After Church Incredible Hulk

Photo by Colin Sussingham

The New York Times has a profile of Alexis Sablone and her most-frequented haunts around New York City — everything from bookstores to skate spots.

“It all started because most of the tricks I wanted to film, no filmer got too excited about filming them; the level was not high enough and some tricks didn’t make much sense.” Didn’t see this get posted around nearly as much as it should be: Our boy Ruben Spelta has a new, mostly self-filmed, vignetted, and very awesome part for Magenta that was inspired by Krooked’s Gnar Gnar video.

A ~minute of new Jake Johnson footage? Baby I’m ready to go 🎶

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Just Boosted a Lizard

Zach + Dutchy. Photo by Bosco.

“Which drew a bigger audience of U.S. skaters, the Olympics or the Dipset/Lox Verzuz?” (Actually got the answer to this.) Boil the Ocean tackles the Olympics. (Free also has some Olympics coverage, for those interested.)

Jan Maarten Sneep has firmly ascended to that top-tier list of skate video auteurs who incite an immediate click whenever something new drops. The latest montage for Vans’ Dutch team is full of yell-at-the-screen-creative skateboarding, and contains the meticulous editing that comes with all Sneep productions.

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Already Got Those

Five out of five Tompkins skaters agree that this is the best box ever made. Sadly, it’s on the other side of the planet. We got to talking about replicating it — anybody know any welders? (Real question.)

Holy big flip, here is an illicit link to Brandon Westgate’s part in the new Element video, Peace. (Read: Will probably get deleted.) Really sick to see him still gunning for it as hard as he was in the Stay Gold days, and on a lot of new/seldom-seen New England spots at that. Would comment on the THPS music, but Brandon Westgate never struck me as a skater who is too invested in music.

Not much other info on it, but “Background 1” is a fun lo-def video with a ton of faces you’ll recognize from Gang Corp edits, Tompkins, and L.E.S. Park. All street clips.

Nik Stain, Hjalte, Paul Grund, and Bobby DeKeyzer went to the best skate spot on the planet and other European destinations. Ben Chadourne on the beat.

Listen to Bobby Puleo fan out on the Gonz for five minutes. He’s really good at finding the right words to describe why certain small things make a trick or photo extra special.

I’ve found myself using the word “super” too much lately, too :( Gino Iannucci is the latest guest in an hour-long interview on Lee Smith’s podcast.

Always down to plug something that resurrects the lost art of the video review. Live gets all Boil the Ocean on us and uses a bunch of vocabulary stuff and long sentences to do a joint review of Doll and It’s Time, two videos that occupy space on opposite ends of the spectrum (and country.)

If you’re 30+, you’re bound to get emotional watching this nine-minute-long raw Pier 7 greatest hits compilation.

Enjoyed this more than the “pro snowboarder with some ‘summer trip to New York’ footage in his skate part” label prepared me for: Forest Bailey’s NYC/MTL/PDX-based “Florg” part.

Here is what is slated-to-be one of the final Elkin’s Tapes episodes, featuring a good bit of pre-groer Daniel Kim footage.

The general harshness of the world feels extra apocalyptic in an election year, but if you’re an optimist (or willing to turn your sights that way), I read this article (from April 2018) about the [good] ways in which American life is currently being reinvented on a micro level and felt fuzzy inside, at least for a bit ♥ Love you guys, and please go vote next Tuesday!

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: This four-second video encapsulates the entire history of the Brooklyn Nets. (And yes, if it was by a Knicks player, it’d encapsulate their past 17 years too obvs.)

Quote of the Week: “A Bennett grind is like another drunk tank trick.” — Dana Ericson re: someone else (forgetting who) originally coining a smith kickflip as being a “drunk tank trick.” (Hypothetical: Has there ever been a Bennett grind that’s been better than even the most generic switch back smith? Actually, nvm.)

A lot of parentheses this Monday. Mind’s all over the place. (Or something.)