"Tie an anchor to my legs- I'd still be awesome."

Bro-tage!

2012-02-09T18:47:00.000-08:00

Mike, James, Ben, Dom, Madame, Craig and Hoagie...

Had an awesome session last Saturday and remembered
there was a bunch of random footage wasting away on
my computer. Here's a quickly thrown together montage
of all those skate clips you forgot we filmed.

(Uploaded it at a pretty decent quality. If your internets
is being slow follow the link to vimeo and you can
watch it as a download in the lower right corner of the
window)

B.C.!!!

2011-09-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

If a summer past without a road-trip I would argue
that it never actually began. This September two trips
happened, one planned and the other on a whim, both
brought the real summer feeling with them.
The first break from the everyday routine was an
expedition into uncharted territory- Vancouver, B.C.
It makes me happy that cities are like books in that
you can never expect to know them all.

Yeah yeah new city to explore! Whoop whoop!!

The first night in Van we found our Air B-N-B
House and walked around the old part of town
turned into a party district that everyplace
seems to have.

The center of the touristy old town was a square
with sketchy street names, an afro bank(!) and
a flat iron style building.

They must not have many flat irons in Canada.
My inner New Yorker made it hard to be
impressed, but it is a cool building.

The next day we rode around town (did
I mention we brought our bikes?!); found
the DIY/CO-OPy neightborhood for breakfast,
traveled via a bike route that let you get around
the city by linking all the parks, found the
beaches and basically just took it all in.
Wish there were more pictures...
this super awesome 100 ft totem pole
will have to do.

I had been dreaming about skating the plaza style
park in the center of the city since it was built in
the mid 00's. Really really fun and the layout was
sweet for lines without any pushing.

After exploring the city we took some nature days!

The first was a park in North Vancouver that
boasted a suspension bridge and some
crazy rock jumps.

We found our own tiny jumps along the river.

"You are in a position unsuitable to give orders Dr. Jones."
Actually, the crowd made it hard to really
appreciate walking across the sketchy bridge.

The next day we decided to skip town and
head north to Whistler for three days.

On the way out of town:
Skate stop #2: This park is bad ass.
I got served.

The sea to sky highway. (Better pics later on.)

Whistler was pretty rad. It seemed funny to be
at a ski resort in the summer, but there was tons
of cool stuff to do and on the cheep!

We stayed in a hostel that had been built
for the olympics last year. Everything was new
and felt luxurious after the Air B-N-B place.
We cooked our own food, did some sweet
hiking and checked out the mountain.

The Oregonian in me made it hard to be
impressed by the old growth, but it was
awesome to be around ancient giants!

LOST IN THE WOODS! AHHHH!!!

Just kidding.

The best part of the entire trip was going up
the lifts and across the gondola between the two
mountains.

Once up the first lift there were nice trails with
views of Mt. Whistler and the Canadian
wilderness beyond.

The trails began easy, but got intense with elevation.

Indian paint brush

WOAH.

This was our lunch spot and the
photo doesn't do it justice. There was a
frozen lake, the peak in the background and
an amazing view.

We headed to the gondola. Eventually the
trail was walled in by snow. Snowball fights and
faux ice climbing photo shoots ensued.

Cliffhanger!

Insert Zoolander quote here: _____

The lifts and gondola were pricey but worth
it. Again- the gondola was brand new. Although,
instead of feeling luxurious in this case the newness
created a false sense of security that made it
so you didn't shit your pants.

Whoaah...

On the other side we learned that this was the
highest and longest gondola in the world.
Sweet.

Photos of dudes working on the cables. NUTS!

The gondola was not all that scary, but the lift up
to our layman's summit experience was
completely terrifying. Look at how tiny those
people are and imagine the view!

Me:
"Don't rock the chair! Don't move! Don't move!"

Sleeping giant.

Faux mountaineer scouting.

Olympic mascot.

On the ride down the lift I mustered up
the guts to move and snap a photo of
the view. This is the farthest north
I have ever seen.

LOOK OUT! A BEAR!

We fought off the bear and the polite
Canadians provided tissues.

Skatestop #3: Saw on the map of town that
Whistler had a park and my jaw dropped when
we got there. Another teenage fantasy lived.
Got a good hour session in before a bearing exploded
and one of my wheels flew off in the middle of a
run down the snake. Somehow I didn't die.

Alissa freestyle walking on the mountain
bike park. Thanks putting up with
my need to turn all traveling into a
skate mission.

We said goodbye to Whistler by documenting
the sleeping giant that lived outside our hostel
room.

Back to Vancouver!

Better pics of the sea to sky highway.

Alissa's friend Aliesa, who she met in Guatemala,
lives in Van and was in town on our way back.
We stayed at her place in a high rise
apartment building with a sweet view.

She showed us around town and took us to
a sweet nude beach where hippies sold adult
beverages (among other things) in plane sight
and everyone applauds the sunset.
We rode bikes around some more and got bubble
tea at a place with amazing decor and packaging,
but I blew the photo.

Sweet.

Last day in Vancouver. Find some more
cool balancing rock sculptures. Ride along
the sea wall park. Swim in the public salt
water pool. Eat at a Buddhist restaurant.
GO!

Reentering the U.S. there was the most
out of control sign ever which I didn't
get to document, but did get a blurry photo of
the 'merica flowers.

Awesome summer vacation!

Summah Time!

2011-09-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

Tagged along on one of mikes surfing missions.
I played Andy Goldsworthy, making sculptures
on the beach, while homie got gnarly.

The cherry and dogwood blooming outside the
window is my official start to summer.

Did the Dog Mountain hike with Mike and Alissa
again and saw some cool flowers.

After the hike we stumbled upon some pipes!
Mike and I took some rides before we headed
back to Portland.

On a weekend street mission James cracked a wheel
in half. I had never seen this happen before. He kept
Skating on it and it eventually broke off during a trick!

Untitled from Matt Yula on Vimeo.

Summer Squash Stew

These dudes rolled through town in usual form.
They went straight to Los Gorditos off the highway.
Van Uno tournament.

Kelly came into town (!) and we went to the river spot.
Almost everybody made it out to hang.
Definitely one of the radder days of the summer.

Mufukas think they Tarzan n shit.

Kelly was in rare form the whole trip.
Hilarious.

On the way to the river Benny called just in time
for me to make a u-turn and swoop him up.

"Say hello to my inflatable friend!"

A couple days later I went berry picking with
Benny and Anna. We each got more than we
could possibly eat. Awesome!

Pollinators!

Backapackaing

2011-09-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

The first half of the summer I worked at
a nature camp right outside of town. As
far as summer jobs go there really could
not have been anything better. That said,
summer is for play! It really felt like the
beginning of this summer was the short
backpacking trip with Erin, Brian and Alissa.

We went to Badger Creek area which is
out in the Gorge. We made "base camp" along
a strong creek for the weekend and hiked
a total of twenty four miles.

Remnants of the areas logging past. Laaame...

Squirrels gathering sticks.

Waking up in the woods rules.

Pumping water

At first we thought the camp site we ended
up with was not all that hot, but by morning
it was proving to be super awesome.

Pre-hike yoga-ing

There were tons of downed trees that made
for fun balance beaming.

Group shots! Gotta savor those awesome times.

Silver Falls

2011-07-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

Back in May Alissa and I went down to Silver Falls
for the day and hiked the trail of ten falls.

I was psyched on this picture because the creek
is actually making an over 90 degree turn.

Definitely used the fisheye lens too much on
this trip, but that's what new toys are for...

Nice scenery.

Nicer scenery.

The fall above was really cool up close. Not
a great photo, but it gives some perspective.

Awesome sitting spot under an overhang
behind one of the falls. Below is the view.

The hike back is really mellow along the top of
the canyon with views of some of the falls.

At the last fall there was a couple displaying
some intense P.D.A in the mist and some
rad sun coming in through the trees.

Been A While

2011-07-08T13:09:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking on putting stuff up here, but
now there's five months of photos to share.
Awesome. Lets do this.

Been rolling down to the park a bunch, mostly
mellow cruising, but having a lot of fun.

Got a new camera toy. Mike fresh mugging for
a new fisheye (held up to a point and shoot.)

Backsmith into the corner.

Frontside.

Pillage.

Gonna post more stuff soon, check back.

Rolling Along

2011-02-11T17:00:00.001-08:00

Its been the season that isn't very conducive to outside
skating for some time now. We've been trying to
motivate and get some sessions in whenever its kinda
dry. Bro cam has not been coming out as much as it
should, but I threw together the random clips from
Halloween to Valentines day that got got.

No Big Deal from Matt Yula on Vimeo.

Good Eats!

2011-01-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

Began taking photos of food over
the past couple of months.

Quinoa Risotto w/ Squash and Kale

Matzo Ball Soup w/ spinach

Pecan Pie w/ Blue Steel!

Daphna w/Cranberry Jello Creation

Tofurkey

Blueberry Pecan Pancakes w/ Banana

Coffee

Green Tomatoes+Paper Bag= RIPE!

Tempeh Shepard's Pie

More Pancakes

Pizza (before realizing I own a pizza stone...)

Walnut Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

More (and better) to come.

Mike and Mat's Excellent Adventure!

2010-10-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

YES!! This was possibly the best trip ever.
Two man crew, sweet vehicle, bag full of good
food to get us started, gas paid, per diem (WTF?)
and the whole country to cross!

We immediately broke my "no stopping in
Oregon" rule at Multnomah falls. Pretty
ridiculous considering its like half an
hour outside Portland, but Mike needed coffee.

I passed on real coffee and went straight to
the rocket fuel provided by Alissa. Hazelnut Hookup-
Coffee and Guarana together in sketchy
energy drink form! Also, thats not a real lady
in the back- we found a life sized cut out, who we
immediately named La Fonda, glued to a stick
in between seats in the car! She was our mascot
for the rest of the trip...

With the power of my "natural" high
we were in eastern Oregon in no time and
made a skate stop at the park in Irrigon.

Back on the road we saw the duke,

an inn with a funny name,

and La Fonda guided the way.

In Montana the scenery became old western...

It became clear we were not in Portland anymore
and we immediately began appreciating our
homeland... and talking in glorious Russian accents!

Comrade Mikael and I were very much missing
culture, politics and foods of our homeland! Luckily
the great city of Missoula provided us with an
oasis of righteous organic foods and skateboard bunkers.
I slept in cradle at the skate bunker and woke
up cornered by four spiders who had attacked me
in my sleep! They are probably still trapped in
the bowl- ha ha! What now spiders?!

On the way out of Missoula the gas light lit up and
we got off at the next exit. The "gas station" was a
crazy old saloon were that had a pump outside. You
payed for gas at the bar. Apparently, the town
has an annual bull testicle eating festival. Woah!

Big sky

Drive drive drive to the next stop... the skatepark
in Dillon Montana. This park is in the shape of a
figure eight with a fullpipe in the middle!
Death Race 2010!

We were collectively pooped, so we decided
to dip into Andy Henry money for a hotel room.
Also, we had made it to Yellowstone and
it didn't make sense to drive through the
park at night.

The next morning we had another awesome breakfast,
bought some souvenirs and headed into the park.

Yellowstone is one of my favorite places.
So beautiful...

Bison!

The park is on top of a huge caldera
that is the cause of a good chunk of the
sites to see. If it ever erupted United States
would be very much not stoked!

We got way too close to Bison. Especially considering
the zoom on the camera did not work.

The highlight of the Yellowstone day was climbing
down a rock wall to get to this waterfall.
There was a nice safe path, but climbing is
awesome so... We beat it out of the park when
the sun went down and Mike charged through
the night being "The Dude."

At some point in the middle of the night
Mike got fired up on coffee and we stopped
at a rest stop. Wyoming DROP IN!

We crossed into Colorado and the name
Fort Collins made our spot-sense tingle.
We got off the highway, drove down main
street asking wasted college kids where the
skate park was and came up on a super
good find. Another night camped out
at a skate park.

We woke up haggard. Got another killer
breakfast at a Cajun spot where we stuck out
like a soar thumb, but made up for it with good tips.

Then back to the park which was better than we
had expected the night before.

Santa Rosa humps and a spine at the same park?

A deep end with pool block too?
Sign me up!

Locals turned us on to a DIY spot in Ft. Collins as well.
Lots of fun little stuff here. Multiple pole jam
options- you know I was hyped.

Rock coping.
Two-headed turtle hump!

We got back on the road and entertained ourselves
at truck stops along the way.

Next stop was Denver and ended up being down time.
We saw Pete Eldridge at the skate park, ate at a tight
little diner and acquired more organics for the road.

Of coarse Mike also found something to drop in on.

Back on the road.
La Fonda wears her sunglasses at night.

We pulled off the highway in the middle of the night
to get gas and totally found a dream spot!
Thirty minute session, no bust, we stopped
when we either got our tricks or got broke off.
I got broke...

Back on the road- Mike takes us through the night.

I-80 "Worlds Largest Truckstop"

Uncannily resembled a Walmart.

Mike with Optimus Prime.

Badass western gear.

$25 kitten t-shirt

La Fonda was very popular at the Worlds Largest Truckstop

At this point we were just longing miles.

We had stopped in Lincoln, Nebraska for an oil change
and to obtain organics to make it across Great American
Corn deserts. We stopped for a motel room at four
in the morning, got up for check out and back on the road...

The road tax was settling in.

Indiana immediately showed solidarity with us!
This glorious state had many small towns and cornfields
but was still pretty awesome. Russiaville!

After getting super pissed stuck in traffic in horrible
city of Lafayette, Indiana we finally made it to the Kokomo
skate park for some serious leg stretching. The weird
methed-out vibe and debris in the pipe made for a
short stop, but this park is seriously sick.

Cornfield antics.

Our last stop before making it to the motherland was
Pittsburgh. We didn't get to stop at the Polish Hill bowl,
but we did meet up with comrades Ellen and Ben
who were also on a glorious cross country adventure!

We got breaky at a regular spot with solid atmosphere,
crust punk patronage and hippy management.
Pretty rad.

Jerry Garcia dude was working hard, but took a second
for a photo with mike. Sick back piece!

The final push to get back to motherland!
Mike broke down and drank some rocket fuel.

GLORIOUS!

Kelly and La Fonda hit it off immediately.

We arrived! FDR is in tip top shape and we were
SOO stoked! There was also a rave!?

Stayed at Kelly's house. She woke us up all excited to hang.
I don't think she realized mike didn't have pajamas...

These my dogs!

South Phila

A trip to West Philly was definitely in order.
Coffee at the Green Line and Baltimore Ave lurking.

I brought my new Yellowstone souvenir.

Bathroom Graff.

West Philly is totally a mini PDX.

South Philly is South Philly.

Lurking with P.Jackson

Critiquing public art.

"Aye ahh... Can I git one wit wiz?"

The next day Mike and I parted ways, he was headed
to Jerz to see the fam and I was feeling out my next move.
(click on the photo for a closer view)

Ended up getting to hang with Brannon for a couple hours.
We hit up the new DIY street-ish park in North Philly.
Pretty sick.

Brannon advising the youth.

Pops park had an Afro Banks replica that is harder
to ride than the actual spot! Pretty fun..

I decided to head up to NYC and hang with Benny and Adam.

Hopped on the chinatown bus, jumped on the A,
transfer to the L and walked up to the street
as Benny was walking past the Lorimer St stop.
Pretty perfect. We got a beer...

Woke up at Bennys place and wandered Brooklyn.
Home will always be home; even if its not.

Spent the next couple of days walking and train
riding and walking and looking and
tasting and smelling.

And I guess taking photos of random stuff.
The city seemed dirty compared to last year
and it was kind of comforting...

I visited Benny at work. He had a turtle.
The school was really nice.

One day I met up with mike and we skated
midtown, got pizza by the Banks and
checked out the San Genaro festival
in Little Italy.

This tailslide could be from 2010, 2000, or 1995.
Awesome.

The last day in NYC I wanted to take some
Holga shots, but exposed the film trying to
load it. So Grand Army Plaza is a lot
less arty looking than it could have been...

Its weird that I don't have any photos of Salo
from the city. We hung hard, skated some
and as always it was rad to see him.

Also I didn't make it to Brooklyn Heights,
which I should have.

Back to Philly.

Brunch with Kelly and Phil... Straight to the airport.
(my last ride in the Monte)

Back home, I was immediately rushed to a Love Boat
costume party! I was pretty spacey but that may have been good.

Gotta love Chris- he thought the theme was nautical
and was wearing fisherman gear... Radical.

So that is it. A whirlwind two week excellent adventure.
Be excellent to each other... and PARTY ON DUDES!

Holga Madness

2010-10-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

This is the first five prints from a role of 120 film shot with a holga. No digital blending! Holy Crap!

Last of the Digi Photos

2010-08-08T11:14:00.001-07:00

Started off the summer with an awesome hike up
Saddle Mt. Definitely the best view I've seen in
a long time. From the top you can see Mounts
Hood, Adams, Jefferson, and St. Helens. Also,
there is a sweet view of the whole coast and
the Columbia emptying into the Pacific at Astoria.

Made a strawberry blueberry shortcake for Independence Day...

and went over to the Main st. cul-de-sac for BBQ/fireworks fun.

So psyched to see Dom walking again!!!

GUARANTEE JAMES IS BUMMED ON THIS ONE.
I LIKE!

There was a torch malfunction- Ellen to the rescue!

The evening got really fun once the fireworks
started going, but like a total tool I dropped
my camera breaking it. I like that the last
photo clearly shows that this was due to-
having drinks. I blew it!

Not to end on a bummer tip- On two occasions
this summer I have been lucky enough to
make it out to the Hood River Skatepark!
Sooo fun...

Also been working all the time at the pre-school/
daycare. Can't complain- three days a week
we go on trips and most of the time they are to
super sick natural areas! Best office ever!

This picture makes me feel like this job is meaningful.
Its awesome taking kids out into nature.

A bunch of NYC/Philly heads came through over
the past couple of months too, which was definitely
refreshing and a summer highlight I wish there were
photos of. Miss you guys!

Semesters Haps

2010-03-03T21:42:00.000-08:00

Yeah I made a mega cookie, what?!

Yea man, smash the state!

Ben: the forefront of 2010 skate fashion.

Tried to take an arty skate photo with Dom.

The idea was to capture an ollie with the reflection in the puddle.

We found the angle, but the sun was going down...

Oh man, difficult choice on the caption for this shot.
Definitely "Darkness on the Edge of Town" era...
Gonna go with- "Baby if you want to be wild
you got a lot to learn."

Went to see Do Make Say Think!

Peep the horn section in the balcony.
Awesome!!! The opening bands were all
members of the band playing solo/side project stuff.
The Happiness Project was the show stopper
band- music made to mimic the vocal harmonies
of people talking. The whole show was definitely sick!

So, in Urban History the Professor mentioned that
there is a cupola at the top of pioneer courthouse
here in Portland and that as students we could
ask the guards to let us up to check it out.
I was probably the only dork who actually did that.

Yup, this is a courthouse.

The cupola wasn't really that amazing.
It would be a sick room to rent? Still,
it was cool to explore another little nook
of the city.

On a good day there would be a sick view of Hood from
the cupola. It was actually pretty good the day I was up there,
the camera fully zoomed in doesn't do it justice.

This shot is from a different day- when the sun comes
out in February in OR it is an event.

Another warehouse. Dom has got a key and been
shredding as a key holder should. Not in on this, although
there is room to donate some rampage... hmmm?

Making a hip into the wall on the right would be sick.
Needs some bowl action, but the ramp is super fun!

This alley cat that lurks on the side of my house has the
soul of a true bad ass. "We got a problem here?"

This week the cherry trees bloomed. So sick!
Yeah, anyone complaining about winter in
Portland doesn't know whats up.

Surfin Dude!

2010-01-23T10:06:00.001-08:00

January 1st 2010, Decided to start the year off
proper and woke up for some dawn patrol on
the coast with Hoagie, Emily, and Mike.
This was my first surfing mission.

So.. yeah... surfing, that didn't end up going down.
We got about an hour and forty five minutes out of
Portland and funny smelling smoke began pouring
out of the engine of Hoagie's house car.
Luckily, we had a professional grease monkey on the
team. It looked like we were stranded in Albany, OR.

We stumbled across a reason to come back if we ever got
back on the road (It was also wet.)

Mike rules! He went into a car parts store speaking the
language and got a tip on how to rig the car by taking
a screw out or something and we were back on the road.
Actually, we drove across the street to the mall and
gave the car a break while we took photo booth pictures,
saw an Orange Julius, harassed the Zumiez staff, etc...
You don't want to see that. Pretty lame.

Tested the house car by rolling through the espresso spot.
Mike didn't think we should push it so we had to find a
way to salvage our mission.

Step one to saving the day: we were in Oregon, of course
there is a sick skatepark somewhere in town.

Our hopes of it drying off (so we could share the one
board we had with us) got shut down when
it started raining again. Mike didn't care.

Rain picking up. Going for it of course.

Pouring rain, on some Cardiel shit.
(zoom in on the photo and peep the rain drops)

Back in the car house on some back roads, taking it slow.
Hoagie played us some Phil Ochs 60's protest songs
and we watched the hills roll by.

Car cabin fever set in.
We needed to get RADICAL!

The other Oregon sure thing- NATURE.
These trees were swaying in the wind like grass.

Everyone was so stoked.
We hiked (read- walked on a path) to a gigantic
waterfall that was indescribably powerful due
to it being rain season in a rain forest.

Happy couple. Somebody get a frame!

Looking off the edge.
Crazy mist.

Organic sustainable board, brah.

Behind the falls the sound was insane and the spraying
water felt like getting caught in a downpour.

Amateur caving.

So sick.

Nature Boy...

Due to the enginge troubles the defogger was out.
Hoagie was so excited for the drive back!

He got us home Ace Ventura style. Thanks dude!
We went back to home base, made good food and watched
Last of the Mohicans to honor our waterfall.
Not to bad for a virgin surfing mission on new years day.

Fall Haps

2009-11-29T22:21:00.000-08:00

Been slacking on the blogage, school and living come first.
Here is a taste of the awesome stuff of the last couple months.

First off, lets observe mike demonstrating how to wild
out on Halloween.

First you shred Burnside in a thong and wig.

Then you kick it at a epic backyard party.

Peeps will probably be getting stoney.

If you find a hot tub and you are awesome...
you get in.

If you are mike you also dance.

Once you have blown up the party you book it
to the next spot to see a Ramones cover band.

Rock Rock Rockaway Beach!

So... that was Halloween. Of course it started raining a
bunch too, so we have found ourselves
skating indoors at dept.

Crew- James, Craig, Dom and Ben.

I get hyped after Halloween when all the
jack-o-lanterns start to get all deformed.
Looks super cool.

Oh man! This is like torture to walk through
on the way to school. Its not even done yet
and they have got a security guy just standing
in the middle of the plaza. What a waste.

Saw Built To Spill and they were rad. The new album is good.
Doug Marsh was wearing a home made George Clooney T.

Been doing a bunch of this too, but I am totally over it.

Thanksgiving! Spent the day with Mike Emily and crew cooking
and listening to david Cross. This is what a real tofurky looks like.

Lots of good food.

Good peeps too.

The other day went to the best skatepark
in Portland with Dom and James.
Somebody's been putting effort into it...

Toast is a lay back rocker.

Camp 09!

2009-11-28T11:28:00.001-08:00

No way! The last day at camp I lost my camera,
definitely did not expect to see any of these photos again.
Then a couple weeks ago I got a call from Sanch Bear
who had found it in between the seat in his truck. Then
Jason and shelby brought it back to PDX! So hyped.

Totum pole under construction

The Mega Mini

Unger busts a coal

Bad Jackson

Skatecamp fire department

"HEY EVERYBODY!"

Luciani creates a lip slide while Geniffer creates a mural

Is that Muska cutting boards with the kids?!

Will displays the final product

Ronnie doing work for the week video

Lake hike on Thursdays were rad for the kids
who got hurt.

One night my cabin had an epic shadow animal battle

Duckage

This is by far the best graphic I saw this summer

Whats up deer?

Lake launch!

The mission to get to camp with Ben was awesome too.
Chilled in Oakland, bombed through the city and
haggled with a sketch electronics dealer to by a
fisheye. Then barged up to camp and headed straight
to the mega mini.

Thanks Eric!

Your a dog!

2009-11-11T13:53:00.000-08:00

Last week I was skating in the schoolyard across the street
and all of a sudden this bulldog rode by. This dog was ripping!
The owner said he had not taught her, she is newly
adopted. She found his board and started riding around
by herself! Super awesome.

Bully skating from Matt Yula on Vimeo.

This is the first video I took with the new camera and it cam out with the weird border? I don't know... Isn't new stuff supposed to be improved?

Resurrection

2009-10-20T22:23:00.000-07:00

So, I had all this stuff from camp that would have been
awesome to post. Then I lost the camera on the last
day. Since being back everythings been pretty crazy
and I have not even thought about putting anything up, but
now have a camera and started playing with it this week.

Been working at the market on Sundays selling sick pasta.

Its nice hanging out at the market, everybody is super
happy and no matter how you feel (I have been pretty
destroyed from skating on Saturdays) it rubbs off
on you.

They took out a water fountain at school and put
in this thing! So weird. It definitely feels like
your in some sci-fi future.

Falls here. Most definitely the best season.

Been super busy with school (I should be doing
work right now). Getting my Bacillus on.

Crossing Hawthorne bridge is the best part of my bike commute.

That other bridge.

I now live 13 blocks of slight down hill to this place.
"Its the closest you can get without living in a cardboard box."

Probably going to have some skate stuff to put up after this
weekend. Midterms will be done and I don't work the market.
If I've been talking to you on the phone- thanks. Oh! And
sorry I have not mailed you your bag Mom. Its on my list.

Ancient History

2009-07-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

Found these cleaning out the basement.

Good times!

4th of July

2009-07-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

- at the culdesac.

Then we rode down to the river to see the big ones.

Then back to 25th and Main for more...

Check out how psyched Meredith is in this photo!

Sparklers.

The 'couv

2009-06-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday was awesome!

Robin, Mike, Sam, Dom, Ben and I

rolled up to Vancouver, WA right across

the river from Portland with a

map of skateparks. Skating is so rad

when your with a big crew!

The shots above are at one of

five or so "nieghborhood spots"

in the 'couv: parks with one obstacle

that are all pretty rad for what they are.

Go skateboarding (every)day

2009-06-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hit up spots with Sam M and Robin on Sunday in
honor of '09 staff training.

Sk8 camp alumni sess from Matt Yula on Vimeo.

Attracted a flock of groms who followed us for blocks.
Brushed up on the shutting kids down skills.
"Hey do you know where spots are?"
"It sounds like you really want us to tell you
where spots are."
"Yeah! will you?"
"No."

Son of Rambo

2009-06-12T13:01:00.001-07:00

Mike killing it! from Matt Yula on Vimeo.

Hood river

2009-05-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

Drove the hour or so to Hood River last week to skate
the new parts of the skater built park. Pretty awesome.

Hood River from Matt Yula on Vimeo.

Summers gone...

2009-05-15T23:44:00.001-07:00

Our sick spot only lasted a week or so. These guys came
through right after, stayed through a rainy week, then
left before mike found a left hand kidney pool two blocks
from his place! No joke, a legit backyard situation.
Come back!

Borderline retarded from Matt Yula on Vimeo.

Summer Spot

2009-04-20T15:33:00.001-07:00

Step one

Step two

Stoked

Now you see where this is going

Mike on the scene

Xander in there

Caxando applies special

sauce to the bottom lip

Looking good

Waiting

Mike starts to butter it

up while Dom gets some

nollie back lip

Oh shit, Im an ass. Craig? I think?

Dom gets down to bidness

on the hipage

Nice scenery

Mike KILLS IT!

Stoked

Oh yeah, this spot has a light switch

and is right next to Modest

Mouses house. You can skate

at night and get your own

private show when they

practice. Dream spot?

Yeah.

Like a babies bottom

Still not good enough for

mike though.

Done and exausted. Session Wednesday!

NYC day one

2009-04-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

Benny met us at the Chinatown bus.

We wandered our way to Brooklyn Hieghts.

Good way to start off the visit.

A New York second

2009-03-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

Adam, Meredith and I walked from Prospect Park to Union Square one of the days in NYC. Every so often Adam and I would see a spot and skate for a second while Meredith kept walking. Super girlfriend points.

New York second from Matt Yula on Vimeo.

Eggs Benedict

2009-02-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

"AAYYYE MAT-UU, Me an Hoagie are goin to the new

plaza." "Mike its dark?" "Its got lights dude!" "Nice!"

Not the crazy daytime california park kind, but lights

(maybe street lights are supposed to add to the faux-

street motif?) It was super awesome to skate the

park with relatively few peeps there its been so

crowded since it opened two weeks ago that its not

worth going; I'm talking shred for life crowded.

Yeah, not a stoker.

Heres some grainy bro cam night cruising clips.

Untitled from Matt Yula on Vimeo.

Same as it ever was...

2009-02-14T21:38:00.000-08:00

Fifteen to forty (Maybe longer?)

This could go down any day.

loading dock action from Matt Yula on Vimeo.

Hit up a loading dock spot with Ben and Dom a couple

weeks ago, I was having one of those days were it just

doesn't work. So I decided to photo geek it instead.

Got some clips and also got my urban fetish on.

Ska-hrma Bums

2009-01-29T20:48:00.000-08:00

Last summer I got to work up at the Element Ymca

skatecamp. They put together a polished skate video

every week to give the kids something to get hyped

on back home. This is my favorite of the weekly videos.

The steez skit throughout is super funny, towards the

end of the first camper skate section I got triples with a

couple campers and this is also the week that a runway

and kicker ramp gap was built over the fire! So epic.

Definitely takes meback to the time spent up in the woods.

You at least want to skip ahead to the fire jump session.

Pirate Town

2009-01-23T16:05:00.001-08:00

Hit up the renegade spot out by U of P last Saturday.

Ran into Bud who had a sweet motor bike.

People have really been going for it building wise.

There was a lot of new stuff.

Mike Frontside rock. The slightly over vert.

Its kind of funny that directly across the river

from the largest urban forest in the U.S.

people go out of their way to hang out in a

polluted wasteland.

Ben blunt fakie in the kink area.

We also stopped post burrito at Pier Park which

would have been more of a sesh pre burrito.

Mike got hit by a train (see video).

Pirate Town from Matt Yula on Vimeo.

San Fran

2009-01-19T22:12:00.001-08:00

Bomb hills not countries.

Sean Young is still on the top of my list.

Met up with Sam Z. from skatecamp.

Super fun. Thanks for the tour bro.

Last stop skating was a quick sesh at Ft. Miley.

Phil Shao...

After being in 'Merica for two weeks it was rad

to be in a coastal liberal oasis with arty stuff

all over the place.

Apparently, the OG. Philly steak is

actually in S.F.? Check the Trans America

building in the background for confirmation.

This mural reminded me of the kind of

stuff you would draw in your notebook

in junoir high. Awesome.

Roswell

2009-01-06T16:59:00.001-08:00

My inner junior high sci-fi geek was

super amped on stopping in NM to

see some UFO freaks. All those nights

watching Unsolved Mysteries had me

imagining cool stuff in this town.

Cool stuff there is, but you have to

get psyched on its cheeziness and

not really expect much going in.

Someone in town has a booming fake UFO

in the side of your business business.

Marketage

Photos from here down are inside the

"international" UFO museum. The

exibits ranged from (mostly) elementary

school science fair quality to Planet

Hollywood like movie prop steez.

The piece above was presented as

evidence that ancient cultures were

down with UFOs...

Apparently if you drive to Area 51

you see nothing but desert, they

had the photos to prove it.

McMinnville UFO siting

implantage

Kanis

2009-01-02T08:38:00.001-08:00

Little Rock is one of the few places lucky enough to

have a legit seventies era skatepark pool still

going. Every time we visit getting a session at

Kanis is on the top of my list. The fact that its very

similar to FDR in a lot of ways probably influences

how much I like this spot. Its got tight and awkward

trannys in addition to gnar poured deck coping

all the way around.

In recent years, locs have begun motivating

the expansion of the park on a slab right

next to the old bowl. Here we have the most

literal tomestone in skateboarding.

Future creature ad?

This thing is really hard to skate. Zit/nipple.

Super good tranny on the back wall, looks like the

begining of a bunker.

mine field. Peep the spinage.

On the other end of the park you have a sick tranny

to bank wall and a couple unforgiving j.b.'s.

Going through the corner was sketch,

only half assed an attempt.

PDX to Lil' Rock

2008-12-22T07:36:00.000-08:00

We were supposed to leave the day after finals ended, but the freak

weather trapped us in Portland for a couple more days.

Road conditions were "hella hecka gnar." I can also say that Oregon

is a total pile when it comes to cleaning up; apparently salt is bad

for the environment... hippys.

When we weren't distracted by driving on a sheet of ice

through mountain passes the scenery was nice.

Are we there yet?

Vegas baby! Still shitty baby!

So many cheesy jokes to choose from-

huddled masses, hard economic times...

Chilly presidents.

Wind powerage

Clear skies in southern Utah, real pretty.

Cabin fever once the weather broke led us to stop

and scream at the book cliffs as loud as we could.

Hole in the rock got mad ups on this cliff son!

Respec.

Are we there yet?

Pulled off to get gas and realized the highway ran parallel to

route 66. It was trife. The crucifix on this abandoned church

was made from two pieces of pipe screwed together.

Speaking of pipes...

Amarillo, TX is one of those places that was ingrained in

my head at a young age by Thrasher. No desert missle

silos or whatevs on this trip though; hopefully

eventually with a thick crew. Some groms at the 7 eleven

pointed us in the right direction and we found

what I think is a Grindline park (design wise & grippy crete).

SO SICK! That pipe is big.

It also funnels as you get towards the back.

PDX plazaage!

2008-11-08T23:06:00.001-08:00

The rain stopped just long enough for a nice Glenhaven session today; on the way home Ben and I stopped at the new street plaza park being built by newline skateparks out of Canadia.

The rain-drop ledge above was a submission for a skateable sculpture, appropriate for a city with 180 days of measurable rain a year, no? It looks super fun.

Here we have T ledge, railage, and peep the barcelona style ledge into bank in the background.

This looks half done, but its actually the finished crete, I think they are going to put some trees and marsh steez grasses to finish it off. I cant wait to early grab the shit out of those kickers!

Standard Plaza-age, looks like the hubbas gonna get a slab of granite. VERY NICE, I LIKE!

Woop-dee-hop ledge still under construction.

Manny padage

Ditchage

Granite 3 set ledge, "Oh Love Park- why did they kill you?..."

Scoping lines.

In true PDX style the street plaza has some sick tranny too.

One of the cool things about the rain is seeing this once or twice a week. Dude on dude on double rainbow anyone?

Back to school...

2008-11-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

Over the past month I have found my Clark Park/West Philly replacement in Portland. PSU's campus is in the middle of downtown on the park blocks which has a similar setting (urban yet lush); there are also definitely enough smelly hippys, fresh out of H.S. college kids and of course anarchists to make me feel right at home.

Contrary to popular belief P-town has seasons, here is fall.

Bike parking is pretty rough, but thats kind of awesome.

Paine park dudes: peep the use of died concrete in this plaza, each color even has its own size of square giving the ground a different texture. Pretty dope example of a cost effective way to create a classy aesthetic.

Green roofage.

Caught Merdith w/ helmet on. She thinks it looks rediculous, I think its cute.

Free spirit maan...

Campus is lush son!

Dont let these signs fool you.

That arrow points to this plaza and I have been booted many times. Its fun to argue with the security- "Dude look at the sign! WTF!"

Second purpose of this post is to show the cruiser board crew these rad spots that are all over campus. The bricks are super loud and ground is slow on a regs board, but on that rain board you are super stoked! Below is the typical kicker, these things are all over school.

More kicker action

Horners dream spot. There is one with recyled plastic for grindage.

Low to not so high recycled plastic action.

It is a bummer that plaza design seems to include skate stoppers these days, but they don't see everything we do. How about ollie the five to grind on the lower ledge or (if you got pop) ollie over the block down the big three...

Gap to down ramp. Really surprised not to have seen this spot in mags.

The first time Mike and I visited P-town in '97 I tried to drop in on this monster while holding a ghetto blaster- prob playing Teengenerate. One of the worst slams I ever took; the ghetto blaster didn't survive R.I.P. Ten years later and I have a class in the building, really wierd.

Fall colors are super epic.

New Indys

2008-10-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

Went skating with Mike on Sunday, he had some technical difficulties.

Swivle from Matt Yula on Vimeo

WAX

2008-10-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

In the last couple of years there has been an explosion of renegade crete spots in skating. Aside from banks and quarters being real fun to skate, there is definite feeling of "making it happen" which makes those kind of projects super fun. While its so awesome that people are making it happen we can't forget the power of wax. The effort involved in turning a rough ledge into a buttery grind is pretty minimal and fun. With the number of heads devoted to skating right now, if each of us has one that is our baby, there will be spots on every block. Look around and recognize the potential.

Last days of summer

2008-10-15T22:16:00.000-07:00

We went down the... I mean - out to the coast

a couple weekends ago. Merle killed it!

I found a nasty one from the day before.

castlage

Meredith shot an ad for Krew

Oregon coast views = Sooo sick

Been busy with school, but have been trying to get clips everytime I go skate.

Fall '08 bro-video in the works!

A good barrier spot never gets old

2008-09-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

This place has my vote for best new skatepark in Portland

A couple of still shots - isn't the delay on digital cameras SO annoying?

Miguel: ollie and bsts

Got some shots

Required arty shot for closer.

Harvest

2008-09-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

We went out to Hood River last week in search of apples, kind of the best snack on earth.

After getting shut down at a couple places we finally found

an orchard that would let us pick our own.

They had tons of cool old style tools. Above are some cider making presses,

below a scale- duh.

The real treat was all the crazy decor at this place.

The highlight being this sick arrangement

featuring a painting of Ray Charles.

The woman running the orchard got super bummed on me

for taking a photo of it. For the rest of our time picking

she was known as the apple Nazi:

"NO FRUIT FOR YOOU!"

It turned out the woman was the artist.

I thought maybe she was self conscious, but really

she thought I was going to pass the work off as my own. She made

sure to point out to us that the work was signed.

Meredith- soo excited! That girl belongs on a farm.

Our bounty. Oh yeah, pears as well as apples.

We stopped at the skatepark on the way back through Hood River just

long enough for me to eat crap rolling, then

rode off into the sunset.

WA bro cam

2008-09-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

Rendevous

2008-09-03T09:28:00.000-07:00

Mikes new ride.

Met up with dudes at Bainbridge Island, some water cleanup and the sess was on.

Bainbridge has rad graffiti!

Next stop was a newish Grindline park in Port Angeles, WA. The park

is a maze of 5ft to 10ft bowls all conected by do-able transfers,

straight wall spines and curved spines. There were also some street

obsticles along the edges. Here, Pool Boy frontrocks a 4ft wall with 2ft trannys.

Chris P crunchs the same wall

Next was Forks, WA; we camped there at a locals property. Bro time, making fire, tent city, morning bike rides to the nearest bathroom. The park was the best we hit, didn't get digi shots, but will post some video soon.

Bagby hot springs

2008-08-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

We made it out to those hot springs yesterday, definitely awesome.

The drive out should have been about one hour fifteen mintues, but we got lost... a couple times. Once at the trailhead there is a 1 1/2 mile hike to the hot springs.

Fourtunately, the hike out to the spot is an amaizing walk though beautiful old growth forest.

I say walk, because the trail is actually a well maintained level path.

The contrast between the walkway and its suroundings is drastic; there was not even a stick on the path, but the rest of the terain was covered with downed trees and lush ground cover.

Further along, you cross a couple of wood bridges.

In addition to hot springs, there are also some swimming spots along the trail.

This was our favorite nook. Big-footprint?

The hike is over as you come upon hot springs which are diverted into hollowed out branches acting as plumbing for the bathhouses.

In addition to the giant downed trees, the camp includes two bathhouses. One with private one tub rooms and the other with a row of tubs in one big room. We chose the private room on account of all the naked hippies. SCARY. There is also a large group tub back in the woods. VERY SCARY.

Rustic plumbing. The stick on the bottom left is the plug.

The last picture says it all. The drive had worn me out and the hike, while amaizing, was still a mile and a half. Laying back in the hot water and looking up at the tree canopy (the bathhouses are leen-tos) was so good. Did I mention the tubs are hollowed out trees?

Dudes '08

2008-08-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, here is the stuff I got last week. Bro-cam did not come out enough, but Phil saved it.

Adam: Your boardslide was not on the cam. oops.

When it rains...

2008-06-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

You end up skating ramps like this.

Standard portland size garage makes for micro action.

Saturday Barge

2008-05-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

Left early, Mike and his safe driving practices.

Thunder road.

First stop Donald, where some epic shredding went down.

Thanks to these guys.

Next stop Eugene for some street action. Oh snap!

Apparently, this is skatable?

We also went to Florence and Toledo, in addition to two less awesome parks.

Google picks of the parks.

Gleaming the cube

2008-05-18T23:21:00.001-07:00

We checked out some rad industrial wasteland.

That had some sick renegade crete!

Newberg evening sess

2008-05-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

Mike, Emily and I went out to Newberg last night. The sun was going

down, the moon coming out.

Dropped another drop. This is the make,

first try.

I got jocked by a tough guy, but FTG- we know how to have a good time.