New day, same old us.

Eugene Meatyard image via.

 So, a number of years ago I wound with a somewhat adjacent relationship with a little brand from Texas called Cockfight Skateboards. If I'm honest, I can't remember how my knowledge of it came about. I liked the cut of their jib, and over the following years, proprietor Michael Neiman and I ended up established somewhat of a friendship with one another. He'd periodically send me dispatches regarding the annual EZ-7 ditch contest, or the documentary about the ditch itself;

 With each exchange, the degrees of separation got stripped away, and especially with bicycles as a foundational common denominator it seemed as though we knew all of the same and best people.

Well, it was sometimes after the recent relieve (and my subsequent procurement) of the True Love deck graphic that Lee St.Claire (a person I first met at a Kona Bicycle launch a decade ago, and one who is regularly referenced in the Revolting podcast) hollered at me about his relationship with a person named Jesse who was originally responsible for the graphic;

Are you following me?

Yeah, me neither.

Anyway, Michael and I chatted about him, as well as his relationship with Lee and his brother,  further closing the loop, and quite spontaneously, Michael sent me a bunch of words and photos about Jesse. This got me to thinking about how much I appreciate Michael's effort in shining a spotlight on a person who feels deserves it, but this community as a whole being more than happy to celebrate them.

So with all of that being said, let's get further introduced to Jesse Davis;

"Stevil-

You know who is extremely worthy of a blurb on AHTBM?

My friend Jesse. He lives in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and has been the Cockfight artist since the beginning. Was once the Virginia State mountain biking champion;

In the past five years, for some masochistic reason has become addicted to ultra endurance bike packing

He just won the men’s division of the northern Arkansas 1000 or whatever the hell it was called.. 56 year-old father of two teenagers that still does inverts on demand and tortures himself on thousand mile bike rides.

He's probably the most prolific, dual disciplined skateboarder and cyclist in the world. I have no basis for that, but my opinion is my own truth.

MN"

I'm all for people nominating their worthy friends/compatriots/teachers at their kids' schools, civic leaders, etc. and so on as some sort of AHTBM persons of the week.

If you have somebody you would like to fire a little love towards, Dog knows we could use a lot more of it. Hit me with the goods at stevil(at)allhailtheblackmarket(dot) or via the contact button on my badass new website, and I'll get it all the way up.

If I don't hear from anyone I'll just keep nominating myself, and nobody wants that. 

Moving on to business topics- A couple of weeks ago I finally ran out of key leashes;

I ordered a new batch which got here in no time, but the engraved little KVLT discs were going to take a pinch longer.. While I waited I did a live IG video the other day illustrating the good steps one can take to make them extra durable. 

I opted to write a synopsis and include it both in the store, as well as this here post;

 

Here's some real exciting news I came across the other day and any folks with stellar taste in music. I got into this a bit a little bit in today's Revolting episode but I'll broach it here as well.

I'd heard rumor that this was in the works several months ago, but it's finally come to pass. Sub Pop and Jack Endino have remastered nearly the entire catalog from The Fluid;

For those not in the know, The Fluid were the first band outside of Seattle to get signed to Sub Pop records, and were Denver's pride and joy. I've long lost track of how many times I've seen them, but they were a staple and a favorite.

I've heard only one of the remastered tracks but despite the fact that I already own all of their original pressings, it was good enough to compile me to order the entire catalog all over again;

I listened to this version against the original, and it sure seems to me that the more punched up version is far closer to how the band was supposed to be heard from the beginning. I'm especially excited for 'Overflow' (b sides and unreleased tracks), and 'Punch and Judy' (Their first LP, with the absolute barn burner of a track 'Saccharine Rejection'.

Years ago I read an interview with Endino wherein he described the band as being '10 years too late of 15 years too early'.

If this strikes your fancy, I'd suggest you get on board, lest they go out of print again and you have to wait another 20 years to hear it again.

Now at this point of today's effort, as I am want to do, please join me in listening to the 149th episode of Revolting;

 Man, If you'd said we were gonna spend 149 hours doing this nonsense, I don't think I would have ever believed you.

You know what to do.

New episode, new day, same us, same you.