Already Got Those

Five out of five Tompkins skaters agree that this is the best box ever made. Sadly, it’s on the other side of the planet. We got to talking about replicating it — anybody know any welders? (Real question.)

Holy big flip, here is an illicit link to Brandon Westgate’s part in the new Element video, Peace. (Read: Will probably get deleted.) Really sick to see him still gunning for it as hard as he was in the Stay Gold days, and on a lot of new/seldom-seen New England spots at that. Would comment on the THPS music, but Brandon Westgate never struck me as a skater who is too invested in music.

Not much other info on it, but “Background 1” is a fun lo-def video with a ton of faces you’ll recognize from Gang Corp edits, Tompkins, and L.E.S. Park. All street clips.

Nik Stain, Hjalte, Paul Grund, and Bobby DeKeyzer went to the best skate spot on the planet and other European destinations. Ben Chadourne on the beat.

Listen to Bobby Puleo fan out on the Gonz for five minutes. He’s really good at finding the right words to describe why certain small things make a trick or photo extra special.

I’ve found myself using the word “super” too much lately, too :( Gino Iannucci is the latest guest in an hour-long interview on Lee Smith’s podcast.

Always down to plug something that resurrects the lost art of the video review. Live gets all Boil the Ocean on us and uses a bunch of vocabulary stuff and long sentences to do a joint review of Doll and It’s Time, two videos that occupy space on opposite ends of the spectrum (and country.)

If you’re 30+, you’re bound to get emotional watching this nine-minute-long raw Pier 7 greatest hits compilation.

Enjoyed this more than the “pro snowboarder with some ‘summer trip to New York’ footage in his skate part” label prepared me for: Forest Bailey’s NYC/MTL/PDX-based “Florg” part.

Here is what is slated-to-be one of the final Elkin’s Tapes episodes, featuring a good bit of pre-groer Daniel Kim footage.

The general harshness of the world feels extra apocalyptic in an election year, but if you’re an optimist (or willing to turn your sights that way), I read this article (from April 2018) about the [good] ways in which American life is currently being reinvented on a micro level and felt fuzzy inside, at least for a bit ♥ Love you guys, and please go vote next Tuesday!

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: This four-second video encapsulates the entire history of the Brooklyn Nets. (And yes, if it was by a Knicks player, it’d encapsulate their past 17 years too obvs.)

Quote of the Week: “A Bennett grind is like another drunk tank trick.” — Dana Ericson re: someone else (forgetting who) originally coining a smith kickflip as being a “drunk tank trick.” (Hypothetical: Has there ever been a Bennett grind that’s been better than even the most generic switch back smith? Actually, nvm.)

A lot of parentheses this Monday. Mind’s all over the place. (Or something.)

Across The Street™

NJ cutie Josh Wilson via Mike Heikkila

The new Bronze 56k video, It’s Time is now live.

Thrasher has raw files for Josh Wilson and Dick Rizzo’s Quasi vid parts.

All of a sudden you’re only three minutes into a seven-minute-long Black Hubba compilation clip, and realize that you’ve already passed the switch 360 flip lipslide. If you live in New York, you waste at least .5% of your life sitting around at Blubba doing nothing. Here’s a video of all the moments that didn’t go to waste.

“Bronze 56K is all about rolling up switch to the Carlsbad gap after just barely falling off pushing on your skateboard and popping the most brolic switch hardflip.” Japan’s VHS Mag interviewed Peter Sidlauskas on the occasion of It’s Time.

Idk if our editorial board is in the market for a Mid 90s review, but here’s one side of the coin and here is another.

Chachi’s Jenkem date is like Mid 90s but late 2010s. #fastminds.

Theories has a quick feature with Jahmal Williams that runs down the background stories behind some of the old Hopps graphics.

Pete Spooner’s new video is [by chance] named after one of Will Marshall’s favorite observations about skateboarding. Skating is Easy trailer here. Always find it charming when a teaser for a new skate vid is longer than 60 seconds in the Instagram era ;)

2018 has been a mega year for upstate New York skate videos nvm, it’s for a central Pennsylvania video, so let’s just say it has been a mega year for upstate New York spots in videos ;) One Mo’ Gin is another feather in upstate New York’s 2018 cap. At least I think it’s an upstate N.Y. vid…

Someone made a 411 “Rookies” mix of some circa 2010 Brandon Westgate footage, though if we were being literal about things, it should’ve been to his Word of Mouth footage.

On that note, Tombo uploaded another “Raw Deals” clip with more classique French guys than you’d expect. More on that later this week hehehe.

R.I.P. St. Dymphnas A.K.A. Yellow Bar A.K.A. Same Difference. You were never anyone’s favorite bar, but you were the best cheap bar by Tompkins when it started raining, and for that reliability, you will be missed.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Knicks fans are in for yet another soul-crushing season of false 8th seed dreams, and we’re avoiding all temptations of having the first regular season Play of the Week be related to Rondo V.S. Chris Paul, so here’s a cool Tim Hardaway J.R. pass to Kanter that you can overreact to.

Quote of the Week: “Those guys make me feel stupid for not having kids when I was like, twenty. They’re all just doing ecstasy with their kids now.” — Torey

Haven’t been in a proper headspace to um, “process” a Juice WRLD and Future mixtape over the past few days, but feel compelled to come clean on here that this is one of the most oft-played songs at the QS office since it came out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Run That Back Turbo

Listen up, fuckers: Voter registration periods in most states end this week. In New York, the voter registration deadline is Friday, and lucky for you, New York offers online registration. (New Jersey’s deadline is October 16, but you’ll need to mail in your registration.) Just under 50% of eligible 18-29 year-olds voted in 2016, whereas nearly 75% of 65+ year-olds did. Literal senior citizens are steering the course of your future. And that whole “my vote doesn’t matter!” / “it’s all corrupt!” / “both candidates suck!” shit is exactly the sort of cowardly laziness that anybody working against your self interests is dependent on. So, if you are eligible A) take the time out of the day you’d otherwise waste filming shitty skate tricks and register if you are not already, and B) if you do not vote on November 6, I hope to every possible higher power there is that you roll the fuck out of your ankle first thing in the morning on November 7 — like I hope it’s an excruciating cantaloupe size roll that takes five hellish months to heal where you don’t get laid once, and I hope that on your first day back skating after those frustrating five months, you roll the life out of the other ankle and it takes even longer to heal.

+++++++

Psssst…shops have began getting fall QS merch in. Arriving in Europe & Japan this week. Check our stockists page to see which shops will have it in both in the States and globally. Our webstore will relaunch on Monday, October 15 at midnight E.S.T. (basically still Sunday night) with all of the new items.

The Canal video, Mode, is now online in full. Really fun video pretty much entirely filmed in New York, with the highest volume of midtown clips of any local vid in recent memory (always nostalgic for that.) It’s always heartwarming to see crews who grew up together keep skating and making full-lengths into adulthood ♥

Tied with midtown footage, our favorite sub-genre of New York skateboarding is watching Tyshawn skate over trashcans. Plenty of that and more in Thrasher’s recap video from the Hardies Can Jam at Blue Park last week.

Pat Hoblin has a rad new part over on TWS. The curvy boardslide over at the old Red Benches + the ender at Seward Park are both wild.

“Anything that combats the idea that skateboarding should be relegated to the skatepark is cool, and to me a worthwhile cause.” Alexis Sablone, who has a masters degree in architecture, created a sick-looking skateable sculpture park in downtown New York (just kidding, you know that shit is obviously in Malmö), and told Medium mag the story.

Antonio got sick of your switch tre jokes and decided to do some switch heels.

Theories posted a new episode of Elkin’s raw files, and Tombo uploaded another “Raw Deals” video from a 2009 trip to Peru and Colombia, which features a good batch of gold Brian Brown footage.

This is what the skatepark in Red Hook is supposed to look like. Aannddd it looks… cramped. To nobody’s surprise, the “Straight Fucking Ledges” crowd will be disappointed.

Russia’s Absurd Skateboards leads the skate world in companies whose trip destinations I most frequently have to search on Google Maps. Their latest one was to the Sea of Azov.

Here’s an eight-minute Jake Johnson mega mix of like, all his footage.

Lee Smith interviewed R.B. Umali for a new podcast he started.

Just after talking shit about those Citi Field benches on here last week, the city found a body wrapped in chains in the adjacent water on Wednesday. Told you that place has a weird energy…

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Basketball is back! Honestly started laughing upon remembering Lance Stephenson and Lebron are on the same team now. Lance Stephenson Finals MVP book it!!!

Quote of the Week: “Damn, Frank Gerwer looks like me in ’06.” — Emilio Cuilan

Slam City Jam One Foot Crook Let’s Go

Rodney by Reda, behind Pyramid Ledges from the June 1998 TWS via Ted Newsome’s “New York Minute” spreads. This spot would be extra contemporary today had it not been knobbed for ~two decades.

“Words are escaping me, you’re talking about people I have a strong emotional connection to.” Torey Goodall’s Bunt interview is reaffirming proof of the fact that if you just go on enough drunken trips to New York, things sometimes just kinda work out in the end ♥ Just don’t ask him how he feels about Charles Rivard…

Idk what you’re doing if you haven’t watched Justin Henry’s Quasi video “Rough Cut” yet. Good bit of New York clips obvs, etc.

“Don’t mansplain tricks. Get out of here, you’re taking the fun out of skating. If you just go away, I’ll be so much happier. Half the fun of learning is doing it yourself.” Imagine having the audacity of giving Lacey Baker unsolicited trick tips. Anthony “The Writer” Pappalardo wrote an extended profile of Lacey for Huck magazine.

Shout out to every “Summer Trip to New York” clip with no Blue Park footage :) Here’s a nine-minute one from the Sk8 Hop dudes out of Puerto Rico, featuring some Watermelon Alex cameos!

Always great to see new Juan and Karl footage (that nollie nosegrind revert!) — here they are in the Yoan Taillandier’s latest “Futur Timeline” clip, skating an undecipherable European city ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Would probably leave Milano Centrale off a “hidden plazas” listicle (this one in Turin, on the other hand…), but Theories has a feature about Europe’s best, non-Spanish/Southbank/Republique/obvious plazas. We out to Bulgaria?

Bontó” is the latest from the Rios boys, Europe’s most productive crew, and specialists in skating spots that I have absolutely zero interest in ever skating ;)

Boil the Ocean considers the enduring legacy of Haulin’ Ass To Hall & Oats.

Luis Tolentino and Leo Heinert skate the 181st Street park for an afternoon. That park is actually a street spot btw.

Antosh put together a quick street edit of our friends in Vancouver.

Skate Jawn flew out to Morocco to help build a skatepark. Here’s the video.

Quote of the Week: “Imagine how mean Torey would be if he had boobs.” — Julia Kidder

This album arrived and went with a whimper when it came out, but now it’s a few degrees cooler and this is the only song the office listens to.

Legends of the Spa

Four years after the Parks Department sabotaged the best obstacle at New York’s most famous still-standing skate spot, it has returned with a vengeance. Photo via Kyota.

It seems like we traded our annual office tradition of late posts on the Monday during Fashion Week for late posts on the Monday after Glory Challenge. No seasoned QS reader expected an on-time update today though, let’s be honest ;)

Before we get started, let’s talk about perseverance in the face of adversity. No matter what skate trick got away from you, what job interview didn’t call you back, what crush blocked your number…there is always hope. Even if it’s four years, and four broken boards later — maybe you too, one day, will be the recipient of a celebratory “oooohhhhh yeaaaaaahhh” from Alexis Lacroix. It is all a matter of patience and dedication.

FYI: Most remaining stuff in our webstore is on sale.

I know Vice articles about skateboarding tend to get a bad rap on the comments here, but this one is actually pretty good! Zach Harris on the “trend” of skateboarders not treating their bodies like garbage cans anymore. (Save everyone who spent the last three days in Montreal, I imagine.)

And on that note: “Will skateboarding’s notoriously rapid generational churn soon spur a backlash against sober, thoughtful life choices, and bring about a new era of ‘hammer’ tricks, illegitimate children and unpaid debt?” …probably?

Zered has an interview with Juxtapoz mag about his Paper Skaters project.

Village Psychic interrogates Nick Boserio about whether or not skating street on 60mm wheels is “cheating.” Try and read it in his voice.

Noted sweatpants engineer and our good friend Jimmy Gorecki has a nearly two-hour interview on The Nine Club.

Crazy Ass Paterson Skaters uploaded a 12-minute-long raw footy log.

It is wild how much the spot selection in even a skate heaven like Barcelona managed to change over the course of a decade. Tombo uploaded some old footage from a trip out there in 2005 with Puleo, a young Brandon Westgate, and others.

The Traffic team talks about riding a bus from Washington to New York with a pantless man who thought he was the Road Runner, and other stories from when they were filming for their last video.

New York resident Mark Suciu has a longform interview with North.

Here’s a new iPhone edit from Kyota.

Quote of the Week: “Speaking French is 10% pronunciation and 90% attitude.” — Young Lady Giving Impromptu French Lessons at Glory Challenge