“If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.”
I haven't written a truly blunt editorial in quite a while, because the fact is, I haven't been pissed off enough to give my perspective about anything. I have strayed from the kayaking scene over this past year (or should I say excommunicated), which has given me the ability to surround myself with people who have........well, more depth to their character. The RVA kayaking scene is all the same.........it never changes, so it became pretty boring to bash it after a while.....................and WAY to easy. I guess what I am saying is "C'mon guys, find some creativity and originality. How many 8 minute paddling porn videos can you make or watch in a day?" And on that note, is anyone ever going to pick up a camera and a kayak in RVA at the same time ever again and take some unique perspectives of the rivah that the rest of the world never gets to see? (and this is not a slam on Rich or Keith at all. Both are fantastic photographers and fantastic people. But they are photographers, not boaters) The RVA boating community as a whole hates The Island Chronicles, which really doesn't make much sense to me. You guys should love it! Yes, I completely trashed some people in the community, and yes, I am perfectly comfortable with that. Yes I call you out for shit you would rather not be called out for, and yes it amuses the hell out of me.....................but I brought originality to your otherwise monotonous, self obsessed world. I did something creative that no one else was doing.........and I did it twice.
In 2012 I picked up a camera one day, packed it in my dry bag, and hit the rivah with The Dumb Ass on the Log............which is rather ironic. It was my first ever photo shoot on the rivah. When I sent him the pics I took, he sent back some really heartfelt compliments..............The Dumb Ass on the Log is NOT heartfelt or complimentary......especially towards me. In fact, he was always a huge dick to me, plus he tried to get me fired, which was an epic fail on his part. (and the real reason I wrote The Dumb Ass on the Log) Because of his encouragement however, the day after our photo shoot I hit the rivah alone and focused on capturing the artistic side of The James. Here is what I discovered that day.........................
So in a way, it was The Dumb Ass on the Log who inspired what eventually became The Island Chronicles...........now that is ironic! At the time (and all the time for that matter), there were videos being made at every turn on every rivah, but they were all about the same thing.........................running the shit! The saddest part about this was it obvious what was happening. Everyone was idolizing pro kayakers and those kayakers own self glorifying paddle porn and wanted to make their own videos so they could pretend they were just like the big boys...........sorry guys, but you weren't, and you never will be.
“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”
~Carl Sagan~
At the end of 2012 my life really began to fall apart and I broke my camera at Gauleyfest (and no, I have no clue what happened to The Fourteenth Street Whores camera).......when your life falls apart it isn't possible to pay for a new camera or fix the old one, so I just let it go and went on with life...................that was a HUGE mistake. You see, art gives us life. This is something Marcelle taught me. She was the best artist I have ever known, and from what I am told those genes have been passed on to Marlow and Quint. When I stopped taking pictures, I lost a part of myself, and I lost inspiration. From September of 2012 to April of 2013 I felt completely dead inside. I had lost many pieces of myself along the way, but photography was something that I had discovered for myself, and it belonged to me, in my heart, and in my soul. When I stopped shooting, a part of me vanished too.
Eventually I lost it all, and in April of 2013 I moved to The Island. One month living out there sparked my soul, and it opened up my spirit of creativity................and that was when The Island Chronicles were created. (Another ironic piece is that if all the haters hadn't opened their mouths about my activities on The Island, I probably never would have thought to create The Island Chronicles in the first place..........damn there is lots of irony happening today) I will admit, there was a price to be paid for this creativity, by both myself and the community, but I accepted that eventually. Controversy attracts people. No one wants to read or see the same boring shit again and again and again. They want something new, something original, and something to spark their own emotions. Sometimes those emotions are rage, agitation, and guilt, but that is better than feeling nothing at all. Remember this quote?.....................
"It's better to feel pain than nothing at all. The opposite of loves indifference."
~The Lumineers~
Think about that quote the next time The Island Chronicles pisses you off, and be happy you have them in your lives. (God the haters must be hatin' right now) Good writing fuels emotions, and the more emotion I saw it produce, the more it encouraged me to write. I am surprised the kayakers even read it in the first place..........shit, I am surprised most kayakers in RVA have ever read anything at all. When I started writing The Island Chronicles I kept waiting for someone to counter it with their own blog............but instead people like The Fat Bastard just cried like a little bitch, and surrounded himself with a bunch of apple-polishers to stroke that massive ego he holds so dear. Apparently no one had the ability to counter it..............or the balls. Challenging someone in a parking lot surrounded by those you know will back you is easy, especially when your only counter is physical violence (in front of your son for that matter). Using your mind to create a piece of art that doubles as a defense mechanism takes a bit more work. I expected some kind of intelligent retort considering the main transgressor in all of this was after all a doctor. I figured he was smart enough to come back at me with something. Instead he made a series of incredibly stupid moves and then pretended no one saw what happened. Trust me fat boy, they did. The best part; you care about what the boating community thinks of you............................I don't.
“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”
~Anonymous~
Now that I am departing the kayaking community and moving on with life (don't get too excited boys. I will still boat. I will just choose wisely among the masses from now on), this is my last attempt to produce something more out of a very shallow, crowd following group of drones. I want to challenge all of you.................I want to see someone out there create something new, something original. 2013 is coming to an end, and everyone's yearly "I want to feel like a pro and swing my dick" videos have been posted and glorified among the masses.................again. But 2014 is just around the corner. It is a new start, a new beginning. It is a chance to create something more, something better. Problem is, I am not sure if any of you have it in you. So consider this a challenge..........a challenge to create something new in the blandness that is kayaking art. I have spent the last decade watching and critiquing kayaking videos, and I have learned this...............they have all become exactly the same. The market is saturated folks, especially here in RVA. I know all the kiddies think it is the coolest shit they have ever been involved in, but the fact is the kiddies are about seven years too late........everything you think is new and original just isn't. It's old, and the only ones who care anymore are the small circles you surround yourself with. You owe yourself more than that..........shit, you owe your kayaking generation more than that. But most of all, you owe more than that to the sport we all love. What we do is beautiful in more ways than just one. Go out there and find your own way to harness and capture that beauty. Go find a way to inspire the world outside of your own close minded circle of following bootlickers.
I know a lot of you will read this and immediately become pissed off and agitated about what is being written.............GOOD! Hopefully it will light a fire under your ass. Hopefully you will be pissed enough to NOT back down to the challenge and change this never changing trail of baloney. I for one am tired of watching the indistinguishable pile of crap that has become "paddle porn". There is more to our sport. If The Island Chronicles doesn't teach you anything else, hopefully it can at least inspire you in this way. Shit, I don't even care if it is self glorifying. (after all, what the hell do you think The Island Chronicles are?) I just want to see it be original, unique, and most of all inspiring.................or you could just ignore everything I just wrote and spawn the same pile of shit again next year?..............after all, it's your choice.
“True rebels hate their own rebellion. They know by experience that it is not a cool and glamorous lifestyle; it takes a courageous fool to say things that have not been said and to do things that have not been done.”
~Criss Jami, Venus in Arms~
See ya on the rivah............hopefully doi....(awe fuck it!....you create a clever ending!) PEACE
