Fairways & Flips

Heath Kirchart Retirement Board on Ebay

2012-02-03T11:30:00.000-08:00

As far as I know, this is the first Heath retirement board that has popped up for sale on ebay. Ever since they were released, I've wanted one... but not for $1700. That's a lot too much for me. Auction here.

NYC 2011 wrap-up

2012-01-21T17:00:00.000-08:00

Really late on this one. My wife and I visited New York City in September and here are a few observations.

1. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Manhattan Bridge, which was recommended to me by Eric over at Chromeball. We had stayed south of Houston our last trip and really like cruising around down there. Hotel was clean and the price was good.

2. I saw my first Jackson Pollock at the MET. I few weeks prior, I watched the Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? documentary.

3. Met up with Anthony from Music Skateboards at Maxfish to have some beers. Super nice guy and I hope for all the best for him and his company.

4. Chipotle Test Kitchen at 149 8th Ave in Greenwich Village was awesome. Faux chicken was one of the protein options.

5. Red velvet donuts at the Donut Pub were a nice snack. Same with red velvet cupcakes at Magnolia's.

6. Tickets to Broadway shows aren't cheap. We wanted to check out the Book or Mormon so we decided to try and get raffle tickets. What are raffle tickets? Their website describes it better than I can.

"A limited number of tickets for each performance will be sold through the lottery. Entries will be accepted at the box office beginning two and a half hours prior to each performance for up to two tickets.

Two hours before curtain, names will be drawn at random for a limited number of tickets priced at $32 each. Only one entry is allowed per person. Cards are checked for duplication prior to drawing. Winners must be present at the time of the drawing and show valid ID to purchase tickets. Limit one entry per person and two tickets per winner."

We ended up winning tickets! It was my first Broadway show.

7. I was waiting for Lombardi's pizza take out and I heard the rolling thunder, looked up and saw Muska cruising by. He was pretty much dressed in all black like in these photos.

After we ate our pizza, we were walking around Soho and crossed paths with him again. My wife knows who he is from TMZ and when she saw him, she noticed he was skating in moccasins. Then a few months later, those moccasins show up in this Berrics footnotes. He seems like a really kooky eccentric dude, not that there's anything wrong with that. I've heard that he's a super nice guy and I bet he has great stories for days. Image from here.

Bench

2012-01-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

This gesture makes Brendan Morrison my favourite Calgary Flames player. Iggy is pretty rad as well. Image from here.

Habitat Stuff

2012-01-16T18:00:00.000-08:00

Two Habitat related clips this past week. Austyn Gillette's ender in the Double Rock feature is super good. It's essentially the same motion as Greg Lutzka's go-to trick but it's on a quarter pipe and Austyn makes it look amazing.

To be honest, this Mark Suciu one caught me by surprise. I've seen his Origins part a few times but I hardly remember it. This 6 minute web part is definitely worth watching multiple times, particularly for the lines, which I find is a bit of a dying art with the youth of today.

I guess it's somewhat related... Habitat and Alien Workshop have always been under the same distribution umbrella (aka. DNA). Last week, Rob Dyrdek announced that he is buying Alien Workshop from Burton. Hopefully the transition is smooth and everyone keeps getting paid and they continue to use PS Stix and BBS wood. I'd be overly psyched if Neil Blender and Don Pendleton came back to do some graphics. The announcement mentioned nothing about Habitat, so I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. It would be unfortunate to see the two companies split. I've always like the sister company dynamic: World-Blind-101. Real-Stereo. Girl-Chocolate. Alien-Habitat.

Shiloh Greathouse and Steve Cales

2011-12-21T23:56:00.000-08:00

Some classic footage from the New World Order days. Looks like Socrates Leal is gonna release a bunch of clips from back in the day. So sick! Keep and eye on this youtube channel for other cutting room floor clips.

SLB + Clyde

2011-12-16T18:00:00.000-08:00

Sal Barbier interview right here and a Clyde Singleton interview here. Both good reads.

Guy Mariano's top five graphics

2011-12-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

Guy Mariano talks about his top 5 graphics of all time. Check it out here. Stoked I had Guy's Claudia Schiffer board back in the day. Super sick board. I remember skating it at this crappy indoor park so it was definitely winter time. And coincidentally, Guy is featured on Chrome ball today.

Legends

2011-12-04T05:00:00.006-08:00

Yeah! From Stevie's Instagram.

Weird nose slide photo

2011-12-03T05:00:00.002-08:00

Back in 94 or 95, my friend Felix took this photo of me doing a nose slide at 240 Sparks in Ottawa and my truck is falling off mid slide. I had some terrible Standard Trucks hardware. Remember that lame company?

Montreal's Big O saved

2011-12-02T05:00:00.003-08:00

This story about the president of the Montreal Impact soccer team moving the Big O spot rather than destroying it is beyond amazing. I skated it a few times back in the early 90's and it's no joke. The transition is super tight and when you see the locals shredding it, it's a big "Wow" moment.

Menace Epicly Laterd

2011-12-01T18:00:00.001-08:00

The first time I heard of Menace was May 1994 at the first Slam City Jam contest. I had just finished my exams and wanted to get out of town and skate. Jody Morris, who grew up just outside of Ottawa, had moved out to Vancouver a few year prior and was on staff with TWS. He was maintaining two residences at the time... one in Cali and one in Van. I had kept in contact with him over the years so I called him up and he suggested I come out. I showed up a few days before the contest and hooked up with him and Kareem, who was also staying at Jody's place. It was pretty strange to be tagging along with these guys. Menace was barely off the ground at the time... all they had were shirts (the one with the star on the front and "Menace all stars" on the back. Gino is wearing one in the line at 1:03). Joey, Fabian and Eric were all there for the contest. Kareem gave me one of those shirts, which was pretty cool, and he won the contest that weekend which was even more cool.

It's interesting to see this retrospective of how Menace started out. I was never a huge fan of the team or the image but they were a part of the Rocco empire so I did end up riding my fair share of their boards. I never lived in the ghetto or inner city with no money. Quite the opposite actually... I grew up in the burbs and my family was well enough off. Hopefully we get to hear Kareem's side of things. Joey's comment on them not being the best or most innovative but having the "image" was bang on!

Keep an eye on VBS for the rest of the episodes.

2011-11-24T20:29:00.000-08:00

Sweet deal from Music Skateboards for Black Friday.

BLACK FRIDAY SALE! Nov. 25th - 28th.
Order any BOARD from our MUSIC SHOP,
get a FREE T-SHIRT of your choice (While Supplies Last) and
FREE SHIPPING (Continental United States Only)

Use Code: BLACKFRIDAY

Visit their online shop here.

Giant Half Cabs

2011-11-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

Such a rad photo of Steve Caballero signing some super big Half Cabs. Photo from his Instagram.

Walker Ryan Graduation

2011-11-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

Well deserved pro status for Walker Ryan, one of my favourites. Great video. Must be nice to have all that switch backside tricks so good.

Greg Hunt - Raiders of the Archives

2011-10-22T05:00:00.001-07:00

Such a great series. I really want one of those burnt/etched Heath Kirchart retirement boards. Watch all episodes here.

Hensley A-1 Meats

2011-10-21T18:00:00.004-07:00

Straight up amazing. Matt Hensley doing his thing in a ditch. Courtesy of Skateboarding is....

Crail Couch - Brian Lotti

2011-10-05T05:00:00.003-07:00

Brian Lotti on the Crail Couch. Awesome! They could do a series of twenty Crail Couches with him and they would all be amazing. If you missed this Chrome Ball interview with Lotti, go check it out now. And for your viewing pleasure, one of the best video parts of all time...

Stanley Park Golf

2011-10-04T18:00:00.008-07:00

Super sick photo of the Stanley Park pitch and putt from back in the day. Caption says:

"Golfing in Stanley Park in the fall of 1945; City of Vancouver Archives # 586-4034."

Courtesy of the City of Vancouver's facebook page.

Supreme circa 2001

2011-09-29T18:00:00.006-07:00

Here's an article about Supreme originally published in Mass Appeal, 2001. I bought a red block shirt at Supreme when I first went to NYC back in 1996 but nothing else in all my other visits. They've always had great skaters affiliated with their store but in the grand scheme of things, I don't see why there is so much hype about Supreme or, for that matter, any other street wear brand.

Rose wins BMW in Adidas Streets

2011-09-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

Justin Rose won last weeks BMW Championship wearing the new Adidas Street golf shoes. Pretty cool. I like the black/white ones he's wearing. Images from here and here.

Gabriel Rodriguez

2011-09-22T05:00:00.001-07:00

Great interview right here with Gabriel Rodriguez. He talks about his low profile status in his 101 days and what happened after retiring from skateboarding.

Vans History

2011-09-21T05:00:00.002-07:00

Here's an interesting interview with Steve Van Doren, the son of the man who created Vans. The first time I ever saw Vans were the slip-on black and white checker ones in the early to mid 80's. Most of the older guys around town who BMXed were wearing them. I remember I wanted a pair but my Mom said they were too expensive so she got me knockoffs at the local department store.

Kitsch Will

2011-09-20T05:00:00.004-07:00

This little dude's good. See him at the plaza all the time. You get a good look at the renovated plaza in this clip. These two other clips from the Plaza are also super good. Spencer Hamilton and an end of summer jam montage.

Golf pole

2011-09-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

Multiple disciplines happening on the links in Las Vegas. Kinda distracting. From Koston's instagram.

Top 5 with the Chrome Ball Incident

2011-09-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

Head over to Crailtap and check out Chrome Balls top 5.

Rocco Gold Mine

2011-09-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Just found this website and corresponding youtube channel with a bunch of old World, Blind and 101 stuff. This teaser (or whatever you want to call it) to the Tim and Henry promo is way too awesome.

There's also a bunch of video clips from back in the day that were never used in videos as well as old video parts.

Anti Hero Caddyshack Series

2011-09-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

Great series of graphics. The Anti Hero Country Club shirt looks good too.

Adidas Samba and Street golf shoes

2011-08-27T05:00:00.001-07:00

Adidas hasn't had a street silhouette golf shoe in a few seasons. For 2012, looks like they're bringing it back with two models... a Samba golf shoe and an Ecco Street styled golf shoe. So many companies are starting to jump on the bandwagon and I'm happy to see so many options. Just a few weeks ago, I saw the Ashworth Cardiffs in person for the first time and thought they looked solid and figured they would be my next golf shoes. With Nike and Adidas' lines for 2012 revealed, I'm not so sure about that anymore. I definitely like the black Samba and black Streets as well as Kikkors black Tennys.

Images from here, here and Kikkors facebook.

Golf Ball Spinning 70,000 rpm

2011-08-26T05:00:00.001-07:00

That's fast!

Vans Wafflecup

2011-08-25T10:00:00.001-07:00

Really diggin' the mascot. I'd like to try their wafflecup sole. I'm not a big fan of vulc shoes. In the past 5 years, I've probably skated 75/25 in favour of cup. I saw the above photo on a blog somewhere but forgot where so I did a google image search to try and find it and found this awesome Vans edible waffle promotion. Looks tasty.

Images from here and here.

Nike Dunk NG Golf Shoe

2011-08-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, Nike did a limited run of golf Dunk SB's at a golf tournament during the Tampa pro contest. They had a Dunk SB upper with a golf sole. In Spring 2012, it looks like Nike is going to do a wide release of a Dunk golf shoe. Looks good to me... although none of the colorways are particularly to my liking. Image from here.

Entourage Golf

2011-08-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

Just found this clip of all the golf stuff from Entourage in one clip. Awesome.

Raiders of the Archives: Lance Dawes

2011-08-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

Damn... I don't know how I missed all these episodes that first started going up a month ago. So much good stuff in there... stories about Gonz, Reynolds, Steve Olson etc.

Hunter Mahan Duffs one

2011-08-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

Ethan Fowler at the Range

2011-08-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a clip of Ethan Fowler skating a ditch and hitting balls at the range. Posture looks a little hunched over lol Thanks to Mat McGrath for the link.

Pat Duffy - Day in the life

2011-08-12T06:00:00.003-07:00

This clip was from last year. Pat Duffy golfing and skating.

Biebel - Day in the life

2011-08-11T12:30:00.002-07:00

Links action in this one. Biebel, Eldridge and Guy. Looks like slow ass greens. Just googled it and Roosevelt is a ghetto 9-hole muni. Still stoked to see these guys swing clubs. Biebel's park also looks super fun.

Rodrigo Tx in China

2011-08-07T18:00:00.001-07:00

The last trick is incredible. And I really like the run on the red sculpture.

Rory McIlroy 2011 US Golf Open

2011-08-05T05:00:00.008-07:00

Such an awesome swing. It's too bad the quality isn't great. I'm sure a super slow motion version of it exists somewhere... just not online. Thanks to
Mat McGrath for the link.

Alien Workshop - Life Splicing No. 002: Life In A Box

2011-08-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

As far as training facility clips are concerned, this one is a great watch.

Nike prototype golf shoe

2011-08-03T11:00:00.000-07:00

These looks pretty good to me. Reminds me of eS Koston 2's, which were one of my favourite shoes back in the day.

Here's a description:

The shoes are based on FREE technology, which Nike has implemented in their training shoes but yet to implement in their golf line. The technology which debuted in 2004 is highlighted by an outsole designed to mimic the natural movements of the foot while being lightweight and responsive.

This prototype features an upper part of the shoe made with polyurethane coated stretch fabric, found in Nike’s basketball shoes, and the outsole is geared to provide stability through Woods’ torque-filled swing.

“This will help give Tiger greater stability as he addresses the ball. The freedom of movement that natural motion technology delivers will also allow more power to be released through the swing rather than through the body – which can happen when your feet are too static.” said Tobie Hatfield of Nike.

Text and photo from here.

411VM#1 Chaos

2011-07-22T05:00:00.010-07:00

I watched this Chaos section at the end of 411VM#1 a lot the summer it came out. Especially the Pulaski footage. Andy Stone and Pepe Martinez killing it! So many skaters rocking the gumsole Sorry/Solo Airwalks.

Renovated Plaza

2011-07-21T14:00:00.003-07:00

Here's a good clip to see the renovations done on the Vancouver Skate Plaza. The dude with the green wheels, AJ, is solid.

Koston Spitfire

2011-07-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

I missed this one. Originally posted in 2008.

Tiger Woods Japan Pain Relief Commercial

2011-07-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

Reminds me of this Vinny Chase one. Get paid and it won't air in North America. LOL

Keenan Milton

2011-07-05T19:28:00.001-07:00

Definitely one of my favourites ever. I remember the moment I found out he passed away... a girl that used to share an office with me was dating Ben Chibber and she had found out from him and relayed the bad news to me. I was in total shock. Full Keenan Crailtap related footage available here. Also pop by Chrome Ball.

Watson Laminates

2011-06-23T10:23:00.009-07:00

Here's a pretty cool LA Times article about Tod Swank and Watson Laminates. I've never been a fan of Watson shapes and concave but you gotta give them props for not moving production overseas.

Golf Boys

2011-06-18T00:01:00.001-07:00

WTF??? Super corny.

Riot Nose Slide

2011-06-17T15:28:00.001-07:00

Super bummed the Canucks didn't win the Stanley Cup. The riot after the loss was brutal. I hope every jackass that participated in the looting, torching and vandalizing gets arrested. It's definitely not a reflection of Vancouver and the people that reside here. Not sure if this photo above is a photoshop or not. It appears to be the same guy saving this Smartcar in this clip below @ 2:01. Coincidentally, or maybe not, he's stopping a few skateboarders from smashing the Smartcar.

Mark Gonzales Interview

2011-06-15T10:31:00.003-07:00

Lots of Gonz stuff today. The above in an interview from the end of the 90's and check out the post at Chrome Ball here. There's also this shot below of what appears to be the Gonz at the driving range. Pic from Instead of Eros Avenged.

Transsexual skateboarder

2011-06-08T15:59:00.002-07:00

King Shit Mag has an interview with Hillary Thompson, the first transsexual skater. Read it here. Awesome courageous story.

Music Skateboards Series 2

2011-06-06T11:58:00.003-07:00

Looking good. I'm really digging their art direction. For more info, visit their website here.

Eric Koston SB

2011-06-06T06:00:00.005-07:00

I think his pro shoe looks really nice and clean. These two Footnote segments at the Berrics here and here are pretty cool. One of the Nike commercials at the start of Part One has Koston at the Oven, which is Nike's golf research facility. That would be a trip to go there and test out all the different shaft/head combos and getting fitted for clubs. Images from here and Koston's twitter.

Jamie Sadlowski

2011-05-27T23:57:00.004-07:00

This is a pretty crazy exhibit of super high swing speed. He doesn't swing ugly and ape-ish like most other long driver. And he's Canadian!

BA top 5 360 flips

2011-05-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

Solid top 5 list. Aside from Lotti, his list is the same as mine.

JB Gillet x 2

2011-05-14T05:00:00.001-07:00

So stoked on JB. Always been a fan ever since this 411 Wheels of Fortune. There's something extremely fluid about the way he skates. Quick snap and flick.

Andrew Reynolds: Emerica Stay Gold B-Side

2011-05-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

Dude is so gnarly. Stoked on the music free footage. Although that Shane guy who's always cheering is annoying.

Ankle Brace

2011-05-06T13:00:00.008-07:00

I was on crailtap the other day and saw something about ankle braces in the Q&A section. Mike Mo's suggestion is this one. I click on it expecting it to be a good recommendation but it looks like a piece of crap. I can't even recall how many useless elastic/compressive style ankle braces I went through in the early 90's. This style of brace basically doesn't have enough support to prevent a weak ankle from re-tweaking.

An older skater in my city suggested this Swed O Lok one and it basically changed my life. It laces up and has removable plastic support pieces that mold to the sides of your ankle. If your sprain is really bad, keep the plastic in. If it's not too severe, take the plastic out. It really is an amazing product. I rocked one for 4 solid years in the 90's. There were times since when I was skating less and I didn't need one anymore but when I badly sprained my ankle last summer, I got back on the Swed O Lok program. I was also quite stoke on Daryl Angel's ankle brace in Slap's One in a Million. Image from here.

Style vs. Technical

2011-05-05T05:00:00.016-07:00

Good timing for this great Austyn Gillette clip above to be released in the same week as Torey Pudwill's Battle Commander. They are both park clips yet the viewing experience of each is extremely different. The former is mostly more basic tricks but with a great style and flow while the latter is primarily ledge dancing with flailing arms. I think Pudwill is a sick skater with great pop and he does some f^cked up insane tricks but I don't find his skating easy on the eyes. For me, I'll take the Gillette clip 9 times out of 10.

Lockwood x Gino

2011-05-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

Gino sighting! Awesome! Hope he has some solid footage in the new Chocolate video. From Crailtap's ben there done that. I like the caption "A Starbucks latte is the 40 of the 2000's." lol.

Arcade - SADville

2011-05-02T12:30:00.005-07:00

This graphic is pretty funny... the pot plants, the yellow mustache, black sheep. All that's missing is a rag in his hand or in his back pocket. This lady I used to work with would be clicking for hours on her crops in this Farmville game... click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click.

Arcade currently had a board special set up to encourage supporting smaller companies... $40 + shipping via paypal. email: info@arcademfg.com with subject line: SWAG.

Independent Warranty

2011-04-22T05:00:00.002-07:00

I posted about bending an axle several months ago. I sent them to NHS and Independent's lifetime warranty came through.

Ashworth Cardiff

2011-04-20T05:00:00.004-07:00

Another street style shoe for the links. Ashworth, which is under the Taylor Made/Adidas umbrella, is entering the shoe market and the Cardiff model is their answer to Ecco's Street Premier. I like the 2-year waterproof warranty and the nubby spikes. I think the overall shoe look better than the Street Premiers. I'd put them ahead of the FJ Street as well. Hopefully they'll be using Adidas' facilities. Adidas made some super comfortable golf shoes in the past. Images from here and here.

Jason Lee

2011-04-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

So many good 360 flips and bs flips courtesy of Jason Lee.

BA interview

2011-04-16T05:00:00.001-07:00

Even though it's CCS, it's a decent interview with Brian Anderson.

Kevin Na 16 on a par 4

2011-04-15T13:00:00.002-07:00

I would've taken an unplayable.

Golf Ball Comparison

2011-04-13T18:00:00.001-07:00

There's hundreds of different golf balls available and for most people, there's just too many to try. Companies will release several versions of a ball with the same name from year to year with minor tweaks.

In general, players with slower swings will get the most distance out of a 2-piece lower compression ball with a harder (surlyn) cover. Players with a higher swing speed will most likely do best with a 3+ layer higher compression ball with a softer (urethane) cover. A urethane cover ball will also spin more on short irons and are less durable.

Golfballtest.org has a ball compression and cover hardness table in this pdf here. The higher the number, the higher/harder the compression/cover. It seems like a good starting point in finding a ball relative to one you are familiar with but might want one that's slightly different. Image from here.

Underworld Element - Rick Ibaseta

2011-04-05T14:00:00.001-07:00

Second graphic post this week. Rick Ibaseta's first pro model on Underworld Element. I had this board in the spring of 1992. I remember it well because I sprained my ankle really badly on it. I fs shoved a 6 stair and quickly did a normal slidy shove not really paying attention and tweaked it on that. Total brain fart.

FTC has several 90's era boards from the personal collections of Rick I and Jeff Pang with proceeds going to Japan Tsunami Relief.

World Industries Catalogs

2011-04-04T18:00:00.003-07:00

Not exactly a graphic post. Head over to memory screened to check out an interview with Cliver and McKee as well as an archive of World Industries catalogs during the good years. I never saw any of these back in the early 90's but I did see one that is not posted. It was in 1992 and it was the world pigbait catalog that contained the Blind racing series decks with curb feelers, rocket nose and handle. More World catalogs here.

Dan Peterka

2011-03-30T05:00:00.002-07:00

Inspired by Drake Jones' Facebook. Dan Peterka in H-Street Next Generation. So casual, stylish and technical. Super good part and song. I remember my local shop got this video in the spring of 1992. Luckily it was released before Questionable, which gave it a fair shake at my VCR skate video rotation for several weeks/months.

Crailtap's Mini DV Drawer. Tapes 25 and 26

2011-03-29T05:00:00.003-07:00

This is one of the best of the clips they've posted. SJ, SLB, Gino... Oozing with style. The Guy clip at the end was a nice one.

Open - Japan Relief

2011-03-28T05:00:00.001-07:00

Open has a limited number of Japan Relief boards for sale in their online shop. All proceeds go to the relief effort.

Also, Music Skateboards doing their part to help the cause. From their facebook page:

Japan Relief Drive: We at MUSIC are trying to do our part to help the people of Japan. Proceeds from our webstore for T-Shirts, Wheels & Sticker Packs will be donated to Red Cross for Japan Relief. Please click here (or visit the shop via music-skateboards.com, just click "Shop")

Nippon 1100 iron shafts

2011-03-23T05:00:00.046-07:00

For this golf season, I've decided to build a new set of irons. I wanted to try something different for shafts so I talked to my good buddy who's an amazing clubmaker and he suggested I try to get my hands on some Nippons, which are known for their consistency and quality. I ended up grabbing these 4-pw pullout Nippon 1100 shafts off ebay for $78 shipped. They came out of some Callaway Diablo Forged irons and were not butt trimmed so they have lots of room to trim to various playing lengths. The butts of each shaft is marked with "S" and the length of the shaft as well as "Made in Japan" and a date of manufacture. They have Callaway shafts bands that say Uniflex.

Each shaft was 0.75" shorter than the stated measurement on the butt and they are constant weight... all of them were 108 grams (+/- 0.5). The balance point on all the shafts was also very close... 49.5% (+/- 0.5). The frequency slope on them is a little steep... roughly 7 cpm/club, assuming 7 gram head weight and 1/2" club length progression. This could be an artifact of the constant weight shaft and the stiffness between adjacent clubs won't be as severe as the freq meter suggests. Overall, very happy with the consistency of the shafts.

The heads I decided to go with are Infiniti 422's, which are from their 2006 line... 431 stainless steel mid-size cavity backs with constant low offset and a 4-way cambered sole. I built 5 to gap wedge so the shafts were soft stepped. I tried to adjust everything to make the set as consistent as possible... spine check, flo check, freq check, loft and lie adjustment, progressive swingweight. I think it's kind of silly for Callaway to call them uniflex, the butt says stiff and they frequency to a typical regular. In any case, they feel fine to me... getting my typical 150 yards out of a 7 iron.

Blind Keenan Milton

2011-03-21T05:00:00.004-07:00

I'm pretty sure this was Keenan's first pro model. I also remember there being two versions on this board... this one, with a kid sitting on a fridge, and the other was the kid sitting on a bull, or something like that. Image from skateboard graphics dot com.

Concrete Powder circa 1992

2011-03-18T05:00:00.001-07:00

This is a weird one. Talk about a trip down memory lane. Concrete Powder was a Canadian skateboard and snowboard magazine back in the early 90's. They started off as a glossy paper paid publication but evolved into a free magazine that was printed on newsprint and was the size of a small newspaper. It's now just called Concrete Skateboarding.

It looks like they are uploading all the old issues on their website and in Volume 2, #3, I guess page 36, there's a full pager of me doing a bs 180 nose grind at the archives in Ottawa, shot by Jody Morris. This was in grade 12... my school was on strike so I was skating a lot that spring. My friend Drew is on the opposite page doing a nose slide in front of Parliament Hill and the dude lipsliding the rail at Dows Lake is Trevor... he broke his ankle on that attempt.

D-D-D-D-Drake Jones!

2011-03-16T05:00:00.008-07:00

varial heel

Sweet mix tape from abd. Psyched on the Drake Jones coverage. These photos below are even more awesome! Drake caddies for PGA player David Lutterus.

More to come. Golf images from google. HF varial from CBI.

Dennis Busenitz at Tampa Pro 2011

2011-03-15T05:00:00.006-07:00

Such a good flow. Uninterrupted trick after trick. That is how skateboarding a park should look.

Japan Realief

2011-03-14T13:00:00.004-07:00

Double graphic post today. Buy a Real Japan Realief Edition here and proceeds go directly to the Red Cross and their relief effort in Japan.

Open Skateboards is also donating all proceeds of board sales to the Red Cross for Japan relief. $50 shipped to where ever you are. The power of the tsunami is incredible. Check out these before and after shots.

UPDATE 3/17/11: Autobahn is offering a limited edition wheel with all proceeds going to the Japan relief effort. Click here to support.

Shane O'Neill Keg Stand

2011-03-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

lol. Hilarious graphics... Tupac and Biggy doing keg stands while being held up by kangaroos. Skatemental does some funny shit.

A Glimpse of Wade

2011-03-12T05:00:00.005-08:00

More Ottawa. This time, Wade D. Holy crap. He's got a nice nonchalant way of getting around on a board. Switch 360 flip 5-0 on a hubba is pretty ridiculous! And the sw fs tail hard flip out was sick. I already moved away from Ottawa when he was coming up and had no idea who he was until my buddy showed me his part in some local video called 5 foot 12.

Phoenix - Part 3 of 3

2011-03-11T05:00:00.002-08:00

I'm going to jam in three course reviews in this post.

Las Sendas - This course is gnarly! Just look at the slope and rating. It's located east of Phoenix in Mesa. We booked our 11:40 tee time through ezlinks.com's "name your price" for $60 per player, range balls included.

The green here were by far the fastest and smoothest we played. They were also the toughest with severe undulations. I putt off the green twice on the same hole 8( Doesn't get much worse than a triple bogey on a GIR. Brutal! The fairways were in great condition and the rough was actual rough, although not very long. The course is quite scenic, although some of the holes are lined with houses. There's also rabbits all over the place. There was at least one hole where we didn't know what to do off the tee. It was a dogleg and we had no idea which way it went. Overall, it was the worst round I played but I pulled it together a bit on the back 9 after taping up my thumb. Paul shot 1 over on the front 9 and then proceeded to throw all his hard work away by shooting 10 over on the back. I'd definitely play it again for the sake of redemption.

Sanctuary - This 18 hole Troon facility up in Scottsdale is one of the most desert style target golf courses I've ever played. Ball placement and strategy was definitely key on this course. We booked our 12:07 tee time through ezlinks.com's "name your price" for $61 per player, range balls not included.

The greens were spotty but cut short so they weren't very fast and not very smooth... pretty much the 2nd slowest on our trip. The fairways were spotty as well. The rough was actual rough, although not very long. For most of the front nine, every fairway is slanted to the left or the right so you gotta aim your tee shot to account for the sideways roll. The bunkers seemed to be fluffier than any others on our trip, which made them tough to get out of, particularly the fairway traps. I couldn't believe how many dog leg lefts there were on this course! The tee box options were, again, sort of limited. Either tee off from 6600+ yards or 6000 yards and like Lookout Mountain, I ended up at the shorter tee box and it felt short. The longer tee box would for sure have been too long... something in between would have been nice. Overall, I'd play this course again.

Ahwatukee Country Club - This course is located in Phoenix just south of the airport. We booked our 7:15 tee time through ezlinks.com's for $28 per player, range balls not included.

This was our last round of the trip and we were flying out in the afternoon. It was tough to get an early Saturday tee time near the airport for a reasonable price. We had it narrowed down to Ahwatukee Country Club, Vistal, Dobson Ranch and Arizona Golf Resort. I've read and heard negative comments about all of them (speed of play, course conditions etc) so I just booked whatever was available. Needless to say, this was by far the worst course we played this week. Actually, I'd go as far as saying it's the worst course we've ever played in Phoenix! I have no idea how this place can place the moniker "country club" on their facility. It had slow and bumpy greens, worst course conditions and worst scenery. The course is not a desert style layout. There's lots of trees and there are basically retaining walls from houses along all holes. I'll never play this course again. I'll add it to Bougainvillea and Kokopelli as courses I'll never play again.

FJ Street

2011-03-10T05:00:00.002-08:00

With the popularity of the street style golf shoe last season, FootJoy has jumped on the bandwangon and released their version called the FJ Street, which looks like it was inspired by a Jack Purcell or Chuck Taylor.

I like em. Compared to the Ecco Street Premier, IMO they look better, they're cheaper ($90 retail price) and they look more waterproof (1-year warranty for leakage). Not sure if the spikes are removable. I will say the newer version of the Ecco Streets with the Stan Smith toe look better than the Freddie ones.

Speaking of the Ecco Street, when I was in Phoenix, I got to see and try them on for the first time and they were super comfortable. The sizing was rather crazy... I wear a 10 in everything else and I fit into a 42, which is an 8-8.5.

Supra 3 Amigos Pack

2011-03-09T05:00:00.004-08:00

Three Supra riders get a signature colorway of the Amigo model. Not particularly psyched on any of the colors but I am super stoked on Spencer Hamilton's usage of the Ottawa Senators on the insole. T-Ferg used it, Wade used it and now Spencer. Great job representing Ottawa. Images from here.

Kikkor Golf - A day at the office

2011-03-08T12:30:00.006-08:00

Here's a fun video by Vancouver-based Kikkor Golf - "A Day at the Office". There's even a skateboard in there! Looks like the warehouse also houses Ogio, Travis Mathews and Westbeach. Full new line of shoes for 2011. It's warming up in Vancouver and we're getting an extra hour of day light soon so, if you haven't already, dig your clubs out and get them ready!

Cliche x McKee and Cliver

2011-03-07T05:00:00.002-08:00

Stoked on these graphics. Cliche is releasing a limited run of these decks with actual silk screened graphics on the old school shapes. You could win one of these decks through Slap's website and Facebook page. See the screening process here.

Phoenix - Part 2 of 3

2011-03-05T05:00:00.004-08:00

Whirlwind Golf Club is a 36 hole Troon facility located in Chandler south of Phoenix. We got to play both courses on separate days. We booked both tee times through ezlinks.com's "name your price" for $66 and $62 per player, range balls included. The practice facility is great. Nice big range with lots of targets, multiple putting greens, chipping and bunker area.

The greens on both courses were fast and smooth, 2nd best on our trip. The fairways were in great condition (slightly better on the Devil's Claw) and the rough was dormant grass framed by red pebble wasteland. The finishing hole on Devil's Claw wasn't particularly memorable. There were lots of challenging holes and the hole-by-hole guide was great to help a first timer navigate the course. I'd give the nod to Cattail as the more fun and memorable eighteen. I'll definitely visit Whirlwind again.

Phoenix - Part 1 of 3

2011-03-03T05:00:00.010-08:00

This was our 5th or 6th trip down here and in the past, we always seemed to play the same 4 or 5 courses... Lonetree, Legacy, Phantom Horse (now Arizona Grand Resort), Vistal and Estrella Mountain Ranch (now Golf Club of Estrella). Not that there's anything wrong with those courses but we decided to try some different ones this time around. With the bad economy and the dollar at par, we were able to play quite a few that were out of our price range before. I'll try to do a review of each course we played. FWIW, we both track our handicaps using Gametrack. I'm a 16 and Paul is a 12 so neither of us are world beaters. In terms of strengths, I think Paul's is his ballstriking, and I guess mine is my chipping.

Trilogy and Power Ranch - This course is located southeast of Phoenix in a Gilbert community development. It's lined with hundreds of houses and is definitely not the most scenic course. We booked our 1:06 tee time through golfnow for $62 per player, no range balls included.

We got quite a bit of rain in the 24 hours before the round and it rained for at least 9 of the holes. I've definitely never played in as windy, cold and rainy conditions in Phoenix as we did this round. Regardless, it was still lots of fun. The fairways were well manicured and the next cut was dormant bermuda. Pretty much every course down here is framed by desert wasteland. In this case, the wasteland was mostly red clay/packed dirt. The greens were good... smooth and relatively fast. Adjusting to yardages down here took a little bit. Airmailing greens into the street/wasteland/water occurred on more than one occasion. I'd player here again.

Lookout Mountain - This course is located at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort in Phoenix. We booked our 11:32 tee time through ezlinks.com's "name your price" for $46 per player, range balls included.

The course was fun, challenging and in good condition. It underwent renovations recently and has changed quite a bit compared to what is shown on the course layout. In order to be more environmental, they removed water from pretty much every hole except for #15. The fairways were lush and in great shape and the next cut was rough that was actual rough, although not very long. The wasteland was mostly pebbles and rock. The greens were decent enough, although not the smoothest or fastest we played. The tee box options were sort of limited. Either tee off from 6500+ yards or 6000 yards. I didn't want to get stuck playing a 230+ yard par 3 or forced carries over desert that I couldn't make so I dropped down to the shorter of the two while Paul played the longer one. The variety of holes is definitely there. Long par 3's and 4's as well as short ones. Lots of elevation changes as well. It's a bit of a gimmicky/tricked out course with weird holes... sort of reminds me of Furry Creek up near Squamish. I did have my best stretch of holes during the trip going 2 over through 5 holes to finish the round. For what we paid, I'd definitely player here again.

Back from Vacation

2011-03-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

Got back on the weekend from a vacation down south. Got to spend a few nights in Vegas with my wife and then parted ways and went to Phoenix to meet up with a friend for a week of golf. It definitely wasn't warm in Vegas and was below average temperatures in Phoenix but it was still nice to be somewhere sunny.

Course reviews to come. Booked 6 of 7 rounds through ezlinks.

Chocolate City Series

2011-02-28T18:30:00.000-08:00

Found this image randomly on facebook. Super series of graphics by Chocolate.

Plan B Fantastic Four

2011-02-21T05:00:00.027-08:00

I've been wanting to do a graphic post on this series for a while but could never find any pics. I was a comic book nerd when I was younger and was pretty psyched on the Fantastic Four. The characters, with corresponding rider, were iirc:

The Thing - Sean Sheffey (above)
Invisible Girl - Mike Carroll
Mr. Fantastic - Rick Howard
Human Torch - ????
Dr. Doom - ????

I had this Sheffey board. One of the best ones I ever rode. I had it during the late fall/early winter and remember a specific line I did on it one cold night in the dark at the War Memorial in Ottawa... sw ollie up 3, sw flip, fakie flip down 3. Image from ebay.

Michael Sieben Rip Off

2011-02-14T05:00:00.021-08:00

Been getting quite a bit of traffic from Roger Skateboards' tumblr and thought I would comment on the brutal graphic over there. I feel bad for Michael Sieben. The guy is a great artist with a unique style and no one can hate on a small super funny company like Roger. I don't know if he's ever drawn a black haired character with a ukulele. Regardless, the graphic above is a blatant rip-off of his style. Boooooooo Kremblas!

Italo Romano

2011-02-11T10:15:00.001-08:00

So amazing!

Insoles 101

2011-02-09T05:00:00.005-08:00

I don't know how many people out there are like me but I just don't find vulcanized shoes to be very comfortable. Some of the cup soles from years past were okay but most vulc shoes have no support or arch support. Even the shoes that do come with an insole, they're terrible. The one issue I have the most is the insole flattens and compresses at the ball of my feet.

I ended up finding these sof sole athlete insoles and gave them a go. The soles are a bit thicker than most stock insoles and they're also soft feeling. The blue part of the sole at the forefoot is nothing short of amazing. The sole does not flatten at the balls of my feet. I've been cycling them in all my shoes for 18 months and they are still going strong. Highly recommended!

Skull Skates Dead Guys

2011-02-07T05:00:00.002-08:00

A friend of mine mentioned this board the other day so thought I would post it up. This is a classic skate graphic from Skull Skates of Vancouver, BC, Canada. I remember first seeing it at a punk shop that sold a few skateboards in Toronto while on vacation back when I was in grade 7 or 8. Crazy shape, awesome concept. Image from skateboardgraphics.com.

Hosoi Collection

2011-02-01T09:40:00.000-08:00

Do you have and extra $10,500 lying around? This Hosoi collection on ebay is bonkers. If you haven't already, check out this fake Hosoi article... always a good read.

Kikkor @ PGA Show

2011-01-27T09:45:00.000-08:00

Annual PGA Merchandise Show is this weekend and Kikkors booth looks awesome! Keep an eye on equip2golf for updates of the show. Image from Kikkors facebook.

Stoked - Gator

2011-01-26T05:00:00.001-08:00

The Gator documentary has been out for years but I never got around to seeing it until last week. Pretty psyched that my public library has both this and the Hosoi one.

I thought Stoked was quite well done. There was a lot I didn't know about Gator. I knew his board years before I actually started skating. There was always some random guy in the neighbourhood who had the classic Vision Gator board. I didn't even know what a Gator was. By the time I started reading skate magazines and familiarizing myself with who the pro's were, he was a flamboyant weirdo. I didn't know there was a punk version of him in the mid 80's. Lots of the interviewees commented on his phoniness with his drastic image changes. The guy seemed to be on another level with the cheesy VSW video clips, crazy self promotion and the overall selling out to the highest bidder.

One of the best parts is when they get to the years when vert was dying and street was taking over. The street footage of him was really really off the charts bad. In comparison to Rising Son, the impact of the transition in the popularity of street skating was a lot more heavy and drastic as well as the extreme lack of support for Gator in terms of friends, family and colleagues.

All the murder stuff is just super gnarly and I was familiar with most of it already. Jason Jessee has some amazing quotes.

Alex Olson Circle

2011-01-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

Skateboarding Father and Son Steve and Alex Olson did an art show back in Dec. Stoked on this piece. I assume it was done by repeatedly putting paint on the launch ramp and doing wall rides, then rotating the medium, until the marks form a circle. Image from Crailtap. Some funny stuff to follow at his tumblr as well.

Washington Capitals Mike Green

2011-01-19T05:00:00.003-08:00

Most people that know me know that I'm a hockey nut. If an NHL game is being broadcasted, there's a good chance my tv will be on that channel. Not only do I watching games, I partake in fantasy hockey, which is just hockey Dungeons and Dragons.

Lots of pro models have come out with NHL logo inspired graphics such as Gino for 101, Colin x 2 for Plan B, T-Ferg for Girl, Wade for DGK and Getz for Habitat.

I was perusing frozen in carbonite and came across this post and apparently Mike Green of the Washington Capitals is into skateboarding. The Maxim article referenced is partially available here. I have a feeling he wasn't a very good skater. I found this video below from a google search and he says his best trick is/was a kickflip, which, let's be honest, is just a stock trick for any kid who's been skating for more than a few months.

Regardless of how good or bad of a skater he was as a teenager, it's cool that he's still into it and collects boards for art. I'd be psyched to get one of the above Mike Green boards. Dude really is an amazing offensive defenceman. I think he should've been on the 2010 Canadian Olympic Team.

Aaron Snyder VHS

2011-01-17T05:00:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure how or why I ended up at Aaron Snyder's facebook but saw this board graphic and thought it was cool. A graphic with a stack of VHS tapes of 80's and 90's skate videos is pretty awesome.

I'm not entirely sure what sort of reputation he has, although I get the feeling it's leaning not toward good. Regardless, I always thought he did some cool tricks. That first bs tail is do or die. Looks like he also contributes to Digital Skateboarding online.