In Memory of Jared Boyd Morales

Jared is a generation after mine.  Like so many kids in Santa Barbara, he grew up loving Shorty’s, the hometown skateboard brand that went worldwide.  While I was travelling and filming the Shorty’s team in the late 90’s, he was in high school.  I didn’t know him during that time.  I mean I may have met him, but it wasn’t until many years later that I really got to know him.

I moved to Ventura for work in April of 2019.  I lived alone and only had a couple of friends in the area.  Mostly I just went to work and went home.  Occasionally I would go out on a Friday or Saturday to check some live music or watch the Dodgers at a local bar. Every once in a while I would see Jared on the streets.  Usually walking with a backpack, smoking a cigarillo. 

One of these times, he ended up right in front of me so I said hi.  From that point on we hung out fairly regularly.  He lived in Oak View, which was about 15-20 minutes from my house. He didn’t have a car so it was only if he happened to be in Ventura that he would usually hit me up.  Mostly we would just meet up for a beer or two, but every once in a while we did some pretty fun shit.  Seeing George Thorogood at the Ventura Fair was pretty epic.

 

Sometimes Jared would walk me home.  I lived pretty far down The Avenue so at first I thought it was unnecessary.  But at some point I realized, this guy was watching out for me. I have to admit, it made me feel a little old. Ha. But I quickly realized Jared had my back.  That was him to a T.  Watching out for us.  Plus to be honest, walking The Avenue alone at 2am is not really the safest choice.

Jared and I often talked about hiking the Ojai backcountry.  It’s vast and there are so many cool spots back there.  So after a little research, and talking with some friends that knew of some cutty spots, we headed out one day to find a swimming hole…

“The Bear Bathroom”

Ok.  I’m usually really good with directions and my instincts are sharp.  But this was a rare occasion that I wasn’t.  We drove into the Ojai backcountry down a long road to a dead end. The trail started at this dead end. We walked along the riverbed about a half mile to where the trail split.  This is where we messed up.  To the right, there was a sign that said no trespassing.  Just before reaching this sign, two guys were coming down the mountain from the left hand side trail.  As they approached I asked them if the swimming hole was up that way. One of them said they didn’t know but they thought so. They hadn’t gone very far because there was a Rattlesnake in the middle of the trail.  We said thanks and decided (mainly because of the no trespassing sign) to take the left side trail.

We never saw the rattlesnake.  The trail started getting steep pretty quickly.  We saw a little swimming hole but it was very shallow and early on the hike, so we pushed on.  I know from friends that the hike was about 5 miles to the swimming hole.  Since Jared had travelled by foot extensively in the military, and I have done plenty of skate/bike/foot travelling of my own, we were both on the same page of how far we had gone at any given time.  Phones had no service so we couldn’t check that way but we really didn’t need too.

As we went on, the trail got steeper, and we went further and further into the wilderness.  It was hot and my shirt was drenched.  The river that went along the left of us was now hundreds of feet below and bone dry.  We were officially in the middle of nowhere. 

We would come across a tiny spring here and there, but for the most part there wasn’t much water, and being so high up in the mountains, we started to realize we most likely went the wrong way.  We felt like we were getting close to the 5 mile mark so we decided to hike at least that far and then turn around.

It was about this time I saw a pile of shit.  Very quickly my brain went, “Human? Deer?….. Bear.”  The berries in the pile were a dead give away.  I didn’t think much of it and kept on.  That last half mile or so of hiking we saw a few more piles.  Eventually we both agreed we had hiked more than 5 miles and since the trail was really starting to disappear into the tall grass and forest, we stopped in a small clearing and sat down to eat.  We were both pretty beat and kind of disappointed we didn’t find the swimming hole. 

As we sat there eating our store bought sandwiches and drinking tall-boys (of course), I noticed some junk laying around.  First was a sleeping bag.  Next, was a foil balloon and some other trash.  I remember thinking it was odd that this stuff was so far back in the woods but really my mind was on getting back down the mountain and accepting defeat. 

We zipped up our backpacks and started the trek back down.  About 5 minutes later we ran into two girls on the same mission as us.  We told them there was nothing there and the trail basically ended, but they went on to check for themselves.  We hiked back down to the car and then randomly went to see my old friend Noe who just happened to be visiting from Colorado.  I was sunburnt and tired so the meeting was quick and off to home I went.

It wasn’t until we were in the car and relaxed that I realized what had happened.  We had hiked to a bears bathroom!  It all started to make sense. There was bear shit everywhere in that clearing.  The sleeping bag was in the bushes.  Not just IN the bushes, but PUSHED into the bushes.  The balloon, the human trash that I originally though was left behind? I don’t think so.  A bear brought that stuff there and had his little pile. The kicker is that around the time that we noticed the first pile of bear poop, we both heard a noise. Initially I thought it was a motorcycle. It was a low rumble.  But the sound cut off quickly and it would have been extremely far away.  We both came to the conclusion it was either a bear or a mountain lion.  Running into an animal like that would have been no bueno. One side of the trail was a drop off consisting of hundreds of feet. The other side was too steep to climb. 

We had many laughs about that hike in the days to come.  Totally skunked on the swimming hole and hiked to a bears bathroom.  Too classic.  We also eventually figured out that we should have went right where we went left and that we were gonna get back out there and do it right some day. Unfortunately that day will never come for Jared.  I’m gonna miss that guy.  He walked step for step with me many times.  A man that truly had my back.

If Jared was still here, I would only want to ask him one question… “Hey Jared, do you think those chicks got eaten by the bear?”  Haha.  Much Love.  Rest in Peace my friend.

-Erik

Miguelito Rd. (Dec. 8, 2020)

I went for a bike ride today.  I love my bike, but it needs a tune-up.  It’s kinda squeaky.  As I was huffing up the hill in a high gear, I looked up and saw a deer a few feet off the side of the road.  It was super close to me.  It was younger and ratty.  Needed a trim for sure.  Other than the occasional passing car, the area was silent. My noisy bike caught it off-guard.  The deer was staring at me with a look of, “oh shit, I’m busted”.  I instinctually started talking to it calmly.  “Hi Bud”. First thing that ran through my head was that this thing could straight-up just jump into me right now.  Deer are not known for their spacial awareness when spooked.  Then I heard a car coming up from behind as I passed the deer.  Still talking to it, I reached up and motioned with my left arm so that hopefully the car would slow down in case the deer decided to jump into the road.  Seemed like it worked.  I glanced back and the deer was still standing there, but it quickly went out of view behind a bush as I kept peddling.  I swung my head back forward and not 10 feet away was a deer carcass.  It was next to the road and I rode right past it.  It was mostly skeleton with some jerky and fur.  I also saw another spot where another animal got hit in the middle of the road and was then smeared across into the bike lane.  It may have been hit more than once.  There were gnarly dried up blood pools and smears all over the road.  Most likely a deer as well.  The speed limit on this road is 35.  People of course drive much faster.  It has a long straightaway for a couple of miles before it gets into a bunch of tight curves.  I can see how it could be fun punch it up the straightaways and to jam around the corners. I hope that little deer makes it.  

In the past, I had driven the road that I biked on today.  But when you ride your bike, or skate, or walk, you get a different view than when you are driving.   You see things you may have missed before, or never seen at all!  I saw a pig.  A freaking MASSIVE pig.  Some sheep.  Some really magnificent colored pheasants.  All kinds of houses and ranches.  It was really cool.  A change of pace can do you well. 

You know, there was one other thing I saw today.  It was a roadside memorial.  You know the kind.  A marker on the side of the road where a loved one perished.  People place flowers and candles and various other items in remembrance.  This was like that, only it was different.  There was a Christmas tree.  It was decorated proper.  And then I noticed something else.  Behind the tree, and the decorations, and the candles and photos, were two skateboard decks.  They looked to have been ridden.  

I think some of the best advice I ever got, and have ever given, is this.  Slow Down. 

Rest in Peace, skater who’s name I do not know.

-Erik

The Skateboarder Mentality (part 1)

The Curb Theory

A majority of people never really look at a curb.   They just check in the rearview mirror to make sure they don’t bump into the car behind them,.  I see slick, red, painted, pieces of cement.  Depending on the height, hardness, slope, curve, slant, thickness of paint…  AND, your height, weight, vision and harshness of barging, you can create, with your skateboard, on these curbs. And it’s fun. And athletic. And mentally exercising and teaching, in a way that many people, don’t really get to experience. 

You meet people.  You deal with the streets.  You Zen out.  

An Ode To My Grandparents

I would guess that most of you don’t know that my parents divorced when I was young. I don’t remember my exact age, but it was before I was 5 years old. I feel that when most people hear something like that, they feel like it’s a negative thing. I never really noticed. Quite the opposite actually. Both my mom and dad re-married so I ended up with 2 families. At one time I had 4 sets of living grandparents!

My step-mother, Toni, was not very close with her father when I was young (her parents were also separated), but they did become close just about the time I was starting hi-school. He was a tall man that lived on a ranch in Palm Desert. I didn’t know him well, but I liked him a lot. Toni’s mother was around every so often. I believe she lived in Dana Point so she only came to visit us in Los Osos every once in a while. We weren’t super close either, but she was a very nice lady.

My step father’s family lived in Tustin, Ca. His mother Ann was a force. She drove a big Ford LTD, smoked cigs, wore a ton of jewelry and loved to play Cribbage. Vic, his father, worked as a security guard at Disneyland. Did we get in free you ask? Hell yes we did! In the 70’s he actually worked the back gate and would just let us in the back. Free parking and everything. As I got older he would meet us at the front gate and sign us in. (There’s a whole ‘nother story here that I’ll tell later. But let’s just say, Disneyland was my playground for many years. It was insane.) Vic was loud. But he was funny. He would shout at a family member, and then look at me and wink with a smile, like it was just a big show. He was awesome.

My Dad’s parents met in the war. My Grandfather was extremely tall. He would duck under doorways as he entered the house. He was really strong too. He had this Vulcan neck pinch thing he used to do to your knee. You’d be unable to move, writhing in pain saying “stop, stop!” and he’d just laugh. He was a sweet man that died too early. I think I was still in hi-school at the time. My Grandmother, Omi, was from Germany. After my Grandfather passed, she lived in Solvang by herself for many years. My Aunt and Uncle lived right down the street and we would always get together for holidays. I think she was the sweetest person I’ve ever known.

My mother’s father, my grandfather whom I called Pop was absolutely amazing. He had such a full life. I was just listening to my Uncle tell me about how he used to paint billboards by hand up in the bay area. This must have been in the 50’s. He was a graphic designer who had 3 kids and eventually moved to Lompoc, Ca. He had his own graphic design/silk screening business and also worked on Vandenberg Air Force Base at Martin Marietta. He drew plans and worked on such projects as the Space Shuttle. He was into biking, canoeing, archery, knives and pellet guns. He has a large collection of all this. His studio is basically a mini museum. In his later years he created many pieces of fine art. Painting and etching being his specialties.

Pop passed away a few weeks ago. He battled Cancer for several years, outliving doctors predictions. He was extremely strong willed and fought till the end. He passed on peacefully.

And then there was one.

My Grandmother. Aka, Nan.

I went and visited with Nan yesterday.

Around the time that my Grandfather really started to deteriorate, Nan was put in an assisted living home. She has dementia and can no longer care for herself. She’s 91. She’s still the same awesome/funny person I’ve always known, but her stories are jumbled. She is seriously so bad-ass though. I went to the home with my Mom and we walked down the hall looking for her. When we finally spotted her, she was all the way down the other end of the hallway at the locked doors trying to figure out how to escape. Ha! I love her. Just like I love all my Grandparents. What a special life I’ve been given to have so many family members that taught me, looked after me, and loved me.

And such is life. Make sure you give your family big hugs and tell them you love them, because you never know what’s gonna happen in this crazy life. I’m gonna make a point to visit my Grandmother as much as possible because if you saw the way she looked at me yesterday, you would too.

Much love everyone.

-Erik

SB POSSE – January 28th, 2017

The Spot

Trippy Tree.

Micaiah Furukawa with a speedy manual up 4.

 

Style personified.  Eddie Sanders with a warm-up noseslide.  After he landed this, he bombed a hill (of which you can see a few photos down) and shot onto the driveway right in front of a car.  Pulled it.

Rolli Boli.

Eddie Sanders didn’t land this switch frontside noseslide….

…his leg slipped over the other side of the bar…..

…and he KO’d his thigh on the pole you see to his right.  I’m sure he’ll be back to stick it soon.

Sean Bolis is tall.

The American Riviera

Reinforcements. And Micaiah with a broom.

Clean runway and posse’s on traffic.  Micaiah Furukawa with a switch fs 180 and a boneless.

Multitasking Ninjas.

Vinnie showed up and did this shit first try.  Vinnie Lopez, fs 50-50.

The writing on the wall, aka, the bird is the word. Or as the kids say, “Bird Up!”

Peace out.  Vinnie Lopez, fs 180 Ollie.

 

 

 

Carrie Fisher’s 50th Birthday

My friend James is one of Carrie Fisher’s nephews. I know James because he is a skateboarder. I have filmed with him many times over the years. We became pretty close, even though we live a couple of hours away from each other. We are both into skating, film, and music, so we clicked easily.

A little over 10 years ago, James hit me up and asked me if I wanted to go to his Aunt Carrie’s 50^th birthday party. He told me it was going to be a big event with celebs, and food and an open bar. He had gone to events at her house before, and from what he told me, this was not to be missed. Of course I said yes.

We drove down to L.A. to James’ sister Vanessa’s house on the outskirts of Beverly Hills. James kept telling me how “shit-faced” we were going to get at this party. I was just like, “whatever you say”, figuring this is his territory. I mean, it’s his family and I’ve never been to a fancy Hollywood party before.

So we jumped in Vanessa’s car and took a short drive into Beverly Hills. We pulled up to the property and valet the car. I remember it being pretty early. Like maybe the sun was just going down. We walked up the driveway, and there were two houses on the property. The first house belonged to the very famous actress (and Carrie’s mom) Debbie Reynolds. We walked past her house and up to Carrie’s house. At this time I realized that we were pretty much the first guests to arrive.

We went into the house and James introduced me to Carrie and then her assistants and staff. These are people that have worked for Carrie for a long time. James knew them by name. Like family.

So we grabbed a couple of drinks and went to sit out front on the patio. This was perfect for a people-watcher like myself. We could see all the guests arriving. One of the first people I saw was George Lucas. That’s when it hit me. This is no joke! George fucking Lucas just walked in and he was squinting at me! I need another drink!

We walked out onto the back patio and it was all decked out for the party. I decided to step it up and order a mixed drink. I’ve ordered Gin and Juice before, and usually the bartender just stares at me like I’m speaking a foreign language. So I say to the bartender, “can you make me a Gin with orange and pineapple juice”? She’s like, “you mean a Gin and Juice”? My eyes lit up. “Yeah”! She’s like, “Well alright”! She’s excited, I’m excited, all the other bartenders get fired up. The party has officially started!

Vanessa gave me a quick little tour around the house, and then a couple of her friends showed up. We continued drinking and chatting. Made friends with the DJ, and got a table close by his setup. More and more people showed up and the party was in full swing. Everywhere I turned there was someone famous. I definitely caught a few heads staring at me every once in a while. People like Robert Downey Jr. looking at me like, “who the fuck is this guy”? Ha! I think I may have been having a little bit more fun than everyone else.

At one point Todd, Carrie’s brother, played a home movie that he had put together. A bunch of film clips of the family from years gone by. It was really cool to see that. Another cool moment was when I was waiting in line for the bathroom. Debbie Reynolds walks up and sees me, grabs my hand, and walked me to a back bedroom where there was another restroom with no line. The perks of being with the family.

Then dinner was served. It was a long buffet with all kinds of awesome food prepared by Carrie’s staff. Fried chicken with all the trimmings, greens, and mac’n cheese. I grabbed my plate, and on my way back to the table, decided I needed some champagne. I went and visited my friends at the bar, and ordered a glass. Then I thought that maybe the others would want some. “Actually, is it ok if I get a bottle?” The bartenders got all fired up again. “Sure”! So I walk back to the table juggling my food, a bottle of champagne and some glasses.

So here I am with James and his crew. The meal is winding down, the music is bumping, and we start dancing. By this time we had more people that I didn’t know with us because, and I mean no disrespect, all the celebs were just kind of lingering. We were the ones putting the party in full swing. Anyway, we were dancing and drinking and just having one hell of a good time in general, when one of the guys that was hanging with us pulls out a joint. Now, I should have known better, but we were just having such a good time that I was like, “sure!” and took a couple of rips. That was a mistake.

Over the years I have had some minor blackout experiences. You know, like you drink too much and then the next day your friend is like “you did blah-blah-blah” and then you go “oh yeah”, and it jogs your memory. This was different. I genuinely lost a couple of hours. To this day, I still don’t know what happened in those two hours. I went from dancing with a drink in my hand and a smile on my face with a couple hundred people around me, to waking up in a seated position staring at Carrie’s assistant. Everyone at the party was gone. And I mean everyone.

So I come to, and Carrie’s assistant (who was very sweet) goes, “Hey dude, how’s it going?” What’s going on?” I explained to her that I was with James and Vanessa. I was really out of it. I remember everything being so foggy. So she says, “oh, ok. Let’s go find them. We get up and walk to the front of the house, and there’s James. Passed out on the front lawn! Shitfaced? Mission accomplished! Oh man.

We got James to wake up enough to put him into a bed. Then the assistant took me to the living room where Carrie and like 5 of her other assistants were waiting. They were all standing in a line with Carrie at the front next to a couch. They had a bunch of sheets and blankets. And no freakin’ joke, Carrie Fisher proceeds to make me a bed. And I’m not talking about throwing a blanket on the couch and saying here ya go. I mean, she tucked the sheet under the cushions and made me an actual bed out of the couch! It was surreal. The whole time I was just going, “oh, you don’t have to do that”. And then, to my total amazement, Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia, tucked my sorry ass into bed.

I slept on and off for a few hours, but they were cleaning up the party until after the sun came up so I never got any real sleep. James eventually woke up and we went out and sat on the back patio with a few others that had stayed the night. We said goodbye to Carrie and ended up walking to Hollywood through Beverly Hills. I remember having lunch on the Sunset Strip, and then after that? Most likely we went skating.

I’ve been wanting to write this story for a while, and with Carrie passing, I figured this was the right time. She was so cool. Such a gracious host. And oh! I can’t leave out the best part! At one point in the evening, I was out on the front porch and I saw Carrie walking around the side of the house, from the front, to the back where the party was. She was about to go make some kind of announcement or entrance. She was wearing a beanie that had the Princess Leia buns sewn into it. Apparently she wore it quite often.

 

Rest in peace and thank you Carrie Fisher. You will always be one of the best.

 

-EH

 

 

Secret Spot

When I first thought about what to write for this article, I decided to write about Spot Etiquette.   Specifically “Secret” or “Low Key” spot etiquette.  With social media nowadays it’s easy to just snap a photo and share in an instant.  But when it comes to spots, I like to keep them on the DL [ Down Low, in case you didn’t know 😉 ].  If you blow up a spot, it becomes just that… blown up!  Crowded, Cops, kick-outs.  As a skater, none of you should want that!  Back in the day, when skaters found pools, they didn’t tell anyone.  They kept those gems to themselves!  Kept it quiet and got to skate them for long periods of time with no drama.  For that very reason, I’m not going to release the name or location of where the following photos were taken.  Now a lot of you will be able to figure out where this is.  But I have some small requests if you embark on the dangerous adventure to get there.  Be careful, be safe, do your research, and above all, DON’T BLOW UP THE SPOT!  That means don’t leave trash, don’t smoke, no graffiti, don’t be loud and annoying.  Get in, shred, and get out!  If you skate my secret spot, have a little respect.  Peace!

The Vultures came to check us out

Awe inspiring terrain.

Micaiah Furukawa, Boneless to axle.

George Nagai

Frontside Slob grab wallride

Boneless to nosepick

Micaiah with the kf off a skinny ledge

kf run up

Wallride and gear

Meetch Green with a no-comply wall-jam to bean plant.

Crew

Bolt detail on an engineering masterpiece.

Lots of small bones. Rat Bones perhaps?

Until the next adventure. Peace!

Marion and Turby; Love at first sight

Stomping Grounds (and the SLO Skatepark grand opening)

The following photos are of my backyard. As a kid I was lucky enough to grow up here. It’s still as I remember it… wild and beautiful. The other photos are from the SLO Skatepark Grand Opening. It, as well, is wild and beautiful. Can’t wait to go back and skate that thing to myself. Enjoy. E

Anybody know what this is? It was fleshy to the touch but hard like a shell.

Barnicles

San Luis Obispo Skatepark Grand Opening Sat. Feb. 28th 2015

This skatepark is pretty

My homie, James Rivers blunt fakie (aka ollie blunt)

This ledge is technically outside of the skatepark. It’s really cool how they made the stuff on the outside of the park skateable too.

Skateable bench

Skateable picnic table and art piece

El Gato pivot fakie

The kids are stoked.

The Skateboard Number

Hi Ya’ll. I turn 43 tomorrow. I first heard that the number 43 was the skateboard number when I was in my late teens/early 20’s. It was either from my girlfriend at the time, or one of the Team Effigy and friends. Krishna? Chris Duthey? Mike Taylor?? Not sure who first clued me in, but I found out that 43 IS the skateboard number. Basically, what I was told, is that as a skateboarder, you tend to notice the number 43 quite often. Nowadays, it really is everywhere. There’s a trick called a 43 (maybe that’s where it started?). DC Shoes has 43 everything I believe. And other companies have used it as well.

Now, whether it’s because I’m turning 43, or just a random coincidence, I’ve been seeing the number 43 a TON lately. I mean, Darren Sproles is number 43, and he’s been lighting it up lately! Anyway…. the whole point is that I’m a skateboarder, I’m turning 43, and I’m just really stoked that I was taught, and learned, this ever so creative disipline that is skateboarding. Can’t wait to tear some shit up this year. Skate and Destroy. Listen to McRad. Peace. One Love. Goodnight and have a great day tomorrow. Love ya much. E.