Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Donny Barley.



Back in 1996 Toy Machine stopped in Buffalo, NY on the Welcome To Hell tour. Urban Threads & Sleds hosted a demo and video premiere. They skated a parking lot with some janky wooden launch ramps and manual pads. Allow me to clarify that: the Toy Machine team skated the aisles in a parking lot since there were still a bunch of cars parked on the lot at the time. Saying parking lot makes it sound like the demo happened in an empty space. It was just about the whole team: Ed Templeton, Jamie Thomas, Donny Barley, Mike Maldonado and Elissa Steamer. I'm pretty sure Adrian Lopez was also there, but I don't think he skated. This was when Jamie was getting Zero started. The Chief did a big Benihana off the launch ramp. Donny put down a massive frontside flip off the same ramp. After the main part of the demo was done, the bulk of the crowd had gone to get autographs and watch the video while Donny and Mike kept skating. There was a 4' x 8' manual pad that got propped up, making a very steep bank. They both did a bunch of tricks on and off the makeshift bank. Donny closed it out with a 360 flip over the top.

The photo is by Adam Wallacavage.

Slap - December 1996 Volume 5 Number 12

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I always liked Toy Machine Barley the best. I don't recall anything he did while on Element, and seemingly every ad he's had on Zoo York has been an ollie.

I had a friend who won a contest offered by Tum Yeto years and years ago. The story is he won the privilege of having a bunch of Tum Yeto riders come through town, hang out and skate with him. I can't recall all of the people who came, but Steve Berra was there (so that gives you a time frame). So everything was cool, they're going to spots, rails get destroyed, blah blah blah. After the skating was done, they get a bunch of pizzas, and everyone is hanging out and shooting the shit; just good times, right?. But, famed crybaby Steve Berra is not happy with eating pizza, he wants "real food." And what was his idea real food food? Olive Garden. My friend says, of all the amazing skating he saw, the fact the all these pro dudes came and hung out with him, the thing that he remembers most vividly, is Steve Berra whining to anyone who'd listen about how much better going to the Olive Garden would have been than eating pizza.

—Rikku Markka

Royce said...

I fully agree Olive Garden would have been better.

justin said...

Never stand between a fan of the Olive Garden and the restaurant. There is some weird devotion to the place.

If it was a good locally owned and operated pizza place, then slice it up. Otherwise, the Olive Garden isn't looking that bad.

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