Dane Burman.

Municipal rail grinder.

Dane is from Sydney, Australia. In the classic Zero style, he jumps down a lot of handrails. He turned pro off his part in Strange World. Dane rode for Fallen and is still pro for Zero. He once showed up as an uninvited guest to watch Bob Burnquist skate his backyard ramps.

The Zero harsh production schedule is a real thing. Strange World premiered at the end of 2009 and was being promoted in ads up until April 2010. After a few months of Mystery adverts, they announced Cold War in the summer of 2010. It made sense to jump right into a new project because Strange World was mostly montages and shared parts. Zero did deliver Cold War in the fall of 2013.

I like how these ads look. It's a nice break from Zero's usual black, white, and red color schemes.

It's been hot this weekend, but the biggest issue were the high winds. I only fit in a minimal amount of skateboarding due to the breeze. Strange how things like that happen.

Transworld - July 2010 Volume 28 Number 7

Clint Walker #2.

Monolith.

I think it is interesting that for much of its existence Birdhouse has been a street focused company. It's only within the last couple years that Tony Hawk has shifted to primarily sponsoring vert skaters, which reflects what he likes the most about skateboarding. Granted there have always been ramp riders like Elliot Sloan, Lizzie Armanto, Ben Raybourn, and Kevin Staab on the team, but with new faces like Tom Schaar, Greyson Fletcher, and Tate Carew, the move to keep vert alive is in action.

Clint had a gnarly part in Ambiguous Clothing's Modern Art video from 2013. I think that was a nice goth tinged free DVD that came with Thrasher. I have not watched it in a decade so I'm going by hazy memories on that one. They had a solid team with JT Aultz, Matt Bennett, Sean Conover, Clive Dixon, and Luis De Los Reyes, before sputtering out like all skateboard clothing companies do.

I guess it is Go Skateboarding Day this weekend so go skate. Or not. I'm not your boss. Do whatever you feel like doing, but at the least maybe try to buy something from your local shop if that's possible.

With the upcoming heat wave, we're going to have a cold war next week.

It's another lipslide photo by Trevor Vaughn. This is almost like when Girl ran consecutive frontside noseslide advertisements back in the year 2000.

Transworld - December 2011 Volume 29 Number 12

Clive Dixon #2.

Falling apart.

After a decade at Birdhouse, Clive parted ways with the company in the fall of 2021. Nyjah Huston invited him to ride for Disorder soon after. Clive is friends with a couple of the guys on the team and was looking for some new motivation for his skateboarding. He figured skating with Nyjah would do just that. Clive does a lot of big and gnarly handrails. He also is a writer and has dabbled with art for board graphics.

It's been raining the last couple days so I'm finally getting some days off from skateboarding. I hope the break does me some good. I figured out that I'm just old and my knees hurt.

The photo is by Trevor Vaughn.

Transworld - November 2011 Volume 29 Number 11

Elliot Sloan #2.

Spin cycle.

Mr. Sloan adds a heelflip to Mike McGill's Wicked Twister. Elliot has been on Birdhouse for a very long time now. He has a new shoe out in collaboration with Fallen and Birdhouse.

I appreciate the consistency of Birdhouse ads. They've had a few variations, but generally stick with a photo sequence on a solid colored background over the years. It's maybe not the most exciting design, yet it serves its purpose well.

The sequence is by Brian Fick.

Transworld - August 2011 Volume 29 Number 8

Aaron "Jaws" Homoki #3.

Saturday night ate our lives.

Jaws is from Phoenix, Arizona. He grew up skateboarding with Dakota Servold. Birdhouse turned him pro back in 2011 and he is still on the team. If you want to feel old, sore, and amazed at how fast time passes, Jaws jumped down the famous 25 stair in Lyon, France that Ali Boulala attempted ten years ago this fall. I guess it's a stalefish in the photo and a fisheye lens was used to add to more upside down distortion. It's a cool looking picture with all the colored lights and black background.

The photos are by Matt Price. I think there's a quote from Matt about spots and his reply was, "I shoot with Jaws. I only know rooftops and quarter pipes."

Drop off: Transworld - May 2011 Volume 29 Number 5

Pro: Transworld - September 2011 Volume 29 Number 9

Shawn Hale #2.

Hover Hand.

Shane put together a very strong part for Birdhouse at the beginning of the year. It's full of unique wallrides plus no comply and wallie handrail moves to go with some ledge tech. He's also developing a special physical therapy slipper that helps rehab your feet after a day of skateboarding. Shane is wearing a pair of Vox shoes in the photo.

I was going to post a week of 2012 Birdhouse, but their ads ran spottily that year so I dropped it back to 2011 and had more success. For the future, I think there's going to be some Toy Machine, Cold War era Zero, and DGK. I want to do a Life Extention week, but I've only found three ads thus far so I'm not sure if that is going to happen.

I went over to Jamestown Skateboard Products on Friday night to see a couple of bands (Vial, pictured) play their garage. I got to skateboard upstairs while the bands were doing soundcheck. I had fun just doing a bunch of ollies and boardslides while cruising around. Saturday and Sunday were kind of clunkers. I only skated my ledges in the driveway and it wasn't really working.

The photograph is by Patrick Driscoll.

Transworld - April 2011 Volume 29 Number 4

Lee Yankou #3.

Lee goes to the very top shelf and grabs the jar of peanut butter.

Jeff Landi snapped the photo.

Thrasher - August 2012 Volume 32 Number 8

Josh Matthews #3.

Be all easy.

Josh is from Eugene, Oregon. He has ridden for Think, Organika, Habitat, Spitfire, Venture, and HUF over the years. His pet peeve is too much cheese on tacos and Gino Iannucci is his favorite skater. Josh's part in Think's Business As Usual is a solid batch of technical street skating that isn't overblown or trendy and holds up well in modern times. I don't think I paid enough attention to his skateboard talents back in the day.

The photo is by Dave Chami.

For the info: Thrasher - May 2012 Volume 32 Number 5

Thrasher - November 2012 Volume 32 Number 11

Adrian Williams.

Northern Exposure.

Adrian is from Anchorage, Alaska. His dad was in the military and they wound up living there once he was out of the service. Even with a lot of winter in Alaska, Adrian still was able to get into skateboarding. The summers were pleasant enough with probably too much daylight. They made the most of what indoor parking garages or warehouses they could find for the winters. He relocated to San Francisco for more spots and improved weather. His sponsors included Think, FTC, Grind King, Sushi Wheels, and possibly Nice Skate Shoes at one time. Adrian did turn pro for Think. On the topic of skateboarders from Alaska, Erik Ellington was also born in Anchorage.

The sequence was photographed by Dan Zaslavsky.

For the info: The Skateboard Mag - June 2009 Issue 63.

Thrasher - June 2012 Volume 32 Number 6

Dave Bachinsky #2.

Business as usual.

Dave takes care of business on a frontside 5-0. He does artwork and woodcarving these days. OC Ramps employees him to show off his absurd mini ramp skills, too.

The photograph is by Dan Zaslavsky.

Thrasher - May 2012 Volume 32 Number 5

Russ Milligan #2.

City thinker.

It's a look back at the 2012 era of Think. They released a video called Business As Usual. A couple of the riders moved over from City Skateboards after the company was put out pasture. Russ is from Vancouver and a proficient street stylist. I like the vintage Think logo.

I've been skateboarding a bunch lately, but it hasn't been going great. I can't tell if I'm just getting old or what. It's been that way for about the last month and I think it's starting to get in my head. I'm trying to stay positive and work through the slump. It's been a grind. And not the fun ones either.

Thrasher - January 2012 Volume 32 Number 1

Ocean Howell #6.

Projecting a stereo mood.

Ocean was one of the finest technical skaters of the early to mid 1990s before moving on to an academic life of studying architecture. He was still ripping and would pop up in Slap or get a mention from Patrick O'Dell from time to time. Occasionally his writings on how skateboarders interact with the concrete environment would be published in the mags. Ocean is currently a professor at the University of Oregon. I think the university should make commercial of him skateboarding around campus for a minute. It would really stand out in the sea of college adverts that dot the television landscape. Ocean is riding a Flip board, which isn't as shocking as it sounds since they shared an office space with Birdhouse way back when.

The weather has been rainy, windy, and cold so skateboarding hasn't been happening a lot lately for me. I think I'm in a slump and not stoked on things either. I put on some new wheels the other day and that seemed nice. It might even dry out and warm up for the weekend.

Vert Is Dead is taking a break and will be back in a week or two.

It's going to be at least a week off and maybe two or even three. I'm just burned out on computers and I want some time off. I'll post a comment once I have a schedule plan in place.

The photographs are by Rob Brown.

Transworld - March 1995 Volume 13 Number 3

Marc Johnson #18.

Trippy night at Tito's Shampoo Lounge.

Marc takes a backside tailslide down Hubba Hideout during the much simpler times of the mid 1990s. He would have riding for Maple and Etnies when the photo was taken.

Transworld - November 1995 Volume 13 Number 11

Sean Mullendore #10.

Repping the district.

Sean crushes one of the ledges at Pulaski with a switch Smith grind. He rode for a bunch of companies, including Capital, Silver Star, Circuit Wheels, Pig Wheels, and more. Sean was also on Stereo and in their very last print ad, near as I can figure. Vanilla was a clothing line created by Joyride Snowboards. The other riders included Charlie Coatney, Reese Forbes, and Satva Leung.

This dumb thing turn 17 as of today. Yippee.

Note: This ad ran opposite Sean's Check Out in Transworld.

Pete Thompson took the photo sequence.

Transworld - December 1995 Volume 13 Number 12

Mike Sinclair #2.

Team manager to the stars.

Mike gets a lofty ollie for Endless Grind back in the good old days. He currently works as the team manager for Nike and Tum Yeto. He's been in those roles for a long time now. His pet project is Slappy Trucks, which seems to be gaining popularity as a new way to hold your wheels on your board. I like finding random older ads and photos like this where the person is still involved in skateboarding after all of the years.

The photo is by Ben Knight.

Transworld - October 1995 Volume 13 Number 10

Josh Beagle #15.

Vroom Vroom.

The OG Beagle was a handrail titan back in the 1990s and was a pioneer of doing more technical tricks on banisters. He stepped away from the pro ranks to work behind the scenes at Foundation before disappearing from the scene. His middle name is Zeus.

I rummaged around some Transworlds from 1995 and managed to find enough stuff I hadn't posted for the 17th anniversary week. I've been really into the middle to late 2010s, but wanted to switch it up for a little bit.

Transworld - May 1995 Volume 13 Number 5

Ruby Lilley.

DJ Goldfish.

Ruby is from Ocean City, Maryland. She moved out to California in an RV with her mom a few years back. Her speciality is parks and transitions with a focus on some of the older tricks like crail grabs, finger flips, and going to disaster. She is sponsored by Foundation, Vans, Ace Trucks, Bronson, and Bones Wheels.

The photo is by Brian Shamanski.

Thrasher - July 2022 Volume 43 Number 7

Toby Ryan.

Real Madness.

I think Toby is the new hot am on Real, but I'm not positive on this. There isn't much concrete information on his background and I'm connecting a couple dots that most likely connect. He possibly rode for DC Shoes and hung out with the SK8MAFIA crew, too. Did Toby maybe have a Lunatic Fringe in Thrasher within the last year or two? Anyway, this is a sick vertigo inducing photo.

Chris "Rhino" Rooney documented the foolish behavior.

Thrasher - March 2019 Volume 40 Number 3

Sam Beckett.

An air of madness.

Following in the footsteps of notable British vert skaters such as Steve Douglas, Hugh "Bod" Boyle, and Andy Scott is Norwich's own Sam Beckett. He turned pro for Blind a few years back and then made switch over to Madness in 2018. An interesting tidbit is that his pro model on Blind was issued in conjunction with Darren Navarrette's Skeleton Key. Sam is currently pro for Opera and involved with the Skateboard GB project.

The picture is by James Griffiths.

Thrasher - January 2021 Volume 42 Number 1

Clay Kreiner.

Clay is from Simpsonville, South Carolina. He gravitated toward parks and was hooked up by Woodward early on. Some of his favorite skaters include Grant Taylor, Raven Tershy, Ishod Wair, Zion Wright, and Alex Perelson. Clay currently rides for Opera, Indy, and Nike. He basically flies around skateparks doing the wild transfers that don't seem possible without pads. Clay even did a backflip on vert, which might have been inspired by Rob "Sluggo" Boyce.

Madness did some unique shapes, cutaways, and printing jobs on their boards. I don't know if I'd necessarily want to ride one of the decks, but they do look neat.

The photos are by Bailey Schreiner and Chris Dangaard.

BW: Thrasher - September 2019 Volume 40 Number 9

Boards: Thrasher - August 2020 Volume 41 Number 8

Madness.

Phantom of the Opera.

Madness was a vert oriented division of Dwindle that was started by Bill Weiss in the fall of 2018. The original team was Sam Beckett, Jack Fardell, Clay Kreiner, and Alex Perelson. The artwork was a mix of Francisco Goya and pop stylings. They were not afraid to create some unique shaped boards either. The team specialized in parks, vert ramps, and transitions. This seemed like a somewhat odd theme to base a company around, but I think they found a good niche to occupy. Shaped boards with creative artwork were popular back in 2018 thanks to Welcome and Polar so they capitalized on that to an extent. I'd see Madness decks around so I imagine they did a decent amount of business. It also felt genuine given Bill's background as a vert skater. The Madness ended when Dwindle collapsed in the fall of 2022. In the time since, Bill launched Opera Skateboards, which carries on along the same lines as Madness and with much of the same team.

Madness: Thrasher - September 2018 Volume 39 Number 9

Boards: Thrasher - October 2018 Volume 39 Number 10

Tom Schaar.

Vintage Ozzy.

Tom is from Malibu, California. He grew up with skateboarding and obtained fame as a small kid by spinning around a lot at assorted vert and mega ramp contests. Fortunately, that was a phase of his youth and he expanded his trick pallet to be more well rounded as the years went by. He was pro for Element and joined up with the growing ramp riding crew at Birdhouse in 2024. Tom recently dropped a heavy duty part called Vert's Not Dead that puts his unique spin on the big ramps with tricks inspired by the likes of Bob Burnquist, Colin McKay, Tony Hawk, Alex Perelson, Danny Way, Rune Glifberg, and more.

The weather has been rainy and spring-like over the last couple weeks so I've only been skateboarding in the driveway. It's been OK, but I haven't really been skating great for me and I think that's gotten in my head. I blame getting older more than anything. Or maybe it's just a bushing on my front truck that needs to be replaced. That's probably it.

Chris "Rhino" Rooney took the photograph.

Thrasher - March 2020 Volume 41 Number 3

Mami Tezuka.

Dancing on the ceiling.

Mami is from Shiga, Japan. She's pro for Blood Wizard and is a park specialist. Mami is friends with Lizzie Armanto. Her Smith grinds, feebles, and crailslides are all top notch.

The photo is by Tim Aguilar.

Thrasher - August 2022 Volume 43 Number 8

Elliot Sloan.

The Sloanyard.

Elliot is from Manhattan and relocated to California to skate vert. He learned how to skate on the few ramps that were in the New York and New Jersey area. Given the Big Apple's propensity for street skateboarding, it's a tad amazing that's what he picked, but he was inspired by Tony Hawk's 900 at a young age and stuck with it. Elliot would sometimes skate with Ivory and Shelter Serra and Rich and Sanford Lopez. He later would meet East Coast vert legends Tom Boyle, Darren Menditto, and Dan Tag. With a little bit of luck and an assist from Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Elliot bought a house in 2012 where he was able to install a giant ramp complex, similar to what Bob Burnquist has. ESPN even rented out his yard for an X-Games contest. His sponsors include Birdhouse, Fallen, Thunder, Skatelite, and Bones Wheels. Elliot is also into electronic music and scored his Monster Energy part himself with an appropriately titled song called "Ode To Rune".

The photo is by Will Owens.

Thrasher - April 2021 Volume 42 Number 4

Alex Perelson #2.

Influencer.

Alex is one of the skaters that the current crop of vert rippers often cite as an influence. He was professional for Real, but in one of those rare anomalies, didn't have a pro board with them as far as I can recall. His part in Since Day One is great and you won't use the vert button on it. There was a brief moment on Welcome before Alex found a home on Madness, the transition friendly company Bill Weiss started with Dwindle. Once Dwindle came to an end, he stuck with Bill to ride for Opera Skateboards. Many years ago I watched one of those vert contests on TV and Alex's first trick was to drop in on the extension to do a frontside 50-50 across the whole ramp. That's a ridiculous move when you think about it.

The photograph is by Brian Fick.

Thrasher - November 2012 Volume 32 Number 11

Mike Frazier & Darren Navarrette.

Stereo creatures.

With recent video parts from Tom Schaar, the duo of Jimmy Wilkins and Shea Donovan, and Elliot Sloan, the plan was to do a week of newer vertical skaters. So anyway, here's two vert legends who are in the ballpark of over/under 50 years old. Skatelite is a durable ramp surface material that's better than masonite or plywood. They've been around since the tail end of the 1990s.

Thrasher - June 2023 Volume 34 Number 6

Erick Winkowski #4.

"Erick's skating is a breath of fresh air after we've all been huffing gasoline 'til we're green in the face for the past 15 years. Watching him skate reminds me of what made me want to get a skateboard 33 years ago - it wasn't necessarily about what tricks you could do, it was how you did them. For a long time skating seemed to have evolved into just spinning and flipping everything. What happened to putting your own spin on skating and making shit unique? It's dying with the generation of my heroes, the guys before my peers and I started skating (Neil Blender, Lance Mountain, Ben Schroeder, Jeff Phillips, Jeff Kendall). Those guys all have unique, distinctive styles and personalities. In my era, guys got into progressing at such an accelerated rate that all the qualities that got me hyped in the first place seem to be left by the wayside. The first time I saw a clip of Erick, I knew he got it. If he were born an era before me, he would have been in that group of heroes that I mentioned, and that's good company!" - Mike Frazier

It's a bird's eye view of an interesting Erick Winkowski trick. I dig how this has that 1980s feel, which makes sense given the boards he prefers to ride. I don't think Erick is still on Emerica, along with a couple other long time riders. I know he sells boards, which maybe didn't carry over to footwear. Skateboarding is getting rather bleak these days.

It took forever to find the quote from Mike. I remembered the article in Thrasher where assorted pros chimed in on what they thought was cool about Erick. They even got a Neil Blender blurb. The feature was a bit older than I thought it was.

For the quote: Thrasher - September 2019 Volume 40 Number 9

Thrasher - October 2018 Volume 39 Number 10

Victor Aceves #2.

Bondo.

Victor was a ripper who maybe got lost a little in the great content glut of the universe we live in. He's doing an Allen Losi grind down a handrail. I believe this trick was also called a bag lady and was popular in the halcyon days of H-Street. I was never sure who Victor's board sponsor was. He rode for Toy Machine, Baker, and Foundation. The Baker connection would explain why he's riding a Deathwish deck in the photo.

Emerica sponsored a trio of new young ams in 2017 with Victor, Zach Allen, and Kader Sylla. I imagine they were hoping to have found a new group of skaters who would be on the team for a long time. They more or less struck gold when they added Bryan Herman, Kevin Long, Leo Romero, and Braydon Szafranksi to the roster in the early 2000s. That type of success is hard to duplicate. As far as I know, Victor is out of the sponsored skateboarding world, Zach is professional for Baker, and Kader is holding it down in the pro ranks for Violet and Adidas.

Thrasher - November 2018 Volume 39 Number 11

Justin Figueroa #5.

War Cry.

I always thought Figgy should've picked up a SOTY in the early 2010s based on the sheer number of gnarly video parts he put out and how he was down for Thrasher. I guess he owns a coffee shop with Riley Hawk and a few other people. His first board sponsor was Powell. Figgy is also a big guitar player.

Thrasher - September 2018 Volume 39 Number 9

Zach Allen.

Zach is from Panoramo City in California. He started skateboarding when he was younger because he couldn't get the hang of riding a bike. Andrew Reynolds added him to the Baker and Emerica teams. He was previously on Lakai. Zach still has the Crailtap connection as he is sponsored by Royal Trucks. He is currently pro for Baker.

Thrasher - July 2018 Volume 39 Number 7

Leo Romero #15.

"I think from the beginning just wanting to ride for Emerica and thinking it was the coolest. And it was the coolest when I was a kid. It still is. That luckily happened. With Foundation and Baker, I felt close to those people too, but it worked out with Toy Machine. With Tum Yeto and Emerica and Baker and that realm, it was kind of mixed together because I've always known those people. I ended up at Toy Machine by chance, and luckily they were awesome enough to let me on their team. I was on Emerica since the beginning, so I feel like I grew up with them. People have a board company they always have, and I feel like that was my board company in a sense. I just always stuck with Emerica, and it was my identity in a way. I was trying to find the board company that would suit me best, and luckily I got on Toy Machine, which is funny because my first sponsor-me video was for Toy Machine. Ed Templeton never watched it and Josh Beagle stole it and put me on Foundation. It went full circle and I got on Toy Machine."

Leo reflects upon his board sponsor history. Was there an interview where he talked about not being happy with one of his video parts from around 2010 so he made sure the next one was better? I thought it was in Thrasher, but it wasn't. The interview might have been online only.

It's the other half of Emerica's 2018 ads. I had planned to use these for a bit and didn't know what else to go with for the week.

The photo is by Kyle Seidler.

For the quote: Skateboarder - October/November 2012 Volume 22 Number 5

Thrasher - June 2018 Volume 39 Number 6

Zion Wright.

The Right Stuff.

Zion is from the awesomely named town of Jupiter, Florida. He is pro for Real and competed for the US team in the Olympics. Vans is current shoe sponsor. Interestingly, Zion left Nike to ride for them. He's equally adept at crushing a handrail or skating a big concrete park.

It was hot on Thursday so I checked out the skatepark for the first time in a while. In a pleasant surprise, the lights were on. The city never turned them on last year. I rolled around for a bit and did OK. I think I'm in this odd slump involving being old and breaking in some new shoes. That's how it goes.

No. 4000.

This is the 4000th post on Vert Is Dead. That's too much scanning. Thanks for all the support over the years and sorry this week was kind of clunker. I intended to do a little more and ran short on time to fill things out.

Blunt: Thrasher - July 2017 Volume 38 Number 7

Smith: Thrasher - October 2017 Volume 38 Number 10

Davis Torgerson #2.

"I think it comes from having Brian Wenning as my favorite skater growing up. I tried so hard to learn how to skate switch. As far as the switch ollie thing — man, I feel like it's an ongoing thing now. Like, I really need to stop doing this."

Minnesota's top tier switch ollier talks about one of his influences. Davis has a really good switch, tech, and wallride game. He's wearing New Balances in the photo and would go on to work at the company before shuffling his feet over to the Asics skateboard program. This wallride was in Real's Surveillance #6 video from 2017. The video featured Davis, Justin Brock, and Chima Ferguson plus a couple tricks from Ishod Wair.

For the quote: Thrasher via an internet interview from May 2017

Thrasher - July 2017 Volume 38 Number 7

Jake Donnelly #3.

Lake Shore Eagle.

Angola, New York's finest takes a switch flip flight over a loading dock. Jake has some wild stories about growing up on his dad's farm in Western New York. It's cool how a kid from the rural area south of Buffalo got good enough at skateboarding to turn pro for Real and Adidas.

Thrasher - July 2016 Volume 37 Number 7

Peter Ramondetta & Justin Brock.

Seeing double.

Pete and Justin were gnarly staples of the Real team during much of the 2000s. Both quietly stepped away from the pro ranks, too.

Pete: Thrasher - April 2016 Volume 37 Number 4

Justin: Thrasher - May 2016 Volume 37 Number 5

Robbie Brockel.

Cowtown.

Robbie is from Phoenix, Arizona. He got the hookup with Deluxe through Cowtown, the local shop. Real turned him pro during his run at a Phoenix Am contest. They kept it a secret and totally surprised him. He also rode for late era Circa. His brother Richie played fullback for the Carolina Panthers for four seasons.

Real turns 35 years old this fall so I figured that was a good thing to tie in with the countdown to the 4,000th post.

Thrasher - February 2016 Volume 37 Number 2

Otis Christian, Danny Webster & Mike Chu.

Got the time.

TIMZ Skateboards was a company out of Las Vegas, Nevada. It makes sense that they sponsored locals Otis Christian and Mike Chu. Former G & S pro Danny Webster also wound up on the squad. I don't really know much about TIMZ beyond these couple of ads from the back of Poweredge. I think Otis later rode for G & S. He had a part in A1 Meat's Dancing in the Dirt video. Mike would turn pro for New School in the 1990s.

Vert Is Dead will be back on Monday, April 21st.

I'm taking a spring break before the countdown to the 4,000th post. I know roughly what skaters I'm going to use. I want to take some extra time to get everything in order.

The weather has been cold and rainy for the week. I've gotten in a little skateboarding, but it wasn't great. I figured out my shoes are done so I have to start breaking in a new pair. I didn't really land much of anything on Wednesday so that's hanging over me. The weekend is maybe shaping up to be milder and dry.

Jeff Shapiro took the photo of Mike. The photo of Danny is credited to Bradley. I'm not sure on a full name.

Otis: Poweredge - October 1989 Volume 2 Number 9

Webster & Chu: Poweredge - March 1990 Volume 3 Number 3

Circle A.

Couch Guy.

Circle A was Bob Schmelzer's company. They were famous for not putting rider names in the ads so I have no idea who this is. For example, they left Ed Templeton's name off an advertisement where he was doing one of the first documented frontside 50-50s down a handrail. The team has included Joe Lopes, Ricky Winsor, Justin Girard, and many others. I always dug their graphics and ad layouts.

Poweredge - October 1989 Volume 2 Number 9

Rob Mertz #2.

Straightedge Shark.

Rob is from Nazareth, Pennsylvania. He's lived in Florida, Texas, and California, too. Rob was pro for Zorlac. He also rode for Indy, Brand X, Skate Rags, Santa Cruz Speed Wheels, and Airwalk over the years. In addition to doing big airs, Rob also innovated some unique tricks on vert.

The interview is by Ken Sigafoos. The photos are by Geoff Graham.

Poweredge - April 1989 Volume 2 Number 3

Steve Schneer #3.

Flip out.

The late Steve Schneer uses his Gullwings to carve over a tight spot in a backyard pool. He was a master of unique inverts that influenced select modern day skaters such as Erick Winkowski. Of note is the Poweredge sticker on his board. There's also a Grind King sticker and it looks like he is using the inverted Grind King kingpins.

Poweredge - April 1989 Volume 2 Number 3

United Skates of America.

The New Breed.

I'd never heard of this before. It was a partnership between Bronze Age clothing from Venice, Shut Skates from NYC, and Cow Skates from the Dayton/Cincinnati area of Ohio. I'm guessing it was for distribution purposes.

I think I figured out the plan for this thing's 4,000 post. It's at 3991 as of today. The initial idea was two weeks of Poweredge from the three issues I scanned from the Look Back Library, but I posted nearly all the really cool ads last summer. I pieced together a best of the rest from those mags for the week and then will go back to the middle 2010s for next week.

Congratulations to Sora Shirai on winning the Tampa Pro.

Poweredge - October 1989 Volume 2 Number 9

Ben Gore #6.

Hipster flash art.

Ben has been ripping for a while now and is a long time pro on Magenta. He showed up with a bunch of tricks in the new Miles Davis video from clothing line Butter Goods.

The high winds have been blowing all week long so it hasn't been a ton of fun going outside for skateboarding. There has been rain, too. I took a trip to Jamestown last Sunday. After getting some new socks at the mall, I swung by Jamestown Skateboard Products to see if they were open. They were and I got to roll for a bit on rainy day. Otherwise, I've just been skating the ledges in my driveway. It'd be nice if the weather improved enough to hit up the park again, but the forecast is looking cold and wet for the week ahead.

The photo is by Josh Stewart.

Transworld - November/December 2017 Issue 389

Brian Powderly.

Maryland Wildlife.

Brian is from Long Island and moved to Baltimore when he was younger. That's where he fully got into skateboarding. Once he was older, Brian headed out west to San Francisco. He is pro for Politic. His part in Static VI is full of quick footwork on spots off the beaten path. He reminds me a little of Bobby Puleo and Jake Rupp in trick selection.

Dial Tone is the wheel company that Josh does under the Theories of Atlantis umbrella. The team includes Alexis Sablone, Jordan Trahan, Zander Mitchell, Trevor Thompson, and Christian Maalouf.

RIP Josh Marlowe.

The photo is by Josh Stewart.

Transworld - September/October 2018 Issue 397