12ozProphet

With Spike Jonze at The Museum of Modern Art.

The last day of our ride was a blast. 125 miles that brought us through a handful of beautiful small towns and squares on our way to Paris. A long way from the tourist-infested Eiffel Tower, it was an amazing way to see the country and get glimpses of normal, everyday French life.

Just another check-out in the back of another skate mag. You see em every month, usually quickly paging past. The hometown rippers who get flow product from the local shop and some occasional boxes from the regional board rep. There is a shit ton of good skaters out there these days. Really, really good skaters who eat, shit and breathe skateboarding. Most of them may never get to go on tour or, much less see a single paycheck from skateboarding and will end up shelving their dreams of becoming the next P-Rod at some point and go back to school or pick up shifts at the local coffee shop. I don’t think Yaje Popson will be one of those kids. Already getting flow product from what would be any self-respecting skaters wet dream: Chocolate, Vans and Spitfire, he’s well on his way down the right path. About 6 years ago, he showed me how he learned backside tailslides on the stoop in front of his Mom’s shop on East 6th Street. Well, now he’s backside tailsliding jersey barriers and has the butteriest backside 180 to fakie 5-0 grinds you’ve ever seen. And that was last year. Yeah, there’s a shit-load of really good skaters coming up out there, but when everyone of them is seemingly just as good as the next, it comes down to trick selection and style, and Yaje’s got that shit down.

Do yourself a favor and play this song a couple times over the weekend…

With all this patriotic “Never Forget” talk being roused again on the anniversary of one of the most horrific, saddening days in US history, my feelings about that day are coming to the surface. Again. Like everybody, I can “Never Forget” the innocent, hard-working, everyday people that unwillingly gave their lives that day. I can’t forget that. Ever. What I will also “Never Forget” is, like the JFK, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King assassinations, we may never know what the real motives were behind September 11th. We’re just reminded, again and again, to “Never Forget” that some freedom-hating, religious-freak huddled in a cave in Afganistan caused all this. Lies on top of lies, on top of lies. If you really sit and think about the immense power the US Government gained because of 9/11, it’s only logical that it was part of their plan. 2,752 innocent human lives, to them, is a more than a fair trade in exchange for unwavering support to proceed with a war on terror that “may never end”. Its just too convenient. Its not about conspiracy theories, its just common sense cause and effect. Here are a couple of old shots of mine taken from the South Tower observation deck, 1998.

Jagger really is a bloke’s bloke. Early morning Tube ride, London 2009.

After the ride from London to Paris, I had a chance to link-up with Luidgi (left) from 5boro and get a few days of good skating in. Paris was a blast to push around in and the crew that Luidgi rolled with ripped. Luidgi is the man, the mayor of Paris to me. Even bringing me to the good Phở spot for the perfect (and affordable) dinner with the crew. Kevin (right) was the little Parisian ripper. Such a nice kid; it was fun watch him rip around at the spots with all that energy that you have when you’re seventeen-years old. He was riding a 5boro graphic that I had done and told me that it was his favorite board. As he was trying to pull his trick he’s like “This one’s is for you Ryan!” Fuck dude… gonna make a grown man tear-up at the skate spot. Thanks Luidgi, Kevin and Martin for everything.