“Drew x Everson” is a 14-minute video filmed exclusively at the Everson Museum of Art (the centerpiece of the scene in Syracuse, New York), and put together as a tribute to Drew Grabowski, who passed earlier this year. Drew’s family and friends created the nonprofit Skate 4 Drew to help build the Syracuse skate scene in Drew’s memory, which you can donate to here.
“In a sense, Jeff Grosso’s contributions to the world aren’t singular but part of an entire point of view — one that could reflect how ridiculous life is while also hugging what he viewed as important tightly in secret. That’s an art. The ability to make things like skateboarding that feel so disposable yet life-changing — tricks that last seconds, yet feel immortal.” — A Loveletter to Jeff Grosso.
Throughout 2019, Alexis Lacroix‘s drawn out “Oh yeah!” elevated itself into a mantra of spiritual skateboard proportions. We oh yeah’d during our successes to amplify the good feelings. We oh yeah’d during troubled times, to remind ourselves that no misstep was large enough to derail our greater journey. And sometimes, we oh yeah’d when there was nothing else to say — it was a placeholder for any and all emotion. At the same time, Alexis’ skateboarding, most notably via Dime’s Knowing Mixtape Volume 2, was everything and nothing you had seen before. It made you cheer, it made you confused, it frightened you, it made you think, and it made you laugh — sometimes in the span of the same six seconds. With Rita on his shoulder, it also reminded us that our furry, four-legged friends are skaters too. Thank you for the inspiration Alexis Lacroix, the 2019 Q.S.S.O.T.Y.
We will be out of the office until January 6, making this the last QS update of the decade!Webstore purchases will ship as ordered. Everyone enjoy the rest of your break, take care of yourself, and thanks for all the support this year, decade, etc. ♥
Nice! So we made it two weeks without having to rally for a skate spot’s survival on a Monday Links post… This time, the spot is an ocean away, but in this media enterprise’s opinion, it’s the best spot in the world — even better than Tompkins when there are two boxes! Everyday Hybridity has the most current update on Prague’s Stalin Plaza being fenced off / condemned to renovation.
It’s all fun and games until Balenciaga actually does a renegade runway show at Blue Park next September.
A dear friend, “Zach from Crown Heights,” called into The Brian Lehrer Show’s episode about the “cost of climate resilience” to provide a T.F. anecdote to the ongoing battle with the East River Park renovation. The convo in question happens just after the 17-minute mark. Whole episode is worth listening to if you want some context as to how this whole issue came to be in the first place.
These “new old” clips can be hit-or-miss (often miss), but Tombo’s 2000-2010 one that dropped late last week is an incredible document. It encapsulates the entire first decade of east coast skateboarding in this millennium — brown pants, first-wave cellar door searchers, Justin Barnes cameos, I-Paths, ABC Ledges, etc. Also, why does it still feel like Brandon Westgate has been 20-years-old for the past 15 years?
It’s that time of year when the Barcelona clips really start to roll in. Spencer Hamilton, Dana Ericson, Brian Delaney, Nick Ferro and Wade D. went out to the land of zero skate spots and came back with a sick clip for Grand Collection.
Much respect to Uru out in Japan for distributing and spreading the word about QS, Alltimers and other hot skateboard brands in the far east. Skateboard Story has an interview with him about his operation.
