Way back in college, my bros and I vibed the shit out of the business school dudes who walked around in three-piece suits: “Fuck those dudes! Could never be me, man. Just moving money from one place to another…”
Well, as with many things in life, the joke’s on me because, twenty years later, I’m over here Googling how to start an LLC ‘ n shit.
Truth be told, starting a business — via brands, entrepreneurship, startup culture, etc. — is [almost] cooler than skating! However, if you’re considering jumping into the fray of nascent skate brands and feel overwhelmed, one need only look to the heady pre-recession days of the mid-00s and study the most disruptive brand of the pre-Instagram era: The Hubba Wheel Company.
In order to learn something new — switch 360 flips, a musical instrument, lifting — one needs to observe as many examples as possible. Along those lines, we will examine the Hubba Wheel Company’s background and marketing tactics to deconstruct their most #disruptive advertisements. Join me, won’t you?
“It is best to always assume the potential to be cursed is near at hand to maintain ultimate protection.” Boil the Ocean on curses and hexes, and how skateboarding interacts with the supernatural.
“Truth be told, the part in The Fab Five when Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and them talk about how much they hate Duke is the sports doc equivalent of the triple-screen intro from Virtual Reality.” Frozen in Carbonite reviews The L.A. Boys, Colin Kennedy’s documentary about the creation of Gabriel Rodriguez, Rudy Johnson, Guy Mariano, and Paulo Diaz’s part from Ban This.
“POP Recycled” is an early frontrunner for best Euro clip of 2k17 even though all the footage is from 2k16. You know damn well that little kid’s lines down all the threes are gonna be in this week’s Top 10.
Kinda feel like the Kalis + Balbac interviews flew under the radar a bit because they were on Ride, but each installment has been great. The third and final one deals with a purported Smolik beef over Hubba Hideout claimers, not holding grudges, and a follow up on all the family + therapy stuff from Kalis’ Epicly Later’d.
Even before So Far Gone dropped and Herschel ate Jansport, Canada always had a hidden hand in shaping American culture. As skate scholars know, one of the most influential-yet-underappreciated thinktanks of 2000s skateboarding was Green Apple out in Winnipeg. The Bunt’s latest is with Mike McDermott, who brings us up to speed on Winnipeg’s best-known institution as it stands in the Trudeau era.
“Cliché may be gone, but the elan, the esprit de corps, and that certain je ne sais quoi that made the brand so fuckin’ dope live on in the various manifestations of EuroTech that permeate the continent. Indeed, the upside to living in a dystopian futureworld is the ability to—via the ‘gram, natch—to view the quotidien of Stalin, Macba, HDV, République, and Jarmers in real time.” Frozen in Carbonite gives us the most comprehensive and heartfelt eulogy for Cliché yet, by focusing on the brand of skateboarding that it helped bring to the world stage: Eurotech™.
Two solid clips from the LurkNYC crew: “Mean Streets Volume 7,” and “Playground Casino” for Hotel Blue. Kinda been wondering when someone was going to hit the rail and do the quick wallie in front of NYU on W. 3rd…
“Putting on a fedora to go skate is like bringing a guitar to a session; it’s clear that you had other plans for the day that didn’t include skating.” Ripped Laces looks back on skateboarding’s regrettable fedora era…
Adult Rappers is a good hour-long watch about dreams and what happens to them when you grow up. Not hard to imagine a lot over overlap with skateboarding here. Shout out to Dave Dowd for the recommendation ♥
QS Sports Russell Westbrook Desk:This must’ve been, uh, disorienting. #MVP.
Quote of the Week: “Instead of ‘Skater of the Year,’ there should also be an award that’s just ‘Best Skater,’ where it’s been Ishod for the past five years.” — Leroy Holmes
There are a multitude ways to be nostalgic. Some fondly tell yarns of the past, remembering the wild days of to-go margaritas being consumed in public, and bust-free, straight [fucking] ledges existing in lower Manhattan. Others spend their precious years on earth leaving comments about how Lil’ Wayne ruined hip-hop on YouTube videos. More and more skaters are winking at the past via fashion; outlets like Vintage Sponsor have made a name for themselves by trafficking in garms from skateboarding’s sartorial lineage. Our more talented colleagues time travel through tricks nobody is supposed to do anymore, via the darkslide, pressure flip or street grab’s increasing presence in modern videography.
A new form of loving past eras has recently began to take form. In the past nine months, the following events have occurred in New York:
1. Pyramid Ledges has been unknobbed for the first time since 2010, ending the longest drought the spot has experienced since the building first began skateblocking it in the early 2000s.
The greatest work of skateboarding fantasy sports is now live. Frozen in Carbonite’s “Song of the Summer” x “Video Part of the Summer” post is as great as it always is, despite a nowhere to be found Young Thug nod. Fwiw, QS S.O.T.S. vote is “Black Beatles.” [multiple Flex bombs; dons XXL Avirex jacket and quarter-inch-too-big fitted]
We were talking about why The Bunt is the best, and figured it’s probably because it’s made by skateboarders who follow sports. Sports have been doing this shit for ages. Skaters, not so much. There’s a new one with Paul Rodriguez now live.
“Aging may be the great skate industry adventure of the ’10s, as grizzled pros test the tolerance of weathered ligaments and brittling bones in an ongoing quest to avoid that unholy wyrm, the Real World, and its most loathsome prison, the Day Job.” Boil the Ocean re: the constant dilemma of whether to quit while you are ahead, as pined from Jason Dill’s recent Playboy interview.
Reviews are generally a lost art in the fickle skateboard universe of today, where opinions have been condensed to “wack, “dope” or “mad wack.” Always nice to read an opinion composed out of full sentences. Speedway Mag reviewed Emerica’s Made 2 video (spoiler: Heath), and The Green Zine reviewed the Jenkem book.
Quote of the Week Inquisitive Gentleman: “How do you get used to skating with long hair but no hat?” Daniel Kim: “You don’t, you just learn how to skate blind.”
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