TRASH
ON BOARD
96
THE RIGHT TO ROLL
Starting things off on a swell note this
month, S.F. street skaters prevailed in a
stand-off with the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors. Provoked by proposed legisla-
tion calling for more restrictions on skating
S.F. city streets (refer to THRASHER, May
1986, Vol. 6 #5 for laws already on the
books), 20-30 skaters of all sizes and colors
showed up at the supe chambers to do bat-
tle. There was Skates on Haight's Lee Cole,
pitching for the Boy's Club ramp:
THRASHER Editor, KT, clutching a handful
of letters from local truck manu's Thunder
and Venture; South of Market entrepeneur
Mark Renne citing constitutional right to
transport infringements; Kathy Guerrero,
mom of Tom and Tony; Duke Crestfield,
representing Shred of Dignity, a skater's
union touting a positive skate image and
equipped with an armload of petitions;
Theo, excusing his purple hair and whose
quote "Why just the other day I helped an
old lady cross the street," carried the day;
David Miles and Eric Hilton of the Golden
Gate Skate Patrol in button-down three-piece
attire; anonymous, unaffiliated skaters like
Mark Swenson who used a show and tell
demo to explain how he beat the bus to the
hearing; and little Nick Kolpacoff, 6, who
managed to attract the lenses of all the local
TV and print media eager for a "good
human interest" angle. All were jawing for
the skate cause and the right to roll unhar-
rassed. The opposition: one 85 yr. old LO.L
(who actually threw out some good alter-
native ideas for legal skate terrain) and
Supervisor Willie B. Kennedy, who 'ac-
cidently' had let slip a draft of anti-skate
legislation that she had written up even
before the public debate, which Duke way
ed before the Traffic and Transportation
committee.
When it was all over, the skate lobbyists
claimed victory as hip-supe Bill Maher mo-
tioned to table the the issue, although not
before warning skaters to, "either regulate
yourself or we'll be forced to regulate you."
Committee Chairman Tom Hsieh agreed,
pointing out his three sons' skate interest
and that he wished he could too (he
neglected to mention, though, that one son,
Tom Jr., is the publisher of International
Snowboarder Mag). Supervisor Carol
Ruther Silver also questioned the need for
further measures. The moral of the story:
skate hard, skate fast, skate and destroy
and...write your congressperson once in
awhile.
QUESTION AIRS
Which prominent team manager and
sometime shoe salesman was escorted
from his hotel in Chicago, for vociferous con-
duct, by the Windy City police force? All this
McGill, looking a bit road weary.
after leaving team scribes Joe Johnson
and Kevin Staab stranded at the 'wrong
hotel' until 4 a.m.
What former top Swedish amateur, now
blazing pro, married and living in Diego, was
seen inspecting Canadian hard rock maple
sources for possible model manufacture?
Are Rocco and the Gonz once again
charging their lifestyle to an errant credit
card number?
Why does pregnancy insurance seem to
be a much sought-after protection these
days?
Could it be that Surfing mag offered Steve
Hawk (yes!) and Kevin Kinnear the editor-
ship of the prestigious Body Boarder
Magazine? Hawk balked at the 45K per year
offering while Kinnear claimed to be
employed elsewhere.
Does McGill carry a lump of clay with an
axle stuck in the middle of it for a reason or
is it just a soothing stress release device to
ward off the tedium of touring? Or has he
been commissioned to make a bust of Larry
Balma?
TRADING PLACES
Life on the trade show circuit can be
brutal and boring for skate types used to a
more active lifestyle. Take Powell/Peralta pro-
ducts man and tour chaperone Todd
Hasting's tale from the tarmac as an exam-
ple. Locked in a jumbo jet for a four hour run-
way wait somewhere between LA and
Newark, NJ, he dozed off only to awake and
find a snoozing Brad Dorfman sawing wood
in the seat next to him. A nightmare for sure.
A raid on a Texas board manufacturing
firm (not Zorlac) leaving 246 green-cardless
jobless could mean openings for any in-
Iterested pro skaters.
Word from the rag trade tells of an impen
ding duel between 'Skate of the Art and
Street Wear
The recent Long Beach rummage sale of
spring surf rags had no highlights due to the
denial of skate stars and hangers-on.
However, some of the lowlights included
Slime Balls' Metiver and Novak unplugging
the video power in the Sims booth, creating
a scandal and a scare. Gonzo's 25 foot
downhill handrail boardslides kept skate
revelers foaming at the mouth. Skull Skates
booth seemed to be the hit of the show, or
was it just a family affair?
Skate stars aren't the only ones with
writer's cramp these days. A recent
autograph hype held at a suburban valley
club 75 Miles inland from L.A. Joshua's, had
ex-Kisser Vinny Vincent signing every
thing in sight. The press release quoted
demographics as consisting of "60% girls
in Hollywood spangles and 40% metal guys
in gritty denim street gear."
MOVIEOLA
Word from the back lot has it that Police
Academy IV director Paul Maslansky,
whose son avidly pushes around on four
'thanes, is so into the skate thing that he will
settle for nothing less than the best street
sequence ever captured on celluloid. With
Powellites Caballero, Guerrero, McGill,
Hawk and Mountain on the payroll he'll
definitely get a good shot at it.
Lance, while watching his own skating in
the movie Thrashin', was laughing so hard
at himself that a lady patron felt obliged to
turn around and exclaim, "I suppose you
can do better?"
Thrashin' producer Alan Sacks, keeping
a rather low profile since the closing of the
egg-laying skate epic, was overheard to
brag before this whole thing started, "When
Lennon died I burnt out the eyes of my Len-
non tattoo with a cigarette." Our advice if
you haven't seen it, wait for the video.
Sacks' next film saga: the movie version of
the book Hollywood Babylon.
And what the hell is the Bones Brigade
doing in the middle of the Mojave desert?
Last seen driving sideways in a beat '57
Caddy, the crew turned left at Jawbone Can-
yon and headed off into the sunset, scouting
locations. Before the sweaty sojourn was
over there were tales of burnt video camera
lamps and the Caddy was left upside-down
in a dry wash. Word has it that Rocco has
the script, so ask him. He's in the viddy, but
claims not to know a thing about what's go-
ing on. This all coming from your usual
trashman Lowboy, calling in his nightly
reports from a one-pumper that had no
public phone...you figure it out.
In between stints with his touring film
show, John Malvino manages to find work
getting strapped to helicopters filming vistas
for Falcon Crest.
Word going around that Dick "I'll leave
those videos to you" Novak plans on pop-
ping one soon out of NHS.
Scott Dietrich's latest surf saga features
newly inserted skate footage of Christian
Hosoi.
SMA Skipperboy and pals Eddie (Miami
Vice) Olmas and Tony Friedkin showed up
at the gala Washington DC wedding of Bob-
by Hoffman (Eddie's partner in White Fence
Productions) and made mince of the finger
sandwiches and open bar/buffet at the
reception.
ROLEX BATTLE ROYALE
Maybe Gregg 'Queaver' Ayers was talk-
ing about Glen E. Friedman's fake Rolex
in last month's column. You know, the model
that passes for the 18K edition. It's so def,
says GEF, that it's actually a custom-made
fake from the streets of NYC. The Fried
Man, never at a loss for sharp words, in-
forms us (again) of his employment as per-
sonal photog for rapmasters Run DMC and
West Coast rep for Def Jam records. Def ar-
tists, Beastie Boys, wanted to put out a ver-
sion of the Beatle's "I'm Down," but owner
of the publishing rights to most of the
Beatle's catalogue, Michael Jackson (the)
said nix, nix. Ask Glen if you see him whip
by in his dark green, 1970 vintage classic
280 SEL Mercedes coupe.
SHORT SHIFTS
Former Dogtown pool pirate Bob Biniak
is golfing his way along the PGA pro tour
and looking for a sponsor. Is that new put-
ting cue from Tracker Designs soon to be a
reality?
Dick Vack, on a recruiting draft of skate
talent for the '87 season, may have been
seen wooing the Jersey Devil, Tom
Groholski, over to the Santa Cruz stable.
Again?
Tower mag mover, Doug Biggert, reports
from that record retailer's headquarters in
Sacramento of a series of skate demolex-
hibitions at the chain's Big Valley locales.
Features local skate talent culled from co-
sponsoring skate shops like High Roller in
Sacto and Wavelengths in Fresno.
Skate tattoos are very big these days.
Even Pro Motion lensman Steve Keenan
recently singed his flesh with one. No, not
Wilma Flintstone-more of a Misfits' motif.
Skate literate Don Pendleton's name has
been turning up as author credit on novels
detailing the terrorist tales of fictional
mercenary Mack Bolan. Could this be the
same guy that wields an axe for JFA, the
band that skates?
Natas Kaupas may or may not be freelan-
cing by the time you read this, as he's
reportedly about to perfect a 'quantum
move.
GRAFFITI O DA MONTH
DAVE
The 'happy-faced anarchy symbol,' taken off the
wall of a Valley pool.
David Burko, who they say is loosely af-
filiated with Match Box toys, is reportedly
commuting from NYC to California for sum-
mit meetings with Balma, Kinnear and
Vitello regarding major sponsorship
proposals.
And then there's a rumor of a drive-by
shotgun shooting incident involving
Badlands legend Harvey Hawks and an off-
duty female patrol officer.
On the wedding block: Dogtown artist and
wide board proponent of the late '70s, Wes
Humpston, showed up at Keith Wilbur's
body shop, a famous S. Monica watering
hole, announcing his recent hitch.
James Muir and Roberta are ready to tie
one on. Will the reception end up at 'Streets
of Venice,' the Muir clan's new retail outlet
located. where else?
GOT A WOODY
The choice chariot of prominent skate
manus used to be the '59 Caddy, (see
Mellow Cat, Dorfman, Fausto). Now it's an
odd breed of wood-paneled Ford wagons
circa 1950's (Jimmy Z Ganzer leads the
way with 3 specials, one of which he can't
drive due to former owner Kevin Ancel's
ledger of parking violations). Dorfman was
seen bidding for any wood vehicle at a re-
cent auction. Rex Huffman, Mike Dyer, Bill
Yerkes and Carl Tinker' West are also.
touted as avid collectors.
EAST COAST SWILL
'Boss' Bruce Springsteen reportedly
stepped into Grogg's Surf Palace and step-
ped out with a brand new G&S surf cue.
Having recently been mentioned in the let-
ters to the editor column of Time magazine,
G&S seems to have replaced Coca-Cola as
a new trademark of the American way.
Dick Vack and sidekick MacIntyre are
trying to set up a meeting to discuss
whatever they discuss at secret meetings.
QUOTABLE
"I'm not into money, I'm beyond all that."
Rich Novak
"I'm sick of the whole hair-do thing."
Jeff Phillips
"On the real one the second hand.
sweeps, and on the fake, it ticks."
Glen E. Friedman
"When you got the juice, people want to
mess with you."
Ellis Rein
COMING EVENTS
N.S.A. 1986
National Skateboard Association
December 13-14.
Anaheim, CA
Anaheim Convention Center
Pro Ramp/Natl. Am Finals/Pro Freestyle
Demo
N.S.A. 24 hour hotline 1-714-882-3406
Or write to: N.S.A., PO. Box 3645, San Ber-
nadino, CA 92404
December 27-28, 1986
CAMBODIA GRAVITATIONAL
RAMP JAM
Ft. Lauderdale, FL Sponsored and
unsponsored am, rollerskating and
women's division(?) to be held at Cambodia
Ramp. Anyone interested in contest, or
pro's who wish to demo, should contact.
Chris Griffiths, 2891 SW 36th St., Ft.
Lauderdale, FL 33312. (305) 584-0269.
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numbers, up-to-the-minute contest results
and more. Call (415) 822-5630 or send elec-
tronic mail through a Fidonet system in your
area (send to Net 125 Node 8).