McRad - Words of Life

The Tubes - White Punks On Dope

Scary Perry Skateboards

1979 Single Kick Tapered Tail, 10" x 32", reminiscent of the original Vision Mark Gonzales shape!

Black Friday Deals at Assault Skateboards!

ASSAULT BLACK FRIDAY....STARTS TODAY AND ENDS 11/26/11
Sale items include, 1031, Lost Highway, and Assault Decks, Land Shark wheels, Independent and Ace trucks. SAVE 18% to 35% on select items.

Beat the crowds, avoid the insanity, shop at home, and support skater owned and operated skateboard companies while saving a pocket full of cash on these great deals!

Slappy Thanksgiving

One from the archives, Thanksgiving Day 2008.

Marc's Board Shop

Marc fights the power with a soulful bro turn.

Jeff imitates Marc as life imitates art.

I had to dig deep in the archives for these 2 pics from 2008.

Ride The Snake

Dan Drehobl Rides the Snake from dlxsf on Vimeo.

The Bro Bowl: 30 years of Tampa Concrete

Jeff Grosso's Loveletters to Skateboarding

How I Found Animal Chin

Powell-Peralta recently held a contest in which they gave away a Caballero Mechanical Dragon deck. For reasons unbeknown to me they chose my essay as the winner. I'm sure the other entrants were just as deserving as me as the spirit of Animal Chin dwells in the soul of all skaters. I am humbled to say the least.

I owe Emily and Chin my life. Emily is my wife, partner, best friend, and provider of support that keeps me on 4 wheels while the spirit of Chin keeps me rolling still to this day. Up until my 34th birthday I wasn't spending much time if any on board. I was using my body for a storage tank and loading it up daily with beer and junk food. Fatty Liver Disease had set in. I was moderately obese. Then in the spring of 2006 Emily bought me a Powell Skull and Sword reissue with Indy Trucks and 60mm 85a Rat Bones. I started skating again, desperate to find my driving spirit, Wonton Animal Chin. And I stopped drinking beer and I rediscovered the benefits of lifegiving water. It is a wonderful drink that flushes your vital organs. I started drinking it in quantity. I attempted to modify my diet (Good Luck with that one). That summer we made the trip to Oregon and I saw first hand just how alive skateboarding is. I met Cab and his daughter in the parking lot of Newberg skatepark on the 3rd day of the Oregon Trifecta. Steven Reeves was there too. I returned from the West with a renewed vigor to keep searching for Chin.

Now here we are 5 years later and my liver enzymes are normal which means the Fatty Liver Disease is a thing of the past. I'm also happy to say that I tip the scales with 40 less pounds on my body. Yes, 40 pounds. I'm not "sick" all the time.

I skate every chance I get these days despite working more than full time as a caregiver for my wife as she was stricken with a neuro-muscular disease at the age of 32. My wife and son will often accompany me on my excursions searching for Chin. I am grateful to have my son Elijah on board and skating by my side, keeping an eye out for the elusive style-master Chin. Some dads take their sons hunting, some throw a ball. We SKATEBOARD, therefore We LIVE.

In the last year I found Chin. He dwells in the skatepark I ride, in the curbs I slappy, and in the smooth and steep banks I wallride. More importantly he dwells in my soul, always driving me to keep pushing, to keep looking at the world around me through the eyes of a 14 year-old skater even if my body is close to 40, and he keeps me motivated to get out there and roll even under the most adverse of conditions.

This is my testimonial. Skateboarding saved my life. More importantly my wife saved my life with skateboarding. And Chin, I discovered, has been here with me all the while, my spirit guide on 4 wheels.

The Board Meeting

The Pit

A look back to the mid 1980s. Local punk show pics, that's me in the Bones shirt.

Getting picked up off of the floor, the good old days of the circle pit.

Pray For Me- Jason Jessee

Is There A Doctor In The House?

A Day at the Park with Tom and Jeff

Untitled from Thomas Sloan on Vimeo.

Skateboarding is about friends and fun. It's not about landing every trick "bolts" and looking like a bunch of clones. That's why we've been doing this for over 25 years now. Fun. The smile on Tom's face at the end is a testimony to that fact.

Capture

Back Smith or Monty Nolder? Screen capture of coping slap from the Lords of F.O.G. Town (Fat Old Guys).

Grayscale

Built To Grind

1977

New Duane Peters graphic on 9.5" by 36" with 18" wheelbase, available at Jokers Skate Shop.