12
DITCH
TED ALBANO 1965-1987
Another terrible loss has been suffered by the skate world. In December of 1987,
artist, musician, skater Ted Albano died in a car accident at age 22. One of the earliest
contributers to THRASHER, Ted had a unique style and different lines in his skating,
his art, his philosophy: "Some things in life only happen once. Catch and live that
moment when you've got it."
Ted graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in May 1987. He played
saxaphone through high school and later recorded with two bands, The Almighty
Senators and Instant Siberia. Ted is survived by his brother Tony, his sister Liza and
his parents Ed and Evelyn. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
WEEK
Where did you Skateboard?
(310)
I JUST
HAVE TO
SKAATE
ever wunda how they get the woed li
AT A LOCAL BRAIN.
No, reek have
MMDERE
THAT
The
Strap
end
Wow there
locals they?
十三
155
ALAYBACK
WOE
A
ULTRA PULL-UP STOKE
VARIAL TYPE
EL GALLERIO RAMA
WHEEL GRAB
EXTENDED
VAL ASRIAL
Cruise
CRACK
SA DITCH
BUT I
WANNA
SKATE
YES
May 1986
MAIL DROP
TED AL
Send all info, compliments and criticisms to:
Mail Drop c/o THRASHER, RO. Box 834570
San Francisco, CA 94158-4570
DENNIS THE MENACE
I just got finished reading my son's
August issue of THRASHER and I
really got upset by the letter Dennis
Childers from Tampa wrote. (The one
who got hit by a skater" near
McDonalds). My son has been
skating for about two years now and
I encourage it. He is not a punk nor
is he stupid or on drugs. He goes to
school and makes pretty good
grades. I don't encourage him to play
football because there are too many
broken bones and broken windows
from it.
In the late 60s and early 70s I too
was a skater and a surfer. We put up
with just as much abuse then as
skaters do now. Why don't you anti-
skaters find someone else to pick on
and leave the kids alone? No matter
what the kids do, someone is always
out there trying to stop it. Put yourself
in that age bracket. What did you do
for fun?
As for you starting a ban to fight
against skaters-forget it. There are
too many of them in this area and too
many parents like myself that support
skaters. I may be too old to skate now,
but I won't give up the fight for skaters
and their rights, after all, they are just
children, not animals like you made
them out to be.
I've just got one more thing to say:
Keep on skating kids, and have fun
while you can!
TARDY SLIP
Linda Miller
St. Petersburg, FL
The Problem: You know you're
way too late getting home from the
gnarlin' skate sesh and Mom will be
totally chaffed about your tardiness.
What to do?
The Solution: Put rubber cement
around the top edges of your skate
deck and ignite the goo about half
a block from your house. Scream
loudly as you approach home to get
her attention, then throw down your
most wicked Stacy Peralta slide in the
driveway. Yell loudly. "Mom, I came
home so fast ......I set my board
on fire! Look!" Of course she will be
so totally wigged that she will im-
mediately give you big hugs and
kisses and will proudly say. "Billy
Bubba, you come right on in this
house for some milk and cookies."
Yum, yum. You smile, you munch!
Skate For Cookies
Randy J. "Biscuit" Turner
Austin, TX
RESPECT YOUR ELDERS
Your article on Skate Town: Santa
Cruz stunk! Who the hell wants to
look back on the past? This is the
80's, almost the 90's, and you're still
doing articles on the 60's and 70's.
Face it, the hipple days are over. Your
mag is great, but when you publish
shit like that it sucks!
A Concerned Skater
Davidsonville, MD
We were just planning on doing a
Skatetown: Davidsonville (the old
days), but you're right, there's nothing
there. Ted
GOOD TASTE
I've always thought that skaters
are incredibly sexy. I'll take a skater
over a surfer any day, and you know
why? Their heads aren't bigger than
their boards.
Which head? Ted
BRANNON BAWL
Micheala
Somewhere
I'm writing to you because of that
article called "Viva Las Pools" by
Brian Brannon. I skate ramps, street
and pools in my hometown of Dallas.
Pool sessions are fun, but that crap
about "safe, sane, mundane at-
mosphere of a controlled and con-
trived contest" is just that, crap. Let's
look at ramp onlookers. There are so
many cool tricks that people want to
see besides a McTwist or a Rocket.
I'll tell you about the cheers of these
onlookers: they're loud! Pool energy
is nice, but the energy from one good
ramp trick is enough to blow Bran-
non into a million pieces. Pools aren't
the only places for tricks; way more
are done on fast ramps. About
names, nobody appointed Brian
Brannon judge over what's cool, and
besides, it really doesn't matter.
Dallas, TX
I'm glad you sorted everything out
over the course of writing your letter
It really doesn't matter, does it? T-ed
JOKE'S ON YOU
I was skating down the road the
other day when a car, a Pinto to be
exact, came up behind me honking
its horn, coming an inch from hitting
me. Well, I was so shocked I panick-
ed and fell off my board onto the hood
of the car. My skate landed safely in
the grass but I was so hacked I pick-
ed up my board and crashed it
through the windshield several times.
I then looked to see who the driver.
was and, guess who? It was my
father! He had our car in the garage
and was using a loaner. I am now
grounded from my skate for six
months because supposedly I
shouldn't have lost my temper
because Dad was only "joking." Ha,
ha! Real funny.
A Grounded Guy
Skateland, USA
IMPRESSIN' DRESSEN
I would like to say good job on the
Eric Dressen interview. I've always
admired the way he skates. I don't
know Eric personally, but after read-
ing the interview, I felt like I did in sort
of a minute way. He seemed like ►
Exacting the Art
PO. Box 246, Cardiff, CA 92007 1988 Cutter Trucks
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