Jim Thiebaud & Corey O'Brien.

New graphics.

These are a pair of ads from Strange Notes, the NHS publication that was part catalog and part 'zine. You've got the debut of the Thiebaud Avenger and a fresh set of spooky graphics for Corey. I dig both of these decks.

Have a safe New Year's Eve. There will be a year end wrap up post at some point tomorrow and then I'm taking a two week break. I might even get to go skateboard today in the cold, if it stays dry.

Jim's picture is by Sean Sullivan.

Jim: Strange Notes - October 1989 Number 12

Corey: Strange Notes - May 1990 Number 14

Hugh "Bod" Boyle #7.

Awake to Venture.

I always liked how Bod rode for Venture. I wonder how many folks only know of him from the song in Memory Screen by Toxic Death Sentence and didn't realize how good he was at skating vert?

Thrasher - March 1990 Volume 10 Number 3

Nicky Guerrero #5.

Nicky is from Copenhagen, Denmark. As luck would have it, he had relatives in California and got into skateboarding at a young age on trips to visit them. He was able to skate a number of the concrete parks in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Through contests and demos in Europe, Nicky was sponsored and turned pro. He rode for Titus, G & S, and Powell Peralta. Some of his favorites include Claus Grabke, Chris Miller, Steve Caballero, Ben Schroeder, Steve Salisian, Steve Claar, and Omar Hassan. His dad was in band that scored a few hits on the Danish pop charts. Nicky is into science fiction and outer space, along with music and art.

Transworld - September 1990 Volume 8 Number 9

Buster Halterman #4.

"I live on a dirt road on a farm and I wake up to the rooster."

Buster explains his hometown scene. He was born in New Jersey and relocated to Wellsville, Pennsylvania at a young age. Due to the lack of street spots, he gravitated toward vert ramps and built one in his barn. His favorite skater is Chris Miller. He liked a plain board with no rails, Gullwings, white wheels, and a minimal amount of stickers. For music, Buster was a fan of King Diamond and The Damned.

The photo is by Mark Waters.

For the information: Thrasher - February 1991 Volume 11 Number 2

Transworld - April 1991 Volume 9 Number 4

Toxic Boards 1990.

Merry Toxic Christmas!

The 1990 spring board lineup from Maryland's favorite waste merchants featured decks for Dave Crabb, Ken Fillion, Denny Riordon, and Bernie O'Dowd.

The photos are possibly by Steve Sherman.

Transworld - March 1990 Volume 8 Number 3

Jeff Grosso #10.

Bye m'friends, goodbye.

Remember to do a couple extra ollies and grinds the next time you go skateboarding for those who aren't around any longer.

RIP Steve.

The intro line is a reference to a song by Maserati.

The photos are credited to Rescue. Anybody know the name behind the alias?

Transworld - May 1991 Volume 9 Number 5

G & S Pro Team 1990.

Footage days.

The G & S squad represented a good variety of skateboarding in 1990. They had East Coast vert rippers Blaize Blouin and Sean Miller. Sadly, both of those guys have passed on. Mark Heintzman was helping to develop modern street skating in Ohio. Florian Böhm added some European flare to the team. Steve Claar and Doug Smith are underground legends. And of course, you've got Neil Blender simply being himself.

The photos are by O, Tobin Yelland, Daniel Harold Sturt, Dave Swift, Thomas Kalak, and C. Curtis.

Transworld - July 1990 Volume 8 Number 7

Aaron Deeter.

Vibrantly abrasive colors.

Aaron was pro for Zorlac in the early 1990s. I looked for more info and couldn't find much of anything. He was pretty good at riding a mini ramp and skated to All in the Deadbolt trucks video from 1991.

Congrats to Mason Silva on winning SOTY for 2020.

Transworld - September 1990 Volume 8 Number 9

Reese Simpson #5.

Reese slashes in a pool during the heyday of BBC. He was born in Minnesota and moved out to California at a very young age. Reese grew up skating all the concrete parks in California in the 1970s and 80s. He has ridden for Variflex, Allen Losi, Schmitt Stix, and BBC. Some of his favorite skaters include Allen Losi, Neil Blender, Mickie Alba, Mike Smith, Blaize Blouin, and Buck Smith.

The photo is by Jamie "Mouse" Mosberg.

Transworld - August 1990 Volume 8 Number 8

Anthony "Ragdoll" Scalamere.

Ragdoll is from Las Vegas, Nevada. He acquired the nickname from a friend and with an assist from Chad Muska. John Lucero turned him pro for the Black Label after he split with Zero. He had a unique approach to skateboarding that doesn't seem out of place for what is going on today. Ragdoll chucked his carcass down some big handrails and ledges, as well as launching a few king sized street grabs into traffic. He was also surprisingly technical and not afraid to do some stupid tricks, including his famous running jump down a set of stairs to landing on his board at the bottom. His favorite skaters for 2003 included James Atkin, Lance Mountain Jr., Alex Olson, Dustin Dollin, Tony Trujillo, and Jason Dill, minus The Osbournes situation. He liked skating in Vans slip-ons, too.

I was surprised some of these guys haven't made it to the internet as yet. I feel this era of Black Label has a decent underground following and the Blackout video was well received when it was released in 2003. I'm glad I finally pieced this feature together since I'd been thinking about it for a long time. It all started randomly when the song for Ragdoll's part got stuck in my head and I was lucky enough to quickly figure out the tune since I hadn't watched the video in ages. For the record, the song was "I'm Stranded" by The Saints.

For the info: Transworld - May 2003 Volume 21 Number 5

50-50: Thrasher - April 2002 Volume 22 Number 4

Nosegrind: Thrasher - September 2002 Volume 22 Number 9

Ben Gilley #4.

"I just skate, eat burgers, and that's it."

Ben explains the simplicity of his life.

For the quote: Thrasher - January 2002 Volume 22 Number 1

Thrasher - August 2002 Volume 22 Number 8

Patrick Melcher #2.

"I love Chicago. I stay here now because the city is so full of life, man. You need, on top of skateboarding, to actually live your life. You just don't get that in Southern California. In Chicago, you've got the culture and energy and a nice sense of history. It's a great, vibrant place."

Green fire.

I like Melcher's approach to skateboarding. He will do a hurricane down a handrail or something gnarly and then mix it up with an odd footplant or transition trick. It's nice to see the variety.

It's probably for the best Vert Is Dead didn't get mentioned on Thrasher's Guide to the Internet.

For the quote: Thrasher - July 2001 Volume 21 Number 7

Thrasher - February 2002 Volume 22 Number 2

Jason Adams #17.

The Kid locks into a lengthy frontside slider.

Six Gun was a spinoff of the Black Label that Jason did in the early 2000s. Chet Childress was the other team rider.

Thrasher - January 2002 Volume 22 Number 1

Jason "Jub" Taylor #2.

"Yeah, I'll die in Michigan. I guarantee it. Michigan is just where my heart is forever; it's where I grew up and for sure I'm gonna live there again."

Jub shows some love for the Wolf Eyes state.

It's a week of Black Label from the early 2000s. This is one of those ideas I have been meaning to do for a while, but never really pieced it all together. It's kind of neat how John Lucero turned nearly his whole amateur team pro at time.

Thrasher's got the polls open for SOTY. Alexis Sablone made the final list so she got my vote.

For the quote: Thrasher - February 2002 Volume 22 Number 2

Thrasher - November 2001 Volume 21 Number 11

Robbie Russo.

Don't get run over by a viking.

Robbie grew up skating at Channel Street in San Pedro, California. His dad used to skate, too. The first good trick he learned were Smith grinds. Robbie got run over by Rune Glifberg at the Copenhagen Pro in 2010 and sustained some nasty injuries, but he's much better now.

I know they are trying to be funny, but I prefer the Anti-Hero ads that have less Photoshop hi-jinx. The photos they use are usually good enough to stand on their own, like this one.

For the info: Thrasher - August 2012 Volume 32 Number 8

Thrasher - October 2010 Volume 30 Number 10

Lee Yankou #2.

Jumping higher than when Blake Griffin dunked over a car.

Thrasher - August 2010 Volume 30 Number 8

Dan Pensyl.

"I might be one of the only skateboarders who can honestly say this, but I never had any desire to be a pro skateboarder because I was realistic. Even just getting sponsored was a gift to me. That's why I appreciate every single time I step on a skateboard, I will work 40 hours a week doing manual labor and still make time, even if it is raining. Yeah, it would be awesome to own an apartment in New York and have a car. Right now I'm driving around in a pickup truck my grandfather gave me because he bought a new one at a yard sale. That's how I grew up."

Making it work.

For the quote: The Skateboard Mag - April 2008 Issue 49

The Skateboard Mag - October 2010 Issue 79

Lucas Puig #4.

I had these shoes. They were on the snug side so I donated them to the thrift store. I always felt like I should have given them more time to get broken in. Oh, well. Somebody got a hella fresh pair of kicks for dirt cheap.

I got skateboarding for the 300th time this year yesterday afternoon.

Giovanni Reda snapped the photo.

Thrasher - August 2010 Volume 30 Number 8

Ishod Wair #3.

Get on the good foot.

This trick was in Ishod's part in Real's Since Day One video from 2011. I watched the segment again last night and it's amazing how good he is. In addition to all the flip tricks and handrails, I think it's cool that Ishod has put in the effort to skate transitions, too.

This was the back cover of the December 2020 issue of Artforum:

Every month the Galerie Bruno Bischofberger runs a unique photo of Swiss village life for their ad. This time around I guess they felt like giving a mid 1990s punk house their moment. The photo is credited to Andri Pol. I found a picture of the same ramp from a different angle in Photo Graffiti in the June 1997 issue of Thrasher. The info they had was that it was the Bellevue Punx house in Geneva, Switzerland. Anybody out there have more details about the photo? Am I crazy in thinking it might have run in a mag in the 90s because it sort of looks familiar?

Thrasher - October 2010 Volume 30 Number 10

Andrew Reynolds #12.

"I don't know if anyone else is going to think it's good, but I keep trying to jump off of things."

This was the last trick by the Boss for his part in Emerica's Stay Gold video from 2010.

For the quote: The Skateboard Mag - November 2010 Issue 80

Thrasher - November 2010 Volume 30 Number 10

Dan Drehobl #25.

"I got sponsored by Foundation while skating the Blockhead ramp. Tod Swank was all, 'Hey, you want to ride for us?' I didn't understand it, though, 'cause all I did was frontside airs. I told him, 'Yeah, but all I did was frontside airs,' and he's all, "Yeah, whatever. We suck.'"

Dan talks about how he wound up on the F-Troop.

No. 3000.

This is the 3000th post on Vert Is Dead. That's a lot of scanning over the past 12 1/2 years.

The photograph is by Jon Coulthard.

For the quote: Thrasher - October 2001 Volume 21 Number 10

Thrasher - May 2010 Volume 30 Number 5

Matt Mumford #3.

Black metal stars.

The Mutt clocks some serious airtime.

I like Ben Horton's artwork, but I never kept up with $LAVE for whatever reason. The ads and graphics looked pretty cool, yet I don't think I ever saw any of their videos. I believe the company had a decent following back when it was around. Or are they still around? It's impossible to keep up with everything these days.

No. 2999.

Thrasher - December 2010 Volume 30 Number 12

Justin Figueroa #3.

Cover model.

The latest issue of Thrasher is all about the 40th anniversary of the mag. It's pretty cool and they explore some of the more behind the scenes history. There's an interesting interview with Kevin Thatcher, the former editor. He discusses the printing process and graphic design, which I thought was a neat read. There's an article on the best covers. I was surprised to learn that Figgy has been on the front six times. It turns out he has.

1. May 2010 - Backside Smith grind on a handrail.

2. June 2011 - Switch backside 50-50 on a handrail.

3. December 2012 - Crooked grind a double kink rail.

4. September 2015 - Crooked grind a handrail.

5. November 2016 - Crooked grind grab transfer from a rail into a bank.

6. January 2020 - Gap to frontside feeble on a handrail.

The September 2015 cover was for the Lakai and Emerica Stay Flared tour. They did two versions. The other was a Raven Tershy over vert backside tail at FDR.

No. 2998.

The photo is by JT Rhoades.

Thrasher - October 2010 Volume 30 Number 10

Riley Hawk #3.

This was Riley's welcome to the team ad for Lakai. He was still an am and riding for Birdhouse at the time. He turned pro for Baker in 2013. I'm glad Hudson continues to ride for the Flare.

No. 2997.

I triple checked all the numbers and it appears the counter will hit 3,000 on Thursday.

Note: This advertisement ran as a two page spread in Thrasher. I kind of like the condensed one page version better and not just because it required less scan work.

Transworld - December 2010 Volume 28 Number 12

Don "Nuge" Nguyen #4.

"Our band is the LSDemons and our first show was a gnarly Skate Rock tour in Australia. The first show four people knocked themselves out in the mosh pit. Jake Phelps was like, 'You've got more stretchers than fans.' Dustin Dollin killed it as a singer. Well, except for one show where he pulled an Axl Rose on us."

Oklahoma's finest big gap jumper and hill bomber recounts his band's tour experience in the land down under. The Nuge rips.

Circa Combat was a spinoff of Circa Footwear during the 2010s. The team consisted of Abdias Rivera, Peter Ramondetta, Frank Gerwer, and Sheldon Meleshinski. The brand was only around for a few years and the riders split for other companies at some point. I think they used regular Circa shoe models with different color schemes. I probably should do additional research on the topic, but that's what I recall. Can't be very far off.

Random Odds & Ends

I guess we're in the home stretch for Thrasher's SOTY award. I'm personally leaning towards Mason Silva, but I could see Franky Villani winning it. Somebody different should end up with the award this year.

I liked the newish video parts from Raney Beres and Ethan Loy.

The weather has been unseasonably mild so I've been able to get in plenty of skateboarding after work and before it gets dark. The mild weather kind of crapped out to start the week, although it is back for now. My Mike Carroll reissues are on their last legs, but holding up with duct tape. They wore out a little faster than I expected. Otherwise Lakai made a good shoe and I already have a second pair waiting to go.

I've been browsing through the early issues of The Skateboard Mag for content lately and plan to include more from them in the future. It's a shame that magazine came to an end.

Sound Zone: The Dead C have a new album called Unknowns that features more of their harsh and scraping guitar skuzz stylings. The long standing weirdo noise merchants at Skin Graft have reissued a pair of AIDS Wolf LPs that only saw a limited release first time around. I already had the records, but it is nice to have Ma vie banale avant-garde and Very Friendly on CD as well. The new tape from Ordet reminds me of early U.S. Girls, but darker and spookier.

Vert Is Dead will be back on Monday, November 30th.

It will be more stuff from 2010 as the countdown to 3,000 continues. Hope everybody has a happy and safe holiday week.

For the quote: The Skateboard Mag - August 2011 Issue 89

Thrasher - April 2010 Volume 30 Number 4

Bryan Herman #5.

Happy hour.

This was Bryan's ender in Stay Gold. It's a seriously huge amount of real estate to hardflip down, but after rewatching the part, he's got the trick on command. I still don't fully understand how you bring yourself to launch down such huge gaps. It doesn't seem physically possible.

The Skateboard Mag - December 2010 Issue 81

Pedro Barros.

Don't fall.

Pedro is from Florianópolis, Brazil. He rides for Vans and Independent. I am not sure if he has a board sponsor. Pedro was riding Real and Anti-Hero boards in his most recent Thrasher interview. Some of his favorite skaters include Leo Kakinho, John Cardiel, Tony Trujillo, Heath Kirchart, and Nilton Neves. He's one of those folks who totally rips at ramp and park skating. A couple of the guys from the shop here went out to SF at the start of the year and got to witness Pedro skate in person. They said he is on a whole other level of good.

The layout reminds me of a Dogtown ad from 1990.

Mason Silva for SOTY? The dude is ridiculously great at riding a skateboard. Have enough years passed since somebody on Deluxe last won the award so it won't look like Thrasher is playing favorites?

The photo is by MRZ.

Thrasher - January 2010 Volume 30 Number 1

Brandon Westgate #4.

Exploding into the sky.

Did you know that Brandon owns a boat?

Skateboarder - November 2010 Volume 20 Number 3

Guru Khalsa.

Black Moth Super Rainbow.

Guru split time growing up between Houston, Texas, and Punjab, India. He was sponsored by Habitat, Elwood, Satori Wheels, Habitat Footwear, and Venture. Guru turned pro in 2010. For his part in Habitat's Origin video, he skated a variety of ledges, hubbas, and ditches while the Black Moth Super Rainbow played. His style is on the mellow side and everything is done smoothly. Guru hit up a lot of long, flat rails in the tradition of Kerry Getz. There's a half cab to 5-0 on handrail, a couple ride on 50-50s, big spins, and nollies. I think he still skates, but not for Habitat. Guru is or was running companies that make soap and incense.

It's going to be a bunch of 2010 stuff for the next few of weeks to get us to the 3,000th post and beyond. I'm only going to do two weeks of the older stuff at the end of December instead of the full month. I wasn't feeling it this year and I've been scanning a lot of 2000s content.

Skateboarder - June 2010 Volume 19 Number 10

Anthony Pappalardo #9.

"John Cardiel is definitely one of my favorites. Tony Trujillo is sick, too. I never got to skate tranny until like three years ago, but seeing those guys skate just gets me hyped - even though I won't go hit up some gnarly cement park or something. It pumps me up to skate street or whatever. It's just raw skating."

Pops was on fire in 2002. I couldn't decide which ad to use so I went with both. The nollie frontside noseslide is sick. After rewatching his parts in Mosaic and Transworld's I.E. video yesterday, it is easy to see how he draws inspiration from Cards and TNT.

The Match Guy graphic is a nice tip of the hat to Duane Pitre's Flame Man graphic from 1992.

The switch frontside boardslide sequence is by Ben Colen. The nollie frontside noseslide sequence is by Shawn "Frankie" Brodsky. The background photo is by Jon McGrath.

For the quote: Skateboarder - December 2002 Volume 12 Number 4

Switch front board: Transworld - February 2002 Volume 20 Number 2

Nollie front nose: Transworld - October 2002 Volume 20 Number 10

Pitre Flame Man: Transworld - February 1993 Volume 11 Number 2

Jason Dill #17.

"Here comes Dill with another pair of sunglasses. The dash of the car is usually a shrine made from truck stop paraphernalia. He won't hesitate to show up at the car with a pen that looks like a finger, and when you pull on it a roaring fart noise comes out. I remember at the end of most trips, when we'd stop by Alien Workshop, he'd give Chris Carter the most random stuff he had bought on the trip." - Bill Strobeck

Dill has got a good ollie, especially off flat. He's popped over more than a few big things during the course of his career. The quote is from a trip Jason went on with Bill in Florida during the filming of Skate More at the tail end of 2004.

Congrats to O on scoring a pro board from Foundation.

Mike O'Meally took the photos of Jason and Jon McGrath contributed the Day Dream picture.

For the quote: The Skateboard Mag - June 2005 Issue 15

Transworld - September 2002 Volume 20 Number 9

Anthony Van Engelen #8.

"Oh, my kickflip sucks. 'Cause, you know, when Salman Agah happened I was just, 'Oh, I need to start skating switch.' And that's all I did and that just kind of threw all of the regular tricks in the trash. So I kept doing that and then now I can't kickflip. I used to have one when I was younger, actually. I try them now and they're all rocket and messed up."

AVE breaks down the process behind all of his switch skills.

The photo sequence is by Lance Dawes photos. The graphics are by Don Pendleton.

For the quote: Thrasher - March 2015 Volume 36 Number 3

Transworld - July 2002 Volume 20 Number 7

Steve Berra & Heath Kirchart.

Dual Sponsorship.

Over the years, Steve and Heath rode for the same company a few times. They both were on Birdhouse Projects in the early 1990s. Eventually each wandered over to Foundation for the mid 1990s. The duo then headed back to the Birdhouse in 1997. The final joint sponsorship change occurred in 2002 when the two joined up with the Alien Workshop. This was celebrated with a couple ads and a shared part in Habitat's Mosaic video from 2003.

Fun fact: Heath's photo is reversed. He's goofy footed. This was the hubba he stuck on in his part in This Is Skateboarding. The photograph is of the make, which happened in daylight.

Atiba Jefferson documented Steve's 50-50, Jaya Bonderov snapped Heath's 50-50, and Jon McGrath shot the gas mask.

Steve: Transworld - May 2002 Volume 20 Number 5

Heath: Transworld - August 2002 Volume 20 Number 8

Josh Kalis #9.

A Philadelphia owl takes flight across a safety barrier with the help of a natural launch ramp.

The photo is by Shawn "Frankie" Brodsky.

Transworld - October 2001 Volume 19 Number 10

Peter Ramondetta #4.

The Custom Series.

I got a request for this board series a while back. Check out the sizes on the boards. Most of them are fairly skinny and short, with Max having the only 8" x 32". The skinny widths I understand, but three are under 31.5" in length, which seems too short. I vaguely remember how it was a little difficult to find larger boards back in the early 2000s, but I didn't recall boards this small as the norm.

Notes: A picture taken from a slightly different angle of Peter's kickflip was used in a Circa ad. The double letter e in Keith's name occurred in the catalog with how the bleed and the binding interacted. I did piece together two scans, but that one isn't on me.

The kickflip photo is by Gabe Morford.

Boards: Deluxe Spring 2003 Catalog

Pete's Geo: Thrasher - April 2003 Volume 23 Number 4

Frank Gerwer & Julien Stranger.

Remember the time these two drove to Benicia to skate with Cardiel?

Thrasher - May 2002 Volume 22 Number 5

Dennis Busenitz #7.

"When Dennis came into our lives he had led a sheltered existence, mostly skating in a barn in the Kansas countryside. He was also a German immigrant, and although he spoke English just fine, we liked to pretend that he couldn’t and would translate for him in ridiculous German accents. “Dennis! We are go for make EATING!” we’d tell him. Nate Jones and I used to tell him about these two skaters—Ducky Dunsworth and Gary Headlock. They were cousins. We’d tell Dennis all the amazing tricks Ducky and Gary had performed. We’d tell him Headlock did a back 360 to overcrook nosegrind down a nine-stair rail. You could see the wheels in his head spinning as he tried to picture it. “I need to see the footage!” he’d demand. “Not everybody films everything, Dennis,” we’d explain. Soon enough he realized we were lying. ‘Til this day he still doesn’t believe a word I say. I stopped lying to him years ago but he never believes me. “Bullshit!” he always replies." - Frank Gerwer

Reject success.

Frank's People I've Known article from the August issue of Thrasher was hilarious and yielded a whole lot of funny stories.

Dennis blasts a street ollie that was seen in his part for Real's Seeing Double video from 2002.

For the quote: Thrasher - August 2020 Volume 41 Number 8

Thrasher - December 2002 Volume 22 Number 12

Dan Vellucci.

Dan was the filmer for assorted Real videos that included Recipe For Disaster, Seeing Double, and Roll Forever. I wonder if he made it out alive?

I rechecked the numbers and this thing hits the 3,000 mark in early December.

The photo is by Gabe Morford.

Thrasher - March 2003 Volume 23 Number 3

Frank Gerwer #6.

This was the cover to the Deluxe Fall 2003 catalog. The original cover concept called for smashing up a car, but that didn't turn out so hot and a second option was needed. Frank is tossing his board and shoes in the air so Gabe Morford would have a test point to focus his camera on for Darrell Stanton's nollie down the stairs. This ends up being a much better idea and photo in the end.

I think that is Nate Jones and Damian Bravo also standing on the top of the stairs. I'm not sure who the long haired kid is.

I couldn't find Darrell's nollie photo, but the trick was in his part in Transworld's Free Your Mind video. I imagine I'll find it sooner or later. It might have run as Vans or Volcom ad in Skateboarder or someplace I didn't think to check. There was a small thumbnail of it in this catalog so I know it exists.

I was going to do more catalog stuff, but I got confused with how to organize it and gave up. I'll revisit the idea in the future.

The photo is by Gabe Morford.

Deluxe Fall 2003 Catalog

Vikings Of Hesh Law.

Happy Halloween!

Purple? Now that's scary.

This was a series of boards with art by Todd Bratrud. I dig the Shed band logo on Sam Hitz's helmet.

As a spooky season bonus, here's a Pushead graphic for Scott Stanton from 1991:

I always swap out my Facebook profile picture for a Pushead graphic at Halloween. I had to crop this one a tad and obviously I colored it in orange. It's the closest I come to doing anything for the holiday, aside from the annual theme week here.

This thing is slowly creeping up toward the 3,000 post mark.

The Skateboard Mag - January 2009 Issue 58

Al Partanen #9.

"Some of my favs were Reese Simpson, he had the style; Ben Schroeder shook the ground; Chris Miller fell his first time rolling into the triple pool but then absolutely destroyed the place with sick lines and nosebones over the keyhole channel. Jeff Grosso killed it 'til he took a hearty head stack. Jason Jessee taught me rock and roll slides at a session for Salba's birthday. Being a young kid and being exposed to those dudes, my mind was doing backflips."

Al talks about some of his favorites at Milwaukee's Turf. It must have been awesome to grow up with a skateboard park that brought big names from all over the place to your little corner of the world.

Lance Dawes was the photographer.

For the quote: Thrasher - June 2008 Volume 28 Number 6

The Skateboard Mag - October 2009 Issue 67