Shiloh Greathouse and Steve Cales

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

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

Guy Mariano's top five graphics

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

Yeah! From Stevie's Instagram.

Weird nose slide photo

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

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

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.

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Giant Half Cabs

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

Walker Ryan Graduation

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

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

Hensley A-1 Meats

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

Crail Couch - Brian Lotti

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top 5 with the Chrome Ball Incident

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

Rocco Gold Mine

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

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

Adidas Samba and Street golf shoes

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

That's fast!

Vans Wafflecup

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

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

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

Raiders of the Archives: Lance Dawes

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

Ethan Fowler at the Range

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

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

Biebel - Day in the life

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

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

Rory McIlroy 2011 US Golf Open

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

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

Nike prototype golf shoe

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

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

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

I missed this one. Originally posted in 2008.

Tiger Woods Japan Pain Relief Commercial

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

Keenan Milton

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

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

WTF??? Super corny.

Riot Nose Slide

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

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

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

Music Skateboards Series 2

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

Eric Koston SB

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

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

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

JB Gillet x 2

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

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

Ankle Brace

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

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

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

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

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

Ashworth Cardiff

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

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

BA interview

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

Kevin Na 16 on a par 4

I would've taken an unplayable.

Golf Ball Comparison

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.