Between PJ Ladd’s Wonderful Horrible Life, and this month’s unsolved mystery of a missing Plan B part, many Suffolk County-based skateboarders have learned to skate “some type of way.” The Coliseum video set off the previous decade (which actually ended after the release of Aesthetics’ Ryde of Ride video in 2001, not on December 31, 1999 at 11:59:59 P.M.), and the best relatively low-bust ledge spot on the eastern seaboard progressed it, allowing Boston to breed the closest northeastern counterpart to EuroTech™ (EggTech™ maybe, or something to that effect?)
Gavin sat on Plan B flow for years while sustaining on Clif bars and mini tangerines, until ultimately getting hooked up 4real by Zoo earlier this fall. Anyone who has been around for the past few summers in New York knows he’s one of the nicest, most consistent and simply down-to-skate-with-everyone dudes around, so it’s great to see him get some shine. There were quite a bit of extras from his lil welcome part, so we combined the two to a less boom bap-ified variant, along with the original footage.
Got a kick out of SMLTalk’s Boston spot directory. Dana Ericson already did any trick you wanted to try at Eggs switch in Filas, Aquarium ledges are actually way harder to skate than they look on film, etc. And FWIW, this place in Berlin is “the absolute worst skatepark in recorded human history,” not Watertown.
An interview with your favorite skateboarder, my favorite skateboarder, and your former favorite skateboarder’s favorite skateboarder.
A #listicle of the best tricks done down Clipper, which experienced quite a resurgence this year. Switch front blunt and alley oop 180 switch back 5050 got snubbed fam. That, and Muska switch noseslide should have been number one.
Yo you know what’s really annoying about DVS tour videos? You see them and think, “Oh sick, I get to see Daewon skate outside of his typical SoCal comfort zone” — but then dude only has like 2-3 clips in the entire video. ANYWAY, The DVS team is pretty fun: Torey Pudwill took the Reres Award from whoever may have previously held it for the Milan grate this year, that fakie 5050-halfcab-5050-180 combo is wild, and Luis’ grind down the Le Dome hubba from the flat part (it’s over waist high) is insane.
This was the best video of 2014. Truly inspiring stuff. He really is the best:
They’re building a new skatepark in Harlem (First Avenue and 114th.) Should be done in the spring, but you know how that goes. It’s still Lenox Ledges 4ever ♥♥♥
QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: You don’t get Rondo for his shooting / lack thereof. Great to have him on a relevant team again. Hey NBA, please take the Knicks or Lakers off the Christmas schedule and exchange it with a Mavs game. Thx.
Quote of the Week Madison Square Garden Security Guard: “You okay in there?” Guy Who Vomited on Himself in the Bathroom Stall: “I’m just taking it easy.”
Zered has a rad new black and white cruiser clip for Converse, put together by Richard Quintero. See if you can spot the cameo from another New Englander.
Summer’s basically over, but we’re still six weeks away from Labor Day, so Ripped Laces compiled a #listicle of the ten greatest tricks ever done in an all-white outfit. #s 10-6 & #s 5-1. No debate about the #1, but Andre Page didmake a gallon of Kool Aid in an all-white outfit at the TF this past weekend. Not sure if that counts…
Clark Hassler has a bit of New York footage in the Coma Backpacks promo. (JanSport Skate coming soon?) His section begins around the 6:30 mark. The ender (around the corner from Beatrice! R.I.P!) is definitely a Kickflip of the Year contender, especially given 2013 title-holder Brandon Westgate’s quiet year so far.
Lurker Lou is having a show for his Card Boards project at 2nd Nature in Bushwick (257 Varet Street) on Saturday, July 19. Flyer here. All boards will be for sale.
The Ride Channel was nice enough to run Backstreet Atlas, the mini doc about two guys skating from Boston to New York, on their YouTube page. You might remember that we interviewed Adam and Zach about their journey back in April.
Living in New York, it’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming the entire world revolves around you. (At least until a hurricane comes through and you realize you’re just on an island with expensive coffee in a corner of the Atlantic Ocean…) People barely consider nearby cities outside of Philadelphia, Boston, D.C. and maybe Baltimore, but the northeast is a pretty big place. They were able to condense their two hundred-mile / two-week trip into a twenty-minute video, and while it doesn’t even have a big flip in it (!!!), it’s a fun video that does a great job of getting you hyped to explore a bit further than your own backyard, or just to go skate in general.
Solid work from all those involved. Have a good weekend.
There are obviously more serious things going on with Boston right now, but here is a quick lighthearted distraction from that whole situation. This past August, these two guys skated from Boston to New York City — twenty-five miles at a time on hard wheels — stopping in New England towns that your average skateboarder would only know from exit signs on I-95. The short video of their journey, “Backstreet Atlas,” premieres at the Jane Hotel (113 Jane Street) at 8 P.M. on April 18 (tomorrow.)
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How did this idea come about?
A: It was initially a joke. We talked about skating from Boston to New York without ever having the intention of doing it for a long time. We were having a conversation about skating distances and one day Zach was like, “I’m gonna skate back home from Boston” one day. It wasn’t an epiphany or anything, the joke just became more of a good idea. We entertained it for so long, that we just decided to go for it.
Z: We first planned to do it two years ago. First it was supposed to be in the fall, then spring, then Adam hurt his knee, so it kept getting pushed back.
What was the process of getting it from being a joke to an actual trip?
A: First, we thought we were gonna wing it and just skate, but the more we thought about it, it made sense for us to plan to hit up cool stuff along the way. We weren’t gonna make a movie. Then figured if we were gonna do it, it’d potentially be worth sharing. We planned on shooting whatever interesting things we see along the way, but nothing specific. We did want to go to all the skate shops though.
