Merry Christmas

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Tree via The Local Weather

Merry Christmas. This our our tenth Christmas clip. It is also the shortest out of the ten, but that’s due to some stuff for upcoming projects getting put aside :)

We’ve never issued an apology for poor filming before. We alienated anyone who could be offended by bad filming in 2007 at the very latest. However, the worst filmed clip in this entire video is one of Jake Johnson, who is the best, and a long-time benefactor of the steady hands of Ryan Garshell, Bill Strobeck, Brengar et al. Sorry about that. First and last time you’ll see an apology for really bad filming on here.

Enjoy your holiday and the 50+ degree days up ahead.

Features Max Palmer, Dallas Todd, Keith Denley, Jake Johnson, Zach Baker, Pad Dowd, Lurker Lou, Alexander Mosley, Kevin Tierney, Josh Velez, Nick Nunez, Connor Champion, Andre Page, Kadeem Walters, Matt Perez, Alex Olson, Ty Lyons, Sweet Waste, Antonio Durao, Mike Gigliotti, Johnny Wilson, and Cyrus Bennett.

Contributing filmer: Andre Page.

Alternate YouTube Link

Past Christmas clips: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005

Another One.

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J-John the Don. Photo by Jason Lecras.

Great way to open an interview with Karl Watson: “Wtf are you so happy about?”

There’s a high volume of three-second bust Midtown spots in the new clip from Traffic.

Got a kick out of SMLTalk’s Boston spot directory. Dana Ericson already did any trick you wanted to try at Eggs switch in Filas, Aquarium ledges are actually way harder to skate than they look on film, etc. And FWIW, this place in Berlin is “the absolute worst skatepark in recorded human history,” not Watertown.

An interview with your favorite skateboarder, my favorite skateboarder, and your former favorite skateboarder’s favorite skateboarder.

A 2014 web clip remix of your favorite third-generation Girl teamrider, and favorite first-and-second-generation Girl teamrider’s favorite third-generation Girl teamrider :)

HD video blog #4 from Johnny Wilson. I just miss Mike Giglotti man :(

Not a ton of Lucas footage in the Helas mixtape, but it is still a fun watch.

Ian Reid has been running in some weird scenes these days

Colin Sussingham has a nice photo feature over on the TWS website.

Did the Plan B video really come out?

A #listicle of the best tricks done down Clipper, which experienced quite a resurgence this year. Switch front blunt and alley oop 180 switch back 5050 got snubbed fam. That, and Muska switch noseslide should have been number one.

A late but enjoyable entrant to the “Summer Trip to New York” clip cycle.

Yo you know what’s really annoying about DVS tour videos? You see them and think, “Oh sick, I get to see Daewon skate outside of his typical SoCal comfort zone” — but then dude only has like 2-3 clips in the entire video. ANYWAY, The DVS team is pretty fun: Torey Pudwill took the Reres Award from whoever may have previously held it for the Milan grate this year, that fakie 5050-halfcab-5050-180 combo is wild, and Luis’ grind down the Le Dome hubba from the flat part (it’s over waist high) is insane.

This was the best video of 2014. Truly inspiring stuff. He really is the best:

(Another one.)

To be honest, Luis is also the best.

Dude, but to be really really honest, Muska is ALSO the best.

They’re building a new skatepark in Harlem (First Avenue and 114th.) Should be done in the spring, but you know how that goes. It’s still Lenox Ledges 4ever ♥♥♥

Blackberry’s business model has turned towards re-issuing the symbol of the partyboy skater c. 2007-2008 for those privy to nostalgia.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: You don’t get Rondo for his shooting / lack thereof. Great to have him on a relevant team again. Hey NBA, please take the Knicks or Lakers off the Christmas schedule and exchange it with a Mavs game. Thx.

Quote of the Week
Madison Square Garden Security Guard: “You okay in there?”
Guy Who Vomited on Himself in the Bathroom Stall: “I’m just taking it easy.”

Fab really isn’t feeling Christmas.

68 Degrees

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The Watermelon Man. Photo via Merchants of Ill.

Johnny Wilson still trying to pretend like he uses his VX1000.

Also, some guy compiled a bunch of Cyrus Bennett’s footage from the more recent video blogs and put it over a more recent Migos song.

As far as “Summer Trip to New York” clips go, the skating in this is tops by non-pro team clip standards. These dudes somehow skate every spot in New York (e.g. when was the last time someone filmed a line at Breezy Ledges? Jeff Pang in 1997?) Obligatory Wu-Tang song included.

“The new Transworld video, Outliers, as seen through the prism of the Malcolm Gladwell book of the same name.” Frozen in Carbonite looks through some prisms.

Cario Foster on his Reason part and Danny Montoya on his incredibly ahead-of-its-time One Step Beyond part. “For the record, filming is hard.”

Lucas and J.B. in the Cliché U.K. tour clip.

Twenty seconds of “lost” Jake Johnson footage. 360 flip noseblunts, etc.

Jordan Trahan apparently kickflipped into the Washington Square Park fountain.

We can officially verify that the Plan B video exists, and that PJ Ladd does not have a part in it. The joke is dead. Except how is Hoboken going to get a premiere and New York isn’t? Was really looking forward to getting drunk in the theater for that one :(

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This is what your 2015 MTA fare hike is going to look like.

QS Holiday Gift Guide: This pixel print of skate shoes from the nineties is chill and this Hans Moleman x Muska Silhouette deck is amazing. “My name is Hans. Drinking has ruined my life. I’m 31 years old!”

Spot Updates: 1) It happened months ago, but finally just got around to updating the spot page…the ledge-to-flatbar in Battery had its runway knobbed. Some Japanese guy with quick feet will still get a trick on it by next summer. 2) The grate at Union Square that people propped up to skate over the pillar is gone. It’s a gap now. 3) The Blue Banks in Albany are being turned into an official skatepark. Even if it ends up being some pre-fab crap, at least you get to skate the banks worry-free now. Funnest spot north of Tompkins :)

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: 6′ 3 Reggie Jackson v.s. 7′ 2 Brook Lopez.

Quote of the Week: “The first thing I thought when I started watching that catcalling video was, ‘Oh no, I hope I’m not in this.'” — T-Bird

No idea what the point of this will be, but yeah, it’s there for now.

Noooooooooo Juice

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No, not the Juiceman.

Soooo, we made a run of those Tompkins Square sweatshirts from earlier this fall as hoodys for Japan. There were a few leftovers that didn’t get promoed out, and you can scoop what remains in the webstore now. Hurry!

Unequivocally the worst rap song ever recorded.

The new Alltimers boards are chill.

SMLTalk came through with an abbreviated history of the plus-size skateboarder, though oddly left out second-and-third career arc Fred Gall. His Inhabitants section is sorta the epitome of heavy-set skateboarding, isn’t it?

We noticed earlier this year that Hungary might be the European-equivalent of New Jersey, at least from a skateboarding standpoint. Well, if you were into Toló, you’ll get a kick out of Fakopó, a new 27-minute video of Budapest-based crust.

Corey Rubin sighting in Johnny Wilson’s latest video blog!

Kalis is the best. Not only is he indifferent to the today’s prefered practice of ambidextrous pushing, he rejects the term “switch mongo” altogether. If Kalis and Gino aren’t learning to push with their opposite foot, why should you?

Halloween-themed skate clips all tend to blend together at this point, but this Muska-themed one via the Black Ninja is cool if you grew up on Fulfill the Dream.

New quick 4-5-6 clip from Bolts Hardware and Curt Daley #eggs.

Some old fashioned “Who is Jake Johnson going to ride for?”-speculation + thoughts on the modern skater’s newfound ability to sustain relevance without a board sponsor.

“I was told in 1996 by Frank Messman, the then CEO of World Industries, that the industry standard rate for a graphic topped out at 500 bucks. Nearly 20 years later it’s still that amount or less—even by half from what I’ve recently been heard from one manufacturer—which may make this the worst profession in which to try and earn a living.” Chris Nieratko interviews Sean Cliver about the unfortunate plight of making a living off skateboard graphics. (Ginko reissued Disposable, btw. When are we gonna see a reissue of the Evan Hecox book? $694 for a used copy is a bit out of budget.)

Ride has a cool history lesson on short-lived “cult” companies from the nineties e.g. American Dream, FIT, 60/40, Illumanti and a handful of others.

Josh Stewart uploaded a good quality version of the New York, Boston and Philly section from the original Static video on the occasion of the video’s fifteen-year anniversary. Tony Montgomery was really sick, huh?

Some ten-plus-year-old footage of Kalis, Sabback, Puleo, etc.

Something for the English majors: “There is something untranslatable about skating’s vocabulary, something not-quite-repeatable about a particular trick landed a certain way, like a poetic line clicking into place in that ineffable way lines sometimes do on first reading.”

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Steph.

Quote of the Week: “I’m not good anymore.” — Keith Denley

Not sure how long ago this happened, but recently found out that the Bridgeport ledges got knobbed. R.I.P. to the best ledge spot within a 70-mile radius of New York City that you actually had a chance of skating :(

Five Favorite Parts With Jake Johnson

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Photo by Jared Sherbert

As you continue skating into adulthood, your friends become your favorite skaters. Sure, there’ll always be a few select favorite pros, but once you reach past that thirteen-year-old-self’s dream of getting sponsored, and realize life as the next Eric Koston probably won’t happen, inspiration begins to come from those around you. Your friend’s kickflip will probably get you more hyped than even Wes Kremer’s*, because it’s right there with you, every time you skate.

Jake Johnson is sponsored and rather good at skateboarding. Yet he abides by a similar process in selecting his favorites. There’s just something special in watching parts of someone after actually knowing how they skate in real life.

*Singling out Wes because he initiated a three-way-tie with Lucas Puig and Bobby Worrest for “Literally Everyone’s Favorite [Pro] Skater” after that ten-minute raw footage clip.

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