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.

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Related: The Complete Steven Hamilton Youtube Discography

The Complete Steven Hamilton Youtube Discography

This has been a good week for fans of Steven Hamilton. His fantastic part from 2004's The Day is Over made its way online a couple days ago, and just last night bmxboard's Alistair Heely uploaded the full 2005 Tip Plus video The Family. (Clips below)

Everyone appreciates Hamilton for his unconventional peg-free approach to street riding, not to mention his casual hucking of monstrous gaps. But for some reason his effortless bike control and clean style are overshadowed by the motowhipping likes of Aitken and Hawk. For style, that's my personal top three, probably, with Hamilton on top.

I think it's significant to note that none of the three is taller than 5'10. Aitken and Hawk are small men that have always ridden huge frames and handlebars, and I think this visually striking jockey-on-stallion effect is one reason they look so damn good flying through the air. Hamilton, by comparison, rides a flatland frame and more "medium" bars, and he could be even shorter than the other two guys. The allover smallness makes his wheels look huge in a way that I find really satisfying, and, furthermore, he seems to have an exceptionally large bunnyhop. But his pop is so natural that I've never heard anyone comment on it.

And Hamilton comes across as a real guy, thanks to his smile, unaffected demeanor, and penchant for a good hoody. Here's the text from his Dig issue 42 interview, archived on Tunney's excellent blog. (the full thing w/photos! --Ed. 11/16/09)

Of course, there hasn't been video footage of Hamilton in a couple years. After leaving the limelight, rumors circulated that he had fried his brain with drugs and stopped riding. Then, in a 2007 issue of RideUK, Hamilton reappeared with a cover shot and a dozen excellent, sponsor-worthy photos (lots of gaps and even a handrail with pegs!) and the most memorable interview of all time. He seems to have gone voluntarily insane and now lives in a parallel psychadelic world. (You can read the RideUK interview online now.--Ed. 9/13/09)

I was disappointed on one level (bye-bye striped shirts), but pleased to find that the new Hamilton is just as real as the old one, escaping the annoying outward trappings of hippiness in favor of an apparently authentic schizophrenia. Sunglasses at night? Intentionally mismatched gloves? A bike covered with seaweed and twigs, painted over with gloss black spraypaint? Keep this stuff coming, please!

It might be said that the "crazy drugged bike rider artist" thing was pioneered by the Gonz, but, by contrast, Hamilton doesn't seem to care whether we notice or not. As always, he's doing his own thing, living his own life, and it feels like a privilege when we get access.

Along with every other bike rider alive, I'm hopeful that we'll see video footage soon, and Hamilton's Phoenix-like return will be complete.

Here's all the footage of Hamilton that I'm aware of. If you know of more, I hope you'll share.

The video part that made Steven Hamilton a household name, from AnimalBikes' Can I Eat?


From the old Ohio video A Day Late and A Dollar Short.


Steven's first part ever, reportedly, from a video called Inception, which I know nothing about. Packed with bangers and striped shirts.

From the Federal video. Last two clips are heart-stopping.

From AnimalBikes' All Day.


The complete Orchid roadtrip video Step On It. Lots of Hamilton footage. Ridiculous clip at 6:40.


Tip Plus's The Family, complete video. Steven's part starts at 21:53.


And, finally, his recently uploaded part from Elliot Van Orman's The Day is Over, 2004. Perhaps my fave video part ever. When this song gets stuck in my head, I don't mind at all.



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July 18 Edit: Two additions. Fresh Hamilton footage, Go Skateboarding Day, June 2008. From Skavenger.


And thanks to aaron for bringing to my attention the really good skapegoat 2.5 web video, from March of this year, which includes some recent footy from Ham. Bonus: a bunch of brakeless riding from Ralph Sinisi!


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July 19 edit: From the Animal site, , in response to this blog posting:It really is nuts to see Hamilton kill it and I promise you all he is not done. Hamilton has been in the area for the past few weeks puttin in some work for the next Animal Video.

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December 9 edit: The internet has yet to make sense of this Youtube gem from late October. Who is this video's intended audience? There's a lot going on here, none of which makes sense...



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December 19 edit: This vid, edited by Hamilton himself, appeared on the Animal site the other day. See Lobsterspine = The Real Steven Hamilton? for more.



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December 31 edit: More classic Hamilton 1.0 footy in a web video from Peter Adam. Just the title "World Travels" is enough to make me feel something. Thanks for the heads-up, Sam.



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September 13, 2009 edit: In addition to his blog and YouTube account, Hamilton is actively posting high res stuff to Vimeo (to avoid Youtube's music copyright filter, presumably), rendering much of this blog post discography redundant.