Hi, my name is Jim and I have confession to make... I didn't help build any of the DIY in this clip / article and I'm writing about it as if I did. I also skate these DIY spots as if I worked really hard on them but nope, didn't help. I did help load something on a trailer so other people could do the actual work but that was the extent of my hard yakka. Now some people may think that's a shit c**t move and they'd probably be right so that's why I was nominated for the inaugural Belco Rails Shit C**t Of The Year Award (SCOTY) under the reasoning I don't help with DIY and skate it as if I did. So I'd like to take this opportunity to plug my SCOTY campaign and say VOTE 1 @JimsFatHead #SCOTY 2018.
In my defence while I wasn't physically there for the building part I know the effort that was put in because I occasionally checked in on the progress via Instagram chats saying things like Rad! Good job boys, sorry I can't I help I have the kids. There was even a time where a few of the DIY heroes met at one of the spots at 10pm to work because the shop next door was open late. I said f*ck that and was lucky I was "away for work" that night.
The foreman responsible for the majority of the recent builds was a guy we'll call Puke Brown. We can't use Puke's real name because he has a life/job that may not approve of him sneakily building cool shit for people to skate. Puke is basically the Banksy of the Canberra skateboarding scene except for the fact that everyone knows who he is and no one wants to give him money for his work. The reason Puke went on a DIY spree is because he was turning 40 and like the legend he is he wanted to put on a rad skate day where him and his friends could skate some fresh DIY crete. Unfortunately for Puke he managed to pick the only Saturday in the back half of 2018 where it rained in Canberra. That's classic Puke, takes a week off work to slog himself labouring just for it to rain, poor bastard. He at least got a bit of help to build during the week, it just wasn't from me. #SCOTY
So Puke threw a figurative dart at a calendar and came up with December 1st 2018 and Boom. Sunny. Happy days. J But let's take a step back and talk about something that almost overshadowed the DIY sausage fest. For the people who aren't living under a rock Australia's most bitter skate beef reared it's ugliest in the lead up to the day, a skate beef for the ages that has been bubbling along with hatred and resentment for months, a skate beef ready to explode! This skate beef is of course the one and only Cons vs Sam Giles. The mystery with this beef is that no one really knows the exact history of the beef or how it all started, however folklore suggests it kicked off when Cons and Sam were attending a Shed party at Cons house after Belco Bowl Jam. During the Shedy Cons approached Sam and ask/told him to let him tattoo a Chiko roll on his bicep so they could be "Chiko Bros", to which Sam refused. This made Cons very angry because it's customary to let Cons tattoo you if you're shedding in his shed. Over the next few months they traded hateful jabs via Instagram until Cons did the unthinkable and called out Sam in an explosive press conference that was broadcasted to the tens of loyal @BelcoRails subscribers. The challenge that was laid out was a best of three multi disciplined competition - 1. Game of SKATE, 2. Indian Leg Wrestle, 3. 50m running race. Following the intense press conference was absolute silence from the Giles camp which gave Cons a false sense of victory by default. Then in an amazing twist the day before Puke's DIY fest a training video of Sam was leaked online and Team Cons got the confirmation they've been waiting for...the beef was on... and the beef was going to be epic. Watch the clip for the nail biting recap which ended in a photo finish!
In the end we had a great day and we all learned a few things.
1. Surround yourself with people who love to build DIY .
2. Always have an excuse for why you can't help (eg. kids are sick, gotta work, missus is angry, dog has frisbee practice etc.)
3. Cons can run faster than you think.
Vote 1 JimsFatHead #SCOTY 2018
