. You have a small pocket knife on you that you carry on such hikes. You might be able to climb out of your entrapment, but not before at least one of the boars took a good chunk of leg out of you. How would you protect yourself? Who would win, you or the boars? Do you see yourself eating pork chops this night, or will the boars be eating Ben chops?

I think I'd give it a good fight, but wild boars are nuts.  I might take one or two out, but I think I'd be speared in the end. 

Any good camping or scouting stories for us? We're open to pretty much anything, as you might expect: fighting, falling, diarrhea, mischief, or any kind of stories you wish to share.

My scoutmaster wanted to take a picture of a bear at scout camp so he camped off in the woods one night and he left food out on purpose.  He got attacked.  Pretty crazy.  He's still alive though so no worries.  I don't think he got a picture though, but the battle wounds are proof enough.

You've seen the videos and heard stories of the original Bolts of Thunder members. Who, of all of them, would you like to meet the most and why? Who would you want to skate with the most?

Dave McDonald.  That kids a beast, and I feel like he would make me wanna try stuff that I normally wouldn't/shouldn't.  While AJ and I would be complaining about how much our backs hurt from trying that 3 rail, he would have tried something crazy and wouldn't stop til he landed it.

What are some of your favorite parts of the first two Bolts of Thunder videos?

My favorite intro is probably Nick's.  The drama is hilarious, and the picture with the helmet belongs in an art museum.  Jon's part is solid though, and some of the bigger tricks were crazy..back lip down 9, kickflip foot plant, etc.  

What would you like to see in this next video?

I want to see everyone step it up.  I don't care what that means for different people.  I wanna see Jon do a huge kickflip down a big gap and a line with a nollie hardflip or nollie 3 flip in it.  I wanna see Matt fakie flip into the banks and shuv the grass gap.  I wanna see AJ learn kickflip backside smiths and do it on something.  As for myself, I recently was taught how to kickflip properly, so imma try to do some of those solid on flatground.

So now we move into our zombie apocalypse scenarios. Who, of any Bolts of Thunder members, would you choose to be with you during the zombie apocalypse? How would you guys stay alive, and what would you do to fill your time?

I feel like Matt would be a good person to have around.  I feel like he would throw down hard if the occasion called for it or have some sort of plan already worked out.  Also, he's seen a lot more movies than I have where this kind of stuff probably happens so I think he's the most prepared.

Now we say that the entire Bolts of Thunder crew is together and well armed. However, the zombies have picked up our scent and are closing in on us. How would we stay alive? How would Bolts of Thunder make its stand?

AJ would be the first to go because I think he would try and make friends with them--he's just a nice guy--, and it wouldn't work out.  Jon would probably fool them by pretending to be a zombie until he could make his getaway.  Matt would suit up with a gun and dominate some gentes.  I'm not sure what I'd be doing, but I think we'd all survive except for AJ..sorry buddy. 

I'm out of questions, so do you have anything else you'd like to say?

just that I'm really excited for the video and thankful for everybody's hard work filming and editing and such.

You want the truth?

They say you're not one to handle the truth all that well. Is this true? Why don't we find out. I will give you the truth. Next week. Not today. I have no truth in me today... This is a very round about way of asking you for some help. So we've been doing interviews again lately, but because I'm the writer, I have nobody to interview me. So I'm going to ask you to ask me questions via comments on the blog, and next week on Friday I will answer all questions. That will serve as my interview. Last time Matt and Dave asked some questions, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. This time I would like to have more participants. So I am giving you an entire week this time to think of questions to ask me, and next week I will answer them. Got it? So just leave comments either to this post or any post up and coming in the next week, and I will respond to those questions.

And if you don't ask me questions, I will make up my own ones and answer them. Don't believe me? TRY ME! Actually, don't try me, just take my word for it. Come on, you can imagine me having a conversation with myself on the blog. It happens almost every post I put up. So don't try me because I want your questions. Am I coming off as desperate here? You have made me very desperate...

Freestyle Battle

"There's a war goin on,
It's a freestyle battle
Mind's goin blank,
I'm upstream without a paddle!"
                                                - DJ Bizkwik circa 2004

Lost letter to the editor

I just wrote this long post and erased it all. It was not suitable for publishing, not even on this blog. Yeah, that's how racy I can be, when provoked. So I'm just going to let you look at Zak's frowny face and wish you knew what it was that I wrote about before I erased it. It had something to do with angry fan mail, selling out, getting political, people using other people for crap they don't need, my broken ribs, and hopes for a smiley future. That's all I remember.

Adventures in Babysitting

So I've decided to be extra productive this summer, and I've gotten myself a third job: babysitting. No joke. I babysit a six year old boy, and we have a lot of fun together. Or at least we did today. Today was my first day on the job. And as a first day of babysitting, I was not let down. Already as a babysitter I've cleaned up throw up, watched hours of cartoons, taught the kid how to wipe after going to the bathroom (he wanted me to wipe for him, so I decided it was high time he learned to do it himself. He did just fine...), and rekindled my love for legos.

Yeah, so the kid threw up this morning, twice, and he didn't even cry. I didn't even know he threw up the first time, I just thought he was going to the bathroom. I still have to hold back tears today when I throw up, it's no easy task. But he hunched over the toilet like a seasoned veteran and threw up with not a single tear in his eye, before or after. What a kid... Then I was seriously a little upset when he changed the channel in the middle of "Kung Fu Panda" the tv show. It was a good episode, and I don't know how it finished... Anyway, we're hard at work here at Bolts of Thunder. Not on a video or anything, but actual work. Just thought you should know.

That photo up there is what we call gold old fashioned old school riding...

Going pro is just so awesome. Seriously, because people pay you. I would know... Or at least I will...

This picture was taken back when skating on home appliances was perfectly acceptable in our modern society. I miss those days. I think we need to focus a lot more of our attention on the home appliance aspect of skating and make those things useful for a change. Like this refrigerator. Probably never did any good until it was set down this gap and back tailed... Thank you, AJ, for giving this fridge some purpose in life.

Today I am announcing that I am finally realizing my dream of becoming a professional skateboarder. A professional in the sense that someone will pay me for time spent on my skateboard, not in the sense that I'm sponsored, have my own board, and people think I'm good. The Provo city rec center is starting a skateboarding class, and I just got hired as its instructor!!!! No joke. There are going to be classes Monday through Thursday, and kids will come to learn the basics of skateboarding. Going to the job interview was awesome because I actually got to bring my skateboard and show the people how to ollie. I had the city planner in the air in no time with rumors of these skills passing into the mayors office. The classes start soon, so if you know of anyone that wants to take skateboarding classes, bring them to the teen center in Provo and get them signed up. I'll be their teacher. So, yes, I am entering the ranks of the professional elites now that people are paying me to skateboard. I'm going to write "professional skateboarder" on all of my legal documents from now on...

Don't break your ribs, kids

So I broke my ribs last week. I'm not exaggerating either to say that I slammed on them, but I seriously broke them. Not all of them. I actually don't know how many or what, but I know that one of them is really swollen and is giving me grief all the time. It hurts to do most of my favorite activities, including skateboarding, sleeping, breathing, thinking, threatening, insulting, and glaring. Eating doesn't hurt, so I'm grateful for that. I hurt it skating the Springville ramp doing a trick I can land pretty much every try, but this one just got away from me. I was doing a kickflip rock to fakie, flew too close to the sun on wings of confidence, landed on the deck like I wanted to blunt the heck out of it, slipped out, and fell straight down on my ribs on the coping. I felt and heard my ribs crack and my vital organs get pushed down into my stomach for a brief moment. Rachel was there too, which sucked falling so hard in front of her. All I could say as she asked if I was alright was, "take a picture..." in my air knocked out of me voice. So it sucks breaking your ribs because there's nothing you can do to make it better except wait it out. And breaking your ribs sucks because it gets in the way of your palates class...