You can’t jam the pole and then be mad people are skating the polejam ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Spitfire Wheels: Bringing People Together. Mark Gonzalez skates around downtown Manhattan with Max Palmer, Gus Gordon (!), Nick Matthews, Karim Callender + more. (Why does it always seem like everybody else’s downtown session if better than yours?) Really hope somebody got a photo of Karim’s crook at Rector Street. Almost made the screengrab the headline photo.
This was the decade that the full-length skate video was supposed to die. We began the 2010s with everyone insisting that Stay Gold would be the last full-length skate video. Then, Pretty Sweet was supposed to be the last full-length video. Some people thought that Static IV would be it — the end, no more full-lengths after that. But I feel like I heard someone say Josh was working on something new a couple months back? Idk.
The experience might’ve changed. We’re not huddling around a skate house’s TV covered in stickers to watch a DVD bought from a shop anymore (if this past weekend is any indication, it’s more like AirPlaying a leaked .mp4 file via a link obtained from a guy who knows a guy), but the experience of viewing a fully realized skate video with your friends for the first, second or twentieth time is still sacred.
Just as we asked for your votes for the five best video parts, we did the same for the five best full-lengths: if you could choose the five videos that defined the 2010s, what would they be? The results were a bit more surprising than the parts tally in some ways, given that it felt like independent, regional and newer, small brand videos dominated the decade, yet Big Shoe Brands™ and Girl + Chocolate still made their way into the list. The top-heaviness of some companies or collectives was less of a surprise, in that certain creators loomed large over the 2010s.
Like the installment before it, this list is sans comment for 20-11, and then via favors from writer friends for the top ten: here are the twenty best skate videos of the past ten years.
If you have ever stood on a subway platform staring at the countdown clock, the thought has come to mind: “Could someone hypothetically ollie over the tracks?” In theory, if Jeremy Wray did that water tower ollie, it’d have to be possible. Then you’d consider the additional curve-in, the timing, the train, the bust, and eventually, the third rail, which stands to give anyone who touches it an unpleasant departure from earth in the event of a worst case scenario.
The speculation ended this year, as Koki Loaiza ollied from platform to platform at the 145th Street A station…going towards the third rail and earning press from media outlets farbeyondskateboarding’stypicalreach.
Some psychos and parts from Cyrus Bennett, Jacob Gottlieb, Genesis Evans, Adrian Vega and Jason Byoun in Looney Bin, the new LurkNYC project due out next month.
Shout out to anyone who has seen the Watermelon videos. Lil’ Chris grew up. 2nd Nature and the Watermelon man are also throwing a best trick contest at the 2nd Nature park on Saturday. Flyer here. Lil’ Chris is probably going to win.
Quote of the Week: White Girl Leaving Brunch in the West Village #1: “It’s insane. It’s just insane” White Girl Leaving Brunch in the West Village #2: “I’m not gonna lie, it’s insane.” White Girl Leaving Brunch in the West Village #3: “I know, it’s so insane.”
Monday links are getting postponed until tomorrow because the Bronze video is online and it deserves its own post.
The most beloved New York City video franchise is back with its latest installment. Solo Jazz features many new names making their first-time, full-length appearance in a Bronze production: Dick Rizzo, Josh Wilson, Aaron Herrington and Jason Carroll. Though they may dilute the collective’s deep Queens origins, their skateboard abilities only add to the excellence of this six (arguably eight) film franchise. Mainstays like Shawn Powers, Kevin Tierney, Derick Zeimkiewicz, Joseph Delgado, and Billy McFeely came through with wonderful sections, despite prior commitments that range from sponsorships to Polish espionage. Fan favorite, Phil Rodriguez, was sorely missed due to injury, and longtime followers of the franchise were surely shocked to learn that Solo Jazz has the unfortunate distinction of being the first Bronze video where Xavier Veal does not show up and at least 5050 some large handrail :(
P.S. Johnny Wilson’s new project, Beef Patty, premiered the other night and it was really, really good. Loose Trucks Max has the ender. Hopefully, it makes its way online soon.
P.P.S. Colin Read’s new video, Tengu, premieres at the Sunshine Theater (Forsyth and Houston, where the Pretty Sweet premiere was) on Thursday, August 29th. Doors open at 8:30. Flyer here. So, there’s the potential of there being three great New York-based projects available in a week’s span. Looks like a solid end of the summer.
