Dear Berrics,

Merry Christmas, sirs. Bless us with your Shane O'Neil bonanza but make sure you spend the day of giving squatting on youtube removing uploaded versions so you get more Christmas traffic. Why, oh why on sweet Earth, would one upload such a flash video to another flash video site?

I'll tell you why, Steve Berra. You greedy fuck. Because your site loads shit slow as fuck, not to mention I'm sick and tired of Stereo and DVS advertisements, and I absolutely cannot take it when your dumb needle of a progress marker on the timeline doesn't show up and I can't rewind something ridiculous and it has to buffer ALL OVER AGAIN. Plus that ploy for kids money that takes you straight to the fucking canteen when you try to even log into the site today unless you're smart and scroll past the tremendous ad. Pathetic. I Thought I should feel bad for flying off the handle on Christmas day and cursing on a blog, but you're seriously begging for kids' money like a damn bum. Seriously, pathetic.

Thank you Eric Koston for not being the grubby tool Steve Berra has become. I worship you in reverance. Not to mention, you don't manufacture kicker ramps to put up to a loading dock so you can skate a flatbar you put in place for a pro part. Or carry around flatbars and bolt them into the ground, or fridges painted to look like a famous sign, but much smaller.

Suck it, Steve Berra.

Oh, and for the readers:



enjoy a FREE and actually more enjoyable clip, an actual part courtesy of CJ Tambornino, formerly underlooked because of Torgy's part in Boondoggle. Observe the flawless kickflip front crook in perfect harmony with nollie 540 flips, nollie cab sabu flips, nollie cab double big flips, nollie 360 inward heels down sets, nollie backside bigspin kickflips (P-Rod and Gallant-exclusives), and other kinds of rare and beautiful trickery, including some delightfully incorrect no-complies that still get the job done and look decidedly awesome regardless of the hop-and-pop execution.

Merry Christmas world!!!!!

Except you, Berra.

Spange

In high school, this meant spare change. Trivial, I know. But in some ways, the change in skateboarding since Mike-Mo's Forecast debut is seen in the same way; insignificant. However, it's QUITE the opposite. Usually I don't like doing this; drinking while typing distracts me from drinking, and I end up typing. Which is a shame. But I was watching Forecast about five minutes ago and marveling over how such a shitty video could still remain relevant in lieu of such temporarily interesting but now foregone films such as Jereme Rogers Neighborhood and other Pro-supported independent ventures. Forecast gave us two things, Mike Mo Capaldi and Ronson Lambert. One a curse, and one a gem. And no, I did not use those words in that order by accident.

Looking back on P-Rod's creation (Yes, I have been on his nuts lately since his Me, Myself and I part), I notice how many of the songs from his video ended up on my iPod throughout the years. I also notice how I still don't give a flying fuck about Nick McClouth or Mike Barker, and how despite back nosegrind lazerflipping a bench in a line, Jason Wakuzawa has been doomed by his short stature and his footage in Etnies Callicut's to fade into oblivion beside other smaller and better figures as Flip's Lopez kid, Daniel Castillo, and uh, Daewon Song. Not to mention Cody Mac. Unfortunately for Jason, it seems as though the skateboarding world is not quite ready to take on an Asian Invasion, which is a fucking shame considering some of the Japanese footage I've been watching lately.

But I'm getting side tracked. Mike Mo's opening part is not nearly the behemoth that his Fully Flared part is, but he still shows a mean switch tre and nollie front heel amongst numerous textbook landings and alot of switch back tail bigspins. Other than overall quality of trick performance, the biggest contrast from Mike Mo then to Mr. Capaldi now is his baggy pants. That's right, this video was somehow still produced during that day and age, and people still talk about it. Strange, to me. Lots of RJD2 and some progressive footage from Ronson, Capaldi, and what I would argue is P-Rod's best part up until the last month is actually a very good thing; but the time period and the filler skaters within it should have doomed it.

I guess this is really because of Capaldi. People, especially after Lakai's release and even still, a good three years later, can't let go of what that kid can do. I don't personally blame them, but he isn't Jesus. He doesn't skate the crazy shit Jake Johnson does, he doesn't go as fast as Wes Kremer, he doesn't go as big as Grant Taylor. He's just a formerly-more-interesting Paul Rodriguez. So that underlining factor, the discovery of Mike Mo before his first major video part, is my guess(and probably a damn good one) at why people even remember the name Forecast. But as far as what we actually gained from that video, I do believe it's Ronson Lambert. Long a man on my hate-list because of his obviously fake style up until recently, he does some absolutely mind-boggling technical things in this part, without any recognition. In fact, every part of his has been above the norm as far as skill, but he's been hurt by his speed of crawl approach to everything. Ironically, he seems to couple with Chris Roberts in a way, who also appears in the friends section. C-Rob had that wonderful Hot Chocolate part, then never learned anything new. But how easy he made everything look with that superb balance let him get away with some not-too-hard tricks done with textbook execution. A man before his time, I would say. A man with style, whose execution fell by the wayside of progression. He's kind of the anti-hero to Ronson Lambert, who at the time garnered comparisons to P.J. Ladd, which although forgotten, is not THAT far of a stretch. Ronson was doing incredibly difficult and strange ledge lines before the Flare attack on skateboarding. Again, a man before his time. And yet his style took away from it. Interesting, to say the least. Had Roberts' style and execution been coupled with Lambert's tricks, maybe Fully Flared wouldn't have had such impact. Who knows. But anyways, from this little ramble, check out Ronson's part and Chris Roberts' Hot Chocolate part and consider what I've said. Hopefully by any miracle you'll be able to appreciate them both a little bit more.

R-Lam

(notice the crook late flip (P-Rod, anyone?), bigspin front blunt on a bench, 5-0 switch crook 270 which is hot now, etc)

C-Rob(see what I did there? P-Rod? D-Gonz? What's next, D-Bach and M-App?)

Copyrights

Internet copyright, much like we saw with Shane O'Neil's internet part, has claimed the life of my dear Paul Rodriguez link. My thoughts on this shameful little exercise of selfishness go somewhere along these lines:

If you want to make money off of some piece of skateboarding, there are two ways to do it. 1/ get a photo in a mag 2/ put out a physical video. I was geared up to claim that P-Rod's part was the first truly significant skate part to hit the internet in a digital-only format, but now that this has happened (and no, I myself did not pay for it, I have ceased to support Plan B like I used to), I feel that this is just another blow to the physical video. Yes, videos are going to be pirated either way. But releasing such a magnificent clip of Paul on iTunes for a price has the potential to destroy the video part forever. He knocks down barriers by the second, and to waste such a progressive part on an online release without a surrounding full-team video seems sacrilegious to me. Think of the best ending parts of the past decade; Reynolds in both Emerica vids, Daewon in Skate More, Rodney and Daewon in Round 3, Bassett in State of Mind, MJ in Fully Flared, Jerry Hsu in Bag of Suck, etc etc. Many more I've missed, I know. These parts are prime examples of how a video should operate; you like the video, maybe even love it, possibly disliking a part or two but by the end, that last part tops it off and hypes you up and that last part is usually what gets talked about on messageboards and skate park cigarette pow-wows.

So what good is it, a little less than a year from the supposed release date for the Plan B video (which was supposed to come out in '09 if I remember the company's rebirthed beginnings properly), to release such a monumental part from Target-boy? Would this indeed have been the ender in a Plan B release? Or is it simply another ploy to build hype for their release, not unlike the very sick Vamdalism (or Gustavo, should I say), Superfuture, and the Live After Death promos? By this point they have released about two full-length features worth of shit, to little effect. J-Rog's part on the Live After Death disc was probably Jereme's best part to date, but it's on a free DVD in TSM. Gustavo had a brilliant part in Digital's last release, and Gallant and Duffy have essentially wasted away some gnarly tricks in the sake of a forgotten promo. Now P-Rod joins the masses of those victims of Plan B's jaded effect on footage. Of course, I may be unfair in saying this, because I do believe P-Rod to be the most technically gifted skater on this planet, so perhaps he's capable of producing another such part in under a year. This could also set up an excuse to give Danny Way another shot at ender, even though I feel he has been hopelessly out-classed on his own creation by Bob Burnquist. So maybe even further of a stretch remains. Could Sheckler actually contend for ending part in the video-that-may-never-be? He has been curiously absent from coverage lately, as have most of the Plan B riders ever since Gallant's exodus, conveniently followed by a mash of coverage in Expedition ads. Hopefully, little bitch boy has been ripping and will rid himself of his jock sweatband and deliver some gnarly yet cheesy goods that even a hater such as myself could appreciate. Along those same lines, hopefully Plan B has a surprise waiting for us, which would explain this odd internet whoring attempt.

But I'm not placing my dollars on either one. For one, Sheckler does not seem like he'd ever be worthy of getting ender in a video chocked with legends and greats. And for two, I predict we will see one final promo from the Plan B monster before their video release gets pushed back once more, released online in parts or on itunes, and stuns the world with it's contents but gets quickly forgotten due to lack of personality. At first they were everyone's favorite company, because of their legacy and their decks. Then their decks started to cheapen, they lose Darrell Stanton, Lem Villemen, Brian Wenning, and Ryan Gallant. They pick up Pudwill, who bailed on Almost for questionable reasons. They essentially lost their sole after the half-desecration of their original lineup. Wenning, although predominantly figuring in my mind as one of the biggest assholes professional skateboarding has yet to see, is still an individual worthy of respect for standing up to Plan B's insistence on not paying him his wages, if what he says is true. Although he doesn't progress any more, and turned his back on Habitat, he still holds a great place in our history because of his earlier ledge efforts and what he did for the switch heel and stance combined. Not to mention the switch back 180 down the LOVE fountain. And this is the kind of man Plan B chooses to withhold pay from? Pappalardo hating aside, that's fucked up. It seems to me Plan B can't make up what path they want to take. Now under corporate management, they are walking a fine line as a company full of greats/sellouts, putting out videos that are redefining and at the same time restrictive of the actual progression a full length, full effort production could create.

Therefore, nazis that took down that youtube video, what's more worth it to you, being the buzz of the skate world for the next month, or splitting your $3.00 charge with iTunes for every kid that buys it? Is it the skating that matters, or the money? Is it the video that ultimately matters, or just the attempts to keep your company relevant in light of massive failures to deliver on your video release promises? We all know and love the footage coming from your company. But seriously, this is a bit far. You're giving up on the skate world and giving in to the internet craze. I support parts as good as this, but at least make me wait in Stay Gold fashion to sit on my couch covered in drool and tears as the last chords of the final song play through my roommates' tv speakers. The internet is a terrible place for making people pay for groundbreaking footage. You have dealt a blow both to the future of the traditional skate video, and to the future of internet footage releases at the same time.

Thank you.

Impossible

Tricks that should be:
- switch front feeble an 11 stair handrail
- tre a 7 then lazer a 9 with no push between
- nollie hardflip and nollie late flip an 11
- switch back tail bs 180 back foot flip
- nollie hardflip crook
- perfectly switch bs flip a 9 to curb
- nollie front foot flip crook
- varial heel nosegrind back 180 in a four trick line (including an almost waist high nollie fs noseslide)
- proper fs 180 switch crook line with switch back tail heelflip
- switch flip crook and switch hardflip 5-0 in a line
- switch back tail inward heel
- any flip trick out of nollie front crook
- any flip trick out of tre flip noseslide on a non-flatground ledge
- cab flip back tail FROM THE SIDE
- switch front tail late flip 180
- inward heeling up 3 stairs, THEN nollie bs 180 late flipping the Belmont 9
- switch fs tail kickflip out looking like its regular
- switch flip back lipping a 9 rail at full speed
- nollie hardflipping Bryan Herman's Emerica nollie tre set
- switch back noseblunting a tall as shit 10 stair rail


Nollie fs flipping a man gap in a line with switch front shuv nosegrind, fakie varial heeling to nosegrind in a line with noseblunt fakie, and tre flipping a 15 aren't shabby additions either, although I'd at least considered them possible.

This is what P-Rod accomplished in his Plan B part.

Game Changer?



I'll probably need a new link by morning. From boring-but-skilled to fuck-Fully-Flared? I believe so. Wow.

Convert to Lutheran

I watched Toy Machine's Brainwash last week and didn't get to pay attention to it like I would've liked (SAM...) but I had the pleasure of finding most of the parts on youtube today. While watching Daniel Lutheran in two separate clips I became a fan, although originally I was kinda put off by his tall socks and shorts that come out occasionally. Compare these two clips:



His mag minute, full of what you could call circus tricks. Note the kickflip foot plant on the pole, nose bonk manny, and the ball assault. The tre footplant manual and the backside powerslide(?) manny are my favorites; but the real point of showing this clip is to set up a complete 180 degree portrayal in the Toy vid:



Notice the massive backside nosebluntslide, the gnarly and tall back lipslide shuv of death, the big big big 5050 from flat followed by a massive fly out ollie, the ditch feeble, and the hip to ditch nollie heelflip bomb. Lots of amazing stuff, lots of pop, lots more style than his mag minute for sure. And lets not forget that Gonzalez/Sandoval/Gravette/Provost/Elmendorf sized 5050 at the end.

While I'm on the subject of Toy Machine, I'm a bit upset at the shortness of some of the parts, ex: Provost, Bennett, Marks, Layton, but each part is pretty damn gnarly, aside from the sometimes obnoxious soundtrack(Collin's part). Bennett had some of my favorite clips of the vid, notably his switch polejam 5050, and Marks, despite a friend's criticism, had some absolutely amazing clips. A switch tre lipslide done a good bit bigger and cleaner than my beloved Guy Mariano is hidden in there, along with a Carlsbad nollie inwards that isn't on par with my favorite Carlsbad clip of all time (Billy's switch big heel) but still damn good. Provost had alot of his signature tricks from Stay Gold in his, such as the ditch front feeble, big frontside flip, and a nice and long tre and hardflip. As for J-Lay, well the boy has big boy pop to match his big boy stature, and he's the owner of the best switch tre in skateboarding in my eyes.

But Leo.



Mr. Skater of the Year 2010, I feel like some of his clips were throwaway from Stay Gold, particularly the front board on the bank to hipped red rail, although that trick itself is still very, very sick and quite unpredictable, from personal experience. I believe my favorite aspect of this part is his use of flip tricks, which were glaringly absent in his masterful Emerica part. However, Toy Machine made a mistake when it comes to this skinny fellow, and they showed WAY too much of his pushing. I'm not sure why it bothers me so much, but it looks out of place compared to his perfect skating, like he's not leaning into it or stretching his leg in front of him or something along those lines. Anyways, that's not to detract from the tall 5-0 and smith near the end, or that blue rail front feebs, but it does piss me off just watching him push up to that flyout to curb. Highlight clips include the lofty backside flip over the rail to the hill, the back 180 on the tall yellow railed flyout, and his crook pop-out, mid-double set.

One final observation about Brainwash; did the whole team go through a flyout fad the past couple years?

Hey, Joe

Or should I say Cody McEntire, finally pro for Think?



I hope that's not his last nollie bigspin, for starters. His are so proper it'd be a shame. Note the lip tricks, aka buttery quick backside flip noseblunt (which he also does down the hubba, what?), blunt flip nosepick, the back tail backside flip variants, and the absolutely incredible ending trick which made me laugh quietly to myself while I'm supposed to be doing a paper.

Not as creative as Suciu's double rock, but everything is so.... good. Such control. Even on the sketchy switch heel back smith.

Mad at the Mag

Always a fan but never a close follower of TSM's Mag Minute series, I was informed yesterday of this little canadian man's offering and had to check it out.

Things I like:
Heelflip front noseslide on a handrail
Nollie shuv crooks on a handrail
Fakie Heelflip
Bennett Grind
Nollie frontside flip
Nollie Flip Manny
Switch Back tail front shuv
Big Nollie heel and Nollie flip
Nollie back 180 nosegrind
Everything else
The ender

Things I dont:
The first line. Wasn't nearly as good as his other clips.

Brandon Del Bianco:


The ending switch backside flip and the fakie heel at around the 1:18 mark are not textbook executions of the trick; the fakie heel is slightly crooked, but the beautiful nosedive from the flick foot makes it one of the most glorious tricks I've seen recently. I'm not one to trip over a flip trick over a gap, but this is seriously just amazing, especially for such a rare trick. I'd watch a fakie heel over a nollie one any day, even in the case of Del Bianco's massive one several clips later. The switch backside flip is also not a textbook execution. You can see the similarity in his SS BS KFs to his switch back 180s; he uses his back foot to guide it once he's dipped the nose appropriately with the front, much like accomplished skaters do with their regular back 180s. But, the backside flip rarely works the same way switch, which is why I love the way he did this one so much. He literally catches it mega-ramp style and pushes it into the wind with his back foot. There was no monster pop, no perfect catch, just speed and a steezy back foot on an interesting execution of a rarely wonderful trick.

Back Again

Weeks of computer issues coupled with 40 pages of writing assignments led me to almost a month neglect of poor skatepolitik. But nearing the end of the semester equals three things:

1. Christmas comes soon, aka fixed VX2000
2. New Laptop
3. More Time

All three are damn essential to what I like to do on here. Starting issues I want to address but will save until tomorrow are my recent purchases of Habitat's Origin and Krook3d. I've watched Habitat a couple times and am utterly stunned by Austyn Gillette, particularly his hardflip over that roll-in manhole gap that Billy Marks kickflipped and subsequently tre flipped, and then Westgate frontside flipped. But more on all that later when I'm not at work and not needing to be thinking about other things.

So we'll go to the Politikal vault. Chase Fuller has sent me several remarkable links lately, we'll start out with Mark Suciu, who has footage on the Origin disc.



Quick-ass feet. Tranny mixed with some tech, and some originality to boot. Highlights are the proper and clean bluntslide back lip line, the early box to box combo, front feeble around the corner, wallride double(?) flip and the fakie hardflip down the stairs. Mentionable also are Daryl Angel's halfcab 5050 the hard way, and the Nguyen kid's bluntslide monster pop to fakie. On that note, why are so many skaters endowed with the last name Nguyen? Seems to diminish the recognizability of the nickname "The Nuge" for good ol' Don.

The second clip I'm gonna post is one I know absolutely nothing about. I'm assuming they're all Austrailian dudes (Jasi, get facebook lurking), but the artsy nature of this clip is pretty incredible. Skating is good, filming is on point for the most part, and the spots..... dear god. The orange wallride is a feat in itself, then that beautiful banked piece of art and the board pyramids, all set to what I'm assuming is a track from 90s weirdo spacemusic protege Enya. Not a pro level vid, like Mr. Suciu above, but still entertaining despite its length, and worth a solid viewing.



God willing, I will be posting about one of the aforementioned DVDs tomorrow.

In real life news, for you central VA lurkers, Tim Smith is opening up his skateshop, Culpeper Skateboards, on November 13th. Seen some pics, got some sick stock and plenty of it, and Tim's always had good taste in hardgoods. Swing buy! I mean, uh, by. Buy some shit and support Culpeper's first core shop.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your flight has now arrived

and Morgan Smith is on it:



Everything done proper. Not the technical masterpiece of Ronnie Creager's BANGIN', but when you can huck perfect switch fs flips over hubbas, duplicate your tre lines and bigflips down sets, slide nollie fs flip tailslide flip outs, manhandle some manuals and properly switch varial flip, it's hard to ignore the level of skill and diversity the flip-trick-fiend possesses. Balance, pop, style, tricks.... and nollie flip nosegrind 180s. Id say the Berrics park is now, in Culpeper terms, 'killt' (like our park) but every time I think that something like this happens.

Hopefully an appearance on the Berrics will boost Morgan's popularity. Other than Creager I'd peg him as the most talented still on Blind, noting his Blind Video debut part as evidence. Unfortunately, the only drawback to this clip is the disturbing Akon/Lil Wayne collaboration. Possibly aiming to get him more coverage with soundtrack popularity, I'm not a fan of the track, or Lil Wayne (or Akon, for that matter) being paired with skateboarding in any way. Particularly professionally.

Hopefully, he has arrived. The man is a monster on that toy beneath his feet.

Let's Do Pootube

Several items on my several week hiatus list:

-Jimmy Carlin
-Leo Romero
-Transworld's last voiceover fluke rediscovered

FIRST off, Leo Romero, as time has shown since Stay Gold's release, seems to possess the underground favorite part, arguably tied with B-Herms. Leo delivered nicely on the mouth-watering promises of his RVCA part, and managed to up the interesting factor based on some questionable footage tactics most part-makers have avoided since the late 90s. Whenever you start out a part with the most massive handrail nosebluntslide I have seen, you're in good graces. Especially when said handrail trick is followed by several flawless flatland tricks, without slowing down. Now, I do wish there was more flip trick variety, other than a switch fs flip and something else which escapes my memory. They lacked the visual appeal of his other skating, minus the switch 180/nosegrind nollie heel line on the picnic tables, which would have been exceptional except for the fact that his part fell AFTER Herman's. Szfranski also suffered from the picnic table syndrome with his nosegrind nollie flip, but he is not the focus right now (although it should be noted that if you watch his Baker 3 part, he pretty much follows the formula of go-to tricks throughout his Emerica part). However, amongst highlights is his nosegrind nollie big heel on the same table, which fits nicely behind the aforementioned line. Anyways, the real gold of his part is his ability to do multiple hammers on the same tremendous rail (read kickflip front 5050 and back 180 nosegrind, front 5-0 and front feeble, and the ending massacre). Gapping out to front feeble is an affair still in it's infancy, in fact gapping out to rails seems limited to 5-0s, 5050s, board, lip and noseslides, and crooks. The feeble/smith/noseblunt/nosegrind era may well be ushered in due solely to Leo, if my predictions are not far off. Doesn't speak poorly for the tricks that they were executed perfectly, and in the seventh gear of hauling-ass. A somewhat surprising secondary trend in his part, considering his internet fame cornerstone, was his up-the-rail proficiency. The crook up the red rail was undoubtedly amazing, and his nosegrind pop out was a favorite. The ending 5050 was mind-blowing, but lacked a smooth practicality that skateboarding so often favors (hence why Richie Jackson is not a top pro, and Mullen/Freestyle has fallen by the wayside). Considering Collin Provost and Brandon Westgate's ability to go up rails as well, I somewhat expected Leo to begin upping the ante (if 5050ing up a famous handrail isn't considered such a move) with at least some technicality. Either way, pop, rail proficiency, and his from-the-ground-up approach to handrails negates his considerable lack of flip trick hucking and other-wise technicality into what may well be a run at Skater Of The Year. Who knows. I'd pick Reynolds, considering the effort he put in to each clip, but skate politics are wonky sometimes.

Since Stay Gold isn't on youtube, here's RVCA and his Baker Has a Deathwish part with the beautifully filmed stalefish and several of the rails from his Stay Gold part:


Note the nosegrind up the bank, which I'm wondering if it was from the same day as his Emerica nosegrind nollie flip.


STALEFISH

SECOND on the menu, a Jimmy Carlin ditty I watched a while back. The kooky dude is an unsung and underestimated skill-wizard, probably daunted by his shoe sponsor and Mystery's formerly black and white view of the world. Note the fakie hardflip in a line, fakie 360 heel switch manny, and the ending clip. Who does such tricks so cleanly? No other.




Lastly, in watching the last undertaking of the Jon Holland/Jason Hernandez TWS duo (and also the last TWS video to have the constantly protested and lame segments of voiced-over sentimentality), I noticed a distinct level of modernity that gets lost in the lack of significant bangers, the shitty soundtrack, boring titles and trendy/forgettable editing. This is not to bash on more recent films; however, you can see where the Transworld videos since this one (And Now, Right Foot Forward, Hallelujah) have gotten their rhyme and reason. The artsy shots, speedy lifestyle and scenic shots, general happiness/brotherhood aura.... all first established in Let's Do This. Lost in the slur of failure by the dwindling partnership is the moderately exciting throwaway Clint Peterson part, some ledge-maneuvering precedent to Fully Flared by Peter Smolik, a hell of a part by the stylish little Calloway ninja, and a hell of a montage. Guzman and Brown have solid parts, but lack cohesion and true jaw-dropping nature, which is where Peterson's part prevails (cohesion, cohesion, cohesion!). Yet the true gem of the video is a tie between Calloway and the montage (which is not on youtube?)..... See below.

Calloway:



The point of all this is to highlight how much the Transworld videos have evolved just in the past seven years since implementing the annual system of release. Also, although hard to watch all the way through without falling asleep, each part from Let's Do This would be a solid internet part these days. Look up the other ones not posted here, take a second to enjoy the forgotten TWS 'masterpiece' *cough cough*. Cool vid, albeit a bit boring, but definitely had some good stuff in it, especially for it's time.

Tapdancing Trooper

Goes to show why flips out of front nose and nollie back heels out of just about anything are tricks that are not done for a reason. Our boy here, a weird twist of Jesus Fernandez and Janoski-appearance, has some stock-ugly hardflips as well. All that aside, the smith tricks are impressive as possible these days, and the kickflip front crook variants just as much. The way he sits in the grind before the shuvit is something rare, and the quick footed nollie varial flip out is surprising considering there is indeed a definitive tweak on the front crook. Styled front crooks that are technically progressive = rarity for sure. But the smith's are the real focus. I do not know who the opening guy is, I assume it's a cut from the previous part. He deserves credit for that smooth front blunt backside flip and the massive, late-spun frontside flip, whoever he is. But like I said, the smith variations. Damn. Front smith varial heel, front smith double flip, front smith varial flip, back smith hardflip, kickflip back smith tre? As much as tapdancing can get old, tricks from smith grinds and backside crooks will always make me happy on the inside. His 5-0 skills are apparent too; but the lock in for smith's makes them that much cooler.

Leo's Stay Gold part discussion is still coming. Came across this and felt like it was easier to post after a 12 hour day.

Chaos Among Men

So there's a good bit of drama in the DGK camp over clothing representation, loyalties, and self-preservation. I'm not gonna go much into this saga, because I have never seen anything like it, and I believe it will pan out on it's own rather quickly.

The fight:



The speech?:


The feud appears to be between the DC street master Darren Harper and Stevie Williams. While Harper has caught a legitimate amount of shit for doing this with such a respected skater/businessman/owner, considering the balls it takes to go at such a man at a Redbull sponsored event in public in front of a large herd is pretty remarkable. The fact that Spencer Fujimoto clocks Harper in the face with a skateboard of all things WHILE Darren is pinned down makes this really a meat and bones subject. This does not bode well for DGK; how can a team manager, aka Spencer Fujimoto (henceforth referred to only as "Pussy" or "Bitch") smack another skater with a board in such circumstances? While a physical altercation because of sponsor circumstances is somewhat pitiful and completely unnecessary, it doesn't say much for the Dirty Ghetto Kids that their owner and Fujifilm team manager have to team up against one of their own riders simply because they don't like his decisions. I can think of many new meanings for their anonym, but the word that comes to mind most is singular and all telling. Disgusting. This is not how business is done, this is not how respectable 'businessmen' behave, and this is not how you fight. Nothing good is coming from this, regardless of who's at fault. The DGK brand as a whole stands to suffer from this escapade, and I for one hope it rightfully does. I also hope Bitch either loses his job, or gets smacked around gang-style in the back alley of an industry gathering.

In other news, I have not gotten to post my one-sided discussion of Leo Romero's Stay Gold rail-raiser part yet, which should hopefully happen this weekend, bald-dog problems notwithstanding. There are several other items on my 'To-Post' list, including a diddy on Jimmy Carlin and some smaller name clips and notably, Skate and Create with all it's glory and three-striped disappointment. But the most exciting issue to my mind is the recently announced plans to release Element's "Trio" on DVD.

Yes, an internet video coming to DVD post-release.

Only weeks ago I was complaining to a friend that while internet video footage and release is a satisfying commodity for someone like myself and a good outlet for the monster quantity of good but not DVD notable footage many paid-skaters are capable of producing these days, it's a shame some of these releases aren't designated afterwards for free DVD or Special Edition circulation. Coming particularly to mind is the Element Europe video, DC's "Skateboarding is Forever", and "Trio", with Dylan's Gravis part rearing in my mind before a copy of it came with my Skateboard Mag issue. Thrasher's Tragedy was much a success in it's popularity due to mag distribution, and I couldn't help but wonder what the harm would be in putting out such significant and non-video-unified parts on discs like that, for they no doubt have more value than the bullshit Analog tour discs that usually accompany publications. Specifically bothering me was my utter adoration of the Trio parts and my inability to view them with a beer and some pizza rolls from my large television. Adio and DC take note, this kind of release will hopefully play to the generation of DVD buyers harvested by the release of "Stay Gold" and those reminiscing for the golden days of the video release alike, in addition to providing the instant access granted by online debut. To have a company actually come up with the idea to put these creations on disc, whether it be for more money or more widespread audience, is a seeming dream come true. Hopefully we see more of it in the future; in the meantime, start saving your spare change and buy Trio and support this idea.

Shoulda Seen This One Comin'

Fakie to fakie. Will we see the famed snowboard 1080 soon? Ugh. Take a barf bag up there with you, Bob.

Grown Ass Men

B-Herms. Allegedly injured twice trying both tre flip AND hardflip down Hollywood High 16 (maybe the tre was the idea after said hardflip appeared via another talented soul's feet in Hallelujah?), and according to a friend a patron of only skating seriously on Sundays, Bryan's part in Stay Gold is something of an enigma and a masterpiece all at once. With more than a minute of picnic table lines in the same school yard and his potentially historical Walk of Fame kickflip nosemanny, his part seems divided into a sort of intro/chill sesh and actual banger hunger. Unfortunately for the critical, variety pursuant viewer like me, Herms does two nollie inward heels, two nosegrinds, three hardflips, two tre flips, two switch fs flips and two switch front heels in addition to repetition of these go-to's in his picnic table party and another nollie inward in the video's intro. It seems a bit saddening when some of the only variety present in his part is a nollie flip, although his opening 12 set nollie tre flip in all its perfection and loftiness lends weight to balancing the equation. Faux-scientific analyzation aside, Herman's talent is highly evident despite injury and the go-to curse. Tricks at the same spot in the same clothing lend a bit of awe to the fact that he can toss undisputed bangers (plural, mind you) without even leaving a gnarly spot. I'm led to believe his part took a very small amount of time to film as far as being healthy and productive goes. It does diminish the impact of the part, however, that his ender was predictable and also a trick he is famous for, and also considering what Reynolds accomplished at the same spot that did not involve flipping frontside in the same video (not that skateboarding is about comparison, but certain things do need consideration). Yet this part will probably be one of the most remembered in Stay Gold; Herman's last full outing was Baker 3, and some time has passed since we saw him at his growing stage in that release. Sporting a chain necklace and a large stature, each trick has such pop and control that it literally dwarfs Kevin Long's following segment in a rather unexpected and unfortunate way. Plus, the standout status follows the unique nature of his part, including the daring to have such a long schoolyard segment and so many tricks at the same spots. If not anything else, the first half of his part, from the Walk of Fame through his switch front heel/nollie inward line, will be the guts of the remembrance, and the most significant footage of Bryan possibly ever. After all, it's hard to forget such a massacre of one spot, with such pop, variety (cough?) and relaxed feel. It's not at all unrealistic to imagine that these lines were seriously a by-product of boredom and a good session, either separately or in combination. Either way, to have the ability to amass a part like that requires a certain industry respect and notoriety, and to successfully release it in such an anticipated video is a feat all its own.

Now, although his part lends an air of the nonchalant to an otherwise serious video full of life-threatening maneuvers, that's not to say that I don't still find myself wishing for a part he went for 100%. But that not being the case, we are left with a little glimpse into the talents of this man, and the timeframe and issues with which he had to deal with to release it. As Reynolds said in his video discussion, Herman may not have tried, but he easily walked away with one of the most memorable parts of the video based purely on who he is, and how it was done. Pretty cool, to say the least.

Stay Bold

Perhaps it's just the sites I frequent, but the 'blogosphere' seems to still be digesting/waiting/watching Stay Gold instead of writing about it. Unfortunately I've had the time in my past couple days (or blew off things and made time, rather) to watch it about fifteen times.

The video in itself stands for so many different almost paradoxes that it's somewhat mindblowing. Emerica ushered in their new generation (Westgate, Preston, Provost, and above all FIGGY) with this instant classic, and at the same time seemed to really put a sort of cap on the skateboarding generation that grew out of the late 90s. Kirchart's retirement part, which seems more of a memorial montage than anything, is the obvious piece of evidence. Seeing such an icon, such an individual and true mind fuck as Heath Kirchart disappear into history amongst echoing drumbeats and 10+ year old footage is something that doesn't feel like it's even happening. It's fairly chilling, really, to watch his part. All the night clips, the complete lack of other people in almost every clip, the solidarity of his on-screen presence and the mind numbing effect of his footage and style mixed together perfectly punctuate the end of Heath's career and essentially an era. The hill bomb birdie flyer right before his mega ramp surprise seems to perfectly sum up Heath Kirchart, and this farewell clip coupled with his Mind Field Opus leaves you in a bit of a blown mindstate full of nostalgia and thoughts of This Is Skateboarding, Sorry, and Photosynthesis. The eerie aura passes into the surreal intro, full of naturally Emerican long exposures and time lapses. It also features Jerry Hsu's only regular stanced clip, and some very un-B-roll footage (notably Provosts fs flip over, ironically, the rail spot Heath raped in Mind Field).

Westgate starts off the birth of this video with the speed we expect, but the lack of variety we don't. Herman's part is for another discussion, Marquis Preston bursts on the scene with a frail frame that somehow reminds me of Terrell Robinson, and Kevin Long (why not Spanky, still? he's still so little) shows variety but not alot of speed and some disappointingly undeveloped style which leaves me wondering what happened to this once-golden child. Pussy gotcha hooked, is my guess. Past those parts, the most remarkably diverse and surprise parts go to Aaron Suski, Collin Provost and Justin Figueroa. Provost rips anything in his path, including a trippy concrete park bonanza and steez never before seen in his footage. The boy has obviously done a bit of maturing in terms of his skating as he grew, and the results are amazing. He looks nothing like the little Element boy, and his song fits his grungy appearance and lazy style in a way almost reminiscent of Appleyard's flip song, but not as legendary.

Little Jamie Tancowny, as an aside, tops his Strange World part easily, in my opinion. The gnar factor is up by full points but he seems to get lost easily in the slew of monsters he co-stars with. On that note, I did not realize how absolutely out of control his hair is. I'm also surprised Reynolds didn't mention him as one of the guys that IS the future in his filmed discussion a while back, considering the boy has perfect tricks, lots of speed and a good style. But anyways. I want to rave about the oddities of Suski's part and touch on Figgy's so to save space I'll stop there.

Suski has some surprising rail to ledge tricks, a handrail clip, and even a NBD on a well-known gap. His song is an odd one, but each spot looks incredibly interesting and he seems to choose his tricks perfectly. Undoubtedly a solid step above his State of Mind part, which I had seen and assumed that he was getting ready to call it quits until his opening trick in this kicked me in the gnar balls. Braydon's next with surprising cleanliness and weird shakespeare actor attire, easily my favorite footage of him. The biggest part of the lesser names though is Figgy. A monster nollie front feeble, rails that look big even compared to him, a skatestopped big ol' 5050, and speed speed speed aid his grind-heavy part that's allegedly paving his way into pro-dom.

Due to the strangeness of Herman's part I'll save my thoughts on his segment for tomorrow, and since Leo deserves a post of his own he shall wait as well. I can't justify wrapping up this little synopsis without discussing the real gem of the video, the other half of the 'end of era' theme I touched on earlier. Although I could mention Ed Templeton and his lack of footage as more proof, speculation is he's stashing it all for a final Toy part. I could also ponder the absolute brutality Jerry Hsu has gone through and wonder if his career can continue to grow or if he's actually secured his legend status and may end up taking a smaller role in future videos. But it's too early to tell, and he can nollie back tailslide, so Reynolds it is.

The Boss snagging ender from such a starry line up is a feat in and of itself. Especially compared to the tear Leo has been on with his innovative rail techniques, and Drew's age, and his presence as the curtains in This Is Skateboarding.

But he did.

And he did it damn well.

The song is beautiful. In all reality, this along with Heath's Mind Field part are the only two perfect examples of closing parts I can think of. Yes, Hsu and MJ and Cole had epic segments that affected the world in this decade, along with Pudwill recently and other notables you can think of, but these two in particular are so perfectly suited to the music and contain such a level of refined skateboarding and classic individuality that there really is no denying the level of mastery contained within. Andrew's is THE perfect part. The opening daddy-display reminds you of his age and the fact that this may well be his last full part, and the presence of so many of today's big-boy hammer spots (carlsbad TWICE, the 5 block, the 11 with the huge hubba above it, wallenberg, hollywood high, the 14 that used to have the middle rail, the 16 he kickflipped so long ago, the red rail on the rocks, the UC Davis(?) gap at the end...) lacking only Wilshire, El Toro, and the LOVE fountain to my memory is enough to make anyone die at the thought of making a gnarlier part at any age. Most are happy to get a trick at any of those spots, and he gets tricks at all of them for one single part. Not to mention the two NBDs down carlsbad, two hammers on the five block, multiple six block clips, etc etc. In the extras there's a bonus video about his perfectionism, and contained within are the other two varial heels he did down hollywood high along with countless back 3s and his original back heel down the five block, his first fakie flip down the six block, a night-time PERFECT nollie front heel down the twelve that he threw away because it was his only night clip, and a previous version of his 10 set-16 set line. The sheer ability to huck tricks like that multiple times until you feel they are perfect is just astounding, particularly examining other feats at those spots, such as Sierra Fellers ollie north down the five block, and considering that the Boss back 360d that spots upwards of five times just to get rid of arm motions or twisted torsos. The work ethic and dedication of that man makes him a legend even with his footage unconsidered. But to look in his part and see the staple tricks you expect, the fs flips, the back heel, the back 3s, caballero, bs flip, etc fused with tricks you never saw coming like the heelflip back tail, switch heel back tail, back tail back heel, fakie tre down 11, noseslide front shuv and others is the making of a true classic. Nicely tainted with his trademark style, you see what you expect to be done done better, and what you don't expect done perfectly. Surprise and amazement coupled with his history, his status, the song, filming, and the possibility of finality = the perfect part, the perfect ender, and the undeniable mark of a legend that should leave marks on the minds of skaters for the next decade at least.

Madder, Madder..... Madar?

As promised, young Element Euro rider Madars Apse is appearing in this post as a perfect illustration of my two part should-be-cool and should-not-be-done list. Notice the three shuv (or bad impossible?) down MACBA for example.



Even though it was posted in July, this dude is remarkably worth noting. Dressed like an American and looking like his every trick is done with floppy shoes and a soggy board, the boy pulls off a 9 set no comply along with a Dylan-caliber frontside flip and manages to make every trick memorable somehow. Note the fakie front board.... around a rail? As if that trick isn't awkward enough. The pop out of the dirt on the opening feeble, the pole-jam-like first 5050, the crooks pop over on the inward curved handrail, the front board pop out before the big ass knob at the bottom, the tremendously long round rail 5-0, the nasty kinks on the last 5050, and the ender (a spot I have never seen skated that way, or even assumed possible).... honestly the only clips I don't particularly care for are the 3 shuv/impossible and the switch inward heel. My favorites though have to be the kickflip 5-0 transfer into the bank, and the barrier wallie back 360 launch.

So Mr. Apse aptly demonstrates the ugliness of 3 shuvs while at the same time showing the beauty of the scary as hell no comply 180 down gaps/stairs. I can now start my list.


-----The TRICKS That Should Be COOLER List-----
(TTTSBCL)

1. No comply 180s. Not as a flatland trick. This trick is a primo-king, and it pretty much has to be done right to work down a set or gap. For reference, view Louie Barletta's part in Subject to Change, and anything of Mike Ruscyzk.

2. Boardslide to Hurricane grinds. Jason Adams is the usual king of these, although unfortunately Scott Decenzo pulled out a lovely frontside one in Vamdalism. Like a more risky and potentially awkward footed variation of the boardslide feeble, I don't understand why this trick gets so little use. Just that little powerful nudge into hurricane fits so well with today's passion for 5-0 to switch crooks and the likes. But gnarlier.

3. Slides or Grinds into manual. While not a specific trick, this technique almost always looks good, although some may think it too geeky or combo-like. Joey Brezinski has been doing them for years, and Tyler Bledsoe and even Pete Eldridge had examples of this in Hallelujah. The best, or most eye pleasing, variations I've seen occurred in Luan's part in Extremely Sorry. It's pretty much impossible to go wrong with these types of clips, so why are they not in every video at LEAST once? C'mon. Get creative and show off that fuckin' balance.

4. Nosebonk Pole Jams. Adam Alfaro blasts one of these in his God Save the Label part, if not his Back in Black segment. It's the perfect combination of three tricks. The pole jam, the nosebonk, and the crook(bonk?). The little lift it gives the do-er to jam right at the end is reminiscent of a transition nollie bonk, and since it doesn't require full commitment to the pole, I don't see why they don't appear more often, particularly into banks and across gaps.

5. Late shuvs. Everybody loves a late shuv. Look at the last month of posts for perfect renditions of them by Chris Pfanner and Jordan Hoffart. The problem with these, I think, arises from the ugliness of late flips mixed with late shuvs, although separately both are beautiful tricks. Plus, nothing feels as cool as quick kicking your board and landing back on it. The delayed action of the trick is really cool to watch too, I believe it might have something to do with brain processing time because it seems to fool the vision for a second. Always a good trick to see in any part, particularly with a backside 180 before the shuvit.

6. Halfcab Grinds. As reminded by Taylor Bingaman and also Grant Taylor's part in Mindfield, halfcabs are simple and fun to pop, and look pretty awesome. Toss that bitch into a grind and you couple it with weird timing, making it hard. Yet these types of tricks look much less awkward than nollie front 180 versions, and are much rarer. Assuming everyone has been halfcabbing since their first year of skating, this is yet another maneuver that has no reason for it's all but complete absence in skateboarding footage.

7. 5050 360s. Not much to say about this one. Like tailslide 270s and shit like that, if you can haul at a 5050 and completely rotate a 360 out, it's gonna look sick. Ahem, Vince De Valle and Darrell Stanton (frontsider and backsider).

8. Heelflip lip tricks. Very hard to come by examples, the closest I can think of other than friends of mine in the past is Sean Eaton in The Beginning with his heelflip backside pivot, and Chris Troy in God Save the Label with his blunt backside heelflip. We all know it's easier and more coping friendly to flick kickflips on transition. But considering I grew up seeing a good friend toss Varial Heel rock fakies, nollie front heel tail stalls, heelflip backside pivots and feeble, heelflip nosestalls, and blunt heelflip fakies..... where are they in skating? I know those heelflip pros out there have them stored away somewhere. Hell, even the switch heelers. Where are they at? Show us the footy, boys.

9. Sugarcanes. Hard, very hard. To do right, at least. But even a basher, like Dylan's in the pool in his Gravis promo, is a delight to the eye. Lets not forget Patrick Melcher's transition rips, and Sammy Baca's handrail usages. This trick looks awesome, end of story. Levels above hurricanes, for sure.

10. Bonelesses. I'll put on the bulletproof vest for this one. Watch the Slave video, and see even Matt Mumford cracking the hell out of them. Or Grant Taylor's massive one in Debacle. Better yet, lets take a look at Danny Dicola in Slave's Radio/Television:



Bottom line is, these aren't the bonelesses all the lame kids that couldn't kickflip used to do around the skatepark on flat. Learn to properly snap a boneless and launch them, and you've got yourself a legit, spread out booster of a ramp trick. Or even a gap trick, as Kerry Getz so riskily reminded us in Skate More. Go boneless.

Also when watching Danny's clip, notice the blunt body varial grab and keep that in mind for the ROUGH premiere tonight in Norfolk. Come out and check it!

Hoffart.... One Step Beyond?

Adio, once creators of the technologically magnificent One Step Beyond (and also ball-droppers as far as skill and noteworthiness in that video), have since been non-existent on the video-front. Unfortunate considering their hold over Kenny Anderson in previous years prevented him from having a significant showing since about 2003, and their sponsorship of notables Sean Eaton and Jeremy Wray and Anthony Schultz among other talents have also deprived these dudes of proper or recent coverage. Hopefully their trendy internet series in the wake of Trio and Skateboarding Is Forever will remedy this flaw. By the looks of Jordan Hoffart's ridiculous shoulda-been-a-dvd-ender part, they're trying.



I suppose the beginning is supposed to be some kind of dream-state about aliens and perfect front lips down steep handrails on narrow stairsets. But I don't really care for the bullshit-heavy intro near so much as the actual part. The first few clips are boring, with awkward landings and lacking the now-trademark Hoffart charge-speed. But after a beauty of a varial heel(never saw that coming, right?) and an ever beautiful fs flip late shuv, everything is how it should be. I believe Hoffart is one of the unsung yet more talented individuals of this generation of skateboarding, and his relationship to the late front shuv is similar to that of Chris Pfanner with the back 180 late shuv. Big gaps, proper slides, and variety along with oversized Bones tees litter the part, with too many highlights to mention (front 180 front foot impossible, roll in gap to 5050, street gap kickflip....). Expect lots of pop, big hubbas, handrail tech, and some stuff that feels like throwaway but looks cool as shit. Oh, and beware, Kircharts street gap gets two NBDs across it, and his heelflip late shuv over the fence is one of the best single tricks I've seen in years due to the size of the fence, the cleanliness of the landing, and the rarity of the trick (except in previous Hoffart footage). Adio pulled off one damn good segment, albeit with help from Jordan's talent, and not withstanding some poorly done ramped slowmo's and some aggravating double angles at the end. Can they do nearly as well with the rest of the series? I hope so, but my hopes are not yet raised.

Too Much to Manage

All of a sudden videos are coming out left and right. I'll try to keep up. The Tricks-That-Should-Be-Done-More-Often list will come soon.

First order of business, from the apparently Maryland-based "Something Wild" video, we have a nice lil' tre flip and a big ol' bigspin down a gap you should recognize, or else you need to leave the page:



It's no Chris Cole switch fs flip, but damn. And they're only shop riders, hopefully flow somewhere. Ian Smith does the bigspin and Eric Kunmann performs the tre flop.

Now the main show. Gravis produced one of, if not it's first, full part for any of their riders, featuring the ever-skinnier, ever-highwater-ier Dylan Reider. Good songs, ridiculous impossible over the bench (and proper, at that), massive pop, and a proper kickflip shifty.

Untitled from vincent on Vimeo.

Unfortunately, it's off of youtube so you have to copy that link until I figure out how to embed vimeo properly. Hell, or even embed a link right.

Things I like:

Simply, his tricks. Good selection, execution, speed, and steez. Plus pop equals good formula.

Things I don't:

-V-neck shirts that are too small
-Rolled up pants that are too small
-Giants

Yet somehow his skating is still thoroughly enjoyable. Trends are indeed changing. Another video from the Element Europe project I'll be posting soon has more proof of this, and perfectly demonstrates both an ugly 3 shuv from my "don't list", and a beautiful rarity from my "do list". All in the same part, PLUS trend-relevancy? I about came my pants.

ROUGH tomorrow

Barrier session, minus the good tricks. Songs ABD, tricks suck, smith was a 270 attempt, and both smiths were a different day. But what do you do with tricks that aren't good enough even for a montage? Throw 'em away....



whatever. Premiere tomorrow at 5:30, then again at 6:00 pm at Mike's in Norfolk next saturday. I'd beg for viewers but I'm not that gay. Come out and enjoy?

Could Be, Should Be.

First off, Chris Roberts has learned a new trick. First time since, uh, Hot Chocolate, unless I'm mistaken. Front board nollie back heel ad? Very cool, it's even a trick I haven't seen. Who woulda guessed.

Anyways, I've been watching videos from the '09 that I haven't watched in quite some time, partially spurred by seeing ads and a check-out on Ben Skryzpek, who I'm not even a fan of really. Considering that my first thought on watching God Save The Label last year was that Peter Raffin and good ol' Ben had no future in todays skateboarding. Sketchy styles, boring tricks, goofy all around appearance. Now, Peter Raffin is in TWS and Skryzpek is getting compliments from the industry. Big what the fuck? BIG what the fuck.

Ben's part:


After watching this the other day, I grew to appreciate a sort of Fred Gall/Steve Durante beautiful bruteness in his skating, perhaps caused by his upbringing in Maine. To my knowledge, not much related to skateboarding comes out of, goes into, or has anything to do with that state. I'm actually pretty sure even the news doesn't care about Maine, nor the elections, and possibly not even it's inhabitants. Now regarding Inhabitants, I realized that Ben's style of grimy skating on perfect spots would be far better suited as a member of the Habitat squadron, particularly considering his surprising Mag Minute:



Maybe his board is still a bit small for him, but at least those hideous, obvious-flow-box converse's from his Label part aren't there, and in their place is a beautiful fakie flip fakie manny clip, a boosted fs flip and fs heel, a buttery kickflip back noseblunt, and a downright naughty flyout kickflip. Coupled with some eerily missed fakie mongo (Ryan Decenzeo in Hallelujah brought me to this particular emotion), I have hope for him. Regardless tho, I say he belongs on Habitat, or some kind of Kayo company. He doesn't skate fast enough or grimy enough for Label.

In the same vein of thinking, I've consistently noticed Chet Childress has a bit of a short arm on one side. I wonder why this is, and I can't find anything on it. Clues would be appreciated, if anyone still reads my bullshit. Oh, and while watching his black and white depressing Burnside session of a Label part, I realized he is undoubtedly the master of Back Disaster variations, although perhaps not the base trick itself.

Last random thought involving tranny and moving us to my next point, WHY have I never seen footage of a proper, hell even improper, grinded back smith back 270 on tranny? Seems like a beautiful trick in concept, and the stall variant isn't only mildy cool but also fun as shit. Let the hunt for footage begin.

Finally, I've been watching obviously too many videos lately and I've compiled a little list of tricks that really should just not be done, or should have become obsolete by now. I'll do this in two parts for the sake of uh, readability. Basically because I'm tired of typing and need a cigarette. Perhaps next time I'll include prime examples.

-----The TRICKS that should not be COOL List-----
(TTTSNBCL? Everyone else is using acronyms... reference Blueprint's newest vid)

1. Boardslides/Lipslides over to bluntslide on the opposite side of a ledge. I believe Shuriken Shannon does one well in his Label part, forgive my redundancy. I think the only viable execution of this for anyone else though would be back lip to front blunt, but seriously, anything else doesn't look at all appealing and honestly the idea isn't even that crazy for it's execution to warrant it's ugliness. Evidence: Tyler Bledsoe's Front board over to back noseblunt in Hallelujah. Hated that trick.

2. Nollie Varial Heelflips. This bitch is seriously ugly. Can't scoop a switch varial heel right? WELL THEN, just charge something nollie and flick your back foot back. Every time I see this trick, it isn't even caught, it just drops. Plus, something about the general rotation just looks sloppy, even compared somewhat mysteriously to fakie varial heels, which actually look sick and are considerably rare, even more so than the fakie hardflip. For a good one, check out basically any >30 sec clip of Chico Brenes. Back to the nollie ones, something about African American stair jumpers seems to coincide with this one, and while Antwuan and several others have pulled this trick for parts multiple times, a particularly bad aftertaste exists on Kevin Romar's one down the Sacto triple set in Digital's Smoke and Mirrors. Ew. Good spot though, Don't get me wrong. Oh, and they're still awesome into mannys and grinds. Just not as a flatground or gap trick.

3. Frontside 180 Nosegrinds, Fs 180 out. Seriously. It looks like a more rotated noseslide. Probably feels like one too. Seems like a good way to do something on a hubba if you're scared to go for something more than a boardslide/noseslide motion.

4. Bank Frontside Tailsides. Aren't even hard. Yet they pop up in parts ALL the time. At least go like 10-15 feet. Or do it on a quarterpipe or something steep.

5. Switch crooks on handrails. They never lock in, fall out of place, and look pretty much accidental every time. Hubbas, please. Or Fakie ollie in, at least that way it'll lock in AND look sick.

6. Layback Front Boards. If you can't do it without touching your hands, then don't do it please. Hands are meant for grabbing coping, occasionally pushing away from wallrides, and grabbing boards mid flight. Not touching the hubba. Like.... Ever.

7. 360 backside shuvits. Nobody can tell if you're doing a bad impossible, or a good 3 shuv. Or even what trick you're trying. Plus, they don't really pop and catch that well, unless you're Shane O'Neil.

8. Smith to 5-0s. You don't even have to do anything other than lean back like you're popping out. Looks stupid. I think to actually look cool, a rail combo either has to involve a pop into the second trick, or the board has to transfer onto the other side of the rail. Ie, crook back lip(shut up, I like them), Feeble tailslides (Carroll and Mikey Taylor), Feeble smiths, Feeble lips, smith to boards.

9. Switch backside smiths on ledges. Or anything, really. Rarely are they done on anything long enough to lock in, and doing them off the end of a short ledge looks lazy and ugly. A smith, much like a feeble, isn't truly a smith unless it's locked in. Otherwise you're just angling at the ledge and glancing your back truck on it on your way back to Earth. Sorry, Pete Eldridge, but that one in your Hallelujah part in the line was the reminder for how much I hate this one.

10. Novercrooks. Oh, sorry, overcrooks. I've seen like, three good ones. Two of which were done by Taylor Bingaman (Halfcab overcrook, which I still wonder if it was supposed to be nosegrind, and backside overcrook down Hollywood High 16, again wonder if it was supposed to be nosegrind). Much like salads and suski's, I don't even think it's really possible to control your tweak on nosegrinds and 5-0s down a handrail to the point where you're doing a 'tweaked' version of the trick. Why not just call it a tweaked nosegrind, since it's not truly locked in like a crook should be, so no one will freak out about how awesome it is? Novercrooks for president.

Back and Finished

Soooo the ROUGH video is finished and off to get copied onto more discs than I care to look at, which means several things:

1. Go to one of the premieres.
-Culpeper: 5:30 pm Sunday August 22, 105 East Davis St.
-Hampton Roads: 6:00 pm Saturday August 28, Mike's Sk8 Park Norfolk.
-Fredericksburg: Saturday August 28th some time, more details coming soon.
2. No more desperate all day street missions for a while
3. Time to be on the computer where I don't have to search for songs, get footage sent from North Carolina, download fonts, fuck with images, and edit video parts.

So, before I get off the topic of ROUGH, observe the out of date promo from last year:


Just so you know what kind of pizzazz you're dealing with.

On to blog business, recently Andrew Reynolds showed up with this fascinating little ditty about Stay Gold, which I am currently shitting my pants waiting to see.


-Several things he said that I found fascinating:
---He so confidently proclaims tap-dancing ledge tricks over, right on the heels of such dancers Torey Pudwill and Tyler Bledsoe's parts in Transworld's Hallelujah (to be discussed later) drops. True? not really. Going that way? Yes, I think so.
---In that vein, he labels Wes Kremer, Grant Taylor, and Brandon Westgate as the new thing. Interesting considering only one of them is on Emerica, but then again considering the footage, speed, and grace all three tackle the world with, I'm not too surprised. Kremer particularly has gotten mention on here, and strikes both Tim and myself as a young Busenitz. Support for Westgate's case should be forthcoming in Stay Gold by the looks of that easy monster kickflip, and Grant Taylor's drop-in on the Nike tour from the newest Transworld serves at exhibit C. This makes me wonder his take on such noobies as Cory Kennedy and Shane O'Neil, and their perfect brand of technical wizardry and effortless stair-hopping, as evidenced by both the sequence and the corresponding Hallelujah footage of Nuggets switch flip back-lipping a handrail. Regardless, the Boss made some good picks throwing out those three names.

-Random Tidbits I've been brewing on:

---Krooked's filmer for their 3D project built his camera himself, with technology he claims is from the 30s. Talk about tremendous use of time. Good thing the cover of The Skateboard Mag 3D issue came out so well, or else he could well be working on a video the world would turn their head to.

---Josh Kalis seems to have started racking up footage after his move to DGK. Is Stevie reunion really that motivating, or is it possible that Alien skaters actually get LESS coverage than the somewhat anti-media DGK? See his no footage switch big heel street gap sequence, his kickflip back noseblunt ad, and pretty much a couple pages out of each skate mag publication for confirmation.

---Brian Wenning is on Jereme Rogers' Selfish skateboards. I can't help but wonder if the fat, selfish, mean, two-faced, cocky, non-progressive dirty motherfucker is actually doing it as a career move, or if him and J-Rog are trying to play a big joke on the industry that has blacklisted them. Either way, the teammates are a fitting couple.

---Lastly, after watching Hallelujah and oddly finding myself enjoying Ryan Decenzo's part on the whole more than any part other than Bingaman's, I realized that, as with most brother pairs, one is simply boring as hell and the other is amazing. Scott's Vamdalism part got somewhat battered by me on this blog, and in retrospect I believe it's because of his baggy pants and completely unremarkable style. Ryan, on the other hand, has those sometimes awkward pushes, the lankiness, and the crazy hands of the likes of Pudwill, Evan Smith, and Ryan Lay. His kickflip crooked, which apparently he did twice, is just amazing. His whole part is pretty balls to the wall, and it strikes me as pretty amazing that a dude that is THAT talented and yet possessing a completely unmarketable style other than his ability to be gnarly can actually make it in the skateboard industry. Thank God.

Things to learn from Hallelujah:
-Bingaman is indeed a young Cardiel, and shreds everything.
-Torey Pudwill still does ubsurd things with his hands, note the lengthy back smith and his TWS cover 2nd try back 5050.
-Eldridge is still doing the same tricks seven years later, but still proper as hell
-Frontside Hurricane fs kickflip rail transfers are actually possible
-That Colorado fool William Spencer does some seriously stupid shit on a skateboard that I find even more embarrassing than freestyle.
-David Reyes RIPS and is shorter than my kitchen table at the same time.

Bootleg

In light of the release of Transworlds newest video, I felt like it would be a good time to look back on 2003 Pete Eldridge and wonder why the world forgot about him. While the opening song has been used in other vids and the end method of fade-slowmo-fade-slowmo with no music is pretty damn annoying, who else was switch noseblunting handrails back then? And better yet, who else can switch front noseslide like that?

Brent, Jart, and madness

Although I enjoy his laid back cruising, I'm tired of seeing Brent Atchley never try.



Other than all the clips including and following his metal halfpipe line, Brent suffers from an acute disease known as frontside-ollieitis, and I'm frankly tired of them. Where are his snappy blunt front 180s? Lightning scooped tres and nollie cabs? what about the nollie front heel disasters and general diversity that Element somehow coaxed out of him once upon a time? Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Brent-hater. But damn son, give us something to watch. You aren't pro just to do the same thing over and over.

Now, in other news related to actually 'trying', we have young Cian Eades for Jart skateboards, which by the way have a pretty impressive sophistication about their website and footage for a brand I know nothing about. In the latest issue of Skateboarder, I noticed what I didn't want to believe was a sequence of a lazer double flip. I checked their website, and saw with my own eyes this:

http://jartskateboards.com/jart.tv/?p=0&v=21

(Please copy and paste, the link thing isn't working and I don't really care since I embed everything else)

I don't know if this is switch, but this looks like one of those tech-nerd tricks done wonderfully right. I'd like to see it in normal speed to fully pass a judgement, but from the looks of it I like it more than tre double flips. Hopefully we won't see it again for a while though, because I don't like how lazer flips are becoming more and more popular. I miss the feeling of 'oh, what?' when they'd pop up.

Lastly, check out this little online ditty I found involving some dudes that post on a forum I used to frequent. Tech-nerd can be applied here as well if you choose, but the results of the video are impressive and damn near jaw-dropping. Particularly considering they're just dealing with one of those lame pre-fab metal parks we've all come to know and hate.



If it doesn't hype you up, at least it's something you don't see every day. I'm trying to build an appreciation for anything that's put together with care, skateboarding/editing/filming/whatever elements that may be. I've got another one stored up too, so put on your Mullen boots and prepare for a circus trick maniac that actually has skill when rolling. Didn't know they existed?

Me either.

Back to Bidness

Sooooooo as some/all/none of you may know, last thursday I was robbed at gunpoint by two faggot-ass thugs in the ghetto while on delivery runs. One of them was angry enough that I only had a $500 phone, $20 bucks in cash and three food items that he even went as far as to cock the hammer on his piece and tell me it was coming on the count of three. Now, naturally, I'm no longer at that job and amongst picking up the pieces of that night and working on finishing up the Culpeper DVD entitled "Rough", I haven't had any time whatsoever to post. I could ramble about all the things that have distracted me, but you now know the main reasons so I'm assuming no one else cares past that point. In fact, probably all shreds of caring ceased to exist when I stopped posting two weeks ago.

So.

Back to bidness.

I'll have a legit post up later about the new Brent Atchley clip and a somewhat startling ad in Transworld that I have yet to decide my feelings about. But for now, since I'm craving a chicken wrap from 7-Eleven, this piece of park play will have to do. These clips have been laying around for anywhere between forever and last week, so those of you who I bullshitted by squatting on this stuff, my apologies. This is what happens when I stop park filming, I guess.



Take note: Londen's late shuv was first try.

Vamdalism = 100% Gustavo

So, while there are about 10 different posts I'd like to make, I'm still short on time working on finishing up filming for the ROUGH video. But, upon reading BTO today, I became aware of the Plan B am video, Vamdalism.

Feast your corneas:



Scott Decenzo, as BTO mentioned, is indeed boring. While gnarly, I only really enjoyed his switch front feeble, opening front nose 270 shuv, switch heel back tail shuv line, switch back tail shuv on the bank, back feebs back 180, and front board to hurricane. Of all those tricks, only the opening noseslide, feeble 180, and front board hurricane struck me on the first watch. The boy looks awkward no matter which stance he's in, so stance recognition was much harder for me. Not to mention, I'm sick and FUCKING tired of seeing people switch back tail that long concrete rail. I've seen it in parts three times now. Seeing an ABD a second time is annoying, but not so bad. But to see it a third time, in a Plan B publication? Completely unacceptable. Plus, once Felipe Gustavo comes on, you literally have to rewatch Decenzo, S.'s part to even remember it happened.

Gustavo is a young, more interesting P.Rod. It's just a fact. The technicality in his part had me dropping my jaw and spilling my beer. Nollie hardflip noseslide bigspin, fakie hardflip tailslide, noseslide, tre flip nosegrind reverts in lines with kickflip nosegrind back 1's on picnic tables, nollie front noseslide 270 shuvs on the belmont rail in lines after a perfectly swerved bigspin up the three..... Felipe seriously chooses the absolute hardest ledge tricks in skateboarding and lines them like they're nothing. Perhaps the master of the kickflip crook AND nollie flip crook, his part left me craving for a full video part on DVD so I could rewind over and over. Also, I like how he took the ABD switch back tail and fucked it over with a beautiful switch flip into it. Take that, Decenzo.


Oh yeah, forgot to mention. Hardflip back tail on a handrail? Oh, wow. Just wow.

Eminem

I know it's unrelated and generally mainstream of me, but listening to Eminem's last three singles defines him as a pure motherfucker. There is no other word. An emotional yet truly expressive individual taunting the entire American public doesn't come along often. His indifference towards the limits of decency are appalling and awe-inspiring at the same time.

As far as pure motherfuckers go, observe Darren Harper:



A local hip-hop track and footage of pure hood, his obese pop and pure "I-don't-give-a-fuck-but-to-make-it-rain" style is refreshing. Not the usual steeze I'm into, but the pure offensiveness and brute beauty of it makes it something remarkable.

May I say, Darren Harper is probably the only magazine-mentioned skater I'm genuinely afraid of.

DC on the mind

Usually if I'm down on skating or have a bit of a regressive period I like to sit down and watch Shaun Gregoire and Randy Ploesser's parts from Birdhouse's "The Beginning". So I was gonna post both their parts for lack of time for a true update, but when youtubing Gregoire's part, I stumbled across some Washington DC footage that I had not seen.

The aforementioned Birdhouse part:



There's alot to love about this part. The candycane bank was a steep bastard, and he front 3 bigspinned it. Wallie Church is also steep, and mad thin. Note the front blunt. Georgetown Quarterpipes...... well, there's a slew of things wrong with those, and he chooses nollie bigspin nosepivot 270 as a trick on it. Easily the techiest trick I've yet to see on that thing. The bent pole is gnarly, the nollie heel bank is sketchy and ghetto, the Gold Rail and Welfare easy busts..... So much about Gregoire's spots and trick selection make his footage appealing. I'd be willing to call him the master of DC skateboarding in the present without a doubt. With a unique style that really doesn't seem industry correct, I'm sure some out there would disagree. But anyways, fuck them.

This part is the first I stumbled upon after looking up his birdhouse part. Much of it seems to be throwaway from his birdhouse part. The nollie into the sketchy bank, the smith on the bent pole, and the smith on the bank to dock ledge. There's other stuff that I can't justify as throwaway for any reason. Ollie up courthouse, backside flip down? The nosemanny shuv line at wallie church? The tre flip front crook stall on white walls? Damn.




Some of the footage in this old Bradley Rosado compilation has some ridiculous clips on some of the city's more famous spots. Weitzel switch big heels the courthouse four and noseblunts down Red Rail, Jack Curtin shuv nosegrind reverts off the Freedom ledge, Gregoire's effortless blunt flip on Georgetown QPs (which I'm probably gonna make a whole post about later), his varial flip and nollie heel down the pit, and the kickflip front board line at Gold Rail.. Another thing I like about this montage is the quality of footage and the presence of most of the names I know of from up there and elsewhere on the underground East Coast. Two good Pete Broderick clips, Daniel Kim footage, Jack Curtin, Jimmy Macdonald, Zach Lyons, Gregoire, Billy Roper, and Alex Hanson. Hanson in particular has a knack for interesting tricks, such as the back smith pop to rock fakie on Georgetown, the tremendous switch ollie, and the ride-on switch fifty big heel. Oh, I wonder if Weitzel thinks he's doing hardflips? Because he's not.



Lastly, the oldest clip I came across, from the first Static.


John Igei is undoubtedly a monster. The switch hardflip down the white steps is really something I can't understand. How people line that spot is completely remarkable. The murder of Freedom Plaza even in that era in the form of nollie front noseslides and nollie front heel tailslides is in a league all it's own. Skating these spots like we did last weekend and then looking at years old footage like this has my respect for DC skaters at an all time high. Regardless of the year, those guys have been there pushing the limits on federal buildings, rounded marble ledges, ghetto concrete, and all kinds of odd findings (note the out-of-fountain kickflip, Bloomer's mailbox wallie front 180, and all footage of the pigeon bowl). In my opinion, DC footage is probably the most interesting footage of any particular metro area to watch, due to it's unmistakable nature, it's architecture, styles, and closeness. DC is wack as fuck, but it's one of the sickest scenes on the East Coast aside from the little manual wankers at the Archives.

Sole = Trio

Since the apparent folding of Element's footwear series (thank God), three parts from their would be video entitled 'Sole' have been released online in a trilogy. The featured skaters being Chad Tim Tim, Levi Brown, and Darrell Stanton.

It appears that father Tim Tim, back from injury finally and fresh off an interview in last months Transworld, is back in the saddle in terms of his career. Fitting in nicely with the ledge trends as of late, he hurdles proper switch backside flips and switch back smiths along with a slew of switch back lip and back tail variations going a damn decent speed and making everything look easy. I was not originally a fan of Chad, or others like him which were just too natural on the board (ex, Danny Garcia). But after watching his Time To Shine part multiple times and seeing his berrics footage, I came around. Check out the back lip to sugarcane on the up ledge, and the fakie boardslide 270, which was a brilliantly chosen trick for that spot. Also, he does some hucking in this section. Refreshing.



His ender doesn't really feel like an ender, but thinking about it more and more that shit would have been incredibly hard to pull off. OH, and beware, his intro is way longer than it needs to be. There seems to be a trend with phones in this internet offering, also. Strange to say the least. Does Apple have an advertising agreement with Element?

The second part of the trilogy is Levi Brown's part. The first thing I noticed is his Toyota Tundra, and wondered as to why my girlfriend didn't hunt down this part before me. On that note, there was about zero industry buzz about this release, which surprised me a bit. Hence why I'm almost a month and a half late finding it. Perhaps it was overshadowed by the Plan B partnership news. Anyways, Levi also has a long intro, and he does Chad Tim Tim's ender frontside. The first 50 seconds of his part feels kinda funny, like it's not really his best efforts. However, he displays a startling degree of variety, and once you get to the wallie to hill bomb, the rest is a GRADE A part. Levi seems to be one of the masters of snap on his flip tricks, and his wall frontside flip and massive wall kickflip coupled with his smith flip (one of the best I've seen) and his absolutely crisp fakie tre before his water adventure ender all add evidence to my theory. Sometimes he flicks so fast I can't even see the flick on this laggy internet connection.



Oh, and watch out for a guest skater by the name of Jesse Plumb who rears his head in a couple clips. Should be obvious which ones. Final note on Levi's part: Gap to picnic table noseblunt.

Now, I was gonna toss some hate on Darrell's part because his opening ledge combos really are not very appealing, other than the back lip to back bluntslide. However, early in his part there's a steep wallride bluntslide front 180 which caught my attention, and as my hopes for some Stanton Spinning grew, he nollie cabbed that massive sixteen or whatever it is that he cannonball back 180'd and backside nollie'd several years ago. There's too much high impact insanity to mention here, so I'll highlight his ledge massacre (front feebs, back 180 nosegrind, front blunt), his front tail 270 big drop (which blows everything else done on that ledge out of the water), his epicly filmed ditch gap inward heel, the appearance of the rare switch bigspin and switch bigflip down sets, the fifty back 3 (great spot use)... see? Too much. The long lens angle on his ender, if you've heard that lame mainstream song where they say 'oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh, my, god' unfortunately cropped into my head when he landed.



Solid internet video, save for the long intro in each part, the iphone appearances, and some bummer ABD's in the form of Tim Tim's flyout switch flip that served as Rodrigo TX's ender in the LRG vid (and no offense but Rodrigo is a bit more of a powerhouse than Tim Tim, so again WHY was that his banger? I even liked Chad's more) and Darrell's nollie tre into the steep sidewalk bank. But I loved the aforementioned skaters rock tricks, both the nollie cab and the tre which appeared in Tim Tim's interview, and although Tim Tim's part seemed like the most uniform and interesting throughout, both Levi and Stanton got fucking down in their parts. Pretty stunning, now I just need to watch them with the music up and outside of a library. Peep all three parts. Not a perfect video, but it makes me wonder what Sole would have been like. And this was free, and had some hefty clips in it. Up yours, Berrics?

Unforunately or fortunately depending on who you are, my computer charger got Dog-raped so I have no home computer for several days. I probably won't update again til the weekend. I've got a list of things to post about though, so don't worry or worry depending on who you are, there'll be more bullshit to read in the coming week.