Threw the remaining bits of our fall 2019 release on sale in the webstore. Truthfully, it’s mostly beanies and smalls, but there are a few loose other sizes left in there. Figured now was a good time to clear this out as everyone adjusts to the slower pace of life while we wait for this shit to calm down — yes, skate shops are affected. We’ll be good though, just gotta ride it out and be smart. It’s not like we have another choice, yaknow? ♥ Everyone be clean, be safe, be nice and be patient. QS content resumes as usual, because you already know that fashion never sleeps :)
All the Streets Are Silent: The Convergence of Hip-Hop and Skateboarding (1987-1997)is coming soon. Think about that Slam interview with Eli Gesner from last week, but wider in scope, and in documentary form. (Timely name, too!)
No matter how much has gone down on the world’s most famous white marble, there’s no way to overstate the hidden power of simply… skating it (or any well-worn spot, for that matter.) If that “Trick History” clip from Milano Centrale proved anything, it’s that after a while, gunning for some N.B.D. over the grate just starts to blend together with the last guy’s trick.
We first met Ruben on a QS family trip to Italy back in 2016. Milan has a tight-knit and friendly skate scene — it feels like a lot of it revolves around Milano Centrale and the Chef Family crew. He and his friends were kind enough to show us around their city when we summoned the willpower to leave an absolutely perfect plaza spot. When a spot is that good, you willfully forget that the whole “exploring the city”-thing is a big part of skate trips. (Colleagues echo our sentiments.)
We visited Milan again a year later. On the train-ride into Centrale (yes, the train from the airport drops you off at Italy’s best skate spot), I remembered out loud, “Oh, I should probably DM Ruben and let him know we’re coming.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll already be there,” a mutual friend replied.
Ben “Actually, I Like Wearing Wack Gear” Blundell receives redemption after barely any clips in Courtesy. Go watch his “OJO” part over on Thrasher. Rest in Peace Dillon ♥
Gotta hand it to Europe’s Most Productive Crew™ for consistently doing something that feels so natural and different than everything else out there, year after year — especially in a country without much of a skate industry. Also ~love~ the recurring role of dogs in their videos. “Nap Mint Nap Volume 4” is the latest from the Rios Crew. We really gotta make it out to Budapest, pretty much everyone says nothing but good things…
In hindsight, it’s pretty crazy that a peak shiny suit era Bad Boy song ever slipped into an Alien Workshop video, even for 45 seconds. And guess what! Twenty years later, we get the full [re]edit: Manolo remixed two decades of Kalis footage to the complete extended version of Black Rob’s “Whoa.” FWIW, that album has some sleepergems.
“Pornography had already been done, and the skate/fetish graphic thing said all that needed to be said on the subject. Take away the black bag and the sticker about censorship, and you just have a dumb idea repeated endlessly. For nearly 3 decades.” Ted Barrow wrote a nice piece on the history of the black bag World Industries board, and everything that followed it over on Skateism.
Solange in a skate clip ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Def worth the watch from Peter Deigaard + Drew, Hugo, Ville, and all the Copenhagen boys, which will make you feel the summer even if you have no Danish travel plans :)
“DOA RMX” is a video featuring some upstate dudes (pretty sure…), and has a random ass remix of Pat Washington footage from the early 2000s at the end, which is timely given Jamal Smith reminded us about his iconic Got Gold? part last week.
Realized the other day that Tao’s “KBH MIXEN” video is the 2018 video that still gets the most revisitation in 2019. Felt Ville’s section deserved it’s own upload :)
Travel Tip: An Airbnb for seven dudes with one bathroom in Mexico is a bad idea.
Contrary to Instagram reports over the past week-and-a-half, the Banks are not *technically* open. A full section of the fence was down, and the DOT security booths were gone, but that section has since been put back up. Cops are still kicking people out (no tickets…yet), and claiming the space will soon re-open (also remember it was only supposed to be closed off until 2014, so, you know…) TWScaught up with R.B. Umali for a full status report, and a bit of new footage.
Who would have thought that one of QS’ highest affinities for a non-New York skate crew would be out in Italy? Five-minute montage from the Milano Centrale boys, including #musicsupervision via Strap from Travis Porter, experimental pants supervision, and minimal tricks on objects over two feet in height.
Always get a lil’ smile out of “Summer Trip to New York” edits that put the effort into skating midtown and SoHo, which seem to be antiquated routes in the L.E.S. + outer-borough dominant mindset of the past several years. The New York section in “Double Egg & Cheese” (begins at the 7 minute mark) is a fun watch.
QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Who the hell would want to get a get a drink alongside somebody whose favorite basketball player is James Harden? Russ for MVP. Uninterested in any other arguments. Bye.
