Help me stop second hand smoking

Same trick, different side. So that's the woman herself. Rachel. She's my filmer, photographer, conversationist, journalist, protagonist, friend, and wife. She's amazing because she loves to come out with me and watch me skate more than just about anything. Or at least that's what I like to think. So I have to thank her for taking all these pictures of me when I skate.

So a dirty little addiction I've picked up since being in Italy is second hand smoking. Can't seem to get enough of it. Any time I finally get a wiff of fresh air, someone's sure enough to come along waving a cigarette in my face. I've lost a couple extra days or so of my life from all that smoke. I guess I'm going to have to quit second hand smoking when I go back to Provo. It's hard to second hand smoke there unless you hang out at the provo skatepark on Geneva road (there you can second hand smoke all day long with 15 year olds that are bigger and stronger than me and push mongo. They're a dime a dozen on the other side of the freeway), so I'll probably have to quit it cold turkey. When I came back from Geneva I had to quit second hand smoking, too. Woke up at night in cold sweat, yelling and cursing at the universe. I don't know why I'm talking about this, but I guess I need your help in order to quit, because I can't seem to stop second hand smoking over here in Italy.

I refuse to explain

I know what you're thinking: didn't you already put pictures of that trick on? and: what are you up to? and: where have you been the last couple days?

I can explain. But I won't.

Thanks, Zak, for getting in touch with me pronto style. I'm glad to hear from you, and I hope you're doing good. Anyone else I may have forgotten, I also hope you're doing good. Enjoy today's post.

Searching for Zak Smith

I was trying to get a hold of Zak Smith. You know him as Zachary Smackery from his comments on this blog. Anyway, I wanted to say what's up to him, but I realized I don't have his email, and I can't find him on facebook. So, Zak, if you're still around, or if anyone knows how I can get a hold of him, please tell me. Thank you for your help... Now enjoy this massive hubba grind:

Gin, Thundie of the week

These are a couple spots I've found here in Siena. Actually, they're all the same spot. It's this bank, it's the oldest existing bank in the world (not the first bank, but the oldest bank still in function. Get what I'm saying?...). They don't car at all that you skate the ledges there, which is completely foreign to me. Like I've been there at 3 in the afternoon on a weekday, and I'm expecting to get the boot, but nothing. Nobody. Maybe it's because they're already done working for the day, which is extremely likely... Anyway, these are a couple ledge friends that I've made here in Siena. The top is a kickflip noseslide, the last is a noseslide, no kickflip.

Now I would like to publicly thank my little sister, Ginger, for her consistent and insightful comments on both this and Rachel's blogs. For being so dedicated, she gets special recognition and wins the award of "Thundie of the week", quite the prestigious award. Thanks, Gin! Keep them coming.

Chad and Derrick and pirates and smoke

Today's post provides a much needed break up in the Bolts of Thunder blog roster. You've seen enough Jon in Italy pictures for the time being, and you just want some green, sunny Provo shots, like the good old days. That's what these pictures are. These are Chad and Derrick, who are not related but should be. They are always together, as in always. Chad is not without the Derrick, nor is the Derrick without the Chad, as the good book should say. The top shot is Chad showing the world the proper pose of the smith grind, as opposed to the smith grind 180 out. The bottom is Derrick doing a frontside noseslide with style on that tall, shady ledge that wants to grind sometimes but not grind other times when you need it to. And the cracks on the ground a large and unfriendly. Anyway, there are your pictures for today.

So apparently yesterday was "talk like a pirate day" back in the states. I'm glad I wasn't there for that, because I probably would have taken it too far and ended up getting into a sword duel with someone. Because on talk like a pirate day it's good manners to carry around a sword, a one shot pistol, and an extra leather glove in your pocket that you can use to slap enemies in the face. It's high class, you've probably never seen it. So I made the mistake of going to Disneyland on national rave day. Not that I don't like Disneyland, because I love the place, but I would have preferred not to associate Disneyland with such lame people. The park was stock full of 15 year old girls and boys wearing bright colors and pretending to be on ecstasy, and the occasional 20 or 30 year old still living the dream. If anyone can just come up with these days, I select that tomorrow is "no smoking in Europe day", to give us at least 24 hours to clear the air and get in a couple full breathes before we start second hand smoking again. This is a strange, unintended tangent... Ok, the power just died at my place, gotta go.

This is why I haven't been skating this week

Contrary to popular belief, an angry see and slippery rocks can, in fact, get in the way of my skating, as they have this past week. That blood looked like the fake blood on the old original Planet of the Apes, almost as though I had planted it there...

These are the people the helped me clean up the blood off the ground. The tannest, leatheriest-skinned people I've ever met in my life. Here I am showing them the power of white. Not white power, that's something different, and we don't support that. I'm also giving them a little taste of P90X power crunches on the beach, which I don't think they could handle either.

So so sorry

I tried uploading some pictures, but my internet isn't having it tonight. Sorry. But I want you to imagine the most awesome stunt maneuver you can think of on a skateboard and know that that is the picture I was trying to upload. Sorry.