Guest Blogger #3: Ozzie Ausband

It was Kyle Lightner's blog that brought Ozzie to my attention. Let me tell you something. Ozzie and I are kindred spirits. He, too, is someone I've yet to meet. However, we are in total agreement about the way life should be lived. As of today, Ozzie's birthday, we are the same age. We're of the same generation. And yet, neither one of us is a great believer in the pursuit of happiness through the acquisition of stuff—money, high-powered careers, material possessions. Ozzie skates. Period. His life is all about skating. His blog is all about pool skating as it relates to his life. Skaters, surfers . . . we all get stereotyped as being shallow and single minded in a way that ensures the long, slow death of the brain cells required to think critically and speak intelligently. When you read Ozzie's blog, you have to remind yourself that the blogger is not a published author with many books to his credit. Ozzie's writing is so genuine that you can literally get lost in it. That is the mark of a talented writer. Happy Birthday, Ozzie!


Pool skating is a subculture; the bastard child of skateboarding. It is the dark sheep...the one that always works against the grain. How does that Bad Religion song go? "Swimming upstream. I maintain against the grain." Everything we do is ordered around stealth and solitude. We can't let on about anything we know or find because it becomes dangerous for us.

When I find a big right-hand kidney pool, I must keep it under wraps. I still need to mollify the neighbors into thinking that I am there on legitimate grounds. I don't wear skate clothing or shoes, and keep skateboards hidden inside the car out of sight. I wear work boots, have a hardhat & walkie talkie; I basically appear like I work for the water company or something.

When an old neighbor lady looks out and see's me in the foreclosed yard next door, I look like I belong. She never questions it. "She thinks, "Oh, its the water company or a pool man." I wave, grab my pump and generator, go in and drain the damn thing. A week later, me & my pool pals go back. She see's my car again....and thinks nothing of it. Stealth. Remove suspicion.

Pool riding is a strange thing. Its tough. I have seen skateboard professionals that ride ramps and all, go to a backyard pool and receive a fair amount of humility. It isnt easy. The shallow end must be learned and adapted to, or you will get served up a cement nap. In the end it comes down to this. Fun is where you find it. If your type of fun is found in a bar on sundays watching a bunch of overpaid guys run around in tights and crushing each other over a football...go for it! That won't be for me. I will be down the street from that bar draining the neighbors pool. Skate long-Ozzie

Skaters pictured: peter king, partain, ozzie, salba.
Photos by peter king & zach petschek& kyle lightner&brandon wong