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on the road again...
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Location: Blogs Mat's Journal |
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| Posted by: mat |
Thursday, July 19, 2007 4:12 AM |
Bonnorroo Music Festival, Spin.com, Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips, Jerry Garcia, Tool, Police, Ben Harper, Ziggy Marley, who stole John Paul Jones base?, I’m a chauffer now??, Props Rock Fools, Lucero, Thunder Lip. I become a tattoo ‘artist’, ginny pigs include: Leland, Crandall, Catfish and the Base player for Lucero (Brian). He was my first :) , back to Austin, paragliding in San Diego, flying with Voelker, maga ramping, hanging with Bob Burnquist, dreaming big and going big… body is holding up - so far so good!
The week after I got home I got a call from my friends at Target to see if I wanted to go to the Bonnorroo Music Festival in Manchester TN to do interviews for Spin.com with the Bands. It didn’t take long to answer, YES! I asked them if I could bring my friends I play music with to be my information backup and they hooked us up!! It was an amazing experience, very Euro style festival, and everyone got along! In the past this style never worked in the USA for one reason or another. I think excessive beer guzzling and aggressive shit kickers who are there to flex instead of harmonize had a lot to do with it. I talked with Wayne from the Flaming Lips, who was a good start since we live in the same city and have known each other for a while. I got to talk and hang with RX Bandits, Gogol Bardello (Eugene), Jerry Garcia, Haale… The shows I got to see were, Tool, Police, Ben Harper, Ziggy Marley, and the Flaming Lips. Wayne said before on stage that he heard that Mat Hoffman said Sting stole John Paul Jones base from Zeppelin. That was a pretty unexpected honor of some sort. Thanks Wayne, but, uh, I don’t know who stole it.
Next my niece, Blair, is getting married. Some random old trivia: when I pulled my first 900 in ’89 I broke my hand the week before trying bike varial airs. Blair was the only person who signed the cast I had molded to my handlebars, so I could ride the 2 Hip in Calgary Canada. I pulled the first 9. Blair was 8 years old at the time. Now I’m designated as her chauffer!! So I rent an old school chauffeurs costume and cleaned up my 72’ Fleetwood limo made, a mixed tape (Frank Sinatra: Married with Children into Down by Law: 500 miles….) It was a good day, and I think I may have added a new service I can offer when I use my body up.
The next thing coming is the Props Rock Fools. I still haven’t been able to ride and get my mind and body back in the groove, but I guess there’s no better time then to jump on a bus with 15 of the current BMX glory rippers and try to shake the cob webs from my joints….
This tour was amazing. We did shows with the band Lucero and Thunder Lip. It brought back those old early 80’s intimate punk shows that changed my life. No boundaries between the audience and the bands had a passionate following who would cry the lyrics. It was one great show after another. I hung out bouncing of the mosh pit with Leland and Crandall. It was a great time. I’m convinced that Crandall is the magical ingredient that glues all of us misfits together. Yeah Crandall.
Lucero. Rocks my lame ASS.
The day I was to leave the tour I got the oddest request that I never fathomed I would have to consider. Catfish had a tattoo gun. He happened to buy it off a Japanese mail order shop. The bass player for Lucero, Brian, asked me if I would give him a tattoo. I responded. “I’ve never tattooed anyone". But that didn’t seem to matter at all. We opened my tattoo parlor out of a motel 6 somewhere in Ohio. After I finished Brian, Crandall was in. Business was booming! After Crandall shitluck Leland was in! I tottooed Leland on his ASS... then Catfish… crazy days. I was giving the opportunity to permanently mark 4 of my friends with prison style tattoos. I love it when the abnormality of my life is perfectly normal…. ha ha ha…
I got through the tour. Kept it pretty mellow and kept my body in tacked. The next weekend I took a drive down to Austin with the family for Chris Morland’s, family wedding. Got to stop by Empire and ride their new mini ramp and had lunch with some good friends which consisted of Taj, Joe Rich, Sandy Carson… After the Lunch we went to the wedding, which was a beautiful ceremony looking over Lake Travis. Danced with the kids to well into the night. The next morning I had to fly home to grab my bike, get an evening session (where I did this to my leg) and then jetted out to San Diego the next day. My family went on to Sea World in San Antonio.
On the flight home I checked what the weather was looking like at the Torrey Pines Gliderport . It was forecast to be able to soar above blacks beach all day. So I packed up my paraglide equipment and flew to SD for a day of flying around the amazing cliffs over looking the ocean and city of la Jolla and to host a practice session at Bob Burnquists for the riders we are inviting to ride the Big Air ramp at X Games 13. Paragliding session was amazing and I invited Dave ‘the Lord’ Voelker out and got him a tandem. He was psyched.
The next day we went to Bob’s to ride his crazy set up. I few that want to ride the Big Air comp at the XG haven’t ridding a big ramp like that, so I wanted to offer an opportunity for everyone to get their feet wet in a more relaxed environment before it’s Showtime. Thanks to bob for letting us invade his house for a couple day.
I got there and before I could think twice I was on the top of the roll in working the focus and courage it takes for the first drop. My main concern is I had no brakes, so it’s all or nothing. I dropped in, held on, flew over the 50’ gap then vertically off BobB’s 27 foot ¼ into the sky - remembered how much I love to freakin haul ass as fast as I can and fly on my bike. WOW! It was amazing. After this tuff year struggling with my health, arthritis, surgeries, a strict diet, questioning why the F…. I keep pushing it when I’m starting to grow old in miserable pain… this day answered that. You can’t explain it. You have to feel it. It’s not something that words give it any justice. It’s about celebrating life by living it beyond the limits. I love this shit. The Big ramp is psychologically exhausting, but after a long day of riding it it’s like you went to some amazing spa. Your mind is clear and you float around for a while. In it’s simplest form it’s about manifesting the most powerful natural energy and directing it into a positive flow. The scary part is one mistake can direct that same amazing positive energy into the most destructive devastating negative energy. I hate to love that. The risk is high, but there is no greater satisfaction except to go bigger next time. After a good day of sessioning that beautiful beast I needed more speed. There is one bigger roll that goes into a gap that is 20’ larger (70 feet) and will give you more speed into the ¼, but BobB tested it after they built it and came short on the gap and escaped near disaster. As I was eying it down, BobB came up and talked me out of it, and said he will be building it higher in the next month and we can plan another session together then. I accepted his play date and shook it from my mind for the time being….
That night I hung out with Bob and played music till the wee hours of the night. I pulled an all nighter and went to the airport to catch a flight to German for Stephan Prantl’s Masters in Köln German. |
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Copyright © 2006 Mat Hoffman. All Rights Reserved.
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