Bryan Cooper commits himself. Treacherous rock 'n roll slide on the
"coming," which gets slippery from aircraft fuel and grease. The only thing
between here and the Indian Ocean below is a net
that he needed a place to skate, so his dad re-
sponded with the most logical and obvious sol-
ution, hence the ramp. The ramp is in full view
of anyone happening by, and thus became the
cause of much aggravation to the local M.P's.
James' dad happens to be a high ranking Naval
captain, thus rendering the M.P.'s practically
powerless in halting this subversive, decadent
activity taking place on their own base. It bum-
med their lives But what can you do when the
owner of the property could possibly give you
lifetime K.P. for hassling the skaters? The
Captain deserves a large medal for profecting
the "Stop Skate Harassment credo.
A buddy of mine, Sledge. put together some
senously cool skater barbecues at this ramp,
and I can't forget to mention the contest we had
against the Japanese locals. We called our
team, which was comprised of Americans,
"Team Nose." It was an exceptional team, be-
cause to get into it you had to be a dedicated
hardcore skater, have fun wben skating and
have a large pie, Team Nose also had a mas-
cot, this was "Mad Bob." Bob was discovered
in a novelty shop. He looked so rad, be had to
be bought. He was a skin colored rubber fi-
gure, about the size of an orange, with finger
holes in the back of his head, so you could
make him dork and contort. It was James Mar-
shall who happened to discover Mad Bob's un-
usual disposition: Hepenhimer's Radiation
Disease, which resulted in the loss of all body
parts, except his head and one of his eyes,
We had attached Mad Bob to the coping of
the ramp, and would axle grand him to shreds
whenever Pat Cooper would say, "Grind me a
pound please!" Bob will live forever in the
hearts of the Team Nose skaters. Bob had the
face of AGGRESSION. Pat Cooper can also be
commended for coming up with 'cottage
cheese thigh' and 'herpes lip' all in one day.
but that's another story. (It's really that he
bailed on his mouth and stuffed his sweat
pants.)
THE PHILLIPINES
The only skaters that I've ever seen or heard
of skating on this land were sailors, who were
only there for a short while. I searched from
Subic Bay to Manita for ramps and skateparks
but found none. As far as hardcore music goes,
it's literally non existant.
HONG KONG
I searched all around except in communist
country, but couldn't find any skaters. I did.
come across a really hot bank though. It was
part of a space observatory building. While
skating around, I came upon a hardcore En-
glish punk in a full leather jacket. I asked him
about the music scene, if there were any gigs
here, and he replied, "Yeah!"
Of course, wouldn't you know it, the next
gig was held the day that the Midway pulled
out to sea. I didn't get to see it, whatever punk
in China looked or sounded like, but I'm sure it
had an English style to it. Remember. At the
moment, Hong Kong is a British colony, but
soon, it will revert back to Comunism when
the Britains pull out.
THAILAND
The only skating here, is what you do your-
self if you happen to end up here., And that is,
even if you can find any smooth cement, as rare
as it is. The only hardcore might be from a
tourist or sailor's tapes.
In the bars and clubs of Patteya Beach and
Bangkok one can see some wierd and unusual
things. While enjoying a beer, or a nice drink,
one can watch a Thai female pulling strings of
her...Well, right here you'll have to use a bit of
your imagination dear reader, don't be conser
vative.
Wait a minute, "Who me?". No I don't get
excited by these things, I only go there to give
myself the pleasure of skating on a smooth
floor, and the time to get radical before being
chased out.
razorblades and pins or perhaps smoking many Bryan Cooper as a tractor driver towing an A-7 Corsair
cigarettes, or making things appear from out at se
Kelly Pajak dropping off of 6' electric boxes, just
outside of a hardcore night club, Sinjuku, Japan.
KOREA
Our ship always pulled into Pusson, Korea-
and for skating, none to be found. But, it is
possible to find massive amounts of smooth
concrete. I had no choice but to abuse many
truck docking areas and painted curbs. The Ko-
rean people are very dedicated to their own
traditions and are not influenced by the Amer-
ican way of life, which the Japanese are. The
Koreans general reaction to seeing me
skateboarding was one of total amazement, be-
cause they had never seen such a thing.
The only music one hears here is Korean
music with twangy strings...I think you know
what I mean.
Mitsugu Toyoda Indy-airs on the Bob Ramp.
MEANWHILE, IN THE LAND OF THE
RISING SUN...
The skating scene here has got to be the best
out of all the other countries, islands, etc. I've
visited on my whole tour of duty. The Japanese
are some amazing people, by far, in my opin-
ion, the most disciplined, intelligent and nicest
people I met in the world.
To my knowledge, there are no more than
three skateparks existing in Japan. Years ago.
skateparks flourished around the Tokyo area,
but now there's only one. In the Nagoya area.
there's one, but unfortunately I never got to
skate it. South of that, there's one in the
Fukuoka area, near Sasacbo. This park has one
small keyhole, which is elevated above
ground, and one, very small cement halfpipe at
ground level. Add to this a flat area, for frees-
tyle, and a nice pro shop.
Streetstyling in the city of Japan is an excel-
lent experience. Japanese architecture compli-
ments streetstyle, beyond the H.C. streetsav
age's wildest dreams.
Also, compared to all other countries, Japan
is the place for live hardcore music. In a
magazine called "Doll," we could find out
where all the gigs were. Some were in Shin-
juku, Harajuku, Nishi Ogikubo (near Shin-
juku) and some very amateurish ones in
Sasebo, The Japanese H.C. audience is much
like those in the U.S., but still you must realize
that the natives have that inbred tradition of
being polite. There's always a few in a large
crowd that slam and stage dive, but not many.
One group, called "GISM," who's lead singer
is named Sakevi, is an o.k. band. Only thing is
that Sakevi is a large, muscular bullish dude
who likes to take normal people off the street
and smash their face in with one marshal blow.
He is considered a criminal in the eyes of the
Japanese and not a cool guy in mine.
A group, named "Stalin." is the most popu-
lar band with the Japanese punks. I caught
them three times, and thought they were excep
tionally good. At these shows, my American
friends, Navy brats and Squids started the
slamming right off with stage dives, then after
a while the Japanese got into it with us.
Pete Moranich: A skater from New York.
He's 26, loves hardcore and the skating scene
in general.
Steve Rickerend: He was the team captain of
the Kanoa team, with Lonnie Hiramoto, How-
ard Hood and all the others many years ago.
Steve only skates longboards and eight wheel-
ers in pools and our halfpipe on the Navy base.
James Marshall: He built a halfpipe on his
property, which was a godsend for everybody
who skated, because us sailors went up to the
highest authority to build something, some-
where, which was impossible. James moved
from Annapolis where he was in a group called i
"The Spastic Rats."
SOME MARY
So skaters, if you want a little worldly ad-
vice, the views of skating can only be told by
the hardcore skater. We, who crave the unique
feeling, that which enables us to communicate
with other skaters, on an international basis.
Skateboarding is an activity that brings people
together, if they're halfway cool to begin with.
Cooper lightly sessions a Phillipine sidewalk in an
area called 'the Jungle, just off of Magasalsal Dr.
If you have a chance to venture around like I
did, go out and get lost and thrash all those
places that've never been thrashed before.
FINALLY
Be forewarned about military bases and their
brand of "skate harassment." It's worse than in
civilian life. If you're a hardcore skater and
must live by it, I don't recommend the mili-
tary.
Bryan Cooper
Jun, a native Japanese, flowing a frontside on the
Bob ramp at James Marshall's house.