Santa Claus does exist — his name is actually Antonio.
Though a long way from the sprawling epic Christmas Clips of the past, today marks the first time since 2015 that we put up an edit for December 25. Though not the mood piece of night skating in hoodys that it once was, here are some of the easier-on-the-eyes clips from the past four or five months of bringing out the #realcamera. Half the footage is in shorts with leaves on the trees, so there was almost a debate about whether to call it a Christmas Clip at all, but who even has the time anymore ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Features Jesse Alba, Daniel Kim, Antonio Durao, Ben Blundell, Kyota Umeki, Myles Gable, Lurker Lou, Connor Champion, Sully Corimer, Dustin Henry, Etienne Gagne, Stephen Ostrowski, Keith Denley, Emilio Cuilan.
Knowing that that the Lotties video featuring Nick Michel’s breakthrough part was due out any day — and that Nick would soon be fielding offers from SpaceX, the Golden State Warriors and Goldman Sachs — Chris Milic, the eclectic C.E.O. of Frog Skateboards, had to act fast. The window to remind his star teamrider about skateboarding’s humble joys was closing, as he would soon be speeding down the Pacific Coast Highway in a Lamborghini Countach, on the way to his first billion.
Happy birthday to E.T. — or, who any non-skate friend followers of QS lovingly refer to as “that child who is always on your Instagram.” Today, he is 21 and no longer a child. This of course has no bearing in his native Canadian providence of Quebec, where the drinking age is 18, but at least now he will no longer be stripped of his right to a buzz once on the American end of the border.
We all spent a lot of last week collectively fawning over Bobby being in his 30s and having not the slightest semblance of misstep, but Dani Lebron is like… 42 or 43, and dropped a fucked up part on Thrasher last Friday, right around the time everyone would’ve been clocking out for the weekend.
You likely caught it already, but the Bos brothers are consistently putting out some of the best New York videos going today. “Wide Open” is Joshua Bos’ going pro part (trash can headliner from last week’s Top 10.) And watch “Steel” again, just because ;)
Crazy Ass Paterson Skaters have a new video out + Shorty’s may be gone, but Skate Jawn recently posted up a small feature on a new D.I.Y. spot that’s been sprouting up in an old Psterson, NJ gun mill, which they skate a bit in the C.A.P.S. video.
Occasional solitary man, Brad Cromer, uploaded another compilation of IG story footage from New York. Loved the jacket zipped / hoody up clip at Columbus Circle, though don’t want to experience that for like, another ten months.
Not sure if any of us are buying Kirian Stone’s case for a re-assessment of willy grinds in the skateboard lexicon, but his Skating Is Easy part is now online.
“Mr. Phelps had been at Potrero del Sol the day before he died and had run into Mr. Brenes there. Mr. Brenes recalled asking him how he was doing and Mr. Phelps replying, ‘Another day above ground is a good day, Chico.'” Willy Staley wrote Phelps’ obituary for The New York Times.
“There are no strangers when those horn blasts sound, only you and a crowd of people who have suddenly become your closest friends.” The New Yorkerhas a nice piece on ten years of “Swag Surfing,” which coincidentally may have been the only song not from the past two years played at the Gang Corp premiere :)
QS Sports Desk Play of the Week:Shout out to the brodie Dirk for passing Wilt for #6 in all-time scoring. 2011 Dallas Mavs 4ever ♥
Quote of the Week: “Before Tinder, there was Enid’s.” — Chopped Cheese
The whole “people are just waiting for you to make a mistake”-thing he talks about made me think about how people on the street think of skateboarding. Never understood the logic of the first and only thing you ask someone on a skateboard being about injuries or getting hurt. Actually, a ton of the shit he says made me think of skateboarding.
Ben “Actually, I Like Wearing Wack Gear” Blundell receives redemption after barely any clips in Courtesy. Go watch his “OJO” part over on Thrasher. Rest in Peace Dillon ♥
Gotta hand it to Europe’s Most Productive Crew™ for consistently doing something that feels so natural and different than everything else out there, year after year — especially in a country without much of a skate industry. Also ~love~ the recurring role of dogs in their videos. “Nap Mint Nap Volume 4” is the latest from the Rios Crew. We really gotta make it out to Budapest, pretty much everyone says nothing but good things…
In hindsight, it’s pretty crazy that a peak shiny suit era Bad Boy song ever slipped into an Alien Workshop video, even for 45 seconds. And guess what! Twenty years later, we get the full [re]edit: Manolo remixed two decades of Kalis footage to the complete extended version of Black Rob’s “Whoa.” FWIW, that album has some sleepergems.
“Pornography had already been done, and the skate/fetish graphic thing said all that needed to be said on the subject. Take away the black bag and the sticker about censorship, and you just have a dumb idea repeated endlessly. For nearly 3 decades.” Ted Barrow wrote a nice piece on the history of the black bag World Industries board, and everything that followed it over on Skateism.
Solange in a skate clip ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Def worth the watch from Peter Deigaard + Drew, Hugo, Ville, and all the Copenhagen boys, which will make you feel the summer even if you have no Danish travel plans :)
“DOA RMX” is a video featuring some upstate dudes (pretty sure…), and has a random ass remix of Pat Washington footage from the early 2000s at the end, which is timely given Jamal Smith reminded us about his iconic Got Gold? part last week.
Realized the other day that Tao’s “KBH MIXEN” video is the 2018 video that still gets the most revisitation in 2019. Felt Ville’s section deserved it’s own upload :)
