Garrett Hill.

Red & Black.

Garrett is from the San Fernando Valley in California. He got into skateboarding because of his brother Gantry and grew up skating with Paul Rodriguez and Mikey Taylor. Garrett was sponsored by Sixteen Skateboards early on. As their riders grew older, Sixteen would try to help them find more age appropriate sponsors. This led to riding for Zero when Garrett's sponsor-me tape wounding up in the hands of Jamie Thomas. Later on Jamie would let him do a spinoff brand called Threat with Forrest Edwards as the other rider. Threat didn't last long and Garret was back on the Zero squad. In addition to Osiris, he also rode for Fallen. His other sponsors included Thunder and Altamont Clothing. Garrett can possibly speak Russian and knows how to play the guitar. He's not adverse to sewing his own clothes either.

Note: These ads are very elegantly shot photos of Osiris shoes that look great in print, but some of the magic vanished upon scanning twenty year old pages of a magazine. Sorry about that.

The photo sequence is by Joey Shigeo.

For the info: Transworld - November 2009 Volume 27 Number 11

For more info: Thrasher - January 2009 Volume 29 Number 1

Transworld - February 2006 Volume 24 Number 2

Howard Cooke.

The Clash.

Howard is from Liverpool, England. He rode for Consolidated, Spitfire, and Heroin Skateboards. There's a cool photo of him by Wig Worland doing a frontside slash grind on the extension of a giant quarterpipe at the Edge Lane skatepark in Liverpool from 1996. The picture was used for the cover of Sidewalk, a British skateboard magazine. It also appeared in the Dysfunctional book curated by Aaron Rose. Howard plays bass and was in the hardcore bands Walk The Plank and Cold Ones.

The weather has been warm and dry for the week. I've been skateboarding in the driveway and haven't had the time to hit up the park or anything different. Everything has been a chore lately and it is not much fun. I'm not digging it. Have a good weekend out there.

Nik Freitas took the photographs.

Thrasher - May 2000 Volume 20 Number 5

Richard Paez #4.

Hamburger Jr.

As of the year 2000, Richard was sponsored by Consolidated, Independent, Puma, Spitfire, and Volcom. His preferred terrain includes backyard ramps, pools, and skateparks. He likes to watch sports, with the Cowboys and the Lakers being his favorite teams. For music, he's into Motörhead, Suicidal Tendencies, Hank Williams Jr., and Bay Area rap. Way back then Rich was riding a 7.5" wide board with Indys and 53 mm Spitfires.

The photo is by Nik Freitas. It's neat to see how Nik's photography improved over the years with his photos for Consolidated.

For the info: Thrasher - July 2000 Volume 20 Number 7

Thrasher - September 1999 Volume 19 Number 9

Alan Petersen #21.

Caddyshack.

AP flips frontside on the ever unpopular with the neighbors backyard mini ramp. Power is still going as a distributor and handles Death, Blast, Heroin Skateboards, Film Trucks, and a bunch of others in the United Kingdom.

The photo might be by Dave “Nelly” Nelson. That's my best guess based on the internet. Nelly might also only be a surf photographer, but the biography on his website loosely matches the specifics for this picture.

Thrasher - January 1999 Volume 19 Number 1

Consolidated vs. K2.

Adios.

Consolidated was always down to shed light on any shady business dealings going on in skateboarding. This feels like such a bygone era, even with taking into account that attitudes and opinions are going to change over time. Enough years have passed where there are now real skateboarders working in positions of influence at the bigger corporate brands so maybe things are different in the present day than what Consolidated feared might happen. It's also worth noting that Consolidated outlasted K2 in the end.

Investment: Thrasher - March 1999 Volume 19 Number 3

Zip Code: Thrasher - May 1999 Volume 19 Number 5

Consolidated Team 1999.

The Cube Crew.

This is the cast of characters that rode for Consolidated in the summer of 1999. It's neat how they worked in the logos for some of their sponsors, like Forties Clothing, Thunder Trucks, Vans, and Volcom. There's also a shirt for Skate Works, the local skateshop in Santa Cruz. This had to be one of the first mentions of Van Wastell, too. The illustration is by the late Moish Brenman.

Thrasher - June 1999 Volume 19 Number 6

Sacred No More.

Blankets.

Consolidated was never afraid of running text only ads offering their 2¢ on a matter. I don't think that still happens because we simply hash things out on the internet these days. I can't remember the last time there was a beef between companies in print, which was a staple of skateboarding up until Instagram came along to ruin everything. Two companies need to start up an advertising fight in Closer to fully recapture the spirit of skateboarding in the 1990s. Given that this ad ran in early 2004, my guess is Consolidated was referring to the return of Stereo in 2003.

It was recently announced that Louie Barletta rescued enjoi from the grip of the venture capitalists. Bill Weiss also pulled Madness back from the same depths of despair. Louie has a fairly detailed interview at Slam City talking about what enjoi meant to him and why he wanted it back. He has a well thought out plan for the company that doesn't step on anybody's toes in the process. Louie is open about the business side of skateboarding and provides insight into the nuts and bolts of what he is doing.

In general, reboots of deceased skateboard companies seldom go well. The magic that sparked the original idea is often never rekindled. Creature is perhaps the lone example of a successful return to the land of the living. Chris Pastras and Jason Lee did get the band back together for Stereo, but the mood has never exactly felt right. It would've been better for the two to start a new project under a different name. Another reboot that probably gets overlooked is Converse. They went bankrupt until Nike stepped in to resurrect the company. If nothing else, the new Cons have way less padding and helium than the old ones so that can count as a victory of sorts.

There's also the burden that nostalgia is becoming. We don't need a reissue of every single defunct company that had a niche following, such as Popwar for example. One point I liked in the Chrome Ball interview with Louis Carlton was that he said he has no real interest in making another run of Small Room boards. That was the past and it was good, but we don't need to repeat it, we can let it be. Personally, I would be cool with a fresh batch of Small Room t-shirts since I never had one back in the day, but that's a trivial request that can go unfulfilled. You do have to take into account the circumstances that cause a company to depart. In the case of Madness and enjoi, it wasn't of their own missteps, but because of corporate ownership. It makes the return slightly different. I've seen plenty of Madness boards around so obviously Bill was doing something right. I'm curious to see where all this ends up going. I'm also curious to see when skateboarding is going to tone down celebrating its storied past as the driver for new projects. You always need a good balance of new and old to keep people interested while connecting them with history.

Sacred: Big Brother - February 2004 Number 105

Blankets: Big Brother - January 2004 Number 104

Seth "Zed" McCallum.

Legend of Zed.

Seth is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was pro for Consolidated and rode for Creature. I don't really know too much about him. I checked out a couple of his video parts and he could blast some big ollies over gaps on street. I think he also skated vert. Seth had a couple of interviews, but I didn't have the mags they were in. I'm curious about how his Zed nickname came about.

The weather has been warmer and more springlike for the week. I've gotten in some skateboarding most days. I've been pressed for time with adult life lately so the results have been kind of mixed. It's also been sporadically rainy. What are ya gonna do?

The photo is by Andrew Hutchison.

Big Brother - October 2002 Number 89

Ryan Wilburn #5.

The Crow.

Ryan rode for Stereo and Consolidated. He's one of those pros that in retrospect you don't know a lot about. I don't think he had much in the way of interviews so his coverage was mostly ads, editorial photos, and a couple video parts. I like the boards with the giant cube logo that are popping up in the photos this week. It's a simple graphic that works well without being overly bland, maybe because Consolidated's cube logo is a strong piece of graphic design.

The photos are by the late Joe Hammeke.

Big Brother - July 2003 Number 98

Jesse Paez #7.

Visalia still rips.

Jesse and his younger brother Richard were both pro for Consolidated. They were born in Culver City, where they discovered skateboarding as little kids. The family moved to Visalia and that was when they really got into skating. Having ripping locals like Karma Tsocheff, Dale Blackmon, and Tom Knox around probably aided the cause. Jesse's frontside 180 down Wallenberg in 1992 was one of those big tricks that hinted at what would be possible in the future. He would go on to ride for Think before returning to Consolidated at the end of his pro career.

Nik Freitas took the photograph.

For the info: Thrasher - April 1994 Volume 14 Number 4

Big Brother - January 2003 Number 92

Alan Petersen #20.

Shadow air.

AP is from Fresno, California. He rode for Eppic, SMA, and Consolidated. Vans and Puma provided shoes for his feet. During the 1990s, Alan was one of those all terrain rippers who was equally adept at skateparks, ramps, and street skating. That seems like an odd statement given where skateboarding is at today, but back then there was a little bit of distance between the different fields. He vanished to Australia in the early 2000s. Big Brother was a magazine started by Steve Rocco at World Industries in 1992. The mag was sold to publisher Larry Flynt, of Hustler fame, in the later 1990s. Consolidated wasn't the biggest company ever and didn't have a ton of money for advertising. They sometimes partnered with Vans to get more coverage since many of the Consolidated guys were also riding for Vans. Or in this case, Big Brother gave them a deal after an interview with Alan. And that's way too much skateboard history condensed down into a few sentences when I could've just written that this is a sick photo.

I'm not sure what to write for these things some days. When I started, the audience was generally people who grew up with skateboarding so they knew the cast of characters. I don't really know who might stumble upon this site so I sometimes want to write a more general overview of a skater's history in case a new reader hadn't heard of a pro or company. I suppose it doesn't matter too much since blogs are freeform creatures to begin with, but I do want to provide a little more context since a whole bunch of this stuff is from a long time ago now.

The photo is by Nik Freitas.

Big Brother - February 1998 Number 33

Hollywood & Kris Markovich.

Finale.

These two ads ran in the same issue of Big Brother. Markovich split for Blind at the end of 2003 or early 2004. There were some financial issues and potential team cuts at Hollywood that led to his departure. Kris wasn't on Blind for long before starting Crimson with Charlie Thomas. Tum Yeto kept Hollywood going for a little while longer, but they weren't overly excited about the brand. According to his Chrome Ball Incident interview, the reason Kris bounced from Blind so quickly was because they changed the business plan they initially offered him. The idea he signed up for was a version of Blind that used more original artwork along the lines of when Mark Gonzales started the company. There would still be boards with the childish reaper graphics, but there would be a bigger focus on more creative endeavors. That's something to ponder.

It was 46˚ F when I left work yesterday. It warmed up to near 70˚ F by the time I got home. Living near a Great Lake can sure cause some weather discrepancies over a just few miles. I skateboarded in the driveway for a bit because it was much warmer. Things actually felt OK for once, even though I didn't land much of anything. I think being out in the nice weather helped. Have a good weekend out there.

Vert Is Dead will be back on Monday, April 13th. I'm worn out and taking a little spring break.

Big Brother - February 2004 Number 105

Justin Roy #3.

Piling down.

Justin is from Lafayette, Louisiana and moved out to San Diego for the sake of skateboarding. He was an am for Foundation and turned pro for Hollywood. Later on he would ride for Hellrose, the short lived LA based company with Richie Belton, DJ Chavez, Don Nguyen, James Atkin, and a few others. In a Thrasher interview from 2003, Justin said he didn't see Kevin Staab very often when they were both on Hollywood.

The weather has been windy and rainy since the weekend. I skateboarded a couple of times in the driveway with mixed results. I started breaking in a new pair of shoes, too. I haven't really had much going on lately.

Big Brother - January 2004 Number 104

Don Nguyen & Dorian Tucker.

Hollywood Stars.

It had to be something a little silly for today. I've never cared for the tabloid style ads. I get why they do them because they are fun and easy to do, but they don't look great.

I think Hollywood was Nuge's first big sponsor. He would later ride for Foundation and Baker. Dorian rode for Planet Earth, Creature, and Scarecrow over the years.

Don: Big Brother - June 2003 Number 97

Dorian: Big Brother - September 2003 Number 100

Richie Belton.

Dave Carnie had an anecdote in Big Brother about Guns N' Roses. Every time he had people over to his house he would put a record on in his living room. After a little bit he would leave the room for whatever reason and when he returned, somebody had inevitably changed the music to Appetite For Destruction. He wrote that he got tired of constantly being welcomed to the jungle so he started hiding his copy of the LP. On the rock side of things, skateboarding was obsessed with Axl, Slash, and company in the early 2000s to the point of ridiculousness. It was also obsessed with David Bowie. I'm not a huge Bowie fan, but at least he has an expansive and diverse catalog of songs to pick from. We've gotten about as much milage as we're gonna get from Guns N' Roses, as was evidenced by two different G N'R shirts in yesterday's post. Girl possibly achieved maximum saturation by using a song from each artist for the soundtrack to Yeah Right! in 2003.

Big Brother - December 2003 Number 103

Kris Markovich #27.

Rock & Rollers.

Hollywood was Kris Markovich's company after he had been on Foundation for a couple of years. It was distributed by Tum Yeto and featured a few guys who had ridden for the F-Troop. Kris also brought in some of his friends to fill out the team. If I recall correctly, Markovich liked it at Foundation, but was getting some wild offers so doing his own board project again made sense. They went with the rock & roll theme that was very popular at the turn of the century. Hollywood made a promo with quite possibly the longest name ever for a video. I have it on VHS, but haven't watched it in a couple of decades. I should see how it holds up. The company was not around long before fading away into the hills.

Big Brother - October 2002 Number 89

Guy Mariano, Rudy Johnson & Tim Gavin.

Handrawn Sequences.

It's a power trio of tricks from the younger guys on the Blind team. I like the layout of the advertisement. I know Rudy was pro in late 1991/early 1992. Was Guy pro yet? This was probably The Gav's first time in a proper ad. The backside 360 ollie is so sick, especially considering the sequence was most likely taken in late 1991. I'm not sure if Mark Gonzales was still involved with Blind. He was definitely on his way out the door, if he hadn't left already. Jason Lee was still on, but would be gone by the summer. Henry Sanchez would soon be added to the team and would star with Tim in Tim & Henry's Pack of Lies video in the fall of 1992. Those were the video days.

Chops has a great new interview with Louis Carlton of Small Room fame up at the Chrome Ball Incident.

I got skateboarding a couple days this week. I did put new wheels on the new board. It was needed. I want to go skate someplace other than the driveway, but the yo-yoing weather conditions are making it difficult. I haven't been skating too well either so that is making it even less appealing to hit up a different park or spot. I hope everybody has a good weekend.

Thrasher - March 1992 Volume 12 Number 3

Coco Santiago #6.

Ride on.

Coco is from either New Jersey near Manhattan, New York City, or San Francisco. There really isn't a ton of info about him. He rode for Shut, the famous East Coast powerhouse squad that dominated all the contests in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Real would turn him pro and he would later ride for Black Label. His favorite bands included Mercyful Fate, Motörhead, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, and Slayer. He was part of the original Hellride crew with Jake Phelps and company. Coco was a gnarly all terrain skater for much of the 1990s before disappearing.

I hate when people crop scans. I try to avoid doing it whenever possible and mention when I do. It takes away from the context of the original. Sure there can be a lot of dead space you don't need and many a rad photo has been wrecked by being a subscription or shop ad, but it omits part of the story. I thought this picture of Coco was cool. I also wanted to include the full advertisement it ran in for reference purposes. Whatsport was a shop in SF that carried Real, Black Label, Think, and Alien Workshop goods.

Thrasher - April 1992 Volume 12 Number 4

John Cardiel #21.

Slick gossip.

The nosegrind to noseslide was a popular street move in 1992. It was right up there with running very small photo sequences. Cards was pro for Dogtown before switching to Black Label and winning Thrasher's Skater of the Year award.

It was rainy this weekend so I didn't skateboard much. I set up a new deck. The old one was definitely done, even though it felt like I barely skated the board. My ollies were popping again and I had better control on other tricks. It's weird how boards wear out and impact tricks in ways you didn't expect.

Thrasher - February 1992 Volume 12 Number 2

J.R. Neves.

"Let's enjoy the skilled bravado of Sir J.R. Neves."

J.R. was from Philadelphia and sadly passed away in 2009. He rode for Stereo and was pro for 151. He also rode for Scott Bourne's Unbelievers. J.R. had a mean kickflip.

I've gotten in some driveway skateboarding this week after work. It has remained chilly. Skating in the cold doesn't bug me too much, but this winter has been a strange one. I'm not really sure what is up with that.

Does anybody from Australia or New Zealand check this site? My stats show zero views from either of those fine two countries and that seems odd.

Thrasher - November 1999 Volume 19 Number 11

Mike Carroll #25.

Riding On The Wind.

Since Greg Carroll was running Lucky, obviously his brother Mike was going to be on the team.

After our latest windstorm and minimal burst of winter, the weather might finally be shifting to a more spring-like pattern. I did skateboard a little over the weekend and got to roll in the driveway yesterday. I really need to set up that new board, but it's been cold so I haven't felt like doing so.

Thrasher - August 1999 Volume 19 Number 8

Bob Burnquist #11.

Escondido shuffle.

Bob has shown up a couple times recently. He had a photo in Thrasher doing an invert on a mini ramp at a music festival they did in Texas. His decaying vert playground was in Tom Schaar's Curtains part with a guest trick from the owner himself.

Thrasher - June 1999 Volume 19 Number 6

Dan Drehobl #36.

Chromium 52100 Steel.

Dan tests his luck with a lien to tail on the top shelf. I only had one set of Lucky bearings. I think they were fine, although if I recall correctly, everybody else had problems with them. That's usually how it goes for most products and me. You kind of forget how much coverage many of the pros got back in the glory days of print media. Everybody remembers the classic photos, but then there are plenty of ads for secondary sponsors that are buried in the back pages of the mags.

Thrasher - February 1999 Volume 19 Number 2

Kenny Hughes #6.

Green bolts.

Kenny does a tailslide on a rail during the Element and DC Shoes days. Lucky was a bearing and bolt company out of the Think/Deluxe warehouse. They did expand the brand to include boards, too. I've been meaning to post more of Kenny so stumbling upon this Lucky ad was a fortunate coincidence.

Nice to see Antwuan Dixon pop up again on the cover of Thrasher.

Thrasher - January 1999 Volume 19 Number 1

Jeff Pang #5.

Thunder & lighting.

Jeff is from NYC. He rode for Shut, Underworld Element, Cream, and Zoo York. In addition to being pro for Zoo, he also served as their team manager. Later on Jeff would work at DC Shoes in the same capacity. He was working as an electrician and not skateboarding as much when Andy Howell offered him a spot on Underworld Element. There was also a chance Jeff might have gotten on Blind in the early days, but he politely declined out of loyalty to Shut.

It was warm and sunny yesterday with the always present high winds. I gave driveway skateboarding a go after work. I wasn't really landing much and was worn out, but I wanted to get outside since the weather looks cold and wet going forward.

Vert Is Dead will be back on Monday, March 16th. I've had a head cold this week so updating was not a priority.

The game plan is a week of Lucky for St. Patrick's Day. I'll do a short week later in March to finish up what I originally had scanned for this week.

Thrasher - September 1992 Volume 12 Number 9

Moses Itkonen #4.

We rule the school.

Moses skips the roll-in ramp and does a crooked grind to noseslide to revert on the ledge at Wallenberg. This Thunder ad looks much like a Real ad, which makes sense, but they usually try to separate the companies a little with the graphic design. John Shanahan had a cool photo doing an ollie over a fence and into the bank at the school recently. It's neat to see tricks at a long time spot that don't involve a different flip down a giant set of stairs.

It warmed up for the weekend. Due to a little rain and high winds, I only skateboarded on the ledges I have in my driveway. I was thinking about visiting an indoor park until I decided I was too out of sync from the stupid clock change. I probably made the right choice to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.

Thrasher - November 1992 Volume 12 Number 11

Peter Smolik #3.

Lord Pillage.

Pete rolls the dice on a backside kickflip over a roof gap. This trick would have been during his prime in the Shorty's and Osiris era. I haven't scanned a lot of his ads over the years. Pete falls into the category of being well documented already. One of the goals when I started this site was to focus on the more obscure skaters and companies. I've basically achieved that goal so that gives me the space to revisit stuff I might have skipped over earlier.

I remember how big a deal his shoe was back at the end of the 1990s. Pete also had a pair of signature jeans from Osiris. The gimmick was that the jeans had a velcro tab on the inside of the cuff that paired with a matching tab on the shoes. It would keep your pants from getting frayed by preventing the cuffs from touching the ground. I believe his shoe was synthetic. Funny thing is that I doubt Pete was overly picky about such a thing. My vegan friend had a pair and I know he wouldn't have bought them if the shoes used suede or leather. He had the jeans, too. I thought it was a little odd to attach your pants to your shoes, but Osiris found a market niche to occupy with an innovative product.

The weather has been alternating between dry days and rain. I've gotten in some driveway skateboarding this week and it will probably be good for today once the fog clears out. The weekend looks warmer, but with a chance of thunderstorms. I need to set up a new board with some fresh wheels. I've only skated my current board 25 times due to winter and yet it is looking worn out. Most of those times weren't very long and it's not like I'm doing anything gnarly so it feels too soon to set up a new ride. Hope everybody has a good weekend.

Slap - January 2000 Volume 9 Number 1

Tim Upson #8.

"JJ Rogers. I used to get stoked to see pictures of that guy, he was burly."

The Updog floats a heelflip over a jersey barrier for Spitfire. He's from Connecticut. Tim rode for Black Label and Anti-Hero. He was doing Hard Times Manufacturing with Brian Seber in the 2010s. I'm not sure if they are still in business. I kept flipping by this ad thinking I had scanned it already, but I never did. Tim is one of those underground rippers with that aura of mystery that makes him cool.

For the quote: Thrasher - April 1996 Volume 16 Number 4

Slap - November 1999 Volume 8 Number 11

Kris Markovich #26.

Burning up the 90s.

I don't think it would be an absurd claim to make that Kris was probably the best street skateboarder of the 1990s. Based on his body of work, few others had as many top tier video parts, photos, interviews, and overall coverage for the ten year span. I'm not flat out saying he was the best or that we even need to declare a best, but Kris was out there skating as hard as possible year in and year out. His trick selection was spot on and he avoided the pitfalls of following the trends too closely. The pundits always ding him on the sponsorship changes, which mostly happened in the early 1990s when the industry was in a state of flux. It's important to note that Kris never stopped ripping regardless of what company's board he was riding.

Slap - September 1999 Volume 8 Number 9

Reese Forbes #11.

Blinding sunlight.

Like Scott Johnston, Reese also took the Maryland to DC to California route for skateboarding. He rode for Goodtimes, turned pro for Element, and was part of Rasa Libre with Matt Field and Nate Jones. Brad Staba added him as the first professional for Skate Mental when the company went beyond making ping pong paddles and beer koozies. For shoe sponsors, I think he might have ridden for Emerica before landing on Vita and then the relaunched Nike skateboarding program. Reese was featured prominently in Dan Wolfe's Eastern Exposure video series.

I don't really have too much to say about Reese since I'm a fan of his skating and followed along with his career over the years. He didn't have a lot of interviews so there wasn't a lot of background to dig up. I'm beginning to write these profiles for people who might be stumbling on this site for the first time or if somebody skated and then stepped away for whatever reason. I'm trying to avoid writing stuff that could easily be churned out by a machine, too. That's a new creative approach that we didn't have to deal with a few years ago.

Slap - August 1999 Volume 8 Number 8

Scott Johnston #8.

Crispy clean.

Scott burns a noseblunt slide across a handrail. He's from Maryland and skated in DC a lot before getting on Think and moving out to San Francisco. Scott would turn pro for Think, switch over to Mad Circle, and end his career on Chocolate. He rode for DC Shoes and got in on the ground floor at Lakai. Scott has since moved on to being a shoe designer. During his time in SF, he used to skate vert at Max Schaaf's ramp with Max and Bob Burnquist.

It was mostly dry, although a tad on the chilly side for the weekend. I stuck with skateboarding in the driveway. I was thinking about going to an indoor park, but decided to stay home instead. I've been kind of worn out lately. I need to check the local park to see if all the snow has melted away. I figure there are probably a few drifts left. This week's warmer temperatures and rain should take care of that. I probably need to set up a new board with new wheels soon. I probably need new shoes, too.

Slap - July 1999 Volume 8 Number 7

Mike Holloway & Phil Vaughn.

The Texas to New York Connection.

In addition to Anthony Correa, fellow Texans Mike Holloway and Phil Vaughn were also on the squad at Zoo York. Both are from Houston. Phil rode for Shorty's, Venture, and Adio. I don't know too much about Mike. His last name might be spelled wrong. This was a two page ad with Phil's side turned sideways that I split up for ease of viewing. The Texas Rangers tagline caught my eye and was what prompted a week of Zoo York.

It's been varying degrees of cold for the week. I've gotten in some skateboarding in the driveway. The sunsets are noticeably later so I don't have to rush after work. There's a possibility it warms up soon, too.

Giovanni Reda possibly left the city to take the photos.

Slap - September 1999 Volume 8 Number 9

Anthony Correa #5.

Ocularge.

I don't really know too much about Anthony. He's from Houston, moved to NYC, and was pro for Zoo York. His part in Mixtape is a great collection of ledge tech along with some big ollies out in the streets. I hate to make a clichéd statement that he has proper style, but he truly does.

Check out Sk8 FYI. Will Simons is creating a digital archive of all the skateboard mags. He doesn't have much up on the site as yet, but he's working on the fun part: scanning the copy.

The photos are by Giovanni Reda and I think Eli Morgan Gesner.

Slap - June 1999 Volume 8 Number 8

Danny Supa #6.

Rusty Metal.

Danny takes a switch 50-50 to a sketchy looking free standing rail in Tokyo. He was actually on Tree Fort before riding for Zoo York. Those are some Converse sneakers on his feet. I think that's Anthony Correa standing in the background. Danny was an East Coast pioneer in pushing opposite footed skating to new levels in the middle and late 1990s.

After a few days off due to snow, I was able to skateboard in the driveway again when I was finished with work yesterday. It was still on the cold side, but it wasn't too bad once I got moving around. I think winter is finally starting to chill out a little.

The photo is by Dimitry Elyaskevich.

Slap - June 1999 Volume 8 Number 7

Akira Mowatt.

Maps & Atlases.

I dig how Zoo York had a few guys with mysterious names on the team, like Loki and Akira. It added to the mystique of company and made you curious about life in the big city. Akira is from Okinawa, Japan. His family moved to New York in the mid 1990s. He met up with Harold Hunter and really got hooked on skateboarding after that. He had appearances in the assorted Zoo York videos of the day.

I'm running Tahoe 26.3 on the new iMac and updating on Blogspot is a pain. Safari won't let me upload pictures or log out cleanly. Firefox will let me upload pictures, but I can't log out cleanly. The site doesn't display properly in Firefox either. The fonts look thin and anything in italics is in bold italics. Is there another browser I should be using?

Giovanni Reda was the photographer.

Slap - June 1999 Volume 8 Number 6

Robbie Gangemi #4.

Confidential.

Rob survives a handrail backside lipslide out in the field. This batch of scans are all from the summer of 1999 and ran in Slap. I found a couple Zoo York ads I didn't remember and made a week of it. Their graphic design was some top notch work that still stands out today.

There was a slight amount of snow over the weekend so there was no skateboarding for me. Things almost dried up for Saturday, but the sunset got here first. I think I needed the days off anyway. I hope the East Coast is doing OK after the blizzard went through.

Slap - May 1999 Volume 8 Number 5

Dylan Rieder #11.

A couple or three weeks ago, I started to rewatch some old videos. I haven't really been interested in watching videos at all lately, but I decided to dig through the archives to see what I had forgotten about. I found some good stuff, like Jimmy Lannon's part in Volunteers. This was a video made by Mikey Bueso in 2015 and is a great collection of gritty East Coast street skating. I revisited solo joints by Brent Atchley and Dylan Rieder since those are quick views. It's wild to think that skateboarding had the money to give away free DVDs fifteen years ago compared to how things are today. Plenty has been written about Dylan over the years and I doubt I can add much of anything worthwhile, except to say that revisiting the classics after some time away is never a bad idea.

Thursday was warm and dry for driveway skateboarding. I wanted to be sure to roll for a while since the weather looks dicey going forward. My legs were tired, but I made the most of it. It was one of those days where skateboarding is simply a reason to be outside and not worry about a stupid noseslide taking way too many tries to land. I did see a couple of robins in the yard so maybe spring is getting here sooner instead of later.

The Skateboard Mag - October 2010 Issue 79

Jake Johnson #8.

Enjoy the winter now.

Dime is a clothing company from Montreal, Quebec. They have enough juice to host the occasional fancy contest where skateboarders go for the glory on ridiculously expanding obstacles. I imagine if Dime was around in the early 2000s, they would be referred to as a "hipster" company, but thankfully we don't live in those days in any more. The team includes Andrew Reynolds, Una Farrar, Alexis Lacroix, Etienne Gagne, and probably a whole bunch of other people.

It looks like we've got one more dry day left of fake spring before the seasonal weather programming returns. I've been able to skateboard in the driveway after work this week. The milder weather and later sunsets feel good.

The photo is by Mike Heikkila.

Thrasher - May 2021 Volume 42 Number 5

Will Marshall.

St. Lawrence River.

Will hails from Cornwall, Ontario. The city is located somewhat near Ottawa and Montreal so Will had options for spots once he started really getting into skateboarding. He rode for Alltimers until that company came to an end. I guess he's still on DC, depending upon how they are doing these days. Will also rides for Dime, Spitfire, and Thunder.

Mike Heikkila was the photographer.

Thrasher - January 2020 Volume 41 Number 5

James Capps.

The Sheffield.

James is from Boise, Idaho and grew up in Oregon. He moved down to SF and then LA for skateboarding. Based on his Transworld Check Out from 2012, some of his favorite skaters are Stefan Janoski, Josh Mathews, and John Cardiel. At that time he was on flow for Organika, DC, Spitfire, and Fourstar. In the years since, James has turned pro for Chocolate. He enjoys camping.

Even though it was basically the same as Lakai's popular Manchester model, the Sheffield was somehow a better shoe. I can't really explain it. I was a little disappointed when they discontinued the design and brought back the Manchester. I had a few pairs of Sheffields. I still have one ratty pair I'll wear around the garage.

Ben Colen took the photograph.

For the info: Transworld - July 2012 Volume 30 Number 7

Thrasher - August 2017 Volume 38 Number 8

Jon Sciano #4.

Stairway to Attic.

Jon ripped it up for Anti-Hero and Lakai in the middle 2010s before stepping away from the sponsored spotlight. He's from Oviedo, Florida. His dad is a tattoo artist. Jon pops up at video premieres and assorted events on Thrasher's website from time to time so he's still out there doing his thing.

Last week was hectic. I update the site at work and my iMac has been having troubles for the last year. It finally crapped out on Monday and we had to get a new computer. Fortunately the replacement was here on Tuesday so I was back in business, but I was swamped with getting everything running correctly that posting on here wasn't a priority. Everything is in good shape now.

Winter took the weekend off so I got to skateboard every day. I skated the driveway and checked out Jamestown Skateboard Products on Saturday. I was a little worn out from the week and I was low on energy. It was nice to roll in some better weather for a change.

The photo is by Ben Colen.

Transworld - February 2014 Volume 32 Number 2

Ben Kadow #3.

Flambé.

Ben burns a lipslide across a tall and difficult handrail in NYC. I'm a fan of what Ben does and the assorted articles he has written for Thrasher. I like that he's into weird hardcore and noise bands, as well as being a chef. It's things like this that make a skater interesting instead of simply being good at skateboarding as their main selling point.

I got to skateboard in the driveway for a second day in a row yesterday. It was still 20˚ F at best so I wasn't out there for long. I did a couple frontside 50-50s, tailslides, and ollies off the jump ramp before calling it a day. These little bits of skateboarding feel nice and it's good to be outside for something other than shoveling snow.

Thrasher - February 2025 Volume 46 Number 2

Rob Welsh & Cody Chapman.

Thee good ole' days.

I don't even know why I picked this one. I guess I thought it was funny. It doesn't exactly fit into a review of 2025. I definitely dragged the look back at last year on for a week longer than I should have. Even as this thing limps along to the 18 year mark, I'm still learning how to pace and edit the copy, which I suppose is a good thing. Unless it is a specific video recap that warrants longer, two weeks is the max for any one topic.

One bit of relevancy to this Lakai ad would be that Cody joined up with the Anti-Hero crew in 2025 after UMA Landsleds came to an end. I think Evan Wasser or somebody else had a photo doing the exact same trick at the exact same spot. I remember flipping by it, but didn't take the time to mark down who it was.

I skateboarded in the driveway after work on Wednesday. It was 20˚ F at best. The driveway had only a few small damp spots and ice chunks so I had more room to roll in than on Monday. I managed enough tricks to make it count before my trucks froze due to the cold.

The photos are by Andrew "Ando" Caulfield.

Thrasher - July 2020 Volume 41 Number 7

Sam Narvaez.

Cracklin' Rosie.

Sam turned pro for Krooked in 2025. She also rides for Adidas and HUF. In the tradition of Dan Drehobl, her part used a Neil Diamond song to accompany the assorted krooked grinds, manuals, and bank tricks. I think the video was mostly filmed in Cuba, which provides a colorful background for her skating.

Thrasher - September 2025 Volume 46 Number 9