Skatopians at the Gate

Skatopia's dictator and chief, Brewce Martin has been seriously injured "with major head trauma in a freak accident at a tire shop near Skatopia. Apparently, he was standing next to the tire mounting machine and it exploded. All we know at the present time is that he's in surgery to relieve pressure on his brain." (Taken from the Slap message boards.)

TeamJaded wishes Brewce well, and hopes for his speedy recovery.

I did a three day shoot at Skatopia when I worked for Current. The shoot took place during Skatopia's annual "bowl bash" when hundreds of hillbilly punks and skaters descend on Skatopia for a few days of complete mayhem. It was one of the most intense field production experiences of my life. I often liken it to shooting video in a combat zone.

During my short encounter with Brewce at his "anarchist resort," he came off like a compete lunatic, but a lunatic who was somehow in control of what looked to me like utter chaos. He gave my co-producer Allison Muir and I the standard Skatopia hard time. He even went so far as to tell us that we could film, but we couldn't keep the footage. In the end he not only let us keep the footage, he even granted us a short interview, AND signed a release granting us permission to use the footage on Current TV ...thus proving that he was a stern, but fair dictator. (Most of the footage never actually made it to air, but that's a whole other story.)

...Seriously Brewce, get well man.

In other Skatopia news, the documentary "Skatopia: 88 Acres of Anarchy" is finally set to premier on July 11 at Acefest 2009 in NYC. The trailer looks amazing. Allison and I had the pleasure of working along side the film crew for the three days we spent at Skatopia. They told us they had been there for months, and were staying for a few more after we left. I couldn't understand how any human would volunteer for that, but I knew it was going to make a great documentary. If you get the opportunity to see it, don't pass it up.

Below is an old trailer. There is a new one here. I highly recommend watching it.



Photo taken from Skatopia's myspace.

Free Laura Ling and Euna Lee Video Petition

This week our friends and Current TV journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling were sentenced to 12 years in North Korean labor camps. On March 17, 2009, they were captured by North Korean border guards in the Yalu River region that loosely defines North Korea's border with China. We believe that their capture was unjust, and that their harsh sentence is an outrage.

Please join our video petition to set them free.



It's easy just click PLAY, then click REPLY in the top right corner, and then record a response.

All you have to do is say your name, say where you live, and hold up a sign that says "Free Laura Ling and Euna Lee".

If you don't have a Seesmic account, just sign up it's easy! If you need help, then CLICK HERE, and we'll walk you through the whole process.

You will be able to review your video before posting. If you don't like the first take please try again. It will only post publicly when you give it permission to.

If enough people participate we can create a powerful visual representation of global support for our friends.

Please take a moment and speak out for Euna Lee and Laura Ling.

Laura and Euna Video Petition (Instructions)

Please join our Video Petition to free Laura Ling and Euna Lee from imprisonment in North Korea.



It's easy just click PLAY, then click REPLY in the top right corner, and then record a response.

All you have to do is say your name, say where you live, and hold up a sign that says "Free Laura Ling and Euna Lee".

If you don't have a Seesmic account, just sign up it's easy!

When you hit reply you'll see this:


Create a user name, put in your email address, and click JOIN.

You'll get an activation email. Open it and click the link. The link will take you to Seesmic.com, but don't log in there. Nothing bad will happen if you do, it's just easier to come back here and log in to the player. (If the player is giving you error messages, then try going directly to the Seesmic thread.)

Don't worry that all the registration info you typed is still there on the left side. Just type in your newly registered user name and password, then click LOG IN.


Now wasn't that easy? You should be either looking at yourself in the video player right now, or being asked for permission to access your webcam. In the case of the latter, click ALLOW. Now you should finally be seeing yourself through the eyes of your webcam. When you're ready just click the big red record button and join in.

You will be able to review your video before posting. If you don't like the first take please try again. It will only post publicly when you give it permission to.

If enough people participate we can create a powerful visual representation of global support for our friends.

Please take a moment and lend your voice to the cause.

Free Laura and Euna Video Player is now working

Apologies to everyone that has come to our blog to participate in the Free Laura Ling and Euna Lee Video Petition. The Seesmic player gave almost everyone who tried to register an error message.

The good news is that Loic (the founder of Seesmic) put his staff on it yesterday, and they fixed the problem. I ran some tests last night, and the registration feature on the player seems to be working now.

Lets kick this thing off again. Free Laura Ling and Euna Lee.