8. Auby Taylor — ‘Clowny’

What era archivists such as John Shanahan and Aiden Mackey have done for the ‘Photosynthesis’ period and 1996 Warped Tour, respectively, onetime gap tamer Auby Taylor pursues to a more deeply esoteric level, recreating a brief interlude in Texas’ storied vert history. There is something primal in his float and fakie ollies and method tweakers and inverts; his bulky, padded up silhouette trips some chemical synapses in the viewer’s brain, excitements long submerged in the collective subconscious, similar to the newly unearthed doppleganger for Texas’ long-dead Clown Ramp that Auby Taylor here skates for the entirety of this video. But. Is it authentic enough for Bobby Puleo, arch critic of the modern scene and noted coinesseur of backyard ramp skating?

How Many Months Do Yall Give Nick Trapasso’s Company With The Misspelled Name?

Probably it’s yet another sign of getting older and higher strung when looking at the newly launched Life Extention Skateboard Group LLC and wondering not so much at its lifespan as much as the fact that it came together in the first place — when bros ten years older no doubt mumbled and grumbled the same thing about a decade back, around the unsteady unveiling of Baker. Say what you will about the various and sundry looks pursued by Jim Greco in the years since, but the Baker Bootleg boys bottled and guzzled the lightning of a very particular aesthetic that proved a lot longer-lived than many would’ve thought.

I’m not sure what the Life Extention crew got together for the trade show, but they did approve a quote for a press release last month:
“The Life Extention Skateboard Group looks forward to working together with Blitz, to create an essential skateboard brand. Extend it,” said Trapasso.

As a fan of the recently rejailed Lennie Kirk and respecter of risk-taking, the blog is compelled to acknowledge guts, and the life-extenters look to be packing them — spearheaded by one of the industry’s spaciest cadets, sporting a misspelled name*, co-signed by malcontent recluse J Strickland, formed in the middle of an economic slow patch that’s steadily separating the old and infirm from the pack. Not that I’d begrudge the existence of a Tom Cruise-inspired company backed by some of the finer kickflippers to fumble a tattoo gun in recent years, with the laid-back gumption to make good on the vow to deal decks out of their garage. If anything more of these kinds of shots oughtta be taken, even if the target’s invisible through a cloud of smoke and barrier of beer cans, to balance out the Business Plans For Dummies 2nd Edition strategizing and and paint-by-number logo decks pumped out each season. And what if they do blow it? Those early Big Brothers command classic status, and it was all those dudes could do to get issues out every couple months back then.

*Do you believe they did it that way on purpose?