Soon kids will be bumrushing Koston for his autograph–on their golf bags.
The November issue of Golf explains the trend:
“When their sport exploded, star skateboarders of all stripes blasted into a new tax bracket. The same snotty kids who once had scraped together change to buy Slurpees were suddenly earning in the high six-figures. They had cash flow. They had free time. And before you knew it, they had golf clubs in their hands.”
The well-written article follows skateboarders Eric Koston, Tim Gavin, Adrian Lopez, and Lee Dupont around Oak Creek Golf Club (although they prefer LA’s crummy munis). Dupont has the fundamentals, but Koston, with his Burberry golf shirt and a $24,000 gold rolex, looks the smoothest.
Golf and skateboarding have many similarities. I think the writer would agree:
“Like Vijay Singh, skaters practice with single-minded repetition, working from dawn to dusk to master a move. The secret, you might say, is in the asphalt. For every great golfer beating balls until his hands blister, there’s a skater with skinned knees hauling his board and bruises and bloody bandages back up the stairwell for another run.”
In other skateboarding news, I don’t think I’ve rolled on my skateboard in six months.
November 17th, 2004
Take a Ride to Exurbia
David Broooks
Did God Intervene?
Evangelicals are crediting God with securing re-election victory for George W. Bush.
By Deborah Caldwell
Bush’s Secularist Triumph
The left apologizes for religious fanatics. The president fights them.
By Christopher Hitchens
Faith-Based Gynecology
Druggists refuse to give out pill
Was Darwin Wrong?
National Geographic
November 12th, 2004
Beer didn’t work. Neither did a long walk. Now I?ll try writing. It’s midnight and sleep is not an option. It’s clear now that Ohio will determine the election and the state is trending toward Bush. How could the early exit polls have been so wrong? I?m not sure how other Democratic voters are feeling right now, but my gut feeling is telling me that Bush has this one. As a Kerry supporter, I’m really discouraged.
Two big disappointments so far:
1. How could Kentucky send Bunning back to the Senate? I am stunned. Bunning’s gaffes are now national news, but they’re worth repeating. He said that his opponent looked like one of Saddam Hussein?s sons. He claimed that his was wife was “black and blue” after she was assaulted by a member of Mongiardo’s staff. He has proudly stated that he doesn’t keep up with the news?unless it?s from Fox. Incredibly?this is just unbelievable?at a recent appearance at a small Kentucky Catholic college, he referred to the Sept. 11 events as “November the 11th”.
Kentucky just sent this man to the Senate.
2. The youth vote. The idea that young people rejected Eminem’s instructions to mosh their way to the polls doesn’t bother me. Vote or Die fizzled. Fine. And I’m a little encouraged, actually, that the Kabbalah crowd didn?t connect. But some early reports suggest that 18-29 year-olds voted the same as in 2000?that is, not in large numbers. And sadly, 30-44 year olds voted in less numbers than in 2000 (according to the same exit poll). After the 2000 election, 9-11, the Iraq War, terrorism, etc. it is just inexcusable that young people are at home playing Grand Theft Auto instead of voting. Pure apathy. Keep the gadgets, ringtones, and pop-culture goodness coming and they?re stoked. Rock on, kids.
It’s time for Democrats to do some serious soul searching. What does it mean to be a Democrat anymore? If you ask five different people, you will get five different answers. I don?t think the same is true for Republicans. “Low taxes” will be mentioned by those five people. Republicans have clear principles (regardless of whether they adhere to them) and successfully stayed on message during the campaign. Democrats don’t have a coherent vision. Are you fighting for the working-class coal miner? Or latte-swilling urbanite? Often I will hear a list of issues and policies rather than core values and guiding beliefs. Yeah, yeah, it?s a big tent. But If everyone is let inside the tent, then what do you stand for? I?m tired of Democrats just looking for new blocks and constituencies, such as Hispanics. Stand for something!
November 4th, 2004
Every time I have been out in the public with an ‘I-69′ button on my lapel, teenagers point and snicker at it. I have had many ask me if they can have my button. I believe it is time to change the name of the highway. It is the moral thing to do. 
