I really have gotten good about not complaining about working. The unemployment rate is super high, most of my friends are under or unemployed, and I have had trouble finding work for the first time in years. So a three-week job assisting a French photographer who builds food sculptures for a national retailer was a welcome gold mine. After one particularly long day of work, I get a phone call on my way out of the studio from Jake Moreau.

Jake is always super-enthusiastic about skating, and this was no exception. I tried to follow what he was saying, but I was pretty worn out from 14 hours of shooting, and not looking forward to my eight-mile bike ride through an industrial part of town, but I pieced together what he was saying. He had built this steel mask for a shot we were doing for the cover of the upcoming video “Roll Models.” But he did not want to wait to try on his new mask. He told me to come shoot; I told him I was pretty tired, then he assured me there would be beer. As I rode home, I realized how cool skating is. Only in skating do people who have worked long days meet up to skate obscure office parks at 11:30 pm while drinking in public and wearing a death mask.

The photo notes on this shot are nothing too special; shot from on top of Jake’s car with two lights, one back 3/4ths, and one camera-right with an umbrella on it. The real hero and story here is Jake’s scary-fast Topside Mistrial, and scary mask! — John Haynes