Brian Anderson | Quartersnacks

Tompkins Jam with B.A. & Friends on Thursday, 08/22

Daily News August 20th, 2013 · 12:21 pm · 5

Opting against the traditional skatepark route, Nike SB will utilize the greatest non-spot in skateboard history for its Brian Anderson shoe launch event on Thursday. Not since the enterprising days of the early-2000s has an actual skate company chose our beloved T.F. as the site of a major skate event (shout out to Leo Gutman #2003gameofskate.) There will be boxes, rails, a launch or two, and perhaps even a quarterpipe, an obstacle completely unfamiliar to Tompkins Square Park patrons in the modern T.F. era. Please note that this marks the first time more than two non-trash can obstacles will simultaneously occupy space at Tompkins since its heyday, so the significance of this event cannot be overstated.

Anyway, come celebrate the launch of the new Project B.A. shoe with Brian Anderson, Unlocking the Truth, and friends (and probably the Dunions) at Tompkins Square Park this Thursday, August 22nd, from 12 P.M. to 4 P.M. Food and refreshments will be provided for all those who cannot otherwise afford them.

The August Slump

Daily News August 19th, 2013 · 5:02 am · 3

Photo by Emilio Cuilan

August is always slow. Having three Monday Links posts on the front page isn’t really a good look though, so hopefully stuff starts happening soon :(

Seattle is taking a step in the right direction with regard to more progressive thought than “skaters = skateparks.” Except the thought is a bit better than the execution, because the “skateable sculpture” they built looks absurd and not a good way (it’s designed by a snowboarder…and Torey Pudwill.) Unsurprisingly, even when not making full-fledged skate plazas, the Germans are ahead of the curve with the whole multi-functional skateable sculpture thing.

Skate Spot Porn: Architizer rounds up some works of modernist architecture that happen to be unintentionally perfect for skateboarding.

Get weird with the Juicy Elbows “Summer Trip to New York” montage. Here’s last year’s edition in case you missed it. And if you didn’t know by now, there’s a Venice curb and flat bar at the Fat Kid Spot now.

Watch Raffie Gordon’s part and Karim Callender and Alejandro Batista’s shared part from Belief Skate Shop’s Ever Upward video. Anyone who does a trick at the two-second bust plaza outside of the F train on 42nd Street deserves a pat on the back.

Skaters aren’t the only ones obssessed with the VHS format. Is it safe to say that unlike straight-to-VHS B-movies from the eighties, most skate videos initially released on VHS that are worth saving have already been preserved on new mediums?

Speaking of formats, here is this week’s edition in our search for the new VX1000.

J Kwon / Radio Korea is singlehandedly bringing a nineties plaza vibe back to L.A. skating, a la the USC, Santa Monica Courthouse, or L.A. County days.

This Carlos Iqui guy is keeping the switch push alive.

Brian Anderson skates the B.Q.E. spot and talks about his new shoe, which has been getting some heavy praise from the older, “I only skate in one shoe”-stickler crowd.

A new old NJ Scum clip.

Someone (not Ian Reid) uploaded Ian Reid’s Video to YouTube.

R.I.P. to the Instagram sensation Bushwick Bump.

*BONUS* QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: The NBA season is two-and-a-half months away, so here’s White Chocolate with a bounce pass to alley oop in a Taiwanese exhibition game from this summer. FYI: Derrick Rose returns in a season opener against the Heat, and the Knicks’ second game is in Chicago. Also, the Knicks play the Thunder at MSG on Christmas (their last meeting was a good time.)

Quote of the Week: “I hate hearing people drive by blasting that ‘Ain’t Worried About Nothing’ song when I’m worrying about landing a trick.” — Lurker Lou

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Our statistics reveal that the past six months have coincided with a 30% rise in traffic from Brooklyn visitors. Does this mean we need to reformat, relocate and cut back on the Lovely Day jokes?

The 360 Flip’s Less Attractive Sister: A Study of the 10 Greatest Varial Flips in Skate Video History

Features & Interviews April 26th, 2013 · 5:54 am · 57

top 10 varial flips

The varial flip occupies a strange space in skateboarding. It’s pigeonholed as a little kid trick — a midway point between the kickflip and 360 flip, and sometimes even the first flip trick learned by a kid who found the shove-it motion easier to land on than a straight up kickflip. Beyond that, it has a far better looking, more shapely and marketable sister trick: The varial flip is the Khloe to the 360 flip’s Kim and Kourtney.

Even when you run an image search for “varial flip” (every result is hideous), Google is right there with “360 flip” as the sole related search. Except when you Google “360 flip,” the term “varial flip” ceases to be relatable. No need to backtrack.

google varial flips

As observers of professional skateboarding, an eternal question burns in our minds every time a pro does a varial flip: “Why wouldn’t he just do a 360 flip?” Whether you agree or not, 360 flips infallibly share the “you can never have enough of them” category with ollies, kickflips, backside tailslides, or anything else you’ve seen Keith Hufnagel do several times in each his Real parts, while the varial flip remains a lumpy oddity that sets alarms off for critics of trick selection. No company would dare introduce a new rider with a varial flip ad, and Skechers certainly had no intention of calling Khloe for their Super Bowl commercial if Kim was unavailable.

Surely the most standard of 360 flips is superior to the greatest varial flip — if such a thing were to exist. Is there even such thing as a “great” varial flip? We set out to find an answer to this question. Here are the ten instances in which the Khloe Kardashian of flip tricks looked jussst right, by ten of skateboarding’s Lamar Odoms.

An Interview With Brian Anderson

Features & Interviews April 12th, 2013 · 7:00 am · 32

All photos by Ben Colen

B.A. already had an Epicly Later’d series, so we set aside history and spoke with him about more recent happenings — namely moving to New York, filming for Pretty Sweet, bonelesses into grinds, and his next full part.

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When did you move to New York and what brought you here?

I moved to New York in October 2011. I was in San Francisco on and off for 11 or 12 years. I love it with Thrasher, Deluxe and all my friends there. But I grew up three hours from New York in Groton, Connecticut and a lot of my family still lives there. My sisters’ kids are growing up, so I wanted to be around. It’s also cool being back and having some seasons. San Francisco is beautiful, but it’s a hoody every day, all year around. In New York, you get the nice hot summer and the cold winter, and I love that.

You mentioned in an older interview that you were trying to get more into design work. Was that part of the move back east at all? Is that something you’re trying to pursue more or are you still fully focused on skating?

It’s a bit of both. I’ve been fortunate to have a few projects since I’ve been here. One, for example, is Four Star contacted Moleskine and I went over to their offices in Manhattan, brought some art and we figured out a way to lay some stuff out. For the past year, I’ve been flying to Portland quite a bit and Nike has been showing me the ins and outs of footwear design. I’ve been focussing on making a sneaker which is going to be released in the fall, so I’ve been trying to plan for all of that.

I’m still trying to skateboard. I got to skateboard a lot in the fall with William Strobeck. I skate for CCS, but I’d like to have some stuff in the Supreme video he’s putting together. I’ve been doing a little of everything: sketches, trying to keep my legs warm with skateboarding, and designing the sneaker.

Are you focusing on any video projects aside from the Supreme video?

I might give a few more things to Bill for the Supreme video. I really want to have some stuff in the Trunk Boyz video, but the next big thing is the Nike SB Chronicles 3 video, which is about two-and-a-half years from now. They’re working on the second one now. I’m getting older — not old — I’m just stoked to have a project to work on. I want to stay pro for another four or five years, so I’m psyched to be in it.

First Post of 2013

Daily News January 7th, 2013 · 2:00 pm · 5

jeezy moet

Happy (belated?) 2013. Had to take the first week off. Anyone else make it through 2012 without finding out what Honey Boo Boo was or actually hearing “Gangnam Style?”

The First & Possibly Last Ever Installment of QS Sneaker News: 1) This is what New Balance skate shoes look like. P.J. Ladd seems to be their first teamrider, but bringing in Larry David might’ve been more of a power move. When is Saucony jumping in? 2) This is what ~~Dylan Reider’s~~ Alex Olson’s Vans pro model would’ve looked like. 3) Guess who else is making skate shoes? Got ’em. 4) Looking for crusty size 13 Jordan 4s that were retroed in 1999? Skate around the West Village.

ATTN British people and other Europeans: Lost Art out in Liverpool will be carrying QS tees online and in-store this week, in the event that you don’t want to pay $30 shipping from the U.S. for a $25 shirt. For everyone else, black larges are sold out but all other sizes/colors are still available in our webstore.

Crailtap released a minute-long clip of Brian Anderson Pretty Sweet B-sides, and as a result, Quartersnacks will be offering its first ever internship position. We’re looking for part-time interns to re-dub skate noises over full quality Pretty Sweet footage of anyone in the video over 30 and Alex Olson’s part (Cory Kennedy’s pleasant surprise of a part is perfect as is) for re-edit purposes. Compensation will come in the form of maybe $100, drink tickets and first dibs on the aforementioned and any future pair of Jordans discovered on the street.

This clip contains more Rob Campbell footage than any other in recent history and a Woody Allen homage at the beginning.

Sweet Waste’s 2012 send-off clip featuring a grip of fools.

The teaser for the new PIT Crew video has a Tyler Tufty cameo (sorry about the Redskins) and looks like it will be an all-around sick video.

There’s a new follow up to last year’s Be Pretty video and draws inspiration for its music supervision from a much beloved New York skate video. Teaser here.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: What else could it be? J.R. Smith’s ultra fast-motion reverse alley oop off a pass that was too low for an alley oop. (Honorable mention: JaVale Mcgee dunking on two of his own teammates.)

Quote of the Week:

plan b fan

— Some Guy Who Likes Plan B Maybe a Bit TOO Much, via the Hella Clips comments on the first teaser for the Plan B video. (Would Plan B’s upcoming video project imply that full-length videos aren’t dead, contrary to previous reports?)

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Updates should resume as normal this week. Have a good one.