Photograffite
ASSIGNMENT: HALFPIPE
There are a million stories in the naked
city, many of them not very pretty, ours is
just one of them.
TIME: 12:30 am
PLACE: Sackville, Nova Scotia
Uncle Carl and Spidey Mark, The
Gosine Bros., waited with apprehension as
lan "Rasta" MacDonald load their car with
lumber of various description, appropriated
from a construction site.
"Okay, let's go!"
The moon slipped from a shroud of
water vapor in the sky, somewhere a dog
barked. The three drove amid loud noise
and laughter to the cover of home base
operations. To them, it was just another
night's work in a series of collection
missions.
TIME: Late July PLACE: Halifax
Uncle Carl and Spidey Mark had
received permission from their superiors to
begin construction of a halfpipe at a secret
location. For too long had they been
hassled by domestic peace officers,
obstructing their missions. Working
tirelessly with Agent Rasta, they designed
and completed the Ramp just as Richie
Rich and I returned from New York on
business. We'd been instructing the
tasteless in the art of lawn cultivation,
visiting various elder members of our
organization and collecting new gear and
skate material.
Yes, skating had once been big in
Halifax, but it had been type II technology.
we were introducing Type III. We were men
of action and it was our plan to rebuild
"skating excellence. Type Ill technology
had existed underground, but it was our
hope to revive an interest in skating
overall. We began to work. Mysterious
slogans appeared on downtown buildings,
organizational meetings were held and,
although we'd lost Steve and Ewan to
Montreal and the cunningly sly Eric Delisle
to the West Coast, we still maintained an
efficient operation.
Skating was hitting a new high. New
converts were appearing, hair was being
clipped at a furious rate and new equip-
ment was being ordered (at a very high
import duty). Names like Powell-Peralta,
Santa-Cruz, Sims, Bones, Rector, Vans,
Independent and Thrasher were becoming
almost a code that stirred an air of mystery
among the uninitiated. That wasn't the only
thing stirring the air, new sounds from the
coast had for some time been slowly
pushing the British posers into, as of yet.
unchartered dimensions. Yes, all was
chocolate cake for we young alien
types...But Wait!
What's this? Building permit violations?
Our halfpipe unauthorized? No further
skating allowed? This time domestic law
would not interfere, ours was a higher
calling. The emergency beacon was put
into operation summoning Papa Gosine, a
big time lawyer and sometimes skater,
from his distant asteroid headquarters. He
went straight to work and within two days
we were skating again, within the week we
added coping and platforms.
Steve returned from Montreal and we
were now visited by all forms of life
carrying all forms of type Ill skate. The
halfpipe was prospering, as a result of our
success, two new indoor halfpipes were
under construction and the city would
possibly be giving us the finances and
space as an effort to apologize for their
unthoughtfulness.
Yes indeed, our mission was almost
complete. The powers of good were
triumphing over stupidity and fear. Our
mission was one we accepted gladly and
one that we would see through to the end.
Andrew Kirk
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
Along with a good harvest and a grain
deal with Russia, skateboarding is making
headlines in the Midwest. Lincoln, Neb-
raska, like most other cities, is feeling the
effects of a major skateboom. Along with
many other new raves, skating is happen-
ing in America's heartland. Since Lincoln,
Neb. Isn't exactly action central, skating
has proven an excellent way to fill the void.
Lincoln should be considered a full-on
skate city. Three choice ramps and many
A snowbound Flowerday ramp. Rich lets loose
banks provide for the locals. Home of the
National Rollerskating Headquarters,
Lincoln has promoted rollerskating for
many years, but until the Melee no one had
ever promoted skateboarding. With a large
number of skaters and great ramps, the
scene here is a full-on eruption.
The onslaught of winter has slowed
ramp activity little. It took a major snow-
storm to shut down ramp skating for
awhile. On and off is all that can be said
about ramp riding 'til Spring. Basements
and parking garages thrive in our winter-
wonderland as prime skate spots.
Everyone is looking forward to Spring, a
skateshop, skatetrips, contests and new
medium are all in the works. With the
possibility of a Midwest Melee II, this may
be the best year ever for Midwest skaters.
Cornhead
Grabbing air above the
Pier 1 Imports swell is Mike R
Frontside air, Dave Willeme at the Flowerday location.
Brian Kelly, backside air at the fair atret hamp, eoin, Nebaika
Scott
Bouwens, layback air
at the Fair Street ramp.