Better Days

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“Dylan Rieder’s contribution to all this isn’t quantifiable, which is partly the point. He rose up with the technical chops and California-dream profile that opened a potential path to a Ryan Sheckler lifestyle enabled by the deepest-pocketed surf and sport gear sponsors. Instead he sought counsel from addled iconoclasts AVE and Dill, pared back his trick repertoire and designed skateable loafers; his Street League runs read like some lyrical argument for quality over quantity, and he got to see the movement he helped shape flow across borders in ‘cherry,’ setting one of the more vibrant arcs for skating so far this decade.” — Boil the Ocean. Rest in Peace Dylan Rieder ♥

A link to the best video part of the 2010s.

There’s a new old bad obstacle at 12th & A. Also the barrier might be gone from TF?

An eight-minute compilation of Strobeck outtakes via his Instagram clips.

Already getting preemptive anxiety about when The Bunt’s season ends, and a new episode is no longer a regular part of the QS office’s work week for a while. The new one with Rick McCrank is great, as always.

Anthony Correa gets Bob Shirt’d. Hoboken Ledges are my favorite Jersey spot too :(

Always had a soft spot for cheesy nineties KTU dance songs. A bunch of Jersey dudes did a summer trip to Montreal. The nollie inward heel is #lol.

Village Psychic dwells on the difficulty of an effective [regs] inward heelflip.

Skateboard Story interviewed Marty Engren of Flippin’ Goods about running a European skate distro based on #small #brandz (Theories, Bronze, QS, others.)

The Watermelon man is throwing an event at the 2nd Nature Park this Wednesday.

Rick + Chico + Gonz + others mess around at Tompkins and elsewhere.

Gavin Nolan has a new welcome part for Mighty Healthy w/ cameos from Connor et al.

Jenkem’s Tim O’Connor Show sat down with Ian Reid and Mike Carroll to talk about Ian’s interesting forays into bondage photography, traveling to Chernobyl, etc.

The best ledges in Manhattan are now partially blocked off by scaffolding. You could still skate a lot of the spot, but half of it is super uncomfortable because you’re always at least four feet away from some bolt sticking out.

On this 10/17, please allow me to point you in the direction of “paint like Play-Doh the alfredo Lambo, the shrimp scampi Chevy and the guts look like egg yolk.”

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: All QS readers who hate sports are probably going to have to put up with a couple Russell Westbrook highlights getting thrown into #QSTOP10s this next half year. 2017 MVP let’s get it.

Quote of the Week: “I’m not sure I could live with somebody who could nollie backside 180 a bump to bar.” — Conor Prunty

Shout out to the boy Jonky Jack.

Watermelonism 3

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Watermelonism 3 is the latest from Alexander Mosley, the most esteemed traveller that many of us know. Filmed in Puerto Rico, Colombia and New York, and uploaded online just before he dips off to the southern hemisphere for an undetermined amount of time / however long the upcoming winter lasts. While more mainstream corners of the skate nerd world are gassed off the #rare #Gino #appearance in Boys of Summer, we’re over here reveling in any morsel of Ben Nazario or Paul Tucci footage.

Alex has a new striped edition of his boards and a new tee over on his site, Watermelonism.com, so you should go support the cause over there :)

Previously: Watermelonism 2, Watermelonism 1

New Watermelonism: Travel Melon

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Photo via Colin Sussingham

Most people travel for one, two weeks at a time. Every December, Alexander Mosley — creator of the Watermelon Video and Dos Sandias — buys a one-way ticket to a place without a “real” winter. (The “real” is in quotes because people in San Juan have told me they don’t swim in the winter…when the water temperature is 80 degrees.) He usually doesn’t come back until New York’s average temperature levels out above 70. Something to consider when you’re crying about winter this upcoming February ;)

The latest Watermelonism installment is a tribute to always being on the move. Half filmed during a six-month stint all over Puerto Rico — the freest place in all of America — with the other half back in New York. Includes some of the last bits of St. Vincent’s Banks footage that you’ll ever see. (There’s nothing to skate at the new plaza FYI.)

Support Watermelonism by buying a Travel Melon tee or board.

Alternate YouTube Link

Includes a Ben Nazario cameo.

Still Trending: Puerto Rican Winters

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Photos by Zach Baker

With winter coming back around tomorrow, now may be a good time to vicariously live through the week we spent in Puerto Rico at the start of 2015. The island’s status as skateboarding’s premier tropical getaway for ~$300 RT has been well-documented on the internet this winter: Lakai spent some time there, all the dudes from Richmond who are heavy on Vine were just there, and the Most Productive Crew™ in New York skateboarding has still yet to release all documented material from their February trip.

Our time spent two months ago was not very “productive” in the traditional sense, as the purpose of the trip was leisure rather than business and/or skateboarding. Most of the footage came via winter Puerto Rican resident, Alexander Mosley, who just put together a clip for his website, Watermelonism.com.

We covered the San Juanese skateboard getaway phenomenon on the site last year, but we did get to travel a bit around the east side island this time around. That means dipping into towns with a couple beachside skate spots, and higher amounts of chickens and stray dogs running around than in the more Americanized San Juan. One of the highlights was a day trip to Vieques, which can be seen throughout the final minute of the above clip, in addition to the opening Al Davis line / Jake Johnson ollie up the stage, 5050 the hubba in the GX1000 “PM Puerto Rico” clip.

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Watermelonism Premiere: Dos Sandias (2008)

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^Favorite skater

In 2008, Dos Sandias premiered on a VX2000 LCD screen in front of the Fish to a captivated audience. (For those who may not know, a VX2000 screen is about half the size of an iPhone screen.) It was one of the best premieres ever, trumping the other box office-dominating cinematic event from the same weekend. DVD copies were sold through Autumn, 2nd Nature and this website, but — much like its predecessor, The Watermelon Video — many never got a chance to see it.

Watermelonism.com is selling a special run of Dos Sandias boards and tees to go along with the online premiere of the video, and to commemorate a special time for skateboarding in New York, especially for our group of friends. It was when a lot of the principal people in the first QS clip were still skating regularly, and before a lot of the people who are good at skateboarding moved here ;)

Dos Sandias features appearances from Alexander Mosley (in perhaps the only video part to be filmed entirely in Jordans?), Miles Marquez, Ty Lyons, T-Bird, Mike Gigliotti, Matt Mooney, Brian Brown, Doug Brown, Lurker Lou, Jose Pereyra, Jake Johnson, and Ben Nazario. Online for the first time ever. Enjoy.

Previously: Online Premiere — The Watermelon Video