Collectible DBZ Merchandise Revives Dead Blog.

I do love blogging. I think blogs are an important, relevant medium for original content. And I think the challenge that the internet represents for hard media like print and dvds is competition in the healthiest sense of the word.

If anything, the instant, fleeting nature of the internet highlights the slow, tactile pleasure of turning glossy pages with your fingers and the rich feeling of a well curated bookshelf.

It is in a similar metaphorical sense that this blog has laid dormant for the past three years, while my life has been consumed by numerous other very satisfying, damn tangible, rather long-term projects -- most notably, our second child Theo and the gut renovation of our first house.

To say that the arc of DBZ's past three years have been somewhat more tumultuous would be an understatement. But as of summer 2013, his life is approaching a level of stability that I would call borderline domestic. He's back in Portland, happily married, gainfully employed at a job he "loves," and this spring he produced two excellent zines that no bmx archivist will want to be without.

I think the term "zine" shortchanges the visual force of these staple-bound pieces, which showcase not just DBZ's obsessively refined graphic aesthetic, but also his skill for page layout. And he can write like a motherfucker.

Noumenal Room is a weighty collection of illustrated essays from DBZ's blog. Topics range from skateboarding and bmx to architecture and typography to cigarettes and pornography. 52 pages. Order here for $13.

I dogmatically believe that being "at a loss for words" is just weak writing, but hell if I can articulate what D/I/T/C/H/W/I/Z/A/R/D "is." I guess you could say it's a collection of found images, far greater than the sum of its parts. Leave it on your coffee table or toilet and see if your graphic designer friends don't ask what the hell it is and where they can get one. It's one of my prized possessions. 12 pages, includes screenprinted Raccoon patch. Order here for $5.

If you're not inclined to buy, you can still get your free daily online DBZ fix via blog, Tumblr and Twitter, none of which are safe to click at work.

Wings Like Solid Concrete.

Item #1: DBZ shaved his head, quit drugs, and has undertaken the project of blogging a complete list of aesthetic influences (assumed NSFW).

Item #2: Caleb, too, is blogging, and reportedly filming for a DBZ web video.

Item #3: The first documentation of me on a bmx since January over a year ago--rode bikes and filmed with Caleb last Sunday. I really can't believe what we found:

From Caleb's blog:

New Piff Blogs Worth a Click.

Blogball: Ben is slowly documenting all the vintage Toyotas he has owned over the past few years. I believe he is now driving Corolla number seven.

And on a related topic: Old Parked Cars, my new photoblog, with contributions from Ben and Dad.

nostalgic must-reads from the hamilton blog.

A tip of the hat to Defgrip for bringing this to everyone's attention. Stephen Hamilton, after making his personal Youtube debut last month, is now blogging like crazy.

bank to civic!

Well over a hundred frenetic posts in less than a month, many just one line or nonsense poetry. Which is fine.

But don't miss this gem: a copy/pasted email from Ed Docherty, detailing editing choices for the Hamilton's fantastic FederalBikes part, circa 2004. It reads

>Hey,
> There's a rough section on the server. There's still some work to be done
>to it but I thought I'd let you guys check it out to see how we're doing.
> Firstly, there should be the noise of a camera motor drive running over
>the
>photos at the start. I recorded some earlier but it turns out my camera
>didn't capture the audio?!?!? The mic's taped up cause Dean hit it one time
>when Edd borrowed it, so tomorrow I'll try and see if I can get it working
>again.
> Secondly, there's a 2 sec gap near the end. I could make the clips longer
>on each side of the gap to fill it in but it kinda fits well with the
>music.
>I'll figure something out...
> There's a tyre slide on a bench that Steven wants in there but it's
>probably on the tape with the new Corey stuff. We can figure out what to
>drop and replace with that. Maybe the manual to abubaca from Austin?
> Maybe we could chop the front wheel 180 at the end of the line at the
>pier
>in SF to make some room? What do you think?
> There's a kinda subliminal riddle thrown in there. Before the Prague
>pyramid stuff it flashes up - What's round at both ends and high in the
>middle? Then after the clip it flashes up - Ohio. I thought it'd be kinda
>cool cause you'd have to do frame advance on your dvd player to read the
>question. Just some thing different...
> Oh yeah, reasons for some stuff :-
>
>I put the footplant before the manual to nosewheelie up and down in Prague
>cause it kinda fits together - Steven footplants then next clip the kid
>kicks at the camera
>
>I put the rail hop to bank in Austin and the hill bomb together cause the
>music at that part is kinda going down scales. Plus, it's a fairly quiet
>part of the song so you hear the audio on the hill bomb good.
>
> I'm really psyched on the way it's looking.
>
>Here's the info to get to the server...
>
>Address: ftp.backyard-online.com
>User Name: backya
>Password: bobby1
>
>Steven, to upload stuff you might need this program called Fetch. I'll
>attach it to an email and send it to you next.
>
> Alright, let me know what you think.
> >Ed

For the record, I thought it was awesome, Ed.

Click through for the original post. Youtube below. Hamilton video part discography here.

Lobsterspine = the Real Steven Hamilton?

The video below, reportedly edited by Steven Hamilton himself, has been viewed almost eight thousand times since its internet debut two days ago. Responses to the video on bmxboard, the Come Up, and T.V.O.'s Life? were split, tending either towards strong disappointment or strong enthusiasm. The comparisons to mid-90's LSD-influenced video producer Ells Bells seem absolutely appropriate.



There are eight more Hamilton-related videos from the same Youtube user, Lobsterspine, some of which are measurably easier to watch, and none with more than eighty views to date. These include parts one through four of some project called Inception 2. If I understand correctly, Inception was the name of Hamilton's high school video project.

Inception 2, part two. Trails down a fricken' gully like nothing I've ever seen! Where is this? I guess it goes without saying that footage of Ted Van Orman is always great.



Parenthetically, here's the only evidence of Inception 1's existence that I'm aware of:



It would appear that Lobsterspine is Hamilton's personal account, or that of someone close to him. I can't think of another pro whose mind is better suited to Youtube as a creative medium.

...

Related: The Complete Steven Hamilton Youtube Discography