New York Baby!

By: Paul Gemignani

So recently I took advantage of some miles I had saved up on my Delta card, and took a trip to New York City with my good friend Mike. I personally have never been on the East Coast even though I grew up in the Midwest, so I found this as the perfect excuse to visit the Big Apple. When I first arrived I was a bit overwhelmed as this city trumps the rest of the city's I've been too in the U.S., so it took me a second to re-calibrate myself from the vast open-ness of the West. After awhile though, it's actually quite easily to settle in and find a routine and dial something in. The city itself is very colorful and full of life, culture and art. My main reason for the trip was actually to eat food and I did just that. From amazing pizza's at Joe's, to some of the best seafood pasta of my life at the newly opened - Eataly; so good. The list goes on though, bacon wrapped hot dogs, with onions, cheddar cheese and cream cheese, to artichoke and clam pizza; sushi, wings, chinese food and the sorts...it was an endless array of mouth watering food that is making me hungry while I write this. One would think I would have gained about 20 pounds on this trip, but due to that fact that New York is a walk about city, we ended up walking about 5-7 miles a day, so that kept the calories burning from the last meal. Besides eating amazing food though, we also went to some amazing art exhibits and I got to see a huge spectrum of original art work from Salvador Dali, Picasso, Pollock, Van Gogh, Rodin and so on - truly amazing; I have definitely found a new appreciation for these artists of the past. All in all, it was an amazing trip to the huge city, and I will definitely be going back at some point, and hope everyone gets to visit this city at least once in their lives. Just make sure to have a good guide, as it can be somewhat confusing for a new comer, or someone that hasn't spent much time in big cities. Cheers and buon appetite!

Graffiti - Today's Urban Art

By: Paul Gemignani


So the other day I went for a typical morning skate session at the local skate park in town, and while I was there I noticed that there where fresh new paint marks around the skate park and in the bowls. After a bit of thought, It occurred to me that they were covering up old graffiti marks that used to adorn the pool walls.

What once was colorful works of art and a form of expression was now a pale gray, lifeless and boring. This concerns me. If not just from a skate boarders stand point but also from an artists standpoint. Graffiti and skateboarding I consider very similar, in that they are both forms of expression and ways for people to circumvent the conventional, but seeing this mainstream influence on two things I enjoy really bummed me out.




I know most people associate graffiti with gangs or whatever, but it started as a raw form of creating something new, just like skateboarding. And now, people are trying to delegate and control two things that should not become mainstream or bled dry.

I personally think, the town should embrace the graffiti and encourage creative, colorful works of art instead of repress it and maybe inspire some people. This might give the skatepark a much more personal feel, rather than just a place to skate.

Check out this article if your interested in this topic more.
County Accepts Graffiti