Quick Hits Archive: January 3 - January 9, 2008
Mar 20 2008 / Los Angeles, CA
January 9, 2008
You Mean The Backseat Of Ryan Sheckler's Car Can Fight Cancer?
Published: 1:50 a.m. PT by Me
If you've watched enough Life Of Ryan episodes, or just watched enough of Ryan Sheckler in general you'll probably recognized his tricked out Black/Red Range Rover. It's the car he likes to drive when he wants to get away from the trouble of his parents' divorce or the trouble of teenage girls, but never the trouble of a camera crew. Some of you (the girls in particular) would probably kill to smell the leather interior of said Range Rover. But thanks to the Children's Cancer Research Fund you won't have kill anyone in particular, instead all you have to do is go out and raise as much money as you can to help kids with cancer (not a bad alternative huh?). That's because Ryan is teaming up with CCRF to giveaway his prized Range Rover to the person who raises the most money for the CCRF via an individually created donation page over at CCRF's site. The fundraiser/contest will last until April 10th, and on April 27th at the CCRF's Annual 5k RUN/WALK in Los Angeles the winner of the contest will be awarded the Range Rover by Sheckler himself (2nd, 3rd, and 4th place contestants will also get TBD rewards). For more details on the contest as well as links to where you can set up your fundraising page check the link here and start being a humanitarian.
The Berrics' Battle Commander #2: Guy MarianoPublished: 1:31 a.m. PT by Me
They teased it about a week ago and now they've finally fulfilled their promise as The Berrics have released their Battle Commander footage featuring the great Guy Mariano. After surprising us with an actual complete part in Fully Flared (one of the best by the way) it seems Mariano is putting himself back into the picture of the skate world in a big way, and the footage captured at Steve Berra and Eric Koston's private playgrounds is further proof of this 'cause the footage is pure, unadulturated crack in terms of skate footage up on cyberspace. In it Mariano goes off (backside 270 to tailslide??!?) on all the different parts of The Berrics we've seen in the other Berrics clips (the rail, the ledge, the transitions) and pretty much makes the place his own. Crap if this is the way The Berrics are going to start out their new year than we're gonna be in for a really nice year courtesy of Berra's ingenuity (and money!). You can check out the Battle Commander: Guy Mariano footage here.
Fanning, Burrow, And Parkinson In A Non-World Tour Contest
Published: 1:12 a.m. PT by Me
Though the ASP World Tour is still about 2 months away you still got a chance to check out Taj Burrow in competitive action come this Saturday. That's because the 2008 Jim Beam Surftag Series is getting ready to jump into action this Saturday with its West Australian qualifying round at Yallingup which will feature Taj in action. The Jim Beam Surftag is a series of contests that has surfers compete in a team setting with their local board riding clubs. Each group consists of five surfers (all must be over 18 and one has to be over 30) who during their one-hour heat will send out one surfer at a time to surf three waves after which the surfer heads back to shore and tag in another surfer from his team (relay-race style).
In the first event of the series Burrow (pictured) will be participating as part of the Yallingup Boardriders Team in hopes of repeating last year's performance where the team advanced past the Western Australian round for their first time in quite awhile. This year though they'll be hoping to reach the series finals at North Narrabeen Beach on Sydney's Northern Beaches on March 6-7. Burrow will not be the only top World Tour surfer participating in the series though, as 2007 World Title holder Mick Fanning will also be a part of the series as a member of the Kirra team during the Queensland qualifying round which will take place on January 18th at Duranbah, furthermore 2007 WCT 4th place finisher Joel Parkinson will also be at the Queensland qualifying round as he makes his debut in the series as part of the Snapper Rocks team. So just in case you didn't get enough of these guys from the '07 series now you'll have a chance to catch them in a different setting this weekend as the 2008 Jim Bean Surftag Series kicks off. For more on the Western Australia qualifying round as well as the series schedule check the official preview here.
Dave Mirra Follows In Travis Pastrana's Footsteps
Published: 12:49 a.m. PT by Me
Last year we mentioned several times how Travis Pastrana has slowly moved his career away from motocross and into rally car racing. From the looks of things he might setting a precedent. That's because the Rally America National Championship Series (of which Pastrana was the 2007 winner) has announced that iconic BMXer Dave Mirra is planning on participating in the Sno*Drift Rally, the first race of the 2008 series. The event which takes place from January 25 - 26 in Atlanta, Michigan will feature Mirra teaming up with defending champ Pastrana and DC Shoes owner Ken Block (who finished 3rd overall last year) in a three-car effort fielded by Vermont SportsCar for the race. It's yet to be known though how Mirra will stack up with others, though admittedly Mirra himself has been racing for quite some time now (including the '07 Toyota Grand Prix Long Beach Celebrity Race)...but then again Pastrana fared pretty well. For more on Dave Mirra's participation in the upcoming Rally America race check their official announcement here.
The Girl Family Gets Back To Work (Well Sorta...)
Published: 12:22 a.m. PT by Me
So now that the extended holiday break is pretty much over most companies are getting back into the normal rhythm of things and putting up stuff like they would have done if it was Flag Day or something. One such example is Crailtap (which houses the Girl family of companies). Crailtap as part of a we're back-up-and-running kinda deal has posted a compilation clip of their "Best In Clips Of The Day 2007" where, as apparent in the name, they've assembled a bunch of their daily clips and have presented them as one (kinda like how old sitcoms like 'Saved By The Bell' would always have like Flashback episodes as a way to save from actually creating something new). If you're familiar with the Clips of the Day shown on Crailtap you'll know that the clips usually feature (in no particular order) dope skating, random-ass tricks, and assorted non-skating foolishness, which pretty much describes the "Best In..." video. You can check out Crailtap's "Best In Clips Of The Day 2007" right here.
King Of The Groms East: Seth Dupuis
Published: 12:02 a.m. PT by Me
Last month Skatelab in Simi Valley, California held the West Coast round of the King Of The Groms skate contest (an open qualification contest for skaters 12 & under). Flip skater Curren Caples came out of that one as the triple-crown-like winner of all three divisions, street, bowl, and mini-ramp. Well this past weekend the East Coast got their shot at the series at the Skatelab in Atlantic Beach, Florida, and the big winner for that side of the country was Skatelab's own Seth Dupuis who finished first in the Expert street division. In the mini-ramp division Blind's Alassandro Sorgente took top honors while his Blind teammate Spencer Lau took home first in the bowl division. The three winners will also join the other top 10 finalists of each division at the Championship Finals of the King Of The Groms at 3rd Lair Skatepark in Minneapolis, Minnesota in late Febrauary where they will also face off with the other top 10 finalists from the other regions. For more on the East Coast King Of The Groms Contest check the series' official site here.
January 8, 2008
Rob & Big Season Premiere Tonight; Shake Hands With Big This WeekendPublished: 12:36 p.m. PT by Me
If you haven't checked out the Season 3 premiere of Rob & Big already on iTunes and were actually waiting for it to air on MTV in its big screen grandeur don't forget it's on tonight at 10:30 EST/PST (right after Life Of Ryan). Also as a heads up if live in Southern California and you wanna have face-to-face contact with Big you can visit him this weekend (Saturday the 12th) at the Fox Hills Mall in Culver City from 3pm to 5pm where he'll be signing some autographs and promoting his new footwear line at the Finish Line (the poorman's Footlocker) there.
Hobgood Among Those Advancing at O'Neill SI Pro
Published: 12:43 a.m. PT by Me
Defending champ CJ Hobgood was among those advancing as the O'Neill Sebastian Inlet Pro continued in Florida Monday. Other top performers of the day included Brett Simpson and Ben Bourgeois. Check out the full list below of the resuls from Round Three. And for more, check out the official site).
Heat 3: 96 surfers remaining (1st and 2nd advance to Round 3)
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.10, Kilian Garland (USA) 10.87, Nat Young (USA) 10.73, Jason Miller (USA) 7.87
Heat 2: Federico Pilurzu (CRI) 13.67, Jean Estienne (FRA) 7.13, Kyle Knox (USA) 6.86, Nils Schweizer (USA) 5.86
Heat 3: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 12.00, Dylan Graves (PRI) 10.46, Rylan McCart (USA) 7.73, Chris Drummy (USA) 7.40
Heat 4: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.50, Cody Thompson (USA) 9.73, Shaun Burrell (USA) 9.04, Alek Parker (USA) 7.40
Heat 5: Jason Collins (USA) 8.83, Kevin Sullivan (HAW) 8.67, Gabe Kling (USA) 7.20, Layne Harrison (USA) 6.47
Heat 6: Ryan Briggs (USA) 8.83, Shaun Ward (USA) 12.27, Anthony Petruso (USA) 8.43, Michael Howard (USA) 4.60
Heat 7: Daniel Jones (HAW) 11.66, Che Stang (USA) 6.63, Dean Randazzo (USA) 6.60, Oliver Kurtz (USA) 6.57
Heat 8: Brett Simpson (USA) 17.27, Matt King (USA) 9.67, Darrell Goodrum (USA) 7.90, Matt Mohagen (USA) 6.54
Heat 9: Shane Beschen (USA) 12.07, Joel Centeio (HAW) 9.70, Justin Jones (USA) 7.07, Adam Virs (USA) 6.53
Heat 10: Nathan Yeomans (USA) 15.50, Diego Rosa (BRA) 10.14, Magnum Martinez (VEN) 9.60, Justin McBride (USA) 4.66
Heat 11: Nathaniel Curran (USA) 14.33, Wesley Larsen (HAW) 10.60, Sean Moody (HAW) 9.86, Mark Dawson (USA) 5.97
Heat 12: Ben Bourgeois (USA) 16.93, Travis Beckmann (USA) 10.64, Brad Ettinger (USA) 8.00, Brandon Guilmette (USA) 5.17
Heat 13: Cory Lopez (USA) 16.50, Micah Byrne (USA)11.00, Kiron Jabour (HAW) 8.66, Cheyne Cottrell (USA) 7.73
Heat 14: Wesley De Souza (USA) 11.44, Romain Laulhe (FRA) 8.67, Ben Graeff (USA) 5.50, Warwick Wright (ZAF) N/S
Heat 15: Sterling Spencer (USA) 12.50, Alex Gray (USA) 11.77, Devon Tresher (USA) 9.44, Liam McNamara (HAW) 3.47
Heat 16: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 12.10, Dustin Cuizon (HAW) 11.84, David Speir (USA) 9.16, Jessi Merle-Jones (HAW) 7.77
Sheckler Watch 2008: Ryan Does Vegas
Published: 12:18 a.m. PT by Me
It looks like January is shaping up to be the month of Ryan (Sheckler). We've already been tracking the premiere of the second season of "Life of Ryan" (which premieres tonight at 10 p.m.) and his birthday celebration at the end of December and now we get some word from a local Vegas rag about the chosen one showing up in Sin City. Here's what the Vegas Eye) had to say:
Ryan Sheckler (pro-skateboarder, and MTV "Life of Ryan" star) was amongst the athletes at N9NE Steakhouse over the weekend. He was having dinner with his father, who just got a Tattoo at Hart-n-Hunington moments prior. According to Producers of the show, Ryan insisted on going to N9NE Steakhouse for dinner where they were being filmed for "Life of Ryan". Friday afternoon Ryan was filming inside The Pink Taco at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
Ah, life tastes good when you're Sheckler!
Eddie Update: La Nina Sucks
Published: 12:01 a.m. PT by Me
Quiksilver has just sent out an update about the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau -- sounds like the chances are slim that the contest will be going off this year. Based on historical data and all sorts fo figures having to do with the La Nina weather system, it appears there is only one day between now and the February 29th end of the holding period in which conditions could be right to hold the contest.
In order for the contest to go off, waves must be at least 20 feet Hawaiian scale (thats 40 feet to everyone else) for the duration of the day's competition -- there was one day this season (on December 3) that waves reached that size, but it was only in the afternoon. The last time the Eddie took place was in December of 2004, when Bruce Irons won the event.
For more about the event, check out the official site.
January 7, 2008
Chad Muska And Kr3w Are Setting Up Shop In L.A.
Published: 2:09 a.m. PT by Me
The Fairfax/Melrose corridor in Los Angeles just keeps blowing up with new shops, from the Burton store to the DC store to the streetwear brand Crooks & Castles all opening within the past months, and now Chad Muska wants in on the action. See Muska along with the people over at Kr3w have opened up their new shop, Factory 413, on Fairfax (413 S. Fairfax, to be exact). Factory 413 will be offering the newest and best in both Kr3w gear as well as Supra sneakers (you know the makers of these fabulous gold kicks) as well as random vintage stuff Muska gets his hands on. Unfortunately he won't have any bowls built to skate like the Supreme shop just down the street, but still the shop (or more like the whole corridor) is worth a visit for some of the newest skate fashion (remember there's also Diamond Supply Co. a few doors down too). For more on Factory 413 including more shots from inside the shop check out the Kr3w blog entry on the store opening here.
Oh and in other shopping-type news head over to the Atmosphere store. They're offering free shipping on all their outerwear, meaning you can pick up one of those doesn't-look-like-a-snowboarding-jacket snowboarding jackets for a little bit cheaper than you otherwise would have been. Here's the link to do so.
The Red Bull Nanshan Open Finals
Published: 1:49 a.m. PT by Cary
Partly because I'm Chinese myself and partly because it's true, we've been talking for awhile about the increased skate activities in China, either by way of skate tours or contests there, but that's not meant to neglect the increased snowboarding that's also happening in the world's most populous country as evidenced by the Red Bull Nanshan Open, a Four(4)Star TTR event that was held in Beijing this past week. The event was held at the Nokia Nanshan Mellow Park just outside the capital city and featured international riders from all over the place. Though there were a few natives that made it into the qualifiers for the contest the finals featured domination from the Euros (particularly Austria) including Swedish rider Jakob Wilhelmson taking the top spot with plenty of action off the kickers (the event was a slopestyle contest). With the win Wilhelmson took home 700 TTR points and a healthy amount of dough (check out the Chinese checks). For more from the Red Bull Nanshan Open check the official recap from the finals here. And also in other snowboard contest news Stefan Gimpl won his second straight Big Air snowboarding World Cup event.
Catching Up With Damien Hobgood And Pancho Sullivan
Published: 1:22 a.m. PT by Me
With 2008 here and the first event of the ASP World Tour still more than 2 months away you're probably a little bit curious on what some of the top surfers are up to, well at least I am. Thanks to World Pro Surfers and their Superblog we've got at least some updates straight from the horses' mouth. In this case it's Damien Hobgood and Pancho Sullivan who are letting us know what they've been doing these past few weeks. In the case of Hobgood he admittedly says there's "not really too much to talk about," besides a surf trip to Puerto Rico prior to him returning to his home state of Florida for the O'Neill SI Pro (where he's scheduled to enter in the seeded rounds) to try to regain the title there (he won it in '06). As for Sullivan who finished a strong 7th in the final 2007 WCT rankings, he's also claiming there's "not a whole lot to speak of here," but that's partly due to the crappy weather conditions hitting the North Shore. Given those conditions Sullivan says he's been laid up in his house with his family doing the family man routine and watching tons of sports (the traditional kind jerseys and all that). So in summation these blog entries featured none of the explosive excitement I was expecting from people who "live the life" like bank robbery or Patrick Swayze-ry...I should probably stop watching 'Point Break' huh? To check out Hobgood's posting at the WPS blog check here, for Sullivan's contribution click here.
Nike SB Pays Homage To Crappy Childhoods Pt. 2
Published: 1:00 a.m. PT by Me
A little while ago we posted about Nike SB coming out with a shoe that referenced the old school skateboarding arcade game '720'. Now it looks like they're doing the same type of thing again except with the other famous skateboarding video game from the 80's, 'Skate Or Die' (which happens to be EA's first foray into skate games...EA Skate notwithstanding). As with the 720 shoe the Skate Or Die show features the zany-ass colorways reminiscent of the 80's (though the game itself didn't feature as distinct a colorscheme as 720) along with some swirly designs that also conjure up images of the Reagan era. I was always more a fan of 720 with its better graphics (it was a stand-up arcade game whereas Skate Or Die was an NES game) and unique joystick so I'm kinda biased against this shoe in favor of the 720 pair but that's neither here nor there. You can find the Skate Or Die shoe as part of Nike SB's Spring '08 collection so keep on the look out for them soon if you're into the flourescent stuff. For more pics of the shoe check the Individual Sole blog entry about them here.
Deja Vu? Justin Figueroa On Emerica
Published: 12:22 a.m. PT by Me
I thought it had been already announced earlier (partly because of the Epicly Later'd episode) but apparently it's official that Justin "Figgy" Figueroa has been added on the Emerica team along with Jamie Tancowny, and they're both gonna be spending 2008 filming for the upcoming Emerica video 'Stay Golden' which will see release 2009. Apparently Emerica's stable of Ams are gonna be known as the "Young Emericans" according to the annoucement on their site.
Also another Deja Vu type bit. A couple of days ago we had a clip of someone recreating P-Rod's 'Nothing But The Truth' part in EA Skate, today we've got someone doing the same type of thing with Mike Carroll's part in 'Fully Flared'. You can check the clip below. Wonder if anyone's gonna remake Mariano's part though.
Vans Versus Skechers (You Figure Out Which One I Want To Win)
Published: 12:16 a.m. PT by Me
Check out this little bit about Vans and Skechers facing off in court. It seems the purveyors of terribly lame footwear (Sketchers) decided to come out with a line of slip-ons with the checkered pattern, you know the one that is pretty much identifiable with Vans on sight (see comparison below). So what did Skechers do? It went to the courts in advance of Vans filing an infringement suit on them and got the judge to approve of their "design". Vans is now appealing that ruling, and we wish them luck (pssst Skechers is the company responsible for this). For more on the footwear battle check out the NY Times mention of it here.
January 6, 2008
'Life Of Ryan' Season 2 Premiere Is Available NOW
Published: 12:18 a.m. PT by Me
Thanks to our friends over at Oh- Gravity.org for giving us a heads up on this. Apparently iTunes is offering the first episode of season 2 of 'Life Of Ryan' pre-TV airing. As you probably already know the premiere will be airing on MTV this coming Tuesday at 10pm, but if you've got access to the American iTunes store (sorry internationals) you can be watching the episode right now...for FREE. So brace your loins for the return of the dreamy blue eyes and Tiger Beat smile as you get first shot at Ryan Sheckler Volume 2. If you got iTunes click the link here to access the season premiere of 'Life Of Ryan' Season 2. Also while you're at it check out the season premiere of 'Rob & Big' Season 3 early and free, as it's also getting the pre-TV airing treatment 'Life Of Ryan' got. Click the link here to access the premiere...and FYI the episode is titled 'Poop In The Pool'.
The Quarterpipe Finals At The O'Neill Evolution
Published: 12:13 a.m. PT by Me
Yesterday with Andy Finch taking 1st in the Superpipe at the O'Neill Evolution in Davos, Switzerland there was mention of the chance that Finch could step into the top spot on the TTR rankings based on his performance at the Quarterpipe competition. Well with last night's Quarterfinal's results we can officially say that Andy Finch is now the top dog in the TTR ratings after finishing 6th in the Quarterpipe (he only needed to hold off Chas Guldemond from taking a high spot in order to take 1st), but the story of the Quarterfinals was not only Finch taking 1st in the TTR standings but also the dominance of the Scandinavians with Kim Rune Hansen of Norway taking the top spot, and Risto Mattila Risto and Peetu Piiroinen of Finland coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively. As with the Superpipe event we've got video...enough to save us time describing to you what you'll be able to plainly view below including full replays, highlights, as well as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place runs. For the actual recap of the night including full results click the link here.
1st Kim Rune Hansen
2nd Risto Mattila
3rd Peetu Piiroinen
Highlights Quarterpipe
Replay Quaterpipe
2008 Surf Action: Pablo Paulino Wins The Billabong ASP World Junior Championships; Action Begins At The O'Neill SI Pro
Published: 12:11 a.m. PT by Me
Two separate surf events important surf events have been going on this weekend on different parts of the globe with the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships popping off in Sydney Australia and the O’Neill Sebastien Inlet Pro (the first WQS event of the '08 season) starting up in Florida. The World Junior Championships surfed to completion yesterday with Brazilian Pablo Paulino winning his second ASP World Junior Title (he had previously won it in 2005) matching a feat only accomplished by one other surfer, Joel Parkinson (who won it in 1999 and 2001). The only other past World Junior title holder that was competing in this year's championship was Adriano De Souza who was taken out early in Round 3 by wildcard entrant Owen Wright despite being the odds on favorite for this year's event. For more details on Pablo Paulino's win including full results check the official Billabong World Junior Championship site here.
Meanwhile action at the O'Neill SI Pro is still in the early rounds after Day 2. The day featured locals taking advantage of their familiarity with Sebastien Inlet as a chunk of the Round 1 wins were taken by the Floridians in the field including David Speir, who took the highest heat total of the day with a 15.17, and Aaron Cormican, who took to the waves with aerials and clean barrel-riding. With the day's heats Round 1 has come to a close along with action for the Red Bull Tow-At which handed over a brand new Sea-Doo to former- WCT surfer Shea Lopez. For more on Day 2 at the O'Neill SI Pro check out the official recap here.
Mick Fanning Breaks Wrist
Published: 12:06 a.m. PT by Me
Remember when Michael Jordan took that ill-fated hiatus from basketball in the mid-Nineties to pursue what would become a disaster of a career in professional baseball? You remember how you saw pictures of MJ whiffing on a minor league pitch. Well we kind of had something (remotely?) similar happen in the surf world as Mick Fanning has broken his wrist while snowboarding. Given how dominant Mick Fanning is in his own sport you wouldn't really expect this type of thing to happen, but it did in Hokkaido, Japan where Fanning was vacationing with his fiancee Karissa Dalton and a group of friends. Another point worth mentioning is that he reportedly broke his wrist while snowboarding on an intermediate slope (which kinda makes the MJ comparison work better...though in this case Fanning didn't retire or anything). Luckily according to Fanning's mother the injury isn't anything real serious and it won't affect his preparations for the 2008 World Tour, which picks up in late February with the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.
For more info on Mick's injury check out the news report here.
Rip Curl's Website Undergoes Major Plastic Surgery
Published: 12:00 a.m. PT by Me
Keep an eye on Rip Curl's website as it's currently undergoing renovations for a complete revamp with a planned January 11th launch. The new site will "broadcast the best of the brand’s video on-line, with search trips to the most stunning spots on the planet, LIVE transmissions of Surf, Ski and Snowboard contests, the latest performances of the Rip Curl Team riders… and also the possibility for web-users to create their own profiles, upload their own videos, win Rip Curl products or even trips to the other side of the world."
As part of the launch the site will offer two of the site's users a chance to join Rip Curl team riders (both snow and surf) on a trip to Abkhazia (a country in Eastern Europe bordering the Black Sea) or the Lofoten Islands (islands along Northen Scandanavia) both of which are apparently some untouched winter-wonderlands. To win the contest a user has to create a profile on Rip Curl's new site with videos and photos and then get the largest number of votes from visitors to the site as well as Rip Curl team members. As mentioned your first shot at the trip will be when the site debuts itself on January 11th (11:11 am GMT) with a live program broadcast direct from Mick Fanning's house in Coolangatta who will host a live chat session as well as premier Rip Curl's latest video 'Somewhere' as part of the opening of the site. To get an early preview of the site (minus the functionality) check the link here.
January 5, 2008
DGK All Day...Last Minute Even
Published: 3:27 p.m. PT by Me
For all you D.C./Virginia heads this is kinda last minute but we just got word that Stevie Williams and his DGK family will be having a demo out in your neck of the woods tomorrow (January 6th) from 1pm to 5pm. The event will feature skating by the DGK Fam and Elite Boardshop skaters, and will include live music, DGK giveaways, free food (courtesy of Red Bull). The event will be going down at the Bridge Spot, you can check the flyer below for more details including details about some kind of related concert Tuesday (I'm guessing it's too late for the other events that happened earlier today).
O'Neill Evolution Superpipe Results
Published: 12:20 a.m. PT by Me
And the TTR points just keep on piling up for Andy Fitch. After coming in 8th overall (he finished 3rd in the Quarterpipe portion) in last months Nissan X-Trail Jam, American Andy Fitch came out to this weeks O'Neill Evolution event and represented himself outstandingly (is that even a word?) by taking first in the Superpipe portion of the event. Finch took the winner's position going away as he was nearly 30 points ahead of the next finisher, Risto Mattila. With the Superpipe win Finch boosted himself up to 4th in the TTR standings with a chance tomorrow at the Quarterpipe event of taking the overall TTR lead (depending on how he finishes compared to current #3 Chas Guldemond). I could speak more on it but it would be a waste since we've got video from the event including the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place runs, Highest Air highlights as well as the whole Superpipe replay. And if you still wanted more about Friday's events (including the full results) check the official recap here.
Superpipe Live replay:
1st Andy Finch:
2nd Risto Mattila:
3rd Janne Korpi:
Highlights Highest Air:
Skate Rumors...I Didn't Say It
Published: 12:15 a.m. PT by Me
I love me some gossip and thanks to Europe Skate there are plenty of rumors to talk about. Here's what they got to say:
Well the rumours want to become the truth sometimes and it seems that the eS Footwear team has lost another pro skater by the name of PJ Ladd. He is now on DC Shoes and Dc Apparel. Now you know why he left Fourstar Clothing. On the change front - Sean Malto no longer rides for DC Shoes and the Canadian skater Gailea Momulu has left the Osiris team. Coming from Germany Danny Sommerfield now has a pro model from the Hessenmob Skateboards team and a 9 page article in the newest Kingpin Issue available right now.
Mark Gonzalez Ain't Just A Skater For adidas
Published: 12:11 a.m. PT by Me
Given that he's a living legend and all it was probably a smart move on behalf of adidas to anchor their skate team to Mark Gonzalez, similar to what Nike SB did with P-Rod. I'm not savvy enough to follow sales of adidas Skateboarding shoes but given some of the stuff they've put out I can't imagine them doing poorly (nice designs), in line with that adidas Classics (not necessarily adidas Skateboarding) has come out with a few new limited edition kicks designed by Mark Gonzalez (as well as artist Andrew Pommier). As an artist himself Gonzalez came up with a really dope design for his sneakers, a pair of which you can see below. For more info on the shoes along with a few more pictures from the line check out the Hypebeast post about them here.
Video Roundup: Year-End Highlights, The Berrics Bench, EA Skate Emulates Nike SB, And More
Published: 12:10 a.m. PT by Me
Here are some clips to cap off what has been a pretty slow week (aren't the holidays over?):
• In celebration of the new year Crossfire's put up a montage of some of the best tricks they caught on camera this past year with the hopes that you'll vote your favorite trick of the bunch (there are 6 tricks total) in their current poll (check the column on the left). In order to make an informed decision though you'd probably wanna actually watch the tricks, in which case you can check the clip out here.
• Somewhat similar to the clip just mentioned above, Canadian site Skate Newspot has put up their highlights/recap of 2007 featuring nothing else but some good ol' fashion skating. If you've been following their site religiously you've probably already seen most of this (just not together) but if you haven't you can check the clip out here.
• While WE wait for the full Guy Mariano footage from The Berrics we can whet our appetite with some bench-action out of the Berra/Koston paradise. As mentioned the footage is all about the benches as Joey Brezinski, Eduardo Craig, Tyler Bledsoe and Giovanni Reda put on a show on what's purported to be stolen from a construction site. Check the clip out here.
• Consolidated has thrown together footage they've collected from their international skater Ben Raemers, as with most Consolidated stuff the footage has pretty rugged skating featuring plenty of bowl skating and stuff happening at parks. Check the clip out here.
• Given that I don't really play video games I haven't been able to check out EA Skate officially but apparently it's got gameplay and some video editing features enough so that conceivably someone can copy a part from a skate video in the game itself. And since it's conceivable somebody has conceived and done it with P-Rod's part in Nike SB's 'Nothing But The Truth'. Check out the following clip, found on the P-Rod endorsed Sk8site.com, which mimics P-Rod's part trick-for-trick minus the outfits and backround. Watch the clip here.
• And finally check out this hilarious send up Zoo York has done of those annoying late night Head-On commercials:
As If You Didn't Already Know: Skateboards Make For Good Ass-Rests
Published: 12:06 a.m. PT by Me
Alright I know a lot of you probably hang skate decks on your walls for decor, but now the owner of Sole Tech Distribution (etnies, eS, Emerica...) is taking that idea to another level with Skate Study House. Skate Study House is a brand developed by the aforementioned Pierre-André Senizergues and Gil Le Bon de Lapointe that will incorporate skate goods into furniture design, remixing classic furniture designs using top-notch skate aesthetic (I mean just check out the picture of some of the collection below). No word on whether the collection will be offered for wide-release, as of now it's only been mentioned that the collection will be shown at the amazing French boutique/gallery space Colette starting January 28th. Either way it'd probably be too expensive for someone like me (and probably you) but who knows maybe they'll be knockoffs one day. For more on the collection check the High Snobiety post on it here.
Volcom's Reptilian Ramp Rumble
Published: 12:03 a.m. PT by Me
A skate jam in the heart of a major surf event? Yep that's what Volcom is offering with the Reptilian Ramp Rumble at the 2008 Surf Expo in Orlando on January 11th (for Ams) and 12th (for Pros). And we're not talking about random surfers who dabble in skating performing for the crowd, some skaters scheduled for the Rumble include Mark Appleyard, Rune Glifberg, and Dennis Busenitz who'll probably be out there for the good weather, the 80-foot wide mini ramp, oh yeah and the $35,000 purse ($10,000 for the 1st place finisher). As mentioned the event will be taking place at the Surf Expo which is like one of the biggest annual trade show events, if not the biggest, for surfing. The Expo itself will be taking place from January 10th to 13th and will feature tons of booths, fashion shows, demonstrations, and of course a bikini show courtesy of Ed Hardy. For more on Volcom's Reptilian Ramp Rumble check the link here and for more info on the Surf Expo check out their official site here.
January 4, 2008
O'Neill Evolution Is In Progress
Published: 12:46 p.m. PT by Me
Just a reminder: The TTR SIX(6)STAR O'Neill Evolution webcast for the Superpipe finals is going on RIGHT NOW. Check the link here to check out the action from Davos, Switzerland.
Also you can check out the official update from the qualification rounds that took place yesterday here.
Part Three Of Daewon Song On Epicly Later'd
Published: 1:43 a.m. PT by Me
Though they're still off on their New Year's break someone must have slipped into the offices at VBS and put in a little work because they've put up a new episode of Epicly Later'd. As mentioned before Epicly Later'd is currently on a 4-part arc with Daewon Song where Daewon takes O'dell back to some of the famous spots of the 90's as seen in the videos of that time. This time around it's the Imperial double set and Imperial blocks/ledges made famous in 'New World Order', '20 Shot Sequence', the old Plan B videos, and even the early Girl stuff, thrown in there is also Daewon talking about the now-extinct World warehouse. As opposed to the earlier two episodes on Daewon, this one gets more out of him in general, whether he's talking about what it was like as a youngin' on one of Steve Rocco's teams or how skating was different back then without all the web technology we have now (mainly viral video). You can check out the 3rd installment of Daewon Song on Epicly Later'd here. Oh and speaking of Daewon, check out this Christmas card from Podium Distribution (distributors for DVS among others) that Transworld has put up featuring a Christmas-y Daewon and Daniel Castillo.
Keeping Up With The Jackasses
Published: 1:21 a.m. PT by Me
With the recent release of Jackass 2.5 on DVD and via download there's been a flurry of utterly random cast related news and I felt like sharing some of them:
• First off there's been Steve-O who was hit up by paparazzi outside a Miami bar where he proceeded to pour his heart out to those that would listen. The contents of his heart: A desire to kill President Bush, a possible career as an MC with a battle with K-Fed in the horizon, and most importantly an emotional attachment with Amy Winehouse. You can read more about Steve-O's endearing words (and future lyrics) at some random celebrity site here.
• Next up is Element skater Bam Margera who apparently is having trouble getting approval from community leaders for a liquor license for his proposed West Chester, Pennsylvania bar. I'm guessing the community leaders he's talking to are somewhere in the old, white men range which would explain their hesitation. Luckily Bam has an airtight argument for his getting the liquor license: "It's not going to be like Jackass: The Bar." Case closed, license granted. Check out the story here.
• And finally just general Jackass news as apparently there'll be a Jackass video game coming out on January 18th for the Nintendo DS. The game is reported to be one of those free-roaming adventure games (I'm guessing like Grand Theft Auto-esque) where you get to control the Jackass guys and perform random "daring stunts, crazy pranks and wacky antics". It'll also allow for multiplayer games via the DS' wireless system. Wait a second...isn't Nintendo like a video game company that kinda skews towards the younger audience with games like Super Mario and all those Wii sports? I don't quite understand how Jackass fits in with that image...ehhh who cares. If you wanna read more about the Jackass game on Nintendo DS check the link here.
And again if you haven't seen Jackass 2.5 you'd probably want to do that soon...as for why here's the trailer again:
Analog Skate Team In Indonesia
Published: 1:01 a.m. PT by Me
With a gang of skate teams going over to China these past couple of years you know there's gonna be some type of Asia-wide invasion from more skate teams in the near future (that is if more Asian countries fix up their city planning). Case in point the French skate company Anagram's recent tour of Indonesia (you know the country with the world's largest Muslim population?) The tour itself has spawned a video which skateperception has just put up a teaser for. If you're a fan of nice cinematography and editing in your skate videos then you'll probably really wanna watch this as the clip featuring some of the Anagram team is really damn good looking (not in the homo-erotic way though). I wonder if the actual video is gonna look like this the whole way?
And speaking of tantalizing teasers check out The Berrics throwing this little Guy Mariano teaser out to us. Man after repeated viewings of Fully Flared I'm just waiting for more stuff from Mariano.
A Digital BMX Coloring Book
Published: 12:55 a.m. PT by Me
Alright I'm gonna act like this is somewhat not-lame mainly because I found out about it from the streetwear website High Snobiety (which I wouldn't exactly consider lame) but check out this website where you can create a custom BMX bike using flash animation and plenty of colors. It's more like an exercise in imagination as there's no real pay-off (like an actual bike), but who knows maybe you can hook up with one of those custom bike builders and show them your sassy little creation and have them build you a bike according to the blueprint you give them courtesy of BMXtreme.co.uk. Actually now that I think about it I can totally understand why High Snobiety has this link up...aren't like tons of these street wear kids into loud-ass clashing colors? And don't they admire the 80's? What a perfect site for them. Here try your hand at building your own bike (hope it comes out as good as mine...I mean my kid sister's...below).
Jake Brown, Danny Way, and PLG All On FUEL TV's Daily Habit
Published: 12:12 a.m. PT by Me
If you happen to be plowing through the channels next Monday night looking for something to watch on TV you might wanna keep this in mind: three heavy hitters of vert skating will be stopping off at FUEL TV's studios to host 'The Daily Habit', Danny Way, Pierre-Luc Gagnon, and Jake Brown (by the way me writing "heavy hitters" earlier on was no a pun on the Jake Brown crash or anything). I'm guessing the topics they'll be covering include of course Jake Brown's X Games crash (I wonder at what point he's gonna request that he never talk about it again), PLG's recent gold-paved run through vert contests, and Danny Way's overall dopeness. I have no real info on if those topics are covered though, it's just a hunch. The three will also be joined by Dave Duncan. As mentioned this episode of Daily Habit will be airing on January 7th at 9pm EST and re-broadcasts (re-runs) later. For more on the episode check the link here.
January 3, 2008
Chronicling The Rise Of The NHSSA
Published: 2:36 a.m. PT by Me
Check out this article from the Ventura County Star (a Southern California newspaper) about our friend Jeff Stern and his burgeoning National High School Skateboard Association (NHSSA). If you haven't been following the NHSSA like we have, the NHSSA is an outgrowth of the California High School Skateboard Association (CHSSA) which was also a creation of Stern who just last year started the organization as a way to get skaters from different high schools in California (mostly Los Angeles area schools) organized into teams and competing against each other a la high school sports teams. The main breakthrough that allowed for the successful creation of this type of association was the fact that Stern developed a way for the kids who were competing to get insured against liability, which was the main reason the schools themselves hadn't gotten involved in such ventures. Well with the contests that went on throughout last year (wow we can officially say that now) the NHSSA was able to pick up a lot of steam, and by steam we really mean attention, sponsorships, and interest from a boatload of other high school skate clubs. Which sets up this upcoming season (for which the article acts as a preview of sorts), that starts in March, where defending champs Santa Monica High School will be taking on stiffer competition as Stern predicts more than 20 high schools will be competing (as compared to the 7 teams that were involved last year). And furthermore it's only gonna get tougher from this season on out as Stern is continually getting bombarded with calls from high school skate clubs around the country requesting involvement.
For the Ventura County Star article detailing the growth of the NHSSA check the link here. For more info on last year's CHSSA/NHSSA season check our home page for the 2007 season here.
Independent's Northwest Romp and Geoff Rowley CommercialPublished: 2:01 a.m. PT by Me
A few weeks ago we mentioned that Independent Trucks had begun putting up their Northwest tour video up on their website for free with the caveat that they would be releasing the video in weekly installments (2 installments per week). The time has come and Independent has released all the installments of the video along with guidelines on how to combine the installments to make one full DVD of the film, meaning now's your chance to get a hold of and watch the complete Independent Northwest Tour video (if you're like me you don't really like watching things in parts). You can find all the installments at Independent's Northwest Tour site here.
Oh and in Independent related news check out the new commercial for their Geoff Rowley trucks they've put up on Strange Notes. As with anything that involves Rowley you can expect some sick skating and nothing filler-like. Check out the commercial here.
Epicly Later'd Host Gets Tables Turned
Published: 1:56 a.m. PT by Me
If you've been following this blog then you know that we've been following VBS' Epicly Later'd. The host Patrick O'dell, who used to be staff photographer for Thrasher, usually gets the pros featured on Epicly Later'd to dig deep and come up with some interesting stuff for their interviews/profiles, but this time around the tables have been turned as O'dell has been interviewed by Mumble Magazine for their Mumble Minutes podcast. Ironically the interview of O'dell are quite different from the ones you see on Epicly Later'd as the host asks more rapidfire (almost generic) questions including plenty of best/worst and yes/no type questions which O'dell does well in expanding on (since he probably knows what most interviewers really want). You can check out the Patrick O'dell interview at Mumble Magazine here and if you wanna get subscribed to their podcasats hit this link.
Training Day At The O'Neill Evolution Event
Published: 1:42 a.m. PT by Me
New Year's Day has come and past and now the competitive season for snowboarding is heading into high gear. The first item up on the 2008 checklist is the O'Neill Evolution event in Davos, Switzerland, a Six(6)Star TTR contest which started up just yesterday. Yesterday was just a training day as most of the riders were trying to get accustomed to the setup for this event which includes a longer halfpipe. Action will pick up come Friday with preliminary rounds for the superpipe while the quarterpipe rounds start Saturday (the event runs until the 7th). For us American heads action for the Finals at the O'Neill Evolution will be webcast over at the official event site. In the meantime you can read yesterday's official update which includes quotes from defending champ Antti Autti over here. The Berrics Offer You Friendship And So Much More
Published: 1:21 a.m. PT by Me
Hmmmmm...so Steve Berra is asking you to join The Berrics army via their Myspace page huh? Wonder if this might entail any future benefits or notifications. Never know so you might as well join (that's my philosophy for all social interaction, hence my past membership in the Montana State Old Time Fiddlers Association) which you can do here. Oh yeah and check the pre-New Year's mention of future features at The Berrics blog including a Guy Mariano Battle Commander feature...seriously can't wait for that.
View Previous Quick Hits Entries From December 27, 2007 - January 2, 2008
