Those who cannot remember the past...

...are condemned to repeat it. 90s nostalgia, for me anyway, is best left as just that, nostalgia. The wistful desire to relive the big pants small wheels era, or the sentimental yearning to experience what riding bearing covers is like for the very first time, is beyond me. But that's the beauty of it, subjectivity. And things being what they are, I'm sure NHS will sell a shit load of these little wheels though. Just be sure to get this football shaped slick bottom deck to go with them and a pair of size 48 jeans with the bottoms hacked off. Photo courtesy of OJ Wheels.

Andy Roy though, you ain't gonna argue with that. 40, 43, or 46mm.

Harold Hunter bearing condoms. Boom.

All Laced Up and Ready to GO!

Skate Strings are here! We are really excited to test ride these exclusive laces and will have words, pictures, and video as soon as we get a break from the rain.

The "high tech abrasion resistant" laces look good and have a hand that feels somewhere between nylon and say maybe space age Kevlar.

Obligatory Go Skateboarding Day Post #2

OK, so what if you can't go skateboarding today? Let's say maybe it's raining, or you're stuck at work, or some other set of circumstances is keeping you from stepping on your board and riding today. How can you miss Go Skateboarding Day? Will you ever be able to live it down? Sure you can. Personally, as a skateboarder, I'm not going to do anything I feel obligated, or forced, to do when it comes to skateboarding. That flies in the face of everything skateboarding stands for to me in my own view. But that is because I choose to see skateboarding as a subjective activity, one that is fueled by emotion and inner experience. Skateboarding is the truest expression of freedom. So, if you're not able to go skate today, there will be other days to skate. Maybe even tomorrow. And like Batman says, "It's go skateboarding day everyday."
Meme created by ToddTwist.

Obligatory Go Skateboarding Day Post

June 21 marks the beginning of Summer with the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The date also marks Go Skateboarding Day which began 10 years ago as the "All City Skate Jam" in New York City. The creation of the NYC event, now one of the largest in the world, is credited to Steve Rodriguez of 5Boro NYC. Today, right now, skaters are hitting the streets, parks, and backyard ramps all over the globe in celebration of our favorite pastime. And today, right now, yours truly, me, the blog guy, is banging out words on the page for you to read while I wait for the rain to pass and the streets to dry so that I too may join in solidarity with skaters all over the globe to celebrate what started as a hobby for some, but has become a lifestyle for us all.

New Bill Danforth from 1031

Nice looking new Bill Danforth deck from 1031!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the Rad Dads out there! One day they are standing in front of you with their arms upstretched saying "Dad, pick me up," and ten years later they are calling you saying "Dad, pick me up." Time moves so very fast and the years become seemingly shorter as we roll along, but son, I will always be there to pick you up. Photo - Father's Day 2008.

Still spry!

Boneless on the bank captured by Gnarleston Goods! Thanks for making an old guy look good.

OBX East Coast Does it Right!

Another gem from ChuckieP72 featuring awesome footage of the Waves bowl and the elusive Big Chief of Wanchese. Ripping!

Hangar Bowl Charleston, S.C. 1992

Lots of incredible skateboarding going on here at the famous Hangar Bowl, Charleston, South Carolina. Big Thanks to Chuck Powell for posting these up! 1992 East Coast skateboarding at its BEST.

Locals Only

"Locals Only” Vintage Santa Monica Picture Courtesy of Daniel Travers.

Gnarleston Goods: Blair Burns Quick Clips

Blair Burns Quick Clips 6-7-2014 from Gnarleston Goods on Vimeo.

The Assault Video

Courtesy of Lowcard.

Coping Mechanisms

The grind. It is perhaps the gnarliest thing you can do on a skateboard. Metal versus concrete, the force of inertia. But what about pvc? Is the grind any less of a grind when good old polyvinyl chloride is introduced to the eqation? Personally, I have always liked the slippery slide and grind of pvc coping, but others may disagree. Adding pvc to your trucks is a novel idea and is nothing new. GSD and others were making homemade copers out of shopping cart handles in the early 1980s. And we've seen trucks that will grind anything, and we've seen these. Either way, copers, feelers, grinders, whatever you want to call them, have been on my mind lately.

A photo of a well worn Independent coper that I found on the internet. Photo credit unavailable, I'm lame.

Darren Navarrette's Skeleton Key Mfg. produced these gems. They are now sold out. Apparently I am not alone in my love of the slip grind. Or The Turf has been unearthed and reopened.

Universal copers, cut out to fit around the kingpin and snap on over the hanger. Sometimes they snap off of the hanger too, typically mid-grind (see also: The Downside of Copers).

Another view of the Grinders.

Vintage Santa Cruz copers found on eBay. If I remember correctly, these were universal fit, like others on the market today.