June 29, 2009

Locs...Todd Brown

Todd's Locs pretty much rounds things out as far as this line of questioning goes. From here, we'll do something different in the Q and A department; good thing we're going out with bang.

Name: Todd Carl Brown

Nicknames: Turkey, T Dubbs, T-1000, T Money, Fist of the North Star.

Age: Old enough to have fathered most of these little ingrates.

What’s your deal? Same deal, just trying to survive and skate another day.

Where are you doing it? MPLS 'til death, in North Easy but 'bout to come home to South Side.

How high can you ollie? High enough to beat Ray Barbee and Shawn Mandoli in '96, Active Demo-38 inches.

Can I have your board? Son, I weigh in at 240; that shit is flexed the fuck out the second I step on it you don't want it, trust me, plus I've given most of you hella boards.

Favorite local video? Any Roots video, all the local shit kills it.

What’s in your car? Tools of the trade.

It’s a hot day, should we go skating or swimming? Skate for sure; a gallon of water, a blunt, and some homies-don't care how hot, it's gonna get hotter. Plus I can't swim to save my life, ask Jackson. Circa '96 Huntington Bay; we tried to steal a little boat, like a row boat, but they pulled out the plug. Got half way out into the bay and the shit started to sink with me, Dan, this girl Trish and Marty in it. I thought for sure I was about to drown; Jackson saved me.

Who’s your favorite local skater? Oh shit, here we go, I hope I don't forget anybody. First and foremost, Dan Jackson (illest ever), B-Show (most underrated in the world), Dolo (the best), Ragsdale (illest style), Judd (dude raised me), Nasty Nesser (just plain sick), Rob Sissi (can do a 900 if there's a dollar on the line), Clint Peterson (wish I had his tre flip), Emeric Pratt (does anything really need to be said?), CJ (sickest young cat and has respect for the older Gods) Ryan Damian, London, Rada, Seth (true Root's Soldier), Cookie (only getting better with age-killing!), Bauman, Nate Reiman (my favorite skater-more heart than 10 dudes combined), The Badger (enough said), Dooner (pro before half you jerk-offs had a skateboard and could care less), Munz, The Viking, Danny Jansen, Biz, J.R, Steve Fuller, Pooh, Trees, Davis, Chris Johnson, Thatch, Joe and Dan Fobia, Husby, Evil Pat, Vang, Brad Marr, Eddie, Bill, Jammin' Jay, The Wizard, Ryan Weed, Cheese, Tucker, and Bovee. If I forgot anybody my bad.

Where’s the best place to eat? Murray's. My Grandparents got engaged there; I go at least once a year.

Mini-ramp and beer or out in the streets all day? I've been skating for 25 years and still suck at mini or any other ramp so streets all day.

How old are you in skate years? Old enough to not want to hear your 24 year old ass tell me how you you used to skate, but quit because of that one injury. I can barely walk at this point, so shut the fuck up with that shit. Also old enough to not want to hear dudes my age tell me about the old school. I was their to bra, the whole time, and so was most of my crew so save it.

It’s 10 PM on a Saturday night, what are you doing? Serveing cold ones to some jackass, wishing I would have stayed in school, while day dreaming about fakie ollieing a full size picnic table the way Sheffey did in "A Soldier's Story."

June 26, 2009

Joy and Pain

Head right over to Hardflip, rejoice, then watch Joy and Pain as a weekend stoke. Good job Badger.

Happy weekend, see you Monday.

KILL ALL THAT WACK SHIT

One of the ultimate skater's summer jamz...93 Til' Infinity. Uh, fuck. I never knew there was a video and I'm happy that there is. Set off a skate party with this song and everyone that knows what is what is jumping and singing along. Very happy weekend.

June 25, 2009

RIP MJ

I grew up on this stuff, and more than 25 years later you can't fade the Thriller dance. Watch the whole movie here; I see a trip to The Front this weekend as imminent. Dancing my ass off in memory of The King of Pop seems like exactly the thing to do.

Rest in peace Michael Jackson.

Update: To Al Gore's chagrin, MJ almost killed the internet.

Dave Swift Real Talk/No More Insane Genius Status

Issue 65 of The Skateboard Mag has risen to required reading/purchasing status for a number of reasons, the original reason being, as mentioned before, that a Jereme Roger's retirement statement would be published in it. The second and way cooler reason for you to grab a copy of the magazine was the fact that our very own, Sam McGuire has a long Midwest Article in #65, featuring many of our friends and associates. I grabbed the magazine today, and came upon the third reason it is a must have; Dave Swift used his "Initial Remarks" section to explain Roger's inclusion in the magazine, and then to basically repudiate the kid for what, in essence, Swift feels is a waste of pages in The Mag. It's a classic example of skateboarders trying to keep skateboarding in check, and is a must read.

Otherwise, check out A Day In The Life Of The Whodi via The Hesh, get Tweeted on by Nesser, check out the Barge BQ this weekend, wrap your brain around the fact the Lebron and Shaq will play together, and then sit back, and cross your fingers for The Wolves in tonight's NBA Draft.

JT Blastoff (As Oppossed to Hail to the Chief)

To state the blatantly obvious, Jamie Thomas is dumb good at skateboarding. For those of mid-nineties pedigree, Welcome To Hell solidified his place in the pantheon of brutal gnarlers, ushered in a phase of the "Jamie Thomas style video," setting the stage for the bigger, higher, gnarlier era of skateboarding. It could easily be said that JT is one of the most influential skateboarders of the last, oh, 15 years or so.

However, and I feel like I'm not alone in this, it almost seems like Thomas peaked in that last Toy Machine part of his. Granted, I'm not calling the dude a slouch; in no way whatsoever. On the contrary, I almost feel like he tried too hard over the following years; the one shining example of him not trying that hard and infusing a little bit more fun into his skateboarding, is his amazing Chomp On This Part (as time goes on, that video only gets better). Well, after viewing his Ten Tricks section, I'm a little bit more optimistic about future Jamie Thomas parts. The dude has always had a rad style that seems slightly overlooked, and in his older (knees?) age, he's seeming to think that a little simplicity/creativity goes a little further. Or I"m full of shit.

June 23, 2009

Boner Jamz Redux and/or Summer Jamz

I'm on a summer kick. I'm sun burnt, warm as all can be, and feeling good about miles covered and prospects of skateboarding. And yeah, to repeat, it's summer. One always has a song of the summer, a song that pulls together the vibes and the times of specific places and phases. I'm going to try to come up with mine and approximate summer dates to go with them:

-Summer of 1999: Nas, One Love.

-Summer of 2000: Freddy Foxxx, 24 Hours.

-Summer of 2001: Thin Lizzy, Jail Break.

-Summer of 2002: MOP, Ante Up.

-Data is missing for 2003 and 2004

-Summer of 2005: Judas Priest, Living After Midnight, and The Rolling Stones, Can't You Hear Me Knocking?, and The Game, Hate It or Love It.

-Summer of 2006: Fat Joe, Make It Rain.

-Summer of 2007: A three way tie of sorts; Belle & Sebastian, You're Cover's Blown, anything by Justice, and Rhianna, Umbrella.

-Summer of 2008: First, Sonic Youth, Teen Age Riot, then, Belle & Sebastian, Lazy Line Painter Jane.

-Summer of 2009: Thus far, nothing yet. Right now on the I-pod I'm playing an amalgamation of past jamz. Probably not a contender, but I've been vibing on the good ol' De La Soul, I Am, I Be, for some weeks now.

Share current and past summer jamz in the comments.

June 22, 2009

EVERYONE Can Hear You Scream In Cyberspace/El Verano

Unrelated Sam McGuire Mazatlan MX photos from some time ago shot on some Polaroid 4 frame Blaster camera; it was hot and we were tan and younger, the way summer feels.

In a place where the weather will dominate the conversation whenever it reaches an extreme, rightfully so when within reason the temperature can fluctuate 150 degrees Fahrenheit, when, on the second day of summer our June dreams are fully realized and the sun hangs at it's second highest position for the second longest time of the year, when simple activities become heroic deeds soaked in sweat and ambition; ah fuck it, let's go to the water park. And that I did.

Summer seems slow in skateboarding, at least for me. I find it harder and harder to really care about industry shit (I figure things out anymore on a need to know basis), or feel the need to sit and track down all the latest web videos for yous guys (you check The Berrics and have already seen that amazing Busenitz part), so, uh, I'm doing the completely self-serving thing and am just gonna post what's hot right now, yeah, to me, on this hot day, then break the fuck out.

-My jacked right ankle is beginning to resemble my healthy left ankle again. Maybe I'll want to skateboard.

-Oh yeah, night swimming, let's do that.

-Manny's Steakhouse.

-Water too.

-Remembering to find a Kegorator on Craig's List.

-Buying a keg of Black Label for the 'rator.

-Dispatches from the road from Sams.

-Possibly finding the inside track to OUTDOOR camping. I need a tarp and a sleeping bag.

-Realizing how many heads I know in NYC and now plotting $$$ and travels.

-New Wiskate Vids.

-Spaghetti ramen(?).

-Wearing pants with blown out crotches just rolling the dice on your balls popping out(?).

-Vinny's 21st.

-Aaron's 21st.

-The Glue Factory Promo

-Just, yeah...let's zone.

-Oh yeah, Jerboi Lem, and Chewy. Everybody said I had to watch them, so, psst, pass it on.

June 19, 2009

Bon Voyage Whodi

Aging isn't as bad as it seems, at least in your 20's. For one, you're no longer a wretched teenager (sorry wretched teenager readership), and as things go on, you really realize that you're growing tighter/cooler/better as things go. The gravy train seems to skip, however, when one finds that they're developing a diaspora of friends. Be it, in my case, Chicago, then Iowa, then San Francisco, then NYC, then South Korea, and now Seattle, friends have left (and some have come back), though, the slow bleed seems that it will continue.

Enter the former best balancing act in the Twincities, Jamiel Nowparvar, who just left town for Seattle. I've known the kid for ten years, and all I've got to say is good luck, and you'll be sorely missed. Until next time homie.

June 17, 2009

Epicly Debacl'd

Summer in Minneapolis has hit stride and we've been flush with fun and a good amount of sun, and it seems, we've also entered some lurid period where video premieres abound; I think we're winning.

Our latest stroke of luck came in the form of Nike's Debacle, a video harnessing the hungriness of their am team, all shot in HD, though lacking the already old pretense of the mega-crisp slo-mo...or something. Whatever; while I may still be a fan of whatever camera Tim Dowling used to shoot with and the VX-1000, HD is quickly filling in the gap. (This paragraph was originally going to very quickly tackle the Nike "Good or Evil?" question, but I find that question pointless, boring, non-material, and way less interesting, than, say, demonstrations in Iran, though I digress.).

While it seems oxymoronic to describe a skateboarding video shot on extremely expensive cameras of the highest quality as raw (and it was, *gasp* made by Nike to boot), Debacle is just that, raw. The video starts out with a quickie intro of the dudes skating a car that seems way too nice to skate; in an interview I did with Grant Taylor earlier this year, he famously(?) described the shoot as, "Some gay ass shit," but all in all, some good shit went down, breakable windows were broken, and before it ran too long it ended and the video began.

Daryl Angel starts things off; he's that younger, well-dressed dude who gets better with every viewing. He's also impossible to pigeon-hole as a skater, the term "tech-gnar" comes to mind thought that seems a bit antiquated; perhaps if he skated just a smidgen more tranny we'd say "hessian-chic,"...While I just threw my hands up to say, "Fuck it, I don't know," I'll settle on the inside joke of "nouveau-chic" and move right along. Basically, the guy skates fast, does long lines that can cover a lot of ground, has that SJ flare, doesn't necessarily skate anything "big" or huck himself down large stacks, though, still, there is a gnarly edge to everything the guy does. If you go to his Facebook page you'll see that 14 people "liked" his video part, and the comments are all glowing. Dude rips.

Moving on, one comes upon David Clark, who has the honor of shortest part, coupled with a cameo of the South's fake Puleo (I'm stoked on fake Puleo and would love to remember his name, but, pppffff...). Clark does come correct in his short time on screen, and it seemed to at least one viewer tonight that maybe he's holding out for a DLX/Krooked production of the near future, though I haven't heard of anything and might just be making excuses for the guy, or he was really busy modeling or some shit.

Following up Clark is Aussie come lately Dodgers fan, Shane O'Neill, who, departing from his Am Chowder part, filmed one clip sans Dodger's cap. In lay man's terms, Shane O'Neill is really fucking good at skateboard riding. In me try hard at writing terms, O'Neill has an airy, fast, flickilicious way of doing things, reminiscent of a certain former Nike flow rider who jumped ship to the ST, though maybe lacking in the power department, thought that shall develop. [Addendum to paragraph; I played SKATE in the hotel parking lot in Tampa two years ago with O'Neill. He won; I went and drank a beer in the hot-tub with CJ and John Motta (why isn't Motta full-on???), someone pick the names up off the floor.]

Nestled in O'Neill's part is a bit of foote of Theotis Beasly, and it must be said, that Theotis Beasly is The Truth; backthafuckup Paul Pierce, until you're Finals MVP again, leave it to Theotis. Young Theo, who seems cool as fuck, isn't afraid to coordinate wheels/hat/deck or to backside flip the shit out of whatever you put in front of the kid. Lanky and springy, Theotis hops and pops on what looks like the handful of trips he was able to make it on after getting on the team, essentially shutting down that one incredulously blown out ledge in China (Guy Mariano lipslide kickflip fakie); smiles abound.

Next comes my most (aforementioned) hellacious interviewee ever, the provocateur of one word answers and the even more provocative "I don't know"s, who also is one of my favorite skaters right now, and holder of the best part in Debacle, Grant Taylor. As if the run-on intro wasn't enough, there's more; if O'Neill lacks a bit of power, well, Grant Taylor has 1.21 gigawatts to spare and he still won't have to steal plutonium (or was it uranium?) from the Libyans or any of that shit for his flex-capacitor to still work. 88 mph and charging, Taylor has that enviable ability of making grown men want to skate just like him. In case you didn't know, Taylor declared war on transition; better yet, for the first time since WWII, Grant Taylor got Congress to declare war on transition; dude attacks 15 foot pits of despair like a champ, and no ill-will to Justin Brock, Taylor should have had last part, if anything, on that making you want to fucking skate right now vibe.

And so then there's Justin Brock as the ender-ender, a skateboarder who possesses some sort of drunken master steez, a guy who has a really proper Southern drawl, and to boot, a guy who, this Spring, I wanted to introduce my ex-girlfriend to; again, dude rips (And to clear the record, she broke up with me, though I don't know why one would want to claim such idiotic credit for such a thing; eh, she got a link out of this whole deal.), and he's cool as fuck. The highlight of Brock's part just could have been his handrail filled romp through some Latin American play ground, or the fact that directly following a long-in-the-good-way tail block, he repped a switch 360 flip down a gap. Either way, he ends a proper section by upping the ante with a signatory trick down some of Jeremy Wray's former stomping grounds.

Then there's the credits. To round out the video, and as a throwback, there's also a "bangers revisited" section as the music winds down. It's dope. Jason Hernandez, editor and filmer of much of Debacle, took the TWS style of video making that he's known for and scaled it down a bit; there's a ton more skating than lifestyle and all works; the HD really is amazing and adds instead of bores, as the random in-between-clips build as well. The music in the video is a bit nondescript, it all worked, though O'Neill's song stands out the most; perhaps the reason I don't remember the soundtrack was the fact that The Varsity Theatre played things LOUD, and that's a good thing (If only for the distortion of music, or the fact that it erased memory.).

As far as a premiere review goes, this shit was top-notch. The Varsity is a swanky affair that still works for skateboarding, I got some drink tickets to keep things well lubricated, the theatre was 3/4 packed for both showings, and Nike footed the bill on some pizza between shows. Done and done. Figure out a way to find Debacle and watch it if you didn't come out tonight/yesterday, and it must be said that the quality will be greatly diminished on the Youtube, so maybe just foot the bill. Cool? Cool.

THIS JUST IN: JEREME ROGERS UPGRADED TO "INSANE GENIUS" LEVEL

I touched on it here but seriously, JR has ascended to the status of INSANE GENIUS. I fucking love this guy, and may have to sign up for Twitter just to follow his. OH FUCK, this is hurting my brain-just learned on his feed that he will have some parting words in the new Mag. Let me just say JR, PREACH!!!

In other insane genius twitter news, get up on this shit, and don't forget about Narc Week.

Today, (Not) Tommorow, and the Rest of the Week

On Friday, Volume and Zombie Boardshop are holding a skate jam at the Mendota Heights Park; it runs 5 PM until dark and there's gonna be free food, cash and prizes. Go get some.

Remember when every third letter in Trash was all about, "My town sucks, no one skates, the spots suck, and the jocks hate me,"? Well, nobody gets to write that letter about the Twincities this week, and by the looks of it, for the rest of the summer. Let's get hyped!

June 13, 2009

Clean Up Hitter: Zoo York's "State of Mind"

Laziest screen grab ever.

It's been a video daze as of late it seems, and that only increases as we embark on the Debacle Premiere this Wednesday. I think we forget about Zoo York sometimes; a one time gritty and grimey East Coast stalwart became some Marc Ecco subsidiary somethingorother, and then there was that Aesthetics clusterfuckup. Whatever; it seems when one really looks at the line up for the video and then looks at how long they've been making it, things become clear. It ripped.

Very quickly as my attention span wanes; it's Saturday night and I'm killing time before going out. Brandon Westgate is a supreme beast, and solidifies the fact that up is the new down. For someone who seems to be a size seven in a 5'4" body, dude has epic pop. I think Matt Miller was next; while his humility may never make him some balls out superstar, his skateboarding would/could/should if the world were a more equitable place. His ender is a NBD, and man, that's getting harder and harder nowadays. Wonderkid Chaz Ortiz follows, and all supposed Dew Tour blandness aside, the kid comes through, more so than expected, especially if you were holding something against him. I have a yet to come out interview with the kid (issue 65 of The Mag?), and he impressed over the phone, as his video part should impress everyone.

For lack of remembrance of the order of the video, let's hit the older pros for a second. Donny Barley skates to a markedly hokey metal song but redeems via a well placed nollie hardflip. Alas, what should have been a switch hards was just a switch front shuv, and his part makes me think of vampires and mormons, yeah, Twilight (of a career). Kevin Taylor has more left in himself than DB; while this isn't some Love Park glory days of hauling ass, KT still can throw craze with a mean frontside crook.

Moving away from the well known dudes we come upon Ron Deily, someone who, outside of Zoo ads and scarce editorial, is a virtual unknown. Lucky for us, dude has a full bangin' part for us to get to know him with, his entire package harkens back to some 90's glory days, and no doubt, the kid is smooth. Rando kills it. Another low key cat is Lamare Hemmings, who, while his part isn't all that memorable, comes through with some bizarro pop and a solid section. I think. Oh yeah, and not to denigrate a bit, Anthony Shetler is in there with a pretty rad part. I'm just getting lazy.

Forrest Kirby, the man formerly known as F.O.R.E. prior to Catholicism (I made that up, I think), brings the crazy arms and some incredible balancey, wall ridey tech. Good Stuff. Aaron Suski reps his namesake grind and some grabbed spins and a well blended mixture of AZ/NY foote and basically brings us what we need.

While most folks I spoke to think that Eli Reed is HERE, I say the guy is a work in progress. While few want to admit it, a skater's gear and hair and other still applies to one's perception of their skating. I'm an asshole and will say, yes, everything Mr. Reed had in his part was banging/borderline mind melting, though he should have jettisoned some of his older foote and simply used the newer shit, where, (asshole again) he looks more put together. In his best moments he's someone to emulate; in his worst moments he still fuckin' rips (see the switch bigflip to nose manny for confirmation).

Zered Bassett is the Lil' Wayne of skateboarding; that fool can put out some shit! Has he ever had a single song part (probably, but for the sake of this fool's gold write up...)? There aren't many skateboarders out there that can mash-up music like Zered can and still come away golden. In this case, Dr. Z reps Dio and a fan (me) favorite, MOP. Here he joins the likes of multiple genre extraordinaires like Mike Carroll and Nate Compher (who successfully meshed Judas Preist/Three Six Mafia and Brother Ali/Dido, respectively). It's a foregone conclusion that Zered is good, very good, awesomely good, and I need to shower so that's that.

If people still want to buy videos, I don't know, go buy this shit.

PS: Seamus Deegan, Zoo's TM, is the best team manager in skateboarding. Think about it.

June 12, 2009

Hint Hint

Just a little help with the poll. While the frontside flip isn't featured very heavily in there (like a commenter said, watch Goldfish), I've had "I Am I Be" in my head all week.

Happy Weekend.

WHAT THE FUCK!?

Who told American Apparel?

June 11, 2009

Do Yourself a Favor...

And watch the new SK8MAFIA Am Vid. It was suggested in some previous comments by some anonymous hater, but take my word, it's hella good. And then, if you don't watch the whole thing, just make sure to peep Tyler Surrey and Wes Kremer, I'm big fans of those dudes. Also, Brandon Turner reps a kickflip late shuvit (one of three in the video!!!). Basically, don't blow it, you'll love it.

June 10, 2009

Debacle Premiere

AH SNAP, they just keep coming!

June 9, 2009

Web 2.0 Bro--Reflections on The Familia Video

The Familia Video from Familia Skateshop on Vimeo.

By now you've doubtlessly visited the official site, TheFamiliaVideo.com, or you were smart enough to go to the premiere, or else you saw it somewhere else; through all of it, it must be said that the Fam did a darn nice job on a video that was only one year in the genesis, and that, while not totally breaking new ground by offering their video for free on the internet, the dudes are on the cutting cusp of the new skateboard video world (are tangible copies on the horizon? I don't know). I do know that I have little regard for the run-on sentence.

Some brief thoughts and bullet points on The Familia Video:

-Production flashiness is not a must in regards to the open access free skateboard video; straight forward simplicity works on the net, no film flares or seagulls were harmed during production.

-Chad Benson is like a fine wine or bourbon; (as lovingly as this can be stated) he ages very well, and perhaps gets better with age. Content to keep things about knee high most of the time, the combo life is alive and kicking and dude can pretzel some switch nosebluntslides in some interesting ways; the switch crook fakie tre was, um, oh, five years in the making?

-No doubt, Nate Compher got seriously wrecked in a pre-skateboarding industrial accident, but they rebuilt him (everything save that end of that middle-finger), and they endowed him with the "One Million Dollar Switch Flip," among other tasty, tasty things (was that a passing reference to the pizza place where he was injured? No one knows.). Vintage (?) Nate is of course on display, with the speed and the pop and the back-when-he-was-rad-Wenningesque-steeze that we all know and love. One wonders if any switch flip hail-Marys were thrown up on Hubba.

-Seth McCallum comes through in a very Zedly, if fleeting way; a short creature feature.

-The only way to describe Dom Randazzo's skating is "froggy as fuck," and there is an open dare to anyone who wants to find a better descriptor. A penchant for very nice inward heel variations and panache for hairy gaps and whatnot (the whatnot being the deal sealer at The Roofs) pretty much sum the dude up. Cheers, and thank you Dom, for adding the no-comply frontside wallride to front board to the skate vernacular.

-Montage! It's a shame that more people weren't able to find a way into the section. While all rip, the aftertaste simply leaves a desire for a full part in next year's next video, from none other than Kirian Stone. Filming starts now kid.

-Minneapolis' finest balancing act on wheels, Jamiel Nowparver, will soon be vying for that title in Seattle with Josh Jones; in the very brief meantime, he's left us with somewhat of a farewell part that, shit, I'ma' watch right now...short and way sweeter than saccharin, Jamiel delivers in a way that a mini can of Diet Coke never will. We await future shredding holmes, bon voyage!

-Starting out as an "ollie on the mind" burler virtuoso, ending as an all-around shredder, part-time technician, full-time entrepreneur, always plotting the next move type of dude, Steve Nesser proves that one can be a daddy, business owner, globe-trotting Birdman knowing, professional skateboarder based in Minnesota, who can still turn in a dynamic and at times jaw-dropping part for his skateshop video. He, like me, has little regard for run-ons. The GZA truly abides.

-Prodigal student and one time caterer; now resurgent pro, Emeric sometimes Olu Pratt, proves that work on a magazine interview can yield results in a big way. Hops galore and melon grabs prove that Olu showed up to MCTC one day just to learn; there were no nefarious "hanging it up" reasons involved. That last bit makes sense to three people.

-David James Jaimes, anchor of the beloved Boondoggle and now The Familia Video, who should not even need a fake ID based upon his presence on the scene for what feels like ten years now, continues his quiet destruction of what is seemingly effortless and finesse-full skateboarding. Two words: scary ledge savvy and a power that is quite palpable on a skateboard; it's scary that I'd say it's only 75% complete.

-Big kudos to Dennis Burdick on his across the aisle editing and filming of the video. In a missed opportunity, Benji Meyer could have taken up the mantle as the John Geffrom of Minneapolis Skateboarding video specialists, but there's always next year.

Hooray to everyone that turned Oak Street Cinema into a standing room only house on Saturday night. Boo to the rain that somewhat handicapped the potential of the day, though at the end of it, I bowled a 157, and for that, I'm content.

June 6, 2009

He's 25 Today

The age of innocence ends.

Mash Out Posse

I tried to see MOP once and they didn't show up. This almost makes up for it. We got hellsa drunk anyhow. I stand by my assertion that this song could start a riot anytime, anywhere.

June 5, 2009

Jereme Rogers Is A Genius

In case you weren't aware, Jereme Rogers knows that sometimes you still just have to wile out, and, TMZ evidently agrees. Dude is living the Dada dream, seriously not giving a fuck, and after stripping down on shrooms and PREACHING, well, I'm officially a fan of this new persona of his. I'm not that into his skating, but, damn, that persona.

Happy weekend ya'll.

Ghettoplex

Jerboi Viking's parents are moving, and thus, he had to go to the archives, and he found some gems. Chief among them, is the Ghettoplex flyer above. Prizes include, "kisses from Demhoez?" Priceless; bring everyone you know.

Excellent Adventure 2

Digi-cam foote compiled from January till now.

June 4, 2009

B.E.E.R.S. VIDEO HYPE

Yes!!! The Hesh came through with the coverage. View the amazing B.E.E.R.S. VIDEO HYPE right here.

Reports Of Our Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

To even try to claim to be as epic as the one Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a.k.a., Mark Twain, in the title of a blog post may be a stretch, but it's still way too true. And I just drove through his hometown of Hannibal, Missouri, so that counts for something.

Perusing the internet this evening I came upon a post by newly christened blogger The Dolo, in a close to tirade against Ivy League Douchers and Sonia Sotamayor. No doubt, Dolo's ability to link a Supreme Court Nominee, skateboarding, and one of the best marketing campaigns out there together seamlessly is applaudable, and I gittally await further posts. That's not the rub.

This is the rub. Badger, this was no White Flag of Surrender, think of it more as one of those, ugh, real recognize real moments; rub your tummy and pat yourself on the head at the same time, smack yourself on the back and let's move on. Hopefully, the tone of this post equals the sarcasm of yours, and now we can vie for our respective roles in, to quote, “Crushing the Minneapolis skateboarding online market." If I have one suggestion, hire a copy editor over at Hardflip INC. In the meantime, en garde.

Running On Empty Redux Part 2?

I've never been that good at keeping track of post titles and whatnot; thus the "Redux Part 2." I know that last summer a wanderlust hit me and I did with it what one should, and then, finally, I tired and returned home and all that. My vacation alluded to in previous posts was the first true roadtrip of the year; loose plans, broken plans, no promises made, and almost the sense, that there was something out there to capture.

Thus, listen to this quite old episode of This American Life. I'm not even saying listen to the whole episode, just do yourself a favor and listen to Ira Glass's three minute introduction; it's best listened to while embarking on a trip yourself (I was an hour in on mine while listening, crossing the Minnesota/Iowa border.).

Simply, I'm a fan of Kerouac's early vision of America as a great vastness of opportunity and excitement, and Glass encapsulates that while also providing the naivete of the whole notion. The romantic within shivers every time I listen to it, and there's an outstanding dare to you to try to do otherwise.

From one fan to another, Cheers. I actually never finished "The Subterraneans"; I had it in the door pocket of my '88 Mazda 626 that had no reverse, and it fell out in some anonymous parking lot. I hope someone found that and finished it.

Further required reading: Neal Cassidy and Dean Moriarity and Cody...Thanks Killer Boots! And on to rambling; Visions of Cody; minding to read it soon, and in another construction, a certain girl in Korea called and every time the name of that book comes to mind, she comes to mind. Hey. Maybe a "Book Club" post soon?!?

June 3, 2009

Day Of Familia 3/Video Flesh 3

As it happens this time of year, your weekend is now booked.

June 2, 2009

After Much Deliberation...

I've come to the conclusion that Kathy Griffin is utterly bonable. Blame it on being hung-over, sleep deprived, and watching Bravo late at night.

Post Script: A close Platinum-confidant is on record saying that, in his own meta way, that he, "Would bone the shit out of Ellen Degeneres." For that matter, who's nervous?

Post post script: The current poll is one of those "Would you rather" questions posed by the above mentioned confidant. He's asked it all over the country, and evidently, kids in California opt for the frosted tips 9 out of 10 times.

June 1, 2009

Pre-fab Fabulous

Vacation is over and I'm back in the office. This place rips, even if you're a grown ass man. Sammatime action over on the Pretty Blog.

As you may have guessed after two weeks of inactivity, I'm kind of over this shit right now, and for full disclosure I totally had my lap-top and internet the whole time I was gone. Never fret though, as you may know already, the dudes at Hardflip are crushing it and you should spend some time over there. Anyways, they never talk about basketball.

And, it goes without saying but boy I'll say it anyways, thanks a ton guys.