Chris Genty #2.

Two bucks for a CD.

Chris was the mastermind behind Global. This was the first ad that I could find. He later started Kingdom after winning some cash from the X-Games. I wanted to include Chris when I did the two weeks of vert skaters to start June, but I didn't stumble upon an ad of him at the time. I figured to even that out by doing a week of Global after finding yesterday's George Nagai advertisement.

Random Odds & Ends

Thrasher Subscription Check: I got the August issue the other day with Nyjah Houston on the cover. I have the July issue with Tristan Funkhouser on the front. That was the first one I received since March. May and June are understandably still missing. I know May's edition was for Milton Martinez's SOTY victory. Did they have Jeff Grosso on the cover for June? I thought I saw that at the Skate Park of Tampa's website recently, but couldn't find it again.

Speaking of the new Thrasher, I dug Evan Smith's interview. Especially the part about how he doesn't exactly have a board sponsor right now and is simply supporting the companies he likes by riding their decks.

Polar Vortex: There was this gem from a recent Pontus Alv interview at the Slam City blog:

"Skateboarding needs to not put out skateboarding because people are tiring of watching it. Instagram every day is flooded with skate clips, daily clips on Thrasher. It’s cool that there is stuff and the possibility but I don’t think it’s healthy. I kind of stopped following and watching things because I don’t find it that interesting any more."

With everything that is going on in the world these days, it's overwhelming to keep up with it all. There's too much of everything (and that's not just for skateboarding) that it becomes impossible to deal with. I identified with this quote because I've hardly felt like watching any skate videos or clips the last couple of months. It's like, "Yippee, another new one. Yawn." Less is often better.

I went skateboarding at least a little every day in June. It's mostly been solo driveway sessions during the week. I've been hitting up the park early in the mornings on the weekends when nobody is around. I think I'm going to be building some new ledge in the near future.

Sound Zone: The new Bill Nace record on Drag City is a great slab of experimental guitar work. C. Lavender created a fine collection of spooky drones with her Myth of Equilibrium album. The Telematic Concert reissue by Pauline Oliveros and Alan Courtis is a fascinating long distance live performance. I've also been listening to a bunch of Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine.

Vert Is Dead will be back on Monday, July 6th with more stuff from the middle of the 1990s. Have a safe and happy weekend.

Chris Ortiz took the photo.

Transworld - August 1995 Volume 13 Number 8