Hope Springs Eternal

Flower power

Following on fellow team rider Jereme Rogers’ late-nite i-phone philosophizing, here we find his comparatively soft-spoken countryman and teammate Ryan Gallant in a season-specific ad that’s refreshing in more ways than one. The trick itself isn’t super hot, not “Put ‘Em In the Lac” hot anyway, but it’s nice enough, the angle is different, and personally I’m okay not being beaten over the head with ender-enders on each and every page. You know? Plan B as a company carries a lot of baggage* (though Massachusetts as the new Canada is an intriguing concept) but there are small things they get right now and then that make it a little harder to write them off entirely, abysmal graphics and reality TV car-wrecks aside. This ad, and the fact that they seem to have ditched the campaign idea in favor of generally running with whatever they’re feeling that month, transports me back to a time when the only skateboarder putting out rap albums held it down on Nickelodeon. The Scott Decenzo full-bleed switch backside tailslide last month was cool also.

*Insert Jereme Rogers Louis Vuitton-related rap lyric here

Lazy Sunday

Afternoon delight from Tom Penny

Koston’s Shoe Future Still In Limbo, I Find Myself Disagreeing With Tim Dowling

Guy Mariano on Converse like 15 years ago

As expected, the Guy Mariano VBS episodes have provided a pretty glorious wallow in the 90s nostalgia mudhole, and I was wondering what they would do when they got to the “Mouse” era – I kind of had this idea that they might just put up the part itself as the week’s episode and move on, because, really, what’s there to say that hasn’t been said a hundred times over and who wouldn’t watch it again.

But they did it up in properly nerdy fashion and got into editing choices, and pretty early on it’s brought up how they put the switch shove-it k-grind as the last trick, which really wasn’t something that resonated with me much at the time the video came out but does kind of represent not just the genius of “Mouse” and the way it was put together but to an extent videos of that whole time frame. Tim Dowling, who more or less achieved skateboard legend status himself off that part, talks about how he used to think the switch b/s tailslide shove-it ought to have been the last trick, which I’m sure prompted a whole other (younger) group to furrow their brows and mouth the words “nuh uh switch front shove crooks”… but both of these are far too on the nose, something that I’m sure Rick Howard completely understands and would instantly brush off with some muttered “uhh, it’s just a skate video” comment. Which would be true.

Whether or not Guy Mariano’s part in “Mouse” would still be the best part evar if it ended on (insert preferred/gnarlier trick here) is a question best left to those who deal in alternate dimensions and infinite worlds*… but I do think “Mouse” would’ve been a slightly lesser video had they put Koston last, big trick heroics and all. Perhaps the point is the build-to-a-peak model needn’t be the only way to look at putting together a part, similar to how the best-part-last-second-best-part-first-etc roadmap isn’t necessarily the sole path to skate video greatness. We’re all aware of Osiris’s problems but a nod to their ballsiness for ending not one but two vids on shared parts; as long as Baker Bros. productions tend to drag, and they do, they deserve credit for playing out the thread til the bleary frayed end. Or how about Foundation, giving the last section in their most recent production to an only sort of reinvigorated Ethan Fowler.

*like maybe Rick Ross

Green Mind

Though the color red has been more on my mind lately I thought today fitting for this pic of Jeff Grosso, to which I recently was hipped. Clean and green, just the way dear old Mama Gaia likes it. With that in mind, your thought for the day comes from this Vans interview with Grosso himself.

Last good book you read?
Elizabeth Gilbert‘s Eat, Pray, Love is fueled by a mix of intelligence, wit, and colloquial exuberance that is close to irresistible.

A New Horizon

Joey Pressey nosegrinds in Landscape’s “Horizons”

Probably you all remember how Jay-Z faced a challenge when the September 11 attack occurred on the same day he released his Blueprint CD, yet he prevailed over the long run because of how he married Beyonce while George W Bush prosecuted the war on global terror. Father Time will judge whether Landscape’s “Horizons” video can surmount the similarly formidable obstacle of dropping just as the Koston footwear sponsor galactic crisis broke loose, but Landscape, sometimes known as Mark Foster’s other other company, has one thing going for them that S. Carter never did, namely that they are not saddled with the albatross that was Memphis Bleek’s career in rap music.

Also they have Joey Crack who is really good and has apparently reverted to using both his given names (recall, if you will, a brief period of time when Jay-Z considered changing his name to “Rocky”). Someone said a few years back that Pressey was like a UK Danny Renaud, which I could sort of see, but the more I think about it, it’s probably more accurate to say that John Lupfer is an American Joey Crack. He’s awesome and has some interesting angles at South-Bank and a high-speed feeble grind but is this the part from the dude we (I) have been waiting for? Not sure. Need 2 study more ‘authentic’ Brit skate vids. Feelin ‘sad.’

Clocking in under the crucial 30-minute mark with a noisy, Workshoppy intro, “Horizons” also features some ams, younger and slimmer dudes who do a lot of nosebonks and backside tailslides on banks and long lines where the dude turns around, which always seem relaxing for some reason. Oh, and Nick Stansfield does one of those Chico Brenes backside flips where the board kickflips and then the dude 180s, super good.

Personally though the really hot skating lies with the old dudes like Soy Panday, who fully goes for the Zoo/”Mixtape” vibe via vintage Ghostface and speedy cruising. Fast, lots of ledges and next to nothing over three feet tall, a classic old-guy part and urban without overdoing it too much. And that loooong tailslide. This is one of the best parts I’ve seen this year I think actually. Snowy as well, a bit more muscle behind tricks like that backside flip over the huge hip, and the gangster kickflip to fakie, I think he uses a Britpop version of “Lady Marmalade” which is interesting. Plan to watch this a few times if you can – sunny afternoons, skateboarding in the city, fun summer ahead.

If you live in the UK they probably have this video all over; in the US think Unicron has it, or they used to.

No New Koston Shoe Sponsor Info In This Post About A Matt Bennett Trick

When I think back to Matt Bennett’s surprise debut in the “Good and Evil” video, with that song from the car commercial and some pretty questionable trick choices, it seems like he had a certain number of things working against him but right away I was pretty much a fan of this dude. Partly because the backside Barley grind was one of those I’d been hoping to see for a few years (though I seem to remember a Birdhouse kid pulling it… Vinny Gambardella?), and I guess partly because he’s got this weird scarecrow style that generally makes it work. And he does weird tricks, like this fakie backside tailslide. From the newer Thrasher which also contains a really balls-to-the-wall contents-spread sequence of Brandon Westgate.

RTFM

Struggling man

This week of course was marked by the earth-shaking news of Eric Koston’s abrupt coop-flying from Lakai, a major departure from the usual team moves (for instance, Koston’s migration to Lakai only three short years ago) that are telegraphed months in advance by whimsically named personalities on the SLAP board. That Frost Man, with a Berrics/4-Star/Koston shoe company out of Podium apparently ruled out, is reported to be making the most of playing the footwear field amid talk of Nike and Vans shopping sprees. With the most likely scenario (at least in our limited imaginations here at BTO) being that Koston fell on the financial sword for his erstwhile partners in the Flare, taking his sizable paycheck off the table to let Lakai live in the means to which it has become accustomed despite a crushing economic downturn, this may be the last great deal Koston does, so why not grab the brass ring? One has to wonder if he watches Donny’s final, fatal missed strike and, hours later, wakes up sweating and tormented by visions of fakie 360 flip switch frontside boardslides and the damning realization that nothing is forever… before easing back into his giant pile of money and snuggling amongst his several comely concubines.

But yet, that wasn’t THE most shocking bit of recent news, nor was it this bit of batty boarding courtesy of Chris Cole, Pennsylvanian Barbarian. (via the Plat)

No no, it is the fact that the skate video project that dare not speak its name may indeed become a reality: Tactical Manual 2 is apparently in the works and will include a full Tyrone Olson part. Now, if you don’t remember Tactical Manual there isn’t much hope or help for you on the internet, except for Snyderman’s part on youtube along with another dude twirling a dolphin flip down some stairs. However, it is still available on VHS. I wonder if VCRs are like rotary-dial phones to “kids today.”

Wasted Youth

No point trying to sum up this experience in words. Sort of like the Nandez “gargoyle” vid. Wow

Update

Eye Candy

Alternate title: Game gear

Since I now see how I was kinda riding off frozen in carbonite’s recent Nunez posting last time around, I suppose I’ll keep the (ahem) ball rolling and quasi-bite Bloggy Omega’s Joey Pepper item in a certain kind of way, insofar as recognizing the dude’s apparent role as a sometime graphic design assistant when it came to those last glorious days of Aesthetics.

It was some time ago that I stumbled on the Tunney page, I think during the course of a fruitless Google Image Search for Kevin Taylor Aesthetics ads – specifically this bombastic backside 180 nosegrind on one of those Temple rails (I think?) where he’s letting it all hang out in typical KT fashion; one of those skaters who pretty much never ever produces a bad photo. I might try and argue that Kevin Taylor photos as often as not turn out better than the footage, but it would depend on the day, how I was feeling at the time, what was for lunch, etc.

One thing or another prompted me to save the link and not long afterward, in a classic “plate of shrimp” moment, my Mozilla ran aground at the Handheld Games Museum, where a couple other series of Aesthetics graphics are archived (Gamer, pictured overhead, and Arcade). All of which got me thinking back on the, er, artistically beautiful and/or pleasing appearance of Aesthetics graphics, ads, Rob Welsh’s switch 360 flips and so on.

Now many pixels have been sacrificed to the ongoing eulogization of skateboard graphics’ import, relevance and general quality, all of which are agreed to have slipped since [insert golden age here], thanks to such usual suspects as the heat-transfer process, series boards, kids these days, and that ever-present creative bugbear, corporate influence. Which may or may not be true, although great graphics still are being produced here and there.

I think though the generally sweet quality of Aesthetics graphics is usually left out when discussing what should’ve been Sal Barbier’s great legacy, where the conversations usually focus on the amazing squad and the tragic migration to Zoo, which as far as I can tell didn’t treat anybody especially good. Barbier served a short and probably thankless TM stint, Welsh wandered in board-sponsor limbo after fleeing the Ecko empire, Pepper nearly quit skating, Clyde Singleton I guess wrangled a foot surgery before getting out, John Igei had to wait a couple years before going to W.E. for the belated pro nod, and Kevin Taylor has to skate in Zoo York shoes. Is the latter “worth it” though if it funds monstrous backside heelflips and a car note? Probably that’s one of those questions that can only truly be answered in the afterlife, or perhaps the Slap board.

PS, if anybody knows that KT ad I blathered about earlier, by all means post it up somewheres or point me towards it.

Skateboarding Changed For Old Guys Today

Stay Old

…But you don’t have to take BTO’s word for it. The supreme Javier Nunez in the new Transworld, arriving on newsstands whenever that usually goes down.

Perhaps now would be the time for him to leverage his “Kids” credit; the Javier “Java” Nunez IMDB page has registered a 14% bump in traffic this week, no doubt owing as much to his taking out Rick McCrank as that star turn on NYPD Blue. Ah, the 90s.

So yeah, I don’t know if Javier Nunez technically counts as an old guy really, but since he came up under Kareem in the Menace era I feel like he sort of fits the bill. Plus he continues to hold a stake in the top five tricks busted over both the Brooklyn Banks wall and the Flushing Meadows grate-ledge deal.