June 26, 2013

This Weather Makes Everything Smell

Dominance continues in our dominance of short, not-that-serious web clips. Though this one is kind of serious, what with Patty Gallaher doing the 50-50 transfer frontside sex-change (worst/most awkward trick name o.p.), I like Spooner's work quite a bit and thank Sissi for the heads up in the comments.

There's a name missing form the webpage url called www.ipath.com/family/ and a new, crispy logo painted on the wall at Familia HQ. There's also an amber alert out for a flow-rider, he's missing too.

There's a new adidas edit from Madrid and around, which is further proof that Mark Suciu has fistfulls of all of it. 1:00 (the line) is a good example, then he kickflips onto astroturf (thought it was grass) and pushes and continues on. The whole edit rips.

This weather makes everything smell. That's not a complaint.

June 25, 2013

Placeholder

Instagram gold featuring Aaron Christensen on board with Vinnie Nanthavongsa behind the phone/lens.

Would Instagram ever make it possible for their new video function to be imbedded? I know they want to the focus on mobile, but then again, they seriously switched things with video.

That said, here is the most relevant use of Insta-video thus far, Dalton Jones doing a bigspin frontside wallride on Go Skate Day.

I really don't have much else today, pretty much just wanted to post that storm-aftermath-skate flick. This Zero/Chicago Blackhawks/But not/Jamie Thomas board is weird.

June 17, 2013

Program Note

Prior to the Girl and Chocolate demo on Sunday, hit up Familia Saturday night for an art party.

What The Devil?

This is appropriate, given recent weather conditions. The source.

Following a long hiatus, THEHESHDOTCOM is back, no doubt sustained by a steady fuel of booze, drugs and all-caps. Domain rentals typically last two years, let's wish them luck.

I do not remember if this was previously linked; buy any and all Dana Ross videos or paraphernalia here.

Details for Go Skateboarding Day are right here.

Thoughts on that Appleyard part? I found it a bit underwhelming, I guess (agreeing with this), mostly because I'd just watched this Tyler Surrey and Gustav Tonnesen section.

PJ Ladd as Wu Tang and it works.

June 14, 2013

Curb League

Minneapolis leads the nation, this week, in producing short, not-that-serious web clips.

Happy weekend.

June 11, 2013

ZED's No-Brainer

Briefly, ZED comes through with a nice little weird one from Government Center and it's nice to see the dude put something out.

June 7, 2013

!!!, or Where Was the NSA?

While I've always been an agnostic about the roll-in at Wallenberg because the OG (and now defunct?) roll-up was just so great, nothing detracts from the above (the roll-in to quick setup might even make it weird, I'll ask Nesser sometime).

Of course there's Forrest Edwards and the already-out-there switch flip, in glasses, no less. Much of the skate-speaking Internet asks why that guy can't get on the straight and narrow with a board company and some free shoes, and while I definitely subscribe to the "dudes that are dicks mostly won't get hooked up" idea, Mr. Edwards strikes me as less a dick and more a misunderstood misanthrope, a more ornery Eyore. The success is probably right around the corner and the dude deserves it. Of cours he did it in glasses.

If memory holds, the four stairs that make up Wallenberg proper are something along the lines of five feet tall and 17 or so feet long. The Wizard measured it at some point and told me that one time at the shop. In 2001 or 2002, Joe Blum tried to run-jump-throw-down down the three section and it was a long shot. The "steps" all together are big and neither video or photograph do them justice; we've all been to spots that are unimpressive in person, Wallenberg exceeds expectation.

Switch backside 180 kickflips are possibly rare and a good-looking trick as well. There's no illusionary variance like their frontside cousin; jumping down they ensure the possibility for riding away with comfort and all that. Chad Knight, not necessarily known for his finesse or that appearance on the short-lived-exhumation of American Gladiators, generally lived in the brutal realm of skateboarding and totally had surprises. At some point before the release of Maple Skateboards' Seven Steps To Heaven he crazy trained an ender-ender of a switch backside 180 kickflip down the San Diego Sports Arena double set. He had the comfortable ride away. That building is now called the Valley View Casino Center; a post about spots changing names and how that matters/doesn't matter is forthcoming.

All of a sudden, DJ Guadin is here, there. Does some photog or spot-handler tell him to chill on the switchflip because "Forrest has got that shit"? Does he suddenly remember Chad Knight's exploits from circa 17 years ago in a video he's possibly never seen? Did he do it in three tries as the video suggests [can we read the marks on the white t-shirt? (Shroud Of Gnar?]? Of all the stunts down Wallenberg, Guadin wins most casual.

That was done, and done well. Who is that guy, any ways?

June 5, 2013

Then and Now

The final selection from the depths of the internet features a video sort of about my first time to New York City in 2003. Dan Jackson, via, perhaps, the most useful Youtube comment ever, had this to say about the clip above.
I didn't even recall this edit, Mike. Some notes:
-I believe our group thoroughly cleaned the ground on one side of Flushing grate, making it safe for all future skaters.
-The subway skating was heavily frowned upon & believe there was a threat of police waiting at next stop for us.
-Pretty hyped I yelled "Oh, I'm dying" whilst safely running out of a trick.
-I did NOT remember a trick landed on the roof bank before "The Incident." Props to Sam for pulling that off in a short window!
Familia at Soundset from a week and a half ago.

June 3, 2013

Movin' On Up!

'Gram by Ed Templeton.

Whether or not Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert ends up as a hero or a non-acronym goat after tonight's game (this blogpost and any predictions made within are pointless and won't happen because right now it's 7:21 p.m. CST), we can at least thank him for priming the pumps a bit on skateboarding's most recent teachable moment. If you don't follow the bouncing ball, a catch up: Hibbert called the Media "motherfuckers" in a locker room interview and then on national television, used the tacky, passé and actually-homophobic phrase, "no-homo."

Hibbert, a seemingly likable dude who makes guest appearances on television shows I watch, was met with amusement over the MFers remark and disappointment, more than anything else, for "no-homo." To crib from Mike Pesca, who spoke on Hang Up and Listen, he analogized Hibbert's remarks with that sometimes-ill-spoken friend who uses terms like "Jewed him down." That buddy hears that turn of phrase and knows the idea behind it without internalizing what the idea and phrase mean. He uses it anyways, with a thin defense of ignorance. I agree with Pesca's take, but who really knows what Hibbert thinks?

The big man paid a $75,000 fine for what much of the fourth estate called a "gay slur" and issued one of those boilerplate apologies that, for what it's worth, sounded much like a true apology.

Up top is a quote from Nyjah Huston, which appeared in a Thrasher interview. The idiotic, banal, young man sexism exhibited there doesn't seem that shocking because skateboarding's boy's club is so seemingly intact. Then again, there's more than enough evidence out there that Nyjah is categorically wrong; no Youtube clips necessary. Parity between men and women in skateboarding, backside-noseblunt-16-stairs-wise, isn't a reality, and maybe never will be, but that's beyond the point. Authentic, this-is-good-and-real skateboarding parity is a reality. Look no further than Elissa Steamer, et. al.

That Nyjah offered a swift and seemingly-sincere apology via Twitter only a day after Ed Templeton posted the picture above is either good or timely PR and probably both. That the apology stemmed from a print interview that he likely recorded weeks, or more likely, months ago, makes the cynic in me a bit more cynical about that apology, but it's out there, nonetheless, just like Hibbert's.

Yes, a teachable moment in skateboarding, where it's one small step for the "sport" aspect in the realm of particularly prompt apologies and something more substantial when it comes to the need apologize, in the first place. We might make it, after all, though Nyjah pays no fine.

Update: From Wikipedia, for maybe some context:

Huston revealed in a 2006 interview that he had been raised by his father as a strict vegan from birth up until the time of the interview. In a 2012 interview, Huston stated that he had tried meat and dairy for the first time. As part of his strict Rastafarian upbringing, Huston was only permitted to listen to reggae music and was unable to cut his dreadlocks.

Following his return to Element, Huston revealed that his father's controlling behavior had led to estrangement, further explaining that his father refused to return video footage of Huston's skateboarding following the separation. Huston lived with his father in Puerto Rico for a period of time and, as of 2011, owns a property in the country. As of December 2012, Huston resides with his mother, no longer adheres to a strict Rastafarian lifestyle, and has identified hip hop as his favorite musical style to listen to.

Another: Without having the magazine handy, who conducted that interview? "The women do the downhill stuff because they think it's like sidewalk surfing. They don't realize how dangerous it really is." Phelps?