Behind the Fence

tino

Tino. Scan via Science Versus Life. Slow news week last week, but guess what? It’s going to be sixty degrees all this week, and it’s going to start getting dark after 7 P.M. starting Sunday :)

If you have even $10 you can spare and acknowledge that skateboarding is a really cool thing that more people across the world should do to be happy, please support the construction of the Addis Abbaba skatepark in Ethiopia. It’s going to help people’s lives a lot more than that six-pack you were otherwise gonna buy with it ♥

Wow, there’s already a hill bomb clip crazier than Gerwer down the Bullitt hill.

T or F? — This is the second best nollie back heel ever done.

#TRENDWATCH2016 — switch heelflip indy grabs and nosegrind body varials! Jk. Although J.B. Gillett already has a strong Quartersnacks Line of the Year Contender *and* a Noseslide of the Year frontrunner, based off the latest Dalavas clip.

Jesse got a clip in Hjalte’s angel wings.

A field guide to skateboarding long distances by one of the guys who skated from Boston to New York and from New York to Philadelphia.

The trash can in the state bird of the East Village. Dick Rizzo and Josh Wilson skate some garbage at 12th & A (still a box!) and Tompkins.

An interview with Marcus from Skate Jawn.

DGK fam Connor Champion, John Shanahan, Dylan Sourbeer, Will Mazarri, and The World’s Best Dressed Skateboarder™ 2016, Daniel Kim, at the Nike SB Garage.

Have we been bad friends to Brandon Biebel? Why are we realizing this only now? SMLTalk asks the question we should have been asking three weeks ago about the 2015 I.G.S.O.T.Y. (Lucas technically won in our reader’s choice awards, but given this site’s readership, Lucas would probably win a vote for best vert skater.)

Genny and Jason Byoun cruising on some diamond-plate Soho spots :)

Boil the Ocean re: the sudden surge in high technology skate products.

Some goofy throwaways from Cooper Winterson.

Prince didn’t let Triple Six Mafia into his party the night they won an Oscar.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Can’t wait til the Knicks sign Lance Stephenson in six years. Should hopefully be the same season as J.R’s pre-retirement return tour.

Quote of the Week: “I deadass had a dream about Rob Campbell last night.” — E.J.

Rest in Peace Fresh

‘If you can’t be the sun be a star; It isn’t by size that you win or fail — Be the best of whatever you are’

king

#interesting: How Stevie Wonder & Gil Scott-Heron campaigned to turn MLK Day into a holiday.

Snacks hid inside the mattress

Um, what?

#TRENDWATCH2016: Prop street skating hehehe ;)

New edition of Lurk NYC’s “NY Times” series, featuring a bunch of Cee-Lo extras.

No thinktank in #modern #skateboarding has changed the way people skate via Instagram as much as the Blobys have. They’re like the French New Wave of skateboard Instagram dude. After a Vince-based IG mix a few weeks back, someone put together a full, fifteen minute mix of all [most?] of their IG videos.

“Whether he knew it or not, a Bowie song in a skate video was more than just another song in the credits ━ you had to fucking earn that song.” Can’t say another artist’s passing has ever resulted in such an outpour of reflection from skate media outlets.

New Pete Eldridge footage! New J.B. Gillet footage! The Cliché team in Paris, unfortunately sans Lucas. Despite having seen that Créteil brick bank spot in videos for two-plus decades, there hasn’t been really much footage of people skating it like a halfpipe (way harder than it looks tbh.) All the footage is super fun :)

Is it even fair to have Antonio in All City Showdown anymore? You probably caught the “Best of” on Thrasher already, but holy hell, that line at the Williamsburg monument. Also here’s some bonus footy why not? Antonio heavy warm up at Gardner via Dre.

The city of Philadelphia is pathetic.

Quick, sorta legible bit of the Jake Johnson interview from the GX1000 article in the new Thrasher. x3 on the whole only switch tricks in 2015 down Hooters rail thing.

Behind the scenes of Jenkem’s Tim O’Connor Show, how New Jersey gives you #perspective, and the increasing ubiquity of the skateboard podcast.

Have a suspicion that Tiago Lemos’ secret is a bit more sophisticated than “rice, beans and lots of acai,” since half the skaters with jobs in New York live off that stuff…

[Fucking Awesome + Hockey] x the early 2000s ON Video Magazine.

Gigliotti is skating in Cali dude. Shout out 235 E. 5th Street.

New Cell Jawn video from the Brooklyn Nike park.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Can’t wait for that Spurs-Warriors WCF.

Quote of the Week: “Damn, did Sierra Fellers fall off?” — E.J.

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.

We Are Bruvs

tumblr_nqerksxu1H1qe5mblo1_1280

Photo via

There’s no reason to believe a Muska Epicly Later’d is going down anytime soon. This comprehensive hour-and-forty-minute interview with him on Anthony Shetler’s podcast is the best you’re going to get for a while.

Fakie Hill Bomb’s interview with #forward #thinking skatepark designer, Søren Enevoldsen, is great. “In terms of skateboarding, all you basically need for a skatespot to be succesful, is a couple of granite benches placed on a somewhat large flatground area with a smooth hard surface in an inner city context.” …yet somehow, this concept gets lost for the ramp-to-ledge skatepark designers we get. Just build this pls thx.

On that note, it’s nice to see that the Sants spot in Barcelona has experienced a rebirth with new, skater-made ledges recently. Looks like the Spanish version of Stalin Plaza.

Going from running a skate shop to being a hired mercenary who protects freight liners from Somali pirates must be one of the more drastic career changes to ever happen.

New Juicy Elbows iPhone vid.

Canadians keep innovating in 2015. Canada is having a moment.

Running a Canadian skateboard company hasn’t gotten any easier though.

Iron Claw in Montreal, with Lou, Phil, Kennedy, etc. ///end Canada content.

Always wondered if someone would skate the wooden benches in subway stations…

SMLTalk runs down the soundtrack to Brandon Biebel’s career. “Living It Up” + Biebel is without question one of the top five #musicsupervision decisions in the history of skateboard videos. Nollie flip the four block in Atlanta + “If you looking for me homie I’m in the ATL” Jeezy sync is perfect too.

If T.F. West is the new T.F. and T.F. 20 on 20th & 2nd is the new T.F. West (but on the east side), what does that make regular T.F?

Skateboarders and being #responsible, as it stands in 2015.

Shout out to the homie Baker for pointing me in the direction of this vegan skate shoe brand from the mid-nineties’ video that I’ve never seen before, at least in full. It’s oddly very contemporary, and very enjoyable. #very.

Quote of the Week: “I listened to the NPBS soundtrack the other day. It’s the only thing that makes me want to start drinking again.” — Baptiste

R.I.P. Sean P.

The Chillest Lines in Skateboarding History: 1993-1999, 2011-2012

chill lines header

Perhaps the only point in Alex Olson’s recent interview that did not polarize skateboarding’s sea of opinion, was his belief that nobody cares how hard tricks are anymore. We’ve all said “he’s good, but who cares” or written someone off as “a robot” before, so what do professional skateboarders have left to aspire to?

The line has long been the backbone of street skating. Skateboarder even published a print #listicle in the mid-2000s showcasing the best lines of all time. Appropriately enough, the latest entry belonged to P.J. Ladd, because his debut part was when progression really took off, and the “Everyone is Good” movement began to accelerate our numbness to incredible skateboarding.

“But what about style?” Sure, Ray Barbee looked amazing when only doing slappies and no complys, in a way that legions of art students have failed to replicate. Even Carroll’s library line — quite possibly the best thing ever done on a skateboard — wouldn’t be the same if it was performed by some midwesterner visiting San Francisco. Style plays a role, but remember when people would say things like “He’s so smooth?” None of that matters when everyone in a major skate video is “smooth.” Stylistic hallmarks have become less palpable because everyone skates and everyone is good. Everything was the same #drakevoice :(

A wise man once said “I don’t care how ‘good’ a video part is, all I care about is how cool it makes the skater look.” This list features the most timeless lines that were made so by the skater’s ability to make himself look cool, and not just “good.” They will stand out a decade down the line, even when each trick in a Micky Papa part is a go-to for fifty Stoner Park locals.

In a word, these lines are chill.

More »