Erotic Skateboard Fiction

jake long island city

Is it safe to say it’s finally spring? J-John the Don — Nosegrind in L.I.C. Photo via GX1000.

Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Tees still available in the webstore. Now available at Solstice in New Bedford, MA. Also available at Supreme NY & LA, Seasons, Humidity, One-Up, Exit, NJ and Commissary. UK: Go to Lost Art or Palomino. Rest of Europe: Cali Roots has it online. Japan: Swingin Market and Apple Butter have it online.

Read the first ten pages from Roctakon’s work of erotic skateboard fiction. (Note: there isn’t a single mention of skateboarding in the first ten pages though.)

Most commonly asked question among people who skateboard this past weekend: “Did you see that trick Lucas Puig did on his Instagram?”

Jordan Trahan joins the 360 flip hall of fame with a co-sign from the head chairman.

Pop Trading Company distributes QS gear in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg, and they probably still watch Eastern Exposure a lot.

Kingpin has a dual interview with Lev Tanju, the mastermind behind Palace, and Pontus Alv, the mastermind behind Polar, regarding their tour through Denmark and Malmö. “That’s the problem: you start a skateboard brand and then you just get fat.”

Some other quick interviews: Street Piracy interview Clem from Recordings of Boardings, Chris Nieratko interviewed Sage Elsesser for ESPN, KCDC interviewed Jahmal Williams, and Bedford + Bowery interviewed Josh Stewart about Static IV.

As far as the kids-in-or-around-New-York-who-skate-handrails sub-genre goes this Julian Lewis part is pretty impressive. Dude does Grecco’s Deathwish vid 270 noseblunt ender on some rail and then decides to 5050 a 27-stair…in the snow.

The guy who invented the ollie works on Porsches now.

This Ain’t California is now on Hulu for free. QS review from last year here.

Mike O’Meally on one of the more iconic New York City skate photos (the shot of Jeff Pang, Todd Jordan, etc. skating down Broadway on September 12, 2001.)

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Damian Lillard sits among John Stockton and Michael Jordan as one of the few players to end a playoff series on a buzzer-beating shot, all while giving his franchise their first series win in 14 years. P.S. Rooting for a “New York” basketball team with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett on it is not rooting for a New York basketball team. On the plus side, *if* Dolan is capable of feeling stupid (massive if), he should feel pretty dumb right now considering the Nets made the second round and the Knicks didn’t even make the eighth seed. P.P.S. How funny is it that the Sixers, Bobcats, Wizards and Raptors all have a considerably brighter half-decade ahead of them than than the Knicks do? Draft picks > Phil Jackson.

Quote of the Week:

element grip

Did everyone make it through Saturday’s T.F. closure scare okay?

Film Review: This Ain’t California

thisaintcalifornia-1

It may have a vague title (…most skate scenes are not California), but This Ain’t California is a detailed pseudo-documentary about a crossroads of recent world history and lesser-known local skate lore.

Marten Persiel’s tale centers around Denis “Panik” Paraceck and his 1980s skate crew in the German Democratic Republic, the portion of Germany that was a Soviet satellite state until 1990. The story is told through Panik’s friends as they gather to reminisce in 2011 upon learning he was killed as a soldier in Afghanistan. This Ain’t California is seemingly presented as fact through old footage, modern interviews and animation sequences, but the viewer suspects the main character may not have existed early on in the film, due to “archival” footage that is a bit too-good-to-be-true, and several obviously scripted moments. Some Googling will reveal that the character of Panik is played by German model and skater, Kai Hillebrandt, and that the film is a blend of both reenactments and real home movies.

Though Panik is fictionalized, he is a composite character found in any skate crew out there — the hometown hero who will try the gnarliest trick to further his legend, who could be good at just about anything but chooses to skate, often to the chagrin of parents. (Even superficially, one would think the actor’s resemblance to Natas Kaupas was part of the casting decision.) Denis Paraceck may not be real, but every skater knows someone like him.

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