Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Ed Templeton #27.



Happy Halloween!

As an added scary bonus for no particular reason, here is Pushead's cover art for Thrasher's Noise Forest skate rock tape from 1989:



The photo is by Brian Gaberman.

Transworld - September 1998 Volume 16 Number 9

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Mike Maldonado #4.



They called us walking corpses
Unholy living dead
They had to lock us up
Put us in their British hell

Make sure your face is clean now
Can't have no dirty dead
All the corpses here are clean, boy
All the Yanks in British hell

I don't want to be here in your London dungeon
I don't want to be here in your British hell
Ain't no mystery why I'm in misery in hell
Here's hoping you're swell

They called us walking corpses
Unholy living dead
They had to lock us up
Put us in their British hell

I don't want to be here in your London dungeon
I don't want to be here in your British hell
Ain't no mystery why I'm in misery in hell
Here's hoping you're swell

Make sure your face is clean now
Can't have no dirty dead
All the corpses here are clean, boy
All the Yanks in British hell

I don't want to be here in your London dungeon
I don't want to be here in your British hell
Ain't no mystery why I'm in misery in hell

Here's hoping you're swell
Here's hoping you're swell
Here's hoping you're swell
Here's hoping you're swell

The photo is by Ryan Gee.

Transworld - July 1998 Volume 16 Number 7

Monday, October 29, 2018

Satva Leung #4.



It's the Monster Squad for Halloween week.

Toy Machine's resident ledge tech guy rocks a backside tailslide down a dark and scary ledge.

I like how the monster is lurking behind the planters.

I was running out of ideas because I have used most of the other scary season stuff already so I kind of dumb lucked into this week's theme. Although it occurred to me a little too late that I could have done a week of 1031. Next year.

Transworld - May 1998 Volume 16 Number 5

Friday, October 26, 2018

Scott Conklin #3.



Mechanical toy dolphin.

I really like Scott's part in Alien Workshop's Timecode video from 1997. The music is an untitled instrumental song by a band called The Jetty that gives it a Memory Screen type vibe. There's a few pictures of guitars in the section so I always sort of assumed Scott might be in the band. All he does is a bunch of backside and frontside 50-50s, a crooked grind, and a backside tailslide in a little over a minute. It's not like it features the best or even a lot of tricks, but the part has this intangible quality that works perfectly.

Transworld - October 1998 Volume 16 Number 10

Thursday, October 25, 2018

John Drake #5.



Mechanical toy ladybug.

Pacific Drive put together some creative ads back in the 90s. I imagine being in the land of skateboarding sure helped out a bit.

Mike Ballard snapped the photo sequence.

Transworld - December 1996 Volume 14 Number 12

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Mike Frazier #8.



Something against you.

The photos are by Thomas Campbell.

Transworld - October 1997 Volume 15 Number 10

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Bill Weiss #2.



From fishlips to madness.

Longtime vertical enthusiast Bill Weiss recently launched a new company called Madness from the Dwindle Distribution camp. The team consists of transition rippers Sam Beckett, Jack Fardell, Clay Kreiner, and Alex Perelson. The graphics are heavy on the Francisco Goya tip with a touch of pop art thrown in for good measure. There's a delightful bit of irony in an all vert project being sponsored by what once was World Industries.

The photo is by Paul "Skin" Phillips.

Transworld - March 1996 Volume 14 Number 3

Monday, October 22, 2018

Simon Evans #2.



An autumn sweater vest and a couple of proper switch tricks.

The photos are by Tobin Yelland.

The article is by Paul "Skin" Phillips.

Transworld - May 1996 Volume 14 Number 5

Friday, October 19, 2018

Brian Wenning #3.



Don't call it a comeback.

Mike Blabac snapped the sequence.

Transworld - April 2002 Volume 20 Number 4

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Josh Kalis #6.



"East Coast hip-hop and skateboarding went very hand in hand, everything was very urban, in the city, grimy — it was very aesthetically pleasing. It was cool. It was sick. We didn’t have cell phones back then and there wasn’t very much landline calling to see who was going out. You just went to Love and whoever was there was there. It was almost the same thing every day. You just went. If it was summertime, you’d usually go after three, four, five o’clock because it was too hot. You knew everyone was there."

Josh reminisces about the good old days at Love Park in Philadelphia.

Who knew the future would turn out to be thin canvas slip-ons with vulcanized soles?

Ryan Gee took the picture.

For the quote: Thrasher - September 2018 Volume 39 Number 9

Transworld - April 2000 Volume 18 Number 4

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Keith Hufnagel #11.



Metropolitan.

After riding for DC for most of the 1990s, Huf left for DVS in 2000. He would later start his own footwear company, which seems to be very well these days. Real has been making a board with his name on it for 25 years now, too.

Those shoes look wearable. I'm not sure about the crest on the side, but that's about it.

I set this unrealistic goal to skateboard every day in October. I know it's unlikely to happen because bad weather will show up eventually, but I figure to give it the old college try. So far I'm a perfect 17 for 17. It dried up enough at lunch that I went home for a couple of ollies, nollies, and a switch 180 in the street to keep the streak going. The weather has featured a lot of spotty rain of late. I got a good session in at the park on Sunday morning. I even saw a bald eagle fly over.

Mike Blabac was the photographer.

Transworld - June 1999 Volume 17 Number 6

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Scott Johnston #5.



Talk of the weather will do.

Scott gets in on the going up craze before it was even a craze.

I suppose a weather proof skate shoe is a good idea, especially back when footwear was bulkier and material choice wouldn't have made that much of a difference. It also caters to the emerging trend of the time to have a pair of chilling shoes. You're still supporting skateboarding, but your socks aren't getting wet.

Gabe Morford took the photo.

Transworld - January 1997 Volume 15 Number 1

Monday, October 15, 2018

Carl Shipman #5.



Airs above the English Channel.

I figured with DC recently focusing on their mid to late 1990s history that now would be a good time to take a look at some of their ads from that time span.

I had a pair of the Clockers in black. I liked the design, but they were shaped a little differently with the groove in the midsole. I don't think that was ever a factor since it wasn't a very deep groove. They were good enough for skating as far as I can recall, but I honestly don't remember much about the shoes.

I always liked this photo for simply how high Carl is blasting and the somewhat dramatic use of flash.

The photo is by Wig Worland photo.

Transworld - May 1996 Volume 14 Number 5

Friday, October 12, 2018

Steve Olson #5.



Above the clouds.

Steve is from Tacoma, Washington. He sent a sponsor-me tape to Foundation and Tod Swank started hooking him up with boards in the early 1990s. Steve would turn pro for the F-Troop. He went on to be Shorty's second pro when Tony Buyalos decided to expand from bolts to boards in the mid 90s. Later, Steve would ride for Creation Skateboards before retiring from the professional ranks. He opted to ride for Kastel because a friend was working as the team manager. He still skateboards and is spending a lot of time working on his music these days.

Transworld - December 1998 Volume 16 Number 12

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Jesse Paez #4.



I had a pair of these. Mine were in all white and were the last pair of white shoes I've ever owned. For some reason, I do not like how solid white sneakers look. I feel this color scheme does look pretty decent. My personal color crisis aside, the Mercurys were built like a tank. The soles were thick, probably too thick, and they never broke in quite right. I also think the shoes ran a tad small and didn't fit properly, which didn't help matters any. I eventually gave them away to a friend who had smaller feet and he dug 'em.

Dave Swift took the photo.

Transworld - July 1998 Volume 16 Number 7

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Jim Menscer.



Home: Jersey.

Favorite terrain: Streets, any good hill or steep banks to hit. I like railings, crazy railings, or a big ollie. I just like to skate down a street and hit stuff, anything that's fun. I like ramps also, ramps are always fun. I'll skate anything, I don't care.

Inspirations: Ricky Oyola, Matt Reason, and this kid I see in Philly. He's so good. I think his name is Evan. He's got style.

Music: Superchunk, Sebadoh, Fugazi and Engine Kid are a few favorites. I generally like punk or jazz.

Sponsors: I ride for Screw Skateboards and Transit Wheels.

Thanks: Bob Losito, my family and my friends, especially my mom, Jay, Rock, Tom, and Andrej.

I think this qualifies as a big ollie. Jim also rode for Capital at some point and had a few tricks in couple of Transworld videos.

The photograph is by Ryan Gee.

For the information: Thrasher - February 1996 Volume 16 Number 2

Transworld - December 1997 Volume 15 Number 12

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Ricky Oyola #11.



"Matt Reason and Ricky Oyola with their little rules about skating, that just came from them being 100% dedicated. I mean, if you saw either of Matt or Ricky’s apartments back then, it was seriously just a mattress, skate magazines, and a little bit of food in the fridge. That was it. They thought about skateboarding non-stop and skated every day. I was at that point in my life as well, so we got along well together." - Dan Wolfe

I started breaking in a new pair of shoes last night. The old ones had duct tape covering holes on the insole so I figured they had a good enough run. The new ones seemed OK, but they still need to be broken in for skateboarding. I'm on my fourth pair of éS Accel Slims in a row. It's weird how some tricks feel better with new shoes and other tricks don't.

Dan's quote is from a Chrome Ball Incident interview.

Transworld - April 1997 Volume 15 Number 4

Monday, October 8, 2018

Chris Lambert #2.



Athletic Alliance.

Kastel was a mid to late 1990s footwear brand that was founded by the same folks who did Ezekiel Clothing. Alphonzo Rawls was on the team in the beginning and did some of the early shoe designs. Other riders included Ronnie Bertino, Chris Lambert, Justin Bokma, Ricky Oyola, Jake Brown, and Steve Olson. They went for a beefy and well padded technical style of shoe that was popular at the time.

We've had off and on rain the last week. I did break the 200 mark for skateboarding as I expected to last Sunday, it just happened a little later in the day due to the rain. This week looks warmer and maybe drier.

The photos are by Dave Swift.

Transworld - February 1997 Volume 15 Number 2