State of Skate

Above photo courtesy of chrome ball incident.

Just finished watching Dennis Busenitz in Real Skateboards’ newest video, Since Day One, and have a few thoughts.

1. Real is just that- Real. They have kept it real for two decades now by showcasing pure skateboarding. No skits, no gimmicks, no B.S. Sure, we all love Max Schaaf, but a lot of companies would have hit their vert button and sent him packing.

2. I hate to rank skateboarders, but I often think about the legacies they will leave behind. With his most recent part, Dennis Busenitz has begun to approach the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) category. He isn’t in it yet, but if he keeps pushing as fast as he is, he’ll get there within the next five years. Of course, that is a long time, but am I wrong (and is it hearsay?) to say that he is basically Cardiel status at this point?

Unrelated to Busenitz’s awesomeness is a short little Converse Thailand tour. More than any of the big guns (Nike, Vans), Converse’s Asia game is on point. Below comes courtesy of Legion of Sorts:

Wait. Can’t embed the video for some reason. Check it HERE.

Next to Extreme, adrenaline is probably the second most tiring word used to describe skateboarding and other Action Sports: “Up next, this Nor-Cal shredder gets ready to hit our adrenaline-pumping Monster-sponsored Skate PlazZa, the world’s first ever ALL GREEN Skate Plaza designed by Rob Dyrdrek and Bob Costas!”

The word adrenaline sucks. It’s played out, a cliche. Funny then, that the first skateboard company to use it was pretty much the complete opposite of the 00′s mentality of big sponsors, big money, and big contests. Adrenalin, the oft-forgotten wood company formed sometime in the mid-90′s, was broke and gritty, and never spectacular.

I don’t mean it wasn’t good- it was. I don’t remember much about the art direction, but the overall vibe definitely had a Stereo Visual Sound influence. Check the clip below to see what I mean.

The team was talented, and one that a northern Californian like myself can’t help but be attached too with riders like Hanzy Driscoll, Justin Strubing and Toad. I don’t know where Hanzy or Strubing come from originally, but I think most associate them with the Bay Area. Maybe Hanzy lived in Santa Rosa?

Englishman Mike Manzoori as an answer to Stero’s Carl Shipman, a promising Mike Chin, and Jaya Bonderov, who eventually took his skills from board to camera, all have good footage in addition to the aforementioned dudes. From the beginning, with Hanzy’s wallride nose manual, until the end, with Jaya’s 50-50 on the Golden Gate Bridge, this 411 Adrenaline Industry section is full of memorable skating and editing.

Behold, the longed-for opposite of Extreme:

Coming Soon!

In honor of announcing video release dates and then postponing them and then postponing them again and then postponing them again and then finally releasing a video that is good, but not three years of extended deadlines good, I am hyping up my next blog post.

In honor of The Storm, Fully Flared, and Stay Gold, I would like to announce that, Sometime In July, State of Skate will drop:

A New Blog Post!!!!!!!!!

The biggest Blog Post!!!!!! Ever to come from State of Skate!!!!

Bigger than a Donger Ollie!!! Bigger than Gerwer’s Nose!!! Bigger than Active Erica’s Bosom!!!

This Post Will Be Big!!!

Or maybe not. Maybe I’ll just keep pushing it’s release date back to generate hype.

Truthfully though, I am sitting on 1200 words that have been giving me as many problems as kickflips do Mike Vallely.

We’ll see…

I’m really into Wes Kremer’s part in DC’s web video Skateboarding is Forever. Kremer has excellent trick selection, rarely repeating tricks and looking dope on board at pretty much all times. Wes is that newish breed that grew up skating everything, ripping tranny and ledges equally. It has been nice to see Wes and the rest of the Skate Mafia dudes put skating in San Diego back on the map since its disappearance after The Storm. Wes Kremer, keep it coming.

Huntington Beach legend Brad Hayes was a fixture in skate mags in the mid 90′s, during which time he rode for Acme Skateboards. Definitely a crouching tiger on a skateboard, Hayes had a pretty unique bag of tricks. Hayes skated fakie a lot and had a nice frontside heelflip. I respect anyone with a nice frontside heelflip (what up, Jason Wussler?). This part is from the classic Baker 2G video. Jay Strickland really liked slow-mo, but it actually worked for this one. A search for Hayes turned up False Profit Skateboards and their flash-heavy website. Alongside Hayes on the roster was another dude who never really made it out of last decade- former Shorty’s rider Toan Nguyen. No idea how current that is though…

I am currently working on a much longer piece involving Rob Dyrdrek, the Wu Tang Clan, and deodorant. So don’t worry, this site is not turning into another 90′s nostalgia website. I’ll leave that business for those who can do it better than myself, like chrome ball, which really covers it all.

If I had the material, I’d do like the Berrics and have a Caesar Singh Sunday every week. Actually, I probably wouldn’t, but it’s a nice thought. Mr. Caesar Singh, out of Long Beach, California, was kind of tall and skated ledges really well but didn’t leave the skate world a lot to remember him by. This clip is from the obscure Planet Earth Video Silver, and shows Caesar doing some classic 90′s tricks, most notably the half cab frontside noseslide and switch backside nosegrind 180 out. No flare, no flash, just nice lines. Inspired by Singh’s tre flip noseslide sequence as seen on Vert Is Dead.

Zero’s Tommy Asta has been recruited over at the Berrics.

Turf rider and OG Sammy Baptista comes through with some rad tricks (and a wee bit of filler) in a new part for the LA-based company Skate Sauce.