Ryan Reyes.

Rave on.

Vert Is Dead will be back on Tuesday, September 4th.

Joe Hammeke took the photo.

Thrasher - December 2015 Volume 36 Number 12

Lizzie Armanto #2.

Tape loop.

Lizzie recently became the first woman to successfully navigate a loop on a skateboard.

The photo is by Michael Burnett.

Thrasher - June 2017 Volume 38 Number 6

Chris Joslin.

Go big or go home.

Chris is from Hawaiian Gardens, California. He rides for Plan B, Etnies, Acitve, Bones Wheels, Venture, and Grizzly Grip. His recent section in the Album video from Etnies is full of difficult flip tricks done down huge sets of stairs and gaps. I'm not a giant fan of that type of skateboarding, but you have to respect how ridiculous the stuff is that he does and how cleanly he pulls it off. Chris has even battled a few knee injuries and still keeps doing the old carcass toss.

Does anybody have some requests for later on in September? I've got about two weeks of newer stuff scanned that will take me to the middle of the month, but then I'm not sure what to post. There was request for the CCS Summer 1996 catalog that I'll work into the mix at some point.

Thrasher - June 2016 Volume 37 Number 6

Jerry Hsu #8.

Internet famous science fiction writer.

Thrasher - May 2016 Volume 37 Number 5

Cody Lockwood.

Newest member of the Fiend Club.

Cody is from Klamath Falls, Oregon and grew up in Portland. He was pro for Bryce Kanight's Lifeblood skateboards up until very recently when Bryce decided to end the company. Cody found a new home at Creature and put out a video part featuring transition and street shredding. He also helped build skateboard parks for Dreamland under the supervision of Mark "Red" Scott. His other sponsors include Nike, Thunder, Bones Wheels, and Jessup.

Transworld - January 2015 Volume 33 Number 1

Erick Winkowski.

Vintage Jeff Kendall deck.

Erick is from the Seattle, Washington area. He has a fondness for riding the older style boards that were popular before he was born. For the most part, he skates pools and transitions, but as of late he has been taking on some large handrails and street gaps. The man has also been known to skate long distances from one city to the next. In keeping with the classic vertical traditions, Erick's got the ability to do a collection of inverts that Jeff Hedges and Steve Schneer would be proud of. His other sponsors include Indy, Emerica, Bronson and Mob Grip. He might be living in a room under a halfpipe, too.

Skateboarding was cut a bit short last night due to a swarm of flying insects that descended upon the skatepark. After getting a bug in my mouth, I gave up before one landed in my eye. That always happens to me and it sucks.

Thrasher - February 2016 Volume 37 Number 2

Darren Navarrette #11.

Skeleton Key.

Darren always has the best video parts matched up with some vintage tunes you wouldn't expect, like how he used "Champs" by Wire in the last Creature video.

I took yesterday off from work. It rained in the morning, but dried up by the early afternoon. I was sitting at my apartment wondering what to do and I realized I could go skateboarding so I hit up the park. I made the right choice because the rain came back later in the day.

Thrasher - March 2016 Volume 37 Number 3

Rick Howard #15.

Future power forward for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Thrasher - August 2015 Volume 36 Number 8

Mark Gonzales #22.

Shaped deck tailblock.

It's pretty amazing how Gonz pulls off the tricks he does on some of the odd shaped decks that he rides. Although I suppose he's at a point where he has mastered skateboarding on a level that few will ever achieve and is just rolling with what feels good to him.

Thrasher - April 2016 Volume 37 Number 4

Jon Sciano.

Bulldozer.

Jon is from Oviedo, Florida. He was sponsored by Anti-Hero, but quit in 2016 and was getting boards from Deathwish. Jon had a high speed part in Lakai's The Flare video from last year. He's also not on their team any more either. I'm not exactly sure who, if anybody, he is riding for these days. At any rate, Jon blasted some huge ollies, bombed a big hill switch, and got surprisingly technical for his former footwear sponsor's DVD. I didn't know too much about him beyond a couple of interviews and I was impressed with how he skated.

Thrasher - November 2015 Volume 36 Number 11

Brandon Westgate #3.

If you can ollie over a car with ease, you might as well.

Thrasher - August 2015 Volume 36 Number 8

Jake Donnelly #2.

This is one of my favorite photos of the last few of years. Sometimes all it takes is adding a new degree of difficulty to a basic trick to produce a classic image.

Thrasher - November 2015 Volume 36 Number 11

Justin Figueroa #2.

"Mario Rubalcaba was pro for Alva and has spent the last 30 years killing it on the drums. He's always in seven or eight bands at the same time. I don't even know them all. The most famous one that everyone knows is probably Earthless. I think his whole direction with music and skating is incredible. It definitely got me stoked to push doing music on the side. He grew up around Vista, skating spots around here that I know. He was killing it in both worlds. It's rad because now I've been on trips with him. I've gotten to skate with him and go to some of the gnarlier shows he's played. He's another one of those dudes - he's all terrain. He can play all of it: the long improv jams, slow reggae shit if you wanted it, punk, GG Allin style. He can play all of that shit. He's beyond diverse as a drummer. It's hard to cover all of it. Everyone has a certain style, but Mario can attack in all genres. You're not going to last forever skating; I've gotten hurt so much. That's where music comes in. My dad has always played guitar, but I've picked it up way more over the years. Life after skating will definitely be about music. I don't know if it'll make you rich, but it's fun as hell."

It's always cool when Mario's name pops up. I wasn't expecting him to get mentioned in Figgy's article about his influences, but there he was.

For the quote: Thrasher - August 2018 Volume 39 Number 8

Thrasher - November 2015 Volume 36 Number 11

Nora Vasconcellos #2.

The Explorer.

The photo is by Shane Cox.

Thrasher - November 2017 Volume 38 Number 11

Omar Hassan #6.

Blockhead OG and Black Label lifer.

I got my Ron Cameron Tragicomic reissue a while back and it is a nice looking deck. I still haven't hung it on the wall yet so I'll get around to that eventually. I usually don't care much for white, but the art is intricate and colorful so it stands out against the plain background.

Transworld - January 2015 Volume 33 Number 1

Austyn Gillette #5.

"I like a product at the end of the day; I like anything that involves my hands or my brain. I’m considering doing a little framing business, just learning about joint work. That’s the only craft that makes sense. Anything that requires physical labor and a little bit of brain, I’m usually drawn to. Picture frames requires both of those and a lot of math. You actually have to use a pencil and a piece of paper. And yeah, it’s a distraction from the phone and everything else. It’s just simple."

I though this was a neat graphic Austyn had on WKND:

For the quote: Thrasher - May 2018 Volume 39 Number 5

Thrasher - June 2016 Volume 37 Number 6

Ishod Wair #2.

According to a recent, mostly scientific, study conducted by the folks at Jenkem Magazine, Bronson finishes second behind Bones Swiss for fastest bearings on the market. They also come in at a better value compared to Swiss. I've been using Bronson the last couple of years and they seem plenty fast enough.

Thrasher - February 2017 Volume 38 Number 2

Justin Henry.

So is this video coming out in the physical world?

I think I've been stuck in a rut lately. There's been too much to do at the office and skateboarding has been a little hit or miss. I did check out Jamestown Skateboard Products on Saturday and got to see some of the locals ripping up the place so that was cool. I had a nice solo session at the local park on Friday night, too. I'm taking a few days off from work here and there over the next couple of weeks so I hope provides the necessary relaxing moments.

The photo is by Pep Kim.

Thrasher - March 2017 Volume 38 Number 3

Oskar Rozenberg.

Fleetwood Mac.

Oskar is from Malmo, Sweden. He is sponsored by Polar, Nike, Spitfire, Indy, and Jessup. Pontus Alv turned him pro in the last year or so. He rips up transitions and has been doing well in some of the assorted park contest series.

The photograph is by Alex Pires. That guy's name has been coming up a lot in the photo credits recently. He's doing some good work.

Transworld - May/June 2017 Issue 386

Josh Pall.

Hammer the hammer.

Josh is from Brisbane, Australia. In addition to skateboarding, he's into woodworking and screen printing. Some of early favorite videos included Toy Machine's Jump Off A Building and Emerica's This Is Skateboarding.

Thomas Robinson took the photo.

Transworld - November/December 2017 Issue 389

Zered Bassett #3.

All time East Coast powerhouse.

I saw an Adio sticker on a car at Walmart last night. That had to have been there a while.

Thrasher - February 2017 Volume 38 Number 2