Grit & Grind

d wade d reider

Apparently, D. Wade is a D. Reider fan. He’s not the only one.

Chrome Ball’s 900th post is dedicated to the Brooklyn Banks — “A testament to the resourcefulness of skateboarders when they can just be left the fuck alone.” In case you weren’t going on the site several years ago, we posted a series of interviews about the Banks in 2010, after the spot got completely shut down for bridge repairs.

Nick vonWerssowetz’s new video, CCTV, is great. Mostly filmed in New York, save a part in San Francisco. Great spot selection, presentation, and a soundtrack for all those yet to embrace Future / the future. Features Shawn Powers, Adrian Vega, and others. The DVD is for sale online and at Labor Skateshop for $10.

Check out Hopps Skateboards’ spring/summer 2013 collection on their new website.

Taji interviewed Galen over on the Vice site about his latest arthouse triumph, Mmm.

Were things better when Habitat’s logo was busier?

Mandatory reportage of Corey Rubin and Loose Trucks Max sightings: A sixteen-minute bro cam clip of the Brooklyn homies. All they wanna do is have some fun.

Zered and Eli shred around New England and go lobster fishing in the new Converse commercial.

Notable New York-based web parts: Pat Galloway for Michigan’s Plus Skateshop and Jordan Trahan in WeSC’s “Boroughs to Bayous.”

P. Rod v.s. the Bayside Ten in Queens, 2008.

ICYMI: The second chapter in a tumultuous month for sponsor resignations.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Tayshaun Prince dunks on three Thunder players at once. You know what’s weird? Prince has been in the conference finals seven times in his career; Kobe and Duncan have eight appearances.

Quote of the Week:

riri vs jr

— Badgalriri responds to a devout J.R. Smith fan. Unfortunately, she was right.

Thanks to everyone who linked up the Forrest Edwards edit. Let’s go Grizzlies.

The Weatherman Said That It’s a Light Chance of Snow

snow shovel

Photo Jacked From Matt Weber

R.I.P. Donald Byrd. At the very least, rap nerds can easily recognize Byrd’s music via the sample Premier chopped up for “N.Y. State of Mind” or the loop from Black Moon’s “Buck ‘Em Down.” He was also on Guru’s first Jazzmatazz compilation. Though not a skater favorite like Dave Brubeck, check out the 2002 Uprise Skateshop video, Suprise, which features two Donald Byrd songs (“Change” and “City Life”), not to mention Ryan Giese and Steve Nish appearances.

Black Dave made it. No, he really made it. B.D. will be opening up for Project Pat on Tuesday, February 26th at Santos Party House. Congratulations to B.D. on this monumental step in his career. And don’t worry, we’ll remind you about this sixty times between now and the end of the month.

Sign of the times: Skateboarder magazine will no longer come in print form.

With the demise of Gravis, Ripped Laces speculates on hypothetical Dylan Reider shoe sponsor scenarios. Skater free agency is not as fun as NBA free agency.

Slicky Boy sighting in the Stefan Janoski “Off the Grid” segment and a New Jersey-based (!!!) Jason Dill sighting in the montage from the Feelin’ Friendly video.

Speaking of Jersey, Jersey Dave got back behind the lens and made a Jersey City junk spot montage. Always fun to use the word “Jersey” three times in one sentence.

Diamond Days #66. “What’s that Chief Keef song where the hook is about his squad and there are like gunshots going off in the background?”

CNN (the news network, not the duo behind the top five all-time rap album), has an incredible set of photos by Mike Belleme showcasing the skate scene in Asheville, North Carolina. If you recall, Jake Johnson had a lot of great things to say about skateboarding in Asheville.

Hey Marc Jacobs, if you guys need consulting help on, say, simple things like putting trucks on facing the right direction, our services are available in exchange for huge suitcases of American currency.

Is this art or something? Rihanna’s song is rad, dude.

Palace eBay Watch: Ironic parody shirts now available.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Danilo Gallinari’s “[Circus] Shot of the Century.”

Quote Tweet of the Week:

rihanna tweet

ICYMI: The Static IV teaser went online this past weekend.

Reporting Live From the Tompkins Bench

Who knew E.J. and Jason Dill were in a band together?

While Quartersnacks company policy dictates Flip/iPhone cam clips to be relegated to our weekly “Monday Links” installment (unless they are produced in-house), our editors decided to make an exception to the rule after a two-hour meeting. Not because the respective clip has behind-the-scenes footage of the secret Pappalardo and Gino part currently being filmed on a Seaport replica located on a man-made island just off the coast of Long Island, but for more journalistic and informative reasons.

The latest installment of the “Diamond Days” series serves as a news report on what major events have occured in New York skateboarding throughout the first month of spring. Any absentees would be well-advised to watch it, so they could be brought up to speed. It covers everything from:

– The opening of the season on three-up-three-down, the westside super-spot that is vastly superior to the entire Tribeca Park.

– Slicky Boy’s loss to the T.F. box after a grueling battle with a heelflip tailslide, and thus his inability to claim the proposed $38 reward.

– The rapid growth in marketshare of Dylan Reider’s shoe within the New York region, well beyond Paulgar. (Remember that prediction about shoe companies making more scene-friendly shoes in 2011? Surprise, surprise.)

– The new, *permanent* steel quarterpipe and ledge over cobblestones at 12th & A. (Thanks to California Skateparks for providing the concrete.)

– E.J’s new hair color.

– Billy’s transformation of “Wu-Tang!” into an adlib, used with a tourettes-like frequency, not unlike how Lil’ B and Odd Future devotees blurt out “Swag!” every three seconds.

The one fault of this throwaway-clip-turned-news-report is the lack of music in E.J’s section. While many prominent sections receive their own soundtrack, he was left with mere skate noises. Perhaps a hit song from his (and possibly Jason Dill’s) former band, No Doubt?