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My name is Neal, aka "grimcity," which has been my online handle since somewhere around 1998.

I have the best life in the world. For real. During the day, I'm a Louisiana State government computer geek, multimedia developer, and a manager of technology for the government program I work for. I love Louisiana, I love politics, and I really love being a geek so I win on all counts... my day job is what I'd be doing anyway, but I feel extremely lucky that I'm able to apply my love for technology to my work on behalf of the state that I live in. I work for fellow taxpayers, and though I'm just a lowly guy hidden in the background of government, I never forget the purpose of work, which is ultimately to support and uphold the Constitution of Louisiana, and do my part to make my my state's administration's job easier. I'm proud to serve the public, and I always feel lucky that there's a place for my nerdiness in government. I also bleed skateboarding. I started skating when I was 10 years old while living in rural Jackson, Louisiana. I never stopped skating or stepped off for any reason other than for injury recuperation. Hell, my bachelor party the night before I got married was a skate session with my friends. Over the years, I've skated for a few shops, and two different board companies (small and small-ish sized companies, respectively). I currently skate for and represent Small Time Skates skateshop in Hammond, Louisiana, where I also live. Small Time Skates is my heart, and it's owned by a dude who might as well be my brother. All of the videos we make for the shop are hosted under this account. Along with the shop, I also share a lot of videos that I've self filmed (partially and in whole) that cover different things... sometimes I get an urge to film random skating, so I do. This account is in large part a skateboarding video blog, and as you'll be seeing more and more, I also get a lot of new skateboarding products sent to me for review.

About my skateboard-related reviews:
I think skate magazine reviews are crap. I mean, I sincerely doubt a magazine would call a product "junk" and tell it like it is, especially if that company advertises in the same mag. Lucky for me, I have a day job completely unrelated to skateboarding. If a company sends me something and it's junk, it'll be obvious right in front of the camera. I'll gladly accept and review any products that any company makes, but rest assured, I won't be making a commercial for you. The only two entities in the world that I'd make a commercial for would be Small Time Skates, or for Deluxe Distribution (Indy, Real, Krooked, Anti Hero, Spitfire, etc) if they ever asked. That's mainly because I love Deluxe, and I'm friends with the guys that run the place, Jim and Mic-E. Every once in a while I get to test ride stuff that they're working on, which is always fun. Deluxe is pretty much my sole bias... you may see me giving them props on occasion. That's because they've done a lot for me, and I think they're the best thing on the industry side of skateboarding. The other videos here (comedic attempts, video experiments) are for my caffeine-addled blog at www.grimcity.com (beware, random, spastic content).

If you're interested in contacting me for a product review, or you feel compelled to talk about the weather, I can be reached at vectornerd [at] gmail [dot] com.

And to prevent further messages of this nature: yes, I was one of the "other guys" on Mike Vallely's show Drive (The South: Episode 2). The clip in question is in my stash here (Mega Epic Hambone).

Skate liberally!
-Neal

PS
I'm a geek, so say what's up!
MySpace:
www.myspace.com/vectornerd
Blog:
www.grimcity.com
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/grimcity