An Early Skate Wrap

Ah, I haven't done a wrap in I don't know how long but thanks to the glory of the info web I've been texting, twittering and e-mailing links to my mailbox so i can pull them out for just the occasion. I'm not going to expand too much on each. You need the info....

Blahhhhgin'
Watson is back on the radar screen over at You Will Soon. About time! Actually, You Will Soon has had a steady stream of updates. As always...go read.

Living Under a Rock: Round 1
Deluxe Distribution spent last week rolling out the Krooked, Real, Anti Hero, Spitfire and Thunder Truck Catalogs online. Check it and before you get into all your hardware geekeom mouse over the photo and read the message from Jim. Usually, I write that stuff off at bullshit but I'm fairly certain he means it. As for his message. Yes, Indeed. Right-fuckin'-on.

Speaking of Spitfire...
Did you see this collab t-shirt and Wheel and Shirt Spitfire did with Emage in Denver? Green and White ='s the Colorado license plate. Yep.















Not Gone and Not Forgotten
I hadn't been back to theForgottencity.com in a few weeks but was glad to head back there a bunch of updates I'll call out the tops two. A session at the Duke went down with cameras. Good skating. Good Skaters. Spot...well it's the Duke. Nuff said




Chis Hall may have left DC but his presence is still felt and you can see his other talents peak out in the new issue of Legit. Skip to page 31 and enjoy a quick interview with the man who brought you Get Fam' and understand how he put the hustle together to get a movie made. See, this sneaker thing. it actually pays the bills for a few folks.

Speaking of Spitfire Part Dos
Jeebus, it must be collab month for those guys. They got together with 48Blocks for a little shirt and contest. Get the details here and you could win this shtufff.


The Dew Tour X MTV
Well, I'll be honest it just shows how "off the radar" this is to me. I wasn't even tracking this but it looks like MTV is joining forces with NBC Sports and the Dew Tour. You can read all about it here or you can read Bryce's post from skatedaily.net. You never know how this will all play out but the fact that MTV is already shamelessly hyping their teen beat skater in the press release ... you might have an early glimpse where this is heading.

Now, if MTV, NBC and AST turn around make a massive public skatepark donation or drive some of that fancy ad revenue into making skating accessible for the masses then I will back them 110%. If the guys on the right are going to hold a part of skating's future in their hands, I'll say this: "can you please give back to what you are taking from?" By all means make money. Go ahead and profit. But, give back in a larger substantial way than free Slim Jims and autograph sessions. Maybe you have this on the books and if you do...nice going. But if you don't ...Dew it.

Nike SB Part Dos: Sneak Peaks and Quickstrike

OK, So more Sb drops are going on some of them are actually hitting the streets and others....well they are in the distant future. So I'll stop with the jibber jabber and get into it.

back in February if you had told me that the Lobster shoe was really real I would have said "No way" I was banking that it was a photo shop job. Looks like I'm the jackass. Concepts up in Cambridge, Mass is rolling this out much like SPoT did with their Moat Mid. So, precisely one hundred fifty American peso's gets you a smart pair of shoes from a the wicked pissah in the north east. The Lobsters come in a fancy box with a shirt, a lobster kit and a shoe with a rubber band around the toe. Yes, the claw band. OK, so the drop Saturday May 31st but unless you live up North don't count on getting your hands on these.



Next up is a better look at the P-Rod high. Yes, very similar to the grainy trade show and catalog images that were rolling around earlier in the year. I have to wonder if Nike is getting into the new shoe with every year like they did with a certain Mr. Jordan. Actually this shoe reminds me of some Nike's I had at a very young age. Not much has changed it still looks like P-Rod 2 with a dunk high upper and the P-Rod 2 tongue brought into the mix. Apparently you can look for this to make an appearance later in the Summer of 08. Thanks Sneaker Freaker for the heads up on this


Finally do you remember this board? If you do then you are old. Now that we are beyond that ...you'll recall it was fuzzy and goes down as one of the funnier innovations of skating. Yes, when slicks were dropping World but fuzz on the bottom of the board. As Mark McKee the artist says in this solid article from Mumble Magazine:

"I love how this board had real fuzzy velvet flocking applied to it like the kind of black light posters it was parodying. The deck printers silk screened glue on each of the boards and then sprinkled the flocking stuff on by hand."


So if you remember that deck you'll get a kick out of the "Space Tiger" dunk allegedly dropping from SB. One of the better things I've seen and to be honest even though I would never wear them ....it's a little stroke of genius. I can only hope they'll put out a Future primitive Blazer for Lance. So wait and see if it's true or head over to sole Fresh to get more images.

Nike SB Part Uno: June 2008 Drops

Things have been getting kinda wonky in the sneaker world the past few weeks. With all the hype surrounding the Nike SB Thrashins and Ferris Buellers the long term vision went bye-bye. Turns out SB is turning it up this summer with more drops so we'll cover this in two posts. Yes, we're crazy like that. We're going to get into the general release kicks here.

Pretty stock release overall with some solid colorways. The one that will really stick out at you of course is the dunk that has had a little buzz going since late last year the Newcastle to sink up with the Heineken's and the PBR shoe from way back when. The mid, the harbor and the latest Zoom Tre a.d. are all solid. The classic is the one that leaps out at you. The colorway can be spotted from about a mile away and has a definite bozo the clown vibe. I know more than one clown that loves that shoe though.

The guys at Emage in Denver have the scoop so here's the latest from our friends who have a Rocky Mountain High. This may or may not be true ...after all this is the internets.
From the Emage homeys:

"Dunk Low Pro (Newcastle) - If you're over 21, you know what this one's all about...Beer!!

Dunk Mid (Casino) - Designed after the old Casino Skatepark in N.J. where Nike SB's sales manager used to work. Sick distressed leather on the toe and heel!!

Zoom Harbor (Island Teal) - Good white canvas vulcanized shoe...Perfect for summer!

Classic SB (Game Blue) - Themed after a ping pong table that the L.A. SB rep has. They white and orange laces.

Zoom Tre A.D. - Midnight Fog color with patterned side panel"

Word to the wise guys... use spell check before you hit the send button...I had to clean up your copy. Yeah. Me. I typically have more spelling errors than anybody. Anyway enjoy the pics.

Monday's Trip: The Vic by Airwalk

The best thing about writing on a regular basis is that eventually you get into a constant creative mode. But, if you don't write down all the ideas they will fall off your radar. Last week before the Vans Pro Tec Pool Party a blip resurfaced on the editorial sweep and I'm finally getting to bring this one back. So pour yourself a cold drink because we'll be here for a few minutes.

Flashback to the 80's when skating was going through a second or third revival (I've lost count) all the pros were rocking Vans or Nike and in some cases ... Airwalks. Shit, Tony Hawk rocked Airwalks so did (then super AM  and now the man with more balls than a batting cage) ... Danny Way. The trouble was I couldn't get them in my small upstate NY town. We ended up skating in Dunk highs and Chuck Taylors. But damn if Airwalks didn't look cool.

We'd have layers of duct tape on our laces to protect them from disintegrating as we slid on the layers of Masonite that lined our ramps. Eventually somebody took notice and Airwalk dropped the Vic with the velcro lace saver. It look ... weird. But, they got the job done of keeping your shoes in one piece longer. On one hand there was a certain pride in being grimey to the point your rector pads reeked and your shoes had enough shoe goo on them the rebuild ollie holes. The flips side was the Vics for some reason each guy that had them just...well they seemed to have it together. I'm not saying the shoe made them skate better. I don't buy into that on any level. In my small town it just worked out that the right guys had them on their feet. 

Before you knew it the lace saver flap became omnipresent and began to infiltrate all of our skating circles. After the Bones brigade blasted through on a demo it all but sealed the deal. The Vic had become a standard of sorts. Slowly, Etnies came onto the scene and Vision faded away. Vans got bigger and I saw less and less Airwalks in shops.

Flash forward twenty plus years and I get an e-mail that Airwalk rolled out a limited edition version of the Velcro Vic. Of course my ears perked up and knew I had to tap out a quick note on the keyboard for South of the North. However, life happens and I ended up getting very busy. Last week in Los Angeles before heading down to the pool party we stopped in for a quick early morning session at Glendale. As we cruised in somebody was rolling out and sure enough...he had on a pair of the Vics. Either his were brand new or he's taking it easy in his old age. Needless to say the shoe still looked rad.

The session that day was more fun than I can fully describe but the shoe sparked conversation with some old friends on how far skating has come from the past. Seeing the Ollie Airwalk character got us a little hyped. For a brief moment it was like I was 14 again and blastin'' through the SUNY Binghamton Campus. Endless lines are still to be had there if you know where to look. Needless to say Airwalk is going to be rolling out more limited edition drops and I'm looking forward to seeing where we go next in this trip down memory lane.

Finally ... Gravis Shows off Arto's Pro Shoe

Possibly one of the worst kept secrets (to the point that it was not a secret) Gravis has unveiled its new team including Dylan Reider and of course... Mr. Arto Saari. Their chosen method of mass communcation? A new website Gravis IV Skateboaridng. Interesting, name and a new direction for the Burton owned brand as the plunge headlong into the world of skate. Burton now has the trifecta of hardware: Alien Workshop, Habitat and clothing: Analog and of course footwear: Gravis IV Skate. I'm guessing with Arto repping all three it's a nice financial piece of change.

Straight from the new website:
For over a year we have been working on a new project here at Gravis, part of our brand’s DNA since day one. We feel that it is now time to confirm the rumors.

Welcome to Gravis IV skateboarding.

Over the last few months our dedicated product team has worked with Arto Saari to develop our first ever performance skate footwear collection. Over the next year we will introduce four deliveries of product exclusively created by our team of skate athletes. The first product released under the Gravis Skate program is the Viking Hi LX Ltd, a limited release of the Viking, designed and built from the ground up by Arto Saari and Gravis. This product line will be sold exclusively in skate shops around the world. Over the next few months we will build the content and update the next additions to the IV skateboaring team, stay tuned. The stamp of approval for all products specifically built for skateboarding is the Gravis IVsk8 word mark and IVsk8 icon. This is the official emblem of the Gravis skateboard team. Welcome to Gravis for skateboarding.

I'm interested if anybody will actually buy the shoes. The shoes drop July 25th. Time to wait and see. The good news is that the viking will look smashing as you sit by the pool in those warm summer months.

Dropping In: The True Story of Don Wimmer

You can go to any skate park in North America and on any given weekend morning is the designated "old guy" session. You know this type of guy. He's well over 30 years old, sneaks out of his home to go skating before the park gets crowded. Often in this lot you'll find a strange assortment of old school guys with trucks older than you, wheels bigger than a nine ball and of course...decks wider than your foot is long. Think 10 inches across. Yeah, pretty old school. Then of course there are a few rarities that have kept up with the times. Am I talking about Porno Mustache Jeff? Yes, I just might be But, Mid Atlantic skaters aside. There's a certain level of admiration for a crew still out there skating trying to recapture 20 years of grounds lost to Father Time.

Combine that mind set of attempting to reclaim your youth with a Spinal Tapish-Mighty Windy-Best in Show cinema verite and you have: 'Dropping In: The True Story of Don Wimmer'. The movie might not win any Academy Awards or critical praise but the fact it goes straight for the jugular on a few levels is pretty funny. I've only seen the trailer but you can see quickly where this one is heading.

The best part is we all have a guy like Don at our local park. Mr. Wimmer may be fictional but he's pretty real in the practical world.. After sucking wind at the Vans ramp recently and then watching this...I need to get out and skate more. Nothing is worse than being reminded of what you might become.

Drop in Trailer
New Trailer - Dropping In: The True Story of Don Wimmer


Don Wimmer Shreds the park (Deleted Scene)
The Skate Park - Dropping In: The True Story of Don Wimmer

Heading West: Prelude to a Pool Party

OK, so I lied. There was zippy on the twitter front while in Los Angeles. what can I say but I'm a hard working man and the business of being a business got busy. But the good news is the cost of wheat is up and soy options aren't getting shorted in '08. So I'll let you ponder what that means for a minute and no it isn't code.

Back to the hustle, flow and daily grind of blogtasticness. So I was way out west last week and of course I made my way by the Vans event down at the Orange Blockish thing but lets recap as to what I missed on the East Coast. You see the lack of updates recently has everything to do with the proximity of being a Dad and being wicked busy at work. So, imagine my surprise when I see Bobby Worrest is having a get together at the Rock n' Roll hotel. Well, not much I can do as I am in a meeting in Los Angeles but thanks god for cell phone pics. I love seeing this stuff pop up. Somebody ripped? Imagine that. Regardless, Pitcrew, eS and krooked hooked it up for last Saturday.

OK, official pool party blogging starting up this week witha wrap up from the few hours I got to duck in and enjoy the event before my red eye flight back to DC. Per the norm the level of skating was amazing and the crowd was intense. Rune, Omar and Bucky owned it. Chris Miller should retire from this contest officially and be Master Champion emeritus. Mimi Knoop was getting all sorts of lines in the pool that most skaters only dream of and cab board slid 17 and a half pool blocks. Beastly. Not to mention Jimmy the Greek makes the funniest god damn face I have ever seen for a photo. Once these pictures are off my point and shoot they're going up right here.

As You May Have Noticed ...

I have headed west for several days. Updates will be short and sporadic hence the Twitter widget above. More updates this go around than in previous travels. This I promise...

Getting Back on the Horse

Get your mind out of the f*cking gutter and save the donkey show for Tijuana. I'm talking about Jake Brown. You might remember Jake from his fall last year on the mega ramp. I like to call it the scariest 10 minutes of skating I've ever witnessed. The :40 second fall translated to about 9 minutes and 20 seconds of terror while we waited for Jake to be carried off. We all know Jake rose like Lazarus and walked away with some severe injuries but got back to skating in December.

Dave Carnie was on hand to witness Jake's return to the mega ramp not to long ago. Jake dropped in on Bob Burnquist's mega and proceed to drop jaws with clean 360 and a super smooth backside air. Read Carnie's full account including the ever so awkward phone call with Burnquist or just watch the video. Either way it's entertaining and glad to see Jake back on rampasaurus.

Work, Work, Work Part 2: Monday's Vid-Yo

Yes, the past week has been a busy one. The lack of updates is not because of general slacking but more because of the things a new infant brings along into the world: lack of sleep, an alarming rate of poopy diapers, a manic departure from the already tenuous routine of work, family, skating... in summary: it's pure f*cking chaos.

But, guess what? I love it. Seriously, wouldn't trade this for the world. However, I do try to stay constant with South of the North. Lucky for me I got a sneak peak of what Adam Turrisi will be dropping here shortly. Yes, I will take the easy blog post today. Thanks Adam for sending this in. You just saved me from actually writing a long winded column on bearings. Nobody wants that. Nobody.

For those of you who don't know Adam is a Virginia skater and filmer who's pulling together a skate flick for release later this year. Adam has a few of the Convoy crew in there and you know I'm hyped on what Convoy is bringing to the scene so in the best interest of local skating ... I give you a sneak preview of 'The Thriller'.

Work, Work, Work part 1: Player for Bad Weather

This is the D.C. spring I know and love! After taking a nasty fall during the week I managed to bruise the crap out of my heel. Thus, limited skating. Thankfully some zoom tre a.d.s and all their air cushioning glory came to my rescue. So I managed to get in a little of the kicky pushy and ollie in when is wasn't raining, sleeting, snowing or being 80 degrees out.

But, mostly I worked. yes, I am trying to wrap up lots of things on multiple fronts (more tomorrow on that) before heading West for several days. That being said I do have business to attend to but I'll be calling on several of you who tune in on a regular basis. Coffees on me when I do....see you all soon out West.

Zoo York Drops a Big One on the East Coast

I'll be the first to admit that Zoo York is an acquired taste. However, if you're down for skating, enjoying the asphalt and concrete playgrounds of the world or even just the Big Apple... you'll find something to your liking in the Zoo Crew. Personally, I'm hyped on Suski and Bassett. I just caught a glimpse of the rest of the team From the King of the Road but Aarron and Zered...please. How can you not enjoy their style? Anyway not to leave the world hanging but Zoo i having quite the week. Lets recap the blitzkrieg they've levied upon our internets, shall we?

First up...You know how much South of the North loves themselves some Skate Park of Tampa, right? No? Get the refresher right here. OK, well, turns out Zoo York sent Eli Reed and Mr. Zered Bassett own to Ybor to hit u the Tampa Pro. wondering how that went for the crew? Wonder no more my good friend. Check the podcast out right now. Follow the links to your golden ticket:

YouTube Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0HS8UNm-p4

iTunes Link:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=217578175

Next up ... it's tour time, East Coast Style. Mini Tours rule



Don't forget Zoo Yorks Spread the word contest going on right now. I recommend not eating a roach.



Finally, The Zoo York Institute and New Era, in association with the Harold Hunter Foundation and KCDC Skateshop, are proud to announce that the 2nd Annual Harold Hunter Day will take place Saturday, May 17th, in New York City./For those of you that don't know and some of you that do.... Harold Hunter was a NYC skate icon and departed a few years back.

To celebrate the life and vibe of Harold on May 17th, Harold Hunter Day II will kick off at the Manhattan Bridge Skatepark located underneath the Manhattan Bridge on the corner of Pike and Monroe Streets in Chinatown. From Noon–6pm an all ages skate jam will take place, with a massive product toss and live music provided by DJ’s Neil Nice, Vinny Ponte, and New York’s finest, Pete Rock. That's right...Pete Rock.

After the skate jam, a special HH Day II party will go down from 8pm–Midnight at KCDC Skateshop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Open to the 21+ crowd only, the party will feature free drinks, live music, an art installation by Cinik, and a slide show of Harold pics from acclaimed photographer and long-time friend, Giovanni Reda.

You know the details. Like we used to say back home...You Gotta show up to blow it up.

Harold Hunter Day II is made possible through generous support from the numerous people and companies that played an important role in Harold’s life including Rock Star Bearings, SHUT, 5boro, Hopps, Official, Instant Winner, UXA, Verte, Acapulco Gold, Billy’s Nuts, Savage, Off Bowery, Everything Must Go, Frank 151, DQM, Rival, Supreme, Autumn, KCDC, Anything, Red Bull, and Camp Woodward.

I Love New York: DeathBowl to Downtown

There is no city on this earth like New York City. As much as I love Washington D.C. there is no place that resembles the living chaos of New York. Top to bottom and back to front the concrete and glass fused walls drip a original flavor onto the asphalt like you've never seen before. If Los Angeles is about looking pretty and being seen in the scene then New York still feels it's more about getting the job done when it comes to skating.



When I first caught wind of Death Bowl to Downtown Coan and Rick's of NCP Film's latest project I got excited. No, actually I got real excited. yes, I was one of those guys who obsessed over 'Fruit of the Vine'. From a film perspective it was raw but they captured a story and a tale and it was gooooood. The only analogy that comes to mind is similar to the first time you hear a band that blows you away. There's a very good chance it's so raw because they don't know what the fuck they're doing. But, their emotion, their want and their feelings permeate the music. That is what you feel... you feel what the bands feeling. Strong possibility 'fruit of the Vine' had the same effect on a new generation of pools skaters.



Nine years have passed since they pulled that film together and now DeathBowl to Downtown takes center stage. I'm looking forward to this as much because, in their films, NCP Film's make the environment a character. Whether it's a pool, a trip through the North West or a Vagabond run through Australia the rich visuals of the surroundings are pulled in with you.

If you are in new York this weekend check out the public showings of the corresponding exhibit at the Etnies show room. Hope to see you there.

All That Blogs Skating is Not Gold

Yesterday EXPN ran a nice little round up on the skating blogosphere. It was, how shall I say, adequate. For the first time visitor this may seem like me railing against ESPN and their X games Branded channel EXPN. Sure, I've taken shots at the X Games in the past. Yes, I did think them canceling a skate vert competition was stupid. Do I think they are the anti-christ? No, absolutely not. Love them or hate them you can trace a portion of the action sports explosion in the 90's to the X Games. But, back to the task at hand ... the EXPN skate wrap up. All I can say is EXPN, in the immortal words of Jacopo Peterman: "congratulations on a job ... done." You've successfully mailed this one in.

Highlighting four sites: Quartersnacks, Platinum Seagulls, 48 Blocks and The Berrics was great. Each one of those sites is amazing in it's own right. Each one has a unique perspective and great content. All of it falls down a very professional and localized point of view. Honestly, you can't ask for much more. Except the fact that these are four of the most well known sites out there for skaters.

I'm going down the anecdotal path here. I am neither hip, nor cool, nor will somebody come to me looking for the latest trends. Therefor, if I know some good sites to check out skate content ...you can bet your ass everybody else has found them months if not years in advance. Couldn't you take 15 minutes and cruise through the Slap message boards to actually find links to what skaters are checking out? Hell a few links off Skate Daily wouldn't have hurt you.

The most important piece missing here though is that even though the content on your sites is great ... we know what we're getting. After a few visits the content forms a pattern. Come back a couple of more times and the pattern has evolved. Look at South of the North for instance, my product design geek side writes about sneakers, boards, and engineering. The content nerd part of me writes about how you are mailing it in ... come to think of it maybe I write because I care. Nah, that can't be it.

Here's what it is: once the pattern evolves nobody takes chances and nobody is willing to speak their mind. That's pretty sad for skateboarding which build it's identity on the back of individuals who would not conform. I say dive into sites like You will Soon, the recent issue of Vapors, the ongoing adventures of Gareth Stehr or Bobby Worrest's slightly creepy blog. Sure, you might not be overwhelmed every time but I guarantee there won't be a method to the madness.

Drawing a comparison... would you want to go skate the same five spots every day? I doubt it.
Let it get weird and let it be random. Don't distill skateboarding into categories of good because somebody has access to a three chip digital camera and pro tools. OK, enough ranting in the wee small hours. Time to pass out.

Back At It & Arto on Alien Workshop

Well, that was a nice couple of days off. You know: kick back, relax, welcome a son home. Your usual weekend. Seriously, aside form the forthcoming massive lack of sleep not much has changed. This actually has become more motivation to move out to the suburbs and build my own concrete features to skate. If I am going to be home bound in the foreseeable future I might as well re-craft the visage of the all-american backyard. I'm thinking right hand kidney four feet to eight feet with fed stone coping. Ah, the American dream at last. The odds of pulling that off are slim to none...

One big chunk of news that did drop aside from my wife giving birth was the word on Arto Saari finally departing Flip for Alien Workshop. The courting of Arto by Gravis footwear has long been a rumor but not yet official. Mr. Saari is off the Etnies roster for sure but now this move by Alien Workshop has to push the Gravis announcement out the door. In case you missed it earlier this year...Burton who owns Gravis bought Alien Workshop. So, yup that means Arto is a Burton Snowboards employee. Nevermind that he's already on Analog, Burtons clothing line for skate surf and snow. Regardless, it's unknown whether Arto will drop a part in the Sovereign Sects forthcoming visual offering 'Mindfield'. That's what really counts we want to see more of him skating.


Flip, ever classy, dropped the note over the weekend to let us all know. Geoff Rowley chimes in and like a true friend keeps it on the up and up. Good luck at AWS Arto and I'm looking forward to more mind blowing footage from you for years to come. Now Somebody update the Wikipedia page. Sponsor hopping is trivial. Just pass along more skating.

As from today, Arto Saari is no longer riding for Flip Skateboards, and has found a new home at Alien Workshop. Everyone at Flip wishes Arto the best for his future with the Burton family, and are in total support of this move for him.

"Arto is like a brother to me. After years of being on the same team with the same goals it was time for him to move on. We remain the best of friends and will continue to skate together probably harder and probably more so than ever!!! I wish him all the best and as a brother, I shall always have his back"
-Geoff Rowleyx

We'll Be Right Back (on Monday May 5th)

So even I need to take a break every once in a while. Nope, it's not to skate or rest my weary bones. On Wednesday April 30th my son was born so i have to go be with him. Skateboarding, snowboarding and everything in between should remain awesome in my abscence.