AND THE TREE COMES DOWN.

"THEY'RE DIGGING IN THE RIGHT PLACE!!!"

Super cool series online by Skateboarder Magazine, "Raiders of the Archives." They are short videos looking into the offices and/or archives (literally, shelves, boxes, walls) of great artists and photographers in the professional skateboard world. This post links to my favorite (though they are all great), that being Andy Jenkins, one of my favorite artists, whom I've posted about before. He gives the rare treat of showing some of the conceptual work that happens before a graphic or ad is made, including sketches and renderings from another one of my absolute favorites, Evan Hecox who does amazing graphics for Chocolate Skateboards.

Very inspiring series, and makes you want to dig into the vaults. (And get organized...)

WHEEL BITE vs. HEEL BITE

This image comes to mind:

NEW (YEARS) SPOT CHECK

New Years Eve skate-a-thon, found some secret weirdness. Very fun. Old men street skating. As usual, Blair gets 5 things, I get 1.

I ONLY WANTED TO SEE YOU SKATING IN THE PURPLE RAIN...

Aside from the cost of ruined gear, skating in the rain is underrated.

STUCK IN TIME

Jay Adams, Stecyk's iconic eye classic. I used to to manuals at the bottom of that hill, Santa Monica. 

Do I need to comment? Another Stecyk. Not sure of the gnarler.

Bryan Ferdinand, backyard ramp pivot to fakie. Chucka boots or bedtime slippers??

Rodney Mullen, impossible over Grants stick cam, before most could ollie. 

Any photo of Gonz is rad. I remember thinking "why?" Now I think, "why the fuck not??" was always his attitude.

One of my top 5 favorites. Straight from San Diego to Seattle with Daniel Harold Sturt, (driving a rented car because he [Hensley] was too afraid of flying) got the photo, drove home. This hat is now 5 minutes from my house.

Another top 5. Wish the car and weren't there. But this is like herding cats. The only reason it's in focus is because they are connected. This is taken probably 50 yards from the Jay Adams photo.

Anyone know the story on this one? Is it real? Is he Gleaming the Cube?

Grant Brittain's experimentation (see also the Rodney pic) with cameras on sticks made for some of the best photos ever. Chris Miller nosebone. A very photogenic meteor. 

I remember Surt saying he had 911 ready to dial on his cell phone when he shot this. I was always amazed at how short Wray actually is in person. Flea gene DNA splicing?

I just love this photo, that's all. Dune, SF, circa whenever.


THIS POST WILL KEEP GROWING. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITES?

Also, odd I had this post already in the works, when I came across Grosso's Love Letter to skateboardings best photos. Bad azz commentaries, funny motherfucker. 

THE DAVE CHAPPELLE OF SKATEBOARDING...

Didn’t Welsh basically save your life after you fell of that bridge? 

Save my life? He fell on top of me! That dude almost killed me! Son of a bitch fell on top of me and didn’t get a scratch on him! I fell off the damn bridge all drunk and woke up in ICU wondering why the fuck Joey Pepper is holding my hand? I had all these needles in me… looking down at the cathodor like, “What the fuck is this thing in my dick!?!”


EPIC CLYDE SINGLETON INTERVIEW OVER AT ONE OF MY FAVORITE BLOGS, CHROME BALL...


I also highly recommend watching 20 Shot Sequence with Clyde's commentary. (World Box Set)

"DON'T YOU EVER, EVER, EVER HAVE THAT MUCH FUN AGAIN!"

More wintery video. One winter night downtown Seattle, Brian Henderson and Quinn Davis, circa 1994. Downtown at night during the holidays is lit up like Vegas.

Previously posted at: QAD MISC: One Night Downtown:

NOT JUST LIKE THE GUYS IN THRASHIN'.

Really stoked to see this going to Sundance. Can't wait to see it.

Cool little Interview with Stacy Peralta with dates and showing times for the January festival in Utah.

Preview:



UPDATE: From the premier....

UDPATE 2: Tons of new/old merchandise and weird offers (including pre-ordering the video) in lieu of the release date approaching (Nov. 6, 2012) Check the video of Stacy and preview.

STAY CALM

DOLLY CAM AT MARGINAL?

The New Kid on Lib...filmed a commercial (I assume for Lib) at Marginal last weekend on a very cold day. Great attitude, he was very patient, helping a crew to set up a dolly cam and lights. He needed no warm up. Boneless to disaster on the tall wedge wall. Keep your eyes on this one.

STRIKE A POSE / TRIP ON THE EGO

Jammer jeans with suspenders, teal shirt, neon painters cap and a curly mullet.

Dear Lord, it's amazing what the ego can allow you to do (to yourself). I saw this guy once in Maui at a gift shop, I was probably 9. All I remember was he was super tall, and I was not the biggest Night Rider fan, but I was stoked. The fact that this guy is still famous is a serious embarrassment to our species, and a major set-back to any dignified woman trying to identify with a hetero brethren in modern Western culture.

I wish I could see how long it took him to wobble down into the solitary surfer stance....hope he didn't get hurt. And where did the brand new Powell set-ups come from?

SPOT CHECK: JENNY WRIGHT, IN BACK.

First handrail I ollied onto (back in the day, cave-man's came first....) and slid. No straight runway, 90 degree Tron turn to get on. The motivation was seeing Alex Alvarez front board-sliding it. That was amazing not only for the time, but let alone the small town. (What ever happened to that guy??) We had some serious talent.

Seth took this photo. I'm posting it in lieu of a nice short visit from him, his better half, and brilliant son, Talus tonight.

This spot will come up again....I broke the subtalar part of my talus off kickflipping the little 5 stairs in front, (which I used to skate more than any other spot) then had it razed from its awkward, uncomfortable reposition via surgery. I have the removed bone and ligament scraps in a plastic jar, and showed it to Talus tonight. I wouldn't let him open it, no. Namesake it isn't, but odd it was.

FREEDOM IS A RELATIVE TERM / TIGHT TRANSITIONS

In light of Mumia's death penalty sentence being reduced to life, I thought this photo (an old top-5 favorite...one I remember vividly in one of my first Thrasher's) was appropriate. Still wearin' the stripes, but able to do amazing things in a small space.

CHRISTMAS LIST TOPPER

I beat this when they had it in the mall...is that something to brag about?

TEXAS IS THE REASON

In the summer of 1995 Q and Chris took a greyhound for 4 days to Corpus Christi Texas, via Billings, to pick up a car and drive it back to Seattle any route we chose. Houston, the deepest limestone cave in the country: Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Los Angeles were major hits after leaving Texas in my new Chevy Celebrity. We traveled roughly 5252.9 miles round trip.

Unfortunately, our video documentation came to an abrupt end when Chris got hit by a big wave while filming us surfing on Padre Island, TX. Only a few photos and some skate footage was all we had of the rest.

This is a short edit of what we did get.

SKATERS: 1 - UNIBOMBER: 0

I vaguely remember this, which is to say, I don't remember it at all. Street skating brings you in face-to-face combat with so many poor souls, it's impossible to keep record of them all. Between knives, fireworks thrown from moving cars, iron clubs, mace, and guns, one tends to lose memory of the relatively passer-by's. Aside from the fact that I wish I remember this Cohen Brothers character, I need some assistance.

Who took the photo? (Blair?) Does Chris remember this? Did it escalate? He looks ready to watch a Bears game and shoot some shit if they lose the game.

Strange thing is, I dress more like him these days than the kite-flying shit I had on there. But I did have Jovante's last board....

LATER NOTE: I asked Chris about this and all he had to say was "Ha, mall grab skills."

WELL, HAVE YOU?

Does your mother support your skateboarding?

Andy, Vinnie, Gerwer.

SPOT CHECK: TRACYTON ELEMENTARY

Blair and I brought this kiddie table from Washboard's and tried flippies over it. I don't know why we didn't get them. That's a little Josh Renner in the background. He probably could've done either first try.


Tracyton got cut out of the budget a few years ago, co-opted students going to another school in a consolidation move which must've sucked for both student and teacher. It's just a grass field now.

COFFEE AND CIGARETTES

Melody (AKA "Mel" back in the day) is an old friend. She sent me
this nice little ditty:

It's Saturday, around 8:30pm on a warm, breezy summer evening. I'm 36
years old. I just left work and am walking to my car. I hear the sound of
wheels on pavement, and the unmistakable sound of wood sliding on a curb,
echoing out of the parking garage across the street. As soon as I hear
these familiar sounds, I am 17 again. I imagine the boys inside of that
garage with ridiculously baggy pants and flannel shirts. The sound track
playing in my mind: Operation Ivy, NOFX, Descendents. I can taste the
Mountain Dew and as I take a deep breath, I can feel the cigarette smoke
flowing in my lungs (a habit I gave up more than 14 years ago.) I go all
the way back to my days as a cashier at a weird little burger joint called
Farknarkles, where on any given day I could hear the sounds of wheels
coming down the hill towards me, prompting me to get a few "pink waters" 
ready because my boys were thirsty!

As I approach my duel-sliding-door, silver mom van, I imagine myself opening
the door to a band-aid colored, 1978 Pinto station wagon. A bitter-sweetness
fills me as I remember days since passed. I feel content with the memories
made, and the friendships discovered. On my drive home, I think about
specific people and specific memories. I think about driving my friends
all over town so they could film their skate sessions; clocking them with the clunky
speedometer while they bombed hills; taking the injured to the hospital for
stitches, casts and bandages; and late summer nights, jacked up on coffee,
watching my friends skate a rooftop parking lot. Although I have no desire
to relive my teenage angst (or drive that Pinto), I feel a happiness that
I was a part of something that can cause me to completely step back in
time, even if only for a moment.

The next morning, as I pass that same parking garage on my way back to
work, I hear wheels again. I turn to look, just a middle-aged woman in a
navy suit wearing running shoes, holding her high heels and pulling a
rolling suitcase. Not the wheels I was hoping for.

Reverie officially over and I am 36 once again.

SPOT CHECK: GENERAL SUPPLY

A lot of hours went down at this West Bremerton attraction. The new ledge looks fun, I need to check that out soon, had no time yesterday. It can be seen so far in these previous posts:

FEELING A BIT MELANCHOLY

Skate Rats 101

Props to Seth Book for the updated version. 

 

NEW APPROACH TO RED CURB

CONCRETE IS HARD, VERY HARD!

NOPING

Mr. Weinstock with a proper frontside ollie at the weirdest park we've got, Southpark.