Wrote this piece on/with Mike Manzoori and Sharon Tomlin about their work on Boxton Square and it got shut down by etnies... resulting in my inspiration and writing of the Legend of Boxton Square fiction that ran in the mag. If at first you don't succeed...

Anyway, thought someone out there might be interested in reading... so here ya go.

The Story Behind Boxton Square
By Rob Brink

“There were supposed to be clouds made of corn starch packing peanuts, but there just wasn’t time. I’m pretty gutted about that… they would’ve been awesome,” says etnies Skate and Create art director, Sharon Tomlin. “But Mike [Manzoori, director] did a pretty good job of reminding me to keep it as simple as possible—otherwise I'd still be barricaded in the etnies TF making overly detailed buildings, cityscapes and sniffing glue. I'm amazed we made as much stuff as we did in the time we had.”

“To be honest, my heart was not into this project at all until the concept came together and got me sparked,” says Mike Manzoori, “Having done Skate and Create with Emerica last year, my main goal was to create a dream world that would be easy to configure around the skateboarding that would occur when the etnies team (Sean Malto, Mikey Taylor, Kyle Leeper, Tyler Bledsoe and Davis Torgerson) rolled in.”

After talking in circles with the crew at countless creative meetings, Manzoori turned to Tomlin for a bit of inspiration.

I didn't know this was happening while doing the Fletcher blitz last week, but coincidentally, he just had this little part come out... and from the looks of some of the etnies he was wearing, I can easily confirm that some of the footage is over three and four years old while other stuff is pretty recent. Fuck yeah, Fletch!

Because a lot of you asked for it... There's always these oldies but goodies from the early days of this site...

There was a manny pad in Leo's way. So he backside flipped it.

Leo... avoiding the manual pad again.

Guess who the new Toy rider is!

In an attempt to avoid the seemingly popular "I'll snarkily rant about a new skate video ad nauseum on my blog" thing that's been all the rage lately... I'll just say that Marissa ripped and Garrett Hill has come a long way. Can't wait to see his part again. Oh... and here's a warehouse video part worth noting before you see Strange World...

New Jack: Jake Johnson
Words: Rob Brink
The Skateboard Mag, December 2009

Admit it. You like Animal Collective now. Why? ‘Cuz Jake Johnson’s part in Mind Field is amazing. Jake is to Animal Collective what Duffy is to Primus... what Mariano is to the Jackson Five… and so on. It’s the stuff legends (or future legends) are made of.

Don’t worry. You aren’t the only person who wasn’t into the band before the video came out. Millions of others listen to it now while they skate and get just as stoked as you... wishing they could be cruising around NYC on a skateboard. Jake actually needs no introduction, so enough of this… let’s just get on to knowing the kid behind the most breakthrough video part of the 2009.

So you were just in Rotterdam for the am contest?
Yeah, my first contest. It was pretty nerve racking. It’s funny… there are European doubles of American skaters and they look just the same… like the European Lutzka.

Is there a Euro Cole?
Not yet. European Jamie Thomas needs to get a hold of one of those kids and then there’d be a good European Chris Cole. But there’s some gnarly dudes for sure. It was pretty wild.

Milestone: Sierra Fellers
Words: Rob Brink
The Skateboard Mag, December 2009

It may sound boring to some of you jaded and cynical folk out there… but Sierra Fellers is happy. You know why? Because he’s living a life of skateboarding; he’s pro for a company he loves that supports him; he just got married; he’s got great friends and family; and he’s completely comfortable with himself being a dork in the skateboarding industry.

Sounds simple enough, right? Just peachy. Except you’d be amazed by the amount of people in skateboarding, or the world for that matter, who aren’t nearly as happy, appreciative or have the piece of mind that Sierra possesses at only 22 years old... despite the fact that he’s had a few setbacks. Setbacks that might have caused any lesser-willed man to go running back home to Montana with their tail tucked between their legs. Wanna know what really happened and how he’s achieved and maintained this skate-nirvana-esque mind state? Well, the story goes like this:

Desillusion interviewed me. Thanks, Sebastien!

It's a day of mourning for them... And if they actually have lenses in their glasses, maybe you could take those off and wipe the tears dry for them too.

This was meant to go in the Damn Am "coverage," but I blew it... I hope it doesn't become a trend with the ladies. I, myself, prefer round boobs. Not that you asked.