Mat
Date
Time
Place
Slug
October 18, 2025
11:00am
Staten Island, New York
“Ox”
Peace of Mind.
A Calm Place at a Slug’s Pace.
Where is your calm place? Where is the place you can go to to clear your mind? To take a moment for yourself. To forget about the problems and anxieties of the world and simply be present. For me, that place is the beach. But hey, guess what? This story isn’t about me. It’s about my friend Mat. And his calm place is at a lake, skipping rocks. So this Slug Story is about my friend Mat a lake, skipping rocks.
Rock Therapy.
I met Mat a couple months ago on a Slug Story shoot. Because the release of the Slug Story has had to be delayed, I cannot reveal the Slugger nor activity in this passage, however, there’s one piece of the story I can tell, and that is, during a conversation in between locations, Mat, our videographer for the day, communicated to me that he loved skipping rocks to calm his mind. I thought that was the coolest shit ever. It doesn’t get more timeless and wholesome than skipping rocks. Meditation, lifting weights, therapy… sure, but seeing a rocks hop 10 times across a body of water? That will undoubtedly change any mood into a positive one.
Rock or iPhone?
We decided to meet up at Clove Lake Park around 11 AM to shoot this thing. We had met here before for a shoot, so it felt right to do it again. We walked for a while trying to find the right spot. Along the way we discussed many things: the new camera gear he just got, snorkeling adventures… the usual. During our conversations, Mat began to scout clusters of rocks. As I set up the camera and tripod, Mat found 15 rocks, all different shapes and sizes. You know, people underestimate the rock (not Dwayne), but stones that come from the ground. They feel so great in your hand. I don’t know what’s better to hold a rock or an iPhone. But, today I’d probably choose rock.
Less is More.
You know a video is good when it takes the least amount of shots possible, and for this video, all we really only needed was one. Mat made his first time “acting” effortless. After a couple minutes, we got what we needed. Sometimes you don’t have to overcomplicate it. You don’t have to seek anything other than what you already have at your disposal. All you need is rock.