The St. Cloud Times, in St. Cloud, Minnesota has discovered that they have a hometown hero in big gap hucker Dan Brisse. As usual this story is filled with the kind of comments that can only appear in the local paper.
Being well-grounded can be a double-entendre when you’re a professional snowboarder. . . For Dan Brisse, it’s part of his personality, having grown up in Richmond before migrating to the winter extreme sports mecca of Salt Lake City. . . And when you come in contact with the snow like he does, the whole point is to make sure it isn’t a faceplant.
Yes it is. Click the link for the rest of the three-page profile.
In conjunction with the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art’sArt in the Streets show (which runs until August 8, 2011) the Levi’s Film Workshop is presenting a retrospective of skateboarding films along with a panel discussion featuring; Spike Jonze, Stacy Peralta, Lance Mountain, Ed Templeton, Greg Hunt, Ty Evans, Rick Howard, Aaron Meza, and Tobin Yelland.
Noted photographer and producer Patrick O’Dell (Epicly Later’d) will present a special compilation of seminal skateboard videos from the 1980s to today. The screening will be followed by a conversation with legendary skateboarders and filmmakers
This is a great chance to hear from the people responsible for creating skateboarding visuals for the past three decades. Skate Video Night is free and open to the public and goes down at 8 PM Wednesday, April 27, 2011 in the Vista Theatre at 4473 Sunset Blvd, LA, CA 92007. Click the link to RSVP.
Each time we link up a Signal Every Third Thursday video we swear it’s going to be our last one, but Dave Lee and the crew keep coming up with the goods.
This month Paul Schmitt and Terry Kidwell build an original horizontal lam Kidwell Model–just like back in the day. Mike Ranquet even makes a guest appearance.
Is it possible to build a snowboard in a garage? Sure. Especially if it’s Paul Schmitt’s.
Bobby Martinez was fired up and ready to fight his way to the top after taking out the world number two surfer Taj Burrow in Round 3 Heat 2 at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.
“I felt the judges have been doggin’ me out. A surfer knows when another surfer gets a good score. I saw his whole wave and they said it was a 7, nah,” Martinez said at the end of a heat in which he’d flipped off the judges from the water. “I knew they were going to try to give it to him, but that was not a 7. . . My approach to that heat was to just surf,” he continued. “I’m not Occy (Mark Occhilupo) he’s not (Tom) Curren. That was just a heat that I’m very grateful I got through. I’m here to win, so I’m not going down without a fight.”
Burrow was visibly shaken at the end of the heat and with good reason. It was one of those heats that could have gone either way and maybe should have gone the other in hindsight. The one certainty is that this loss just made the perennial almost champ’s year ahead that much more difficult.
The men and the women will probably surf today (2:30 PM PST 7:30 AM local time).
For the rest of the day and all the results, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Skater Tim’s Okasaki’s mom is totally convinced that he is gay, and she decides to turn it into a business.
“I even came up with my catch phrase,” she explains. “I’m Gay! Which I got Tim to say at any skateboard competition or to the media. Tim really got into it. I also came up with ‘skateboarding gaystyle.’ That was more of a business decision. I wanted to kids to become familiar with the phrase “gaystyle” because that’s when I started my company Gaystyle Enterprises.”
This is reportedly a sketch from a new comedy show called Angry Boys by Australian comedian Chris Lilley. Just watch it. . . we’re still laughing.
When Sole Technology founder Pierre Andre Senizergues first arrived in America with his products one of the first things the local marketing professionals tried to tell him was that he would not be successful marketing “skateboarding boots” in the US. He was reminded that skaters wore sneakers or Vans and that he should immediately drop the word “boot” from his marketing materials.
The appearance today of the new, limited edition (500 pair) emerica Heath Kirchart Shifter HK boot would suggest that Pierre still loves nothing more than giving America a skateboarding boot.
For the next two days, online shoppers can get product from Matix and Hurley at pretty much wholesales prices thanks to Jackthreads.com.
The “members-only, online shopping club that curates top-tier street, skate, surf and contemporary men’s fashion brands” is helping some major labels blow out core shops by moving some of their fashion failures at rock bottom prices. Nice, huh?
As one of our readers said via email:
“The strategy of big brands selling great product at wholesale to the public is the demise of the specialty retailer. Without the positive health of the specialty retailer (aka local surf shop) the brands will not have an authentic platform to tell their story.”
Guess the majors will have to rely on their “company stores” to get them through. Welcome to the aughts.
ABC News has a profile of Jake Burton in which he talks about his business, the legacy of Craig Kelly, and where he believe snowboarding is right now. It’s the same old story, but Jake does add this:
“I think the sport is in a very good place right now,” Burton said. “It’s not about having the latest goof rack on your BMW or how good the food is at the hotel you’re staying at. It’s about just getting out and shredding and having fun with your friends and as long as that remains at the core of the sport, it’ll continue to do well.”
We know that’s not exactly how the high stakes world of big business snowboarding functions (as Jake well knows), but for those actually out on the snow we couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
The 50th Annual Bell Beach surf competition kicked off with the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach yesterday (April 19, 2011) in head-high surf. Round one of both the men’s and women’s events were run. Joel Parkinson had the highest heat score of the day, Kelly Slater put his head straight, and Stephanie Gilmore got right back on her world champion game.
“My first two years on tour I didn’t have great results on the Gold Coast,” Gilmore said. “I always bounced back at this event and then finished the year well, so hopefully I’ll do that again this year. The Gold Coast was a fine showing of what women’s surfing is up to now and everyone has to try and keep up. It really pushes me and I think anyone who wins an event from now on will be a very deserving winner because of that fact.”
The contest continues today in what is likely to be even larger surf beginning at 7:30 AM local (2:30 PM PST). Follow the jump for the official word from the ASP. [click to continue…]
The St. Cloud Times, in St. Cloud, Minnesota has discovered that they have a hometown hero in big gap hucker Dan Brisse. As usual this story is filled with the kind of comments that can only appear in the local paper.
