More amazing footage from Colin Clark, this time from the Flip Pyramid at Vans Downtown Showdown. Jani Laitiala killed that thing with a frontside flip, switch heel, and nollie half cab heel right out of the gates. Girl newcomer Corey Kennedy big flipped it??? Damn. Louie Lopez did frontside big heel and he's two feet shorter than you. Filipe Ortiz did a perfect backside 360 along with Vince Del Valle who also did it frist try. Johnny Layton makes the grabs look amazing. Leo Romero goes faster on a skateboard than you do in your car. Ronnie Creager is still switch hardflipping in his 30's while all you do in your 30's is put knee pads and rails on in the bowl.
Angel Ramirez, Brian Anderson, Danny Cerezini, Alex Olson, Chris Troy, Nick Merlino, Vince Del Valle, Sean Malto, Morgan Smith, Shuriken Shannon, Ron Diely, and more are killing it on the Creature and Girl obstacles in the Downtown Showdown in more footage from Colin Clark.
Colin Clark and I have been on full Hollywood tourist tour all morning and have just arrived on site at the Vans Downtown Showdown. Randoms from the Hollywood hills and more are on the SPoT Twitter including even more shirtless Schaefer pics. Colin just uploaded 30 seconds of footage on the Black Label obstacle from practice yesterday. Things get started at 5pm California time today live on the web in HD and also on the Fuel TV network.
It was just a short six years
ago when this annoying little loud mouthed "Who Dat?" showed up at Damn Am
Volcom. Body ended up throwing him in the dunk tank right before his run and ruined his shoes.
He still ended up
getting 5th in the Finals. We've been great friends ever since and I have watched his career
take off from that day leading up to us now having his pro model
in our Shop. I'm proud of you, Chris Troy. We're at Downtown Showdown in Hollywood right now.
Check out Chris' hot new move that's like an answer to the
Double Pits to Chesty movement: nollie impossible to mall grab.
Speaking of the double pits, did you hear what Sheckler did down El Toro? Yikes.
Check out Theotis Beasley's hilarious
interview on the Altamont site. It's pretty amazing how he's incapable
of hating on anyone, even Gator. That's why everybody be likin' him. Watch us live on Saturday in HD for the Downtown Showdown. There will also be live broadcast break-ins on Fuel TV itself every hour.
As if it's not already hot enough in the Bowl Warehouse, now we got Flameboy tagging up the place. We are currently in serious bid'niss discussions with Wet Willy to get the place cooled down.
Of the 20,926 photos on the site, 12,725 of them are mine and 240 of them are Stalker Steve's. He's catching up fast and will soon be past Ryan Clements at 542 photos.
I moved a giant rock and a layer of dust on my gear and found these remote flash things called Pocket Wizards. Instead of actually using them, I gave them to Stalker Steve. He put them to good use in Frosty's Dungeon last night and has a few photos and sequences for you: Last Night at Frosty's. Stalker Steve calls what I have "a case of the over it's." Good call. I'm actually working hard, just not on web stuff, skate nerding, or photography. Maybe later.
Posts to the SPoT Twitter signed with "SS" are Stalker Steve, who finally got a phone from this century. Clem's going to wait until next century to get a phone from this century.
Another weekend, another SPoTlight Productions skateboard shindig. This weekend it's at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. The Vans Downtown Showdown is Saturday, September 26 and is on live webcast from 8pm through midnight Eastern time. One person watching will win a new car. Get the details here. It's all taking place next to the set where Back to the Future was filmed in the 80's. After I saw that movie as a kid, I wanted a toy skateboard again. Life was never the same after that. See you at the Showdown or on the small screen.
Mike Thompson. Who dat? I don't know, but he rips and just won the Gear 4 A Year Contest and now gets a spot in Tampa Am in December. Check Shred or Die.com for the other winners. We should have joining the Moat Race one of the requirements for winning. See you in Tampa, Mike.
These days starting a skateboard company is easier than starting a Facebook. So, when the random Potato Skateboards out of Idaho type company emails, we tell them, "When kids start asking for your stuff, we'll find you and place an order." Enough people started asking DMFP about the artwork he does on his griptape so his hobby turned into a company and now we have it in our Shop: DMFG Griptape.
It's amazing what your attitude can do. A great example is Stalker Steve and I. Right now we both have opposite attitudes about photography. Mine is currently in the crapper where I see taking photos as a job that gets in the way of other jobs I have to accomplish. I put forth minimum effort and the photos lately show it. I'm ashamed of my case of the Mondays and will snap out of it soon. Stalker Steve's attitude towards photography, however, is like a case of the Fridays. Like permanent happy hour. He's hyped and learning more and more and even more importantly, going out and doing more and more. He sent over another batch from an amazing looking local spot: Tall Tees and Tranny.
SPoTlight Productions head judge Jason Rothmeyer is also a rep at Fallen. Today he's on Butter Ass Mondays where Donovan breaks down the rep bid'niss and Jason indirectly beats Guy Mariano in a game of SKATE.
Speaking of reps, if you're one of our reps, I wrote a bid'niss report you can access from anywhere that shows inventory stock levels and information about what your company's best selling products are to help you help us keep the best stuff in stock. Hit me up if you want accesss to it.
Top 12 from the Damn Am Canada Street Qualifiers made the
cut to the Street Finals where Matt Berger won it. He and
Magnus Hanson in second both go straight to Tampa Am 2009 Street Semi-Finals and avoid the battle against 200 other skaters in the Qualifiers. Here
are Street Best Trick results. Brandon Del Bianco won the
Zumiez Destroyer Award for killing it all weekend. Full coverage coming up Monday. The Coors Light Party Bus is picking up anyone with a Damn Am
Wristband at the Listel Hotel that we're staying at tonight at 9pm. See you on the bus!
When Jeffrey Marshall was just a decade old and had baby pop, you could already tell he was going to grow up and have king sized snaps just by the way he ollied with knees to the chest like that. Jeffrey's 17 now. Yesterday he cleared 38 inches in the Ollie Pop High Ollie Contest at Damn Am Canada. Things get going at 11am today in Vancouver. See you there.
Everywhere you go here in Vancouver, there seems to be a stoner drum circle. Maybe it's just the places I'm going. Here are the full details on Damn Am Canada including the skater list, After-Party information, and Contest format.
The SPoT Twitter is blowing up with Canadian madness after we spent all day yesterday traveling here to Vancouver and made it through Customs in record time after they have now finally figured out we are not here to bomb Canada. We are here to host and run Damn Am Canada. Watch for coverage and all that coming up. It all goes down tomorrow. Please do an anti-rain dance for us.
No, there wasn't an earthquake in Tampa, but this shaky filming sent over by SPoT local Richard Harter will make you think so. Check out a couple minutes of footage from all around the Park:
When I look at old photos of the Park and the events here, I can't believe how we made things happen with one hand tied behind a beer. Ed Templeton sent over some old ones: Peter Ramondetta downtown and the scene at Tampa Am.
The other day Stefan Janoski's mom emailed a new headshot for his skater profile. She was happy to answer a few questions for me and also sent over a photo of Stefan and his lovely lady: A Chat With Stefan Janoski's Mom.
Yesterday Porpe and I got the trickle down benefit of Clem's skateboard celebrity status. We got invited to Tony Hawk's warehouse. When we arrived, one of the best vert sessions I've seen in a long time was going on. While there, I'm pretty sure I broke my hand yet again. I wish I could say it was on the vert ramp doing backside noseblunts, but nope, it was a freak accident on the mini-ramp behind the vert ramp. I will be sitting in the San Diego emergency room for several hours later today after the Volcom Mini-Ramp Jam. Watch for one handed coverage later of everything going on this weekend. For now, I just couldn't wait to show you this sequence:
Delta sure is making it easy to travel - I have a huge seat, bangin' hot breakfast, free drinks, power outlet, TV, and internet service on this flight I'm on to San Diego right now. I guess flying is no longer an excuse for not working. TJ Sparks sent over a two minute clip that Mike Atwood filmed at the discoteque - Astro Skate. SPoT and Westside recently did a demo there. Also in my inbox was mail from some wacky orientals.
When the Road Calls, Most People Let it Go to Voicemail
Posted by Rob on
Wed,
Sep
09,
4:44 AM
Before Clem's last night appearance on the Tony Hawk radio show, he had just driven his Harley across the country to San Diego. He has a great story to tell with his chill cam photos and captions about the journey: Clem's Coast to Coast Bike Ride. His description of this photo was pretty scary. Porpe and I are in the airport now going to San Diego by normal, everyday airplane method. It's ASR this weekend. See you there, sketchy skateboard industry.
Shred Or Die.com posted the top 10 Gear 4 A Year videos. I didn't watch any of them except for SPoT local Baby Dyson who won the last 13 to 15 Division Contest here at SPoT. His real name is Daniel Arias and you should vote for him to win it.
Gonzo is the newest member of the FSEC (Former SPoT Employee Club). His is by choice, unlike the more common involuntary induction into the Club. He will be doing rep work for Vans. Good luck out there and get me some Chukkas, please.
While my head was buried deep in books at the USF Library and Clem was on a Dixie Chopper building his lawn business, our friends like Bill Weiss and Brian Schaefer lived here at the Skatepark in the mid 90's. Clem and I missed a lot of those early times but luckily after a few years, Schaefer was able to rescue us from boring normal lives and include us in making the SPoT what it is today. Weiss posted a story about this classic time in skating.
When I started skating, Stalker Steve still had like t-minus five years left before birth. Since I've been at this so long, I find myself fighting off the burnout/skateboard overdose/boredom every now and then. Good thing Stalker Steve is hyped on everything and is here to step in when I'm over it. Especially on trips to Bushnell, Florida, where the SPoT team did a demo and dug on swine. Thanks for covering it, Steve.
There are two kinds of skateboarders over 30. One kind doesn't know or care about stuff like what Guy Mariano's up to these days or how Plan B has made a return from the 90's. This type pretty much focuses on their leopard print pads, rails, and renewing their subscription to Frontside Grind Magazine. Then there's the other type that's still full blown skate nerd, reading the Trash section in Thrasher from start to finish, and still flipping their board no matter how gross it looks. No matter what kind of post 30-year-old you are, you might enjoy this site/blog that regularly posts stuff from the 90's era of skateboarding: Vert is Dead.
This Monday: Members Get Free Entry and Other Freedoms Normally Frowned Upon
Posted by Rob on
Thu,
Sep
03,
8:54 AM
This Monday, on Labor Day, we are appreciating all our non-working, hard-skating SPoT Members for the monthly Membership Appreciation Day. All Members skate free that day and get 15% off in the Shop and 25% off in the Snack Bar. Additionally, all Members are excluded from the rules of bad gear and horrible trick selection. Bring your blunt nosegrabs, nollie front foot flips, and clown shorts - I won't say a word until Tuesday at 12:01 am.
Last year at the Minneapolis Damn Am After-Party, some crazy woman was yelling random crap at us which led me to break off a huge guard rail from the bar and throw it across the room at her. I'd like to think I've grown up a little since then, but now that some TV production company just paid me $500 for the footage, I'm considering going nuts more often. See you at the bar.
