Definitely sparked by the background cameo he got in that little Koston clip from UH that Crailtap posted a few days ago, and I just have to say that all of us here in Hawaii as well as the rest of the world are glad to see this dude is still continuing to receive much deserved and well earned props.
Today's post is dedicated to the little guy, Nainoa Kenneth-Zen Hartsel, present day bundle of joy and near future shredder!
So anyway the Fourstar team did a demo yesterday at A'ala Park.
Yesterday also happened to be Easter Sunday, one of the busiest days at the restaurant that I work at, so I got to the jam a little bit late.
Usually when it comes to things like demos, or anything skateboard related for that matter, they never, ever start on time.
Never.
Until yesterday that is.
The Fourstar dudes actually came early and were up and shredding even before the four o'clock start time.
Now that's some seriously unexpected and welcomed professionalism!
When I finally made my way to the spot, the barbecue grill was dying down and in dire need of resuscitation.
Of course I had several packages of wieners on me (HUGE no homo) and had also received large sausage (again) as a gift from Chuck and Zana, so it was definitely time to man up on the grill because everybody else was fixated on Guy Mariano who was in the process of quietly killing the demo.
Jordan's mom and my wife also took the initiative to help chef it up but even then I still managed to see not a single trick in the entire demo.
Awesome.
The heaviest lineup in years comes to my home park for a demo and I see zero shit go down.
Oh well, I'm just glad that it was Guy who turned out to be the most talked about shredder of the day.
Apparently he backside 270 tailslid the bank to bank ledge, frontside tailslid to frontside 270 heelflipped out on the box ledge, and also ollied in an out of a pivot fakie on the lip among other stunts that I also didn't see.
Score one for the 35 and ups!
The whole time the Fourstar dudes have been here, they've been shown around by Chad and Jordan and have gone to a plethora of locations for tons of shralping as well as many other spots to sample some of our finest local kine grinds.
So yeah, a lot of skating, eating and drinking and beach time.
Typical Hawaiian vacation.
If typical includes four Thrasher S.O.T.Y. winners on one trip.
Anyway, I only took a few photos at the demo and on the other occasions when I saw these guys, I wasn't trying to be that dude all up in everyones business with the camera phone so I have poached a bunch of pictures from a hodgepodge of sources including Jordan's twitter, Chad's twitter, and Koston's twitter.
I'll start with the photos that I took first:
Jordan's mom bonded with my wife over some A'ala Park wieners!
Carlyon and Meza have known each other since skate camp in the early nineties.
Crailtap kills it as usual. The guys return home tomorrow. Mahalo to the whole squad for coming out and living the island life for a little bit, come back soon! ALOHA.
EDIT: Just found a YouTube video from user skaterfoo808 that shows a few spicy nuggets from the demo yesterday including Guy's dreamy backside 270 to tailside on the bank to bank ledge.
Fuck yeah! Nice job with the clips, hope to see more footage from this day soon.
Just saw this mind blowing cover shot of Nestor Judkins on the latest issue of Transworld.
As soon as I saw it I recognized the spot as being in my favorite city in my favorite country, which is of course Osaka, Japan. Two years ago when visiting my homie Junji, I was lucky enough to be taken to this out of the way industrial area where a spot with amazing banks with waxed lips, hips, a bank to ledge, a bank to wall and this rail next to a very rough and gnarly bank.
I got to session the place with my little buddy Takashi (the only person ever to skate from the top of Japan in Hokkaido to the bottom of the country in Okinawa, in fact you should check out the final part of his epic journey featuring the homies from Boardchill) and Morioka, whom I had just met for the first time.
I kept to the bank to wall but Takashi and Morioka started trying tricks over the rail into the bank. That's when I took a seat. They both landed a couple ollies and then Morioka started going for a crooked grind pop over into the bank (same trick Nestor is doing). Anyway, Morioka almost landed that shit but let's just say that it didn't end well for him.
You can see the place I'm talking about and the results of that session in this video that Junji filmed.
Anyway, props to Nestor Judkins for manning up to that shit, always love to see down low Japanese spots, especially real cutty ones like this, featured on a worldwide stage.
Through skateboarding I have met a bunch of heads that partake in mad izm and if there was ever a day to puff cheeba and go skate, well then today is the day.
It's been a long while since I quit burning herb, seventeen years in fact, but I can and still do relate to potheads the world over. Even though I've never been able to fully grasp the whole (totally stupid) four twenty concept, I have always most definitely understood how unbelievably great weed can be. In fact, from the tender young age of twelve up until I was twenty-four I smoked every goddamned chance I had.
Bong rip circa 1993, winding down my hall of fame career.
When I was working (and I use that term very, very loosely) at Tower Records I used to get high as fuck and then trade hella CDs for weed and/or skate product.
Also, the greatest t-shirt ever. At least in my baked mind at the time it was.
I mean it's not like stoners ever really needed a special day or specific time of the day to get weeded, but I'm sure at 4:20 this afternoon thousands upon thousands of lighters will simultaneously ignite statewide and a plethora of bongs, pipes, spliffs, joints, L-bats, G-twigs, apples and dented Coke cans will all get passed to the left hand side (if you're following protocol) and if you're any kind of gentleman (or proper lady) you won't Bogart that shit.
On a related note, one of the biggest stoners in the history of big stoners returns home to Hawaii today for a limited engagement only. My numba one stunnaclot and the hardest working bredren in the Girl/Chocolate warehouse Jordan deOliveira arrives today with the Fourstar team for a little shredding and a ton of R and R leading up to this Sunday's main event at A'ala Park.
Saw this dope little video piece that the Boardchill homies from Okinawa posted over on their site.
Looks like it was filmed by Alec Singer when he was visiting home from L.A. last November, and it features some serious local rippage with Travis Hancock and Adrian Adrid among others and it's really put together well.
Quite a stoney presentation I must say, and a nice complement to Conor'sTreevisions work. For more trippy visuals check out the rest of Alec's shit over on his YouTube channel, as well as his Vimeo account.
Sorry this is so short notice but if you didn't already know, APB will be hosting a premiere showing of the long-awaited and much anticipated new video from Real Skateboards entitled Since Day One at Next Door in Chinatown tonight from 7 until 9.
The video premiere is also a benefit for the Johnny Kicks Cancer Foundation and they are asking all those who attend to donate between 2 and 5 dollars in lieu of an admission charge.
Everyone should have no problem forking over a couple of dollars for this, it is for a very good cause and the video will be insane, you are going to want to see this tonight, trust me.
After seeing this on a big screen with a bunch of people screaming after every ridiculous trick, you'll probably want your own copy to view in the comfort and privacy of your own home so that you can rewind and slo-mo accordingly and process everything you won't be able to comprehend at the premiere.
This video retails for only 20 bucks and comes with a crazy booklet of Gabe Morford photos and a lot of bonus footage. Buy it. At a skate shop. Fuck getting this shit on iTunes or watching it on some low quality bootleg download shit. This is one physical copy DVD that is definitely worth your money.
Rad to see that my homie Chuck has finally re-opened 808 Skate as a stand alone shop again, and for that I must say congratualtions!
808 has been part of the skate scene in Hawaii since it first opened in Kailua in 1995. Since then the shop moved locations a few times and even had a section for their stuff in Hawaiian Island Creations stores in Kailua and also Pearlridge.
Now 808 Skate is once again a fully functioning 100 percent skate shop that is 100 percent skater owned and operated. Always a plus when deciding where to purchase your skateboard necessities, I mean seriously, we have to support locally owned businesses when it comes to the skate scene.
Looking forward to paying my man a visit in K-Town soon because it's been a while and I need to jump back on that ramp.
Oh and on a related note, my man Chuck and his wife Zana also run the ASH and they are having their first contest of 2011 at the Keolu Skatepark on Saturday April 23rd.
Might as well check out the contest on Saturday in Kailua and then hit up the Fourstar demo the next day in town.
The mailbox of my apartment is usually full of bullshit like bills and junk mail but today I was beyond stoked to look inside and see that this incredibly dope Japan benefit t-shirt that I ordered from the homie Slick at DISSIZIT! had finally arrived:
First of all 'nuff respect to the man Slick himself, I gotta give it up to anyone who grew up in Aiea like I did. Dude was a few years ahead of me and I didn't know him personally but I sure knew of his association with the O.G. Bomb Squad crew because his SLICK tag along with a lot of burners were everywhere, and I do mean everywhere.
In ninth grade I was a long-haired metalhead that wasn't at all into breaking or graffiti, but I knew one of his Bomb Squad homies named Mark who wrote KRUSH 458 everywhere and between the two of them there wasn't a spot on this entire island that didn't have a shitload of their tags and pieces up and I'm pretty sure the HPD formed an anti-graff squad specifically to catch these two motherfuckers, that's how crazy their shit was.
Always been super psyched on this dude, I mean he went from airbrushing tee shirts at Pearlridge to starting and running his own shit in L.A. and doing it huge! 3rd Rail, Fuct, Shaolin, Slick did all that shit and it was all dope, not to mention that Pharcyde album cover art. Legend status!
Anyway, it is really rad that he did this and 100 percent of the proceeds of the sale of the tee shirts and prints go to the relief fund for the Japanese disaster.
Sold out, baby! So stoked that so many people supported the cause. MAHALO, Slicksta!
First day of the Phoenix Am contest is in the books. Sounds like it was a hot one, literally. As in scorching desert heat all day long.
Out of the three guys from Hawaii that were entered, only Ryan Spencer from Maui will be advancing to the next round tomorrow. Not only did Ryan make himself eligible for the final round of 49, but he did it in resounding fashion by qualifying 9th out of 160 skaters. Dude is on a serious tear lately, filming for Foundation on some come up shit! Check Moke Life for more confirmation.
North Shore shredders Travis Hancock and Heimana Reynolds qualified 61st and 109th, respectively, which is pretty good considering how many people were in the contest.
Super stoked that some local heads had a chance to make it up there to battle it out with some of the best ams in the world, and hopefully Ryan can keep it going tomorrow and kill it just as hard as he did today. Good luck brah!
EDIT: Here is a little video from the Transworld site of some of the ripping from the first day, Ryan has a bunch of rad stuff in it.
Also, having trouble with embedding it right now but here is another montage, this one is from the Thrasher site and it has some other shit and also some of the same stuff but with a different angle. Guys were killing it.
EDIT: Ryan Spencer finished in a very, very respectable 28th place. Pretty damn good out of 160 guys. Looking forward to seeing what this dude has in store for the next Foundation video.
Today is April Fool's Day and a lot of people out there are trying to pull all kinds of funny jokes and assorted bullshit but I'm tired and I can't do nuttin' for ya man.
There will be no intricate fabricated tales like the one I wrote years ago on the APB website about Darin Lee 360 flipping Wallenberg when he was living in San Francisco, and as a result of this incredible feat he was instantly sponsored by Real and Spitfire.
A lot of people actually bought every word of that horseshit and I am especially proud of it as a written piece in general, but alas, it no longer viewable anywhere on the Internet that I know of. Holla at me if you ever see it.
Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures of shit that really exists but a lot of us would look at as a joke.
I will never, ever use the phrase "shred sled" again.
PVC wheels and PVC trucks? Fuck outta here with that shit.
Not cute and not cool. I fully back little girls skating (no pedo) but this is some bullshit.
This little dude is supposed to be Daewon Song but I think he looks more like Steven Stinson.
Legendary East Coast spot Pulaski Park a.k.a. Freedom Plaza in Washington D.C. is now fingerboardable.
They made a live-action Smurfs movie. Of course it wouldn't be complete without the little blue guys on a skateboard.
This is a basket for you to put your sausage in. Get some.
From here on in let each keystroke I now type be a black arrow of death sent straight through the hearts of all those who still insist on kooking it.
THE SKATE NAZI EXPLAINED.
First of all, let's just get this out of the way right quick. I mean, it should be fairly obvious to most people familar with modern American pop culture where the inspiration for the moniker "Skate Nazi" originates from. If you aren't a Seinfeld fan, or you happen to live in a country where the humor of Jerry and the gang doesn't translate well, the name has absolutely nothing to do with Nazi Germany or anything even remotely close or pertaining to anything Nazi related. It comes from one of the greatest supporting players on one of the greatest programs in the history of American television, the Soup Nazi.
In September of 2006 my dear friend Kenneth Brimer and I went to Chicago to visit our homie Chane Wilson who was living there at the time. One of our friends in New York City, Sean Kelling, suggested that we fly in for the weekend to hang out and kick it with a bunch of our other friends from Hawaii who now reside in NYC. The airfare was cheap so we went early on a Friday morning and flew back to Chicago the following Monday. Even our boy Chad Hiyakumoto trekked all the way from Hawaii to NYC for the weekend, also our friend Manny flew in from San Francisco, and with them and all of our other transplanted New York ohana from Hawaii, we had a pretty big posse in the city for those three days.
Anyway, Kenny and Chane on the loose together? With Manny in the mix? In Manhattan? Forget about it. They were all about getting fucking wasted. They brought their boards, but they sure didn't give a shit about skating that weekend. Don't get me wrong, Chad and I were also very much looking forward to partying, but to us skateboarding was definitely the more important aspect of being in town that weekend. I made sure that we hooked up daily with Andy Henrie and Sean, and I also made sure that they were not only taking us to places like Max Fish and Motor City, but that they were also taking us to some goddamned skate spots. I was so on top of that shit. I was the one who woke up first every day and cracked the motherfucking whip to get the shred shit going. In fact I was so militant about this daily business that our friend Rhandy Tambio said to me "Dude, you're like a fucking skate nazi, damn!"
So there you have it.
THESE PEOPLE ARE NEAR AND DEAR TO THE SKATE NAZI'S COLD BLACK HEART.
