A handful of stoke-inducing shots from this past summer by photographer and friend, James Clark. From top to bottom: Nate Oleson lofting a casual frontside flip in Chicago. Pat Cook front-noseslidin’-out on Roosevelt Island, NYC. John Igei three-flipping from above in Chicago, and myself, frontside pop-shove from pink to lime in New York.
Posted on November 18, 2008 at 07:53 PM | Entry List
“All The News That We Hope to Print”
Posted on November 12, 2008 at 07:00 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Posted on November 10, 2008 at 11:56 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Had a chance to go to record convention last weekend in Manhattan. Pretty crazy scene with a lot going on, and way too much to dig through. Old Punk rockers, Japanese hip-hop kids, Metal heads, Emo-New-Wave-ers, Rockabilly girls, Jazz buffs, retired radio DJ’s, Soul and break-beat diggers and in general, just so many characters. Spent Friday night and Saturday there with Will and Mike. Like everybody, money is a little tight right now, so I spent most of my time in the dollar bins. Here’s what I left with.
Posted on November 02, 2008 at 03:18 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Its not about the color of your Deep-V’s, its not about your expensive Japanese frame, and its definitely not about this clown. Its about riding fast with your friends, having fun and not-giving-a-fuck. Massan has some good photo projects brewing in the coming months. Keep an eye out for a feature in the Japanese mag Common.
Posted on October 30, 2008 at 06:34 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Page One covers ‘major events from 1920–1987’ as told through the front pages of the The New York Times. A whopping 325 pages of visual history, this oversized book is printed in 1-color on newsprint. Found this gem at Strand for a mere ten bucks.
Posted on October 29, 2008 at 07:53 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Got away upstate yesterday for a long-overdue ride: four flats, a lost debit card, along with plenty of sunshine and fresh air.
Posted on October 27, 2008 at 11:56 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Walking to get coffee, half-awake at 9-ish in the morning and came across this.
Posted on October 11, 2008 at 11:53 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Not sure what it was about the past Summer, but a lot of people close to me went down on bikes. One didn’t make it. Doesn’t matter if you’re riding a fixed, a bmx, a beach cruiser or a tricycle, we all gotta be careful out there. Shannon, Ken and Carl agree.
Posted on October 11, 2008 at 10:28 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Nish puts in the work while Massan, Mike and John catch a birds eye view at one of the funnest spots of the Summer.
Posted on October 07, 2008 at 10:12 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Maybe the only magazine that Mr. Policeinformer doesn’t have, I found this 1993 issue of S-Mag on my bookshelf a couple of days ago. Jahmal’s on the cover, Brooklyn Banks contest inside with some forgotten photos of legends Harold and Sheffey and a partially chopped-up interview (the rest was taped on my wall in highschool) with the late Pepe Martinez.
Posted on October 03, 2008 at 01:50 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Maybe I’m just getting old, but whatever happened to just good ‘ol regular hash?
Posted on October 02, 2008 at 07:39 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Posted on September 27, 2008 at 07:16 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Shooting film can be frustrating, expensive and tedious when compared to digital. But still, completely worth it. I’ve been getting to know my 35mm again and even the mistakes can turn out to be interesting. Here are some mishaps from our road trip to Chicago.
Posted on September 22, 2008 at 10:55 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Anybody that was growing up skating in the in late 80’s and 90’s knows that the the Vans Caballero and Half Cab was the best skate shoe, period. We cut ‘em down, put in different tongues, spray-painted and patched ‘em up with stickers and Shoe Goo®. Well, guess what? They’re still the best. Only problem is they come in some lame-ass colors this last season. Here’s a quick how-to on getting that basic, classic Half Cab back on your foot. Dear Vans, can we have some better colors next season?
Posted on September 20, 2008 at 10:06 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
A big goal of mine this Summer was to work more with friends; helping grow the brands that I actually care about and identify with. DQM is one of those brands, and I’m psyched to be part of the new Fall line. Shits looking good. Of course, because everything comes back to music for me, this song pretty much sums up the inspiration behind this one. Out of my own, out to be free...
Posted on September 17, 2008 at 12:58 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
So bad its good, so wrong its right.
Posted on September 16, 2008 at 10:52 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Came across this poster in Indiana while road trippin’ with the crew a couple weeks back. This represents the side of the States that really scares me: Wal-Mart shopping, fast-food eating, Fox News watching, SUV driving, Us vs. Them thinking people that just might confuse Obama for Osama, and will no doubt vote for McCain and Palin. Then again, we could all be drinking the Obama Kool-Aid of ‘Hope and Change’ we’ve all been so thirsty for, while the people pulling the real strings know damm well that no change is actually coming no matter who wins the election. But fuck man, there has got to be a better way than what we’ve had the last 8 years. Dear Obama, you’re either a really charming and intelligent lying-sack-of-shit-politician who’s got us all fooled, or you really are our last hope. Don’t disappoint us.
Posted on September 15, 2008 at 10:16 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Akira Ishizawa repping the Five.
Posted on September 15, 2008 at 09:59 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Posted on September 15, 2008 at 04:43 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
John Igei catches a proper pop shove-it in a deserted downtown Chicago. Photo by Frank Verges.
Posted on September 04, 2008 at 08:13 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Posted on August 26, 2008 at 04:09 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Probably a little too slick on the production for its own good, Earth Crisis (1984) still manages to get me going everytime. This mid-80’s reggae-pop offering balances traditional roots reggae consciousness and spirituality with some pretty shameless pop production; and its been getting some heavy playtime in the apartment the last couple of months. The cover says it all: shit is really fucked up and these are, indeed, the last days. But that doesn’t stop Steel Pulse from sparking a spliff and jammin’ out on ‘Grab Education’ and ‘Bodyguard’. The last track, ‘Wild Goose Chase’ asks the question over and over again: “Who shall save the human race?” while the title track warns “Man in his ignorant state has signed and sealed his own fate”. The writing was on the wall then, maybe even more so now. But without a doubt, the standout track has got to be the feel-good jam of the summer ’Roller Skates‘. Play it loud and play it often. “Life without music? I can’t go go no.”
Posted on August 18, 2008 at 11:39 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Just trying to ride this wave out, man.
Posted on August 18, 2008 at 11:19 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
This summer I promised myself that I would a) get the new apartment together, b) skate more, and c) finish a long-overdue update for unclegeez.com. Well, the apartment is coming together, been out on the board (thanks Pat) and I just finished adding some selected work and photos to the site. A big thank you to everyone I’ve worked with over the past year, big thanks to Allen for putting me on 12oz, and Pete for helping me get through the update. Looking ahead, there are some really good projects in the works, I’ll be adding them to the site in the next couple of months. Now, lets turn the computers off and enjoy the rest of the summer. . .
Posted on August 11, 2008 at 10:31 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Found three old issues of The Face in the trash. This dusty gem from ‘83 had an early Sade write-up.
Posted on August 05, 2008 at 05:17 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
About as far as you can get from this or that, some of the best street skating going on these days is coming from Traffic. Like almost everyone, I was blown away by the Lakai video and how slick it was, but like Eastern Exposure in the mid-90’s, Moving in Traffic just gets straight to the point of what its all about: street skating. I’m a big fan of all the dudes in here, especially Puleo, Panza and Sabback. Think I watched it about 30 times the day it was posted. Then I went skating.
Posted on August 04, 2008 at 09:25 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Yes, this is an actual spot in New York City. Kind of like a ”Great Skate Coaster”. Whoever designed these, can I buy you a drink?
Posted on August 01, 2008 at 11:09 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
On a misty, overcast morning August 7, 1974, Philippe Petit spent 45 minutes walking, kneeling and even laying on wire strung between the top of the World Trade Center towers. At one point Philipe is laying on his back on the wire and having a conversation with a seagull. Yes, a seagull. It took Phillipe and his motley crew six-months of meticulous planning to get the illegal operation together. Using fake ID’s, disguises, and even getting a couple of ‘inside men’ that worked in the Trade Towers. Even then, ‘Le Coup’ almost didn’t happen. The film Man on Wire takes you step-by-step through the makings of one of the greatest stunts in New York history. Port Authority Policeman Sgt. Charles Daniels had this to say: “I observed the tightrope ‘dancer’—because you couldn’t call him a ‘walker’—approximately halfway between the two towers. And upon seeing us he started to smile and laugh and he started going into a dancing routine on the high wire....And when he got to the building we asked him to get off the high wire but instead he turned around and ran back out into the middle....He was bouncing up and down. His feet were actually leaving the wire and then he would resettle back on the wire again....Unbelievable really....Everybody was spellbound in the watching of it.”
Posted on July 29, 2008 at 10:05 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
We lost a good friend and an amazing person this past weekend. Amelia was 24 years old. She was hit on her bike on 1st Ave and 49 Street on Friday night. Tell the people close to you that you love them, treat everyday like it is your last, and make it mean something. None of us know whats coming next, nothing is promised. We love you Amelia. We love you. You really were and still are ‘oneinamelia’ and we will see you when we get there.
Posted on July 14, 2008 at 12:42 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
This song changed my life… and also makes me want to learn the bass guitar. Click here for the mp3.
Posted on July 03, 2008 at 10:41 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
A garment factory in Chinatown works well into the night. As much as you hear about China’s economic boom, the majority of the people in the worlds most populated country are still poor and come to New York by the thousands each year looking for work. My super told me that East Broadway is the first stop for the majority of them. I wonder what these women get paid per hour?
Posted on June 26, 2008 at 08:20 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Another blast-from-the-past, this time with a classic Natas interview from May 1988 issue of Thrasher. This was definitely hanging on my bedroom wall the day it came out. Yes, he was grinding ten-stair rails twenty-years ago.
Posted on June 25, 2008 at 03:07 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Pretty much the only new colorways I give a shit about this summer.
Posted on June 19, 2008 at 10:23 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Nike, the company you love to hate (and hate to love) with an epic billboard from 1988. That would make P-Rod about four-years old when this went up. Who would have thought that Nike, after so many failed attempts to break into the skating world, would have such a big thing going with Nike SB some twenty-years later? But like JT’s pop-tart, what goes up must come down. We’ll see how long Nike can keep it up (Vans is coming back strong to claim what was theirs from the beginning.) One thing is for sure, its been over twenty-years and no one has been able to design a better looking shoe than the forever-classic Jordan I.
Posted on June 18, 2008 at 06:16 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Sweet type illustration for The New York TImes Magazine some months back by James Victore.
Posted on June 18, 2008 at 05:56 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Great article and photos on the Chinatown bus craze on Forsyth and East Broadway. Any of you that have taken these Chinatown-to-Chinatown buses to either Philadelphia, Boston or DC know how chaotic and competitive it can be down there. This article gives some good background on how it all came about. Its nice to know that this kind of unchecked immigrant entrepreneurship is still possible and thriving in New York City. Photo by Dennis W. Ho for The New York Times.
Posted on June 12, 2008 at 05:14 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
When someone finally makes a documentary on the history of Chicago skateboarding, you can bet your Polish Sausage this kid will be included. Dave Ruta making his mark with a golden-era dumpster snap in classic 90’s style.
Posted on June 10, 2008 at 08:33 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Every apartment I’ve had from Chicago to New York, no matter how humble, has been a good old friend. When you first meet them, its kinda wierd. There are little details that bug you and yeah it may not be perfect, but slowly, you get to know eachother. The years go by, and before you know it, you can’t imagine life without them. 153 Norfolk was one of those good friends.
So many friends and family came through over the years, the door was open if you needed a place to stay for a couple of nights. Or if you just wanted to come up have a beer and smoke a spiff, listen to some records, work on your bike or set your board up. The building had some native characters too: 80 year old Marge in 4E who accidentally walked into to my apartment one day in a panic because she locked herself out, then proceeded to sit on my couch and tell me her life story for 4 hours (never married, went to music school in Queens and wanted to be a piano player but instead settled for a secretary job because “thats just what women did back then"). The crazy (often drunk) middle aged woman who, rumor has it, was boning half of the cops at the local precinct and would let her dogs piss in the hallways as they pleased. The Puerto Rican teens making-out after school in the staircase, and the mysterious “screamer” on the first floor. And up until a couple years ago, you could even get a dime-bag in the building. 153 had it all. I’m sad to see it go, but psyched to get to know a bigger and better space down in Chinatown. We sure had some good times 153 Norfolk, see you around.
Posted on June 03, 2008 at 10:32 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Here’s two simple and clean boards for Steve and Nardelli at 5boro. Pick one up with your morning coffee at the corner bodega on Monroe and Market by the Manhattan Bridge skatepark. Seriously. You can get grip and hardware there too.
Posted on May 21, 2008 at 09:53 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Vibing off of Mare139’s Jam of The Week post with Miles and Coltrane, Les McCann (piano and vocals) and Eddie Harris (tenor sax and even an electric sax) are two of my favorite jazz players. They’re relative underdogs in the often snooty and purist jazz world, but man did these two have the funk. Collaborating on one of the biggest-selling jazz albums of all time, Swiss Movement (1969), their styles complimented each other perfectly. Here they are performing Compared to What in 1969.
And here is a link to download their second and last album together, Second Movement (1971).
Posted on May 20, 2008 at 01:34 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
With Police Informer putting up some serious shit lately and the recent screening of Deathbowl to Downtown, there’s a lot of good 90’s skate show-and-tell going on. Nostalgia is what it is, but some stuff really does hold up well. Here’s one from my dusty shoebox: Mike Hernandez downtown at the Stock Exchange shot by Gabe Morford, circa ‘94.
Posted on May 19, 2008 at 09:25 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Another one from Seth Tobocman.
Posted on May 19, 2008 at 09:02 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
In the spirit of Kimou’s great post about the May 68 uprising in Paris, this is a comic from 1984 by American artist Seth Tobocman. Its obvious that no matter what the country, language, culture or era there are universal ideas about basic human rights and expression that, if the people are denied these rights long enough, there will be a reaction. No justice? No peace.
Posted on May 14, 2008 at 06:33 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Robert Rauschenberg, Dies at 82.
Some people just have a way of putting things together and inventing. Robert Rauschenburg’s collage, sculpture, painting and screenprint had a big impact on me growing up. There are the well-known pieces, but so many random ones: a light-exposed six-foot tall sheet of blueprint paper from 1950. From the New York Times: “No American artist, Jasper Johns once said, invented more than Mr. Rauschenberg.” Big statement (if its true, Juan is a close second), but this is seriously good stuff, man. Rest in peace.
Posted on May 13, 2008 at 08:02 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Just wanted to say thanks (Mom and Dad). No matter what I was up to, you two were always in my corner. Love you!
Posted on May 11, 2008 at 04:39 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Looks like EA Sports is attempting give soccer some ‘street cred’ with their new game, FIFA Street 3, by letting you “Hit the streets with some of the best Pro Players and experience all the style and attitude of street football.” Allen hit some of us up to customize a soccer ball for a promo to coincide with the launch of the game. I figured this might help them with that ‘street cred’.
Posted on April 22, 2008 at 09:41 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
George Bernard hit me up to collaborate on some new flyers. Needless to say, I was honored to have the chance to work him*.
*Ok, so maybe I didn’t work on these. But George, love the style man. Hit me up if you need anything.
Posted on April 16, 2008 at 11:14 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Oh man, oh man. Todd James put up this post today. Out of all the craze, this one takes the cake. Is that David St. Hubbins wife?
Posted on April 11, 2008 at 02:46 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
David Axelrod was a prolific producer/arranger in the 60’s and 70’s. Any of you breakbeat diggers out there definitely know who he is. And you’ve all heard his trademark heavily mic’ed drums before; he’s been sampled to death. Working for Capitol records with Lou Rawls and Cannonball Adderly, he consistently produced hit after hit for both of them.
Release of An Oath (1968) was Axelrod’s second album with the Electric Prunes (although none of the original members of the Electric Prunes were actually on this record). And its a strange one: a mostly instrumental “spiritual” concept album that is dark, sparse, moody and complex. But man does it fucking rock. Dramatic strings and haunting woodwinds, organs and hard-hitting drums with tripped-out guitar solos. Classical, rock, jazz, soul, R&B all wrapped up in one meticulously arranged group of songs. It defies categorization, and that’s always sign of artistic genius. Holy Are You . . .
Posted on April 11, 2008 at 10:18 AM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
The dude at Police Informer is steadily posting a very well-selected catalog of 90’s skateboarding gems.
Posted on March 31, 2008 at 02:50 PM Characters.Twenty for Twenty.| Entry List
Here is a great example of a beautiful design