Whopper!

Jason Lee at his finest. My buddy had this graphic in an everslick, those were the days.

Julian Stranger

Wish I had a better scan but this was sick, 1990! Post SF earthquake.

one more

I had to squeeze in just one more, how insane is this kid. Not only does he clear the fence, he gaps the sidewalk too, with a backside 180 flip! Are you kidding me. Nick Dompierre and the rest of the Real team continue to be one of the most underrated skate teams.

Will Skate for Food!

One of the best ads ever. I actually have this t-shirt, even as a kid I recognized its significance and hung on to it. Unlike the countless other skate items that I traded/sold or threw away.

Merry Christmas, see you in the new year.

This weekend at the berrics

Berra and Koston step up. Don't think Berra is going to make it through this round, and how can you not put your money on Koston...should be good.

Winter skating

All hands on deck

Jon and his Westside crew won this crazy Red Bull contest. It was held on the deck of a battle ship, not sure if they were allowed to 50-50 the cannon's, but rad non the less. Lookin good jon!

This weekend at the berrics

This weekend at the berrics a few what should have been decent games of skate were a little underwhelming.
First off Carroll vs. WIlson, two heavy weights but can you ever see their age. Younger dudes pop so much higher, they still have it but definitely not the pop of todays young guns. Good to see Carroll take it, this being his VBS week and all.
Round two, Reynolds vs. Castillo. I honestly thought this would be the better of the two but little d, you let us down. If only there had been a 2 inch manny pad, daniel would have killed. As Reda said "you shoulda poisoned him!"
Speaking of Daniel Castillo, he has to win some lifetime AM award at some skate award show. Seriously, did anyone think he would ever turn pro? Have all the respect in the world for this kid/man sticking to it. Does anyone know how old he really is? Was he like 7 in those world videos, or is he dirty thirty like most of you reading this.

"hamburger illiturate people"

Is this a word, maybe Stacy Peralta knows?

Sunday mail

In December you can get mail 7 days a week, these came today! The pictures do not even come close to showing how amazing these are. I missed out on the Jason Jesse's a few years ago, they had a steel insole for kick starts. There was no way I was missing out on these. From the box to the grips, not to mention the shoes incredible.

Mo takes it!

Another epic battle at the berrics but Mo holds on for the win. Furby what is up with that hair? My two year old son is rockin the same do!

More of Mike V. not Carroll

See more Mike Vallely videos at Shred or Die

As you can tell I am over Mike and his meathead antics. Read recently he is now hosting call in radio show giving relationship advice. Nice Mike, keep up the good work! Here's a little compilation of his career, from good to bad, to good,and back to bad.

Carroll Brothers

Thought I knew alot about the Carroll's, I can't even imagine having a conversation like that with my mother at 15! Despite everything they have gone on to be two of the most successful skaters in the industry, inspiring.

The Vert Button

Not for this dude, Max Schaaf! His parts in Real's Non-Fiction and on were always some of the best vert skating, in my opinion. He is the only guy on vert who would pop out of his lip tricks. Smith grind to ollie out at full speed, back tail to ollie out mach ten. Simple but sick and clean.

For those of you who don't know "the vert button" is something Brian Schaffer from SPOT coined. It used to be that every team had the token vert guy and they always had a part in the video. If they were lucky you watched their part once (the 1st time you see the video) from then on in it was fastforward...hence the vert button.

Max is still killing it on his board and has also made quite a name for himself in the motorcycle world. If you haven't already check out his blog

FUCKERS

I know another non-skate post, but what the hell is going on with our government! Liberals get the worst results in recent history and now they might be leading the country...are you fucking kidding me! To top off of Dion is only temporary and Bob Rae is in the running for leadership. Hello, Bob fuckin Rae as our Primeminister! If this goes down I am going to seriously think twice about moving south of the boarder. Is our leadership pool so shallow that Bob Rae is a viable option.

Oh and thanks for making my stocks tank even more boys, we all really needed that. Was that part of your economic plan...fuckers!

slapmagazine.com

Was pretty bummed when I heard they were going exclusively online, but must admit their new digital mag looks good so far. Come to think of it have not seen a real slap mag north of the boarder for some time and have been reading it online for awhile now. Looks like they have used a lot of the suggestions from the slapboards. Already have a good interview with Alex Olsen. Nice work slap!

double flip craze!!

The worst game of skate (so far), followed by the best. Thought Donovan was done but he killed with the double flips!! Check the berrics for proof. If anyone knows how to embed berrics vids let me know.

back to skating, sort of...

Skate 2 from shad lambert on Vimeo.

This is about as real as skating will get for the next few months. Looks fun though.

Marc Jacobs Bugaboo

Thank God this did not come out a few years ago, my wife would have been all over it!

The man, the myth,...

It's amazing to see what he accomplished in such a short period of time, inspiring.

speaking of education...

2008 Latest Edition - Did You Know 3.0 - From Meeting in Rome This Year - The funniest videos clips are here

I saw an earlier version of this video just last year. Already many of the stats have changed. What do you teach kids when all they have to do is google it? To think, collaborate, problem solve, create, express, (skateboard) etc...easier said than done. If interested visit  http://www.ted.com/ find out what can be done!

Grade 4 math lesson

Wish I could work this into a Grade 4 math lesson.

http://www.matixclothing.com/video_player/videos/tangram_bts.html

This is the behind the scenes check out the final commercials as well. Not only is the skating sick the concept is amazing!

Vans Showdown incident

There has been much discussion about the now infamous Mike V. incident at the Vans Showdown this year. Up until now the story had mostly been made up of bits and pieces from the slap message boards...until now. The following is from skateparkoftampa's site. Its a long read, but well worth it.

he Mike Vallely Incident at Vans Downtown Showdown 2008

Posted on Friday, November 14, 2008 
By Jay Brundege, Sole Tech Events Coordinator

I was standing right at the fence when the now infamous Mike V. vs. Creature Lee drama started and it could have easily been solved with a conversation. Mike V. approached Lee, maybe with a conversation in mind, I doubt it, but Lee kind of laughed it off and this turned Mike V. into a raging, level-five, Gorgoth monster, leading to punches being thrown in the vicinity of Lee's chest and throat. No face punches...YET. The Gorgoth got more furious and pushed Lee into the fence with a well executed shirt grab-and-twist, at the neck. However, he released Lee pretty quickly and starting walking away, to check again that his family was OK. When he passed by Lee on his way back, he stuck a finger in Lee's face and swore some more, threatening more violence if Lee threw anything else into the crowd, specifically towards his family. Once he arrived at the far end of the Creature obstacle run-up, Gorgoth turned around and saw that Lee was yucking it up and mocking him in front of everyone along the fence. This really pissed off the Gorgoth and his rage elevated to a level-eight, Dumb-Band Gorgoth....almost to a full-on, level-ten, Wastoid Gorgoth Troll King!!!!! 

So the now fully enraged and puffed up Gorgoth came back to the fence line, right next to the camera dolly setting on the ground and that's when he starting banging Lee into the fence, and in turn, the fence was being pushed into innocent spectators and kids. Wait, the same thing that caused him to become so furiously violent, his family and kids being endangered, is now causing him to put other families and kids in danger. Oh the irony.....although I don't think Gorgoths or Trolls of any level have a conscience, certainly not towards humanoids, or their offspring. 

The Gorgoth threw more punches and finger pokes, the likes of which I've only seen ringside at WWF matches, into the chest and neck of Creature Lee. After the furious chest poking and neck punching, Gorgoth became aware of the crowd at the fence-line yelling to stop, because kids were being crushed against the fence, and walked away again. 

Lee, feeling very lucky to be alive, after a few maulings at the hand of one of Dumb-Rock's highest level of enraged Gorgoths, was now very aware of just how serious this Gorgoth was. Being the Brand Director at Creature has probably prepared young Lee to battle Gorgoths, Dragons, Giant Rats, Trolls and many other monsters from the Skateboard Industry Swamp of Despair and Anguish, but apparently this was no ordinary Gorgoth... 

Gorgoth returned and was still furious and slightly embarrassed by his display of power and poking ability. Creature Lee thought it might help to calm the Gorgoth if he approached him (dummy..) and offered his apologies for the harm that certainly could have, but didn't, come to Gorgoth's fragile brood had the board actually hit them. Gorgoth, being certain that Lee had not suffered enough, and ignoring Creature Lee's attempt to apologize, tried to further inflict pain and suffering with more punching, poking, slapping and pushing until it was finally broken up by the skaters and photogs standing at the end of the fence line. Gorgoth and Lee went their separate ways and this was the end of the drama inside the Creature Pentagram of Death Pit. 

Now, I won't defend the Gorgoth's action in any way but Creature Lee did throw a deck into a completely unsuspecting crowd with at least a small amount of deliberate abandon. I say deliberate because A, it sounds cool and B, I was standing there when it all started and Lee told the tweens standing inside the fence that he was going to launch the deck into the crowd and it would "probably hit some kook not paying attention" and told them to watch because it would be funny. Keep in mind, there was no announcement of a product toss, only people in the front 5 or 6 rows of bodies packed against the fence, and paying attention solely to Lee, could even see what was going on and he launched the deck clear into the picnic tables near Van Doren's BBQ set-up. Little did Lee know that Mike V's family might be the "kooks not paying attention" and it would awaken the sleeping Gorgoth, bringing with it a fantasy world of anger and rage. If it clocked my kid or me, and I wasn't part of, or near what I knew to be a product toss, I would have probably thrown some punches too. Especially if it hit a toddler or similarly fragile person that doesn't deserve to be injured or startled over something they aren't aware of, or a part of. 

So even though Lee certainly deserved some kind of come-correct measure, it could have been perfectly served with a nice warning and some awesome heckling. Mike didn't see it hit, or come near, his kids, he just saw it thrown and was looking out for his people to see where it landed. When he determined that it was close enough for him to be mad, that's when he went ape-shit. Lee could have just offered to apologize and acted a little concerned about the kids, whether they were Mike V's or otherwise, but he chose to clown on the Gorgoth and shit got crazy. 

I was counting on a brawl of some sort between Gorgoth and the Creatures of Doom but within 10 minutes of this happening, I passed Mike V and his entourage near the Black Label Dive Bar, on his way out. His head was down, his family was trailing behind and I couldn't help but wonder how he must have felt. How do you explain to your kids why they had to leave early, or if he even tried to explain what happened to them. Despite his "chivalrous" attempt at defending his family, there was no honor in his actions after the first 30 seconds, and by the way he carried himself on his way out, it was clear that he was not a proud man. The Creature of Doom Goons didn't have to beat him up, he defeated himself. 

that's my story and I'm sticking to it. and Mike, I'm sorry I called you a Gorgoth, but dude.....you certainly weren't human. 

change in 09!
Jay 

Jason Jesse

Streets of Fire! What do frontside airs, terrorist suspect, and choppers have in common...only on thing Jason Jesse!

Gonz

"San Francisco is like a retirement village for  young kids" - Mark Gonzales

Check http://www.fourstarclothing.com/default.html 

Bad Brains

Saw this today, if it were on a t-shirt I'd buy it...said it before, will say it again, where is Canada's Obama? Anyone out there with a little inspiration please!!!

That's a cover!

Amazing!

Tony Hawk Tour

A few years prior to this I rolled my ankle for the last time, and it really did me in. So much so that I didn't  skate for a couple of years. I was close to dare I say "quitting". Until one night out I was at a local bar having a few and this came on. I hadn't been paying attention to skating during my hiatus. Seeing this tour actually got my stoked to skate again. I can't remember all of the skaters on the tour but Mike V. was definitely one of them. Not exactly sure but I think he was riding for Black Label at the time, which seemed like a good fit. 

If riding for World was his "skating peak", this era was his "commercial peak". From here on in it gets good, or bad depending how you look at it.

Mega Scary!

See more skate, snow, surf, and moto videos at Shred or Die

Not that I would ever think of trying the mega ramp, but if I did this would probably be the best possible outcome...yikes!

thanks chrome ball

Thanks http://chromeballincident.blogspot.com/ for the scan. This old TWS Check Out was amazing I can remember seeing it like it was yesterday. Natas, Vallely, and Gonz...classic! I know I am regressing a bit in the whole timeline but to good to pass up.
Check Chromeball for more classic Check Outs.

Democracy

Over 30 million Americans who have never voted before will today. That is literally a nation of people who have never had a say in their nations leader. Power to the people! 

Zero Two

I might have the timeline wrong on this (probably do) but it was around this time that Mike and Ed started sharing their Vegetarian ways with the skate world. If I am not mistaken Mike's Barnyard graphic had something to do with this as well. I can remember reading interviews with Mike where he preached about vegetarinism and being a pacifist.

In addition to TV, mike, ed and I think Sheffy for minute rode for a shoe company called Zero Two. Their claim to fame was that no animal products were used to make them. They were modelled after a chukka and were made of the non-hook velcro (fury side). I actually owned a pair, probably mailordered from the classic CCS catalogue. They were actually pretty rad shoes, they came with a velcro ollie pad that you could move around. I could skate in them use the ollie pad then take it off for school. Those vegetarians had some good ideas!

Anyways at this point Mike is still a fun lovin' skater who couldn't think of hurting anyone or anything, not even a living thing.

The Peak...

For those of you (all 2) keeping track. As far as I am concerned Mike hit his peak somewhere during the world era (88-92). After that it was all downhill (see above for confirmation). TV may have been the start of better things for Ed (turned into Television, then Ed left to form Toy Machine through Vision), ol' Mikey wasn't on the same path. Side note; Ethan Fowler, one of my all time favourites rode for Television back in the day. Check Ethan out on Epiclylaterd's vbs.tv. Back to Mike...Be sure to check the slap boards for his latest antics.

1992 TV!

See more Mike Vallely videos at Shred or Die

revolutionary move, revolutionary board

Never actually owned this board but did have the Vision Double Deck. Which I recently learned was made from the same press. Could stall nose picks for days with that thing. If haven't already check out The Man Who Souled the World. A ton of skate history.

Where did I leave off...

Oh yeah! Mike was throwing down no complies, running through cemeteries and was the new face of Powell & Peralta, then out of nowhere this happened! He joined world the revolution began. Skateboarding would never be the same again. 

Leaving Powell was a huge move back in day, Powell and Peralta was the holly grail of skateboarding. Up until then just about every skateboarder dreamed of skating for them. When Vallely left it changed everything, all of the sudden skateboarding wasn't about the big companies (powell, vision). For those of us skating at the time it really started the DYI attitude in skateboarding that is so common today. 

Although Rocco was the brains behind World Industries it is hard to imagine what skateboarding would be like if Mike hadn't left Powell. Rocco had to sign someone big or it never would have taken off.

It's true our very own Mike V. is quite possibly responsible for what skating is today. Even as I write this I am shaking my head. 

It's 1988 (right after Public Domain) and Mike V. single handedly turned the skateboard industry on its head. At this point you are still the shit Mike!

Oh Mike!

More to come...

For the most part my life is pretty tame these days, once my son is in bed I am free to do whatever around the house, like blog about what a dick Vallely has turned into. For some reason my life has been on fast forward the past week. I actually have a life (this week), seeing concerts, chance encounters with NHL'ers etc. Long story short this leaves little time for things like blogs.

Have no fear, I have not forgotten about our dear friend Mike V. and next week I will return with a vengeance. Until then check out www.thrashermagazine.com for their Rumble in Ramona footage. So rad too see this side of skating again! 

Public Domain

Public Domain (1988) came at a time when Powell Peralta

was starting to loose some of its popularity. Then along came 

Mike V.'s part, raw east coast style, that just made you want to

skate everything!

Immediately following this video I went to my nearest army 

surplus picked up a pair of army pants, saved up my money 

for a Vallely deck (elephant in the top ten of skate graphics), 

and learned how to no comply. Oh yeah and ran through a few 

cemeteries. 

As a kid I never really thought about the fact that he wore the 

same gear throughout his video part, only later did we learn 

that Stacy insisted they wear the same clothes to make it seem 

like it was all filmed in a day, fooled me.

It was 1988 and Mike V. was the shit...let's examine the next 

20 years over the next few posts....

What ever happened to...

What ever happened to Mike Vallely, yeah that's really him, most likely in the late 80's. 

We have all seen the what happened to (insert pro's name here)? My intention for the next little while is to post about skaters that we know all to well what  happened to. 

I thought who better to kick it off then Mike V. himself. Someone as a kid I idolized, and now wish had nothing to do with skateboarding. Stay tuned...

Sean Young

One of my all time favorites. This photo is from 93' check the bearing cover wheels! 

Sean was just raw skating, he was part of the original Antihero crew. He killed SF in the early mid nineties. His hill bomb in the pouring rain is one of craziest things I have ever seen. I used to skate union square around the time he was there but never ran into him. The ledges there were tall and raw, not many people skated them. Sean did and would grind the hell out of them, full on sparks flying! While the rest of us hit up the "regular" sized green benches. 

Was just in SF this summer and someone said they had seen him around. He pretty much disappeared in the late nineties. I hope he is still pushing around having fun on a board.

Photo compliments of http://4qconditioning.blogspot.com/ max schaaf's blog, always a must hit when surfing.

Montessi

Da Deal is Dead from John Montesi on Vimeo.

Have had the pleasure of getting to know Jon over past few years amazing dude and still rips. His part is about 10 min. in, never new he ollied the gonz...sick Jon! www.westsideskateshop.com 

I was probably 15 when this video came out, and dressed just like them "goofy boy" all the way. It will be interesting to see if that style ever comes back into style for skaters. I say that cause I think ravers still dress like this. If it does come back I still have my maroon 40's shorts/pants stashed away. Now if I'd only kept my green Airwalk Enigmas!

This weekend...

One of the best contests going in the skateboard world. You'll never top Tampa Pro/Am but if you want to see the "non contest" dudes rip this is the one to watch. From Omar Hassan scalping himself to floater ollies from Alex Olson, this one has it all. The obstacles are always a must see, the Girl crew usually has the most original "mini mega" and last years "girlz gonz wild"(replica of EMB's gonz gap) complete with EMB locals! Real usually has something gnarly and the others are somewhere in between. Real's bank to ledge from a few years ago had some of the craziest stuff go down so far. The best part is you don't have to be there you can watch it live at www.skateboard.com @ 5:00pm PST this Sat.

Hesh vs. Fresh

Can't wait to see this...

Treat yourself....

If you haven't already treat yourself to one of these www.skatebook.tv 

Came in the mail today, amazing! Salman Agah killing it...on and off the board.

Feeble Grinders

Matt Reason had one of the best...

thanks police.informer for the scan

feeble attempt

I spend enough time on the net, I figure its time I start contributing to it. So here is my first feeble attempt.