Winter in Spain

banks

[Three weeks ago]
I got a ticket to Barcelona for just under $800. I’m going for 10 days. You wanna roll?
Nah man, I got a bunch of work to do, I should probably chill.

In hindsight, I’m an idiot.

There’s this misguided idea in skateboarding that “Barcelona is blown out.” Fran Molina eradicated any relevance there was to be found in filming at MACBA, Para-lel is gone, and GX skated the short side of Universitat. The end.

In skimming through the SD cards that came back from the trip I turned down, I realized that the perception of Barcelona as a place with nothing to skate beyond what you saw in the DC Video ten years ago is, uh, rather moronic. These guys went to two of the spots that we went to in our two weeks out there in 2011. There are endless bank spots, half of which you’ve never seen in a proper skate video before, i.e. Barcelona’s version of the shitty ledge spot in deep Brooklyn that all the locals avoid venturing out to is some insane, out-of-the-way marble bank. Plus, all those spots are empty at this time of year (notice the lack of any humans in the background of all these clips.) Who really goes to Barcelona in mid-February, you know?

Features Zeb Weisman and Jonah Miller. Filmed by Andre Page while you were walking to the bar in zero-degree weather listening to “Trap Queen” on your phone.

Shout out to Bolts Premium and Inkwell Commons.

Previously: Skate Spot Porn – Barcelona, 2011 Barcelona Update #1, 2011 Barcelona Update #2, 2011 Barcelona Montage

Noooooooooo Juice

juice

No, not the Juiceman.

Soooo, we made a run of those Tompkins Square sweatshirts from earlier this fall as hoodys for Japan. There were a few leftovers that didn’t get promoed out, and you can scoop what remains in the webstore now. Hurry!

Unequivocally the worst rap song ever recorded.

The new Alltimers boards are chill.

SMLTalk came through with an abbreviated history of the plus-size skateboarder, though oddly left out second-and-third career arc Fred Gall. His Inhabitants section is sorta the epitome of heavy-set skateboarding, isn’t it?

We noticed earlier this year that Hungary might be the European-equivalent of New Jersey, at least from a skateboarding standpoint. Well, if you were into Toló, you’ll get a kick out of Fakopó, a new 27-minute video of Budapest-based crust.

Corey Rubin sighting in Johnny Wilson’s latest video blog!

Kalis is the best. Not only is he indifferent to the today’s prefered practice of ambidextrous pushing, he rejects the term “switch mongo” altogether. If Kalis and Gino aren’t learning to push with their opposite foot, why should you?

Halloween-themed skate clips all tend to blend together at this point, but this Muska-themed one via the Black Ninja is cool if you grew up on Fulfill the Dream.

New quick 4-5-6 clip from Bolts Hardware and Curt Daley #eggs.

Some old fashioned “Who is Jake Johnson going to ride for?”-speculation + thoughts on the modern skater’s newfound ability to sustain relevance without a board sponsor.

“I was told in 1996 by Frank Messman, the then CEO of World Industries, that the industry standard rate for a graphic topped out at 500 bucks. Nearly 20 years later it’s still that amount or less—even by half from what I’ve recently been heard from one manufacturer—which may make this the worst profession in which to try and earn a living.” Chris Nieratko interviews Sean Cliver about the unfortunate plight of making a living off skateboard graphics. (Ginko reissued Disposable, btw. When are we gonna see a reissue of the Evan Hecox book? $694 for a used copy is a bit out of budget.)

Ride has a cool history lesson on short-lived “cult” companies from the nineties e.g. American Dream, FIT, 60/40, Illumanti and a handful of others.

Josh Stewart uploaded a good quality version of the New York, Boston and Philly section from the original Static video on the occasion of the video’s fifteen-year anniversary. Tony Montgomery was really sick, huh?

Some ten-plus-year-old footage of Kalis, Sabback, Puleo, etc.

Something for the English majors: “There is something untranslatable about skating’s vocabulary, something not-quite-repeatable about a particular trick landed a certain way, like a poetic line clicking into place in that ineffable way lines sometimes do on first reading.”

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Steph.

Quote of the Week: “I’m not good anymore.” — Keith Denley

Not sure how long ago this happened, but recently found out that the Bridgeport ledges got knobbed. R.I.P. to the best ledge spot within a 70-mile radius of New York City that you actually had a chance of skating :(

Stick to Love

mlk poster

Been slow around here for 2014, guys. Sorry :(

Any form of new Rick Howard coverage is skateboarding’s equivalent of an Andre 3000 guest verse. (Speaking of which…)

Alltimers tees now available at Supreme.

Chapman, New York’s longest standing skateboard producers, relaunched their website. It features an awesome archive of past boards, ranging from old Zoo decks, Supreme art boards, the short lived Illuminati Skateboards, and others.

SkateZines.com is a new project from the crew behind SkateAndAnnoy.com, which puts itself to the seemingly impossible task of cataloging all available skate zines of today and info on where to obtain them.

The New York rooftop montage from the opening of Tengu is now available online.

This Japanese guy has a really good kickflip.

Frozen in Carbonite on how P.J. Ladd is like skateboarding’s Bill Belichick — but actually, maybe how he is more like skating’s J.D. Salinger. Or some shit.

A brief, new interview with Bobby Puleo about spot preferences, neighborhoods, and never listening to O.C’s second album despite being a big fan of his first. (Jewelz is obviously nowhere near as good as Word Life but has some moments.)

Another quick interview: NY Skateboarding chats with Kevin Tierney.

New video log from Johnny Wilson and friends. Tricks on Houston Street construction are apparently still trending.

A detailed (!) interview with Rob Brink that might shed some light on what it’s like to work in the skateboard industry outside of sales, or you know, being pro.

New Bolts Hardware 4-5-6 clip with Chris Hart.

Non skate-related link alert! This GQ story about how Mexican cartels get drugs across the United States border these days is wild.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Well, Paul George did a 360 windmill dunk in-game, but…um, Ramon Sessions (yeah) somehow dunked on Lebron the next day…

Quote of the Week
Observant Gentleman: “She looks way better in photos than in real life.”
T-Bird: “Well, she was the hottest girl at Westway on New Year’s Eve…when I showed up at 5 A.M.”

twitter

Breakfast at Tompkins

breakfast at tompkins

QS tees are now available at Supreme London and Los Angeles, in addition to Orchard Skateshop in Boston. Supreme London should have Alltimers RiRi and Lambo cruisers in now, and Los Angeles should be getting them soon.

Okay, before anything else: Several days ago, the guy who stands in Times Square with the “I Need Money for Weed” sign stabbed the guy who stands in Times Square with the “I Need Beer” sign with a pen….and the guys who dress up as Alien and Predator for tourist photo-ops were called in as witnesses.

The new Bronze video, Solo Jazz, comes out this August, as per their Facebook. Check the teaser from a few months back in case you missed it.

Also in the realm of hardware, our homie Jonah Miller started a hardware company out of Portland called Bolts, which is particularly tailored to people who double as skateboarder AND gambler degenerates. Check out the site at BoltsPremium.com, follow them on IG, and check the intro clip here. Stay tuned for more.

The new Tony Carr part is fun and “creative” without trying too hard. Dude rips.

With the expected demise of Vine, the Dobbin Block crew wasted no time and compiled some of their collective Vine highlights into a montage.

Another entry to the growing “Summer Trip to New York 2013” cycle, filmed entirely from above on a glidecam.

The video itself seems a bit old (namely because there are spots that haven’t been around since 2008 in it), but the Shred NJ crew uploaded their 35-minute project, The Pie, on Vimeo last week.

Check out the video from last Saturday’s Bum Rush the Spot at the L.E.S. Park.

*Insert year-late joke about Alex Olson riding for Chanel here*

The new Juicy J and Weeknd video is mad #indie in a 90s crime movie sort of way.

Quote of the Week: “I wanted to be on The Real World when I was younger.” — Chief Keith “#emergingblackcelebrity” Denley

Thanks to everyone who got us to 7,000 fans on Facebook. Much appreciated.