Steve and I went on a bit of a whirlwind trip this weekend. On Wed. night we decided to go for it. Woke up early on thursday and headed to Vegas to catch up with Fuzzy and shoot a quick bit for his First Hand episode. Spent a few hours after that wandering around interbike and catching up with some of our friends there. Then hit the road further south to LA to catch a screening at the Swerve Film Festival and to poke our heads in at the FUEL TV offices and hang out with our boys and girls there. Saw a very thought provoking film called "Surf Wise" on Friday night. By Sat. morning it was back on the road to make it to utah for our New Pollution shoot on Sunday. Great weekend, big thanks to Uncle Dirk for letting us crash at his place last second. Photo is of Chris Pastras Painting for some of the art at the Swerve Festival.

Had a great time at the Dew Tour in Salt Lake City.
The kids got to see what dad does at work.
They loved the Dirt Jumping Finals.
Our boy Cameron White got second with a bar spin, back flip, tail whip.
This photo is 3 of my 4 kids and neighbor Jared (in Hawk sweatshirt) with TJ LAVIN.

When I’m not on location I allow myself a few hours a day in the edit room to work on the rerelease of my 1992 film “The Potter’s Meal.” It feels like I am reconnecting with the idea of being a documentary filmmaker. I use to edit most all of my own stuff till I met Tim. Anyway there is something magic about pottery like photograph, from the mud of the earth you can get pots (art) and with from light of the sky you can get images (photographs). Here are a few photos from a very cold day of loading the kiln behinds Joe’s studio in Spring City, Utah.

OK the Dew Tour is in town this week, so there is lots to do for Tim and I. Tim got a gig with Fuel TV doing the Weekly Update and I will doing stuff with the Schwinn, GT and Mongoose riders and working on Fuzzy’s Firsthand for Fuel TV. Firsthand is diary style documentary show that perfectly fits our style of filmmaking. Fuzzy is long overdue for a Firsthand. He is a legend, and always fun to film. This shot is of Fuzzy from about 10 years ago in his old backyard in Roy, Utah. It was taken with my Army surplus camera and with Army surplus film.

I've been with todd this week shooting stuff like this fire exercise. We had to have the full fire gear on while doing it. Instant sauna, but very fun. It was a cool experience. The folks participating were mine safety workers flown in from all over the world. Guys and Gals from Chile, Peru, Tanzania, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, and the US. Heavy shoot days with very early starts and late nights editing.

I do a lot of work in BMX and Skateboarding. I am very excited about the art that is connected with skateboarding, I think it is a very exciting movement or whatever you want to call it---some very creative people. Anyways I sometimes find myself a little disappointed with the BMX community in the creative department----I mean BMX is pretty much the most creative way you can ride a bike! But lately I have been finding some BMX/ART stuff that beautifuly shows the creative spirit of riding 20 inch bikes. Here are a few I like, check out Skier J’s Merit blog and Def Grip. I occasionally steal stuff from them like the Gorilla thing, thanks.

Okay I will admit it, I am a Genesis Fan (with Peter Gabriel and with Phil Collins) and a Phil Collins Fan, I’m sorry if that bugs anyone.
Anyway this spot if great, it makes me laugh.
And like my sister’s kid, Tracey, says---Every normal person at one time or other has really been into monkeys (or Apes). Check this out.

Fuel TV is one of my main gigs. I have been doing stuff with them since before they went on the air. It has been a great relationship. It is an honor to work with such creative people. They have been good to me sending me places around the world like Norway to shoot snowboarding, England to shoot BMX superstar Jamie Bestwick, and Hungary to shoot my favorite Freestyle motocrosser Ronnie Renner. I have been involved with their documentary series “Firsthand” and done several commercials for their on air promotions people. Anyway they are putting on a Film, Music, and Art Festival called Swerve. Jonathan Wells the guy who was Festival Director of RESFEST is running the show. This could be very interesting! Films by Anton Corbijn and Doug Pray, art by Thomas Cambell, Chris Pastras, Mike Mills and Terry Richardson and a bunch of music. I think I will have to head to LA to have a look.

This was a very sad thing to discover. The tree of utah has been surrounded by a 12 foot fence capped with barbed wire. Supposedly to keep people from vandalizing it. There is not a word or picture you could paint on this sculpture that would be more offensive than the sight of this fence. Todd and I stopped at the tree on our way out to Elko where we are shooting some crazy mine safety exercises that include lots of fire. more on that tomorrow.

Been spending a lot of time in the edit suite lately. As a filmmaker it feels good to really look at your footage. It helps develop confidence in your eye, your equipment and your filmmaking know-how. Anyway, I was reviewing footage I shot this weekend when Brent called about a mountain bike ride. I told him I had too much to do. 5 minutes later I called him back and we were on our way to Payson Lakes for a ride. It was a good ride. We ended it with a feed in Payson. Thanks BH.
(photo: Brent on his Gary Fisher single speed rigid 29er)

Had a cool trip this weekend in Primm, NV to shoot the Primm 300 for the Oakley guys. Very hot, very dusty, and VERY intense! I was stationed at the main pit and the "spectator" area of the track. I wired up the crew boss and had a lot of fun documenting the highs and lows of the race. Each lap was 75 miles long, 4 laps, pretty rad. Got a little bonus family time in with my Bro and Sis in law and their kid during a lunch and visit to frys when i got to vegas.