Favorite Spot With Anthony Van Engelen on The Green Bench

May 5th, 2021 · 12:00 am · 16 Comments

Figured after last week’s “Favorite Spot” with Hjalte, now is as good of a time as any to keep the momentum going with this new series :)

You may remember back in the fall when skaters of a certain age bracket couldn’t help but think one really nerdy thought while watching F.A’s Dancing On Thin Ice video: was the bench from A.V.E’s ender the same bench that he was skating in The DC Video back in 2003?

In short, the answer is yes. But the story of how the bench came to re-enter skateboard history is one of many fateful contortions that only the man himself could adequately explain. Farran tracked down A.V.E. for the story of the green metal bench, and how it has endured through nearly two decades, with the help of some archival footage from the F.A. and DC videographers that were there as it happened.

Interview & Edit by Farran Golding. Archival footage is courtesy of: Greg Hunt, Cody Green, Benny Maglinao, William Strobeck and Colin Kennedy.

Previous Favorite Spots: Hjalte Halberg on Jarmers, Gilbert Crockett on Sun Trust & Downtown Richmond

Favorite Spot With Hjalte Halberg on Jarmers

April 29th, 2021 · 12:00 am · 3 Comments

Like anybody with Josh Kalis’ “big ledges, little ledges”-monologue from The Sixth Sense ingrained in their brain, it’s always been a pleasure to hear skateboarders talk about the places that hold the most real estate in their hearts. Our “Favorite Spot” series is an expansion on that short bit of skate video ephemera into a retrospective of people whose careers have grown tethered to a certain spot. You may recall that Gilbert Crockett was the inaugural edition back in December.

We have long touted the virtues of Copenhagen, and at a time when European travel isn’t exactly possible, it made sense to vicariously re-experience the city’s most famous (yet deceptively difficult) spot via its modern-day ambassador, Hjalte Halberg.

Footage courtesy of: Emil Hvilsom, Frederik Bengston, Henrik Edelbo, Tor Ström, Pontus Alv, Johnny Wilson, Pekka Løvås, Jimmy Viberg & Anton Juul. Special thanks to: Polar Skate Co. & Dancer CPH.

Previously: Gilbert Crockett on Downtown Richmond

The Day The Bust Stood Still

March 17th, 2021 · 12:00 am · 6 Comments

Photo via E.J. — nah, he’s in the photo — photo via E.J’s camera’s self-timer

By now, you’ve seen enough memes and articles marking this week as the one-year anniversary of living in whatever you want to call …this.

Exactly a year ago, nobody knew what we were headed towards, or how the remaining nine months of 2020 would play out. The NBA season got called off, flights from Europe were done, the stock market plummeted, and suddenly, there was no ignoring that shit was getting weird.

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Antonio Durao — ‘Lawn Guy Land’ Part

February 3rd, 2021 · 12:00 am · 6 Comments

QS has been singing the praises of Antonio’s skateboarding for damn near a decade now (since the Tony days!), so it felt like due time for a refresher to prime everyone for bigger things this year ♥

This one was filmed by Lloyd Richards, and includes perhaps the first-ever three-trick ledge line at Borough Hall that doesn’t utilize the steps once, and the Pyramid Ledges trick that Dre just ~happened~ to catch on his iPhone last summer, which went on to dominate “did you hear”-discourse for the next month.

Also felt compelled to put the kickflip into the narrow bank at 181 in here, as someone has brought it up every time we’ve been there since, and I’m not entirely sure it has made it further than an IG story?

Anyone sitting there pouting and ready to type, “Well, is 2 minutes really a *part*?” would be well advised to watch it twice, because four minutes is definitely a part ;)

P.S. The Hardbody Video coming soon.

Jake Church — Yardsale ‘YS 2’ Raw Clips & Offcuts

February 2nd, 2021 · 12:00 am · 4 Comments

Around the time of YS 2‘s official release, the QS office was winded from year-end #content, and on a much-needed vacation. This, unfortunately, resulted in the new release desk being unable to give Yardsale’s second video the analytic accolades that it deserved. There are only a select few video series that feel wholly of their own world, and the YS videos syphon your eyes into a dimension away from their contemporaries.

In consolation, the Yardsale boys were kind enough to allow us to share some raw footage from Jake Church’s ender part with everyone.

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