Skate in the parks.

Summer here and it's time to enjoy the outdoors and share our wonderful public spaces with each other. Here we can see Derrick Treatch doing an ollie over a crate in one of Perth City's parks whilst a spectator deciders to capture the moment. Get out there and get involved.

Footage of San Francisco over 100 years ago.

There is something magical about footage that is this old. It's almost like peering into another universe.

Think for yourself

In this fast paced, ever changing, social chaos we live in today we're constantly being bombarded with messages, both obvious and subtle. These messages try and tell us what is right and wrong, what to wear, how to look, what to do, what to eat and the list goes on and on. Family, friends, strangers, companies, the internet and the government all think they know what is best for us. But what is really best for us? The bottom line is, you need to ask questions and challenge these messages, look at them from every angle and then decide what is best for yourself. I'm not saying you shouldn't listen to these people or what they are saying. Just remember to always ask why. Why is that better for me? Why should I look like that? Why do you think I'm doing the wrong thing? Obviously you can't ask a billboard why, but you can ask yourself why. Why should I buy that? Why be a sheep and do what everyone else is doing?

There are things in life that some people get a bit funny about. Tattoos are one of those things. When it comes to tattoos, most people have a pretty clear opinion of whether they like them or not. The fact that they are irreversible (without a great deal of pain and money) scares a lot of people away. The fact that they can sometimes be painful to get, scares a lot of people away. The fact that there are needles involved scares a lot of people away. The social stigma that some people buy into i.e. tattoos make you look dodgy or like a criminal, scares a lot of people away.

It's an individual choice. If you are over 18 and want to change your name to Beelzebub or if you want to tattoo goldenpalace.com on your forehead for ten thousand dollars, who can really stop you? Is it the right thing to do? Is it really the best decision to make? That's for you to decide.

How much do you want to see?

This project started around 2004. At the time I was living in a house across a busy the road from a lake where  many ducks and swans lived. On a daily basis I would skate from my house into Leederville to catch the train, get some food or skate at the skatepark. I would see new squashed birds every week or so. Not thinking too much about them I would just skate on by. Then one day, as I skated down the footpath, I hear tires screech a little. I looked up to see a car stopped in the road. An average looking lady slid out of the drivers side door pinched a couple of feathers and with a flick of the wrist tossed a writhing duck onto the grass and drove away. I stood there, stunned, as I watched the duck writhe around in pain with it's neck at a sickening angle. I didn't really know what to do and just stood still and shared the ducks last moments. I watched as it struggled to breathe and then finally gave up and died.

As joggers and bike riders past me on both sides it dawned on me that this is how all those squashed corpses I see happen. Every single squashed bird I skate past experienced a similarly gruesome and traumatic death, probably worse from looking at some of them.. I had never even realised how awful it was until it was shoved right in front of my face. This applies to many things in our world. It is so easy to be cold and noncaring about how horrible the reality is until someone shoves it right in your face. This gallery is merely squashed birds but it represents a whole world of horrors that we all let happen simply because it's not in our face and dismissing things is much easier than dealing with the reality. When you look into it you'll find many many things you accept in your daily life come from realities worse than a squashed bird. Maybe you should look into it, but then again, maybe you'd be better not too?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feel free to browse more of my photos at my online portfolio here. No more corpses I promise.

Making Of Dawn Of The Shred

Making Of - Dawn Of The Shred filmed and edited by J'aime Fazackerley

Additional filming by Luke Thompson.

It's the thought that counts.

 

 

 

Best and worst playground ever.

This play ground is not at all your standard swing set and monkey bars. The word "play" is used very loosely. This is a place where boys become cripples whilst girls learn about nursing concussions and making splints for broken bones.

 This sign is not a joke

Upon first arrival you will probably notice this spiral slide from hell. If you make it to the bottom with all limbs in tact you will certainly not escape without whiplash or a nice burn on your ass.

Noooo Harry! Don't do it. You have so much to live for.

 

This slide is so insanely high they had to put a cage around the ladder. At this point it wouldn't be unreasonable to think "Maybe the slide is just an easier way to get down from this insane ladder ride?"

 

Then when you get to the top it becomes obvious there is nothing easy about this slide. The hot metal has an ass burnage factor off of any scale you could imagine. Thankfully the static electricity you will generate by the time you get to the bottom is enough to jump start your car if you need to. So even if your car battery is flat your buddy can still drive you to the hospital to get an emergency ass reconstruction. It seems the only way to avoid ass burns is to admit your terror at the top and piss yourself before you slide down it. However the extra speed you will likely generate, due to the now urine lubricated slide, will break your legs upon landing.

As you pedal it drives you around it circles whilst you rotate. Enough spinning to make you puke within a minute or two. The main danger is to spectators, because the centrifugal force generated from the spinning will project the vomit at breakneck speed.

I'm not even really sure what this one was. But it sure looks dangerous.

There is even a human sized exercise wheel. Which I discovered was the least dangerous thing here. Until you want to get off it that is. Then things get real sketchy. It just keeps on spinning and wobbling from side to side. You have to curl up in the fetal position and just wait until it finally stops, but by this stage you are so dizzy that climbing out is almost an impossibility.

So this is a see saw for one. Probably not as dangerous as the others but equally as bizarre.

This is a reverse see saw for two. In use the two metal framed seats come so close to each other it should have just been named the Dual Kiddy Mincer 3000.

 

Last but not least is the child flinger rope swing. It's basically a giant rope swing so awesome that you climb up onto a platform to get the extra speed needed just to make sure you lose your grip on the other side and body slam into that tree. The rope has been removed some time ago and all the blood stains washed off the tree in the last rain.

If your a glutton for punishment or know somebody who needs a good beating, just send them here and let the playground take care of the rest.

Something different to do on a Saturday

Perth Poetry Club

A List of opshops in Perth

I spend a solid amount of time hunting around my local op shops. Tell me if this sounds familiar, you find all this amazing stuff the first week, you go back there the next week and the week after that and there is nothing "new". The turnover for some of these places can be very slow. It's time to venture outward and beyond!

I have found for you "the magic list". "The magic list" has been put together by someone who had an idea. That idea became a journey, and that journey lead them to create "the magic list". I feel that you are ready to be handed "the magic list" and that it is now time for you to embark on your own journey of op shop discovery.

Without further a due, here is..."the magic list"

Dawn Of The Shred photos....

Are up on the shredtavern.com fanpage!

A behind the scenes look at Dawn Of The Shred coming soon!

Bert Wootten

Do yourself a favour and watch this guy...

Butter X Staple Magazine

Staple clip 1 from butter on Vimeo.

For the homies!

"seen some interesting things lately"

a collection of phone-photos shot by professional australian skateboarder, editor of staple magazine and dj, morgan campbell.



windyok
two ones work
rasta crates
lock up your beers
layers

hello kitty up a tree

giant domino

four eyed combi
elephant bike
chewy attack
cactus cat cactus
box with a banger

Dawn of the Shred photos coming soon.

Photos and more coming soon!

Free bees! You collect.

About a week before the Dawn of the Shred party we had a hive full of gate crashers drop by. They where very aggressive and refused to leave. So we took the most responsible course of action and threw rocks from a distance then ran away. One good impact and the entire hive dropped to the ground momentarily. Suddenly they launched offensive maneuvers and buzzed around the neighborhood for a while before leaving in search of something to kill or perhaps a beekeeper to take them in.

We grow on trees.

Halloween is looking good this year!!!

Dawn of the Shred preparations are getting us very excited for a fun party.

Lee Johnson

One of Perths favourite sons. Get well soon buddy!

Dude! That dude looks just like you dude!

I met my doppelganger the other night. It was a very strange feeling. We look so much alike, both of us have been mistaken for the other that many times we where well aware of each others existence before we ever met. I have received hugs from strangers thinking I was him, he has stopped people mid conversation to let them know you've got the wrong guy.

Directly after taking this photo we both looked at it and then did the exact same laugh of surprise and turned away from the camera at the same time. It was a little scary, but mostly hilarious.

I've heard rumours about time stopping or the universe exploding if you ever meet your doppleganger, none of that happenned. We just laughed about it for a while and went back to our friends who thought it was equally hilarious. Maybe somewhere out there is someone who looks just like you too?