Fall Colors

schaffers

Photo via Shaqwaker on IG. “A little this, a little that, a little bit of everything…”

Rob Gonyon might have the most fire iPhone videos out right now. Features a few clips from the yet-to-be-fully-completed East Williamsburg Bushwick Skatepark.

Can’t remember the last time a bunch of people in New York kept bringing up a foreign Vimeo upload as much as the Parisian “Daydream” clip from last week.

Mango and friends skating #weird stuff around New York for three minutes.

Boil the Ocean on all potential S.O.T.Y. candidates. I’ll buy everyone who reads this site a crook shove at the bar if it ends up not being A.V.E. In related news, a Max Palmer two-peat is not entirely impossible for Q.S.S.O.T.Y.

This dude does maybe the greatest backside 180 5-0 grind ever done as his ender. It looks like a full-on manual. Thanks to Mostly Skateboarding for pointing that one out.

Nice to see Zeigfeld still sorta existing post-apocalypse.

Chromeball has a great interview with Thomas Campbell about the early days of skate magazines, which also touches on the making of the first Supreme video / short film from 1996. “Some people had beef with those [Euro] articles because they felt those countries didn’t support skateboarding. Whatever. Who cares. We’re on the Earth. Go skate whatever you want.” You heard your boy Mars got water now?

Mike Carroll on #musicsupervision and…Lupus.

Speaking of Carroll, SMLTalk tried to get to the bottom of the varial flip’s re-accepted place in the trick selection landscape, i.e. how it went from getting boo-ed at contests to perfectly fine to throw mid-line in 2015.

KCDC built some new stuff under the B.Q.E. thanks to the DLX build project.

QS D.I.Y. Desk (jk, that’s not real): Some chill early nineties photos from Burnside.

Quote of the Week:

josh-500x81

— Josh Velez

#TRENDWATCH2014: Tuesday

tues

In 2012, we, as an award-winning international media institution, came to terms with one, Aubrey Drake Graham. We also predicted — perhaps hastily — that skateboarders, as a whole, would take a moment to glance over from their “Lofi Memphis Rap Songs For Edits” iTunes playlist, and recognize that not being at terms with Drake was akin to denying global warming. Like taxes and YouTube ads, Drake is unavoidable. And if you let him, he just may put you better in touch with your emotions than your scratched up Lifestyles of the Poor and Dangerous CD-R ever could.

Skateboarders are a stubborn, conservative bunch. They did not come to terms with Drake in 2013, no matter how loudly we tried to sound the horn at the QS office. But that moment has come in 2014, in a rather unexpected way.

As discussed in last week’s retro of the 2009 “So You Want to Date a Skater?” article, 95% of partyboy skaters have been priced out of Manhattan. It is almost impossible to maintain a bohemian lifestyle, while still affording Manhattan rent, alcohol, and whatever extracurriculars might interest you in 2014. Former marquee days of the week, like Lit Wednesdays or Sway Sundays, are foggy memories left behind in the 2000s, when only a measly 90% of broke skateboarders couldn’t afford Manhattan.

With the majority of the New York-based skater population residing in Brooklyn, it should come as no surprise that the premier night for being a broke, drunken skater in 2014 is Tuesday, thanks to Matchless Two-For-One Tuesdays. Yes, TUESDAY.

Do you really think that Drake hopping on that Makonnen remix wasn’t calculated with us in mind? Drake loves skateboarders. He figured out the path to our hearts. “You’re right Drake, for me, the club and/or bar really does go up on a Tuesday.” He GETS us, and now, as evident by the droves of web clips emerging from the greater New York metropolitan area openly edited to “Tuesday,” we get him.

This is why refusing to come to terms with Drake is futile. It’s like giving the silent treatment to your one non-judgmental friend who will listen to you pour out all your problems. Fuck it girl, I’m bout whatever though.

More »

Welcome Back @badgalriri!

mtl

Photo via Pad Dowd.

Jahmal Williams is still cooler than your favorite skater.

Jake Johnson and Pontus skate some polejams for Jake’s welcome to Cons segment.

Here’s some footage of Antoine I poached during my lunch breaks at Quiznos®.”

Sidewalk has a really good interview with Mike Carroll about 20 years of Girl/Choc.

The oral history of EMB is a solid companion piece to your copy of the FTC book.

Lurk NYC’s “New York Times” B-roll series is back on with Volume 9.

Cross legged kickflip landings, no comply 360s when your foot doesn’t touch the ground, and other tricks on Flo Mirtain’s oddball tricks list. He forgot Kenny Andrson’s cab powerslide down the hill in Pretty Sweet.

ICYMI: 1) The Benny Fairfax and Chewy Cannon Palace + Adidas part is perfect. Nosegrind, front crook, nosegrind 180 is the line of the year. Grey also has a quick interview with Benny about the part. 2) Episode two of the Chocolate Epicly Later’d gives the most detailed account of what happened with Keenan Milton to date. Pretty rough episode. 3) What. The. Fuck. The rollaway sounds like a plane taking off.

“I ended that interview by asking if you thought it was a good interview and if you were going to kill yourself when you read it. Your response was ‘I hope not.’ I was worried about you all weekend and Monday, when I got back to the office, I called you to ask about some photo or something, but it was really just a call to make sure you were alive and OK. It was, without a doubt, the heaviest interview I’ve ever done.” Nieratko interviews 2005 Eric Koston Game of S.K.A.T.E winner turned children’s book writer, Jim Bates, about battling his depression in a heavy-but-important read.

An interview with Ian from Jenkem about running a D.I.Y. online publication.

What would rappers be doing right now if Tony Montana got into skateboarding instead of selling cocaine?

Way more interesting that expected: How “blue collar” vert skaters sometimes make a living with Paul Zitzer on the Mostly Skateboarding Podcast. Been a big year for shifting away from the vert button.

Quick iPhone clip from the Heights’ Mira Conyo crew.

hat

We made it! This is cool and all, but please nobody else buy any QS hats for $70 :( We will have them available again in the springtime, including some in new colorways. You’ll be wearing beanies up until that point anyway, which will be available later this month, along with hoodys and longsleeves. Tees still available.

The QS Rap Desk’s favorite artist, four years and running.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Gallo and Faried are back.

Quote of the Week
Dylgr: “We should drive there.”
Observant Gentleman: “It’s like a ten-minute walk and parking will be a nightmare.”
Dylgr: “Yeah, but we can listen to the Rich Gang mixtape.”

It’s just great to have RiRi back on the ‘gram again :)

How About Now

lui

Lil’ Lui, big ollie. Photo by Brian Kelley. Remember when you could actually skate that spot? :(

What?

Okay?

Sure? (Speaking as objectively as possible, is Daewon the most *talented* skateboarder ever in terms of impossibilities made realities on a skateboard? And why does he look like a club promoter in all his new footage?)

The Deaf Lens has a new interview with Rick Howard about 20 years of Girl/Choc.

Omg noooooooo. R.I.P. the Sony DCR-VX1000 1996-2014. Paych DVDs soon.

Some useless #listicles to click through: 1) 18 Skateable Sculptures in the United States. “We, like, see the world differently dude.” 2) The Ten Longest 5050s. 3) The “Best” (Only?) Skateboarder Cameos in Movies. Wasn’t Koston in Her?

The Skartorialist is back after a long hiatus.

Dipset-tinged music supervision is also apparently back, after a few years of falling out of fashion. Now, who’s gonna skate to “Catfish?”

Muckmouth constructed a a useful graph of skateboarding’s collective coming-to-terms with Ryan Sheckler. Fam turned up on them jump ramps though…

Newport, the Banks & Javitz Center, circa ~1999ish?

Some Death Video “lost tapes” footage. These kids are sick because they still skate midtown. Respect for putting up with the frustration. Many have given up on it :(

The new Transworld video, Outliers, will be premiering at Sunshine Cinemas (Houston and Forsyth) tomorrow (October 21.) There will be three showings: 7, 8:15 & 9 P.M. Haven’t been this excited for a TWS video in a very, very long time, but it’s mostly due to Zered and Cromer. You can grab tickets at most skate shops. More info here.

A restaurant adjacent to some recently concreted cobblestones pours kitchen grease all over the banks now. You’re going to get hurt if you try skating them.

Always wondered how Times Square peep shows are still open in 2014…

Stop going to college.

“I’m so happy Future broke up with Ciara so he could make music like this again.”

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Kobe might kill someone this season.

Quote of the Week: “Yo, I heard a plate at Mr. Chow is like $600. That shit better feed me for the rest of my life.” — Matt Perez

rnt

November 5th > December 2nd.

Sick Coachella Hat

wavy meta

Professional Skateboarding in 2014: Where everything you do is useless because some French dude is inevitably cooler and better than you.

The New York Knicks 2013-2014 season, in six seconds.

Another LurkNYC B-sides clip — “New York Times Volume Five.” Features the bail of this trick, which is completely nuts. Also, be on the lookout for a chill sideboob…and you know you about that rapping life when you walk around with a dictionary.

Chris Nieratko did a video interview with Tim O’Connor about life after semi-retirement.

Video blog #208 from the Beef Patty crew and Medalla Part 2 from Max Hull.

Standalone version of Derm’s part from Brick City Street Styles. Turn up.

Lottery Boiz is a largely New York-based video by some kids who really like rap. They might have a lower threshold of restraint for rap nerd indulgences in their videos than even this website, which is saying a lot.

Roctakon and Steve Kream (Olson’s partner in Bianca Chandon) went on the Tall Tales Podcast to talk about how Drake simultaneously exists on polar opposite ends of the female fantasy spectrum, how no dude has ever liked Lolita, and um, Bianca Chandon. Skate talk starts ~27:50. (R.I.P. to the 917-862-8250 T.F. barrier, BTW.)

For all the people out there pursuing MFAs, for whatever reason: the Deaf Lens interviewed Brian Lotti about transitioning from a skateboard career to an art one.

“But I never compromised my values, I was never changing the reason for the things I did just because there was bigger money behind it…”
“You advertised for McDonald’s…”
I ate McDonalds as a kid, they didn‘t change my beliefs or something.” #birdman
Shout out to the Delancey McDonald’s…only at 5 A.M. though…

There’s probably going to be some way to skate this thing.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: 1) Thank you Atlanta Hawks for restoring some semblance of balance in the world, though you should probably cede your playoff spot to the Suns or Grizzlies. 2) Andre Iguodala v.s. Quincy Miller’s ankles. 3) Mozgov’s 93-29 game. 4) Clippers-Warriors first round looks like it’s happening :)

Quote of the Week: “Gay Ledges is like Eggs, except nowhere near as good and you get kicked out in five minutes.” — Lurker Lou

How can I not… Future Honest album snippets.