Wages Of Sin
This is a photo from the Modern park, taken a couple weeks ago by Jeff Tabb.

Every couple sessions there is that kid that is there for the first time and going back and forth across the park, perpindicular to the flow. Everyone swerves and brakes to avoid him and ultimately, someone takes him out. On this night it was me. I felt really bad. The kid was shaken up and it just bummed me out. I even went and talked to his mom. Thanks Jeff, for reminding me of how awesome the incident was.
This photo was taken by the legendary Chris Hallman at Chenga one a few years ago. It makes me feel better about myself to post this...

This is a photo of me and the guy that pretty much invented BMX, Scot Breithaupt. He has fallen on hard times and I wish him the best.

Here's a couple shots of my old ass bikes:

and another one of my old school heroes, Greg Grubbs...

• Sean Rakos started tattooing himself at the age of 11. It's kind of a long story that involves Sony Walkmans, his sister's guitar and older kids who are a bad influence. To celebrate a life-time of tattoos (and Friday the 13th), Sean will be tattooing the #13 on anyone who wants one for 13 bucks!! Email Sean if you need any info.
seanrakos@sbcglobal.net The shop where Sean works is called N2SKIN
and it's in Farmington Hills on the east side of 12 mile off of
orchard lake from 696. Shitty tattoos are funny (let me tell you)...

Out in New York, FOD Kelly Baker has been going back to the Future on a bike from 1985.

Kelly rules it.

falling up
Now Playing: Elton John Spirit In the Sky
1300 miles in three days. Hammer down. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is magically beautiful this time of year and at the same time, mostly devoid of activity. The towns are few and far between and the roads are mellow. It would have been great had I not been sick (and getting sicker). I've been laid out all weekend and it sucks because it was beautiful here as well. The last time I rode was Tuesday morning for a bit at the outdoor park in Gaylord. It's a fun park and was a nice mid-drive break. I took Brodie with me again and though she didn't poop at the skatepark, she almost pooped in one of the shops I was at. I couldn't believe it--this dog has never once pooped in the house. I think she was confused. It was a close one. Here she is on the beach, looking pretty stoked.

I wish I had something more to report but I haven't spoken to anyone or done anything after my being on the road last week and being asleep most of the weekend. Here's me, ruining what could have otherwise been a postcard:

Brodie took that shot. If you ever find yourself complaining about a lack of spots or that your skatepark sucks, don't move to Norway, Michigan...

test pattern
new tees!

The Test Pattern tees came out real well. I know the "all over" print is the trendy right now, but I don't give no fucks. My printer wanted to kick my ass as I stood over his shoulder with "suggestions", but I don't care because they came out awesome.
We had a Cobras Local 77 reunion last night at TRP with Solan, Phil Rase, Sean Rakos and a few others. Sparks showed up later on, which is always a treat.

That's Sparks in the background and Sean looking intimidating in the front. Yeah dogs.

FOD Feature: Kelly Baker
Now Playing: 2 Live Crew Face Down, Ass Up
Here's the next installment of FOD spotlight, straight from the keyboard and mind of Newark Valley, New York's Kelly Baker:

My bike is a FBM pw moto with mostly FBM and profile parts. a couple
different things about it are a sealed suzue front hub on a old araya rim
that is painted bright orange. Marvin guts that I have had for like 7 years
(he asked for like 3 dollars for them to cover materials). A mirra seat
which is something different nowadays (soon to be a FBM seat). Always a
comp 3 on the front. Thats about it for the whip, nothing too special.
As for riding stories, It seems like I have a endless supply. Meeting
new people going new places, going to your favorite places with your
favorite people and so on. I want to tell about yesterday 9-27-06. We have
had a ton of rain this summer so trail sessions haven't been enough.
Yesterday was a beautiful day outside. I was at work and my wife (laura)
called and said "honey it is a nice day out I bet the trails are dry . You
should ride." So instantly I started emailing and calling my buds that I
knew were around and that would probably be down for riding. Some said they
had stuff to do so I laid the old "hey it is close to the end of the
season. It may be our last session". My brother, Kim and tomcat came with
me and about 5 others met us up at the acres. We raked all the leaves and
rocks off the trails. This time of year is great because it isn't too hot,
the leaves act like little tarps and keep the perfect moisture in the
trails. The trails were perfect smooth and after a bit they got blue
grooves. Everyone there gives everyone props when riding. We lit the piles
of leaves on fire (I love the smell of the burning leaves).We had the tunes
cranking. All the lines were going and we rode untill we could see anymore
(because it was dark). The special thing about this story is the simple
beauty of the session. Just riding awsome trails with awsome friends and
having a awsome time doing it. That is one of my favorite things about
riding, nothing has to be too fancy to have the best time riding. Sessions
like last night will keep me riding my bike forever.
Some things I like are my family (love), my friends, our home, BMX,
MX, Benny Baker is my favorite rider (my 5 year old son who rips), going
camping, playing with my children, waking up thinking I'm late for work and
realizing its saturday and I don't have work,old BMX bikes, and I guess
just plain old realizing how good my life really is.
Some of the things I dislike are getting flat tires, breaking
chains, rained out sessions, being arrested, paying fines, going to jail,
riding with dudes that talk about themselves and the tricks they are doing
constantly, making my wife upset, seeing any of my family sad, pork brains
and milk gravy, stepping in dog shit at the trails, crashing hard,
skateparks closing forever, and throttle grip. I'm sure there are more but
that is some that comes to mind now.
Things that scare me are anything bad happening to my family, nose
casing big landings,hurting my back, drowning in flooded rivers, almost
being kidnapped when I was a kid, snakes,heights, and zipping my dick up in
my zipper. Not being able to ride BMX scares me because I seriously don't
know what I would do with myself to take its place.I have been riding for
2/3's of my life, I'm 40. It is without a doubt part of who and what I am.
Kelly

it could be worse
Now Playing: Built To Spill The Plan
If you're ever feeling oppressed for being a lowly bike rider, just know that it could always be worse. Built to Spill is playing tonight in Detroit and Hatfield and his crew went to see them. I really dig this band and would have loved to have seen them play, but I just couldn't. I wanted to see my family tonight and I have work stuff early in the AM. I did ride Modern for an hour and it was fun. I also rode the new public park in Holt, Michigan this morning for a bit. This may be the most dangerous park I've ever been to. Don't get me wrong, it is a good park and it was fun with lots of obstacles, big boxes, subs, weird rails and nice quarters. Some of the layout was kind of funky. For example, it was hard to get speed for the boxes. The sketchy parts were all the sharp metal edges and super narrow ramps and a full staircase off the deck of the mini and man, a bunch of stuff. I can't imagine how many little beginner kids have been hurt at the place by rolling off the side of ramps or falling off the decks or cutting themselves on the edges of the boxes. They are the same pre-fab ramps as the Wyandotte park, but at least there the design of the park makes more sense. I had a good time riding it and if it were closer I would ride it all the time, it's real good, just super sketchy. I know there were some photos of it on Veteran BMX but I couldn't find them just now. I need some pix. Anyone reading this, feel free to send photos over....

The Man Bags are finally in production...

Possessed to Skate
Now Playing: Suicidal Tendencies
In 1984, when MTV was only a couple years old, someone told me that they had seen a video for Suicidal Tendencies' "Possessed to Skate". I remember watching MTV for like two days straight at a friends house (we couldn't get cable where I lived--not, "we didn't have it", we couldn't get it) hoping to see this video. Instead, Tina Turner, INXS, Big Country, Madonna and Men At Work were in heavy rotation. I never got to see that stupid video, until now. God bless the internet.

Where to next?

So, this picture has more to it than my stupid ass look on my face, it says a lot about my life and where its going. For what you might not see, there is a hand on the wheel, and a window, with an empty road ahead. My hand on the wheel, ill even steal this quote from a movie, the movie being "Hustle and Flow"(which is actually good.) The quote comes from a scene where the hustler/pimp tells his hoe to put her hand on the wheel, and say, "we're in control." Now why i say this is, because, i am finally starting to feel like i am in complete control with my life. I choose when i wake, sleep, drink, eat, ride, etc. I am at the wheel of my life. For the window, it gives me a clear view on the world, and whats out there and what is worthy and so on and so forth. Sometimes, the window isn't so clear, and making decisions become difficult and unruling. Every choice leads to a action and reaction, just make sure you're window is clear for taking on what is happening. And for the open road, what more is there to say? Theres an open road in front of all of us, we all choose which lanes and which exits to make, which makes our lives, unique. It's our choice, on whats roads we take, and which ones we've taken. My roads have led to many places, and have all taught me different things about every walk of life. I may only be 18, and i may have a lot of road left, but i feel like i have seen things, and taken part in things and so on and so forth. So to bring me to my point, Scott and i spend a lot of hours behind the wheel, and its a very good source of knowledge and education. As well as fustration and annoynce. I've become so acustom to driving a lot, that 300 miles feels longer than my 5 mile drive to Primos Pizza(if you've never had it, its on 7 mile and farmington, its dialed.) Driving and traveling has become a part of my life, i feel like im neglecting myself if i dont travel somewhere far for a few weeks, and feel like im wasting time. I usually make up things to do, places to be, and people to see. My car, my bike, and my ipod have been quickly becoming another arm, leg and brain.

Well shit, im sorry for rambling on about my life, but, ill let you in on whats been going on in my life lately. I've been working with my brothers(Wild Brothers Lawncare Service) which hasnt been too bad, but tough on my shoulder. I painted my bike brown(Small Brown Bike, haha, get it? my favorite band, my small bike, mixed, hell yeah) and i MCed the RiverBends safety day with bikes, skateboards and rollerblades. And Sunday, the Albe's bus made a trip to Oregon, Ohio for a ramp jam in Nathan Powell's back yard, which was rad. Look for photos on bmx.cc and Albe's. So yeah, this is my latest on life. Ohh, and, if you've seen Mat Spark's bike, im sure he'd like to have it back, thanks!

-Dane Wild.

too legit to quit
Now Playing: minutemen the cheerleader
We're coming up on four years of the Deliverance Clothing Co., which is pretty remarkable considering everything that has gone down since the inception of this project. I've come real close to shutting things down a couple times. It just seemed like it wasn't worth the hassle. This "company" started as kind of an art project for me. I never intended for it to grow to be anything very big, I just wanted it to support itself. It has, kind of, but really it has served its purpose for me, personally. I like designing stuff, whether it's borrowing (stealing?) the logo from an obscure malt liquor or coming up with something late at night after drinking malt liquor, I get a kick out of this gig. Unfortunately, I also have a very full time job and a family and I like to actually ride my bike and skateboard when I can schedule it in. Believe me when I say that any time on my bike is scheduled into that day. I know, to read this blog it seems like I just cruise around and go to skateparks, but the reality is that I am on the road, working and if I'm lucky, I get to ride at the end of the day or maybe in the morning for a bit. The last trip took me all the way down to the bottom of Ohio and you can read all about that in the post below if you wish. I got to ride Athens the next morning after that last post and it was awesome. I got there and only one dude was skating. I was skating the park and let Brodie, pictured below, run around while I did so. She's a really well behaved dog and my only concern was that she would hurt herself trying to run up and down the walls of the park. Brodie had knee surgery for a blown MCL a couple years ago so we have to keep her under control. So I'm skating around, loosening up before switching to my bike and Brodie's having a great old time. Then, I see her from the corner of my eye, kind of frozen in the middle of the park. "Oh crap, she's hurt" was my first thought. No, she was actually taking a giant-sized poop right square in the middle of the park. I couldn't believe it. I cleaned up like nothing happened and tied her up, where she chilled while I rode my bike. Athens always makes me feel like kind of a wimp, but I had a great time regardless and I pulled a couple things I hadn't done before.
Getting back to Deliverance. I think I have this mental thing that keeps me from going all out with it. Like I so badly don't want it to fail that I only put half effort into it or something. They say admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. I don't know who "they" are though and I've never been a very good listener. Part of what seems like a half-assed effort is that my printer also has a real job besides printing shirts so he takes kind of a long time as well.
That being said, tomorrow (Monday) marks a new beginning for Deliverance Clothing. Both Dan's Comp and Last Call Distribution (finally!) will have new product on hand and hopefully in the coming weeks I'll have news regarding even more distribution. There is a new catalog in the works as well. Here's a peek at the new button packs...

Also, make sure you check this out, as well as this.