Quick Hits Archive: December 20 - December 26
Jan 04 2008 / Los Angeles, CADecember 26, 2007
Millen Injured Prepping For Red Bull Experiment
Published: 1:23 a.m. PT by Me
Off-road driver Rhys Millen, who was scheduled to perform a record-breaking stunt at the Red Bull Experiment on New Year's Eve in Las Vegas, was badly injured practicing on December 24 and will miss the event.
Millen, who has also made a name as a drift racer, was aiming to be the first person to backflip an off-road vehicle while FMX rider Robbie Maddison will attempt a new long distance world jumping record for a motorcycle -- more than 300 feet.
Millen released the following statement:
"After successfully landing the 360-degree backflip three times into the cardboard boxes in training, I am disappointed that our last jump ended in an accident. As I lay here in the hospital with three broken vertebrae in my neck and two compressed and broken vertebrae in my back, I am also disappointed that we cannot perform the 360-degree backflip at the Red Bull Experiment on New Year's Eve, but I'm happy that I will be able to walk again. I look forward to watching Robbie Maddison do his 300-plus-foot motorcycle jump in Las Vegas."
It's not known at this time if Red Bull will try and replace Millen with another athlete/trick. For more about the event check out the official site...
Rhys Millen - cr. Simon Cudby | Red Bull Photo Files
So What Exactly is Surfing's Offseason?
Published: 1:02 a.m. PT by Me
Lest you think there is an offseason for surfing, which saw the Foster's ASP World Tour wrap up last week with the Billabong Pipeline Masters in Hawaii, the first event of the men's World Qualifying Series (WQS) which off course helf determine who will be on the Dream Tour in 2009, starts January 4, 2008.
The O'Neill Sebastian Inlet Pro is considered the East Coast's top surf contest and one of the top three in the U.S. (after Trestles and the US Open). A field of 192 surfers will vie for the title, which has been won by the Hobgood brothers the last two years (CH in '07 and Damien in '06).
The event is now classified as a five-star event, which means more points for those lucky enough to finish high... See the official site here for more.
Meanwhile, The Eddie is getting some press as the contest remains in its holding period. Australia's The Age has a short story about big wave surfer Tony Ray who is only one of four Aussies who have been invited to the event (better known as the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational In Memory Of Eddie Aikau). It's a short, interesting read about someone you may not have hard of before... Read more. Surprisingly, Sports Illustrated also has a story about it here
-- but it's pretty short (not surprisingly). Main focus is about Mark Healey and it's worth a read...
Dennis Enarson Gets Pressed
Published: 12:31 a.m. PT by Me
Watch as young gun BMX rider Dennis Enarson (all of 16-years-old) gets interviewed on Vital BMX by fellow pros like Scotty Cranmer and Josh Harrington about all the important parts of being a big Dew Tour-Winning BMX Pro (you may recall he won Dirt at the ). Some of the more interesting questions include the ever-exciting boxer or briefs and has he gotten more action since his success. But there's also a question or two about his favorite type of riding (it's Dirt) and about some of his favorite riders.
Aside from all the questions, the great thing is the footage, which includes Enarson nailing just about every trick he can (and the occasional slam or two)...
See it below or if it doesn't show up go to VitalBMX.
Tara Llanes Comes Home (Catch Her Tonight on Access Hollywood)
Published: 12:04 a.m. PT by Me
Tara Llanes is back home in Southern California after being hospitalized in Denver at Craig Hospital since breaking her back back in September in a horrific mountain biking accident.
Llanes, who will be featured in an episode of "Access Hollywood" tonight (Wednesday, check local listing), has been very candid and open in her MySpace Blog about her recovery -- both the good and the bad. In one of her more recent posts, she talked about coming to grips with her life as it is now:
I recently did a show for Access Hollywood, which I believe will be aired on December 26th. They asked me if they could show my crash footage and I immediately said no, although I did tell them that I could get them the footage and they could watch it themselves if they wanted. Well, for some reason I ended up asking Hugh at Echo Entertainment for a copy myself. I have never watched my crash and haven't had any want, need, or desire to see it. I even asked when it was first aired with Jeep that it not be shown and they completely respected my wishes, which I want to again thank them for. The Access Hollywood producer didn't push me in anyway either to air the crash and also respected the way I felt about it.
About 15 minutes ago I watched my crash and broke down completely. I mean I f**king lost it. On one hand I knew I didn't need or even want to watch it, but on the other hand I've had this idea of what happened and just needed to know what I had done wrong. After watching it I didn't remember crashing like that at all. I mean I knew that I totally screwed up the entrance of the section, but what I saw was insane. My head was at least a foot below the landing. My hands never had a chance of getting off my bars. I hit with such force that I broke my T-12, T-11, L-1, and L-2 vertabrea.
And you know what. After I watched it and cried, and cried, and cried, and couldn't understand why I didn't put my hands out, or why I didn't pull up on the roller before the lip, Then I stopped crying. And the very next thing I thought about was this past year in Whister, B.C where I had a chance to ride some of the best trails in the world with some of the fastest racers in the world and I smiled. I remember that feeling. That feeling of being in the air just floating over and over and over again... Just floating for what seems like an eternity.
I will never forget what that feels like and so help me I will find a way to float again. Gawd I love my bike.
Read her full blog post and get the latest about Llanes on her MySpace Page. You can also help support her by visiting her Recovery Fund website.
Tara - November 3, 2007 - From her MySpace page
December 25, 2007 - Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
Video Roundup
Published: 1:06 a.m. PT by Me
Here are some videos to catch while you're ducking out from the rest of your family:
• Plan B's got some casual session footage up of P Rod and some of their other skaters at a spot full of smooth concrete benches aptly titled "Mess Around". The clip reminiscent of something you probably do on the daily with your friends at any local spot, it's just that these guys are probably better than you (no insult should be taken, these guys are actually better than 99% of the skaters out there). Check out the "Mess Around" clip here. Also check out the clip of Jereme Rogers trying dip for the first time Plan B has also put up, that stuff's disgusting.
• Transworld has posted some footage of skaters taking on different spots out West from Sacramento to Arizona. The footage freatures skating from the always dope Sean Malto, Taylor Bingaman, and the recently booted (?) from Think Lizard King. All in all there's some good stuff to check out in the clip which you can catch over here.
• Black Box Distribution (Jamie Thomas' distribution company for Zero, Fallen, etc.) has put up footage of various team riders dressed up as Santa Claus while doing the things they do the best (skate). Despite the costume and the festive nature of the clip it's still some dope skating. Check out Black Box's holiday clip here.
• Check out this clip from Crail Tap (the Girl Skateboards family) of Mike Mo pulling a 720 double flip. Goddamn those guys are good.
• Satori Wheels (makers of organic goods) has put up footage from their Proof Lab jam featuring mini-ramp action from some of their team including Robbie Holmes, Zack Gonzalez and others. You can check out the footage here.
"Big Black" Makes Money
Published: 12:34 a.m. PT by Me
Seems like being on 'Rob & Big', as well as being big and lovable, is continuosly paying off dividends for father-to-be Christopher "Big Black" Boykin as sunglass makers Optic have announced the special limited release "BB Edition" of its popular aviator model of sunglasses, the Wilshire. The BB Edition will feature white frames for the glasses as well as Big Black's now famous "BB" logo printed on the lens. The glasses will start retailing around March 2008 at about $110, which sound just about right for anything labelled "Limited Release", and if you've got a significant other you can probably make a cute couple by having her/him sport Rob Dydek's Optic model, the Haymaker. For more on Big Black's signature sunglasses check the announcement here. Also remember that the new season of 'Rob & Big' premieres on MTV January 8th. Surfing In 2008
Published: 12:11 a.m. PT by Me
As we mentioned a couple of days ago, just because the ASP World Tour and WQS are over doesn't necessarily mean that the entire surf contest season is done with. Last time we reminded you of the ASP Junior Tour. This time around its the group of North Shore contests that will be taking place in the next few months. Among them are Da Hui's Backdoor Shootout at the Banzai Pipeline running from January 2nd to the 13th, the Hard Rock Junior Pro for the Hawaii's top surfers age 21 and younger going from January 14th to the 25th, and the Monster Energy Pro a men's professional contest held alongside the Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic at the Banzai Pipeline from January 27th to February 6th, among others. Not to mention the Big Wave events including the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational In Memory Of Eddie Aikau whose waiting period runs until March, and the Mavericks Big Wave Surf Contest (though admittedly that's not in Hawaii). For more on these Hawaiin events check the article here.
Another thing of note are the Olympics-like International Surfing Association (ISA) events that have been announced for the early part of 2008 that includes the ISA World Masters Surfing Championship to be held from March 29th to April 6th in Peru, which pits the world's best surfers over the age of 35 in 5 separate divisions. More on the 2008 ISA events can be found here.
And finally in anticipation of the 2008 season SurferMagazine.com's writers have made their "fearless" predictions for 2008. The list starts of on a out-on-a-limb prediction that "An American will not win the World Title on either the Men's or Women's World Tours". Actually after reading that one over and thinking about the dominance of Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow, and Joel Parkinson (who they predict as the 2008 Champ), as well as the emergence of Jeremy Flores (who's only gonna get better) plus the amazing Aussies on the Women's side I might have to agree. Other predictions (maybe not as eyebrow raising) include surfers going bigger in terms of air for 2008, Teahupoo getting massive-r waves, and better fin technology among others. Given that with all yearly predictions there's never anyone keeping track once the year ends (except the ones who predict right), these predictions just sorta make for a fun read. Check all 10 of them right here.
December 24, 2007
Active's Baker Boys
Published: 1:45 a.m. PT by Me
Alright yesterday we had some team updates from the Volcom team (and to a lesser degree the eS team), this time around we got an update from Active on their Baker boys, Andrew Reynolds, Erik Ellington, and Jim Greco. All three of the skaters according to Active will be spending time at home with their family (both Reynolds and Ellington are fathers) for the holiday season (Greco was born the same day as Christ) while Reynolds has recently hit the slopes for some snowboarding fun, Ellington is busy with a remodeled Hollywood house, and Greco is working on Brigada Sunglasses (a joing venture between the three plus Terry Kennedy). Given that these guys are three of the best out there you probably don't wanna leave it at that, instead you'll wanna read the whole update here. Plus you can check out this old (one year-old) interview of the three about their Brigada startup from the SGV Blog.
Another Surf Pro Retires From CompetitionPublished: 1:12 a.m. PT by Me
The end of this year's ASP contest season meant a farewell to ASP stalwarts Mark Occhilupo, Mick Lowe and Rochelle Ballard, who all retired from competing in the Dream Tour. But in a more low-key way the end of the season also marked the retirement of Aussie Troy Brooks who recently confirmed the rumors of his retirement via an announcement on World Pro Surfers. Brooks who finished this year's tour ranked 38th mentions in the announcement that he'd been offered (and will take) a position over at Quiksilver probably doing some type of Rep work, he also mentioned that he'll continue to surf but not competitively after having done so for the past 10+ years (he came up as a junior with Taj Burrow). To read Brooks personal retirement announcement check the link here. Side note: Josh Kerr also announced he's retiring from the tour after only his rookie season, but the way he finished he probably wouldn't have made the cut for a second year...
Random Giveaways & Contests
Published: 12:22 a.m. PT by Me
The Holidays is all about giving right so why not look for instances of companies giving away stuff. We have some examples here for you:
• Emerica's offering a complete Braydon Szafranski Baker setup along with a pair of Emerica shoes for the best entry received at their blog for a 15 words or less description of what you like about Braydon. Given that the first page is chalked with entries like, "Braydon's a beer pounding, weed tokin, poonany lovin, skateboard ripper. and thats just fuckin chill," and other pot references I'm guessing you'll probably score if you add a little bit of creativity into it. You can enter into the contest at the Emerica blog here, the contest'll run until New Year's Eve.
• Active is running its Free Forum Fridays from this past Friday, December 21st, to Friday, January 11th. The contest will be giving away different Forum goods from a board (1/4) to boots (12/21 already past) to bindings (12/28) and a full setup (1/11) each of the Fridays in the contest period. You can sign up for the contest at Active's mailorder site here.
• The previously mentioned Gus Van Sant film 'Paranoid Park' is holding a giveaway in conjunction with Zoo York UK whereby contestants are asked to submit their own skate video to the film's Myspace page from which the the winner will be chosen (don't know how restrictive it is in terms of region) and will receive a brand new top of the line DVD camera as well as tons of Zoo York Gear. The giveaway is a promo for the UK release of the film and will run until February 1st, details of the contest can be found at the film's official Myspace page here.
• Alright the last few mentions have been about receiving for you at least. How about something where you can give and receive. That's the Louie Vito Rail Jam that'll be held December 29th at Mad River Mountain Ski Resort in Ohio. The Jam will be open to all ages from 10 and up with a grand prize offered of a whole week paid for at Windells Camp at Mt. Hood, Oregon. The giving part comes in the form of the contest asking event-goers/participants for a donation of non-perishable food items as entry fee. The items will be then donated to the nearby St. Patrick Church's St. Vincent DePaul food pantry, which makes the event that much better. For more details on the Louie Vito Rail Jam check here.
Another Case Of Cinema Meets Skating
Published: 12:01 a.m. PT by Me
Though it's still awhile away for those of us living in the States keep an eye out for the release of 'Paranoid Park' the Cannes Film Festival 60th Anniversary Award-winning film by Gus Van Sant. The film follows the story of a local Portland skater Alex who is involved in the death/murder of a security guard nearby the real-life local skate spot of the title, and who has to deal with the all the ramifications and consequences of the incident. Gus Van Sant is a director that has consistently created films focusing on youth or youth culture as a subject matter from 'Elephant' to 'My Own Private Idaho', in this case he's taken the Larry Clark route ('Kids', 'Wassup Rockers') and used skaters as the foundation for his film. Since I wasn't at Cannes or any other festival 'Paranoid Park' played at there's really no telling how the movie will play out especially from the skate angle (i.e. please let it not be a 'Lords Of Dogtown') but given the pedigree of a director like Van Sant ('Good Will Hunting' notwithstanding) and the fact that it was awarded at Cannes it should be worth anticipating. You can check out the film's trailer at its official site here. Also check out this review of the film (brought to our attention by Skatedaily) by the UK Guardian (the film is premiering less than a week away in England) where the writer somewhat tackles the issue of certain filmmakers' fascination with young skaters.
December 23, 2007
The L.A. Times Covers (In Full) Surfer Emery Kauanui's Death
Published: 12:38 a.m. PT by Me
As a follow up to a story we mentioned a little while ago the L.A. Times last week did a lengthy feature (front page story on the print version) on the death of local La Jolla (near San Diego) surfer Emery Kauanui Jr. this past May. In case you didn't catch our earlier entry, in short Kauanui's death was the result of a bar fight between Kauanui and a group of La Jolla locals that escalated into a fight in front Kauanui's house that left Kauanui badly beaten with damages that ultimately resulted in his death. The 7-page L.A. Times article on Kauanui's death covers all the background leading up to the fight including the violent history behind the group of 5 friends (who pathetically labelled themselves the "Bird Rock Bandits") accused of murdering Kauanui, Kauanui's own past run-ins with the law, the community's reaction to the crime, and a detailed account of the night of Kauanui's death. As mentioned the article is quite comprehesive in its chronicling of the story with plenty of comments from the parties involved in this and past incidents (minus the accused) along with more photos of Kauanui, the accused and also the paddle out ceremony from the local surf community that paid tribute to Kauanui (who was a favorite son of the beach city). You can catch the full must read L.A. Times article here.
Published: 12:23 a.m. PT by Me
In the run up to and through the release of Lakai's 'Fully Flared' there's been quite a few interviews with Lakai team riders in the skate media, from Brandon Beibel to Marc Johnson to even director Ty Evans. This time around though the people over at the really cool skate site Crossfire offer us a different type of Lakai interview: the group interview. Yep, Crossfire was smart enough to rope together Mike Carroll, Brandon Biebel, Mike Mo and Rob Welsh shortly after the film's premiere to get them to talk about the team (Lakai), the video (Fully Flared), and the artform (Skating), however they want to. As with most group interviews none of the questions get answered in any straight-forward sort of way (I'm not saying that's bad), and this is especially the case with this interview since Beibel is involved 'cause as everyone knows that guy's funny as hell (check out his input on Nyjah Huston and his claim that he'll "beat the shit out of [Nyjah's] dad, straight up."). One things for sure, thanks to this interview the bigwigs down at Lakai might already have a name for their next video ("Totally Tight" hahahahaha). To check out Crossfire's ménage a cinq interview with the Lakai boys click here. The ASP Juniors Take The Stage
Published: 12:06 a.m. PT by Me
Though the ASP World Tour and the WQS have already closed up shop on its '07 season there's still one more major ASP series that needs closure, and that's the ASP World Junior Championships which is prepping for it's start on January 2nd in Sydney, Australia. The Junior Championships is the culmination of the Junior tour with the top six Under 20 male and top two Under 20 female surfers from each of the 8 regions (Africa, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, Japan, North America, South America and an ASP International emerging region), plus four wildcards, two trialists, and the highest seeded Men’s U20 ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) surfer from each region, gaining entry to the final event. Not only are these surfers fighting for a $60,000 purse but they're also hoping to grab ahold of some of the mojo that has made past Junior Champions like Andy Irons (Junior Champ 1998), '07 WQS Winner Jordy Smith (2006) and WCT #4 Joel Parkinson (2001) so successful on the big stage. Like every year this season includes a huge batch of hopefuls including 2004 Junior Champ Pablo Paulino from Brazil, Hawaiin Casey Brown, and Aussie Mitchell Coleborn, all of whom you'll probably be hearing about more in the near future.
For more on the upcoming ASP World Junior Championships check the official preview of the event here.
eS and Volcom Tell Us More About Themselves
Published: 12:00 a.m. PT by Me
For the past couple of year eS has been quietly tracking their own history with the eS Timeline documenting the many transformations eS has made throughout its short history including the hallmark moments of Eric Koston's entry onto the team (which last year), the great 'Menikmati', and the introduction of the Game Of Skate contest series. Well after a year's worth of wait this past week eS has finally decided to update the timeline with the 2006 entry (how much longer 'til 2007 gets added?) which they've put under the headline "A Time Of Change". Of course key amongst the happenings mentioned for 2006 was the additions made to the eS team including pros Danny Garcia and Raymond Molinar as well as the one-to-watch Ams like Silas Baxter-Neal (I'm pretty sure everyone's already keeping an eye on this guy...dude is sick), Nyjah Huston and Bobby Worrest. Also a recurring theme throughout the year is Rick McCrank's dopeness, from winning the '06 Downtown Showdown to starring in an award-winning film. They've also thrown in there plenty of Huston stuff and acheivements by others on the team worth noting but would be redundant given you can just check the link (with pics!) here.
Oh yeah in other skate team related news check out this extensive update Volcom has on their skate team which includes the likes of Dustin Dollin, Geoff Rowley, Aaron Suski, Ryan Sheckler, Javier Sarmiento, Dennis Busenitz, and a whole boatload of others.
December 22, 2007
Tony Hawk Is A Good, RICH Man
Published: 12:32 a.m. PT by Me
If it wasn't that he was such a nice guy with his fame Tony Hawk would probably be gettin' it more from me about the far reach of his empire's tentacles, but like I mentioned he's too generous with his efforts. Case in point: the recent announcement that the Tony Hawk Foundation has reached $2 million in skatepark funding. If you didn't know like some non-bastard titans of business Tony Hawk's empire has a philanthropic arm with a foundation that's geared towards providing low-income neighborhoods with funding to help finance skateparks. See now this isn't the suburbs we're talking about him helping but instead places like Oakland, Greensboro, and Compton (check the picture) which makes the giving back much more worth it (since suburbs are usually the first places where skateparks sprout up). The situation that brought about the breach of the $2 million level was the recent vote by the Foundation's Board of Directors to award 29 more grants (at a value of $255,000) to cities across the nation. In all since its inception in 2002 the Foundation has provided over 365 grants. Great work Hawk, now I'll shut up about the Pizza Pockets endorsement...for about 2 months.
For more info on the Foundation's newest grants including a full breakdown of the 29 check the official announcement here.
Pastrana Reaffirms His Commitment...To Rally Car Racing
Published: 12:30 a.m. PT by Me
Travis Pastrana's life of late has taken quite a turn. The man we've known as the most dominating presence in motorcross has gradually shifted his attention towards his other passion in life: racing cars. And this is no more evident than in the fact that maybe his biggest wins this past year were all on the Rally Car racing side of things (including his Rally America National Championship Series title in October) not to mention the fact that Pastrana himself stated that Rally Car Racing now occupies "99.9%" of his time.
So with that in mind AutoWeek (yes Autoweek) has put up a pretty extensive interview with Pastrana in which he tackles some of the above mentioned subjects. For example in speaking of his mindset in regards to motorcross Pastrana talks about doing motorcross more as a hobby now, forgoing competitions whereas racing will get more of his full competitive focus. The interview also goes into how Pastrana developed his urge to do the sports he does (both motorcross and racing). Basically instead of going into the specifics of racing (which would make the interview unbearably boring for those un-interested in racing) the interview hits on everything else that relates to Pastrana as a racer/athlete...but one thing seems certain we probably won't be seeing Pastrana competing at any Moto X events anytime soon.
To check out the AutoWeek's in-depth interview with Pastrana check the link here.
I Bring You Culture: Amazing Skate Art In Los Angeles
Published: 12:25 a.m. PT by Me
If Jim Phillips' skate deck designs defined the 80's skate aesthetic then Marc Mckee and Sean Cliver's work (particularly their work with the World Industries companies) could quite possibly define the skate aesthetic for the decade after, with its comic-like approach to (up until then) taboo topics. Their artwork, including the artwork of countless others, was recently documented in a coffee table artbook entitled 'Disposable: A History Of Skateboard Art' which we mentioned here awhile ago. This time around though it's an art exhibit chronicling both Mckee and Cliver's artwork courtesy of the streetwear brand The Hundreds, called 'Censorship Is Weak As F##k' (oh the irony). The exhibit is nearing its end in Los Angeles this weekend (it runs until Sunday) at the temporary exhibit space (435 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA) a few doors down from The Hundreds store, which means you can head out this weekend to see something quite cultural, then follow it up by throwing away a lot of cash at the Fairfax collective of shops (Diamond Supply Co., Supreme, The Hundreds, etc.). Sounds like I've already planned the perfect weekend for you, and if you're not convinced (or if you can't make it) check out the plethora of photos of the exhibit taken by the good folks down at The Hundreds here.
Don Vito Is Don Vito No More
Published: 12:11 a.m. PT by Me
In the continuing saga of Don Vito's (Vincent Margera aka Bam Margera's uncle) sexual assault charges/conviction/sentencing we might have closure as the judge on his case has handed down his sentence for Vito. According to MTV Margera has avoided jail time but has been sentenced to 10 years probation. Jefferson County District Judge M.J. Menendez has also ordered that Margera be registered as a sex offender which could last be a lifetime thing as well as ordering Margera to undergo substance-abuse programs and receive a mental-health evaluation. Finally, in ways that affects us all Judge Menendez has ordered that Margera be prohibited from assuming the "Don Vito" alter-ego, thus he won't be allowed to make any autograph appearances (the assault conviction stems from an incident at one of his paast autograph signings), let alone make TV appearances or write books for 10 years. Yet Margera isn't quite off the hook yet because he still has to deal with the charges against him as a result of him violating the terms of his bond during the initial sexual-assault hearing. For more on Don Vito's sentencing check the MTV News story here.
Random Team News
Published: 12:06 a.m. PT by Me
Some team news to update y'all on:
• Top notch Forum rider Pat Moore has joined Volcom's Streetwear team which is a perfect fit according to Moore given that he rocked Volcom even before signing with them. Read the announcement here.
• After being affiliated with them for quite some time now German skater Willow is now officially on Flip's International team. With its foundation being British and skaters hailing from Brazil, America, Finland, and Denmark, isn't Flip itself already an international team? Maybe they just don't like Germans and Belgians that much. Check Willow's cyber-slot on the "International" team here
• In other European skater news adidas skateboarding has added Czech skater Petr Horvat to its European team. No matter what you think of the corporate invasion from the likes of Nike and adidas you gotta admit they really got some stylish shoesCheck the official announcement of Horvat joining the team here
• 2007 X-Games Halfpipe Champion Steve Fisher has joined snow accessories company Bula on their mission to sell the most snow beanies, socks, leotards and masks in the world. Fisher joins a team that already boasts JF Fortin, Brent Meyer, Matts Kuliser and Guillaumea Beaudoin. Check Bula's welcome announcement for Fisher here
• Pressure flip master Nate Sherwood is on Infamous...I mean Ironic Skateboards. Read the bungled announcement here
Thrasher's Mark Gonzalez Interview
Published: 12:00 a.m. PT by Me
In the pantheon of legendary skaters there's got to be a spot for Mark Gonzalez. From revolutionizing street skating/switch stance to creating Blind Skateboards as a dig at Vision Skateboards to having one of the most famous skate spots in history named after him Gonzalez has done more in his life in terms of skateboarding then most all of us put together (maybe I'm exagerrating). So it's funny to read Thrasher's newest interview with the Gonz where their pretty straight forward questions get answered in the most uniconic ways with Gonzalez's signature sense of humor (check out his favorite curse word). You can check the Mark Gonzalez interview here...then wonder if the interview itself was essentially a waste of time on Thrasher's part. December 21, 2007
Oakley Keeps Its Employees Happy...Well The Talented Ones
Published: 8:56 a.m. PT by Me
Ryan Sheckler's birthday is December 30th. Though it's still quite a few days away Sheckler's sponsors over at Oakley were either really eager to celebrate or really eager to get things off their schedule in time for the holiday break because they just recently threw Ryan a surprise birthday party ("SURPRISE! We're a couple weeks early!") at their headquarters in Orange County. From the looks of things though I'm not sure Ryan was truly surprised because he showed up in a button-up shirt (of the shiny variety) that would get him into most Hollywood clubs. To help him celebrate Oakley invited some of Ryan's good friends such as a reality show camera crew, Jereme Rogers, Toy Machine Pro Billy Marks, fellow Oakley spokesperson/BME Click Leader Lil' Jon (who performed with Three 6 Mafia), plenty of young ladies, and TransWorld photographer Chris Ortiz got the whole thing on his personal camera. You can check out the photos he got here. Oh and speaking of Oakley check out this video tour of the Oakley Surf house in Hawaii (similar to the Plan B house we mentioned a week or so ago...wait isn't Sheckler sponsored by Plan B? Hmmmm we've come full circle) as shown to you by World Tour Surfer Ricky Basnett and the South African contingent at last weeks Pipeline Masters. From birthday parties to a nice pad boy does Oakley treat their riders good. I wonder if they can sponsor me for my kite flying virtuosity?
25% Of Daewon Song On Epicly Later'd
Published: 7:17 a.m. PT by Me
Apparently being on MTV hasn't dragged Patrick O'Dell down in terms of quality as he keeps on churning out great material for Epicly Later'd on VBS, including this weeks episode which features the great, great Daewon Song. In what should be Episode 1 of a 4 part profile on Song, Daewon takes a tour through L.A. to stop off at the spots made famous by Daewon and the old school World Industries team in their legendary video 'Love Child'. Daniel Castillo (who was on World pre-Blind) also tags along for the ride to add his 2 cents as well as discuss the bullets he took oh so long ago. Similar to the last episode of Epicly Later'd this episode brings viewers back to baggy jeans wearing era of skating with plenty of clips from Love Child, which is always a great way to reminisce because I had a Filipino friend who used to talk about claiming the same Castillo clips they show in this episode as his own footage since all Southeast Asians look alike. And as if you didn't already know the episode shows you just how laid back and nice Daewon has always been known to be. To check out the Daewon Song episode of Epicly Later'd check the link here. JP Walker To Come Out With A Signature Camping Stove?
Published: 7:00 a.m. PT by Cary
Quick follow up on something we mentioned a little bit ago. Looks like JP Walker is picking up more sponsors. Just earlier this month Walker joined etnies' Snowboard boot company thirtytwo, now he's signed with StepChild Snowboards who prides themselves as being "a snowboard company that specializes in camping stoves, fishing tackle, and tennis rackets" with riders that "are currently pushing the envelope of progressive sandboarding in the Egyptian Parallel Slalom". Niceee. For more of the comedic routine and on the signing itself check the official announcement here.
Vallely, Smolik, Williams And Gonzalez Speak On The Police
Published: 4:29 a.m. PT by Me
Unless you're a skater who's one of those kids that live in a bubble you've probably had some type of run in with the law while skating (that is unless like you live in some magical world with no police...like the Iraq or something). As you can imagine this type of thing happens to pros too, especially before they were pros. Somebody over at EXPN thought about this and decided to ask a few prominent pros about their scrapes with the authorities and like the great citizens MC Ren, Eazy E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and DJ Yella, they all answered accordingly. The four questioned skaters include Sk8Mafia founder Peter Smolik, who talks about being busted for watching and his resulting ban from skating schoolyards for 3 years, Mike Vallely, who shares his story about his first ever run in with a police officer while as a teenager which resulted in good ol' fashion police brutality, Rob Gonzalez, who recounts his near jailing in a Mexican prison (the worst type of prison), and finally DGK CEO Stevie Williams, who speaks about a Terminator-like chase between he and the police. All in all the article (which can be found here) gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling about the fuzz who as we should remind you get paid by you to bust you.
Just Some Of The Invited Athletes To Winter X Games 12 Named
Published: 4:00 a.m. PT by Me
Hot off finishing the recent stop in Dubai ESPN's X Games is prepping for their next installment, Winter X Games 12. As has been the case for the past several Winter Xes this one will be held at Aspen/Snowmass from January 24th to January 27th and now we have the first whiff of just who exactly is going to be at this one with the release of the first wave of invited riders to the big show. Topping the list is of course action sports everyman, and recent criminal at large Shaun White, also planning to compete is White's Burton teammmate Hannah Teter, defending Winter X Snowboard Superpipe Champ Torah Bright, defending Winter X Ski Superpipe Champ Tanner Hall, and top snowboarder Travis Rice, among others. As mentioned the invited riders mentioned above as well as those mentioned in the announcement are just the first wave with many more to come. To check out the complete first installment of the riders list check the link here.
Oh and speaking of top riders check out this video interview of Elena Hight (who's sure to be one of the future invitees) straight from the Chevy Grand Prix where she took top prize at the Paul Mitchell Progression Session (and when we say "straight from the Chevy Grand Prix" we mean it as the interviews held right on the Superpipe).
King Of The Groms: Curren Caples
Published: 2:45 p.m. PT by Cary
Kids these days are either too good for their own age or are up to no good (see: teenage pregnancy rates and Soulja Boy albums). Last weekend was a perfect case of the former as the Western leg of the King Of The Groms Skate Contest went off in Simi Valley, CA. The day was full of pint size surprises and mothers worried about bruises, and from the pile of precocious prodigies (alliteration score: 8.4) came Curren Caples the 1st place winner in all three expert divisions (Street, Bowl, and Miniramp...yep a clean sweep). Caples though is no wet-behind-the-ear kid, this 11 year-old is already sponsored by Flip, Hurley, Adio, S-One, Momentum, 1685, Bones Wheels and Bearings, and Independent Trucks and has thrown down at plenty of contests already. Plus he's already got a growing fan base ready to love him (check out the comments at his Skatepark of Tampa profile), so it's probably best for you to get in on the ground floor for this boy's burgeoning bandwagon (alliteration score: 6.1). Luckily we're already on as we were able to head out to the King Of The Groms skate contest and snap some photos. You can check our short gallery of the Groms contest here. For more coverage from the event including full results, video, and writeups check the official site for the contest here.
The Berrics Speaks With Milo Ventimiglia
Published: 1:36 a.m. PT by Me
If you've been paying attention to The Berrics like we have you'd have already known that the mission for the site (though maybe not the park itself) goes beyond just skating, as both Berra and Koston obviously have passions for other things (you know how big a Lakers fan Koston is?). And with their latest transmission they've shown it, as Berra has released an interview (under the "Deparment 8" heading) with his friend actor Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli from TV Show 'Heroes' and other good stuff aka 'Law & Order: SVU'). In the interview Steve and Milo wax about their first meeting, how they view their generation of skaters (Milo's a skatehead), how Milo ended up choosing 'Heroes', Hollywood, and the other stuff that Milo is into. It's a good read for those who wanna peak into some of the other avenues skating can get you to (but don't forget your roots) or those who just watch 'Heroes' and think Milo's dreamy (I'mma forward this to my sister). Given that the duo that make up the Berrics have tons of hookups in all things culture this is obviously not the last of their Department 8 entries (*crossing my fingers for a Takeshi Kitano interview*). You can check out the Department 8 interview with Milo Ventimiglia here.
December 20, 2007
Jeremy Flores: 2007 ASP Rookie Of The Year
Published: 1:32 a.m. PT by Me
On the heels of finishing up their World Tour last week at the Billabong Pipeline Masters ASP has handed out its award for Rookie Of The Year for the '07 season to the only European on the tour (ever), Frenchman Jeremy Flores. Flores, who is 19 and thus the youngest ever to surf on the Tour, had finished the season with an impressive #8 ranking having never finished lower than 17th (meaning at least a Round 3 finish) at every stop and having placed his highest at 3rd in the Boost Mobile Pro at Trestles. In winning the award Flores held off fellow impressive Tour rookie Kai Otton who finished 12th in the overall rankings. With an '08 qualification in the bag (he actually double qualified based on his WCT and WQS performance) Flores certainly seems to be headed towards a Lebron James-like trajectory, that is of course he finds a way to fall into a Darko Milicic-like descent.
For more on Flores' Rookie Of The Year award as well as more on his season check out Quiksilver's announcement of the award here.
DVS vs. Louis Vuitton
Published: 1:09 a.m. PT by Cary
In a case of David losing (or more like surrendering) to Goliath (or more like his lawyers) news skate brand DVS has agreed to pull all their merchandise that features Vuitton-like print. DVS, like many clothing brands (particularly of the streetwear variety), had previously release lines of clothing that played on the ubiquitous LV print (you know the one you see on like 1 out of every 1.37 women's purses/bags/wallets in L.A.) but lawyers for Louis Vuitton Malletier SA stepped in and quickly put an end to that just like how puberty quickly put an end to my burgeoning falsetto career. No word on what Louis Vuitton Malletier SA plans to do about the whole continent of Asia though because when I was there I coulda sworn knock offs were everywhere (I distinctly remember purchasing bodega like stores using plastic bags with the same Vuitton pattern).
So in case you were planning on launching a line of toilet paper with all over Louis V./Murakami print you might wanna read about what happened to DVS here and think it over.
X-Dance Releases Its Film Program
Published: 12:56 a.m. PT by Me
The X-Dance Film Festival (which we helped sponsor last year) is coming up on its 8th go around this coming January, and things have gotten to a point where they've moved from out of Sundance's shadow in Park City and into Salt Lake City to accomadate it's greater participation. If you didn't know the festival is one dedicated to films from the Action Sports focusing on those films that feature top-notch production value regardless of discipline. Past films that have made their way through X Dance include DC's 'DC Video' featuring some previously unseen footage, Tamra Davis' 'Keep Your Eyes Open', 'The Doctor, The Tornado and The Kentucky Kid', and 'Let It Ride: The Craig Kelly Story'.
Well now they've released their list of films that will be playing for the 2008 festival so that you can start planning your screening schedule if you're in town from January 19 to January 22. Films that jump out at me while skimming the list include the Steve Rocco documentary 'The Man Who Souled The World', the chronicling of Australia's Surf Gang 'Bra Boys' (narrated by Russel Crowe, Tony Hawk's Secret Skate Tour. You can check the complete film list of X-Dance 2008 over here. You can also check out our exclusive coverage of X-Dance 2007 here.
Book Wants You To Surf Then Die
Published: 12:29 a.m. PT by Me
For those of you with plenty of time and money to blow, an interest in surfing, no surfing sponsorship deals, and the ability to read, there's a perfect book out for you called 'The Pilgrimage: 50 Places To Surf Before You Die'. The book is pretty much as the title describes as it's the brainchild of the 7 top surf writers for Tracks Magazine who took time to detail their favorite, if not all surfers' favorite, spots across the globe including some hidden gems minus the tightly-guarded spots all real surfers carry with them that'll probably never make any publication.
Now if you're one of those people that spends "quality" time at the bookstore without ever buying anything you can probably just go look up the book right now (you're probably reading this from inside Barnes & Noble anyway), but if you aren't you can get a quick preview of some of the spots mentioned in the book courtesy the Aussie news site News.com.au (unfortunately all of the previewed spots are pretty well known), including the always dangerous Teahupoo, Tahiti (pictured), Uluwatu in Bali, the relatively recent Superbank on the Gold Coast, as well as La Jolla, Mexico (featured in last years ASP World Tour). It's a good read especially since we're sitting in damp, cold weather out here in Southern California, check out the Travel Section's feature on 'The Pilgrimage...' here.
Birdhouse's Stable Of Eager Ams
Published: 12:11 a.m. PT by Me
That headline almost sounds Homoerotic huh? For those of you who thought the Birdhouse team hit its peak in 'The End' and has been in steady decline ever since -- what with the departure of Steve Berra, Andrew Reynolds (though Baker is sorta like a sister company to Birdhouse), Rick McCrank, and Heath Kirchart -- Birdhouse would like to have a word with you outside. No they aren't looking to engage in any type of fisticuffs with you, they're just trying to get you to watch the Am commercial they recently put up. As you might know their team is now pretty much stocked with Am talent from Figgy to Sean Eaton to David Loy and of course the boss' son Riley Hawk, and the talent showed much of its promise in 'The Beginning' whose message the commercial is looking to reinforce. You can check out the Birdhouse Ams commercial right here, then maybe find yourself a copy of 'The Beginning' (hell watch 'The End' again 'cause it still holds up even to this day).
