Vice (remember that ol’ thing?) has a new series called “Let It Kill You,” which explores the intersection of skateboarding and art. Their opening episode is with Mike Giglotti, who gets into his craft, his shop Lottie’s, and doing the art for Baker Skateboards.
“Sole Tech’s trio of shoe companies were the last remaining skater-owned legacy brands on the market. They helped define multiple eras and generations of the industry and culture.” Simple Magic dives into the acquisition of Sole Tech by a ….snowboard conglomerate. Much love to Don and everyone that works over there. This remains one of our favorite things we’ve ever published on QS, and the Sole Tech crew’s enthusiasm in helping us was pretty much unparalleled when it comes to story sources.
Hey what’s up hello. It’s the latest Monday post since the queen turned 30 back in February, but this week is a wash, let’s be real.
“The democratic process is going to march on with or without you and it’s up to you to make a difference in it. Whether or not skateparks really make the city a better place or not – you can argue it one way or the the other – the fact is that they bring vitality and youthfulness. That’s kind of the new currency, really.” Village Psychic caught up with our friend Will Cornwall about how the skate community in Providence, R.I. turned a neglected bit of their downtown into a multi-use skateable public space that wouldn’t look out of place in say, Malmö. Honored to have been a tiny part of the story ♥
We try to steer clear of the “fashion ripping off skateboarding YJ&&&T&%R$$^&!!!” angle considering skate graphics have been riffing on high fashion logos for decades, but Dolce & Gabbana’s DG King line looks eerily similar to that company the guy with that part in The Reason started… A wise man once said “you don’t have to be smart, just don’t be so fucking stupid” — this is more like “you don’t have to be original, just don’t be so fucking obvious.”
Michael Mackrodt’s “Fishing Lines” in Paris sequel is damning evidence of the fact that Paris is somehow even more afflicted with the “all visitors skate the same exact spots” dilemma than New York is. After maybe ~5 skate trips there, we have been to zero of the spots he skates. Keith Denley claims that it’s because those spots being “in the Paris equivalent of Bayridge,” but also he is not a licensed geographer.
Just when you thought DS1000 was the most fried concept you were gonna get for a video, Rob Fraebel made a 2018 video partially filmed on a Fisher-Price camera released in 1987 entitled PLX2000. (Don’t worry, it’s mostly VX though.)
YO, massive shout out to the crew, politicians, shops and community in Providence, Rhode Island, on getting an approval to turn an underused corner of their downtown into a full-on block of a skate plaza. Let this be a precedent for cities across the U.S.
“If they didn’t name me Genesis then my dad would have named me Jubilee, from X-Men, who was a girl. That would’ve been very funny. I’m glad they named me Genesis.” Sex mag (sure) has an interview with Genny re: growing up, DANY, etc.
Zered is on Alltimers, and has a new part out to reassure you of his decade-plus status as the east coast’s most productive pro, and the king of the worst spot in Queens ;)
“It’s still the same if I just don’t let myself become too jaded and reclusive. There are still endless possibilities.” Huck has a feature with Jerry Mraz, who they apparently dubbed “The Batman of Skateboarding.”
“We decided to make the game more fun so that’s why it was never a realistic simulation of skateboarding. That was key to the success of the game.” Ironic that the reason maybe 50% of the people now in their late 20s started skateboarding was something intended to be an unrealistic simulation of skateboarding. Jenkem has the oral history of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.
Keeping a real skate shop open in 2017 is God’s work ♥ Thank you to all who do.
Rodrigo TX skates ThreeFour Up ThreeFour Down, T.J. does a bunch of crazy shit, and lol that there’s security standing at the bottom of the bank in every clip ever gotten at the Roosevelt Island Monument in this link to a clip with 54k YouTube views.
Unless you’re Ronnie Creager, you probably have had zero use for a beanie this past week, but that winter wind could be arriving at any moment…We have some new beanies and a very *light* re-stock of some fall goods live in the webstore right now (once they’re gone, they’re gone…or you can check your local shop.) In honor of that 68-degree mid-December weekend, type in promo code summerindecember when you’re checking out for 25% off your order. Good until midnight ;)
On that same note, “the only skatepark so bad that it’s basically a street spot” — Max Hull found John Choi (!) and cult hero, Paul Tucci at the McCarren Skatepark.
When celebrating the virtues of skate-friendly cities like Copenhagen, it’s important to remember that they didn’t become that way by accident. A place like Denmark may not have the vehement sue-happy culture we do, but there’s still a long process to build a utopia. People with college degrees and sophisticated understandings of architecture, city planning, etc. — who also happen to skateboard — fought for that shit. Many cities are slowly starting to recognize skateboarding as something more productive than spraypainting on a wall or pissing in a corner. Now the next step is figuring the subtleties out. “Maybe a blind-built pre-fab park isn’t the best idea…”
When presented with a chance to do something permanent with the locals in Providence, it didn’t make sense for it to be an exclusive keyholder type of project. It also didn’t make sense to add on to an existing skatepark; they have a whole community already doing a good job at keeping that flame lit.
Filmed by Dan Mcgrath and Johnny Wilson.
Adrian Hall Park, across the street from the Trinity Repertory Theater in downtown Providence, has been a stop for skaters since the early nineties. It has a platform to do tricks off, some steps, and a curb — not a great spot, but enough to keep interest when you get the boot out of everywhere else downtown and are willing to settle on skating anything, insofar as you don’t get hassled. Beyond the skaters, there usually isn’t a whole lot going on in the park. It’s not scenic, as it’s on a side street next to a parking garage: a perfect place to drink a brown-bagged beer or take a nap on some cardboard if you don’t have anywhere to be that night. It was also a solid candidate to be turned into something more than just a barren stone park.
