Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Jeremie Daclin.



Jeremie is a former New Deal am and the founder of Cliché skateboards.

I've only had one Cliché board and that was probably two years ago. The shape was maybe a little smaller than what I generally prefer, but it was still a really nice board. Plus they sponsor Javier Mendizabal, Andrew Brophy and Lucas Puig, so that makes the company cool.

Olivier Chassignole photographed the sequence.

Slap - September 1999 Volume 8 Number 9

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Pete Eldridge.



In a sight almost as rare as Bigfoot, here's Pete Eldridge doing a trick in his normal stance instead of switch.

Pete rode for Stereo, Bootleg, City and floated around in sponsorship limbo until Jamie Thomas offered him a spot on Mystery a couple of years ago. Since then he has also gotten sponsored by adidas.

Slap - September 1999 Volume 8 Number 9

Monday, August 29, 2011

Kerry Getz.



Hockey Temper delivers a kickflip frontside boardslide to fakie.

Who knew that a stupid video from a wheel company would turn into a multimillion dollar entertainment franchise?

I watched the end of Street League yesterday. Nice to see Sean Malto get the win.

Thomas Campbell took the photo.

Transworld - March 1999 Volume 17 Number 3

Friday, August 26, 2011

John Cardiel #6.



Cards. Kickflip. Gnarcotica.

Thrasher - December 1999 Volume 19 Number 12

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Jim Gagne #2.



Tech gnar.

Nollie flip out of a nose manual, slide a rail with skate stoppers, Miller flip at a skate park, Gagne got some tricks done.

Pat O'Dell has a bunch of photos up from the Super Skate Summer show in Portland on Epicly Later'd. Lots of pics of Andy Roy, along with Julien Stranger, Jason Dill, Chris Johanson, No Age and all sorts of people. I just want to see No Age again.

I got the email today that my copy of GSD's Skate Fate book has shipped.

Thrasher - August 1999 Volume 19 Number 8

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Ricky Oyola #5.



I guess this is the time on the internet when I'm supposed to be the grumpy old dude telling all the kids to support Ricky by buying a Traffic board because he's a legend. And that's a message that I can fully endorse, even if I haven't ever ridden a Traffic board myself. I've looked, but they never had my size or I wasn't feeling the graphics on the ones that were in stock or something like that. I do fully intend to ride one of their boards someday.

I am going to step up on the virtual soapbox for a second and say to support Hardtimes Manufacturing. It's a company done by former Anti-Heros Brian Seber and Tim Upson. I just had one of their boards and I really liked it. Everything about it was right. Good shape, good paint, good size. The deck I had did have a deep concave, which might not match up with everyone's personal preferences. I was fine with the concave. I would definitely ride another Hardtimes board and hope to again soon.

I also want to check out the High Five and Roger.

Transworld - March 1999 Volume 17 Number 3

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Chris Senn, Bam Margera & Elissa Steamer.



This is a follow up to yesterday's Chrome Ball Incident posting of Chris Senn. The backside disaster photo that was Photoshopped to look like Senn was doing the trick on the Republic Bank Building in Houston is from here.

You also get Bam doing a big drop in and Elissa doing a kickflip down a big set of stairs.

All hail the Machine.

The photos are probably by Ryan Gee.

Transworld - May 1999 Volume 17 Number 5

Monday, August 22, 2011

Jacob Rupp.



Spill The Wine.

Jacob rode for Creature, Santa Cruz and Element. He also rode for Satori Wheels. He's wearing some Kastels in the photo. That ground looks ridiculously rough.

Thrasher - April 1999 Volume 19 Number 4

Thursday, August 18, 2011

John Rattray #2.



The Predatory Bird.

John rode for Blueprint before Jamie Thomas recruited him for Zero. He's wearing DC's in the photo and he was riding for éS until the recent demise of that company. He has also gotten kicks from Savier and Osiris. John has something that many a pro skateboarder doesn't have: a college degree.

I'm taking tomorrow off. I'll be back on Monday.

Slap - September 1999 Volume 8 Number 9

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Diego Bucchieri.



Chop chop. The Butcher cuts a massive double set down to size.

Diego is from Argentina. He did the old carcass toss down some of the biggest gaps and stairs the USA had to offer and was rewarded with a pro model from Think. A few years ago he joined up with Toy Machine and has been with them ever since. Interesting side note about Diego: he's a big fan of Oasis and has logged some serious miles to see them.

Thrasher - November 1999 Volume 19 Number 11

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Al Partanen #3.



Parts started Illenium in the summer of 1999 after Creature was killed by a mob of angry villagers. The team included Mike Peterson, Steve Forstner, Christian Brox and Troy Mahony. Illenium also introduced us to a hot new am from Milwaukee by the name of Greg Lutzka. It lasted for a few years before joining many skateboard business ventures in the defunct company graveyard. Fortunately the story has a happy ending since Al joined up with the resurrected Creature squad, scored a shoe deal with Nike and is still destroying pools and parks at the age of forty with a full head of hair. That Lutzka kid is doing alright, too.

The photo is by Ed Dominick.

Thrasher - October 1999 Volume 19 Number 10

Monday, August 15, 2011

Arto Saari.



Happy trails, éS.

Sole Tech is putting the brand on hiatus to focus more on Etnies, Emerica, Altamont and their snowboard footwear company. I'm a little surprised that this is happening because their demise has been a topic of skateboard mag gossip columns for at least the last decade, yet never came to fruition. Over the years éS gave us quite a few classic shoes, including the first pro models from Sal Barbier and Eric Koston, along with the Accel. They also let Chad Muska design a pair of sneakers with a secret stash pocket in the tongue and footwear has never been the same.

Arto is from Finland and was the hot new am at the end of the 1990s. He rode for Platinum before joining up with Flip. He turned pro for Flip and is riding for them again after a couple of years on the Alien Workshop. He was on éS for a while until Gravis revamped their footwear program.

Atiba Jefferson took photo.

Slap - March 1999 Volume 8 Number 3

Friday, August 12, 2011

Erik Ellington.



The Mule.

He's wearing some Axion kicks.

That's all. Have a good weekend.

Thrasher - October 1999 Volume 19 Number 10

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Joey Pepper.



Underground favorite.

Pepper has ridden for Rhythm, Aesthetics and Zoo York. He currently is sponsored by Expedition. His part in Aesthetics' Ryde or Die video was sick. He is still going strong today and getting solid coverage.

Slap - November 1999 Volume 8 Number 11

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Tino Razo.



"While New York sleeps... Tino Razo 100 ft. below"

Tino rode for Rookie and the reincarnated version of Shut. He makes frequent appearances on Patrick O'Dell's Epicly Later'd website.

Thomas Campbell took the photo.

Slap - September 1999 Volume 8 Number 9

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Damian Bravo.



I ain't no joke.

Forever Real am with some great pop and catch on those flip tricks.

Slap - November 1999 Volume 8 Number 11

Monday, August 8, 2011

Jon West.



Canadian and horror movie fan.

Jon rode for ATM and turned pro for Foundation. He falls in to the category of skaters that I've been meaning to post, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Jon retired from sponsored skateboarding to attend film school. He has since worked for Electronic Arts making commercials and shooting music videos.

I had a productive scanning session yesterday and got most of what I wanted to get from 1999 digitized. I still need to make another pass through the Transworlds for some Toy Machine and I want to get at least one more Big Brother Product Review before I close the curtain on the year. It will be either on to 2000 or something different next. I could go either way. Feel free to make suggestions. I figure I have about four weeks of material ready to go. I'm thinking there might be a week of Rookie ads, which would probably make a good transition between 1999 and 2000.

Big Brother - July 1999 Issue 50

Friday, August 5, 2011

Chico Brenes.



This is to go with the James Kelch interview over at Chromeball. DVS has just released an EMB shoe for Chico with an appearance by Big Dirty in the ad.

Work is crazy busy today.

Transworld - February 1999 Volume 17 Number 2

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Carl Shipman #2.



Tin Can Folklore.

One of England's finest. After riding for Stereo and the New Deal, Carl was sponsored by his homeland's Blueprint.

Slap - December 1999 Volume 8 Number 12

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Dustin Dollin.



Demon Spawn.

Dustin was one of the new riders on Stereo at the end of the 1990s. The company was also switching its visual image up a bit, but this ad fits in with the vintage Stereo look.

The kid from Australia showed up in the states and started terrorizing spots everywhere. He became friends with Andrew Reynolds, Jim Greco, Shane Heyl and company. This resulted in the formation of the Piss Drunks and the rest is history.

Other than a bunch of ink and slightly crazier hair, Dustin looks about the same today as he did twelve years ago. I guess skateboarding is the fountain of youth.

Thrasher - October 1999 Volume 19 Number 10

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Jason Dill #3.



For my X-Games viewing, I watched a replay of the Mega Ramp on Friday night and the Real Street contest on Saturday. I'm naming names and places to provide a sense of context, even if you've never heard of the people or bars I'm talking about.

I caught the replay of the Mega Ramp at Ellicottville Brewing Company on Friday night. My friend Dan was bartending and they have multiple TVs. In all honesty, I was watching SportsCenter more for highlights of the Royals/Indians game than the Mega Ramp coverage. There were a couple of casual skateboard fans at the bar also watching and their commentary was cracking me up. I didn't feel like being "that guy" and correcting them so I sat there and listened.

Anyway, I'm not into the Mega Ramp. Yes, it takes a lot of guts and there's an understandable progression that some of the top skaters are willing to take, but it doesn't do much for me. I don't hold it against anybody who has the talent and opportunity to skate the thing. I'd like to make some sort of argument about how it reduces skateboarding to a spectator sport since a relatively small number of skaters can actually do it. This is different from how street and mini ramp skating were more inclusive back when I started, but street skating these days is nearly as much a spectator sport with guys and girls jumping down massive stairs and rails so that idea doesn't hold much water. The Mega Ramp is also more singular and specialized as you aren't exactly using a regular skateboard, plus you need the ramp itself and the land to host it. It's more on par with snowboarding in terms of gear and location requirements. This is in contrast to the simplicity of street skating, where you just need a board and a flat surface. Finally there was this Chris Miller quote in a Schmitt Stix ad from 1988 that said he liked to go from side to side and use the whole ramp, instead of just going back and forth. With the Mega Ramp you are basically going forth without substance between the tricks. I've always liked Miller's approach, but in street skating you are mostly just going in a straight line, so that point isn't very valid either. Whatever. Heath did it, so that makes it cool, right?

On to the Real Street portion of the X-Games. My friend Sean bartends at Coughlan's. We've been meeting up there to watch Street League and the X-Games on their big TV. I try to keep my opinions on these contests mostly positive and pick out the things I can support from the cheese rather than get bogged down by the negatives, Mega Ramp rant aside.

I caught most of the section where pros submitted their one minute videos before heading down to the bar. Silas Baxter-Neal had a great clip and won. I was hoping Eli Reed would have made the cut after reading his ringing endorsement from Boil The Ocean, but he didn't. In the fan voting, Brandon Westgate edged out Billy Marks. I'm fine with that. Both dudes rip.

For the Real Street contest, I thought they gave the skaters too many runs and the event seemed to drag on. I understand having more than just a best of two, but after watching five runs without much variation, it got repetitive. The skateboarding that went down was great in terms of tricks and mind boggling to think that these guys are doing some very hard tricks every time. I liked what Luan Oliveira was doing and thought he should have won over Nyjah Huston. Nyjah has got the moves, but it feels like he is simply doing them perfectly without much style. Of course he's also sixteen and still figuring a lot of stuff out. Did he try to one up Ryan Sheckler with a first try hardflip off the roof gap that Sheckler kickflipped with mixed results? Sean had the observation that Sheckler is now 21 and will be spending more time at the bars instead of skateboarding. We both liked Ryan Decenzo's every time tailslide followed by the rough gap frontside 360. I thought Chaz Ortiz had some good lines, too.

That's all the X-Games I watched and what I thought of them. It was basically fun. In the end I'd rather watch Dennis Busenitz, Raven Tershy or a Creature video, but that's just me.

Since I'm rambling on, there is one thing I would like to address about the Street League. They need to tone down the emphasis on the amount of money involved in the contest. Rob Dyrdek and company make it sound like the only reason the riders are in it is for the huge cash payments. While this might not be far from the truth with mortgages, car payments and the kid's college fund on the financial horizon, it's tacky to talk about how much money you make.

If I have to see that commercial for the Octane Zone car school one more time, I'm gouging my eyes out or throwing a chair at the TV. Probably the later.

*

Yeah, it had to be Dill to go with this. I'm stoked on his recent batch of coverage. Also the younger kids don't see the appeal of him, which is sign that you are getting old when you say that Dill is awesome and they say that so & so who hasn't had a skate photo in forever is better.

Dennis McGrath took the photo.

Transworld - May 1999 Volume 17 Number 5

Monday, August 1, 2011

Julien Stranger #13.



This has been sitting on my computer for a couple of years so it's time to get it out there. I don't feel like trying very hard today and for some reason I can't say awake at work even though I went to bed at a reasonable hour and slept fine.

I watched some of the X-Games this weekend, but I don't feel like talking about it right now.

Slap - November 1999 Volume 8 Number 11