Tristan Funkhouser #2.

"You go disco and I'll go Funkadelic, man."

DC dropped two new ams on us in 2015 with four pages of ads in Transworld. The new riders were Tristan and Bobby de Keyzer. Both would go on to become pro and are very much relevant to skateboarding right now so that was some good talent scouting at DC. T-Funk has been wrecking both spots and himself the last few years. He still rides for Baker and I think he might be on Vans.

It was cold and snowed this weekend so there was no skateboarding again. I've been trying to watch some old videos on DVD and I gave Grey Area's Neverwhere from 2018 a fresh viewing. The whole video is really good with Michal Juraś having an outstanding closing part. Neverwhere opens with a skater ollieing up onto a car and slamming. The video ends with him making the ride over the car after the credits. I'd never noticed that bit of symmetry before. Try to stay warm out there.

The photo is by Mike Blabac.

Transworld - January 2015 Volume 33 Number 1

Antonio Durao #4.

Interlude.

A young Antonio does one of his patented switch 360 flips down a six block in San Jose. He had a few interesting video parts for Hardbody and Spitfire in 2025 that put him in the mix as a legitimate contender for SOTY. I bet Girl thought they had the next Gino Iannucci when they added Antonio to the team. I'm still not really sure what I think of Hardbody, but I dig how grainy and ambiguous all their videos and ads are. It was cool to see some new footage from Hjalte Halberg to close out the year.

It's been cold here all week and is looking to be cold here all next week. The odds of getting skateboarding any time soon aren't looking so hot. It is January so this tracks.

Sam Muller was the photographer.

Transworld - August 2015 Volume 33 Number 8

Nathan Midgette.

Bones Brigade.

Skeleton Key is Darren Navarrette's company. He started it more than a few years back to make copers, t-shirts, and other assorted vert related trinkets. Darren has expanded the manufacturing to include boards. Nathan, Alex Hajimihalis, and Josh Rodriguez comprise the pro team. Nate is the son of Schmitt Stix pro Allen Midgette. He drew the graphics for his board, but it looks kind of like something his dad would've created. I'm stoked on seeing their ads in Thrasher every month. It's a nice throwback to the 1980s vert days while adding a contemporary touch.

The photo is by J. Grant Brittain.

Thrasher - September 2025 Volume 46 Number 9

Cruise Mosberg.

Power Play.

Cruise is the son of Jamie "Mouse" Mosberg. Jamie is a photographer and videographer who worked for Life's A Beach/B.B.C. back in the 1980s. He also filmed some little video for Birdhouse called The End. Cruise had a good Thrasher interview. He talked about his dad's career and mentioned the Life's A Beach video called Skaters From Uranus. In spite of the name, it's a solid flick that showcased a whole lot of skaters, including Jeff Phillips, Bill Danforth, Ron Allen, Bryan Pennington, and many more. It was the second or third video I ever saw. My friends had it and we watched it all the time since viewing options were limited back then. Cruise's interview was an unexpected bit of feel good nostalgia.

It's funny because when there are two of something, one will inevitably be good and the other will be bad. Hockey feels exciting and looks interesting while FA feels and looks tired. I think Hockey has the better art direction and overall aesthetic. Although Sage Elsesser's recent interview with Slam City was a good read so maybe I'm being needlessly nitpicky. It's probably that.

The photo is by Kris Burkhardt.

Thrasher - July 2025 Volume 46 Number 7

Nelly Morville #2.

Professional Limo Driver.

One of the highlights in 2025 was Nelly being awarded a pro model from Limosine. She also had a signature wheel from Spitfire. Her short iPhone filmed videos of skateboarding and the assorted antics that go with it are worthy watches on YouTube.

Thrasher - April 2025 Volume 46 Number 4

Zion Wright #2.

Jupiter's Finest.

Zion had a ripping 2025. I like how he can skate handrails along with being able to do inverts and 540s in bowls. I'm not so sure about his golf fascination, but whatever. His backside 180s ollies on street more than make up for the baggage fee to fly golf clubs to Greece.

Back to the grind. I wound up scanning more stuff than I initially planned on for the review of 2025. I guess that's good. I tried to pick out older stuff for the stars of the last year and found a few things. The early to mid 2010s are starting to look more interesting by virtue of the passing of time.

There's a mistake regarding the flame head logo in Thrasher's Spitfire wheels article from the December 2025 issue. The article states that the first appearance of the flame head was in December 1993. Kevin Ancell's creation actually debuted in May of 1992 in a somewhat drab grey ad. I have no idea how to let them know about the error and don't really feel like trying so I'm posting the correction on here.

I've gotten to skateboard three times this year. We've had winter. It hasn't been too bad in terms of snow and cold. There's been a couple warm days, but it rained by the time I was finished with work. The sunsets are getting later at the least. This week unfortunately looks to be bitterly cold. I'm glad I got to skate in the driveway for a while on Sunday afternoon. Even though it was on the chilly side, there was plenty of bright sun so it was fine.

Thrasher - June 2025 Volume 46 Number 6

Dan Drehobl #35.

Krooked Stoops.

Dan is one of my favorite pros so I figured a double shot of Corpsey would be a good ender for the year. He's from Maine and has ridden for Foundation, Think, and Krooked. He also ran a clothing company called Freedumb that featured his silly drawings. Dan had a solid pro run that started in 1992 or 93. He was really crushing it in the early 2000s and put together a slew of great video parts at the turn of the century. You'd get at least one part a year that featured backyard ramps, out of the way skateparks, pools, and street skating.

I got skateboarding 246 times for 2025. I lost a bunch of days due to weather. I've gotten spoiled by the mild winters of the last few years. I also wound up taking more days off than usual because I simply wasn't skating very good and it stopped being fun. I got stuck in some type of slump in late May or early June on that I haven't exactly gotten out of. Things have been better the last month or two, but I've been awkwardly inconsistent. I think I'm just getting old. I guess that's how it goes.

Vert Is Dead is going on winter hibernation. The next post will be on Monday, January 19th.

Hope everybody has a happy and safe New Year!

Thrasher - January 2013 Volume 33 Number 1