"Heima"

Sigur Rós' Icelandic tour documentary.

Interview: Andreas Trolf, Transworld Skateboarding

Andreas Trolf lives a pretty cool life. I mean, the guy makes a living traveling the world and doing what he loves most—writing, reading and skateboarding. The 30-year-old Transworld Skateboarding music editor was kind enough to spend a few minutes of his busy day, sharing insight about everything from life as a freelance writer, to friends in the business to the literary East Coast versus West Coast. Trolf was born and raised in New York, obtained an English Literature degree from New York University and has contributed to publications such as Transworld Skateboarding, ESPN Magazine, Thrasher, Fecalface.com and SLAP. With the help of large amounts of coffee consumed during our conversation, Trolf had plenty of wisdom to offer.

David McClymonds: In the magazine world, do you believe that it helps to have friends?

Andreas Trolf: When there is a choice of hiring somebody talented or somebody that an editor is familiar with, if the person is reasonably competent, the job will go to the friend. It's not to say that it's all sort of nepotism in contact; there is a fair amount of talent involved, but getting any type of real job is constituent on what you've done in the past. Having clippings, having bylines—that's invaluable. But a foot in the door is the most important thing. Say you're sending out clippings or resumes, you don't have a way to distinguish yourself from the slush-pile. You're in the same boat as everybody else that really wants to get their foot in the door. If an editor or anyone on staff can recommend you and say that you're a writer that will deliver something, you're someone to be counted on, that's way more valuable than a degree in journalism.

DM: Would you recommend spending time in New York to make contacts, friends?

AT: The industry is there and the experience will be there. That's where people go to cut their teeth. That's where people make their names and their careers. You'll never have a shortage of something to write about. But then again, you won't ever have a shortage of something to write about here, you just won't have as much opportunity.

DM: Do you think as far as skateboard writing goes, there is as much opportunity in New York as here in California?

AT: There's no skateboard media located in New York, but there is generous New York coverage in all the magazines. There's tons of local photographers. As far as skateboarding media goes, a lot of times photographers will write the pieces as well. That's a way for the magazines to save money and not have to pay writers. To be 100 percent honest, based on people I know in the skateboarding industry, there are a dozen people making their living writing that aren't editors. People that make their living in skateboarding specifically from writing number very few. So if you want to go into skateboard journalism, get a camera, learn how to shoot it. You stand a much better chance if you're offering an editor images and words than you do if you're just offering words. That's just the nature of skateboard journalism. How do you write about something that is visual? It's much more difficult.

DM: You went to school in New York; do you feel like when you came to San Francisco you were prepared, as a writer?

AT: I actually had written for SLAP years ago, before I finished school. And that is, like we talked about earlier, based upon knowing people. Having an interest in writing, being blunt about it and saying, hey I can do this, I'd like to. Why don't you let me give you an article? A lot of it was based on sending out clips or being referred to a magazine by someone. But when I came back out here I had a staff position already and had a bunch of regular freelance jobs.

DM: Do you often get job referrals?

AT: Generally, people loathe to give up paying jobs. Referrals generally happen when an editor has seen your work somewhere else. I don't want to characterize anyone as being overly attached to their own income, but you really need to chase down jobs and chase down paychecks a lot of the time. The difference between having the rent payed on time is not screwing someone out of the job, but not passing along a job, either. As with anything, when you have a large amount of people vying for a limited number of spots, there is competing. It, by its very nature, is competitive.

DM: How much did an English degree prepare you for writing non-fiction?

AT: I don't know. The one thing that I really took away from going to school for English is that you need to read all the time. If you don't have time to read, you shouldn't have time to write. You can't write about skateboarding unless you're a skateboarder. What school does ultimately, is put you in an atmosphere with like-minded people that is conducive for you to learn. If anything, the experience of just being in that atmosphere, reading anything that I could get my hands on benefited in so many ways. I'd say that going to school just gives yourself more of an opportunity to concentrate on something.

DM: The way I see it, school teaches discipline more than anything... Showing up to school on time all semester—a lot of people can't do that.

AT: Right. Just don't fool yourself into thinking there is this end in sight. If you're not a more astute observer of life at the end of each day than you were at the beginning, you're not learning. Seriously, you need discipline and determination for anything. You've got to constantly be better than you are.

John Law

San Francisco City and County law

a) Prohibits skateboarding on any city street at any time, on any sidewalk in any business district at any time, and on any non-business district sidewalk commencing 30 minutes after sunset and ending 30 minutes before sunrise (Traffic Code, Section 100)

b) Prohibits skateboarding "in or about any public transit station (including an outdoor high-level boarding platform), streetcar, cable car, motor coach, trolley coach or other public transit vehicle, including, but not limited to, those stations or vehicles operated by the Bay Area Rapid Transit District" (Traffic Code, Section 128)

c) Prohibits skateboarding in Yerba Buena Gardens, the Japanese Tea Garden, the Arboretum, Conservatory Valley, where it is posted as prohibited, and in South Beach Park or Rincon Park unless otherwise permitted (Park Code Sections 3.05 and 11.02 and Port Code Sections 2.4 and 7.2).

d) Requires skateboarders at skating facilities owned or operated by the City and County to wear helmets, kneepads, and elbow pads (Park Code Section 4.17).

756

We learned about the Giants game as we strolled past a standard sports bar in North Beach, on our way downtown. Lynn and I were halfway through our Epic Walk, on our way to hang out with The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. I guess parrots don't like Gold Fish, and apparently it's now a crime to feed birds in the City (not that we're scared of park rangers), so we decided to go try our luck at catching a possible record-breaking home run. Neither of us ended up catching The Ball (I'd be on my way to Italy by now), but now I can someday tell my grandchildren, "I was there." Yeah, I was there when Barry Bonds hit home run number 756 beating Hank Aaron's 33-year record, beating the record with the help of steroids.

I was excited to be a part of the historical moment, but not nearly excited as some people.

Yeah, I saw Cyndi Lauper two nights ago in Berkeley...
Debbie Harry also played. They're both getting fucking old!

Paris, Je T'aime

"Paris, Je T'aime" is a collection of short films based on love in the city of love itself, Paris. Directors include the Coen brothers, Wes Craven, Gus Van Sant, and Alexander Payne and appearances are made by Steve Buscemi, Willem Dafoe, Nick Nolte, Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, among others.

Trailer (U.S. Version)

A couple of the shorts that I enjoyed:


"Place des Fêtes" directed by Oliver Schmitz



"Faubourg Saint-Denis" directed by Tom Tykwer

Sigur Rós, "Glósóli"

Nú vaknar þú
allt virðist vera breytt
ég gægist út
en er svo ekki neitt

úr-skóna finn svo
á náttfötum hún
í draumi fann svo
ég hékk á koðnun?

með sólinni er hún
og er hún, inni hér

en hvar ert þú....

legg upp í göngu
og tölti götuna
sé ekk(ert) út
og nota stjörnurnar
sit(ur) endalaust hún
og klifrar svo út.

Glósóli-leg hún
komdu út

mig vaknar draum-haf
mitt hjartað, slá
úfið hár.

Sturlun við fjar-óð
sem skyldu-skrá.

og hér ert þú

fannst mér.....

og hér ert þú

Glósóli.....

Daft Punk: Around the World

"Hurt"

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything

What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
You could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here

What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end

You could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way

And now for the news

Bjork's entire Coachella set can been seen at Google Video.

Esquire offers tips on how to make the perfect mix tape.

Rolling Stone lists the 25 best ever road trip songs.

The New York Sun examines the Jesus and Mary Chain reunion.

The New York Times examines the music of ice cream trucks.

A New Jersey woman gives birth to twins at the age of 60, making her the oldest woman to give birth to twins in the United States.

Quentin Tarantino takes his newest film to the Cannes Film Festival.

Björk at Shoreline Amphitheater, May 19th in Mountain View, California. I was one of 25,000.
Check out the "All is Full of Love" video, directed by Chris Cunningham, 1999.

One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)

Your breath is sweet Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky. Your back is straight, your hair is smooth On the pillow where you lie. But I don't sense affection No gratitude or love Your loyalty is not to me But to the stars above. One more cup of coffee for the road, One more cup of coffee 'fore I go To the valley below. Your daddy he's an outlaw And a wanderer by trade He'll teach you how to pick and choose And how to throw the blade. He oversees his kingdom So no stranger does intrude His voice it trembles as he calls out For another plate of food. One more cup of coffee for the road, One more cup of coffee 'fore I go To the valley below. Your sister sees the future Like your mama and yourself. You've never learned to read or write There's no books upon your shelf. And your pleasure knows no limits Your voice is like a meadowlark But your heart is like an ocean Mysterious and dark. One more cup of coffee for the road, One more cup of coffee 'fore I go To the valley below. Bob Dylan, 1975

THE GARDEN

En robe de parade.
Samain

Like a skien of loose silk blown against a wall
She walks by the railing of a path in Kensington Gardens,
And she is dying piece-meal
of a sort of emotional anaemia.

And round about there is a rabble
Of the filthy, sturdy, unkillable infants of the very poor.
They shall inherit the earth.

In her is the end of breeding.
Her boredom is exquisite and excessive.
She would like some one to speak to her,
And is almost afraid that I
will commit that indiscretion.

Ezra Pound

"The City of New Orleans"

by Steve Goodman

Riding on the City of New Orleans,
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
All along the southbound odyssey
The train pulls out at Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.
Passin' trains that have no names,
Freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.

CHORUS:
Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

Dealin' card games with the old men in the club car.
Penny a point ain't no one keepin' score.
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Feel the wheels rumblin' 'neath the floor.
And the sons of pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel.
Mothers with their babes asleep,
Are rockin' to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.

CHORUS

Nighttime on The City of New Orleans,
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.
Half way home, we'll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness
Rolling down to the sea.
And all the towns and people seem
To fade into a bad dream
And the steel rails still ain't heard the news.
The conductor sings his song again,
The passengers will please refrain
This train's got the disappearing railroad blues.

Good night, America, how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

Dinosaur Jr.

Last night I saw Dinosaur Jr. rock out at Amoeba Records on Haight. They are fucking awesome, and to say that they rocked is a slight understatement. They're the definition of three-piece destruction! Check out their new album, Beyond which is their first studio album since their reunion, ten years after their last studio album. Check out Mascus' signature purple and silver Nikes. Yeah, the man's got style.