Rob Welsh #3.

Rob goes uphill for a backside noseblunt slide.

I had at least one pair of these shoes. The Delta was a little odd and sort of plain, but I liked them. They had a good cupsole and a decent amount of padding. I think they did develop weird creases across the toe. I'd like to see skateboarding footwear return to shoes like this instead of the current fascinations with boat shoes and white toe caps.

Ben Colen took the photo.

Thrasher - January 2002 Volume 22 Number 1

Aggro Zone.

Get Aggro.

Aggro Zone was a column by Neil Blender that ran in Transworld a little before I got into skateboarding. This is a return visit to the feature from quite a few years ago now with an intro penned by Kevin Wilkins. You get photos taken by Neil of famous guys like Lance Mountain and Chris Miller, along with lesser known types like Mike Lohrman and Matt Campora. I find it interesting how skate photos used to be more tightly cropped and close up compared to the grand full scenes in many of today's pictures. Neither is necessarily better, just different and a sign of how things change over time. I'm sure there's a thesis project in there if somebody wants to go for it.

Thanks to Ed for the link on the Facebook.

Transworld - December 2003 Volume 21 Number 12

Mike Rusczyk #3.

Rather Ripped.

Mike's originally from Crown Point, Indiana. He bounced around to quite a few places over the years before ending up in Santa Rosa, California in the late 1990s. He started really getting into skateboarding in 1988 while living in the Chicago area. Mike was sponsored by Acme after the team did a demo in Peoria, Illinois at the local park. He would go on to ride for and turn pro for Foundation. He had parts in a few of their videos. I watched his part in Cataclysmic Abyss last night. I had somehow forgotten that video. His section was great, with a lot of wallrides, pop shove-its, and no complies. The Sonic Youth made it even better. It appears he's involved with something called the Office of Fine Art and GOOD Design these days.

Note: This backside lipslide was in Mike's part in Foundation's Art Bars.

Transworld - May 2001 Volume 19 Number 5

Brandon Biebel #3.

Kick a gallon.

Brandon is from Sacramento, California. He rode for ATM Click and Expedition before settling in at Girl. He had the opening part in Yeah Right and this trick was his ender. Brandon has also been with Lakai since the beginning of the company. It's good to see somebody not slow down as they get older and is still out there switch flipping over picnic tables and dunking basketballs.

I saw on the Canadian news last night that some fancy Hollywood types are making a movie about post-apocalyptic America called Man Down. My first thought was that Tilt Mode did that already. I feel safe in saying their video is always going to be the better of the two.

Transworld - September 2003 Volume 21 Number 9

Ed Templeton #20.

Ed floats a backside ollie.

The Tempster was on Vans before getting an offer from Sole Technologies to ride for a new shoe company that was going to make vegan friendly footwear. Sheep was around for a couple of years before being put out to pasture. Ed made the in-house move to Emerica and has been wearing their kicks ever since.

It sure is easier to put bearings in new wheels than it is to get them out of the old wheels. Do they still make bearing presses?

Transworld - February 1998 Volume 16 Number 2

Danny Garcia #3.

In the past.

Seu Trinh snapped the sequence.

Transworld - May 2001 Volume 19 Number 5

Natas Kaupas #5.

Patriot's Day.

Thrasher - December 2001 Volume 21 Number 12