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Showing posts from 2016

All Hail..

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  Repost from.. I don't know, few years ago I guess. Early Cardiel stuff really had an impact on me. Dude just went for it so hard.  Crazy that I live in the same town as him now and have come across him a few times.. My buddy that I go skate with all the time did physical therapy with him after being shot head in the head twice (yes, you read that correctly). Trip out on that..

Guy or Die...

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All of the Election controversy reminded me of another recent upset. The highly contested passing over of Guy Mariano for David Gonzalez as S.O.T.Y. I saw this recently which was a reminder of how much great footage Guy put out in recent years. Have there been any new developments in the board company him and Eric have been working on? I haven't heard anything.. also, vert is dead has some great retro girl/chocolate stuff going on right now. Check it out .

Tom and Alex

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Feeling a bit heavy after that last post... so taking a slight detour. Great flick of the legendary Tom Penny by the equally talented Arto Saari. And Alex Olson...well, not quite sure what to say about this ollie. It doesn't make sense how someone could be capable of ollieing that high.  Hopefully I will have the chance to go skate this weekend. My friend from Brazil Dan is in town. Such a character.. apparently he's been working on a fishing boat in Alaska for the last few months. He calls me up put of the blue and first thing he says is "hey, do you have socks and a shoestring I can borrow?" I meet him at the skatepark, he's in borrowed clothes, board, and shoes.. and it's apparent that he hasn't lost a step in what he's able to do on a skateboard. Nice ,(but also intimidating), to be around someone so talented, it pushes you to try harder. 

Remembering...Dylan Rieder

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  Man, this sucks.. . RIP Dylan

Remembering...Ray Underhill

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  Another vert skater that I don't know too much about.. Ray seemed to come into the spotlight as street was becoming more popular in the very early 90's. This is one of only two Powell Peralta pro model boards that I am aware of that he had. I always found the religious symbolism intriguing. RIP.. 

Remembering...Jeff Phillips

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              I don't know much about Jeff Phillips other than he invented the "Phillips 66" , had his own skatepark in Dallas Texas, and skated with a skull crossbones on his helmet..  that pretty much qualifies him for Legend status. R.I.P...
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So...I'm all set to start working on posts regarding skaters who have passed on..my brilliant scheme is to use scanner at work rather than purchase a new one.. and the damn thing stops working on me! I swear, I'm cursed. Anywho, should be ready to go by next week. In the meantime, came across this Wink's Links video with Tom Penny, Jesus Fernandez,Brahian Londono (not sure who this is) and Chris Roberts aka "Crob" in Barcelona. Fascinating character that Tom...

Shame, shame, shame..

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Dear Tactics, If you are going to "Pay Tribute to Keenan Milton" featuring a clothing line, decks, etc.... ..the least you can do is feature an ad of said legendary skater rather than his former teammate. Here is the original ad with Stevie Williams via Chromeball. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be negative, but if you are spotlighting one of the most revered skaters in skateboarding, you need to make sure that you are honoring the right guy. Stuff like this just really irritates me. And so, I will be starting a series that I hinted at a while ago featuring Pro Skaters who have left us. So that we don't forget..

10 tricks I would steal from pros (if I could)

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Note: Scanner took a dump so I couldn't get all the images I wanted on here. I'll be back with some more new/old stuff soon.. In no particular order...  1. Andrew Reynolds' frontside flip. Alright, let's get the obvious out of the way. Dude owns this trick and can do it down, up, over anything. Almost looks too easy for him. Close runner up would be Mike Carroll and of course Tom Penny, both legends who have shown total mastery of the trick for years with unique style and minimal effort. 2. Dylan Rieder's impossible. I couldn't think of a better description for Dylan's use of the trick than the name itself. Going over the barrier at Street League then that bench in NYC was already a mind-fuck. Than dude takes it over the chain link fence to massive drop with a tail grab to boot and it's a done deal. It would be a sin if I didn't mention Ed Templeton as well.  My historical facts are murky but he was clearly one of the pioneers of bringing...

30 years of Blockhead

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For your viewing pleasure... Matt Hensley from one of the most influential skate videos of all time. 

Black History Month in Skateboarding (Leftovers)

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So February came and went. I only thought to focus on skaters for Black History Month partway through the month, and quickly realized that it would be quite a Herculean task. I also had a moral dilemma about the whole thing. Is it cool to single out skaters based on their race? I always thought of skating as being an equalizer in terms of if you got skills on the board, it doesn't matter what color your skin is. But that's just my experience... Ron Chatman, back in the early 90's, and again in 2011.  One of my heroes, Ron Allen. Was at a Demo/Contest at the same time as him recently and just missed him by a hair. Would love to do an interview..  Couple Jovontae Turner flicks. Eric Britton  Can't leave out Sal! Stevie Williams with a massive frontside noseslide..

All Smiles...

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No complies (or as Ray calls them "Step-Hops") and shoes with toe caps are all the rage these days, but Ray brought both to the spotlight a looong time ago..  Talk about a life in skateboarding! What hasn't Ray done? And still does. Have yet to see the Vans Propeller video, but I assume he has some tricks? As an aside, how come he's never had his own shoe? Hm..... 
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This page randomly fell out of a magazine from my collection recently and I picked it up, looked at it and thought "this is great!". I was going to scan it and put it up with some other random scans, but saw it again today and knew it had to be now. It's from a tour article that took place in Australia.  I followed in Terry's footsteps and did the sober thing this weekend. First time in a long time. Felt pretty good really. Was up early and skated Saturday, and also today. Who knows, could be a trend..  Will continue with a look at African American skaters for Black History Month.
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In honor of Black History Month, I figured I would spotlight some African American (trying to be PC here, but if you're from France are you African-American?) skaters who have made an impact in skateboarding one way or another. To be honest, I never knew that Stephane rode for 23 skateboards until I copped this magazine from 1997 a couple years ago. It just adds to my admiration for the dude. This part back in the day really stood out to me at the time it came out.  Not sure why he faded out of the spotlight (at least in the U.S.), but I found him on Instagram and apparently still skates!

Product Review: Emerica Brandon Westgate

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If I had to sum this shoe up in one word, it would be..."daaaammnnn"... super comfortable and stylish, very durable, and affordable. It's almost paying homage to skate shoes of yesteryear with a departure from the current trend of slimmed down designs, with a sporty kind of look, but also remaining functional. I was really surprised at how tough these shoes are. Usually I begin to wear down the side of a skate shoe within a couple times of skating them but these have lasted much longer than I anticipated. I did have to Shoe Goo it after about a month of skating, but the sole still shows only very little sign of wear and tear. They show up on the E merica website for $89, but you might be able to get them for cheaper. Either way, check them out. You'll definitely get your money's worth.