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."

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.

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.

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.