Skate or nap!
Kahlei Stone-Kelly is two. He’s still in diapers. And he’s a way better skateboarder than you are:
Oh, and barefoot! YouTube is very emasculating sometimes. (via @DavidGrann)
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kottke.org posts about skateboarding
Bob Burnquist does amazing things on a MegaRamp
I dunno, this may be the most bonkers skate video you’ve ever seen. It starts a bit slow but stick with it: Bob Burnquist shows us what he can do on his backyard MegaRamp.
This video is also a fantastic demonstration of the principle of Chekhov’s helicopter, which states that if you see a helicopter sitting next to a MegaRamp in the first two minutes of a skate video, a skater must absolutely drop in to the MegaRamp from the helicopter in the last part of the video. (thx, dusty)
Skating with style
We are truly in a golden era of skateboarding videos (again). The easy access to relatively good camera equipment on one side, and easy video distribution via the web on the other, have created a perfect storm in the last 4 or 5 years of gorgeous, highly stylized skateboarding videos. What am I saying, skateboarding videos have always been awesome.
The kids from Kids: where are they now?
Caroline Rothstein on how Kids came about and what happened to the young actors who starred in the film.
Two decades after a low-budget film turned Washington Square skaters into international celebrities, the kids from Kids struggle with lost lives, distant friendships, and the fine art of growing up.
Downhill skateboarder hits deer
Videos of downhill skateboard racing make me nervous, here’s one reason why.
“Oh, deer.” “That skateboarder deerly missed an accident.” “Too bad the skateboarder couldn’t deer out of the way.” “Did you deer about the downhill skateboarder?” “Deer clear of animals on the track.” “Deer we go again!” “No ideer where that came from.” “Nothing to fear, but deer itself.” “Skateboarder should have been in a lower deer.” “Deered up and ready to go.” “Deer force of will.” “Happy new deer.” (via @carveslayer)
Super slow motion video of skateboarding tricks
Lovely video of skateboarding tricks in super slow motion. It was filmed at 1000fps.
Uncommon skateboarding tricks in super slow motion. Filmed at 1,000 frames per second with a Redlake N3 high speed camera. Since skateboarding trick names are defined by common usage and these tricks are not very common, some of them don’t have well-established names. So here are my best guesses as to what they should be called:
Kyle McPherson — nollie dolphin flip (AKA nollie forward flip)
Cameron Carmichael — backside 180 casper flip (?) (or bs 180 hospital flip)
Jerrod Skorupski — nollie heelflip bs body varial
David Case - nollie 360 shuv underflip (AKA nerd flip)
David Case - frontside shuv underflip (AKA kiwi flip)
Dustin Blauvelt - hardflip pretzel
Dustin Blauvelt - Merlin twist (switch front foot impossible fs 180)
Dustin Blauvelt - nollie heelflip indy grab
Shane Anderson - early grab frontside 180 fingerflip (?)
Jovan Pierson - pressure hardflip (?)
Jovan Pierson - ?? I don’t know what this is, I just call it a Jovan flip
Erick Schaefer - backside pop shuv underflip
Tim Hamp - Nollie pressure hardflip (?)
(thx, jay)
Kilian Martin: Altered Route
Oh, boy. A new Kilian Martin skate video. Martin’s style is really distinctive. The spinning, the two skateboards, the handstands. Lovely stuff.
(via ★interesting)
First 1080 on a skateboard
Tom Schaar is the first person to land a 1080 on a skateboard ramp. He’s only 12.
It was on a MegaRamp, but still. (thx, meg)
Rodney Mullen free style skating
Here’s Kevin Staab, Tony Hawk, and Greg Smith watching a 1983 video of free style skateboarder Rodney Mullen. “Look at him just creating modern street skating, right there”. “Yeah, he goes through this run twice. I’ve seen this video before.” The 1983 version of Tony Hawk makes an appearance at around 3:50 trying to figure out how to ride 2 boards.
This Mullen video from 1984 is even cooler to watch, but there’s no commentary. 1984, by the way, is pretty much the most talked about year on this site.
Skateboarding in NYC in the 1960s
Bill Eppridge photographed all sorts of people skateboarding in NYC in the ’60s.
Downhill skateboard racing
Speaking of going fast, this is a lovely 22-minute documentary about a downhill skateboarding race in Teutonia, Brazil where the competitors reach speeds in excess of 70 mph on almost unbelievably rough pavement.
(via ★acoleman)
Now this is something
I’d been looking for something to post to say goodnight, so it was good that Rogre sent something over. It’s a fitting way to end the weekend considering it features Killian Martin and Danny MacAskill (featured here earlier in the week). The video is goofy and not as jaw-droppingly jaw-dropping as their solo videos, but they do seem to be doing their thing in a fancy theater the name of which I should know. This reminds me of the commercials where the sneaker commercials get ALL of their athletes into one commercial.
Finger skating
It is more amazing that people can do crazy things on skateboards or that some of those same crazy things can be done on tiny skateboards using your fingers?
Skateboarding in Kabul
A nice short documentary on the fledgling skateboarding culture in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(via matt)
Update: The video on Vimeo was erased for some reason, so I switched the embed to one at YouTube.
Also, the Kabul skatepark profiled in the video is looking for donations of equipment (paging @tonyhawk, @tonyhawk to the front counter, please) and money and/or assistance with shipping (shipping to Afghanistan is challenging). They’re also selling these fetching Skateistan t-shirts (and tote bags) in a variety of styles and colors.
Even more parkour on a skateboard
I know, I know, shut up already with the parkour and the skateboarding but this is worth watching:
The blooper reel at the beginning is entertaining (MOTHERFRICKER!), but final trick is the best one. (thx, cary)
Parkour on a skateboard?
Ok, not quite, and Richie Jackson doesn’t look much like a typical skateboarder — more like a hippie hipster pirate — but his skills on a board are amazing.
Watch at least until he goes over the rail while the board goes under it. This reminds me a bit of the stuff that Danny MacAskill does on a bicycle. (thx, ross)
Fakie-to-fakie 900 on a Mega Ramp
Bob Burnquist pulled a fakie-to-fakie 900 on a Mega Ramp the other day. For those of you who speak only English, I consulted my skateboarding-to-English dictionary and that means he rode into the ramp backwards on his skateboard, rotated two-and-a-half times, rode out backwards, and did it all on one of those massive ramps. Or, you could just watch. As you may recall, 900s on a skateboard ain’t easy. (thx, matt)
Not exactly Dogtown 2
Last time dad left me the keys to the Cadillac, I posted this skateboarding video. The Human League soundtrack paired with the fresh take on tricks is magic. There’s an appealing whimsy to that video I think you’ll like even if you don’t like skateboard videos. Here’s some more from Tim and Eric (the other ones) along the same lines.
Also, Fred sent this over last time around. It gets pretty crazy almost immediately, but there’s the same kind of fun involved.
(Thanks, Fred)
Tarp surfing
Get yourself a skateboard, a big blue tarp, have someone lift the edge of the tarp over you as you skateboard by, and guess what that looks like:
(via mathowie)
Tony Hawk does a 900
At 42 years old, with the smile crinkles around his eyes to prove it, Tony Hawk can still do a 900 on a skateboard.
According to Wikipedia, Hawk is one of only four men in the world who have done this trick (he first did it in 1999). He announced on Twitter that he’d done the trick — “P.S. I made a 9” — and on his way out of town left one of his boards at the airport for a lucky fan to find. (thx, dens)
Not exactly Dogtown
I haven’t watched a skateboarding video all the way through in years. I can’t tell if it’s the music or the whimsical pace of the tricks. In any case, let this one take you through the rest of the night.
(via whatevs.net)
Amazing surfing video of Matt Meola
It is difficult to watch this video of Matt Meola surfing and not think of the evolution of skateboarding, particularly the transition between freestyle skating and the invention of vert in the empty swimming pools of southern California. Most of the stuff he does looks impossible. (via matt’s a.whole)
Update: Gah, the video has been pulled offline for some reason. Here’s another one, not quite as good. You can also try YouTube.
The evolution of skateboarding
The 1965 Skateboard Championships:
Del Mar Nationals, 1975:
The Bones Brigade Video Show, 1984:
Tony Hawk at X-Games, 1996:
Big Air competition at X-Games, 2008:
(thx, brian)
Update: The first video got removed from Vimeo…found a replacement on Google Video.
Speed skateboarding
HD video of two guys in powder-blue suits skateboarding down a hill at high velocity. This is insane, insane, insane…they even pass a car on the way down. Fast forward to 2:20 for the good stuff. (thx, dunstan)
Update: Michael Sippey made a topological map of the route these guys took.
Slo-mo skate video
Gorgeous slow-mo HD skateboarding video. You can really see the crazy things that the boards do in the air. (via justin blanton)
Beautiful, beautiful slow-motion skate video intro by
Beautiful, beautiful slow-motion skate video intro by Spike Jonze. The video it’s taken from isn’t too shoddy either…here’s a typical glowing review. (via avenues)
Designers often have the design disease, where
Designers often have the design disease, where you “can’t stop looking at things through your designer eyes”. “But it’s not just books, it’s everything. You’ll choose wine by the design of the label and you’d stay [at a hotel] because of the sign.” (via emdashes)
Update: Bruce writes: “A parallel affliction to the Design Disease is Climber’s Complaint, wherein someone who takes up rock climbing begins to see every object and architecture as potentially climbable. Similarly, Skater’s Disorder afflicts those for whom every surface is seen to exhibit some measure of skate-worthiness.”
Skateboarder Bob Burnquist has built the world’s
Skateboarder Bob Burnquist has built the world’s first permanent Mega Ramp, a structure pioneered by Danny Way, who used one to jump the Great Wall of China on a skateboard.
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