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.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
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?)
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?)
Friday, December 3, 2010
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.
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.
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