Geoff Rowley #6.

Punch Out.

We always talk about how thick those Transworlds were in the late 90s and early 2000s without giving much credit to how they grew to so many pages. They could print that many pages because skateboarding was growing and companies were pumping money into print media, which was the major advertising avenue of the era. Hence, monstrosities like this three page ad for Flip existed.

I legit thought this was Simon Woodstock for a split second. It doesn't look like anybody is wearing a mouth guard so this whole scene is probably staged.

Transworld - June 1998 Volume 16 Number 6

Jerry Fisher.

Metal Man.

Jerry is from Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He skated Philly and New York a lot. His crew was called Metal and consisted of Fred Gall, Brian Stevens, Eric Ruwadi, and others. This is where Fred got the name for his current Metal skateboards project. The Metal moniker has been in circulation over the years since the mid 1990s so it was a natural progression for Fred to keep using it. Jerry rode for Think, Venture, and Failure skate shop. He's also the one who pushed Fred to skate handrails more.

The photograph is by Gabe Morford.

Note: I cropped this one down from a subscription ad in Slap.

Slap - August 1995 Volume 4 Number 8

Fred Gall #8.

For the filming of Timecode, Fred was often riding a custom shape called the Long Boy. It was 33.5" x 8.25" with a 15.25" wheelbase and paired well with the 60 mm wheels he was using at the time. The deck wasn't ever available to the masses until a Metal reissue was released this summer. That's a bigger board than his assorted pro models from 1998. I'm inclined to believe he's not overly picky about a whole lot of stuff and is fine with riding whatever size board is available.

It's going to be extra random stuff for next week. Just sayin'.

The photographs are by Mike Ballard.

Transworld - August 1998 Volume 16 Number 8

Anthony Van Engelen #10.

The rest of the odd couple.

AVE and Jason Dill were added to the Alien Workshop team at the end of 1998. Both had been riding for 23. I also included Anthony's first, last, and only ad for Sal Barbier's company. Now that I think about it, 23 would have been on its last legs at this time and Sal would go on to start Aesthetics in the near future. Anthony took Dill's approach of wearing DC Shoes and did end up on the team.

Anthony's regular footed so both of these are switch, regardless of what the caption says in either.

The photo in the Alien ad is by the hardest working man in skateboarding, Chris Ortiz.

Alien: Transworld - December 1998 Volume 16 Number 12

23: Transworld - April 1998 Volume 16 Number 4

Jason Dill #21.

We all know that Dill likes to talk, but has he ever talked about the possibility of getting on DC in the late 1990s? He had a ton of coverage wearing their gear. I know from a Fred Gall interview that there was a formal process to be added to the team with a probationary period to see if everything was going to work out. I imagine Dill wouldn't have been super into that. The offer to ride for Vita probably showed up around this time as well so getting on DC would have become a lower priority. I think it would have been interesting to see an alternate timeline where Dill was on DC.

The photos are by Gabe Morford.

Transworld - November 1998 Volume 16 Number 11

Josh Kalis #12.

"I didn't want any of that 'no switch mongo or you're not getting footage' crap. None of those bullshit-ass rules. If you rip, you're getting footage. Simple as that."

Josh had a different take on some of the well known rules that were part of the Philadelphia scene in the 1990s.

The photographs are by Ryan Gee.

For the quote: Closer - Winter 2022 Volume 1 Issue 3

Transworld - June 1998 Volume 16 Number 6

Fred Gall #7.

Know Tomorrow.

The Metal Man hucks a switch 180 into bank and does a backside 50-50 to backside 180 out at the Brooklyn Banks. The Alien Workshop started to reboot their program following the Timecode video from 1997. A few long time riders were let go and new talent was added to the team. This would eventually lead into Photosynthesis and the launch of Habitat a few years later.

I think I should've taken another week off. I'm kind of worn out and not really feeling it for anything. I'm also mired in some weird slump for skateboarding. I set up a new board and that didn't help as much as I thought it would. Oh, well. What are ya gonna do?

Transworld - October 1997 Volume 15 Number 10