Jimmy Carlin Wins Battle At the Berrics On His Day Off

RIP John Hughes

Sometimes it seems SoCal wundergoon Jimmy Carlin is living out this unholy skateboard version of “Ferris Bueler’s Day Off.” As in, this sort of weird, spastic dorky dude busts various moves, gets the girl, the fancy car, triumphs over adversity and gets away with everything even though he probably shouldn’t. Or maybe he should? His personal brand tends to be rather in-your-face and proactive, but it seems to be working for him, and it wouldn’t be a huge stretch to walk outside and see him lipsyncing “Dream Police” aboard a festive parade float. He’s having a good time, like the Tiltmoders, and also like the Tiltmoders, enjoys the luxury of being stupid crazy good without looking like he’s trying much at all. Which brings us to today’s feature, the “Flippity Flop Pit Stop,” which includes a handful of flatground maneuvers that I personally have conceived of only in my most fevered nightmares. Also, he assigns them funny names.

You gotta wonder what the dude is gonna do for his next video part. Tim O’Connor has faced similar dilemmas. Is it all business with the party saved for the credit roll? Mix it up and hope for the best? Or perhaps… lifestyle hammers? Like it matters; the Jimmy Carlin experience is to trip on a gold ingot and fall into a pile of beautiful women who just ordered pizza. We Cameron Fryes of the world can only watch via VX3000.*

*Or whatever Panasonic camera they use for the HD

For The Record

In 1988, pro skateboarder Mike Vallely revolutionized the skateboarding sport

My pleas to let anticipation and tension build ahead of the inevitable BATB Round 2: Daewon Song’s Revenge having fallen on deaf ears, exhaustive coverage of the first quadrant is already under way so I suppose I ought to post my picks for posterity, seeing’s how I’m already 1-for-2 or however it’s termed in actual sporting phrasology. After hanging tough in one of those Es games of skate a few years back and that surprise caballerial kickflip last time around I thought Jamie Thomas had a little bit more in him, but he did not; perhaps chomping too many frontside k-grinds. BTO fared a bit better in the Cole v. Vallely matchup, but just barely, as the Colester’s good-natured agreement to bend the rules in favor of ’80s Skate Rags maneuvers produced probably one of the most fun to watch episodes thus far. Honestly I thought Mike V was pretty amiable about the whole thing and it would’ve been amazing to see one of these with Eric Koston or Mike Carroll. Let this stand as a warning, kids, a cautionary tale of what can happen to your switch heelflips if you choose to focus your energy on celebrity hockey blogging and acting in Kevin James vehicles.