O.D.G.

I have been avoiding éS Shoes for quite some time now. They typically run a bit narrower than my feet which is painful, and quite frankly I've been over the whole 90's retro vibe (although the Creagers look pretty good). However, when I came across these recently I was immediately infatuated with them. They seem like the kind of shoes I have been waiting for  éS to make without ever really realizing it. After umming and awwing for a few days I thought what the heck and scooped up a pair. I gotta tell you..they are above and beyond my expectations.  The fit is perfect, they are snug and secure and also comfortable. I really like the support around the ankle. The tongue is nice and puffy but not too much. There is some cool kind of rubber on the tongue that is just a different, unique feature. As mentioned, I have wider feet and these are just the right size. I am a 9.5 and these fit very well.  When viewed from above, I get a flashback to some 90's DC shoes with the navy b...

This question randomly popped into my head recently. I am genuinely curious who was the first skater to do this and in what video it occurred.  The earliest recollection I have of seeing one is from Rodney Mullen in Plan B's "Questionable" video from 1992. It would be at around the 2:34 mark.  I also recalled being impressed with Lavar McBride doing one over a bike rack in 20 Shot Sequence. This would be at the 1:39 mark in this video. I guess this was later though-1994.  So does Rodney get credit for inventing yet another trick? Or is there an earlier instance of a frontside 180 heelflip on record?? Please comment if you know of one. 

 Got these when they were first released. The grey version looked good to me, not too excited about the other options. They broke in super quick and they felt really great right out of the box. Somehow Etnies managed to find a way to have good board feel but without sacrificing good impact control. For the kind of skating that Aurelian does, you can only expect that this combination would be appealing. Surprisingly, the side of the the shoe where I ollie the most blew out after the third session (see below). I was kind of shocked as usually this part of a skate shoe will last me a while. I contemplated using some Shoe-Goo to repair them, but ended up just continuing to skate them and it didn't impact the performance of the shoe at all. As this was the first iteration of the shoe, I noticed that they updated the material from the rubber/vinyl kind of material to (what looks like) all suede so it might not be an issue any longer due to the different material being used.  N...

  https://youtu.be/mVIlLZHf0-0 Update... now have had three pairs. Will get a fourth pair soon. 

For comparison.. Business and Company  Primitive.   Also, check out the Marc interview on Thrasher recently. He's a kook, but he's our kook. 

Bought these on a whim. After wearing them casually for a while I skated them one day when my regular skate shoes were left at home. I was immediately impressed. The boardfeel was surprisingly good without feeling like I was absorbing too much impact. The sewn in insoles are something I have not seen before and I was very skeptical would work for me. But they have held up great and have not worn down at all. One thing that I have found I don't like about these shoes is that normally, because I do have insoles that I transfer between shoes (currently FP Insoles' Kingfoam Elite ), that without them in I have too much space in these shoes. I almost wish I would have gone a 1/2 size smaller to make them fit properly as there is space between my toes and the end of the shoes. Also I am finding that my Achilles tendon gets sore after wearing them for a significant amount of time. I think this is because of how loose they are and also because of very minimal support in the heel. ...

Can..not...stop...watching this!! Damn! http://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/trash/candyland/ Love seeing people skate EMB again..

Shorty's legend Sammy Baptista needs help with his medical expenses. Get more info and make a contribution using the link below. https://www.gofundme.com/help-sammy-baptista-get-back-on-his-board Check out Sam and the Shorty's team in this great new edit with unreleased footage from Fulfill the Dream below:

Even though I grew up in Southern California, having lived in the Sacramento area for more than a decade I also consider this my hometown. Sacramento has a rich history in skateboarding, and there are  tons of local skaters killing the skateparks and streets out here.  Tristen Moss is one of them.    By the way, if you are ever in town go to the 28th and B skatepark and look at the pyramid he ollies  at 2:00. It's inconceivable that someone could make it when you are standing on it in person..

What we have here is Dylan Gardner with a beastly kickflip over a handrail in Southern California (Ventura High School I believe). I went to High School with Dylan in Santa Barbara and just recall seeing him skating around, always ahead of the game.

After reading the recent Sal Barbier Interview on the Chrome Ball Incident, (which is fantastic by the way), and also perusing the recent Thrasher Magazine article  on skateboarding in the Olympics, I became curious as to what the proposed format is going to be like. Being that there have historically been many different competitive formats in skateboarding's long history (street, vert, mega ramp, luge, freestyle, etc. etc.), I couldn't help but be curious. After pondering the different possibilities I was able to track down someone from the International Olympic Committee (IOC)  who had some answers. First how did the International Olympic Committee (IOC) come to the decision to include skateboarding? Was it someone on the committee who proposed it or if it was brought forth by a third party? The addition of Skateboarding to the Olympic programme in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 resulted from an 18-month process called the OCOG Proposal, where the host city (in th...

  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..

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 .

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. 

  Man, this sucks.. . RIP Dylan

  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.. 

              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...

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...

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..

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...