Skatepunk

Edmar making it down the stairs any which way he can. (Click to view.)

Edmar Gonzalez at etnies TF! Check Out

Barker Barrett has one of the most classic styles of all time, and he's one of my favorites of the last twenty years. From the Shut days and NSA Am series, through Cheapskates and more recent Playground sessions at Woodward, he's graced us with great skateboarding fortified by an unmatched dry wit, a sardonic sense of humor, and a warm heart. (Click on photos to see sequences.)

Barker Barrett! Check Out

The new camp at Woodward Beijing wasn't quite finished when we were there, but that didn't stop Cairo and Corey from finding stuff to skate. Cairo's selective tricks and buttery approach was a great complement to the all-charging, all-the-time attitude that's become Corey's trademark, and together it was super fun to shoot and skate with them. The indoor stuff was pretty much just thrown together, the outdoor stuff is from the plaza that's not quite finished yet.

Cairo and Corey: China Sequences Check Out

Corey, Cairo, and Metty are certainly not afraid to try new stuff. Scorpions and seahorses and they didn't even think twice. I was very happy to document. We also saw large black scorpions, chameleons, lizards, cocoons of some sort, grasshoppers, starfish, and more. Very interesting delicacies.

Chinese Delicacies! Check Out

It's been a few days and it's 2am and we're going to Tianamenn Square tomorrow, so I'm going to try to keep this short... After that first day of skating we were looking forward to exploring a little, but we couldn't get a driver, so we stayed in camp, cruised around, skated more, and shot more photos. I'll get some sequences up soon. I hope.

Yesterday morning, Claudine, Corey, Neal and I went to this place Neal had told us about: an amazing farmer's market where the locals farmers from Daxing (pronounced Dahshing) district sell their produce to wholesalers, who then take it closer to town and sell it for a profit. The farmers and their families were very friendly, but it was obvious that they didn't have much experience with white folks with cameras walking through their zones. And Corey, in full standard regalia, turned more than a few heads. It took me a little while to get comfortable with our invasion, but after a while I was able to pick up on each person's vibe, and really, almost all the people were pretty comfortable with themselves and were happy to let us shoot. They especially liked being able to see their photos on the screen. It was as if they'd never seen photos of themselves before. Very interesting, and beautiful people who live an enviably simple life.

More China! Check Out

China, here we come! Neal had suggested we bring snacks, which definitely made the airplane food a little less tempting, and that's a good thing. I shot my usual window shots, we had a short layover in Tokyo, and we were met by Joey, the new intern, at the Beijing airport. Interns are so hot right now! The ride to Woodward was filled with funny Dave Metty and Corey Duffel stories, but by the time we got there we were tired and sleep couldn't come soon enough!

We woke up to say hello to the crew, and our fears about the food were quickly squashed as we had a great meal. We're thankful to the guinea pigs who have been trying out all the menu items to find the good stuff -- very thankful! And check the menu pics -- the translations are not literal, but they are hilarious, at least after we got over the initial shock. I'll shoot more menu photos over the next few days. Our first day consisted of a complete tour of the new Woodward Camp, followed by catch-up time with the crew. Our crew, with Zhoe, Neal, Cairo Foster, Mr. Duffel, and D. Metty, combined with old friends Barker Barrett, Mark Podgurski and Nate Wessel, made for some great stories and lotsa laughter.

China Part One Check Out

We're heading to China for a week to check out the new Woodward Camp in Beijing! Should be interesting! Thanks, Gary and Neal for including us in this excursion, Claudine and I are both hyped! I'm stoked, as always, to have been part of Woodward projects for so long.

China Awaits! Check Out

Congratulations to Chris Cole, who has been named Thrasher's 2009 Skater of the Year. Only the second person to ever win it twice, Cole also won in 2005, and has been on an all-terrain reign of shredding ever since. Contests, magazines, demos, and most important, video parts -- Cole's done it all. Hell, he's mastered it all over the last five years. He's even opened a shop in his hometown to support the scene... And a great guy to boot. The stuff legends are made of, we're seeing one of the best ever, right now.

Here's Jake Phelps with the congratulatory phone call:

And some random camp skating:

Chris Cole Is Thrasher SOTY 2009! Check Out

Check out Dave Carnie's article on King Shit about a recent event at an Anaheim Ducks game involving Mike V and some loser. Carnie's right on the money, and it's great to see Mike V living up to something he said a while back that I thought was kinda righteous -- that he would only fight (from then on) to defend his family.

I have a suspicion, and this is just my opinion here, I'm not talking about Carnie's or Mike's point of view, that fighting, for Mike, satisfies a need in him that he doesn't get anywhere else. I'll explain:

I have a number of friends -- they're young, in their late teens and early twenties, who grew up as part of the Orange County tagging scene. (Yes, there is a completely underground, although fairly visual, scene, where some taggers have respect, some are generally viewed as lame, and there are idols -- virtual gods of tagging, who can do no wrong. Think Eric Koston.) These kids are also skaters, and they've been skating the ramps and bowl in my backyard for years. When they turned 18, and some of them started going to jail for tagging, I took notice and spoke to them about it, trying to figure out what it is about tagging that was worth the risk of going to jail. I learned that the adrenaline rush, the pure thrill of doing something with a risk of getting caught, the hopes that millions of people will see your name, and the chance to earn the respect of your tagging peers all make the risk worth taking. I started letting the kids tag the bowl in my backyard, and some of them took me up on it, but to others, it just "isn't the same." They need the thrill of doing it illegally for the tagging to bring them the biggest rush.

Righteous Mike V Check Out

Found this great interview with Ian MacKaye on The Sound of Young America. As usual, great insight, very thoughtful responses, and great stories.

Ian MacKaye Interview Check Out