Chris Nieratko | Quartersnacks

Erotic Skateboard Fiction

Daily News May 5th, 2014 · 12:17 pm

Is it safe to say it’s finally spring? J-John the Don — Nosegrind in L.I.C. Photo via GX1000.

Tees still available in the webstore. Now available at Solstice in New Bedford, MA. Also available at Supreme NY & LA, Seasons, Humidity, One-Up, Exit, NJ and Commissary. UK: Go to Lost Art or Palomino. Rest of Europe: Cali Roots has it online. Japan: Swingin Market and Apple Butter have it online.

Read the first ten pages from Roctakon’s work of erotic skateboard fiction. (Note: there isn’t a single mention of skateboarding in the first ten pages though.)

Most commonly asked question among people who skateboard this past weekend: “Did you see that trick Lucas Puig did on his Instagram?”

Jordan Trahan joins the 360 flip hall of fame with a co-sign from the head chairman.

Pop Trading Company distributes QS gear in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg, and they probably still watch Eastern Exposure a lot.

Kingpin has a dual interview with Lev Tanju, the mastermind behind Palace, and Pontus Alv, the mastermind behind Polar, regarding their tour through Denmark and Malmö. “That’s the problem: you start a skateboard brand and then you just get fat.”

Some other quick interviews: Street Piracy interview Clem from Recordings of Boardings, Chris Nieratko interviewed Sage Elsesser for ESPN, KCDC interviewed Jahmal Williams, and Bedford + Bowery interviewed Josh Stewart about Static IV.

As far as the kids-in-or-around-New-York-who-skate-handrails sub-genre goes this Julian Lewis part is pretty impressive. Dude does Grecco’s Deathwish vid 270 noseblunt ender on some rail and then decides to 5050 a 27-stair…in the snow.

The guy who invented the ollie works on Porsches now.

This Ain’t California is now on Hulu for free. QS review from last year here.

Mike O’Meally on one of the more iconic New York City skate photos (the shot of Jeff Pang, Todd Jordan, etc. skating down Broadway on September 12, 2001.)

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Damian Lillard sits among John Stockton and Michael Jordan as one of the few players to end a playoff series on a buzzer-beating shot, all while giving his franchise their first series win in 14 years. P.S. Rooting for a “New York” basketball team with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett on it is not rooting for a New York basketball team. On the plus side, *if* Dolan is capable of feeling stupid (massive if), he should feel pretty dumb right now considering the Nets made the second round and the Knicks didn’t even make the eighth seed. P.P.S. How funny is it that the Sixers, Bobcats, Wizards and Raptors all have a considerably brighter half-decade ahead of them than than the Knicks do? Draft picks > Phil Jackson.

Quote of the Week:

element grip

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Did everyone make it through Saturday’s T.F. closure scare okay?

We Be All Night

Daily News March 24th, 2014 · 5:03 am · 18

Tino Razo — Hurricane at the Bronx bank-to-ledge, via Jonathan Mehring‘s “Making of ‘cherry’” feature that appeared on the Thrasher site, and then got taken down an hour later for mysterious reasons. Mountain Dew lifted a bunch of the photos and reposted them on their site with some shots that don’t even belong there, and no credit back to Mehring. Normally wouldn’t link something like that blatantly slapdashed together, but it’s all Thrasher’s fault in the end.

Gonna stop claiming #surfboard Vines are over. They just keep getting better.

Chris Nieratko interviews Bobby Worrest about his all-Pulaski part. (Contrary to what Nieratko’s intro says, though obviously not speaking from experience on this side or anything…isn’t the story that Pulaski was relatively low-bust back when things like this were getting filmed? ~~Also, what is the DC montage that was edited to Eric B. & Rakim “Relax With Pep?”~~ It’s the DC section from Eastern Exposure 2.)

In honor of the aforementioned all-Pulaski part, Kingpin put together a #listicle of ten great mostly one-spot parts. Lucas Puig’s line in the new Adidas clip makes one wonder when the first all-Republique part is gonna be…(P.S. Adidas, you don’t need to send out four press release e-mails a week. Thx.)

Another quick clip to get you more hyped for Zered’s upcoming Transworld part.

New mini video from the Sex Hippies crew in western Massachusetts and the Albany area. The title is #NSFW but the content is quite #SFW.

“It’s getting harder to come up with new ways to fix something that isn’t broken, but they managed to do it.” Really? Is there even any reason for anything besides Independent, Thunder and Venture to exist?

Lurker Lou x Young Jeezy Faux One One “One Year Later” remix.

The homie Uncle Steve put together a New York Super-8 clip for Krooked with Brad Cromer and Mark Gonzales, a la A Love Supreme but in 2014 though…

A new, moody promo from Grace Skate Co. out in Long Island.

The new Skateboard Mag cover is an instant classic New York photo.

“Can we get a Supreme video review?”
“When Dill is talking to Gonz his abs look so sick.”

Remember to vote in the 2nd round of the #Nineties Skater Power Ranking Bracket.

Gunplay runs an escort service.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Another Steph Curry circus shot. Any Warriors match-up in the first round is going to be must-see TV. Actually, pretty much any western conference match-up in the first round is going to be must-see TV, provided you can deal with watching Houston shoot 1,000 free throws. They should cancel the eastern conference playoffs and make Pacers-Heat first to twelve wins.

Quote of the Week: “I’m sick of rich girls. I’m into poor girls.” — Ben Bartle

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R.I.P. to the Hat. R.I.P. to any sight of spring. It’s snowing tomorrow. R.I.P. QS.

Skate Mags Used To Be Chill: 1997 Strength Magazine Feature on Suave House by Chris Nieratko

Time Capsule March 6th, 2014 · 3:50 pm · 2

[On asking MJG what “MJG” stands for]
“You’re white. He’d definitely shoot you.”
“So you ask him.”
“I’m not asking him, he’ll shoot me too.”

Anyone with a social media presence has been made aware that Lil’ Boosie was released from prison yesterday. Naturally, today’s morning playlist was Boosie-themed, and made a stop at “In My Pockets,” a UGK remix of “Sho’Nuff.” (FYI: The three of them are known to create masterpieces of vulgarity together.) From there, procrastination led back to the “Sho’Nuff” video, and then a cursory Googling of some Suave House-related minutiae, which then revealed that Chris Nieratko had written an article about hanging out with the Suave House guys in 1997.

“The House That Suave Built” appeared in the ~~short-lived~~ not-short-but-not-very-long-lived, mostly-skateboarding-but-occasionally-other-stuff magazine, Strength in 1997. (A lot of the Chrome Ball scans of semi-obscure east coast names likely originate from Strength, as it was known to give east coasters slightly more love than Slap or Thrasher back then.) The article details the 72-hour period Nieratko, Clyde Singleton, and Bill Weiss spent in Houston with the Suave House VP. It’s not some end-of-Thrasher interview with an “underground” rapper, but a feature-length chronicle of rap video debauchery coming as close in contact with intoxicated skate tour antics as it ever has. Amazing to think there was a time when skateboard publications would spend money on travel and accommodations for their writers to come back with something as off-hand as this.

Suave doesn’t enjoy the waves of nostalgia that Cash Money, No Limit or Hypnotize Minds do today. That is partially due to the fact that no streetwear companies have re-released apparel with their logos on it, but also because it was more of a gold-selling label than a platinum one, i.e. 8Ball & MJG were its most high-profile artists. It was responsible for a lot of great music though, in addition to getting Clyde Singleton laid in a Houston hotel room.

Scans stolen from Nieratko’s site. Also related to mid-nineties southern rap dynasties and skateboarding: Nieratko and Mike York interview C-Murder.

First Post of 2014

Daily News January 6th, 2014 · 2:12 pm · 8

tf west

Happy New Year to everyone. 50 degrees today, 11 degrees tomorrow. This place is hosting a Superbowl next month? That should be interesting. We missed quite a bit while taking the past week off, so here’s a bit of a catch-up…

If you’re in the Benelux zone, QS gear is now available at Frisco (Arhem), Ben-G (Amsterdam), Sevenply (Rotterdam), and Lockwood (Antwerp.) If you’re in Miami enjoying life, it’s also now available at MIA (the South Beach location.) Seasons and Exit have restocks, too. Complete list of retailers here. The web store is running low on quantities, so get on that if you want a tee or hat ;)

Absolutely shocked that this got snubbed on the “Drunkest Moments of 2013” list.

Chewy Cannon with the first great part of 2014. Adidas should seriously consider pairing him and Busenitz for some sort of odd couple part.

If you’ve been skating long enough, you may remember this Josh Kalis commercial running on MTV, Comedy Central, etc. Though not the highest distinction, it might be the best mass audience skateboarding commercial ever made, if only because of the two kickflips and 360 flip he does in it. Filmed around Water Street and midtown, with a rare trick on the haven’t-been-skateable-in-15-years handrails by Radio City (A.K.A. “Joey’s Sculpture” from THPS2.) There’s an alternate version a cop chasing him somewhere too, which they talk about in this old Transworld article.

Speaking of which, there’s a new Kalis interview on Jenkem.

The Brooklyn Banks circa 1995, in 16mm. Yo, De Blasio, if you really want to do something great, please restore the small banks. Nobody cares about the big banks except BMXers. It’s more important than universal Pre-K. Thanks.

The DVS team visits New York. Far from the “Daewon in New York” dream clip we’ve all been hoping for, but it’s alright. Luis is the best.

Ripped Laces counts down the best skate shoes of 2013: #s10-6 here and #s 5-1 here. Going to have to agree on the Gatos at #1. Beyond their functionality, that shoe is the most Gino-esque Nike shoe ever made. Yes, even moreso than the actual Gino tennis-inspired shoe they released in 2012. When you look down at your feet in them, it gets easy to trick yourself into thinking you look way cooler on a skateboard than you actually do, because those are the shoes Gino would skate in. There’s also a chill commercial with Connor Champion for the Lunar Gato out today.

Some dudes made the odd decision of going skating in midtown on New Years Eve.

“There is not a genius in skateboarding…in the manufacturing world.” Muckmouth interviews Steve Olson over lunch.

Been into plain old frontside 180 nosegrinds on regular height ledges lately, seen most notably in The National Skateboard Company’s trip to Warsaw clip.

The new Skate Jawn montage is cool.

Chris Nieratko talks to James Kelch about FTC in light of their new book.

Great news: Lil’ Boosie gets out of jail next month. “Imma be like George Clinton ’round this bitch singing at 45.”

Are you seven-feet-tall and interested in skateboarding? Nah, you should probably play basketball. Even if you lack the neccesary skills, there will always be a job in the NBA for you if only because of your height. See: Jared Jeffries.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Steph Curry everything ♥♥♥

Quote of the Week:

alex patagonia

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How the hell did anyone listen to a new French Montana mixtape last week when Street Lottery 2 was so readily available?

Breaking Boards

Daily News September 30th, 2013 · 5:23 am · 3

wavy mike

Still the best piece of photography in 2013.

This has to be one of the slowest news weeks in the past few years of doing Monday Links. Can’t wait for basketball season to start.

We can keep making up hypothetical narratives about why our favorite skaters haven’t had any footage in ages, but at least Fred Gall has been #relevant for twenty years and counting. He has a new part on The Skateboard Mag site with kickflip backside noseblunts in it ‘n stuff. (Here’s an alternate YouTube link.)

Ripped Laces investigates the Osiris D3’s second or third life. This time, it’s mostly confined to the shelves of Italian sports retailers.

The first post-Beef Patty video blog entry from Johnny Wilson and co.

Some guy did a frontside lipslide up Black Hubba.

A few cool homie videos popped up recently: “Ripstick,” which is filmed around New York state, “Slime 2” (Leo Gutman sighting!), and “Porch Mafia,” a New York and Long Island-based project with a reutilization of Rick Howard’s song from Goldfish.

Skateboarding is weird in 2013, man.

On that very same topic, Chris Nieratko found the quintessential Dylan Reider lookalike at a skatepark in Belguim, interviewed him, and then got in touch with Reider himself to give his (brief) take on the legions of doppelgangers out there.

The part about there being enough time for it to go from day to night when you drive from Peekskill to Manhattan seems a bit exaggerated (this isn’t L.A…), but there’s some cool stuff in this Dustin Younie part from Belief’s Ever Upward video.

Every international #indie skate company with a following in the States seems set on having at least one New York guy on their roster. After an odd stint on Jart, Billy McFeely is riding for Pass Port.

Next time you’re complaining about how there is nowhere fun to skate, remember that people in Myanmar would think you’re an asshole.

The 12th & A renaissance seems well under way. People are filming there again, and the Labor bench that slowly disintegrated at T.F. last year has been resurrected.

Quote of the Week: “I have a theory that Time Warner deliberately hires idiots to work their phones so you can’t negotiate with them.” — Bar Homie

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The weather is going to be incredible this entire week.