Birdhouse Projects 1992 Catalog.

This was the initial offering from Birdhouse. You got this letter and product list when you sent your five bucks in for Feasters, their first video. The VHS tape showed up in the mail in May so this letter was from April. The original team featured Tony Hawk, Jeremy Klein, Steve Berra, and Willy Santos. Klein had switched from World Industries, Berra from 101, and Santos from G & S. Ocean Howell was the lone am and had a couple tricks in the credits as Bucky Lasek karaoke'd Madonna's "Like A Prayer".

I like Feasters and the casual vibe of the whole thing. The soundtrack is good with the Pixies, New Model Army, and Peter & The Test Tube Babies. It is a little amateurish in production compared to other videos of the day, but that helps it out. The crew had an idea and was motivated to make something so that enthusiasm is reflected in the project. Everybody had a ripping part, too. It's a video that makes you want to go skateboard.

Caswell Berry #6.

"When I was in fifth grade I used to be into Cannibal Corpse. I'd wear Cannibal Corpse shirts to school. The teachers always thought I was wearing my dad's clothes and stuff. I guess I was a little hessian back then."

Caswell does a sizable late shove-it as seen in Bag of Suck.

Ryan Allan took the photo sequence.

For the quote: Transworld - March 2004 Volume 22 Number 3

Transworld - June 2004 Volume 22 Number 6

Mark Appleyard #4.

"The first pro I ever saw was Israel Forbes. He randomly turned up at this skatepark that I used to go to in Canada. He skated with such style - he was way better than anyone I had ever seen before. It was incredible."

Mark gives some props to a Vert Is Dead favorite.

This rail spot always looked neat. It seems like it might be sort of low and mellow, but I imagine it is not like that in real life.

The photo is by Michael Burnett.

For the quote: Transworld - August 2009 Volume 27 Number 8

Transworld - December 2001 Volume 19 Number 12

Colt Cannon.

Toxic.

Colt is from San Jose, California. He was on Think before switching to Element and turning pro for them. His other sponsors included Krux and Skateworks Skateshop. He was noted for jumping down large flights of stairs and grinding giant handrails. Two interesting things about Colt are that he put the line in his griptape between the front truck bolts and he was a big time Britney Spears fan.

It's raining today. But it wasn't raining at 7:30 AM so I did a couple ollies and a frisbee toss on the sidewalk before going into work. Sometimes skateboarding is all about paying very close attention to the details of the weather.

This photo of a nollie heelfip is by Pete Thompson.

Transworld - February 2001 Volume 19 Number 2

Jamie Thomas #11.

Calgary Flames.

Jamie had been on Adio prior to joining Circa. He was on the team for about four years before leaving to start Fallen, his own shoe company. Supposedly Fallen is rising from the pile of dead shoe companies, but I'm not sure on the details of that.

The photo is by Jon Humphries. It is from a Tum Yeto tour of Canada.

Transworld - September 2000 Volume 18 Number 9

Chad Muska #11.

Classic Muska Beatz.

Circa was started in 1999 after Chad left éS. It was backed by Four Star Distribution, which was a snowboard brand that made Forum Snowboards and Special Blend Clothing. Much like his skateboarding, Chad went big with his first pro model on the new company and unleashed this monster of a shoe on the world. It featured true California style construction - whatever the heck that was, the infamous stash pocket in the tongue, and nitrogen filled airbags. The shoe was also synthetic, which is a little surprising to me. Skateboard footwear was a tad more vegan friendly back in the day. I honestly didn't remember the picture of the shoe being so big in the ad. All I was recalling was the handrail photo.

After a week where the temperature barely topped zero, we got a heatwave over the weekend. Things dried up enough so I could do some ollies in the street on Sunday afternoon. It felt nice to roll after two weeks off due to weather.

Transworld - January 2000 Volume 18 Number 1

Grant Taylor #3.

You can't go wrong with Grant. His ollies on transitions are perfect. This park is in Quito, Ecuador. The Hellride crew revisited the place last year, 20 years after their first trip to the western side of South America. They even made Peter Hewitt reenact his Thrasher cover with a frontside invert at this same spot.

Besides Grant, I liked how Raney Beres was skateboarding on vert for 2018.

That concludes my disjointed and abstract best of the year list. Onward to vintage technical shoe designs for next week. There will be another look at the Hellride crew in Ecuador coming up in the not so distant future. I'm putting together two weeks worth of articles from Slap and the South America trip is getting included.

Thrasher - May 2018 Volume 39 Number 5