Bags to the Sky

Dutchy by Ben Colen 📷

Pocket did a day in the life with the Rat Ratz crew out in Milan 🇮🇹

Here’s a 17-minute raw Max Palmer fan edit that somebody compiled, dating back to the days when the Delancey Curbs were a popping spot. If you want some additional Max entertainment, you might want to run back Johnny Wilson’s front nose compilation from 2019 :)

Baked Beans” is an 18-minute New York scene video by Hannah Goodman. Spotted via Skate Jawn.

More »

Still Gold — Brandon Westgate’s 2023 B-Sides

In acknowledging Pretty Sweet‘s tenth birthday last fall, it was tough not to consider how it was one of the final videos before social media took over …everything. (Yeah, MySpace, Facebook, IG, et al. had all been around, but it had yet to feel like skateboarding revolved around them.)

Perhaps one of the final innovations of the old-world skate video ecosystem — before every innovation was steered towards increasing followers — was Emerica opting to release the raw files of their marquee project, part by part, for free six months after the video dropped. Emerica’s Stay Gold “B-Sides” are practically as well-remembered as the video itself (voted by QS readers as last decade’s second best), giving way to a 2010s phenomenon of fan-made remix videos and a recipe for getting twice as much mileage out of a video that a company could spend years working on — a formula still with us today.

Anyway, Element dropped Westgate’s raw clips from their E.S.P. Volume 2 video.

More »

Already Got Those

Five out of five Tompkins skaters agree that this is the best box ever made. Sadly, it’s on the other side of the planet. We got to talking about replicating it — anybody know any welders? (Real question.)

Holy big flip, here is an illicit link to Brandon Westgate’s part in the new Element video, Peace. (Read: Will probably get deleted.) Really sick to see him still gunning for it as hard as he was in the Stay Gold days, and on a lot of new/seldom-seen New England spots at that. Would comment on the THPS music, but Brandon Westgate never struck me as a skater who is too invested in music.

Not much other info on it, but “Background 1” is a fun lo-def video with a ton of faces you’ll recognize from Gang Corp edits, Tompkins, and L.E.S. Park. All street clips.

Nik Stain, Hjalte, Paul Grund, and Bobby DeKeyzer went to the best skate spot on the planet and other European destinations. Ben Chadourne on the beat.

Listen to Bobby Puleo fan out on the Gonz for five minutes. He’s really good at finding the right words to describe why certain small things make a trick or photo extra special.

I’ve found myself using the word “super” too much lately, too :( Gino Iannucci is the latest guest in an hour-long interview on Lee Smith’s podcast.

Always down to plug something that resurrects the lost art of the video review. Live gets all Boil the Ocean on us and uses a bunch of vocabulary stuff and long sentences to do a joint review of Doll and It’s Time, two videos that occupy space on opposite ends of the spectrum (and country.)

If you’re 30+, you’re bound to get emotional watching this nine-minute-long raw Pier 7 greatest hits compilation.

Enjoyed this more than the “pro snowboarder with some ‘summer trip to New York’ footage in his skate part” label prepared me for: Forest Bailey’s NYC/MTL/PDX-based “Florg” part.

Here is what is slated-to-be one of the final Elkin’s Tapes episodes, featuring a good bit of pre-groer Daniel Kim footage.

The general harshness of the world feels extra apocalyptic in an election year, but if you’re an optimist (or willing to turn your sights that way), I read this article (from April 2018) about the [good] ways in which American life is currently being reinvented on a micro level and felt fuzzy inside, at least for a bit ♥ Love you guys, and please go vote next Tuesday!

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: This four-second video encapsulates the entire history of the Brooklyn Nets. (And yes, if it was by a Knicks player, it’d encapsulate their past 17 years too obvs.)

Quote of the Week: “A Bennett grind is like another drunk tank trick.” — Dana Ericson re: someone else (forgetting who) originally coining a smith kickflip as being a “drunk tank trick.” (Hypothetical: Has there ever been a Bennett grind that’s been better than even the most generic switch back smith? Actually, nvm.)

A lot of parentheses this Monday. Mind’s all over the place. (Or something.)

All Snacks Not 1 Opinion

Photo by Colin Sussingham

Our webstore is now restocked with fall items. Available now in the U.S., Canada, Japan and Korea. Arriving to Europe and Australia this week. You can find a list of shops that carry QS garms on our stockists page. Thanks ♥

Here’s the video of the Alltimers team’s van trip through New England’s circuit of skateparks. If you didn’t think Dana Ericson could be in contention for MVP of a skatepark trip, then you were dead wrong ;)

Village Psychic did a quick interview with J.P. Blair about filming for the new Bronze 56k video, It’s Time.

“For longtime devotees of the Art Dump, SHT Sound and goldfish-toting retirement home scammers, it’s difficult to separate dudes’ seeming lack of enthusiasm for skating their own boards with the company’s at times painful evolution.” Boil the Oceans looks toward the future of Girl Skateboards on the announcement of their upcoming am-focused video, Doll.

Element did a Keith Harring collaboration and the only reason we’re telling you about it is because the accompanying video for it contains about a minute of new Brandon Westgate footage from the Banks.

This dude’s flip tricks are something else: watch Shawn Butler’s new 80% L.A. / 20% east coast part by Harry Bergenfield.

Big week for Chief Keef video parts, and a bad week for that antiquated tradition of keeping an unenthused stone face after you land your ender. Here’s another section from the Buffalo-based Jeb video. We have been claiming we’d drive to Albany to skate Empire State Plaza since before the summer, and now’s it’s probably too cold, huh?

Thrasher posted up the video for the Alltimers’ skate jam at Fat Kid Park.

Stop Fakin’ 3 is now online in full.

“Bryan saw this pool while landscaping at the house next door and somehow charmed the owner into letting us skate for two weekends. How he did this, I have no clue. Must have been just the right mix of 7-11 egg salad, and ’90s skate photos that gave him the confidence.”

Some of you will be triggered by the aesthetics, but the skateboarding in Romain Batard’s “Giddy” series is always unique, albeit in a fried way. Episode #9 is live.

Ignoring the fact that its objectively horrid to look at (not even talking as a skateboarder here…but what the hell is wrong with them renovating these parks in a way that makes it look like their budget was a $200 Home Depot gift card?), there are these weird slappy metal things at the park on Spring and Sixth Avenue now A.K.A. the old marble chessboard park.

Bad news: McNally Jackson is closing. Good news: They’re insisting that they will remain in the neighborhood. So excited for that corner to become a Chase bank :(

QS Spots Desk Play of the Week: The Trae Young game winner seems like it was the most unavoidable highlight of the preseason. Regular season starts Wednesday!

Quote of the Week: “They don’t play Drizzy in pubs man.” — Tiko re: whether he heard the Spanish Drake song in London

Happy early 10/17!