The world isn’t off to the best start in 2020, so you’d be well advised to watch this uplifting video about two Afghan girls who moved to Berlin from a refugee camp, and completely fell in love with skateboarding there. Lovingly put together by our friends at Place.
“Back then it was all a blur.” Yo these Bobshirt interviews are all so special. The latest installment is with Rodney Torres and is loaded with nineties New York nostalgia and stories, e.g it pretty much mentions three decades worth of skate shops in the city, and harks back to a time when New York coverage was limited to a montage here and there every couple years in a bigger video. (Also #lol on this YouTube comment.)
The youth has good tre flips. “Practice” is a very rad homie video by Cesar Fuentes featuring a bunch of up and coming skaters from The Bronx.
This past year, nobody else incited as many smilesand remindersof the gloriousescapism that skateboarding provides. Thank you Jamal Smith, 2017’s Q.S.S.O.T.Y., for inspiring us to enjoy the world on a skateboard. Sadly, we can’t fly you to Canary Islands like Thrasher can (…not yet), but just wanted to say thanks :)
Even as an institution that often gets chastised for Rihanna songs in skate clips and bad filming, we gotta chime in here: wtf is with the choppy frame-rate, wtf is up with the darkass clips, and wtf is up with that Morrissey song in Antonio’s new Berrics part? The skating though…is absolutely F U C K E D.
Oddly enjoyed this way more than expected, probably because they skate a bunch of weird shit that nobody bothers with, e.g. they got two clips at the Gristedes on 96th Street — a Weed Maps “Summer Trip to New York” clip with Jaws, Tommy Sandoval and Boo Johnson. I think we ran into Jaws at a rave when he was filming this.
…aaannndddd Village Psychic made a “Best of 2017” mix of the year’s ACTUAL S.O.T.Y., regardless of what the yellow t-shirts may have told you.
“Belgrade is the best city I’ve ever been to in my life.” The Rios Crew continues to inspire skateboard travel dreams far outside the conventional Euro destinations with each new clip. “Dunja,” their latest, hits Serbia’s capital, Montenegro and Croatia.
QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: It’ll never not be funny that Kyrie was just like “nah, I don’t wanna play with this dude anymore.” He lost yesterday, but this was sick.
Quote of the Week: “You should just make Q.S.S.O.T.Y. ‘The Max Palmer Award.'” — John Choi
Been slow around here, as recent injuries have taken their toll on office morale, but December is always busy. QS holiday 2017 tees are now available at Supreme Soho and Brooklyn. Arriving at other shops this week and next. Online soonish?
Probably one of the most fried concepts for a recent skate video, but in the best way possible — Kyota Umeki filmed an entire skate video on a Nintendo 3DS with a fisheye taped to it. 90% of it is filmed within like, five blocks of the L.E.S. Park. I also have “Groove Is In The Heart” stuck in my head now, great.
The crew behind Newark’s Shorty’s spot (R.I.P.) was allotted a piece of land by the city, in which they have begun to build a bowl. They’re looking to raise money for supplies, concrete trucks, etc. to speed up the project. If you’ve been to Shorty’s even once, please donate whatever you can so they can continue forward with the Shorty’s spirit ♥
Bobby Worrest has a comprehesive interview with “The Nine Club,” with a detailed discussion re: the lost art of skate spot politics and east coast aversion to wax. (His favorite Bobby Worrest part is also “Looks Ok To Me.”)
QS Sports Desk: Imagine if the Knicks did a subtler trust the process-esque strategy instead of doubling-down on iso-Melo and then trying to force the triangle onto the modern NBA for the past decade? Eh.