Tron Inspired Skateboard Ramp

Tron Legacy Premiere - A Light Session from ENESS on Vimeo.

I haven't seen the new movie yet, but this is pretty awesome if I say so myself.  How can they land these tricks in such low light with all the crazy flashing lights on the ramp?...that is what impresses me the most! :) According to the Eness website, this is the world’s first extreme 3D projection. Each rider is wearing an iPod that has a custom app, which measures his or her air time. That app initiates the graphics while they are in the air and upon landing.  Sweet!

Kilian Martin: Freestyle Skateboarding Still Alive and Well

I remember in the 80s, every skateboard video you watched had elements of Street skating, Vert Skating and Freestyle skating....well, nowadays the freestyle skating seems to get left out.  Rodney Mullen, the father of freestyle skating and the inventor of pretty much all the tricks that street skaters do today still skates and has shown us in his series of Almost Round 1-3 videos several years ago that he made an adjustment to his freestyle skating and pretty much merged his freestyle with street.

Well, I wasn't really looking for freestyle skating but was visiting Vision Street Wear's site our of a nostalgic feeling I had.  You see, Vision Street Wear was one of the major companies for skateboards, wheels, shoes and clothes back in the 80s.  Their stuff was awesome and I would still wear and skate there products today.  To get a history lesson on what Vision Street Wear was like in the 70s-80s, click here.  I was just thinking, somewhere in my attic is a Vision Street Wear shirt with the arms cut off and a pair of VSW shorts and I also owned a pair of grey suede Vision shoes (which are long gone) with the patented Ollie pad!  So Rad! :)  What is even radder is that you can still buy them today!

Anyhow, while viewing their website, I clicked on one of their team riders by the name of Kilian Martin.  I checked out one of his videos and was just amazed by his skating...just awesome!  I hope freestyle can make it's way back into the scene like it was in the 80s.  The things these guys do are just amazing and so creative.
Check out the two videos below where Kilian combines Freestyle and street skating.  The last video is more pure Freestyle skating like you would see in an 80s skate video.  It's interesting to note that our modern day skateboard shape pretty much looks like a larger freestyle board with a little more rounded edges. 

Part 1

Part 2

Freestyle

No Tasty waves? Try Tarp Surfing!

     Omar Etcheverry leading a tandem tarp surfing session.

So What do you do when you're a surfer and there just aren't any "Tasty Waves" out there? You get yourself a great big blue tarp and have your friends pull it over you while you skate through it. Instant killer waves brah! :)

This whole concept started as a joke. Some local Santa Cruz surfers just wanted to get a laugh out of there friends, so they made this video for YouTube. The video starred local Santa Cruz surfers Omar Etcheverry, Homer Henard and Maverick's alternate Nic Lamb. The video went viral and the next thing they knew, they had received over 2.5 million views and got a nomination for a People's Choice award for Favorite Viral Video Star. The three surfers now star in a new Mountain Dew commercial that is sure to make this joke a mainstream activity! :) Check out the video these guys made below and the Moutain Dew Commercial!





I got information, pictures and links to videos from this article on the sfgate.com.

Artsy Richmond Skateboard Video

Ty Beall cruising Richmond, VA in Cold Stogies from Brent O'Donnell on Vimeo.

I saw this video on the Mostly Skateboarding blog and I had wanted to post it on my blog too just because I enjoyed the way it was filmed and the fact that it's filmed in Richmond is cool.  I don't get out much, so I get excited about any local footage out there and I've never skated Richmond at all, so it's just very cool to see the sites that are there just an hour away from me.  Maybe someday I'll get myself to Richmond to check out the DIY park.

WOW! Vallely back on Powell Peralta! No Joke!

Stacy Peralta filming Mike V, 1988, Edison, NJ. Photo by Craig Stecyk.

First, check out that pic of Mike V and that kickass No Comply off the block....he was and is one of the masters of that trick.  Him and Ray Barbee were my teachers when it came to No Comply's.  Play, Pause, Rewind, Repeat!  As if the news couldn't get any better with the Bones Brigade Documentary in the works...but now Mike Vallely has announced he is dropping everything and returning to his roots on Powell Peralta!!!  This week is going down in history my friends!  His website says he will be featured in the documentary as well.  I wonder what will happen with his newly formed skateboard company.  Ah, who cares, Mike is back with Powell Peralta....the powerhouse behind 80s skateboarding!  He has truly come full circle.  ---Ha, I like to research my posts while I'm typing them and well, when I opened up the Regulator Distribution company's website, I learned the answer to what will happen to By The Sword skateboards.  The following is the post I read...I'm thinking some skateshops are going to be having a sale soon, what do you think?

12.03.10 //Goodbye to By The Sword
SWWWWOOOOOSSSSHHHH !! Thats the sound of a toilet flushing. Well after 6 months of working on "By the Sword" with Mike Vallely, it seems that it has come to an end. We recently recieved an email from Mikes partner with BTS telling us that he got an offer to go back to Powell Peralta and that he is taking it. We at Regulator never had a say in any of it. We just got an email and that was that. Of course we are bummed to not be working with Mike anymore but I think I am more bummed for the shops, distributors and skaters that got behind the message of BTS and supported it. In the end I am stoked for Mike. He is my friend and I only want what is best for my friends. In the meantime maybe Ill steal the "DIY Or Die" slogan?! I really liked that!
So there you go. If you still want to find some stupid skater owned bull shit, Regulatordist.com is still your place to go!
Now take that to your message boards ya queers!
Kristian Svitak
www.Regulatordist.com
1-800-Get Bent

Bones Brigade Documentary!

I just got this email from Powell Peralta stating that a Bones Brigade Documentary is in the works! No freakin way! I am beyond ecstatic! This is so unreal! I worshiped these guys in my preteen and teen years and to be honest, I still do! I have music on my ipod from Bones Brigade videos and every once in awhile I'll watch a little bit of a Bones Brigade video.  In 2005, I purchased the "Search For Animal Chin" special edition DVD set which included a DVD with lots of extras and of course commentary on the movie itself.  It was awesome to get this insight about the making of "Animal Chin".  I can't wait to learn all the interesting factoids about the Bones Brigade themselves and their experiences with skateboarding in the 80s.   It's great just to see a picture of them all together discussing this project! The Powell Peralta website states

"Documentary filmmaker, Stacy Peralta in a new film with Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, Mike McGill, Rodney Mullen, Tommy Guerrero and others will investigate the history, the team and the men to determine what is the legacy of the Bones Brigade. "Five years ago the guys got together and told me they wanted to do this. They believed they had a significant story others would want to know about. So now we're going to see.""

It also states that a coffee table book is in the works!  Sweet!  Did I ever mention that I have a passion for skateboarding?  Well, I do, just a little bit! :)  I just did an internet search on "bones brigade documentary" and it's just cool to see all the major skate sites I know talking about this within the last couple hours!  I love this skateboarding community! :)