Ancient skateboarders will be reminded of the ads in the back of the original Skateboarder Magazine as Jeff Grosso, Steve Olson, and John Cardiel roll through all the strange “innovations” to come out of skateboarding during the years that manufacturers were honestly trying to make technological advancements in skateboarding (lappets, rails, Tailbones, Air Beams, cored wheels, etc. . . ). It’s a nice reminder of how stagnant skateboard technology is today.
Yes, believe it. Two of the biggest stars of the Insta-Twitterverse were in the same room at the same time for an interview and you’ll be surprised by who comes out on top. It’s Tony Hawk vs. Justin Bieber.
Reno, Nevada based snowboard company Smokin’ has launched a small selection of longboard skateboards, according to a post on their website. Called, Street Slayers, the boards are simply: snowboarding pavement emulation divides.
We consciously approached longboarding with a fresh perspective, giving little regard to traditional design and heritage. We aren’t interested in trying to fit the mold of what other companies offer, we just want to make shapes we love to ride. You won’t see any toes on the nose pintails from us anytime soon; we make snowboarding pavement emulation devices. Our street slayers are tools for making the concrete jungle feel like your home mountain. We wiped the slate clean and implemented radical new design and construction techniques to shake up the way people perceive what is capable standing on 4 wheels.
The boards come in three shapes and sizes: The Sledge hammer, the Black Wood, and the Coughin. If you’re into longboards, click the link for all the details.
On the occasion of Transworld Skateboarding’s 30th Anniversary, The New Yorker writer James Guida posts a nice overview of skaters old and young past and present. And, shockingly, gets most of it right (Stacy as in Peralta, however, is spelled with no e, so much for New Yorker fact checkers, huh?).
It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that Transworld’s videos are highly watchable. Part of the novelty for fans comes from seeing people whose identities you’ve previously cobbled together from anecdotes, interviews, and a few shreds of off-board footage. But once you’ve gotten over that, the profiles simply form an engaging gallery of portraits.
Tonight at San Francisco’s Fecal Face Gallery graphic artist, illustrator and tattooist Mike Giant officially opens his show Confessions Of An Old Dirty Skateboarder. The show features “a wide assemblage of recent drawings and also a rare opportunity to view Giant’s personal collection of skateboards he illustrated the graphics for, including boards from his early career.”
Here’s what Giant says:
“I’m a product of my generation. I grew up through the 80s and was drawn to the punk rock and hip-hop cultures simultaneously”, Giant said in a recent interview. “I threw myself in headfirst. A lot of those things were about personal expression, and also an anti-establishment attitude like, “We don’t need you, we have our own thing.” That’s the backbone of who I am to this day”.
The opening begins at 7 PM. The show runs from July 20 – August 12, 2012. Fecal Face Gallery is located at 2277 Mission St. in San Francisco, California. For the rest of the info click the link.
It’s a superstar episode of the Weekend Buzz as Street League Arizona winner (and X Games gold medalist) Paul Rodriguez and Shane O’Neill convince Erica Yary and Rob Brink to take their show on the road to P-Rod’s training facility in Canoga Park, California. There’s more and it’s good.
