Monday, September 10, 2012
Opening Ceremony
While it rains on Saturday evening Mooney and I go to his, where I pick up the new QuarterSnacks black back Snackman tee in XL. It feels Amazing on me, like a dream come true. I have on an all black kit. We listen to Future and I text all the sexy girls I know to see whats good. Eugenie gives me 57 Walker St address of art opening which means free drinks so Mooney and I prepare to leave his. The Snackman graphic on my back looks so good that I leave my backpack at Mooney's to show off the Snackman on my back. I leave my Clash Skateboard too since it's still raining. We walk downtown in the drizzle and listen to Future on my phone, then get to the art show where there are two floors and the alcohol choice between Brooklyn bottles and Prosecco so Mooney and I pull bottles from icey tub then I pop the caps with lighter and find Eugenie in the back sitting down. In the year after knee surgeries I am always down to take a rest so we do some talking and see some other people. Mooney says he is developing a taste for Brooklyn beer since we keep having it at openings but he will still not pay money for it. Sandy Kim has taken many photos of breasts in situations and some other cool things. Eugenie is not holding a beer and I ask if she drinks and she says Not beer and I tell her there is prosecco and she goes up for a glass.
The beer is in no worry of running out and we are six bottles deep, well on the way to 100+ ounce goal, by the time we make it downstairs, where Nolema is with her friend Ira and we talk to them all and pick up one of Tyler Healy's print outs and see Egg Yolk's melted popsicle corner, all blue besides one orange. Mooney hypothesizes this is a race discussion. I talk to Sage and Marin for a minute, then see them later with Carly Mark and we talk about how much Roctakon likes the treats she brought him from Paris. She tells me to make sure to have Roctakon pass her along a Dollar Story. She can also pick them up at American Two Shot. Thando comes, Valentine comes, Jorge is there, Maggie Lee has video art, Riot Chris is still straightedge. Kosta arrives right when things are ending, in a tan Lands End rain jacket very much like the one I used to wear before a black Krink marker busted in the pocket years ago. I should sew a different color pocket over that jacket since I have it in Indiana and we follow Thando's suggestion of Patriot Bar en route to the Wang Party.
On the way I stop to introduce myself to a girl who has found a resting position on a window ledge that suits her angular body very well so I stop and tell her things. She is rolling a cigarette then I see she is rolling herb into it as well and I ask if I may share and she says sure. A true SF girl, smoking loud in public 8 years into New York and she runs a literary journal so we have plenty in common and she lets on that she has a boyfriend, which is considerate. She encourages I smoke the first half of the joint myself, also considerate and she asks who I'm listening to on my phone as I say Future, the song Astronaut Chick and she says she'll have to download it when she gets home. When we say goodbye she remembers my name and even though I don't remember hers I have the courage to ask what it is again, and I just take her full name into my phone to play it safest even though I feel like we'll see each other again too even though I haven't found her on Facebook yet.
I meet up with the team again at Patriot Bar. A beer there, cheap prices, Ty comes through, friendly bartenders, I pick up like 5 buffalo wings from a tray someone was done with and the team goes in. Valentine doesn't realize they are leftovers and says that they are cold. I have one dollar on my person and have to save card money for rent so could not have bought an order of wings even if I wanted to and we explain the situation to her. Then we go check out the Wang party but don't bother trying the door as Mooney's connect is slow to respond and people are only getting entrance when people leave, but why would anyone leave, so we head back northwest. We pass the smoking crowds outside Tribeca Grand and stop at Soho Grand where Thando and I go up to check out the party on the second floor near where I met with Arnaud for Carhartt interview for which I should have worn looser pants and entertained Arnaud's offer of breakfast. Thando points out how well our outfits work tonight, since I am white and wearing the black Snackman tee and Thando is black wearing the White Snackman tee and some Supreme Dunks. The black doorman looks at Thando in this weird way then Thando tells the white door girl the deejay's name and we are in. We walk through and wish it was open bar because the decor is nice but the scene is not too crowded so we can't just cruise up on a bottle so we meet back up with Mooney Kosta and Valentine outside then start walking toward Jane.
Thando supports my buzz with a street beer from the deli by where Liz used to live. Valetine grabs her bike and rides off to Night People at Le Bain then Kosta turns around when we're about to be at the Jane. Inside at Jane we pass the line and go to Grandpa in the dj booth and he gives us drink tickets. I use mine on Vodka gimlets. I use my last cash on first round tip and cannot go to my card tonight. Then later I tip change from my Anti Hero coin purse which I know is worthless to the bartenders but feel better about myself at least giving them something as the 13 dollar drinks go down very nicely/potently. Buzz Lightyear. I don't come up on any babes at Jane as usual but have a fine time as usual and talk to Miyako which is always a pleasure.
Thando leaves at some point and this is when the night gets hazy. Mooney and I split a whiskey shot on our last drink ticket and then i bet we left and headed toward the Fish though i don't remember. I do remember being so fucking tired on the subway home and kinda feel like I may have taken two trains somehow and had to stay awake so I didn't miss my stops. I do remember getting off the subway at Halsey to morning light and running home so I could go to sleep sooner. I had taken off my knee brace at some point and was carrying that. I woke up to my Computer as an alarm, so I must have realized before I went to sleep that I didn't have my phone. When I skated with Roctakon earlier Saturday he had told me I drink too much, later in the day Mooney disagreed with that statement and I wonder if me not having a phone is proof of that. THe front of my Flip Cam is now missing the Battery protector but the video machine still works despite that, even though I have to tape the batteries in place now.
Then I wake up, make sandwiches for work at the house, also pack an orange and some carrots along with water in a Gatorade bottle then take the bus to work my shift very well off 4 hours sleep. You have to be very mindful when moving product while on a ladder since that shit can be dangerous, then I head home and hit up Mooney on twitter to see where I should meet him that night. I text with Michelle on Ryan's phone about her plans for the night since I may go to Montreal with her the next day. She is saying Fish. Twitter looks like Mooney's at a y3 party though I don't have an address and I talk to Eugenie on Facebook chat as I wait to hear back from Mooney on the situation and chomp a carrot. Eugenie is mentioning Opening Ceremony thing then Mooney tells me to go to Webster Hall so I split a spliff with Ryan and take the Snackman cruiser and my red Supreme backpack out the door. I'm wearing two new Polo shirts and polo Tennis shorts and white Nike indoor soccer shoes with hair in ponytail and bobby pins. If I was Mooney I would tell girls I am a pro tennis player. I have a nice seat on the subway which is good for my knee but then the train gets crowded and I help the aged to offer my seat to an older woman, since if you don't do it, nobody else may do it either.
I get off at 1st Ave to be on Manhattan streets ASAP and skate around to hit Webster Hall from the West. The block is hot and I step off my board and scan faces then see Austin Peters walking in with his girl. I yell his name and he hears me but he is being hurried in as door men keep shuffling me along another way so I loop around and approach the door like Austin did but with Snackman cruiser on my arm instead of a babe. Some worker calls me young man and tells me I have to move away as I'm getting my bag ready and I tell him I'm going in so he says okay. I walk to the door and girls younger than me with iPads are confirming names. I say Austin Peters and she says okay enjoy your night. The entry is crowded and the crowd shuffles in slower than I would like but progress happens. I walk into the bigger ground level room and loop first floor looking for Mooney. I see Benny Zooted and Mike Avedon, who says he went to high school with Lauren Piven so now I know she grew up in the city and Mike and I talk about Matt Avedon for a minute and we talk about the US Open. Zooted and I talk about the sweaty Triple Six show then I see Jenny Correa who says she saw Roctakon and encourages me to get a drink so I head toward a bar. I see Austin Peters and tell him how I got in then he tells me it's open bar and I get a beer like he has. Ashasi poured from bottle into plastic cup. I see Amir beside me at the bar wearing a black collared shirt. I see Sky and we talk about our approaching court date, then I suggest we head upstairs even though I saw Zooted and Avedon go downstairs I had heard a girl's voice say "upstairs" earlier.
The second level is the main stage standing roomspace with DJs up front, a balcony area up and around. I see Roc and Carly in the middle back of floor, Roc in Camo, having fun dancing. Roc takes my photo first and it's good to know I look good. I can talk to Roc anytime but talking to Carly is a rarer treat but the space is so loud it is hard to talk though we make effort. The most effective way is to speak right into someone's ear. "To be famous is so nice. Suck my dick. Kiss my ass. In limousines we have sex. Every night with my famous friends." Harsh Euro Barge was my introduction to Miss Kitten but Roctakon knew about her before then. I kinda dance but dancing is kind of tiring and my heart isn't in it though a wandering dancing babe gives me attention. I twirl some circles and see Josh Zickert and I wonder if he knows I am the person who wrote the Natty K review on QuarterSnacks. I wander up to the third level and it becomes apparent there is a new party in every different room of this entire Hall, like 20 parties in the whole building and one room filled with roses and comfortable chairs and if I had my phone I would text Valentine, instead I film footage since flowers looks dope on flip cam footy. I grab another beer and head back to the second floor where a fast paced remix of Video Games draws me to the Dance floor until that song ends too soon and I head toward the stairs where I see Sage and Marin, both looking as fine as ever for the second night in a row.
It is so loud that Marin doesn't hear me say hi, so I stand beside Marin for a second as she looks into her phone then she senses my presence and we talk about how good the Rap CDs she donated to friends were. Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, Diplomatic Immunity, Lil Jon and 20 other discs of similar quality. I worked too late before they were gone. How many girls do you know know who have bought rap like that? Marin and I talk about what we did last night after we last saw each other and I admit I lost my phone. Marin says she is sorry, that she lost her phone in a cab at the same damn time last night probably but got hers back today. She has eye make up with lines going up at the edges of her eyes and I wonder about her eye make up and if she will do that in five years. I hope that at least on occasion she will. This Opening Ceremony 10 year anniversary party will never happen again and the open bar will go till last call. I have not broken my 20 that I withdrew because Mooney advised me to never withdraw more than 20 from the ATM at once is the best way to be responsible when poor or anytime. Marin announces she wants another drink as I say Me too and we head to the bar with Sage and Sammy, Claude's friend. Marin is drinking pineapple and vodka something so I place her order and my beer. I show her a clip of the room with roses. I ask if Sage wants anything while the bartender is around but Marin says Sage doesn't drink. As I am standing at the bar I see Katy standing eight people to the right from me, white, blonde, older than my memories. I have not seen her in like 3 years and she doesn't see me yet, but she is standing beside Daria who does and who smiles and waves. Katy and I do not make eye contact but I bet Daria identifies me to her and then Marin's and my drinks come and Marin invites me to come along so I walk away without making eye contact with Katy and no effort at further approach from me. I tell Marin how I got in using Austin Peters' name and she says she and Austin used to date years ago. I tell her I just saw my ex-girlfriend across the bar who I hadn't seen in four years and wonder if I should have said "an ex-girlfriend" to sound less attached. We walk as Marin texts with Carly to find out where she and Roc went. I see Marin's phone's Hello Kitty background so show her my Hello Kitty key holder. She asks me if I found the keys and I point to myself to show her they are mine. She likes. It is so loud. We dance some as Dave Moche and Deering are there then Princess SuperStar starts rapping with a dance troupe and i start to wander again. Catherine's white face stands out to me and I walk toward her then realize she's standing beside TJ Carlissimo closer to me so I say whats up to him first, hug since we haven't seen each other in over a year and I have a Snackman cruiser in one hand and drink in the other. TJ is wearing dark clothes and I try to make out his shoes. We do our best to talk over the sound. He has no drink and I ask if he is drinking these days. He says he's waiting on drinks then Clark Hassler arrives with four drinks for their quartet. There are few sights more pleasant than Clark arriving with the handful of drinks. I give him a cheers with my beer, which is easier than hand shakes, especially since I have a scrape on my palm and point to my ear to signal how difficult talking is and he agrees. Someone hands Deering a colorful plastic eggs that he twists open to reveal a smaller egg. Inside that egg is a small square box and inside that a folded silver plastic package which Deering tucks into his breast pocket to move our minds.
Another beer and I wonder about work tomorrow. I go to the basement where there is some ASAP sounding rap playing and I see the oldest man I have seen at the party looking at me and think about talking to him but keep it moving. The restroom downstairs has an attendant who keeps the paper towels flowing and I get another two beers at the bar since I had to wait so long to order. I go upstairs and see Danielle sitting down so talk to her and use her phone to text Michelle where I am. Michelle says she's going to Sway and I say maybe I'll go there in an hour though I'm feeling less like I'll leave this place and I still haven't seen Mooney and I don't know how Michelle could get in here. Danielle tells me there are free cookies up at this Magnolia stand so I go up there and pick up two and am also given a petite cupcake that I give to Danielle on the way back and she's smoking her e-cigarette and i try two hits and she talks about all the drugs she is on and we tell stories for some time. The girl who danced with me at first sits down beside us and I tell Danielle that girl danced with me. Danielle asks if I want to dance and I tell her no and tell her how I didn't want to dance with the other girl either so it isn't personal. My left knee surgery story is kind of wild and she hadn't heard it. I grab some more cookies from Momofuku Milk bar and put them in my backpack and there is coconut water coffee that I put bottles in my bag too, just loading my bag up to capacity for the future, the house and work tomorrow.
Fully stocked, I go for a beer but they are now out of beer so I switch to vodka and juices with caution. I go upstairs and see Fat Bill in an Adidas tracksuit with Chloe Sevigny but they are talking to other people too and I figure I'll see them later again. There is a room that is a recreation of Sway, long and Narrow and Ben Cho is there playing the Smiths of course since it is Sunday and I wish I could get Michelle into this party and wonder what it is like if she is actually at Sway. I see Maggie Lee by a bathroom line in an adidas track jacket too and we wait together and talk about Ryan and Sydney and her work with Bill and how we both have backpacks. We go into the one private bathroom together when our turn comes and Maggie shoots a photo then I turn away while she goes, then I go and we are washed, then kiss on the lips then she puts her tongue in my mouth then someone knocks at the door then we head out, where Maggie changes her film and she starts talking to someone else so I keep it moving. Allen Ying is there now in Sway room of course and he says Paulgar got him in. I see Paulgar a few minutes later with Bill and Chloe and it is a great treat to see Paulgar though of course conversation is still difficult but it's better outside the sway room where you take a right like you're heading to party ledge, which is where I talk to Chloe for a minute. I ask her if she remembers when she and Roctakon went on a date to Grand Central Station Oyster Bar and she says yes, that she loves Andy and we talk about him being there tonight. Chloe kinda is looking into her phone and I wonder if she knows my name. She announces that she cannot find her date and I say "You should make me your date" but it is too loud for her to hear me and I do not repeat myself and leave her looking into her phone.
I head to main floor while Lil Kim is rapping and people are waving large flags. The last time I saw Kim was with Gucci Mane at Stadium. I see Roctakon and Carly have taken good sitting perched vantage points with Ross One and HVN http://www.myspace.com/realtoughcrowd looking lovely and happy to see me, haven't since her birthday girls. Then I say Hello to Ross, which is the most we can say when it is this loud and then all these silver balloons in the shape of stars fall from the ceiling, like one thousand or two thousand of them, and hands bounce them for a while in strobe lighting then people stomp them and I wander through the crowd and stomp them and I wonder if someone in heels will twist an ankle or knee on the less stable surfaces.
Back on the entry level I dance to No Diggity walking around and it's nice to hear Money Power Respect and All About the Benjamins. "I'm trying to cop those Colossal sized Picassos" is one of the best rap lines. I pick up a rose and have it sticking out of my backpack. Then back up by Roctakon I see Thando and Ty and some babes. Since Thando and Mooney are roommates and co-producers of 21 Sprung Street I know I can go home with Thando and pick up my things. He says Mooney left already. People are giving out colorful lights to strap on our fingers and I get Thando and me a few more drinks. I talk to a girl in Jordans who says she is waiting on her boyfriend but she is still down to talk and I end up selling her a Dollar Story, then sell a Dollar Story to the downstairs bathroom attendant then give one to one of the bartenders who was nice. Then Ty and Thando and I walk downtown and Thando convinces me to not go to Montreal the next day with Michelle since I should not leave the country when I have less than 100 dollars to my name, especially considering how I have the opportunity to make money if I stay in New York for two more days until the US Open ends. As Cam'ron says, "I'd rather do business than pleasure," so I text Michelle the next day and know she'll understand and I'll go to Montreal in the Spring when my knee is even better. I wonder if my next phone will be Clay's old iPhone when he gets the new one. I kinda want to go to phone Cex and pick up a blackberry so I can have two phones like a dope boy.
I pick up my bag and board from Spring Street so now I have two boards and two bags at 4:15am. I blast up first Ave on Snackman cruiser and get to L and see two police right in the station. I see the next Brooklyn L is coming in one minute. I swipe my metro card but the turnstile stops my stomach and I see the reader says INSUFFICIENT FUNDS. I hear the train coming and if I go to the machine to buy another card I'll miss the train and the next one is 28 minutes away and it is 4:20am already and I have to be at work at Flushing Meadows by noon and I need to go to Grand Central in the morning before that to pick up a check and deposit it so I can pay rent 10 days late. The police are not looking at me and I do not have any drugs on me so I duck under the turnstile, but the turnstile opens my backpack so Dollar Stories, cookies and coconut water bottles spill along the ground and I still have my wallet and metro card in hand as I frantically try to place everything onto my Clash board as a collection plate, which I somehow do, and carry bags, boards and it all downstairs and onto the train, where I put all the goods back in my bag as I ride the ten stops to Halsey again and at least it is still dark when I get off the train this time and go to sleep for 4 hours again before waking up with my computer as an alarm clock. I leave my house at 10:17 in the morning which is obviously all you need to know to know that today was going to be a good day.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The Flowers He Left Have All Died
Chity is a video made within Chicago city limits with a part from Pat Binkley. You're welcome to read this whole thing, but that information was all I needed to know to buy this video, which you can do here http://chity.bigcartel.com/product/chity-dvd Let's open the recycled paper sleeve and take a look inside.
For a video indebted to its geographical constraints, Chity fittingly opens with some slightly grainy shots of Chicagoan architecture as the skaters' names appear. Nancy Sinatra sings about living in the past, which relates to how street skating thrives on remastering already mastered landscapes. Depending on whom you're talking to, the Marina City Towers are the corncob shaped pair from Mindfield or Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Manufactured light reflects on water. The first human in this video is a window washer. As the sonic buildup crescendos, the curtain rises and skating enters, first with a trick done up a set of stairs. These Alley Boys skate Frank Lloyd Wright's City at Night, do nose manuals on banks, skitch on busses. These are (white) skaters in their mid twenties with at least a decade of skating under their belts, doing better tricks than ever with a tendency away from verticality and more toward pushing horizontal barriers with the help of the speed and finesse that confidence grants.
A wrecking ball destroys the fourth wall and Elliott Zelinskas starts us off with a wide stance, slighty beatnik look and street gap nollie. A ye ye girl sings over brass and reverb as Elliot continues a line to include a horsedrawn carriage and skates on sidewalk grates as fresh incorporation of anti-terrain. Bright parking garages are sometimes the closest we get to daylight. Sean Culllen joins the party with an outfit so good he filmed multiple lines in it. He does a memorably smooth back tail to fakie and some combination of factors brought Aaron Szott to my mind, though Cullen's hair is longer than the conservative cuts that The Economist favors. This one guest skater is a party boy in white v-neck with both kness ripped out of jeans who does a chill switch line. Zelinskas returns to showcase his back 360 talent in a pair of Wallabees. No complies and back 5-0s receive love and the quality of tricks is high at the end of the part, with a switch front wallride ender at the big, famous wallride sculpture thing that Jackson Hennessey dropped in on. I feel like these guys kick it with girls who go to music shows.
Tucker Philllips and Adam Mills come next. Everyone sessions this concave fountain spot with pleasant results. Ollie over nose manuals are a classic demonstration of commitment and balance. There is a wallie on a tree, another fountain spot, a zip zinger for a rough spot and loud ollie to wallrides on this pulldown grate. Hammer gloves appear when skating a spot with grass in cracks. I cannot overstate how many good ledge spots appear in this video. There is a sick nose bonk, a trick on the Sea Wall, gnarly underpasses, obstacles that were there that day, a gap to nose grind stall, multivelel mannies and combo ledge tricks. The kickflip ender on a mosaic train station entrance is dreamy.
When this lady steps on a board, she wants her hands held so it looks like she's dipping in a slow dance when she loses her balance. Fan favorite G-Baby skates to his theme song from the Dixie Cups. They sing lines like "he's the best" that speak to the action in the part. He skates this cool spot at a Chanel store in a variety of ways. Lizard King, Daniel Lutheran and Conner Champion come to mind as G-Baby doesn't let a grass landing stop him from rolling away from a trick, then back nosegrind reverts a ledge through a flower bed. There's a spot that is the Chicago equivalent of the Garvey Park flatbars. G-Baby grinds up and back down on a bridge support. He does a kickflip bs nosegrind wiggle out that brought Weiss to my mind, The smile on G-Baby's face after Varial heelflipping out of a long back 5-0 is enough to remind anyone nitpicking the cleanliness of his rollaway that he has ended his part with a Van Wastell tribute trick.
You know those metal banks that typically have guards in booths beside them to let the bank down should a car need to pass? Tim Johnson does wallie over one of those to start his part. A few tricks later he does a slappie crooks under a bridge that Janoski would like. Nollie tres are a good look. The low-fi song is a cool change of pace and T.J. does a grind to transfer to the top of the ledge he was grinding. The way buildings loom in the background of lines at night is an effect to exploit. Red sky at night, skater's delight. There is a switch wallie back 5050 on a rainbow ledge then a 5050 down a curve ledge that mine a terrain vein most often explored by Eli Reed. Tan pants and navy blue shirt are a stylish and functional outfit for getting dirty.
Tom Gallagher skates transition in his brief part. He is probably important to the scene and wears a shirt from Yeah Board Shop which a couple other people rep throughout as well.
Austin Whiting wears a Girl t-shirt during a couple of his tricks, which I mention because it is rare to see a logo tee in this video. He does a line at a school named after Federico Garcia Lorca and we turn into a friends section at some point. Some dude with dreads kills it with some big tricks that look great on their own and also sort of highlight how comparatively rare gap and stair skating is in this production. Whiting does a kickflip nose manny under the sculpture of Marilyn Monroe's blowing dress. We see a cellar door that is at once a spot and a symbol. Look for Dan Zvereff. There is a sick nollie heel out of a nose manual. Melcher and Jub would fit right in here but do not appear. This dude who reminds me of Ross Hammerschlag does a sick back 5050 on a rail against a wall and some other daredevilry. I cannot see a lion statute without thinking of Nick Jenson's recent Blueprint photo ad. Nollie back bigspin a skreet gap is a rare trick that looks better here than it could have and there's a big front shove at this multi level spot a lot of dudes skate that looks fun.
Pat Devine skates to some gothic chamber music about Killing Cops, does a back lip kf out, filmed while nursing an injured paw, does a bs noseblunt, probably likes Nestor Judkins, and does a boss bs flip switch manny. He sometimes wears collar under crew neck, likes his bank tricks, does a step off flip up stairs, and has a multi-combo ender at the multi level spot that he deserves a treat for landing.
Now here is the part I have been waiting for, that of PAT BINKLEY. With Lee Hazlewood covering vocals, Pat starts off with a bs ng pop out tribute to Photosynthesis then bsts 270 shove it. He lands a ssbsts in front of a babe. He does a bsng bs 180 out in the middle of the ledge like that one by Danny LeBron's friend in the Best of QS 2011 clip. Binkley wears his hat backwards sometimes, forward sometimes just like he skates regular and switch both with skill. He does a switch heelz up a curb that looks really great, then switch front blunts to switch to remind us that he is really good at ledge tricks most of us never reach the level of attempting. He skates a sweaty grey shirt because it's hot in the summers in Chicago. He skate ledges in the heart of the city, then ledges in the cuts along the El line where instead of getting by on how good the spot looks with some basic trick, Binkley blesses the ledge with a switch bs180 nosegrind back to switch. He wears this red flannel with blue jeans outfit that reminds me of one Marquez wore for some Ziegfeld lines. These are ledge tricks that would be sick on any box taken to manly street spots. There are a couple clips that end with a missed flatground trick, an accurate portrayal of how skaters push fun and demonstration to the limit where rolling proves impossible.
Paul Stacey has long hair and does long ollies. He lands a trick then runs into a tree. He takes us to their Pilsen schoolyard spot with two consecutive 3 up 3 downs. He gets buck on less than ideal manual spots and feels comfortable in harsh industrial spaces. He wears a coach's jacket for some clips like a manual 360 flip, then ollies over this cool cube to drop. He does progressive tricks up consecutive sets of stairs then a wild wallie back biggspin over a jersey barrier. He wears a drug rug while he back heels a street gap, then for his ender does a sick bs flip over another one with obvious speed and shows control on his rollaway.
Ever since Lizard King dedicated his Deathwish Nose Yank to Satan, this maneuver has been deemed an acceptable intro to a skate part by the Dark Lords of Gnar so long as further carnage ensues.
And lest you think these boys would let a whole video go by without a rap song, Dalba enters the picture skating to 2pac when he is more pissed off than he is on Hit Em Up.
Dalba is the skate game's brawling bareknuckled boxer who is an ideal Chicago figure straight from a shift at the stockyards that Norman Mailer wishes he hadn't died before having a chance to watch skate. Dalba manhandles spots with a taut brutal strength befitting a 4 wheeled acrobat clad in cut off shirts and cut off jeans. He does switch bonelesses shiny with sweat and rarely misses a chance to grab or nosepick. For some reason, I had always associated nosepicks more with a pick axe than with picking one's nose. He has a motorcycle tow him so he can do a long early grab. He is the type of American about whom John Phillip Sousa would have written an anarchic march. He wouldn't be out of place in a Natural Koncepts or GG Allin video. He does fearless rooftop shit to make Zarosh proud, some multi-level ledge combos that Mike Mo would respect and some shit from sources as mysterious as spring water. Call his last trick what you want, we know an ender when we see it and the curtains close with the Chity logo Stamp of Approval.
The credits feature guest skater names and song information to help us sort out the past 28 minutes. Pat Franklin was in there, one of the songs was by Ennio Morricone and lifestyle clips show the glue that held this production together. A joint of marijuana appears, a 4wheeler wheelies, someone chops a board in two, someone else twists out a sweat soaked shirt, a skater exectues a darkslide, and there are some encounters with babes that lead to make outs. Haven't you always wanted to jump in the passenger side of a Fed Ex truck since there's no door and take a ride.
In summary, Chity is a really chill video, a landmark portrayal of of the city destined to be a classic in the manner of A Midwest VIdeo. This excellent documentation of what America's Second City has to offer skaters will inspire visitation plans from all who take the time to view. Everyone's part is beyond competent and creative in a way that such a vast city allows. On a first watching, it may be difficult to remember which white skater was doing which tricks where, but differences emerge after the repeated viewings this video encourages.
Bonus features conveniently split between Travel footage, Wilson Park footage, and G-baby's footage collection.
Monday, January 2, 2012
A Shop for All Seasons and Forever
Memories of Autumn
2001-2011
There is a tendency to consider things older than ourselves permanent into our future since we have no memory of a time without them. Autumn was in New York City before I was and it had soldiered on for so long that I only imagined that it would continue to do that. Now the shop is closed. I will be thankful if this writing of Autumn’s death proves premature or temporary. Its rebirth is the SnackMan’s number one prediction for 2012 and my fervent hope too, right up there with last year’s prediction of Slicky Boy switch Nosegrinding a handrail. I feel the coming of both may arrive jointly, or once Slicky Boy’s rap money allows him to buy out the whole block of 9th St, reinstate Autumn with the bowl on site and start the Tompkins Deli back again too with a nightclub downstairs that will create its own Barmuda Triangle with Blind Barber and Lit. A resurrection of Autumn would be similar to the creation of Nobel Prizes once the living Mr. Nobel was declared dead in the press, that is a chance to live again more vigorously than ever before in the celebration of ideals, effort and truth, for all of which Autumn was a beacon despite its lack of extensive storefront signage. It existed in location and aesthetic right between Supreme and KCDC. The development of the gentleman skater genre owes much to Autumn. One time this kid asked the Philosopher how to get to Autumn and Philosopher told him to stick around the TF till 7:30 then help carry the box back to the shop.
The first time I visited Autumn in 2004 I saw a shuttered storefront in daylight and thought it had gone out of business. In my life as a skater in search of skateshops I have come across a vacant location more than once. In this case I came from Indiana and had the address of the old 2nd St location. Then I read a sign that directed me to Autumn’s second and for now, last location that would anchor my location for much of my time in New York.
My first visit did not result in a purchase. Snackman is right, there was no complimentary massage at Autumn. I don’t remember who sat behind the counter in silence. I was free to browse as I wished. I wanted to buy a Tino Is My Homeboy shirt but had not met Tino at the time, only seen him in videos. I wondered if that made me his homeboy and once I was in the shop my conscience wouldn’t let me buy the shirt even though I was certain we would get along once we met. I was younger then and didn’t realize that at a store in a city where no one knew me no one would know who I knew. But then I figured everyone who knew would know. I didn’t think how Autumn would appreciate the money because Autumn was a shop that needed money to run. I picked up an issue of Vice for free. Anyway, I would be back and spend money there, though the Tino shirts had sold out by the time I met him.
In skate shops it is acceptable behavior to sit all day reading a magazine. This is also a discreet way to monitor the comings and goings in the shop. There was the friendly repartee with the UPS man and the shop gave him a pair of shoes he had asked about. I saw Clyde Singleton out front and had to call my friends in Indiana to tell them. Patrick O’Dell was there sometimes and I saw Spanky. I had read Patrick O’Dell and T. Barrow’s writing about Autumn in the magazines, how O’Dell had mail delivered there and Ted conducted Gentlemen’s meetings in the back. Epiclylaterd was my laptop homepage before Quartersnacks emerged from the death of 5050skateboarding. Since I was too young for the Fish at the time, Autumn was my best chance to see the people who do things that are cool in New York on their daily grind.
The mid point of this millenium’s first decade was in the heydey of the allover print t-shirt, and I purchased a rainbow shirt with diagonal striped colorful print and the black shirt with white stars all over it, the same one FlatBar Dave had. Owner Dave Mims’ wife Kristen was working that day, before I knew her as Dave the owner’s wife and I felt like this beautiful woman was giving me a homie deal because I wasn’t charged tax, but then I was unaware of tax free shopping since I was new to the city.
I was sitting at the shop one evening, reading a magazine, when people were going to the Autumn Bowl and asked me if I wanted to come. We drove in Dave’s car with Alex Porta and Oscar. I couldn’t believe I’d been asked to tag along when I was quiet. Once in Greenpoint we made my first walk down the alleyway type thing and walked on planks set down over standing water, then were in. Some other dudes were already there and the session was too heavy for me so I dropped in and took a couple cruises through but ended up sessioning the mini ramp in the other room with Oscar. The last time I skated the bowl I did my first grind in the deep end. I guess the fact that the Autumn Bowl closed was proof that Autumn didn’t have the funds to maintain a Brooklyn outpost that was not a store, rather an amazing, beautiful handwrought space that existed only for stoke, but Autumn did the best things as much as it was able and we all benefited from all of them.
My parents came to visit my first fall and we saw Dave walking through Tompkins Square and he stopped and introduced himself and my parents were happy to see that I was friends with quality people. It was easy to find quality people at Autumn. Paulgar sat behind the counter cool as can be with pomade in his hair drinking iced coffee on a summer day when the shop was hot with no airconditioning, one fan running and the door propped open with the tail of a snapped deck. Grandpa would price things in his mind and always was generous. It was said that the whole city was on Autumn flow. I cannot wait much longer for Jilleen and Brengar to collaborate on the Autumn video that has still not come out. There was the Zero style Grandpa pro model wearing his beanie that hung at the tresh hold to the back. Charles Chatov and Brett Land worked there some and called me the Prophet when I would come in there dazed from contemplating skate theory and needing an outlet. Brett Land’s Doghouse made of skateboards was in the storefront for a while. The front window was also a first home to the world’s finest example of contemporary portraiture, Gigliotti’s study of Brengar with the popsicle. One time last year I called the store and asked if Dharam was there. I knew he wouldn’t be, but wanted to keep his name on people’s lips and heard laughter over the line when Dave announced my question to whoever else was in the store.
My first board purchase from the shop was a dipped white 5Boro Virgin Mary board and I learned switch crooked grinds on the black flat box at Tompkins right after I set it up. I bought my first Zip Zinger there then Jake Hanly and I kicked it in south Tompkins and watched The Virgins play. Many times I used the shop tools to assemble the hand me down boards that Roctakon offered. There was the board that had all of the photographs of girls blowing bubble gum and they were the girls I wanted to meet in New York.
One time at the Fish Ted Barrow told me if I went up and talked to this girl she would kiss me. I walked up to her and told her I liked her dress. She said “Really?” I told her yeah, that the pattern was remarkable. Soon enough we had gone outside and were kissing. When I came back in to grab my board to leave, Ted focused my board in front of me. He then apologized and said he owed me a board. Three years later he told me to stop by the shop and there was a Workshop cruiser board covered in Aesthetics and Autumn stickers waiting for me.
At the end of my first schoolyear in New York, before I left for Indiana for the summer, Jeremy Corley, he of the 100 dollar haircut and small dog, said I could take a Slayer shirt on the house. I wore the black shirt often that summer and have used it as a pillowcase. There was the burning Church t-shirt in orange that I gave to a friend, The bela Lugosi is dead t-shirt an ex-girlfriend took off me one night to have sex with me again anyway. The No-Beach t-shirt that I have managed to keep free of stains. The Morrissey in Supreme font t-shirts in black on black and white on white. The white Autumn hoody with the green circle logo on back I like to wear with the Orange Helmut Lang jeans I picked up from the 12 and A flea market when that was still running. Autumn sold the Palace t-shirts that help attract models. I gave my all over print horror movie tshirt to this girl in Brooklyn maybe named Zoe after we made out one night at a party. There was the Fuck The Police t-shirt with Sting’s band on the front. Autumn had better vintage pieces at more reasonable prices than anywhere in the East Village, the only skateshop in the universe where you could find Yves Saint Laurent and Brooks Brothers collars. I bought my first Five Brothers flannel that I am wearing in my current facebook profile picture from Autumn. On a number of occasions I grabbed an extra layer before heading somewhere. One time I bought a longsleeved black metal band t-shirt and we were debating how much Dave should charge me. Someone pointed out that it would sell for 100 at Search and Destroy. Having seen Miles’s purchases there I believed that. Dave ended up giving it to me for 25. On the front it had skeletons in electric chairs sitting down to the Last Supper. On the back it featured a baby’s head in a vice with the words “I was Born Alive. Isn’t that punishment enough?”
Much of the time Autumn didn’t have stickers, but when they did they were great and generously distributed. They may not have had many shoes, but the shoes they did have were straight from Dave Caddo’s packages. The Chief in the frame watched you while you tried on clothes. Andy Kessler’s last shoes found a home at the highest point in the shop. There were few things better to do than moving the bench out front in pleasant weather and watching the girls walk past while assembling a board. No matter how inconsistent Autumn’s soft goods selection could have been, they always had boards and all the hardware that you needed to stay skating which is the most basic and important definition of a skate shop.
Danny Weiss and I were in there with Miles on his 18th Birthday when Grandpa searched up a Deluxe catalogue and Miles took the Anti-Hero Eagle, added an American flag to its talons and we headed down to St. Marks for Miles's first tattoo.
I was in New York most recently in November. I wanted to maximize my time in the city so took the first flight in. No one was really stirring when I made it to the East Village with my bags before noon. I waited at Autumn until Dave rolled up to open the shop. He let me leave my bags there until I figured out where I would be sleeping.
Before the shop closed for good, the shop closed at 7:30. There were the times in the summer when the box or ledge would have to go inside when there was still prime shredding going on in late daylight at TF. In the winter, the box would be returned when it was dark before 5 and we hung around the shop because it was too early to go home and too cold to be outside. The TV didn’t always work, but you could crowd around the counter in back and watch whatever the employee wanted to see on youtube. I remember Slicky Boy unsuccessfully trying to get Martin to play an A$AP song but he obliged to look up another beat on the condition that Slicky Boy freestyle over it. There was the bathroom with toilet paper roll on the truck where the wheel would go that was a preferred stop to the Tompkins park facilities. Autumn gladly provided a venue for me to distribute my short stories. Roctakon tre flipped inside the shop and taildropped out of it. I have never been into the shop that Waka Flocka blessed on 11th St because I always went to Autumn instead. This winter I’ve been wearing the yellow Charlie brown hat and my favorite black Autumn pants ever that I have in sizes from 28 to 36 and keep wearing long after I have had to have all the top buttons replaced. Autumn was the place Jake Johnson returned to after his days spent wandering, where Lurker Lou saw him that morning as he finished painting the front of Autumn’s pull down screen.
My first winter in New York, after darkness shut down the TF, I was in a pizza shop up Avenue A one night with Ryan Chin. Mike Wright stopped in with a pair of IPath Cats with Shearling inside and said that we were eating where ABC skate shop used to be. I had seen the video with Matt Rzeszutko’s part in it, but I had no idea where the shop had been. We thanked Mike for the knowledge.
The last time I went to Autumn was on my last night of my most recent time in New York. I went over after the TF got dark with an hour to spare before meeting Liz to talk about Miles. Switch Back Ted had just set up a board and wanted me to confirm that one of the handsome dancing characters on the fresh Mike Carroll graphic looked like him. The Snow Man and the 12th St Assassin stopped in then left to play Uno. Jilleen came in and offered me a beer straight off. She was with Julian whose band the Morning Benders made Torey Pudwill’s song in the Transworld video. We set about kicking it, talked about when we listened to music on Discmans and only the good ones had shock control, and I filmed them doing slappies on the box in the shop. I bought Jerry Hsu’s Decapitated Bart Simpson tshirt that Ted told me was a slim fit that I wouldn't like. I had overheard him say this to someone else a few days earlier and knew this to be the case, but was buying the shirt for a friend and told him so. Martin was at the counter reading a pocket edition of a populist novel set in developing California. I gave him a crisp 20 in exchange for the shirt. Liz’s haircut took longer than expected so I walked down to the beer store and returned Jilleen and Julian’s beer favor as we continued to lurk. When Liz was finished I left the store with the t-shirt that I would end up using as a scarf that chilly night. I said goodbye to everyone there, but did not known I was saying goodbye to the shop. I had no idea that less than 2 months later as we celebrated Autumn's 10th Anniversary the shop was set to close.
I imagined returning to New York in the spring and finding Autumn just as I left it that last night. Now I will return to a different New York. I am sure this closing will effect TF and world culture to some great extent. At least product can outlast the stores that produce them and I will treasure my Autumn product now more than ever. As Grandpa said in that interview, everybody is on the Autumn team. As 2012 begins we have lost a beloved sponsor that I was proud to support. For now Autumn can exist in products, words, video, our hearts and minds and Lurker Lou’s Autumn paint job still riding on the pulldown grate that marks where this skateshop Autumn once lived.
2001-2011
There is a tendency to consider things older than ourselves permanent into our future since we have no memory of a time without them. Autumn was in New York City before I was and it had soldiered on for so long that I only imagined that it would continue to do that. Now the shop is closed. I will be thankful if this writing of Autumn’s death proves premature or temporary. Its rebirth is the SnackMan’s number one prediction for 2012 and my fervent hope too, right up there with last year’s prediction of Slicky Boy switch Nosegrinding a handrail. I feel the coming of both may arrive jointly, or once Slicky Boy’s rap money allows him to buy out the whole block of 9th St, reinstate Autumn with the bowl on site and start the Tompkins Deli back again too with a nightclub downstairs that will create its own Barmuda Triangle with Blind Barber and Lit. A resurrection of Autumn would be similar to the creation of Nobel Prizes once the living Mr. Nobel was declared dead in the press, that is a chance to live again more vigorously than ever before in the celebration of ideals, effort and truth, for all of which Autumn was a beacon despite its lack of extensive storefront signage. It existed in location and aesthetic right between Supreme and KCDC. The development of the gentleman skater genre owes much to Autumn. One time this kid asked the Philosopher how to get to Autumn and Philosopher told him to stick around the TF till 7:30 then help carry the box back to the shop.
The first time I visited Autumn in 2004 I saw a shuttered storefront in daylight and thought it had gone out of business. In my life as a skater in search of skateshops I have come across a vacant location more than once. In this case I came from Indiana and had the address of the old 2nd St location. Then I read a sign that directed me to Autumn’s second and for now, last location that would anchor my location for much of my time in New York.
My first visit did not result in a purchase. Snackman is right, there was no complimentary massage at Autumn. I don’t remember who sat behind the counter in silence. I was free to browse as I wished. I wanted to buy a Tino Is My Homeboy shirt but had not met Tino at the time, only seen him in videos. I wondered if that made me his homeboy and once I was in the shop my conscience wouldn’t let me buy the shirt even though I was certain we would get along once we met. I was younger then and didn’t realize that at a store in a city where no one knew me no one would know who I knew. But then I figured everyone who knew would know. I didn’t think how Autumn would appreciate the money because Autumn was a shop that needed money to run. I picked up an issue of Vice for free. Anyway, I would be back and spend money there, though the Tino shirts had sold out by the time I met him.
In skate shops it is acceptable behavior to sit all day reading a magazine. This is also a discreet way to monitor the comings and goings in the shop. There was the friendly repartee with the UPS man and the shop gave him a pair of shoes he had asked about. I saw Clyde Singleton out front and had to call my friends in Indiana to tell them. Patrick O’Dell was there sometimes and I saw Spanky. I had read Patrick O’Dell and T. Barrow’s writing about Autumn in the magazines, how O’Dell had mail delivered there and Ted conducted Gentlemen’s meetings in the back. Epiclylaterd was my laptop homepage before Quartersnacks emerged from the death of 5050skateboarding. Since I was too young for the Fish at the time, Autumn was my best chance to see the people who do things that are cool in New York on their daily grind.
The mid point of this millenium’s first decade was in the heydey of the allover print t-shirt, and I purchased a rainbow shirt with diagonal striped colorful print and the black shirt with white stars all over it, the same one FlatBar Dave had. Owner Dave Mims’ wife Kristen was working that day, before I knew her as Dave the owner’s wife and I felt like this beautiful woman was giving me a homie deal because I wasn’t charged tax, but then I was unaware of tax free shopping since I was new to the city.
I was sitting at the shop one evening, reading a magazine, when people were going to the Autumn Bowl and asked me if I wanted to come. We drove in Dave’s car with Alex Porta and Oscar. I couldn’t believe I’d been asked to tag along when I was quiet. Once in Greenpoint we made my first walk down the alleyway type thing and walked on planks set down over standing water, then were in. Some other dudes were already there and the session was too heavy for me so I dropped in and took a couple cruises through but ended up sessioning the mini ramp in the other room with Oscar. The last time I skated the bowl I did my first grind in the deep end. I guess the fact that the Autumn Bowl closed was proof that Autumn didn’t have the funds to maintain a Brooklyn outpost that was not a store, rather an amazing, beautiful handwrought space that existed only for stoke, but Autumn did the best things as much as it was able and we all benefited from all of them.
My parents came to visit my first fall and we saw Dave walking through Tompkins Square and he stopped and introduced himself and my parents were happy to see that I was friends with quality people. It was easy to find quality people at Autumn. Paulgar sat behind the counter cool as can be with pomade in his hair drinking iced coffee on a summer day when the shop was hot with no airconditioning, one fan running and the door propped open with the tail of a snapped deck. Grandpa would price things in his mind and always was generous. It was said that the whole city was on Autumn flow. I cannot wait much longer for Jilleen and Brengar to collaborate on the Autumn video that has still not come out. There was the Zero style Grandpa pro model wearing his beanie that hung at the tresh hold to the back. Charles Chatov and Brett Land worked there some and called me the Prophet when I would come in there dazed from contemplating skate theory and needing an outlet. Brett Land’s Doghouse made of skateboards was in the storefront for a while. The front window was also a first home to the world’s finest example of contemporary portraiture, Gigliotti’s study of Brengar with the popsicle. One time last year I called the store and asked if Dharam was there. I knew he wouldn’t be, but wanted to keep his name on people’s lips and heard laughter over the line when Dave announced my question to whoever else was in the store.
My first board purchase from the shop was a dipped white 5Boro Virgin Mary board and I learned switch crooked grinds on the black flat box at Tompkins right after I set it up. I bought my first Zip Zinger there then Jake Hanly and I kicked it in south Tompkins and watched The Virgins play. Many times I used the shop tools to assemble the hand me down boards that Roctakon offered. There was the board that had all of the photographs of girls blowing bubble gum and they were the girls I wanted to meet in New York.
One time at the Fish Ted Barrow told me if I went up and talked to this girl she would kiss me. I walked up to her and told her I liked her dress. She said “Really?” I told her yeah, that the pattern was remarkable. Soon enough we had gone outside and were kissing. When I came back in to grab my board to leave, Ted focused my board in front of me. He then apologized and said he owed me a board. Three years later he told me to stop by the shop and there was a Workshop cruiser board covered in Aesthetics and Autumn stickers waiting for me.
At the end of my first schoolyear in New York, before I left for Indiana for the summer, Jeremy Corley, he of the 100 dollar haircut and small dog, said I could take a Slayer shirt on the house. I wore the black shirt often that summer and have used it as a pillowcase. There was the burning Church t-shirt in orange that I gave to a friend, The bela Lugosi is dead t-shirt an ex-girlfriend took off me one night to have sex with me again anyway. The No-Beach t-shirt that I have managed to keep free of stains. The Morrissey in Supreme font t-shirts in black on black and white on white. The white Autumn hoody with the green circle logo on back I like to wear with the Orange Helmut Lang jeans I picked up from the 12 and A flea market when that was still running. Autumn sold the Palace t-shirts that help attract models. I gave my all over print horror movie tshirt to this girl in Brooklyn maybe named Zoe after we made out one night at a party. There was the Fuck The Police t-shirt with Sting’s band on the front. Autumn had better vintage pieces at more reasonable prices than anywhere in the East Village, the only skateshop in the universe where you could find Yves Saint Laurent and Brooks Brothers collars. I bought my first Five Brothers flannel that I am wearing in my current facebook profile picture from Autumn. On a number of occasions I grabbed an extra layer before heading somewhere. One time I bought a longsleeved black metal band t-shirt and we were debating how much Dave should charge me. Someone pointed out that it would sell for 100 at Search and Destroy. Having seen Miles’s purchases there I believed that. Dave ended up giving it to me for 25. On the front it had skeletons in electric chairs sitting down to the Last Supper. On the back it featured a baby’s head in a vice with the words “I was Born Alive. Isn’t that punishment enough?”
Much of the time Autumn didn’t have stickers, but when they did they were great and generously distributed. They may not have had many shoes, but the shoes they did have were straight from Dave Caddo’s packages. The Chief in the frame watched you while you tried on clothes. Andy Kessler’s last shoes found a home at the highest point in the shop. There were few things better to do than moving the bench out front in pleasant weather and watching the girls walk past while assembling a board. No matter how inconsistent Autumn’s soft goods selection could have been, they always had boards and all the hardware that you needed to stay skating which is the most basic and important definition of a skate shop.
Danny Weiss and I were in there with Miles on his 18th Birthday when Grandpa searched up a Deluxe catalogue and Miles took the Anti-Hero Eagle, added an American flag to its talons and we headed down to St. Marks for Miles's first tattoo.
I was in New York most recently in November. I wanted to maximize my time in the city so took the first flight in. No one was really stirring when I made it to the East Village with my bags before noon. I waited at Autumn until Dave rolled up to open the shop. He let me leave my bags there until I figured out where I would be sleeping.
Before the shop closed for good, the shop closed at 7:30. There were the times in the summer when the box or ledge would have to go inside when there was still prime shredding going on in late daylight at TF. In the winter, the box would be returned when it was dark before 5 and we hung around the shop because it was too early to go home and too cold to be outside. The TV didn’t always work, but you could crowd around the counter in back and watch whatever the employee wanted to see on youtube. I remember Slicky Boy unsuccessfully trying to get Martin to play an A$AP song but he obliged to look up another beat on the condition that Slicky Boy freestyle over it. There was the bathroom with toilet paper roll on the truck where the wheel would go that was a preferred stop to the Tompkins park facilities. Autumn gladly provided a venue for me to distribute my short stories. Roctakon tre flipped inside the shop and taildropped out of it. I have never been into the shop that Waka Flocka blessed on 11th St because I always went to Autumn instead. This winter I’ve been wearing the yellow Charlie brown hat and my favorite black Autumn pants ever that I have in sizes from 28 to 36 and keep wearing long after I have had to have all the top buttons replaced. Autumn was the place Jake Johnson returned to after his days spent wandering, where Lurker Lou saw him that morning as he finished painting the front of Autumn’s pull down screen.
My first winter in New York, after darkness shut down the TF, I was in a pizza shop up Avenue A one night with Ryan Chin. Mike Wright stopped in with a pair of IPath Cats with Shearling inside and said that we were eating where ABC skate shop used to be. I had seen the video with Matt Rzeszutko’s part in it, but I had no idea where the shop had been. We thanked Mike for the knowledge.
The last time I went to Autumn was on my last night of my most recent time in New York. I went over after the TF got dark with an hour to spare before meeting Liz to talk about Miles. Switch Back Ted had just set up a board and wanted me to confirm that one of the handsome dancing characters on the fresh Mike Carroll graphic looked like him. The Snow Man and the 12th St Assassin stopped in then left to play Uno. Jilleen came in and offered me a beer straight off. She was with Julian whose band the Morning Benders made Torey Pudwill’s song in the Transworld video. We set about kicking it, talked about when we listened to music on Discmans and only the good ones had shock control, and I filmed them doing slappies on the box in the shop. I bought Jerry Hsu’s Decapitated Bart Simpson tshirt that Ted told me was a slim fit that I wouldn't like. I had overheard him say this to someone else a few days earlier and knew this to be the case, but was buying the shirt for a friend and told him so. Martin was at the counter reading a pocket edition of a populist novel set in developing California. I gave him a crisp 20 in exchange for the shirt. Liz’s haircut took longer than expected so I walked down to the beer store and returned Jilleen and Julian’s beer favor as we continued to lurk. When Liz was finished I left the store with the t-shirt that I would end up using as a scarf that chilly night. I said goodbye to everyone there, but did not known I was saying goodbye to the shop. I had no idea that less than 2 months later as we celebrated Autumn's 10th Anniversary the shop was set to close.
I imagined returning to New York in the spring and finding Autumn just as I left it that last night. Now I will return to a different New York. I am sure this closing will effect TF and world culture to some great extent. At least product can outlast the stores that produce them and I will treasure my Autumn product now more than ever. As Grandpa said in that interview, everybody is on the Autumn team. As 2012 begins we have lost a beloved sponsor that I was proud to support. For now Autumn can exist in products, words, video, our hearts and minds and Lurker Lou’s Autumn paint job still riding on the pulldown grate that marks where this skateshop Autumn once lived.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
do you hate me in the light? Did you get a fright when you looked across from where you lay?
IPHUN –
A video made by the roommate of the shop employee at Infinity in Saint Louis who sold me the video and identified a spot I drew’s location in Kansas City.
Joe Koplowitz, a Saint Louis native, has said that the best plots involve losers turned winners. At the 11:50 mark of iphun there is an unexpected micronarrative, when, in the course of a bluntstall attempt on a bank to wall, the back wheels fail to lock above the wall. The skater loses contact with his board. Initially he looks destined to fall to his head, then appears he may recover only to land credit card, or avoid that and twist an ankle, then shoot out and smack his head. Instead, his feet somehow land on the board and he rolls away, tic tacking to fakie. This flirtation with disaster brings to mind Lincoln Uyeda’s faux-loss of control ender in 7 Year Glitch. The footage is a reminder of the occasional miraculousness that skateboarding begets, the singular event that stands out in one’s mind among a lifetime of 10% success at backside tailslides.
The video begins with scrolling words in the Star Wars manner, that tell how little of a shit the creator gives about our opinions. The words scroll by very fast, at once a speed literacy test and disregard of text. Theattemptatreadingwithoutapausebuttonisfurthercomplicatedbyadesiretolistentotheclassysongofinvitationintothisvideomade “fer der hermez by der hermez.”
One of the homies is named Chill Von Penguin, there will be blood, and the dudes skate a concrete plaza spot with block sets and ledges. Someone rolls smokes while driving, another gives a quality attempt at a front-shove it, unhappy authority figureheads spew their language to unappreciative ears, and remarkably, a boy performs a beer can renegade to lit cigarette swallow that inspires devotion from those present. Hardware store parking lots at night can be a reliable spot.
There is a even mixture of street skating, an extensive DIY spot under a freeway that probably has a daily scene, and park skating of both the concrete and prefabricated genres, mostly done by boys, though an older longhair shines with a nollie back heel on a natural bank. The soundtrack is an unremarkable punk rock for a while, though one can imagine how fans memorize the mantras yelled over fast chords. Someone made the six hour drive to stick an ollie down the biggest stair set at Dyrdek’s Kettering Plaza.
The editing includes some still party shots, then a sequence ends with freestyle rapping from a white boy wearing a bicycle helmet and elbow pads. One of the present commentators claims his performance to be a million dollar freestyle that we receive at discount rate. Along with consistent skating, iphun has provided a trio of unique thrills and shone some light on the relationships formed between young males brought together by the magnet of skateboarding.
We see a boy growing stomach hair, more raps from the helmet boy while his brothers contribute beatboxing and OJ da Juiceman ad-libs. One boy with long jean shorts and tattoos does a good line through a concrete park that ends with a blunt shove transfer over a spine. A boy in a bedroom inhales redi-whips then tries his hand at freestyling. A skater wearing flip-flops tre flips in a garage, some do boardsports at a backyard pool party with pizza delivery in the middle while Juvenile raps then the vomit spews to feel better after it happens with the offensive substance expelled.
The boy in the Hawaiian shirt leads a competent session at an abandoned toilet that may have shit inside it. Interactions with the detached bathroom piece bring to mind Duchamps urinal and methods of appropriation. Someone does a varial heel the hard way over a hip. One narrative test depicts the patient, frustrated, persistent process of landing a crooked grind on the table level of a picnic bench along with the friendship and shit talking that occurs in the process. A taquito party is proposed, then we know success is destined with the opening chords of Morrissey’s song from Roctakon’s t-shirt in his gold dunk days and Josh Orr’s You are the Quarry double feature part in The Other Side of Things, “Irish Blood, English Heart.”
We watch a birthday session at a roller rink with white walls and floor that bring to mind the gallery space. A skater wears the outfit black half cabs, olive pants and navy shirt. The video ends on a strong note some big tricks, homie tats, skating on spots with no concrete and girls shotgunning beers. Infinity shop may be one of the few skateshops in existence without a Nike account and the lack of swoosh trickles down to the skate footage. The video presentation of a large healthy scene with no one having a part or anything reminds me of the Hollywood video with the long name in the checkered case. There’s a half pipe snake run that the Axe Throwers may come to session next summer. Our boys session a fullpipe and clean a bong. The after credits song by the Felice Brothers features the haunting line “He seems to know something I don’t know about my lover’s whereabouts.” There are plenty of Bonus Features if you’re in the mood to get your money’s worth.
For further interaction call Infinity at 314 843 1989. They’ve been around since 1999 so can probably figure out how to take your 5 dollars over the phone. Alternately, you can be the first person to send me 10 dollars and I’ll send you my copy with a signed copy of this review.
A video made by the roommate of the shop employee at Infinity in Saint Louis who sold me the video and identified a spot I drew’s location in Kansas City.
Joe Koplowitz, a Saint Louis native, has said that the best plots involve losers turned winners. At the 11:50 mark of iphun there is an unexpected micronarrative, when, in the course of a bluntstall attempt on a bank to wall, the back wheels fail to lock above the wall. The skater loses contact with his board. Initially he looks destined to fall to his head, then appears he may recover only to land credit card, or avoid that and twist an ankle, then shoot out and smack his head. Instead, his feet somehow land on the board and he rolls away, tic tacking to fakie. This flirtation with disaster brings to mind Lincoln Uyeda’s faux-loss of control ender in 7 Year Glitch. The footage is a reminder of the occasional miraculousness that skateboarding begets, the singular event that stands out in one’s mind among a lifetime of 10% success at backside tailslides.
The video begins with scrolling words in the Star Wars manner, that tell how little of a shit the creator gives about our opinions. The words scroll by very fast, at once a speed literacy test and disregard of text. Theattemptatreadingwithoutapausebuttonisfurthercomplicatedbyadesiretolistentotheclassysongofinvitationintothisvideomade “fer der hermez by der hermez.”
One of the homies is named Chill Von Penguin, there will be blood, and the dudes skate a concrete plaza spot with block sets and ledges. Someone rolls smokes while driving, another gives a quality attempt at a front-shove it, unhappy authority figureheads spew their language to unappreciative ears, and remarkably, a boy performs a beer can renegade to lit cigarette swallow that inspires devotion from those present. Hardware store parking lots at night can be a reliable spot.
There is a even mixture of street skating, an extensive DIY spot under a freeway that probably has a daily scene, and park skating of both the concrete and prefabricated genres, mostly done by boys, though an older longhair shines with a nollie back heel on a natural bank. The soundtrack is an unremarkable punk rock for a while, though one can imagine how fans memorize the mantras yelled over fast chords. Someone made the six hour drive to stick an ollie down the biggest stair set at Dyrdek’s Kettering Plaza.
The editing includes some still party shots, then a sequence ends with freestyle rapping from a white boy wearing a bicycle helmet and elbow pads. One of the present commentators claims his performance to be a million dollar freestyle that we receive at discount rate. Along with consistent skating, iphun has provided a trio of unique thrills and shone some light on the relationships formed between young males brought together by the magnet of skateboarding.
We see a boy growing stomach hair, more raps from the helmet boy while his brothers contribute beatboxing and OJ da Juiceman ad-libs. One boy with long jean shorts and tattoos does a good line through a concrete park that ends with a blunt shove transfer over a spine. A boy in a bedroom inhales redi-whips then tries his hand at freestyling. A skater wearing flip-flops tre flips in a garage, some do boardsports at a backyard pool party with pizza delivery in the middle while Juvenile raps then the vomit spews to feel better after it happens with the offensive substance expelled.
The boy in the Hawaiian shirt leads a competent session at an abandoned toilet that may have shit inside it. Interactions with the detached bathroom piece bring to mind Duchamps urinal and methods of appropriation. Someone does a varial heel the hard way over a hip. One narrative test depicts the patient, frustrated, persistent process of landing a crooked grind on the table level of a picnic bench along with the friendship and shit talking that occurs in the process. A taquito party is proposed, then we know success is destined with the opening chords of Morrissey’s song from Roctakon’s t-shirt in his gold dunk days and Josh Orr’s You are the Quarry double feature part in The Other Side of Things, “Irish Blood, English Heart.”
We watch a birthday session at a roller rink with white walls and floor that bring to mind the gallery space. A skater wears the outfit black half cabs, olive pants and navy shirt. The video ends on a strong note some big tricks, homie tats, skating on spots with no concrete and girls shotgunning beers. Infinity shop may be one of the few skateshops in existence without a Nike account and the lack of swoosh trickles down to the skate footage. The video presentation of a large healthy scene with no one having a part or anything reminds me of the Hollywood video with the long name in the checkered case. There’s a half pipe snake run that the Axe Throwers may come to session next summer. Our boys session a fullpipe and clean a bong. The after credits song by the Felice Brothers features the haunting line “He seems to know something I don’t know about my lover’s whereabouts.” There are plenty of Bonus Features if you’re in the mood to get your money’s worth.
For further interaction call Infinity at 314 843 1989. They’ve been around since 1999 so can probably figure out how to take your 5 dollars over the phone. Alternately, you can be the first person to send me 10 dollars and I’ll send you my copy with a signed copy of this review.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
My shades are dark, can't see no art
This is an unpublished introduction to my review of R. Zarka's skateboarding chronology that appeared on Quartersnacks
http://quartersnacks.com/2011/08/book-review-on-a-day-with-no-waves-a-chronicle-of-skateboarding-by-raphael-zarka/#comment-23398
The Snackman was supposed to have been here forty minutes ago, but there are worse places to wait for a meeting than the rooftop of the Standard Hotel. The magic of that second vodka gimlet coursed through my veins while Anabel Dexter-Jones walked past laughing at something Lou Doillon told her. As the sun set over New Jersey, I BBMed with the Two Foot Gangster about unemployment benefits and listened to an advance copy of the Slicky Boy and Mr. Gorgeous mixtape.
On my next drink of the gimlet I could hear the straw slurping the bottom, a sound that would bring any attentive waitress over momentarily. I hoped the Snackman was still coming, since I had spent nearly all of my money at Sin City last night and looked forward to charging these drinks on the Quartersnacks black card. I felt a vibration on the table and my phone showed the Snackman had texted. He would arrive in ten minutes. I looked up to see my attentive waitress asking if she might serve me another of the same.
“Yes, please.”
Once Snackman arrived, he placed an order for a Henny black.
“You mean the Mr. Moya special,” our waitress confirmed.
“Yes, please.” He turned his attention to me. “Sorry I’m late. I had to meet with Lomez up at the polo grounds and he was behind schedule because the homie Chlorine was late coming through with the Lemonheads.” I assured him that I had not minded the delay and asked about the business that brought us here this evening.
“Right,” he said, as he took his first sip of Henny, set the glass back down and opened his drawstring backpack to produce a book that he set on the table before me. The paperback edition bore a black cover and read On a Day With No Waves. A Chronicle of Skateboarding 1779-2009 by Raphaël Zarka. “Have you heard about this thing?”
I hadn’t.
“Scott Bourne gave it to me in Barcelona last week. He said that ever since Slap stopped doing his Black Box column, Quartersnacks has been skateboarding’s most literate institution so he thought we might enjoy it at least, give it a review at most. It’s financed in part by Carhartt Europe, presumably in lieu of opening their shop behind Supreme. Would you be interested in reading this and doing a write-up?”
“You know I am, daddy.”
“Good looks, G-Man. I knew I could count on you. I would do it myself, but between keeping up with Travis Porter singles for the Rap Desk and preparing that Comme des Garcons line with Rei, I doubt I’d find the time.”
I assured the Snackman his faith in me was well founded and he said cool. I was grateful my camouflage pants had cargo pockets as I stowed the book there for safekeeping. Reading and writing the review would only take time. Making sure the book made it home with me was the difficult part. We clinked our glasses and set about enjoying the evening. Traphouse Conner would start spinning in the Boom Boom Room at 10, and Doug Park, Boss Bauer and Roctakon joined our table as the hour approached. Bauer caught Dree Hemingway’s eye and she came over to ask after Marquez. We told her that he was hot on the trail of Ayman al-Zawahiri so she suggested we drink to Marquez’s patriotism and back tail 270s reverts.
The drinks, girls and Brick Squad songs soon began to run together, then the last thing I remember is Snackman walking through the pool with a topless girl on his shoulders while Mooney’s surrounded by two blondes giving him a beard of foam and calling him the Santa Claus of Spring Street. I woke up in the morning, fully dressed, alone in my bed with my laptop opened to my last girlfriend’s facebook photos and the book still in my cargo pocket. I scraped under the sofa for enough change to go out for a bagel, came back from the deli and sat down to work.
http://quartersnacks.com/2011/08/book-review-on-a-day-with-no-waves-a-chronicle-of-skateboarding-by-raphael-zarka/#comment-23398
The Snackman was supposed to have been here forty minutes ago, but there are worse places to wait for a meeting than the rooftop of the Standard Hotel. The magic of that second vodka gimlet coursed through my veins while Anabel Dexter-Jones walked past laughing at something Lou Doillon told her. As the sun set over New Jersey, I BBMed with the Two Foot Gangster about unemployment benefits and listened to an advance copy of the Slicky Boy and Mr. Gorgeous mixtape.
On my next drink of the gimlet I could hear the straw slurping the bottom, a sound that would bring any attentive waitress over momentarily. I hoped the Snackman was still coming, since I had spent nearly all of my money at Sin City last night and looked forward to charging these drinks on the Quartersnacks black card. I felt a vibration on the table and my phone showed the Snackman had texted. He would arrive in ten minutes. I looked up to see my attentive waitress asking if she might serve me another of the same.
“Yes, please.”
Once Snackman arrived, he placed an order for a Henny black.
“You mean the Mr. Moya special,” our waitress confirmed.
“Yes, please.” He turned his attention to me. “Sorry I’m late. I had to meet with Lomez up at the polo grounds and he was behind schedule because the homie Chlorine was late coming through with the Lemonheads.” I assured him that I had not minded the delay and asked about the business that brought us here this evening.
“Right,” he said, as he took his first sip of Henny, set the glass back down and opened his drawstring backpack to produce a book that he set on the table before me. The paperback edition bore a black cover and read On a Day With No Waves. A Chronicle of Skateboarding 1779-2009 by Raphaël Zarka. “Have you heard about this thing?”
I hadn’t.
“Scott Bourne gave it to me in Barcelona last week. He said that ever since Slap stopped doing his Black Box column, Quartersnacks has been skateboarding’s most literate institution so he thought we might enjoy it at least, give it a review at most. It’s financed in part by Carhartt Europe, presumably in lieu of opening their shop behind Supreme. Would you be interested in reading this and doing a write-up?”
“You know I am, daddy.”
“Good looks, G-Man. I knew I could count on you. I would do it myself, but between keeping up with Travis Porter singles for the Rap Desk and preparing that Comme des Garcons line with Rei, I doubt I’d find the time.”
I assured the Snackman his faith in me was well founded and he said cool. I was grateful my camouflage pants had cargo pockets as I stowed the book there for safekeeping. Reading and writing the review would only take time. Making sure the book made it home with me was the difficult part. We clinked our glasses and set about enjoying the evening. Traphouse Conner would start spinning in the Boom Boom Room at 10, and Doug Park, Boss Bauer and Roctakon joined our table as the hour approached. Bauer caught Dree Hemingway’s eye and she came over to ask after Marquez. We told her that he was hot on the trail of Ayman al-Zawahiri so she suggested we drink to Marquez’s patriotism and back tail 270s reverts.
The drinks, girls and Brick Squad songs soon began to run together, then the last thing I remember is Snackman walking through the pool with a topless girl on his shoulders while Mooney’s surrounded by two blondes giving him a beard of foam and calling him the Santa Claus of Spring Street. I woke up in the morning, fully dressed, alone in my bed with my laptop opened to my last girlfriend’s facebook photos and the book still in my cargo pocket. I scraped under the sofa for enough change to go out for a bagel, came back from the deli and sat down to work.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
a pond of two tales
saw some small creatures during yardwork
coming soon: 38th Street News
sup bros
time to head to putnam county
Travis started off the session
hobie heated up and kept reeling them in
we went to a second pond that was less windy. here is where i caught my fish.
i feel compelled to walk around the perimeter of bodies of water whenever possible.
this trek proved difficult
especially with a fishing pole
but i perservered
turns out that it was the fishing hook rather than the thorns that snagged me
nice
jamie was our host at this second pond
the bounty
the white river is within its banks
went for a spin on party mike's Tomos. note the blue jean pocket, for sparkplugs and whatever else.
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