Eddie Vargas Junior in "HI"

by SexHippies

My girlfriend has therapy so I grab my sled and head Prospecting. I’ve never been through here before this time of winter weekday and neither are others as I cruise pathways for minutes alone. I ascend stairs to overlook lake through bare trees, shoot photos of spots, then descend to reach lullwater bridge overlooking the boathouse. The bridgepath’s spansiding affords foot high metal ledging along both sides. I’ve noticed potential, but foot traffic and posing usually complicates. My phone battery shows 10% as I situate recording to frame the ledge and boathouse background. I noseslide second try, good to have done as I decide half cab noseslide next.

I approach pushing switch now, to crest bridgetop then situate my fakie pop, turn and stick, or don’t stick and slip from my slide, or don’t pop with my twist as attempts accumulate and minutes pass. I check my phone, which has run out of batteries, as has my vape. I search my drawstring backpack for portable charger and find the loose phone cord for which I’d searched the apartment without finding before departure. I hook things up and life promptly returns. I again prop my phone against water bottle and resume half-cab noseslide quest. I slide a couple, then stick into more, then I feel wind blowing and see my phone falling from its prop, toppling down off the concrete bolster, striking the ground on its top left corner, still recording with no obvious screen damage when I arrive to examine. I reposition the camera and remove my winter hat. I’ve been trying this for twenty minutes under sunlight and am warming up.

Passerby approach in waves I apprehend from some distance through absent leaves. More dogwalkers pass with their pups than unaccompanied pedestrians. I take their passages as pause to soak scenery and focus. I’m glad these Ricta Clouds roll quietly and remind myself that, when I sweep into a truly good noseslide, they aren’t too sticky to stop me. One dogwalker crosses paths with a friend who pets the dog and begins conversation. The dogwalker encourages them to catch up elsewhere since I’m trying to skate. I thank them, but say no rush and they make their ways.

Now that my phone is charging while filming I know that documented success is only a matter of time, but still these minutes are adding up. My beautiful girlfriend will be done with therapy soon and I want to bring home a clip for her. I remove my jacket, drink water and stretch shoulders. This is my first session since Santa Fe, and even that was in Timberlands. Now in new blue Vans Epochs I remind myself maintain wide stance so my right foot will be closer onto sliding nose. I rollaway once with toe drag, then land half-cab noseslide. I desire a third to confirm, but instead I take a slam and stop to scope footy, scroll the end of my third 15 minute session to both rollaways. The second one is really clean. I only enter the frame just before my pop, then the whole trick and rollaway appears with boathouse background.

Skating back through the park takes some time, more uphill than my cruise in. My left knee continues feeling good and better, as post-session stiffness presents welcome reminiscent glow of watching clip on repeat rather than a particular sharp pain turned throb.

***

I first saw Ben Baptiste skating past DQM in 2009 and thought him strikingly handsome, dark haired James Dean with Salvador Dali twinkle. Over sessions through years he detailed his vision of SexHippies and gave me the blue tie-dyed hoodie with white Sex Hippies logo big on back that I’m wearing for my half-cab noseslide featuring line in their 2014 vid Sextapevol1compressed. I’ve acquired more SexHippies pieces in the ensuring decade as Ben has returned to his Berkshire homelands and built SexHippies line of subtly accented outdoor wear in the L.L. Bean style, presenting as clothing brand sponsoring a skate team rather than skate team that sells merchandise. One year I gave my brother a pair of Sex Hippies summer shoes for his birthday and now press play when I see Sex Hippies new video HI debut online.

14 minutes begin with a rent party acid tab call to attention. Oversaturated afternoon sun draws out mournful violin while Yvonne Connors states, “There are two ways to look at this. The first is to accept that you are gone and to light a candle at the shrine of amnesia” as the sun blurs into traffic exhaust mushroom cloud mirage. Sad white canoes sail downstream in morning’s early hours but there is no skateboard present in the feature’s first 90 seconds, drawn confident as tire tread on slick nightlight streets, dollar store on the left, a dozen reflective roadsigns seen smudged through windshield wipers to the right. On a sunny day, curtain casts one woman’s balcony phone conversation in shadow showing considerate intimacy. A slipped front crook to slam introduces skateboarding and we see travelers wearing Sex Hippies beanies and belt as beat tracking matches lookbook montage collage. An owl winks as participants throw down, leap up, lock in, stick catch, slide out, cut quick. HI titling arrives at 3:15 with the H’s right staff set apart in a way that flips the Flip logo with SexHippies’ nonbinary peace sign logo.

Jasper, Andrew, Jojo and other hippies appear named in floral titling made by Bergen Hendrickson as minutes pass in gauzy dreamscape of shared memories, bangers and mashing with the boys who have cars around town and beyond. More than the right-wing seeks to demonize sexual freedom in cynical caricature, Sex Hippies’ proud claimation of cozy, textural caress promotes pure consideration of libidinous freedom.

Eddie Vargas Jr appears with his bouncy hair before 10 minutes. He restitches a ripped shoelace, then slams on a hang up as cymbol crash reveals Built to Spill covering Macy Gray’s fin de millennial anthem “I Try.” Where will he go from here? Straight into a fence. He believes that faith has brought him here: museum-front nollie back 180 down double digits. “Junior”’s the first name floral basis on which we greet him mid-line toward Faneuil Hall. Junior crooks a handrail shirtless, then holds his nose upstairs to throw down flatgap switch hardflip clad in Local Letters sweater and baggy black pants. Junior wears shorts with tall white Converse and SexHippies OG socks for nollie front-shove single, same fit for the next line that finishes with nollie hardflip into exceptionally crusty embankment.

Under grey sky beneath bare branches on brick ground fronting brick building, Protestant New England feels post-rapturous in precious afternoon hours before early darkness, unsettlingly warm, Eddie in a t-shirt locks into nollie crooks grinding through salad days, tre flips on generations of footsteps then back tails around to fakie so that he can Mitch Swongo into a fakie flip off curb into empty street past two-storey Colonials, not a car in sight. Next clip hits with grit and an audience, switch heel from cramped underpass parking lot over guardrail into crusty bank off the curb into street where friends watch for traffic. In state university courtyard he pops atop fountain edging to flatgap heelflip onto a faraway bench. Junior nosebonks then nollie front heels over quick pair of plaza blocks, clean until

the ground catches Junior fresh off that success, then video reverse resurrects him from first clip of the video slam before a three piece line through white concrete corporate courtyard recalls amateur Sean Malto in Kansas City exurbia. Junior’s kickflip back tail on a green painted bank to ledge is as smooth as possible, then he fakie flips along sidewalk beside red painted brick to switch crook loading dock to regs. Again wearing the local letters sweater Junior settles into switch backtail over fallen leaves swirling regular. The 12oz pearl weave cotton with all over embroidery X shorts assist breezy switch back 5-0 shove. Next clip shows Junior wearing Marsi tee in desert camouflage bankward nollieing over handrail. Camera lights nighttime black undershirted switch crooks onto switch black cellar plate.

Cloudy dusk, grey buildings and granite ground provide urban setting for nollie front 180 before Junior pivots a rarely seen fakie front heel, then exits plaza staging via exceptional nollie back 5-0 upon silverado handrail. That Doug Martsch is belting Macy’s vocals much as every listener has found themselves doing and may find themselves doing now certainly adds to collaborative multimedia communion effect. The viewer cheers success after success, growing certain that Junior will continue impressing us in further unanticipated waves as clips continue to crescendo. We’re familiar with his favorite outfits and tricks by now: the local letters sweater again, another laser dialed nollie hardflip, then fakie hardflip so we know he’s got ‘em both ways. Berber beanies and Hammer gloves indicate adverse conditions capably conquered.

The band jams out and fellows offer hi-5s as Junior’s speedy hits continue through all manner of boundary pushing terrain recontextualization. Camera shows psychic battle avant ender heelflip over unforgiving perpendicular bar drop into the affirmative arms of his boys who’ve been believing. Sex Hippies logo overlays finishing moments. Jules Muir edited HI. Johnny Wilson additionally filmed. Armin Bachman, Chris Kennedy, Ted Barrow and Virginia Sheehan receive special thanks. The essence of adolescence is not something to commodify lightly, so we are grateful that Ben has taken the time to introduce his carefully cultivated vision with help from Junior and the rest of the Sex Hippies.