This final stretch of the year has typically meant there was some sort of QS winter getaway in the cards after New Year’s, but you know… pandemic, etc. Instead, let’s travel ~*VIRTUALLY*~ with these recent features… 1) Skate spots in the Swiss alps with Irregular, 2) The Cuban skate scene with Skateism, 3)Marble relics of the Soviet Union with Free.
Throughout 2019, Alexis Lacroix‘s drawn out “Oh yeah!” elevated itself into a mantra of spiritual skateboard proportions. We oh yeah’d during our successes to amplify the good feelings. We oh yeah’d during troubled times, to remind ourselves that no misstep was large enough to derail our greater journey. And sometimes, we oh yeah’d when there was nothing else to say — it was a placeholder for any and all emotion. At the same time, Alexis’ skateboarding, most notably via Dime’s Knowing Mixtape Volume 2, was everything and nothing you had seen before. It made you cheer, it made you confused, it frightened you, it made you think, and it made you laugh — sometimes in the span of the same six seconds. With Rita on his shoulder, it also reminded us that our furry, four-legged friends are skaters too. Thank you for the inspiration Alexis Lacroix, the 2019 Q.S.S.O.T.Y.
We will be out of the office until January 6, making this the last QS update of the decade!Webstore purchases will ship as ordered. Everyone enjoy the rest of your break, take care of yourself, and thanks for all the support this year, decade, etc. ♥
Just got back from Greece, so maybe there’s a heightened awareness thing going on, but it kinda seems like ~going to Greece~ is becoming more ofa moment now that a second generation of Americans has successfully re-done the entire list of ABDs from the 2000s at the Le Dome double-set ;) ANYWAY! You should watch the new sixteen-minute edit from our Greek friends at Screw Loose Fastening Co. to break you out of the République / Southbank / Barcelona / etc. European content spiral. It looks different, and is a lot of fun.
Elsewhere in a northern corner of the state: b-sides and extras via the Buffalo-based Jeb video that we linked up a bunch of parts from last year. Another upstate trip is definitely still on the 2019 resolutions list.
“The history of skateboarding is the history of the built environment, and of the ruins left by overreach.” Here’s a really rad photo essay about how hill-heavy condo developments in North Carolina that were left all but abandoned by the Great Recession have become ripe for skateboarding.
“Stranger Than Paradise” is the new mini vid from our new gen Miami friends at Andrew Skateshop:
“Places are all very different but also the same, right? A lot of it is what you carry around in your head.” Big past week for Jacob Harris on the ol’ non-Thrasher, non-Instagram skateboard content circuit: Atlantic Drift’s auteur talks to the Slam City Skates blog about his process and how Las Vegas is kinda the same as London at the end of the day ♥
How insane is it that the two French skate spots most recognizable to Americans have simply been, like, renovated and restored to brand new condition over the past twelve months? There’s actually this cool place by the Brooklyn Bridge that could use a similar treatment, but that probably makes too much sense, right? :(
QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Enjoy Giannis in these cute early years before you have to get used to him breaking your team’s heart for the next ~decade are so.
Quote of the Week: “The Sombrero is the only spot in New York that isn’t a bust.” — Cyrus Bennett
