It’s the Sixth Time Getting Kicked Out

ludlow bar

Wake up, take a sip of Ace of Spaces like it’s water

After a twenty-plus year run on Ludlow Street between Hester and Canal, the photogenic bar that was most photogenically [switch] ollied over by Quimothy Cardona and most recently ollied over by Michael Carroll (also a one-time nearest spot to the G-Man’s circa 2009 flophouse residence, and the ender in the second QS clip ever), has been replaced by a much higher, un-ollieable bar (until Aldrin Garcia shows up or something…) Thanks to James from Labor for the tip.

Speaking of which — a few seconds of new Carroll footage in New York.

This edit was sick… Marshall with a new one featuring Kevin Bradley, Sage, T.J., Troy and the rest of the Hardies Hardware dudes. Skating starts at roughly the 2:30 mark.

This is an incredible undertaking. Over the course of multiple letters sent to him in jail, the Chrome Ball Incident managed to facilitate an in-depth, fully autobiographic interview with the currently incarcerated Lenny Kirk.

Best New Jersey trick of 2015? Via Paul Young’s thoroughly awesome Bleach video.

A heartwarming / potentially tear-inducing Christmas gift from the most astute golden era Girl/Chocolate nostalgists working today: Goldfish extras, remixed.

Village Psychic and Danny Falla did a wear test for one of the earliest non-Dunk Nike SB models. Shout out to everyone who stocked up on $20 pairs of these and E-Cues from Jersey Gardens circa 2003.

Monster Children interviewed the coolest skateboarder of all-time.

Odds & Ends… 1) Jason Byoun sneaks into the Brooklyn Banks. 2) Cell Jawn #19. 3) Raw footage of J John the Don in Philly via Bust Crew. 4) New York edit via Waylon Bone featuring a handful of the names you often see in New York edits. 5) Some new Rich Homie Juan footage in the second “Futur” edit by Yoan Taillandier. 7) Some “Sequence 1” outtakes in HD video blog #17 from Johnny Wilson.

Thanks to the crew at House of Vans for getting rid of the bowl that even people who are good at skating bowls didn’t like (i.e. Corey Rubin…the only person I know who’s good at bowls), and maximizing on all the space it freed up. If you have any New York-based friends who work for Vans, they’re gonna hate you by March ;)

“I even remember being quite shocked at the response during the premiere in Sheffield. I recall that there was a UK DC tour coming through and the same guys that owned the distribution that focused on DC – and all the USA board brands – looked heavily bummed at the impact the premiere made. It seems they might have been right, as the video was the heralding of legit UK companies.” Sidewalk with a detailed oral history on the video that more-or-less introduced an entire post-900/THPS generation of Americans to British skateboarding, Blueprint’s Waiting for the World.

Max Palmer made Skate Jawn-branded sewer caps that are kinda sorta skateable.

The Mira Conyo squad is premiering their new vid and releasing a new Heights-based skate zine uptown tonight. 4447 Broadway, off the 190th Street A train.

Boil the Ocean’s annual top ten video parts countdown is now underway.

Some progress shots of the skatepark being built in place of Fat Kid Spot.

How is this only happening now? Arizona Iced Tea officially has a skate team.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Ran off on the plug twice

Quote of the Week: “Don’t walk up to me pretending like you’re going sober. I don’t care.” — T-Bird

Let’s end the last Monday Links post of the year off with 2015’s drunkest song.

P.S. In anticipation of #another #year, here’s one last chance to take 25% off the remaining goods in the webstore. Enter promo code “anotherone” when buying anything. Expires at midnight. Thanks for all the support throughout 2015.

The QS Year in Review Countdown: 25-21

arizona cans dollar

It’s December. You know what that means. We pontificate on the past eleven months.

Previously…2014: 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, 10-6, 5-1 / 2013: 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, 10-6, 5-1 / 2012: 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, 10-6, 5-1 / 2011: 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, 10-6, 5-1 / 2010: 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, 10-6, 5-1

25. The Arizona Inflation Crisis of 2015

Eras in recent New York skateboarding are earmarked by shifts in the lowest of price points. For example: Up until it was phased out in maybe 2003, the chicken cutlet sandwich + can of soda for $2 deal at Universal News kept half the people I know fed. By late-2005, Little Debbie’s line of 25-cent snack cakes had doubled in price. Dollar menus were becoming dollar-and-up “value menus.” Some psychopaths really tried to charge tax on a dollar slice.

And now, the beverage that we lovingly spent our adolescence drinking, and punishing our blood sugar levels with, is trying to pull a fast one. You’re ranting about a generation of kids being homogenized by a skatepark; I’m more worried about the thought that they’ll have to pay $2 for an Arizona tall can, or $1 for 11.5 oz. of one.

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What A Time To Skate At Night — A #TRENDWATCH2015 Special Report

what a time to skate at night

November 3, 2015: Future Hendrix drops “Helluva Night,” a somber unreleased tune chronicling late evening escapades of standing in the middle of orgies, putting smiles on the faces of women with loose morals, and being #influenced by Tootsie’s Cabaret in Dade County, Florida. MERE HOURS LATER, the skateboard media news cycle drops TWO night-themed video clips. Hell of a night, indeed.

If you had the slightest bit of a thought that Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn isn’t the gatekeeper of all forms of art and culture in 2015, you can lay that doubt to rest.

Skating at night was once a necessity, not an aesthetic. We waited til night to evade security, avoid the crowds, and bask in the shadows away from surveillance cameras. As the dominant mode of skateboarding in New York and other metropolises has shifted away from well-lit business districts into dimmer outer-borough crust, skating after the sun set has become a lost art. You can count the amount of night clips in your average Johnny Wilson video on your hands with a couple of fingers missing.

That doesn’t dull the fact that night footage, particularly in cities, looks cool as shit. Except that after asking your team to wallride off cobblestones in the Bronx for an entire afternoon, making them shy their sights away from the nearest bar with at least three girls in it ends up being a tall order. A “NIGHT CLIP” becomes an event, not a byproduct of zoning that placed the best marble in an area best visited after the people with real jobs had left.

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Float Off the Earth in Designer

halloween

This one is pretty good too.

The QS webstore is now live with fall merch. There likely won’t be any restocks on any of this stuff, so grab it while you can. Thanks as always for the support. Also available from these fine shops, although it might not be available at some of the European retailers until later this week or next ♥♥♥

Cops are awesome. Not skating there for a while…

Maybe L.E.S. clip of the year. (Double-set contest clips don’t count.)

Ollie onto the top, TOP circle at Seward Park is insane.

I’d rather watch Gino push than get old.”

Even though the rumors have been going for years, the Love Park redesign looks like it’s becoming an increasing reality. It’s nice that they’re turning it into a grassy crack smoking campsite with a big toilet in the middle.

Remember Chad Knight? For whatever reason, decided to give his Shetler Show episode a chance. There are some interesting bits, namely having to do with the late nineties skate boom. People can call companies like Osiris “corny” in hindsight, but we’re still talking about them more than some of the “cool” stuff from when we were growing up. All the corny shit means a lot in life. Think about who’s song you’re more likely to hear at a party in 2015: 50 or Ja? Yo I miss Yung Berg.

The Meteoric Rise of the Palace Wayward Boys Choir.

Leo Gutman (2013 Q.S.S.O.T.Y. winner) sightings in this mostly New York iPhone clip.

Always hyped to see footage of Philly Santosuosso and New Orleans in general.

Just in time for winter: Ripped Laces on the resurgence of skating in Timberlands.

Dude, we, like, fully gave up on the Knicks after they traded picks for Bargnani and realized nothing will ever change. Being a bandwagon Warriors fan these past three years has turned out great. (Thanks for the plug.)

There’s no shortage of high praise on the Stretch and Bobbito documentary going around, but as an addendum to that, you should listen to the two-hour Juan Ep podcast with the two of them. They make a point of not spoiling anything in the film itself. Bobbito not knowing this was a Dogg Pound beat or the context of the song is the most hilariously east coast shit ever. That song was in a clip, btw ;)

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: The entire highlights video of Magic-Thunder from Friday. I witnessed a $50 bet go down this past week on Russell Westbrook being league MVP. He’ll probably finish top three, but it doesn’t matter because he’s actually the greatest basketball player in the history of skateboarding.

Quote of the Week: “Seeing clips of Justin Bieber skating makes me want to start skateboarding again.” — Thando

Late Start…

snackman

^This thing is at 50 Kent (@ N 11th Street) for a lil’ bit.

The Alltimers webstore is now live with new boards, hats and tees.

Ok, no more skating rails in the 6XL QS tees. (Labor still got them hehe.)

Reportpotholes.org is a new, Jersey-based website centered around a single featured clip a la the defunct Popills.com. Via the same dudes who brought you In Crust We Trust and Brick City Street Styles. The first one is solid.

New part from the always underrated Ron Deily — though you wonder if he finally starts getting the credit he has long deserved given today’s no comply and wallie-favoring political climate. (This one is another personal favorite.)

Free Skate Mag interviewed another oft-underrated New Jersey legend, Pete Eldridge — one of the few guys to successfully pull off a comeback in skateboarding, and winner of the 2012 Q.S.S.O.T.Y. award (for a single line.)

Village Psychic came through with a four-minute Jordhan Trahan remix, that probably stands as his most comprehensive full “part” to-date.

Michael Carroll (who turns 40 today), does a frontside kickflip over a mini picnic table at the 3:30ish mark of this clip from the Stay Flared tour.

Backing 50 Cent #musicsupervision for a 2015 video part. Miss the guy :(

More terrible skateparks!

Usually not into internet writing that tells me “WHY ______ IS IMPORTANT,” but SMLTalk is spot on re: the virtues of the Dime Glory Challenge.

The Blabac x Stevie photos are among the best skate photos that exist.

The only thing I remember from Mountain Dew: The Movie is Tiago Lemos’ footage and everyone unanimously agreeing that he is now the best skateboarder alive, so you should watch his Gold Goons section again.

Ummmmmmmmmm

Quote of the Week

Esco dancing is truly life altering.