J.R. Neves.

"Let's enjoy the skilled bravado of Sir J.R. Neves."

J.R. was from Philadelphia and sadly passed away in 2009. He rode for Stereo and was pro for 151. He also rode for Scott Bourne's Unbelievers. J.R. had a mean kickflip.

I've gotten in some driveway skateboarding this week after work. It has remained chilly. Skating in the cold doesn't bug me too much, but this winter has been a strange one. I'm not really sure what is up with that.

Does anybody from Australia or New Zealand check this site? My stats show zero views from either of those fine two countries and that seems odd.

Thrasher - November 1999 Volume 19 Number 11

Mike Carroll #25.

Riding On The Wind.

Since Greg Carroll was running Lucky, obviously his brother Mike was going to be on the team.

After our latest windstorm and minimal burst of winter, the weather might finally be shifting to a more spring-like pattern. I did skateboard a little over the weekend and got to roll in the driveway yesterday. I really need to set up that new board, but it's been cold so I haven't felt like doing so.

Thrasher - August 1999 Volume 19 Number 8

Bob Burnquist #11.

Escondido shuffle.

Bob has shown up a couple times recently. He had a photo in Thrasher doing an invert on a mini ramp at a music festival they did in Texas. His decaying vert playground was in Tom Schaar's Curtains part with a guest trick from the owner himself.

Thrasher - June 1999 Volume 19 Number 6

Dan Drehobl #36.

Chromium 52100 Steel.

Dan tests his luck with a lien to tail on the top shelf. I only had one set of Lucky bearings. I think they were fine, although if I recall correctly, everybody else had problems with them. That's usually how it goes for most products and me. You kind of forget how much coverage many of the pros got back in the glory days of print media. Everybody remembers the classic photos, but then there are plenty of ads for secondary sponsors that are buried in the back pages of the mags.

Thrasher - February 1999 Volume 19 Number 2

Kenny Hughes #6.

Green bolts.

Kenny does a tailslide on a rail during the Element and DC Shoes days. Lucky was a bearing and bolt company out of the Think/Deluxe warehouse. They did expand the brand to include boards, too. I've been meaning to post more of Kenny so stumbling upon this Lucky ad was a fortunate coincidence.

Nice to see Antwuan Dixon pop up again on the cover of Thrasher.

Thrasher - January 1999 Volume 19 Number 1

Jeff Pang #5.

Thunder & lighting.

Jeff is from NYC. He rode for Shut, Underworld Element, Cream, and Zoo York. In addition to being pro for Zoo, he also served as their team manager. Later on Jeff would work at DC Shoes in the same capacity. He was working as an electrician and not skateboarding as much when Andy Howell offered him a spot on Underworld Element. There was also a chance Jeff might have gotten on Blind in the early days, but he politely declined out of loyalty to Shut.

It was warm and sunny yesterday with the always present high winds. I gave driveway skateboarding a go after work. I wasn't really landing much and was worn out, but I wanted to get outside since the weather looks cold and wet going forward.

Vert Is Dead will be back on Monday, March 16th. I've had a head cold this week so updating was not a priority.

The game plan is a week of Lucky for St. Patrick's Day. I'll do a short week later in March to finish up what I originally had scanned for this week.

Thrasher - September 1992 Volume 12 Number 9

Moses Itkonen #4.

We rule the school.

Moses skips the roll-in ramp and does a crooked grind to noseslide to revert on the ledge at Wallenberg. This Thunder ad looks much like a Real ad, which makes sense, but they usually try to separate the companies a little with the graphic design. John Shanahan had a cool photo doing an ollie over a fence and into the bank at the school recently. It's neat to see tricks at a long time spot that don't involve a different flip down a giant set of stairs.

It warmed up for the weekend. Due to a little rain and high winds, I only skateboarded on the ledges I have in my driveway. I was thinking about visiting an indoor park until I decided I was too out of sync from the stupid clock change. I probably made the right choice to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.

Thrasher - November 1992 Volume 12 Number 11