QUIK from Colin Kennedy on Vimeo.
I hate this video. Mostly because of the hopes I had. I thought I'd love it and then I just couldn't get around the fact that if I was walking or driving around LA when he did this, I'd definitely wish to punch him in the face. I know, this is an extreme reaction and for that I apologize. I haven't hit anyone since high school, so even though I'd have wanted to, I wouldn't have done it. There is some background to this reaction though.
When I was very young, under 12, I had a lot of accidents. I broke a leg, got concussion, stitches and when my parents decided we should move house they did test hospital runs to see which routes were fastest. Some of my accidents were inspired by the TV series 'The Fall Guy.' I was young and stupid, but by age 12 my accidents stopped. I'd figured out what caused the most idiotic accidents and I just stopped doing those things.
I bought both my boys skateboards the moment they first asked for them. I had one as a kid and loved it - I didn't even have that many horrific accidents on it. ;-) I'd normally share good videos with my boys, but they aren't getting to watch Austyn's video. Doing skateboard tricks on the sidewalk / pavement with side streets, pedestrians and traffic is bonehead stupid. Like Jackass, but without the humor.
There's a behind the scenes video too. I watched it hoping that there'd be clearly shut off streets and everything possible done to make it safe and warn innocent pedestrians. But no, just spotters with walkie talkies. And worse, Austyn moans about how difficult it was to make and is shown throwing his board away in disgust when messes up his stunts. Petulant child behavior that I detest.
It reminds me of laughing at how heartless one of my friends had been to a cyclist. My friend was walking across a side street when the cyclist was traveling at high speed down the main road. The cyclist wanted to whip into the side street that my friend was crossing, but he was going way too fast. He braked badly, lost what little control he had, and tumbled to the ground. It was all so fast my friend was kind of rooted to the spot, braced and awaiting the impact of the cyclist. Luckily for my friend the cyclist came to a rest just inches in front of my friend. And then my friend, merely stepped over the bleeding cyclist, and walked away as if nothing had happened. He was sooo angry at the cyclist, he couldn't speak to him and refused to even acknowledge him.
So am I over reacting? Am I just old and soft now that I am a father? I don't think so. After all, I bought my sons skateboards and bikes, and I've even taken my 9 year old karting on 45mph karts. I encourage taking risks, tease them when they bemoan their little scrapes and tell them to get back on that bike after a fall. But to do skateboard tricks through a crowded city, crossing side streets and loading bays at a speed you can't stop from... Nope, that's the idiotic sort of thing I'd have done when I was pretending to be Colt Seavers.
Let me know what you think... or just send me links to some better videos...
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