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Indy Paraphernalia

Ok.  So.  There are a couple stories behind each of these extremely rare gemsicles I came up on some years back now;  The Independent ‘pocket waterpipe’ and the Independent Zippo™.

The Zippo™ was my first find.  I was in 8th grade (1998); I did not own a 180 Smoke e cigarettes or weed at that time.  My best friend at the time (Justin Franklin) gave it to me for either a trade, a gift, or out of pure generosity.. I can’t really remember anymore.  Now that I decided to ruin/shorten my pool runs & skate sessions (lungs too, but whatever..) with Phillip Morris’ creation of hell-sticks, my Indy Zippo™ is now being fully appreciated.

The Independent bong was my second come up.  When I lived in Santa Barbara from ’03-’08, I skated the Wilderness Bowl every Wednesday and Friday night with dudes twice my age (and shredded twice as hard, I may add).  My good friend, Scott Malo (older Hawaiian brother in his mid-40s) was always down for bong tokes before, during, & after any pool session, and always rolled with a miniature bong.  I remember we were sitting in his car one day in the parking lot at the Santa Barbara skatepark, and he told me about these little red bongs Indy made back in the 80’s (he guessed that only about 10 or 12 were made) that they solely made for the Indy reps/TMs at the time for trips and such..  He described it to me; Red with a screen printed Indy logo, about 8 inches, black top and bottom caps, and a carb with a red plug.  He made it extremely clear, that if I were to ever come across one, buy it; no matter the cost.
Several years later (I think around ’06/7..?), B. Wong found one on a skate forum and remembered me telling him about the story, that Scott had shared with me.  So evidently, some guy in Carlsbad, CA. had one that had never been used and wanted $40 for it.  I emailed him (asked him if it was screen printed, and not a sticker) and said I’d give him $50 if he’d over-night it, along with a portable Enail pen.. He did, and I got it.  He emailed me the next day, asking if I’d recieved the bong and why I was so attimate about aquiring it, and in such a short time.. I told him the same story I told Scott and Brandon, and told him I didn’t want him to find out that week from a friend how rare that piece really is, and call off the sale entirely.
Let’s just say, the dude offered me twice what I paid for it- got extremely pissed at himself for selling it, and is still kicking himself in the ass for it to this day; Next time, do your homework son.

Oh, and P.S. – It’s still never been used.

Smoker or non-smoker; These are gemicon-come ups..
I am very proud of my Independent Paraphernalia.

 

Can we call this life…

Tragedy…members of His Hero is Gone, Deathreat, From Ashes Rise, Severed Head of State… from 2000 – 2006 they put out 3 LP’s, 2 split 7 ins, 7 in, tour ep…get them all.
listen to “Conflicting Ideas” from the 2002 LP “Vengeace” (this isn’t the best quality, buy the LP please!)
the drum intro…

here is a live version…

one more from the beginning

The Butler’s Birthday.

Ben Butler had a little gathering Saturday night to celebrate his birthday. He seemed to be doing more work than relaxing and skating but he did get a few runs in. Some new additions to his backyard fun zone were some hitech LED lighting and also a trim back of the 4-finger Anthony coping that opening the pool up to a whole new level of ripping. DJ Don Ceaser, Skatanic Rednecks and beers-o-plenty all made for a great night. Here are a few photos.

Cam

Kyle

Mike

Aaron

Yamo

Johnny