Thursday, February 28, 2013

Matt Schnurr #2.



Tim Gavin's friend.

Matt was pro for Planet Earth. He had parts in Cat's Cradle and Hiatus that were full of technical street skating set to era appropriate hip hop. He did a lot of harder flip tricks switch that looked pretty solid back in the day.

I'm doing a Deathwish feature for next week. I've found an ad for Balance with Erik Ellington that might not have been on the internet yet. The only catch is that it is a split ad with another team rider. It possibly could be Erik's first bit of coverage. Does everybody want me to use the Balance ad or dig around more to find something else?

Transworld - September 1994 Volume 12 Number 9

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Paul Luna.



The Wray brother from a different mother.

Paul rode for Blockhead and Clean. He also had A-1 Meats as a wheel sponsor. He's part of Jeremy and Jonas Wray's new company Wray Brothers.

Transworld - August 1995 Volume 13 Number 8

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Andy Scott.



Scrambled egg.

Andy was the fourth guy on the original Flip pro team with Rune Glifberg, Tom Penny, and Geoff Rowley. He rides for Death and Vans these days.

Grant Brittain took photo and Dave Swift filmed the sequence.

Transworld - November 1995 Volume 13 Number 11

Monday, February 25, 2013

Simon Woodstock #3.



A little more mouthwatering Woodstock for Monday.

I figure people probably wanted a little more of Simon since he only made one shaving cream covered appearance during the time I spent looking back at Sonic. So here he is scraping up his nose while doing a board slide.

This week is going to be fairly random 1990s stuff. Next week will be Deathwish week.

Transworld - October 1996 Volume 14 Number 10

Friday, February 22, 2013

Jason Adams #8.



BMC.

Sonic came to an end in 1998. Jason had been riding for Scarecrow before and went to the Black Label by the end of the year. The last round of Sonic ads ran in Thrasher from January to about July. The final team included Mike Crabtree, Simon Woodstock, Joe Hutchinson, Louie Barletta, Matt Eversole, and Donny Kim.

It's going to be random 1990s stuff next week.

Lance Dalgart took the photos.

Thrasher - January 1998 Volume 18 Number 1

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Charlie Watts.



Built To Spill.

How old are you and where do you live?
I'm eighteen and a Taurus. Me and my friend Jon Miner have the same birthday, it's on the 26th of April. I live in Santa Rosa, CA.

What do you think of the Simon Woodstock/Sean Palmer fight?
I think, for once, Simon won't be the clown.

What influences your skateboarding?
Everything from music to work to friends like Dan Drehobl and Chris Senn.

If you went to a deserted island and could bring one beer, what would it be?
Pabst Blue Ribbon.

What do you like about Santa Rosa?
People here got heart, kid. Just kidding. People here aren't fake, they don't feel they have to be different than they are.

What do you like to skate?
Mostly I like to skate street and transitions, but I've been known to skate a cardboard box for hours.

Who would you like to thank?
I'd like to thank all my friends in Albuquerque, Simon and Sonic, Venture, Hornet Wheels, Rob Dotson, my family, Meg O'Brien and all the jerks at 469 14th street.

*

I'd like to say thanks to Skate Library for having a bunch of the more obscure mid 1990s videos on their website. It's really been helpful with tracking down information about the posts I've been making lately.

For the quote: Thrasher - March 1996 Volume 16 Number 3

Transworld - October 1995 Volume 13 Number 10

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Jason "Wee Man" Acuna #2.



Wee Man kickflips a double set.

There's a great interview with Karma Tsocheff over at the Chrome Ball Incident.

I'm starting to figure out what I want to scan in next. Next week is going to probably be some random mid 1990s stuff. I'm thinking there will be a week of Santa Cruz because they turn 40 this year. I believe Toy Machine turns twenty this year as well. I'm also thinking about having a week related to Deathwish since they have a video out in March and then something for Creature in May. Maybe some early scans from when Zero first started.

Transworld - November 1996 Volume 14 Number 11

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Tony Briseno.



Life in the fast lane.

Tony was pro for Sonic and got clothes from TSA. He also rode for Acme/Formula One and was an am on Foundation back in the day.

Transworld - June 1995 Volume 13 Number 6

Monday, February 18, 2013

Nanda Zipp #2.



T.V.O.D.

The Blood Wizard video is pretty darn good. Is Chris Senn still riding for them? He wasn't in it very much. His son is on the team and had a good part. Jerry Gurney puts down a couple NBDs at China Banks. The highlight of the video is the full part from Ben Krahn that they hid after the credits. Ben is amazing.

Lance Dalgart took the photo.

Transworld - July 1995 Volume 13 Number 7

Friday, February 15, 2013

Tom Knox #4.



Tom turned pro for Santa Cruz in 1989. He rode for them until 1994 and then was on Sonic until 1997. He's back on the Dot as part of the Veterans Division with Steve Alba, Eric Dressen, and Jason Jessee. He plays drums in The Widders.

I watched the DGK Parental Advisory video last night. It's a solid flick. All street with nary a transition in sight. There are lots of lines and manual tricks with a few gaps and rails. The skits between parts moved things along well enough without being a bore. Good to see that everybody on the team put in the effort to have full parts, too.

Transworld - November 1995 Volume 13 Number 11

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Kit Erickson.



The late Kit Erickson.

Before Sonic, Kit rode for H-Street and Life. He had a strong part with lots of big gaps and flip in tricks in Life's A Soldier's Story video from 1991. He was also sponsored by Airwalk. Kit passed away in 1997 after sustaining a serious head injury.

Transworld - September 1994 Volume 12 Number 9

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Mike Crabtree.



Again.

Mike is from San Jose and was pro for Sonic. He was in a lot of ads for Sonic, which is why it says again at the bottom of this one. He also rode for Simple Shoes, Ill Clothing and NC Board Shop. If I recall, he had a photo in Thrasher's Something Else column where he was boardsliding a handrail with a cast on his leg.

Transworld - December 1994 Volume 12 Number 12

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Sonic 1995 Catalog.



This is from a 1995 Sonic catalog. The pros included Tony Briseno, Mike Crabtree, Kit Erickson, Tom Knox, Simon Woodstock, and Nanda Zipp.

The wheel model is Ave Bunachita. He was an am for Sonic and turned pro for Vision a year or two later.

The brains behind the operation at Sonic were Corey and Gavin O'Brien. I believe that they were partnered with NHS for production and distribution since Sonic was featured in the revived mid 1990s version of Strange Notes. The company wasn't always featured prominently in the catalogs so that makes me wonder how involved NHS was.

Jamie Thomas put together a very worthy Battle Commander clip at the Berrics.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Simon Woodstock #2.



You know the answer.

It's going to be a look back at Sonic for the next two weeks. The company was around from 1994 to 1998. They were based in San Jose. The team included Simon Woodstock, Tom Knox, Mike Crabtree, Nanda Zipp, Kit Erickson, Jason "Wee Man" Acuna, Jason Adams, and a few others.

Elsewhere, I'm looking forward to the Blood Wizard video that appears online on Friday. Five-O Threads has a couple of new 101 inspired t-shirts in the works.

Transworld - April 1996 Volume 14 Number 4

Friday, February 8, 2013

Chris Senn #2.



Service for the sick.

The photo is by Jaya Bonderov.

Thrasher - April 1997 Volume 17 Number 4

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Roger Seliner #4.



Roger that.

I've been looking through the mags for Sonic ads. It's probably going to be closer to two weeks of Sonic since I found a couple of catalogs. The amount of Simon Woodstock isn't going to be much. In what I've found so far, he's had two ads and I already posted one of them on here already. I also found a couple of things I was looking for back in January, but couldn't find then.

Thrasher - February 1996 Volume 16 Number 2

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Mike Chin.



"A thirteen-year-old who resides in Portland, Oregon, when Mikey's not grounded, he'll gladly terrorize Burnside or any street spot. He's been skating for a long time and has developed a consistent style and will commit to whatever trick he's trying, even if it means slamming on his face. He's definitely got the skills to come up, and you will be seeing a lot more of this kid in the future!" - Andy Bohna

For the quote: Thrasher - July 1995 Volume 15 Number 7

Thrasher - January 1997 Volume 17 Number 1

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Hanzy Driscoll.



Hanzy is from Lake of the Pines. He grew up skateboarding with John Cardiel and Antonius "Toad" Dintcho. His favorite skaters included Rick Winsor, Cards, and Steve Olson. I'm not exactly sure if he was referring to Alex's dad or the one on Foundation. He liked the Sick Boys video, too. Hanzy rode for Scarecrow Wheels around this time as well.

I thought Adrenalin was done after Chris Senn bounced for Toy Machine, but apparently it wasn't. I dug through some forgotten issues of Heckler to find a quick interview with Hanzy and found a couple of things. He said that Adrenalin switched backers and was being distributed by Goodtimes in later 1997. I also discovered in issues of Heckler from 2001 - 2002 that there were ads for Adrenalin again. The team included Chris Senn, Jaya Bonderov, Toad, and Mike Manzoori. Jon Miner and Keagan Sauder were ams. I thought that Senn had gone to Element after Toy Machine. I think we have a mystery on our hands.

Thrasher - June 1996 Volume 16 Number 6

Monday, February 4, 2013

Jaya Bonderov #4.



It's going to be a week of Adrenalin.

Adrenalin was around from roughly 1995 to 1997. The late Jaya Bonderov and Chris Senn were in charge. I believe they were backed by Think. The team included Mike Chin, Hanzy Driscoll, Matt Reason, Mike Manzori, Roger Seliner, and Justin Strubing.

I'm guessing that the "Noah wears pink bikinis" where the photo credit should go means that Noah Martineau was the photographer.

Thrasher - March 1995 Volume 15 Number 5

Friday, February 1, 2013

Forties #4.



Forties was dope.

Here's a few random thoughts on skateboarding.

Skateboarder Magazine is headed toward the digital only realm. I got the last issue the other day and I had the option to finish my subscription with either Surfer or Snowboarder. I declined and asked for my money back, if there was any. The second incarnation of Skateboarder was usually a solid read and the mag brought a different perspective to skateboard journalism.

I was happy with how Pretty Sweet turned out. There's probably not much point in writing a review of a video that's been out for two months now. I would prefer less Hollywood glitz. However, Girl and Chocolate are in a unique position to do things that other companies might not necessarily be able to and make it work. It's probably good to take advantage of the opportunities presented, but that still doesn't make Jack Black funny. It was cool to see a bunch of Jeron Wilson footage and some quality tricks from Mike Carroll. As for the younger guys, I'm sold on Raven Tershy, Vincent Alvarez, and Alex Olson. By the way, who's Will Arnett?

I need to check out the DGK video. I'm looking forward to the new Creature flick in May and the Deathwish video in March.

It's going to be a week of Adrenalin starting on Monday. Most likely. There's a 2% chance I might take next week off from doing this so that would mean Adrenalin week would start on February 11th. I'm also thinking about doing weeks on Sonic and Physics Wheels in the very near future. Feel free to leave suggestions.

Slap - December 1996 Volume 5 Number 12