Today's post is the sequel to yesterday's post. It's always exciting to have a part two. But part two usually isn't as good as the original. Except for the Godfather part 2, that one is great. Anyway, not to beat a dead horse or anything, because this post has nothing to do with horses, and Bolts of Thunder is inherently opposed to animal violence, but I thought I'd put up some more pictures of AJ skating this rail. Except these are the behind the scenes pictures that my wife took, and did a really good job of taking if I may say so, so I thought I'd put them up. Now you know how much we go through to land our tricks and encourage others to land their tricks. Don't believe me? Watch Dave's bonus footage from either the first or second Bolts of Thunder video and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. It's on dvd, if you're one of the few and proud to have the dvd. Then as I was going through these pictures, I found one more haunting image of Ben spying on AJ, wondering if he'll earn the highly coveted spot on the Bolts of Thunder team. But, just to show you that this goes two ways, I found this other picture of Ben skating with AJ wondering:
Now you see what these two are up against. Well, although I rather enjoyed Ben and AJ pushing themselves as hard as they can purely to earn a spot on the team, I'm going to have to come out publicly and say it: guys, you're both on the team. We actually don't have a limited number of spots on the team. And how is this, you ask, that we can have unlimited spots on the team? Because Bolts of Thunder isn't really a team, it's more just a group of friends. Actually, for the remainder of this post, I'm going to copy one of my very favorite posts from the blog. It's from last summer, entitled, "What is Bolts of Thunder?" You should look it up because it has awesome pictures of Nick doing pole jams over grass gaps. Speaking of Nick, I talked to him yesterday. What's up Nick?!!! We've got plans for his part in our next video, it'll be a must see like his others. So for all of you who might be wondering what Bolts of Thunder really is and paid no attention to the header at the top of the blog, here's another explanation, and a fine one at that, taken from the post "What is Bolts of Thunder" from July 21, 2011:
"You know me, I'm proud of our blog, team, and Bolts of Thunder in general. All of you are making me proud. So I take every opportunity I get to tell people about Bolts of Thunder. This girl in my weight training class makes small talk with different dudes every day and rotates throughout all the guys, stretching in front of them and pretending to lift dumbbells, and today was my turn to be the victim. So instead of telling her where I'm from, what I'm studying, or even what my name is, I told her about Bolts of Thunder. I cut her off before she even had the chance to try and tell me about herself. So she asked me, "What is Bolts of Thunder?" and that got me thinking... I could have told her our purpose statement as is boldly declared at the top of the blog, but I sat and thought about it. I told her that we're a local skateboard gang and that we wreak havoc on society. She was so deeply unimpressed that she spared me her advances and left me alone. But that stirred a question deep within me. What is Bolts of Thunder? After having thought about it for a couple hours, I would like to share with you what my conclusions are...
What is Bolts of Thunder, you ask? Bolts of Thunder is an idea. The idea that just because a man has a family to feed, bills to pay, books to read, and people to impress doesn't mean he can't shirk all responsibility and make a skate video instead. The idea that just because your body can't physically handle the stress you're about to impose upon it doesn't mean you can't keep trying. The idea that even when your in-laws, employer, significant other, family, and friends have all rejected you for choosing a skateboard over a steady job, you can still be proud of yourself for having a part in a local skate video. The idea that even though you have a lot of work obligations, you can't still lead a double life as a street warrior. The idea that even though we might be hated for what we've done here today, at least we did it in style... Yes, Bolts of Thunder is all these ideas and more. I think Rome was originally founded upon similar ideas and ideals. Isn't that what the old emperor said in the beginning of "Gladiator"? I'm pretty sure that's what he said. Yeah, that's what he said. So, girl that likes to flirt with everyone in my weight training class, are you satisfied with your answer? Do you finally get it now what we're all about?"
And that's why we can include all the people we want. The end.
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