DJ Mustard For #SOTY

leo gutman kickflip

2013 Q.S.S.O.T.Y, Leo Gutman – Flip kick. Photo by Mike Heikkila.

Hjalte Halberg with the noseslide of the year.

Johnny went HD. VX is [officially] dead. It was all good just a week ago.

The full story of how the Santa Monica Courthouse became a legal skate spot. Small banks restoration one day? Or does that make *too much* sense to ever happen?

Village Psychic has a #listicle of the ten best switch backside flips A.K.A. what Reynolds may or may not have once referred to as “the hardest trick.” It might be less of “the hardest trick” and more of the hardest trick to do well i.e. not have it horrendously barrel roll one inch off the ground to a standstill landing, thus discouraging anyone from publicly trying to get better at it.

Dudes in San Jose love khaki cargo shorts.

Rory Milanes is turning pro in 2020 when the Palace video comes out.

Enough with dudes skating in suits for videos filmed with fancy cameras. That shit was maybe cool once, and even that’s pushing it. With that being said, it is cool that Arto Saari got a pass to skate inside the Helsinki airport. You can file that under things that will never ever ever ever ever happen in the U.S.

The inventor of the tornado spin is still a leading quarterpipe innovator in 2014.

Somebody ollied the bump-to-bar at Wavy’s. (Not the best angle though.) He also grinded the Philly step before it. We might’ve had conversations about how Luis hypothetically wouldn’t even ollie that thing. We’re dumb.

Got to respect these guys for A) Basing ~75% of their “Summer Trip to New York” clip at the T.F. and South 5th monument plaza / proverbial Williamsburg T.F. and B) Not skating a single ledge over a foot in height throughout it.

Japan’s Rua Magazine has a video interview segment with Jahmal Williams from when he was out there for the Static IV premiere.

Billy Waldman is building an ark out of solar panels.

Quote of the Week
Observant Gentleman: “I wish I was fat so I could skate pools well.”
Alexander Mosley: “Fat people skate transition better, but there’s a lot you can do that they can’t. You’re not gonna see a fat person doing backside 180 nosegrinds.”

That Brooklyn Lockwood spot is allegedly harder to skate than actual Lockwood?

The Week in Noseslides (GIF Edition)

noseslides

Appreciating noseslides is 50% of the reason that this website exists. Though it may be the “building block of modern skateboarding,” this does not mean that the trick could solely be built upon by scholars of The Storm (see 360 flip noseslide nollie heelflip out on heavily waxed ledge or Luan’s ender in Cronicles 2.) The current level of skateboarding may lead you to believe that a flip in and out need to be performed to justify use of a noseslide, but this is a total misconception.

From Chad Muska’s top ten noseslide contender (first try!) to routine Quartersnacks clip appearances, two consecutive noseslides is nothing out of the ordinary for us. However, if noseslides are 50% of the reason for this site’s existence, unnecessary turnarounds that would make Ricky Oyola cringe make up at least 7-10% of our coverage radar. Please consult Koichiro Uehara’s Lenz II part to see these two things converging together wonderfully:

The skater above does not look Asian, therefore it seems safe to assume it is not Koichiro Uehara, but one of his Magenta affiliates. We cannot determine which one though, as they are all quick-footed and wear Adidas. Any assistance in properly commending this young man for bringing the consecutive noseslide line together with the unnecessary turnaround would be appreciated. It’s Leo Valls.

IN OTHER NEWS: the transition from full-length videos to the instant gratification of daily web clips has been widely spoken of. BUT DID YOU KNOW…that this narrative is already out of date?

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The 10 Best Noseslides in Skateboard History

“He [Jereme Rogers A.K.A. J. Cassanova A.K.A. J.R. Blastoff] leads off this latest offering with a noseslide, the building block of modern skateboarding…Indeed, the noseslide serves as the basis for his entire repertoire. This is the main thing he has going for him in 2012. Shit is relatable; it’s still the first trick I do in any session. Dude also does a lot of switch tailslides, which are, of course, an inverted mirror-image way of getting into a noseslide. And whether you are switch inward heelflipping into one or f/s switch bigspin kickflipping (or some shit like that) out of one, a noseslide is still a noseslide. His ender even incorporates two different noseslides into a three-trick ledge combo that the editors of Transworld probably hate. More importantly, as we have seen in the recent Gino x McEnroe internet video clip, noseslides are highly relevant in 2012 because most people can do them, but few can do them well.” — Frozen in Carbonite: Bookmark Me, Maybe? – 2012 Song of the Summer/Video Part of the Summer Retrospective

There is not much to be said about the obvious significance of the the ollie, kickflip and Osiris D3 in skateboarding history. But there *was* something to be said about the oft-forgotten cornerstone of skateboarding known as the noseslide, until the above paragraph conveniently took care of that two days ago. Consider this an addendum to our “30 Phattest Outfits” study. It should come as no surprise that there is an overlap between the two lists — any skater who knows how to dress, knows how to do a proper noseslide. Thanks to Sweet Waste for compiling this list.

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The Events That Defined New York City Skateboarding in 2011: 10-6

2011 ends in less that four days. Wow. Previous installments of the countdown: #25-21, #20-16, #15-11. Final installment goes online December 31.

10. Lucas Puig Re-Legitimizes the Noseslide

The northeast may be the last place on earth that does not fully buy into the ballet of flip-in-flip-outs synonymous with the modern day noseslide. We were delighted to see Lucas Puig, one of European skateboarding’s most agreeable technicians, be the one to bring back a completely glitter-less version of one. Puig’s re-induction of the noseslide into acceptable territory for line choreographers has already been felt in videos since his Transworld spotlight, most notably via Stefan Janoski in The SB Chronicles.

Note: Whether or not this trick is acceptable for those under the age of 25 (i.e. those who have not been skating long enough to remember when the noseslide was an acceptable ledge trick) is a controversial subject.

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