Friday, February 27, 2015

Emmanuel Guzman #2.



Prevent this tragedy.

Thrasher - July 2010 Volume 30 Number 7

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Eli Reed.



The last of the famous international playboys.

Thrasher - February 2010 Volume 30 Number 2

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Mark Suciu.



Junk Bond Trader.

Mark is from Saratoga, California. He currently is living in Philadelphia and attending college while being a pro for Habitat. He also rides Adidas, RVCA, SML Wheels, and Thunder. Phillie seems to be an appropriate city for him since his skating is a progression of what was happening in Alien Workshop's Photosynthesis video. His big break out moment was the part he released with Thrasher for Atlas Skateshop in 2012. Mark traveled across the country and hit up a bunch of spots. He does technical tricks with a fluid style, but isn't getting too crazy and overdoing it with the video game combos. Jeff Grosso approves.

The Elm Company makes hats for snowboarders and they are still in business.

Is everybody OK with seven days of Sixty Forty from 1995 starting on Monday? It will be eight days of Flip afterwards. I'm chipping away at Sorry, but it's taking some effort. Blitz rotated ads for their different companies so that makes this a little harder. Since Flip ran a lot of non-skating ads, I'm trying to pair up each rider with a skate photo to go with the chill shot.

Transworld - November 2010 Volume 28 Number 11

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Lewis Marnell.



Nothing but the truth.

Lewis was from Melbourne, Australia. He also lived in Sweden, but returned to Oz to focus on skateboarding. He was sponsored by Almost and Nike. Lewis turned pro for Almost in 2008 and was recognized by SLAM Skateboard Magazine as their Skater of the Year. Unfortunately, Lewis was diabetic and passed away from complications of the disease in January of 2013. He was 30 years old.

I watched his part in Nike's Nothing But The Truth last night. Lewis did a good variety of flip tricks caught cleanly, both regular and switch. He also had a stylish 360 flip.

The sequence is by Andrew Mapstone.

Transworld - September 2010 Volume 28 Number 9

Monday, February 23, 2015

Kevin Terpening.



The man who did a no comply over a picnic table.

Kevin's from Ohio and moved out to LA. He was an am for Alien Workshop and had some tricks in their segment for Transworld's Cinematographer Project video. Jason Dill and Anthony Van Engelen wanted him to ride for Fucking Awesome so he made the switch. He was rewarded with a board that had an embarrassing yearbook photo of himself on it. Kevin also rides for Huf, Spitfire, and Indy.

Skateboarder - December 2010 Volume 20 Number 4

Friday, February 20, 2015

Dylan Rieder #4.



Subliminal messages with a cherry on top.

Transworld - December 2010 Volume 28 Number 12

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Jerry Hsu #3.



Internet Famous.

The relaunch of the Skateboard Mag is now three issues deep. As I said before the photos look great, especially the Tony Trujillo feature in Issue #132. The lack of words in the form of editorial content is a bummer. I understand that print media is trying to find ways to stay interactive and draw readers to the website or vice versa, but how hard is to at least write a couple of paragraphs? Most "articles" are about two sentences long and one of those sentences is telling you to check out the video on the website. This doesn't help to interest the somewhat school-phobic audience of young skateboarders in reading. The covers have been a little hit or miss. That can be chalked up to growing pains and figuring out the direction they want to go in. I'm assuming that since former Transworld editor Joel Petersen is involved that Dave Carnie and Chris Nieratko will never be working for the Mag again. The Mag also feels slightly like a catalog with how products are reviewed, more so than other skateboard magazines. I'm basically staying reserved in judgement and seeing where the new format goes because there is still work to be done.

Transworld - October 2010 Volume 28 Number 10

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Collin Provost #2.



The Alchemist.

Skateboarder - April 2010 Volume 19 Number 8

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Don Nguyen #2.



Arctic.

The Nuge had been on Foundation until 2009 when he joined up with the Baker crew. He's still riding for them and jumping down huge gaps. He plays bass in Arctic with Justin Figueroa on guitar and Frecks on the drums. Nuge and Sammy Baca have a clothing company called Volume 4.

Thrasher - February 2010 Volume 30 Number 2

Monday, February 16, 2015

Wes Kremer.



Crusty By Nature.

Wes is a San Diego resident who was born in Tokyo. He's been riding for SK8MAFIA since he was a little kid and has turned pro for them. He won Thrasher's Skater of the Year award for 2014. Wes does the required for pros of today tech and switch stuff down big gaps, but he also throws in tricks like late shove-its out of wallies and darkslides on handrails. The man can also skateboard on transitions, which makes him a well rounded professional. Additionally, he is sponsored by DC Shoes, Royal Trucks, and OJ Wheels.

The word is that Wes still drives an old Volvo station wagon and doesn't really have a cellphone. I really hope that is the case.

Thrasher - November 2010 Volume 30 Number 11

Friday, February 13, 2015

Raven Tershy.



Couch.

Raven was an am for Creature and Lakai. He's a transition and pool shredder with deep family ties to skateboarding. I'm a fan of how he skates everything like it's a three foot mini ramp.

Following a couple of phone calls with Rick Howard about riding for Chocolate, Raven was put on the team. This was when Chocolate was adding some amateurs, including Stevie Perez and Elijah Berle. Along with Vincent Alvarez and Cory Kennedy, the crew would become the next generation for Girl and Chocolate. The new ams acquired the name Trunk Boyz. Rick McCrank coined the title because they were always partying in the back of the van. The Trunk Boyz were featured heavily in Pretty Sweet, causing some minor disappointment from those looking to see footage from the veteran guys.

I've watched most of Pretty Sweet a couple of times in the last few weeks and I'm still left wondering who Will Arnett is.

Brendan Klein snapped the photo.

Thrasher - October 2010 Volume 30 Number 10

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Bobby Worrest #3.



Pulaski Local.

Bobby has been riding for Krooked since roughly the beginning of the company. He turned pro for them in 2006. He recently picked up Nike as a footwear sponsor after éS ended a couple of years ago. Bobby released a video part in the spring of 2014 that was filmed entirely at Pulaski Park in Washington, DC. This is an impressive feat since Pulaski is a notorious bust. I like video parts that are filmed in one location. You get a sense of how a local knows every inch of their home turf.

I noticed the ad says that Bobby is wearing Thiebaud pants. Did they name a pair of trousers after Jim? Happy belated birthday to one of the best guys in skateboarding.

Is éS back or are they just doing limited edition short runs of shoes? I thought I saw Tom Asta had a sticker on his board recently for them.

Transworld - April 2010 Volume 28 Number 4

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Brent Atchley.



Where in the hell did the hip-hop go?

Brent was an amateur for Element. He turned pro for them around about 2006. Brent left the planet in 2010. He was riding for Tribute Skateboards afterward, but that company appears to have ended in 2013. Element released a solo video of Brent ripping up Burnside and a bunch of other places when he turned pro. He's got ridiculous board control on transition and some nice floating backside ollies, kind of like Tim O'Connor. It took me a couple of watchings to make sense of his video part. In retrospect, he brought a slightly different style of skating to the table at the time.

Bryce Kanights snapped the photo. Speaking of Bryce, there's a great interview at the Chrome Ball Incident about his legendary Studio 43.

Skateboarder - January 2010 Volume 19 Number 5

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Matt Miller.



Nollie over the top to 50-50 on a handrail. No big deal. He's also got really good switch heelflips.

Thrasher - April 2010 Volume 30 Number 4

Monday, February 9, 2015

Gino Iannucci #4.



Hockey.

Gino left Chocolate after nearly twenty years this fall. He joined up with Jason Dill and Anthony Van Engelen at Fucking Awesome. Jason and Gino used to ride for Black Label and 101 together. He felt it was time for a change and FA Entertainment was just what he needed. I wonder if he's got another video part in him?

To clarify things from Friday, the Alien Workshop is officially back and being distributed by Tum Yeto. Mike Hill is running things. Chris Carter is not involved with Mother. Feel free to browse the Slap message boards for all the latest grumblings on such topics.

Note: Gino did this trick in Pretty Sweet, but he was wearing different clothes.

Thrasher - January 2010 Volume 30 Number 1

Friday, February 6, 2015

Gilbert Crockett #2.



Mother?

That's a switch kickflip.

Gilbert rode for Mystery and Fallen until he was abducted by the Alien Workshop. After the saucer broke up and crashed into the New Mexico desert, there's been a whole lot of speculation as to what is happening to the riders.

Some of the Alien team relocated to Jason Dill and Anthony Van Engelen's Fucking Awesome. That project has a new spinoff called Hockey, much like how Girl and Chocolate formed a long time ago. This includes former Workshoppers Dylan Rieder and Kevin Terpening. Eventually John Fitzgerald joined the party as well.

Joe Castrucci's Habitat found a new home over at Tum Yeto. Grant Taylor kept it simple and bounced for Anti-Hero. Has there been any word on who Omar Salazar is riding for?

The rumor is Alien Workshop will be starting up again with a new team and also under Tum Yeto distribution. I could see that happening, but at the same time Tod Swank is a businessman who knows better than to spread his finances too thin and adding a fourth board company might not be the best plan in these curious days.

There is further talk that Gilbert is riding for a new company called Mother that has Tyler Bledsoe and Jake Johnson on the team with Chris Carter handling the management.

In other Gilbert news, he recently earned a pro model from Vans. He should have a part in their new video, whenever they get around to finishing the thing.

Eric "Rodent" Cheslak was the photographer.

Transworld - January 2010 Volume 28 Number 1

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Vincent Alvarez.



Ride your wheels down to bearing covers.

Vincent is from West Covina, California. He won DC Shoe's King of LA contest in 2007. Girl and Chocolate team manager Sam Smyth was impressed with Vincent's skating and wanted to hook him up with gear. I think the story goes that after he won the contest he took a long time before contacting Sam. The guy just went back to work at his job at a meat packing plant. Fortunately he realized the opportunity that was presented to him and now his name is on a skateboard for Chocolate.

Vincent had the opener in Girl and Chocolate's Pretty Sweet video from 2012. He had a full three song part. The first segment suffers from spastic editing and is a tough watch, but the rest of his part is much better in terms of the film work. He just goes for it at break neck speed and pulls off some crazy tricks. He's not afraid to do blunts on anything, switch or regular.

Thrasher - July 2010 Volume 30 Number 7

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Matt Bennett #2.



A Place To Bury Strangers.

The photo is by Michael Burnett.

Thrasher - July 2010 Volume 30 Number 7

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Kevin "Spanky" Long #2.



Captain Beefheart.

Kevin was pro for Baker until they dropped a few guys from the team in 2013. He was still on Emerica and RVCA. Rather than vanish like so many others, he kept getting some coverage in the mags and was recently put back on the Baker team. I'm glad Kevin worked through whatever was going on and didn't disappear into the vortex.

Spanky used Captain Beefheart's "Electricity" for his part in Stay Gold from 2010. Somewhat of an odd choice of music, but it fit his skating.

It appears that Emerica and Lakai are getting together for the Stay Flared tour this summer. That should be a wild ride.

Skateboarder - January 2010 Volume 19 Number 5

Monday, February 2, 2015

Alex Olson #2.



Leave a message.

The next month is going to be a haphazard look back at 2010. I figure five years is a good amount of time to let pass before revisiting a particular year. I want to keep things fresh by adding newer stuff into the mix on this site.

Alex was riding for Girl and Vans in 2010. He was filming for Pretty Sweet and this straight up picnic table blast was in that video. Alex left Vans for Nike at some point between then and now. When Brian Anderson decided to leave Girl to begin 3D, Alex went along. However, Alex didn't feel like 3D was going to be the right place for him so he started Bianca Chandôn. The company right now specializes in limited edition products that reflect what Alex is into. I like what he is doing. It's cool to see somebody putting effort into things to be different from what everyone else.

Note: Alex is wearing Kevin Long's Bros shirt.

Thrasher - December 2010 Volume 30 Number 12