Getting Them Royalties Dodging Them Bumblebees

It’s heartwarming to see world renown design principles from 12th & A make their way to skateable spaces all the way across the Atlantic.

“Their video Grains, filmed across the soybean belt of Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and Ohio, veers far off interstate arteries and urban sprawls to extract tricks from crumbling loading docks in Joliet, dilapidated stadiums in Gary, polished-stone plaza ledges in downtown Peoria.” As most skate content has drifted towards Instagram and nothing has much staying power, the idea of a “video review” has sadly become a relic of skate publications past. That’s a bit sad, considering a resounding, well-written recommendation of a not-so-obvious video (or something you simply neglected to click on) still means a lot. I bought Grains after reading Boil the Ocean’s new review of it, and can’t say I would’ve been compelled to do the same if I saw a part of it on Thrasher or YouTube with a Big Cartel link under it ♥

“The most dominant example of genre loyalty is DGK’s whopping 92% use of hip hop.” Someone culled Skatevideosite’s entire database of soundtracks and put together an infographic-based portrait of #musicsupervision in skate videos over the past four decades — and somehow, despite the fact it has been a recurring joke on here for ~10 years — Big L isn’t the most oft-used rap artist.

Head over to Live Mixtapes R.B. Umali’s Vimeo page to hear the full version of Zoo York’s Mixtape soundtrack with NoDJ tags no skate noises over the music.

Skate Muzik also did podcast with R.B. about how the iconic soundtrack came to be.

The water sports section from Spirit Quest, where they put a condom on a VX, is now online ;) …as is Ben Gore’s hill-heavy Static IV part.

Theories has an abridged history of any and all spot selection trends to take course over the history of skateboarding, though they left out some dismal low-points of recent spots on this side of the planet.

This feels like a clip that would’ve been on 48 Blocks ten years ago. In a good way.

Real is working on a documentary on Chicago’s Uprise Skateshop, and presumably ignoring a mountain of pitch emails from Paulgar about doing one on Autumn.

Jenkem with a lesson on pant sags and nut grabs in skate videos.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: NBA Champion, Nick Young.

Quote of the Week: “It’s easier to catch an octopus here than it is to get laid.” — Francesco

Chief Keef making Seaside Heights boardwalk music (and him sounding the most energized he’s sounded in years on it) is one 2018’s most unheralded developments.

Thunder in Eight

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Via Requiem for A Screen, duh ♥

Phew, The Bunt is back. Season four, episode one with Elijah Berle.

Really heavy new edition of LurkNYC’s “Mean Streets” series went live this past weekend. The 5050 at Chase, Howard Street ollie and Columbia ollie were all insane. Is that Water Street ender an NBD? Wow.

Jason Byoun is like an O.G. nu-age Brooklyn Banks head.

This past weekend, Brian Wenning did his first switch back nosegrind pop-out since Photosynthesis, and it looked fab. Sorry to link two single tricks two links in a row :)

There’s an official trailer out for Pat O’Dell’s feature documentary about Big Brother.

Is a “VX Montage” in an HD video like when they throw a random experimental song in the middle of a rap album? And holy shit, that 360 flip

A couple more parts from Ricardo Napoli’s Making It Happen video are up over on TWS: A non-VX montage featuring Akira and a bunch of dudes, Taylor Clark + Jarrod Brandreth’s shared part, and Bruno Aguero + Lindolfo Oliveira’s shared part. Also, Transworld, please do something about your video player. Tried to rewind a trick and had to watch a Pennzoil commercial mid-video…

Ripped Laces on the recent resurgence of yellow gear in skateboarding.

“Alas, as ledge skating gained supremacy and skateable blocks began trading at a premium due to police pressure and general scarcity, peg damage and huffy attitudes came to divide the camps, such that by the time the handrail age set in, extreme bike riders became punchlines.” Dunno about the “punchline” part, as we’ve linked a BMX video or two on here before and like ummm, ROB CAMPBELL, but Boil the Ocean considers the relationship between bikes and skateboards, circa 2017. We Citibiked up to Lenox from Soho yesterday, and it was pretty beast ;)

An extensive interview with Ian from Jenkem.

Luis Tolentino was actually Spiderman all along.

Spot Updates — 1) Defeated lol on them re-paving every part of this spot except where we needed them to re-pave. At least Avenue A getting re-paved is the biggest thing to happen to New York skateboarding since children discovered Indoor Ten. 2) Spot was a two second bust and for pros, but those rails parallel to the narrow banks on 33rd Street are mad high now. 21. 21. 21.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: So, Thunder in 8, right?! With the Russ adoration running high on here this past season, let’s take a second to remind ourselves of J.R. Smith’s brilliance — sorry, meant NBA Champion™ J.R. Smith’s brilliance. [Also remembered how annoying it is that we now have to wait until the end of June to find out who MVP, 6MOTY, etc. is now.]

Quote of the Week: “Harden is like the guy at the spot who knows how to land all tricks, but he’s wearing fat Globes and skinny pants.” — Francesco Pini

Move to Mars

freddy

Photo via Juicy Elbows

QS Monday Links went from 70% YouTube links to 70% podcast links in one year…

Gino Iannucci runs down his career past and present, alongside the music that soundtracked his skateboarding, in an hour-long interview with Skate Muzik.

Approach every project / job / challenge in life with your sights set on creating something so influential that’ll follow you around for the remainder of your time on earth, like the Osiris D3 does for Dave Mayhew ;)

The Bunt’s latest episode is with Mark Appleyard, and on that note…

Yes, Mark Appleyard is in The Conversation™, because we’re out in Barcelona still talking about the shit he did fifteen-plus years ago when pulling up to half the spots. Kalis on longevity, getting shoe deals, and a distaste for extra long backside tailslides.

“So do you think the Menace guys were good at skateboarding?” “No.” Lee Smith has the floor in the latest installment of Bobshirt’s always incredible interview series.

Brian Anderson dropped a two-minute cruiser part over on Thrasher of him ripping around Manhattan, the Groton Skatepark, etc.

Jesse Alba uploaded a clip of his past year-and-a-half of VX footage.

This clip was a good time — SK8 Locos in NYC. Always had a bit of a bias toward how nice all those spots on the west side of Harlem look on film.

Pretty sure this is the first line ever filmed at the ultra mega super duper bust federal office building across from Black Hubba. Beware of plot twist.

“As skateboarding was our purpose and it was relatively unheard of in this part of the world, whenever we started to skate, massive crowds would assemble to watch.” Now, maybe more than ever, it’s important to keep an open heart toward places that those in power prefer to dehumanize. Monster Children has a rad photo feature on skateboarding in Balkh, Afghanistan via Dan Zvereff.

Yaje, Bobby De Keyzer and Bobby De Worrest have parts in the upcoming Transworld video, which borrows its title from scrapped names for a ~1999 RZA solo album.

Krak put together a compilation video of the Creteil three block out in Paris, which is a hundred feet from my favorite ledge on earth

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Russell Westbrook isn’t a starter on the 2017 All-Star Team, so we’re going to impose a media blackout on the Quartersnacks Sports Desk this week. And this is an accurate summary of why you see minimal Knicks coverage on here these days. We just know better ;)

Quote of the Week: “I’ll never do my own taxes. 5 + 5 + 2? I’m over it.” — Francesco Pini

Music, Money, Monday Links (on a Tuesday)

shawn heelflip

Shawn Powers — Soho heelflip. Photo by Mike O’Meally

Back in town. Heard of two new spots already! Some of these links are old obvs.

Lucas Puig and friends at MACBA. That little kid rips.

After causing quite a few cringes and “Ooohhh” reactions at the Static 4 premiere, Orchard put the painful teaser for their new video, Stone Soup, online.

“Based on his Bay Area legacy and the fact that my personal affinity for Marcus in my youth had gone as far as the habitual wearing of a Starter T-shirt inspired by the Trilogy VHS that was effectively super glued in my VCR, I was nervous just to be around him.” FYI: This should be mandatory weekly viewing.

Yoooooooooo Huf’s in-and-out Banks wall line

Ever wonder how skateboards are made? Here’s a brief mini doc on that very subject from the crew at Chapman Skateboards.

Jason Dill talks about pants and his Photosynthesis part. “That’s a bad frontside noseslide.” (Why didn’t they discuss the recording of this call though?)

NY Skateboarding filmed the entire Q & A with Chris Carter and Duane Pitre from the Memory Screen event that happened in Brooklyn last week.

Jenkem has an interview with Kevin Tierney and Transworld has an interview and mini clip with Rob Gonyon. Always found it weird when people (and there are A LOT of them, not just Rob) lose interest in the NBA when the Knicks aren’t involved, thus depriving themselves of viewing actually *good* basketball. It’s like listening to Wu-Tang and turning the song off after U-God’s verse ends. Anyway, new Bronze video!

Cooper Winterson has a cool new mini video with all the young guns. Citibike wallies!

Happy rap music! (“There seems to be an inordinate amount of exclamation points.”)

Hopps has a quick “Welcome to the Team” Insta vid for Cyrus Bennett and a mini clip with Brian Clarke from the Battery Park L Ledges.

The Canadian Vans team goes to Boston, New York and Philadelphia.

Raekwon and Ghostface Lieberman.

QS Sports Desk: Hyped that the Sports Desk’s new favorite non-German player over 6′ 3 won the Finals MVP. Lebron must really hate the state of Texas.

spurs

Quote of the Week: “All ADHD means is that you’re psyched on doing things.” — Francesco Pini, C.E.O. of QS International’s Italian and Scandinavian Branches

Bruh.

Summer Jam

The new Studio Skateboards video, Mood Lighting, will make you want to take that six-hour drive up to Montreal this summer.

“That summer before, people met up at Supreme, people still sessioned the banks, and the World Trade Center was benches and a long manual pad. It was Diesel Jeans, Vita Shoes, Aesthetics Apparel and Seaport with metal edges.” Some thoughts on the definition of “lurker,” why the most out-of-the-way spot in New York is the most popular, etc. Photos by Joe Cups, words by Ted Barrow.

This kid seems pretty bummed about Zoo York cutting its skate team, even though he doesn’t know that Zered’s name is pronounced exactly how it’s spelled. Dude’s got a notepad and a Brita.

Since the weather isn’t ideal for skating in sweatpants, what breezier alternative will fashionable skaters turn to? Camo shorts? Sweat shorts? (Danny Supa owns the copyright to skating in basketball shorts.) Generic cut-off Dickies? In this FTC trip video to Vieques (small island off the coast of Puerto Rico), Brad Johnson makes the case for board shorts. Screw Montreal, we out to Vieques…

Scratched lenses and M.O.P. are both chill.

What’s the most amount of trouble you’ve gone through to skate an awful spot? This seems to really go the extra mile in skating a ledge described by a wise man as grinding “like a soggy hot dog bun.”

British Esquire says it’s time to grow up and hang up that skateboard, guys! Naturally, that was stumbled on while Googling for those pictures of Rihanna with her ass out. Between the camo, tats, and bleached hair, she’s 3-for-5 on summer T.F. trends.

DeShawn Stevenson charges $4.50 to withdraw money from the ATM in his kitchen.

As a footnote to the “Zoo York Institute of Design” post from last week, here’s the Zoo York industry section from 411 #6.

Quote of the Week: “The future is dark out here man. The future we need is the one from Atlanta.” — Francesco Pini, Chief Officer of QS International’s Italian and Scandinavian Branches regarding Italy’s Debt Crisis


Speaking of Future, he was supposed to perform in New York tonight. Then he decided to cancel his tour.