Sketchy Ass DSLR Photography
I do not have an artsy bone in my body, but I like to try. Here are some randoms...
Fall 2008
May 2010
June 2010
June 2009
July 2010
April 2009
December 2010
December 2010
November 2010
June 2010
June 2010
May 2010
Taco Bus in Downtown Tampa Opened Up Today
Fuck yes for Downtown Tampa. The Bus is here. The grand opening was today and I stopped by for lunch.
Jimbo is the localest OG fuckin local of Downtown Tampa, runnin shit everywhere from The Hub to Skypoint on his cruiser and backin' The Bus coming to our hood. He sings Avril Levine "Sk8er Boi" when he sees me downtown. This dude rips.
It's nice to see Fresh next door backing this growth. Locals businesses that work together show this is a community, not a douchebusiness fest like the cab driver or convenience store industry.
Brittany opted for a salad from Fresh today.
I'm a fan of Fresh, but today is for The Bus.
We didn't get down here until after the normal society lunch hour, but things were still pretty busy.
Thanks for the bangin' burrito, Taco Bus. Welcome to downtown.
Dinner and Drinks at The Bricks in Ybor
Stopped by The Bricks in Ybor tonight for a stroll through SPoT...
Quality characters Tom and Myles.
Don't just look in the window. Come in!
Use human power to get around more.
Starters.
Basil from the rooftop garden in this.
Work from the Album Art Show.
All Bricks purchases get 10% off at SPoT
The Bricks Ybor Photo Album + Record Sale Show
Thanks for stopping by last night if you were here at the Photo Album Art Show. Here's what I found in my camera this morning.
From the Tumblr: Art After Dark at Tampa Museum of Art
A few photos from Art After Dark at the Tampa Museum of Art
We got there a little late…
From the Tumblr: Cigar City Brewery Tour
Took a stroll through the Cigar City Brewery today in Tampa. They’re making some tasty sauce in this little warehouse off Dale Mabry. The local beer nerd tells you all kinds of random facts. This place was started just a few years ago in 2009.
From the Tumblr: A Stroll Through Downtown Tampa at Night
I rolled through all around downtown Tampa on a cruiser board with the D3S tonight. Here are a few snaps from along the way.
Party GIFs
Fancy footwork in the alley, made even more entertaining by being solo.
Testing a GoPro Camera in the Streets of Tampa
I attached this thing to the nose of my skateboard and pushed around through the neighborhood here. I guess it doesn't attach too well on a scraped up nose. It broke off and took a tumble on a boardslide at the bus bench ledges. The case is all banged up but the camera still works fine. Back to the drawing board for now.
SPoT Life Show on YouTube
I love seeing big media, content creation, and marketing change power and hands. Technology and the way it simplifies communication is the leading force behind all this. And of course, I luh that tekmology. It's amazing to see even super large old school brands like Coke get it and change their strategy. Google's recent investment in content creation through YouTube was also an amazing turning point in media for the masses. Through Skatepark of Tampa, I'm lucky enough to witness a tiny piece of this firsthand through a show we have with YouTube starting next month. Many of our friends in the industry also got a show. Ours is called SPoT Life. Starting February 1, we now have a full time filmer on staff at the Park. Joe Pelham is only spending a portion of his time on the show. The rest will be our own content we're creating. It's going to be a crazy 2012. Subscribe to the channel right here.
New Year's Day Amazing Danger
New Year's Day started out mellow at Seamus' ramp until Schaefer brough gasoline to the fireworks pit. Here's a minute of it and how the world ended in 2012 with a huge explosion on the flat bottom. Filmed and edited on an iPhone 4s.
Happy Ten Years
Just over a decade ago, the dot com bubble was bursting and my job at the software company I worked at took a poop along with the company itself...
X100 Sucks So Good
The X100 is the best worst camera out. Great photos, terrible operations. This is straight from the camera on a night in Curtis Hixon Park in Downtown Tampa.
90's Madness: Out With Tha Ledge Butta Turned Curb Cutta
Took a brick of old Ledge Butta to the curbs by my house for yet another 90's session sans big pants and small wheels.
Family Dance Party
Maureen, Jasmine, and Quinton are over for Christmas 2011 and some dance down animation of GIFs.
Skatepark of Tampa 2011 Wrap-Up
- We started the year off in Orlando for the Quiksilver All 80's All Day Vert Challenge.
- We had a Maloof High Ollie Contest at SPoT.
- There was another Valentine's Day Massacre 2011 Presented by Vans at SPoT.
- We watched Aldrin Garcia snap the world record ollie in Vegas.
- Clem and Tony Hawk did demos in Abu Dhabi.
- Etnies brought the teamp to Tampa and helped us raise money for Boards for Bros.
- The skateboard industry's Team Managers and Industry VIPs had another fun Contest at Tampa Pro.
- Many people said Dennis Busenitz Tampa Pro win was the best contest run of all time.
- Maloof Skateboarding brought us to Panama City Beach for Maloof U Madness.
- In case you didn't figure it out yet, the Tampa Pro exclusive contract was an April Fool's joke.
- Porpe took DP and Clive to skate Phoenix Am.
- I got married and had a rolling bachelor party.
- There was another Spring Roll All Ages Contest 2011 presented by DVS at SPoT.
- Bryan Hermand and Fred Gall went to Naples with us for a demo.
- Red Bull had us in Nashville for Manny Mania.
- Nike SB helped us do the first annual Damn Am in Atlanta.
- Red Bull also had Mind the Gap in the streets of Atlanta.
- Clements continued with the road trips.
- Skateboarder Mag had us out in LA for the Second Annual Make-A-Wish Jam at Stoner Skatepark.
- Maloof Skateboarding has us back in NYC for the Maloof Money Cup.
- DC had us in Denmark for the Tampa Pro of Europe: Copenhagen Pro.
- While in Europe, I went on skate tourist mission in Prague and also met Rothmeyer in Bruge.
- After the tourist mission, Volcom had us in Holland for AmsterDamn Am.
- Porpe took Boards for Bros to Costa Rica.
- Vans helped us celebrate the One Year Anniversary of The Bricks and SPoT Skate Shop Ybor.
- I went to Barcelona with P-Rod for his fifth shoe release.
- Weezy stopped by SPoT.
- We met Cameron Diaz in the airport.
- CONS had us at Huntington Beach for Coastal Carnage.
- The Zero and DGK teams stopped by SPoT for the Fresh 'Till Death tour.
- Nike SB had us in Shanghai for a Damn Am and all types of other skateboard madness.
- Tony Hawk stopped by SPoT.
- Empire had us in Montreal for the Backyard Party.
- Maloof Skateboarding had us in Washington DC for another Maloof Money Cup.
- While in DC, I saw that I got a photo in the Smithsonian.
- Billabong had us in Toronto for Damn Am Canada.
- Clem and Justin did trade show travel to NYC and road tripped it to Street League.
- It was a busy summer and we were all spread thin. Porpe had to run his fisrt contest on his own: Maloof Line Challenge in Las Vegas.
- The line wrapped around the building and started 24 hours early for the Cigar City Dunk Release.
- We had another Booze Cruise in Tampa.
- Maloof Skateboarding had us in Kimberley, South Africa for another Maloof Money Cup.
- Porpe brought Boards for Bros to South Africa.
- Nike SB had us on campus in Portland to discuss the future and how we plan to improve it.
- Volcom and Woodward had us at Woodward West in California for the first Damn Am at Woodward.
- We set aside time for our charity.
- Clements had the best Halloween costume.
- We donated our time and services for the 15th Annual Johnny Romano Skate Jam Benefitting Make-A-Wish.
- On that same weekend, Clements was in Vegas donating services for Tony Hawk's Stand up for Skateparks.
- We had another Harvest Jam All Ages Contest at SPoT.
- We rebuilt the course at SPoT for the 18th annual time.
- HiDefJoe's brother brought Boards for Bros to Afganistan.
- Porpe and crew got kicked out of Warped Tour again.
- Black Friday was another success at SPoT.
- We celebrated our 19-Year Anniversary Party with Dr. Octagon and everyone in town for Tampa Am.
- Nike SB brought the whole team to Tampa for the SB Chronicles premiere.
- Ishod won Damn Am of the Year then turned pro.
- Trevor Colden won Tampa Am.
- We did a Boards for Bros distribution in Tampa.
- We had our 10th Annual SPoT Ghetto Christmas Party.
- For the third year in a row, our final charity event of the year involved motorboats and ass smacks.
- Whew! Let's do that again and then some in 2012! See you next year!
- Goodbye's From Recent Years:
The XMas Numbers
Top 5 Animations Clicked on Meronek.com/Christmas.
- Smores - really? That's the simplest one. Brittany made that one.
- Mr. Potato Head. Hmm, we could have done better on that one, but whatever.
- Tampa Scoot By. We only have one Vespa. Hollywood GIF magic makes it double.
- Instant Photo. If you've been over, you've seen our crazy wall of these instants.
302 visits so far, 216 unique.
In comparison, MeAndPorpe.com:
265 visits so far, 227 unique.
Thanks for checking it out, everyone!
Another Dance Party
More from the SPoT Ghetto Christmas Party at The Bricks:
Animated Christmas GIF
Dinosaur attacks, frontflip to 5-0, snow at the Tampa Theater...we had a fun time making this digital Christmas card...
Kreayshawn, VNasty, and Jesus
A small sample from the dance floor at The Bricks last night during the 10th Annual SPoT Ghetto Christmas Party: Kreayshawn, VNasty, and Jesus Running Shit at SPoT Ghetto Christmas Party.
Partying Pregnant Ladies and Jesus
Partying pregnant ladies and Jesus getting down. Only at the SPoT Ghetto Christmas Party.
Boards for Bros and Hos
Last week we went and did a small distribution for our Boards for Bros charity in the ghetto in Tampa. Those hood kids are so damn nice. They changed it up a bit when they realized I was filming, though.
This week, we continued giving out the boards at the 2001 strip club. TechDeck hooked it up and we passed them out to the kids through Santa's Strippers and Toys for Tatas program. Thanks Bubba the Love Sponge for all the Skatepark of Tampa callouts and putting Clements on the air for a bit.
Here's a few minutes of video from those two adventures. This was all filmed and edited on an iPhone 4S and iMovie.
Toys for Tatas
Our charity work at Skatepark of Tampa continues as we drop off toy skateboards for the kids via Santa's Strippers at 2001 in Tampa.
Curtis Hixon Fountains Ruined
Another otherwise amazing animated GIF from downtown Tampa's Curtis Hixon Park, this time ruined by some fucked up subliminal message.
Merry Shaky Christmas Tree
Oops, camera shift by one pixel makes it look like an earthquake in Curtis Hixon Park in downtown Tampa.
SPoT Life
We're under our first contract to produce content on a scheduled basis in 2012. It's a show, but not TV. What do you call that? A "video show" maybe? YouTube and Google have taken their first steps in the direction of ABC/NBC/CBS territory and old school content delivery via the boob tube and all the layers they've built to protect it. I'm looking forward to watching it all come down over the next decade or so. Baby steps like a bunch of people getting these YouTube video shows is just the beginning. Ours is called SPoT Life. Step one is to make the bumper/intro. Our friends at 900 Films sent over a sample that I got a laugh out of. It's Schaefer, Clements, and me in a boat towing along Porpe.
Green Christmas in Tampa
Do we have two Vespas now or is that Hollywood GIF magic?
Tampa Am 2011 Traffic Stats
In the time period from Thursday through Monday during Tampa Am, there were 137,801 visitors with 84,002 of them being unique. 20,762 (15%) of these were from a mobile device. Chrome was the most popular browser at 29% followed by Safari at 24%, Firefox at 21%, and Internet Explorer at 16%. 54% of the traffic was from the US with the rest of the traffic nearly evenly spread between Brazil, Canada, France, Columbia, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Chile, and the UK. Statistics from the webcast include:
- 1,357,035 minutes streamed.
- 275,995 total webstream requests.
- 12.345 terabytes were streamed. Maybe we should start a donations page for our bandwidth bill. For comparison, Tampa Pro streamed 6.6 terabytes. We nearly doubled traffic with Tampa Am's webcast after we actually put effort into promoting this time.
- 4,682 maximum simultaneous viewers.
- As far as average viewer time for webcasts, our host tells us that anything over 20 minutes is good, 30 minutes is great, and over an hour is amazing. Our average viewer time was over an hour so thanks everyone for staying tuned in the whole time.
- The number of Likes on our Facebook page went from 59,100 at noon on Sunday to over 62,500 when the webcast was done at 6pm.
Group Photo
I thought Elisha had the camera? Maybe this was Brittany snapping all these? It's a 2am group photo when I should be in bed because I have to wake up and work for 14 hours in the morning. At least it's a fun job.
Tapeworm Frontside Flip
Man, I wish I would have paid attention in Spanish so I could talk to all these kids around the world I'm meeting. The language barrier always makes for some entertaining miscommunications, though. This kid is claiming Venezuelan tapeworm frontside flips at age nine. Google Translate, you have a long way to go.
Comedy?
I like trying to be the joker and make my friends laugh. Many times it's just me that's laughing. Oh, well. Technically, having the only laugh means I have the last laugh. Here's some comdey as I see it.
- Guavaween Crazy Preacher in Ybor City
- Hot of the Press: Frontside Grind Magazine
- The XMas Numbers
- Skypoint Tampa Says Call Cops When Dogs Poop, People Skateboard
- Skateboarding Tickets in Downtown Tampa and Disrespecting the Court
- Landshark Attack
- Dirtbag Gets Facebook Account Deleted, Film at 11
- OMG Free Skateboarding!?!?
- Learning Chinese is Fun
- Animated Christmas GIF
Who Dat?
Rob Meronek: Software Developer, Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, Sorta Photographer, Sorta Writer, Nerd, Part Time Idiot, Filthy Skateboarder, 99% Sarcasm, 100% Comedy, Animated GIFs, Fuck Yeah. This site is a mix of all that. I work at a crusty skateboard hut called Skatepark of Tampa. I do computer stuff, some general bid'niss crap, a little bit of marketing in my own way, and help out with anything I can.