Introducing the Second Sunday Skateboard Sessions

Introducing the Second Sunday Skateboard Sessions - Doing Less to Skateboard More

This was my second heelflip attempt of the day.
I was pleased I at least got the full rotation
even if I didn't land it.

I am determined to keep skating for as long as possible, though, since my last post in May 2024, about reigniting my kickflip battle at age 54, I've probably been skateboarding less than I had hoped. Still haven't landed that elusive kickflip either.

Strangely I've been wanting to film myself skateboarding again but have been reluctant to do so because it can be a bit of a hassle trying to create interesting content, not to mention a lot of editing, if you want to capture the full journey of learning a trick. I really hate editing.

Looking at my camera equipment the other day I was thinking what is the most minimal setup that I can put together that would make it easy to film skate videos anywhere?

I landed on using my Samsung A13, Android phone, mounted on a GoPro selfie stick that has a tripod base in the handle, and a wireless mic I bought some time back for filming skate content and being able to talk without being near the camera.

In an effort to not tie myself to a desktop computer to do my edit, I downloaded YouTube's free beta video editing app to my Lenovo, Android tablet. Using Google's Quick Share feature, transferring clips from my phone to my tablet is a breeze. I can literally edit anywhere and upload directly to YouTube too.

Below is my first video filmed and edited with this complete setup. The edit is deliberately minimal as I'm still learning the new video editing studio. I may get fancier later on but that's why this video doesn't have my usual intro or outro.

Rather than just film a one and done video, I decided to go for a series of ten episodes, filmed every Second Sunday (my partner works every second Sunday for the entire day so it's a good day to film and edit all in one go). Ten episodes gives me a goal and an end point, where I can stop or start a new series if I choose.

I've set myself the challenge of getting better at Braille Skateboarding's seven tricks that make up Volume One of Skateboarding Made Simple. I've never mastered all these tricks even back in the 90's when all I did was skate. You didn't need to know these for mini ramp skating.

To keep the videos short, and to cut down my edit time, I'm limiting my tries to three to five per trick. I may do a few extra if I land a trick badly, or get close to something I haven't landed but I'm not going to film a persistence in the video. Ideally between videos I will spend time doing the persistence attempts and hopefully have some improvement by the next video.

I hope you found the video interesting, and you watched through to the end. I'm trying to talk more all the way through to hopefully give a more authentic look at my typical skate sessions. Not particularly easy for me, because I'm not really a chatty person at all.

I promise I won't make you watch me sweeping and do warm ups every time. I just hadn't done either by that point, and the camera and mic were all set up ready to go. I wanted to make a start before I lost my enthusiasm for making the video at all.

It may not come across in the video but I did enjoy filming this and I felt good about where I was at with my attempts at each trick. Especially getting my heelflip attempts to fully rotate. I'd say that's the hardest thing out of all these tricks.

I will be posting the entire series of videos here as I film them. If they're a little too basic for you then I understand if you decide not to watch, but I hope you'll check in maybe at episodes five and ten just to see how I'm doing.

The main thing is that I'm skating again, and enjoying riding my board. Hopefully that comes through.

Comments

James Gunn's Social Media Monkeys Joke Was a Highlight of His Superman Movie For Me

B efore James Gunn's Superman Movie was released there was a whole rumor going around that the movie would feature monkeys on computers trolling Superman's social media, sparking much outrage. #supersh*t. I didn't know this was even a thing until just prior to writing this article. I did a search to see if anyone had posted a clip of the monkeys scene from the movie and got pages of discourse featuring videos and articles prior to the film. Most of it from Gunn detractors (let's say) seeing it as some kind of childish swipe at them... well not them specifically but, you know, those other people who have every right to hate on anything sight unseen. Anyway, I'm not going to give even one such example a link or air because it's kind of sad watching someone devote so much commentary to a throw away gag that is absolutely a nod to James Gunn's Superman trolls. The whole reason this post exists, is to say I loved the joke, because fourteen years ago, and I...

Movie Review: A Complete Unknown (2024) No Spoilers

Y ou would think the Bob Dylan story would be 'wind-swept and interesting,' to quote Billy Connelly, however, despite A Complete Unknown being quite an engaging film, it feels like it missed the years that really shaped him as a song writer/performer. The film starts in 1961, with a then unknown, 19-year-old Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) arriving in New York City with his guitar. From there he forges relationships with musical icons on his meteoric rise, culminating in a groundbreaking performance that reverberates around the world. The problem being, according to this film, Dylan arrived in New York, for the most part, fully formed as a folk singer/song writer. In virtually no time he makes a very important connection that puts him on the trajectory of doing the work and becoming a name, before making his world changing performance. While there is some drama behind the scenes with his various relationships, none of it is particularly unique to any number of up and com...

I'm Joining the Illuminati Brotherhood By Personal Invitation of Hiltom Rothschild... Wait, What?

How special am I to have finally come of age (53 years young) and am now eligible to participate in building the world alongside other members of the Illuminati Brotherhood... Yes I've received the call by way of an email, which I'm sure is real because I had to translate it from the Dutch language and it was personally written by Hiltom Rothschild, one of the non-existent members of the Rothschild family (or perhaps deep undercover because Google has never heard of them?). A Transcript of the email below: To: etourist From: Illuminati Brotherhood Subject: Illuminati Broederschap (Illuminati Brotherhood) I am Hiltom Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family, one of the 13 families of the Illuminati brotherhood. I'm here to let you know that you've come of age and are eligible to participate in building the 🌎 world. It is a calling and a privilege to honor him with pride and gratitude as not everyone will ever be chosen by the LIGHT, many are called but few are ch...

Revisiting Hobart, Tasmania (2025) - Part 2 of 2

Tasman Bridge as seen from The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. C ontinuing on with my partner (Enigma) and I's return to Hobart, Tasmania, it's day three, and a Monday. Enigma was hoping to see snow on top of Mount Wellington this trip however, so far we'd had nothing but fine weather. A little on the cool side maybe, but not enough to put snow on the mountain. Which you can check with Summit Cam's live feed from the mountain top. So we decided to fill our day with Hobart's other bus tour... Red Decker Hop On/Hop Off Bus Tour The Red Decker Bus. The Red Decker bus tour is a 90 minute loop tour of the main sights within Hobart. While you can just stay on the bus the whole loop the idea is to get off the bus at any key location you may like to further explore and then rejoin the tour when the next available bus comes along to your nearest timed stop. Tickets last for 24 or 48 hours, giving you plenty of time to explore without being rushed. The bus website tells ...

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de...

Is AI Art 'Art'? The Say NO to AI Art Movement, and Why Human Artists Will Adapt

AI Art No T-Shirt by TET Also available on other items . Right now there is a big debate over not just whether AI art is 'art' but whether AI's are actually ripping off the work of actual human artists, without their consent, to create their images - particularly images 'in the style of' specific artists. From my own observations this debate started to get more traction when artist's signatures began appearing in the output of AI Art image generators. Is It Art? Cool Froyd the Cat Sketch by TET. My style is very much influenced by classic Disney and WB character styles. To get some clarity on how real human artists work (of which I am one)... we, that is all of us... take influences from the art that has come before. i.e. whatever artists we like, have studied, seen etc. we are influenced by. It shows up in our work, intentionally or not. If you really study my own cartoony art style you'll see I'm heavily influenced by early Disney and Warner Bros cart...

Movie Review: Superman (2025) No Spoilers

T he one thing I like about James Gunn as a comic book movie director is that he leans into the comic book nature of the world and the characters. He's not trying to do a realistic take on any of the characters. He's simply bringing the comics to life. It's still his take on the characters, but he doesn't shy away from their comic book origins. James Gunn's Superman is very much a comic book movie in every sense. Nothing is off the table because it's too 'comic-booky' and might look silly in a live action film. To me that's incredibly liberating. It lets James actually tell a proper Superman story that isn't hamstrung by reality, or tip toeing into the fantastical just enough to allow Superman to exist in the real world. Superman begins in the middle of a battle. Metropolis is under attack by a super powered being known as 'Hammer of Boravia', however everything is not as it seems, and Superman (David Corenswet) must work with other s...

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog