I got to preview Volume 1 Issue 2 of Condensed Flesh and I have to say that it’s great.  It’s a good mix of skating, weird locals, music, and strange random shit.  I’m already looking forward to the next issue.

Come up to Now That’s Class tonight (aka right now) check out the video, drink some beers and listen to the live jams from She Rides and Little Sister.

Check out Volume 1 Issue 1 for an idea of what’s in store.

Not for the faint of heart.  Found this video of The Trowels on the website that Lee Bender does.

This is by far one of the most interesting ramps that I’ve ridden anywhere.  Not too small, not too big, and tight in all the right places. Simply put it’s a very solid build that’s just weird enough.  I think Jerry would have liked it too.

It was put built by a group of  volunteers over a two week period.  Genaro, Julia, Jacob, Charlie, Dale, Paco, and Corey are the people that I was aware of that handled the design and construction and Donnie Billington even chipped in with a little direction on how to blend the corner.

Come up tonight (1/27/12) to Now That’s Class, buy a drink from the bar to show your support, say thanks to the Paul for letting this happen and also to any of the folks who chipped in.  Most importantly give it a whirl and have some fun!

They have a new ramp built up at Now That’s Class.  It’s great to see the evolution (or devolution depending on who you talk to) over the years from a simple quarter pipe to this masterpiece that is made up of a bowl corner, a vert quarter, and a wall ride with some pool coping sprinkled in for good measure.

They’re going to have their Winter Skate Jam this Friday January 27th with The Plain Dealers, Crazy Joe Gallo, Shitbox Jimmy, and Teen Vomit performing.  Should be a good time so I recommend checking it out.

If this ramp isn’t enough reason to come out, here are a few more…

- FREE Sit Down Donkey Kong (original).
- FREE Vintage Pinball Machine (1967 Sea Ray).
- FREE Arcade Legends Machine (over 80 classic arcade games including).
- 8 Track Player at end of bar (with a wonderful selection of 8 tracks you can play while you nurse your beer).
- Arm Wrestling Table (just ask the bartender).
- Front Patio that sits up to 50. Yes you can drink and smoke out there!
- Back Patio with an outside bar. Outside bar is open for various special events in the summertime.
- Skateboard ramp for thrashing your tits off.
- 2 stages with live music plus basement shows for special events.
- Homemade Authentic Mexican food with meat, veggie and vegan options.
- Large selection of non alcoholic alternatives like juice, sodas, root beers, N.A. beer.
- The best jukebox in the world with a large variety of obscure stuff.

Now That’s Class is located at 11213 Detroit Ave, Cleveland, Oh

Craig Lief submitted this promo to me for a video he’s putting together called Clips Ahoy!.  He’s been filming for about 4 years and this will be his first full length that he’s made.  He’s doing the bulk of the filming and 100% of the editing so if it turns out like crap you know who to blame.

The video will feature parts from Leshaunne Pitmon, Doug Nehrenz, Robbie Jones, Mike Jones, Jake Washburn, Kyle Knutson, Josh Schwartz, Dean Antoniou, and Craig himself.

Most of the footage will be from the greater Cleveland area but there is a good amount of Athens Ohio and some other miscellaneous locations.  Lief is still getting footage together and plans on filming through this summer and fall so there should be a premier planned in winter 2012 or possibly spring 2013.

My recommendation to Craig is to put this together for early winter 2012 because of the whole end of the world thing that people are talking about.  In the meantime we’ll have more promos to share on Save Me From Ordinary as progress is made so stay tuned.

I stopped down to Westside Skates for the CA vs OH Round Two art show that featured some really great work by (above from left to right) local legend Gary Spear, Smelly Curb creator Donny Humes, Street Canoe-er Jay Croft, and everyones favorite nice guy Russ Pope.

Gary’s work included some boards with figures painted on them that had lights in the eyes.  They looked demonic to me but only at first glance.  He also had some oversized comics that told stories about the everyday people that I’m guessing Gary deals with in real life.  The fact that the stories are probably based on real people makes them even more hilarious.

Donny Humes’ work ranged from cans attached to a skate deck, to a blown up ticket for skateboarding, to oversized black and white copies of photos.  He’s been running the Smelly Curb zine since the 80s and from what I can tell it just went digital.

I’ve been exposed to the work of Jay Croft longer than any of the other fellas at this show since he’s a hometown guy originally from the Akron area.  Jays pieces consisted primarily of the wood block figures that he’s been known for as well as a little guy that looked like it was made out of paper machae.  I just realized that I did not take any pictures of Jay’s art so you’ll have to get by with what you see in the background above.

Russ Pope has a style that exposes brush strokes and carries through the different pieces that I’ve seen from him.  This show was no different in that sense but regardless his pieces ranged from heads painted on cut wood slats to framed works to boxes and some canvases too.

On an aside, Russ was nice enough to sign my first skate helmet on the opposing side that he signed back in 1990 at Berea Triangle when he was there for a demo with Small Rooms Lazyboy tour.  It was an odd moment realizing that the first signature occurred what felt like a handful of years ago but was actually 22 years ago! After I settled into the fact that I’m old (at least older than when I was 12) the idea popped into my head of how cool it was that after all those years we were all brought together again for a short night.  Another point that Jay Croft brought up while we were talking about the demo that happened back in 1990 was that there were about a dozen people there at that demo who were also at the art show that night. Most of us didn’t know each other back then but as we rolled on through the years and the heard thinned out we all have come to know each other.

Well enough reminiscing about the good old days.  This shows was a great time with some really fun and creative work by these four guys.  Hopefully they can put together Part Three show sooner than later!