WRASP
ON BOARD
The much talked about NSA reorganiza
tion is rumored to finally be official. Current
frontrunner for NSA head man is Tom
Cozens of Vista, CA. Concerned industri-
alists, concerned skaters, concerned organ-
izationalists and concerned sponsors have
been participating in a series of meetings.
The topic of conversation at these gatherings
has reportedly been how to streamline the
competitive format and how to make it a bet-
ter reflection of the average skater's interests.
Read that as meaning more real terrain and
less extravaganza in the future. Hotly
rumored future NSA events are an Easter-
style Hawaii contest, a pool contest at the in-
famous Pink Motel (of Chin fame), the fridge
classic in Ohio and a multi-ramp melee near
San Diego Califas.
Did you know that the "California
Thrasher" is an expert mimic and the largest
of the mockingbird family? It spends most
of its time on the ground amid dense shrubs
and uses its bill to rake the soil for insects.
This plethora of bird info was contributed by
the ever-versatile former world skate champ
Bruce Logan, who's rumored to be quite the
naturalist. Further talk has it that Bruce is
in full competitive skate mettle and eagerly
awaiting the next big freestyle contest.
Paradoxically speaking, will Jay Adams
make it official and actually go commercial
by offering a skate line to the eager masses?
Is Jay Boy's line rumored to be called Zipper-
head Skates?
Question Two: Can it be true that one P
Miki Vuckovich has authored a lengthy
treatise on skating entitled Soul Recurrence?
Does this effort represent the beginnings of
a book? Does Vuckovich actually correlate
capitalist economic theory, the barking of
aluminum, law enforcement tactics and pro-
per skate envisionment geometry?
While E. Riggins and Matt Etheridge
dined in an undisclosed restaurant in Orlan-
do, did Riggins score a "round on the house"
after dampening a drunk and belligerent
patron with a few blows to the head?
The illustrious Ganzer is rumored to have
sidestepped the Florida Trade Show circuit
and left for Costa Rica. No word yet as to the
whereabouts of Vince Klyne, pro surfer/
skater turned movie mogul. Klyne is report-
edly in the semi-tropics laboring on a Canon
film called Cyborg. Fat Mac was absent from
the annual Orlando industrialists go-kart
race, having been exiled by Dickvak to Miami
for unknown crimes of passion.
Talking further turnabout: Is it true that
Santa Monica Airlines (not to be confused
with some other lookalike company) is
branching out into clothing? Is Natas lounge-
wear close to reality? Will the fabulous Skip-
perboy now sell those
smoking jackets he's
so famous for?
Word has it
that
Engblom's been driving about tossing
elaborately embroidered team air jackets to
street urchins and other deserving members
of the underground. Andy Fomenko was
even observed wearing one. Strangest of all
is the rumor that air ace Jim Thiebaud, is
NorCal sales rep for this endeavor.
Mike Daher, Jeff Jones, Bryan Pen-
nington and Vallely have all been recently
observed on the West Coast. M.V., for exam-
ple, was seen sessioning with Frankie Hill.
Some of Hill's moves and attempts are so
deadly that many seasoned vets are
reportedly afraid to watch.
Snow Sludge: Did Chuck E. Barfoot, well-
known skater and snowboard pioneer, actu-
ally design a customized 4x4 Suzuki Samurai
snowboard vehicle for the '89 United States
of America car show circuit? Yep, innocent
or not, the Barfoot by Suzuki is reportedly the
hit of the autoshow circuit, eclipsing the drab
Mercedes, the deadly Volvo and the zen
Nissan in popularity with the masses. Is it
true that Barfoot personally chose the bikini-
clad models and supervised vehicular decal
placement? Soundtrack by the Cure?
Did Thrasher comptroller Maria Martinez
brave a testy Miami, Florida, as the official
Thrasher rep at Super Bowl XXIII, wearing
the colors (a Niner jacket from S.B. XVI
victory presented to her by B.Ware)? Com-
mercially speaking, skateboarding took
center stage during one of the most widely
viewed telecasts in history. The Diet Pepsi
commercial set in the
Soviet Union featured a
skate sequence that bore
a striking resemblance to
the February Thrasher
cover. Arch rival Diet.
Coke premiered a new
3D spot featuring San
Jose's Anthony Sedillo
and Sacto skater Rich
Riffle chasing a runaway
Diet Coke machine down
the streets of S.F.
And for the first time in
the history of Hollywood,
stunt doubles were the
featured stars at a movie
premiere. Yes, hundreds
of skate enthusiasts
jammed the premiere of
Gleaming the Cube to
mix with Hawk, McGill.
Guerrero, etc. Also
around were Natas (late by five) and Christ
(gone five early). The Peralta/Darrin action
footage, interestingly enough, has received
the best reviews. The film is assured cult
status just by virtue of Hawk's demonic Pizza
Hut driver portrayal. Also stellar were Britt
Parrot, Chris Black, "Undercover Ray"
Underhill, Kaupas, Freddy Kivan. Vince.
Tesudo, Welinder and a host of extras too
obvious for any savvy skater/viewer to ignore.
Did not Legendary DT minstrel Joe E.
Merholz, in a fit of total remorse over the loss
of his one true love, crazy cat Ya Moa (Mow),
steal the body from the vet, place it in a cof-
fin made out of an old record cabinet that
Ancell decorated, douse it with flammables,
torch the casket and push it out into the San
Francisco Bay in a true viking funeral cere-
mony? The funeral pyre burned for a good
twenty minutes before
disappearing under the
salty brine. Hopefully Ya
Moa made it to Pussy
Valhalla.
Is it true that Daddy
Skatebucks and the
Diego Tennis Shoe Mafia
are squaring off in Tai-
wan? Will this translate
into a bidding war for U.S.
skate pros?
Question Thirteen: Are
El Gato, Murph, Cooksie,
Fillion and Underhill
now undergoing cultural
confusion since they
can't find any more
jungle boys to climb trees
for them? Did these
skaters actually employ
native servants in Indo-
nesia? Did Natas and R.
Eddie Reategui use a certain tour as a surf
trip to Bali? Did Joe Johnson, Henry Gutier
rez and Claus Grabke order up mahogany
for ramps of their own after riding an m-wood
ramp at a demo for a prime minister?
The English street scene runs rampant
while the ramp scene is currently under
cover, bridge or overpass. Paul Wright is
rumored to be crafting a giant cloverleaf.
Lucian Hendricks is reported to regularly
pull off curb Andrechts. Pete Dossett is hard
at it in the air while kids in Ohio wonder if
Martin Smith can really ollie-slide down four
flights of steps in the London Metro as fabled.
Madd Mark Baker, according to a current
local legend, is doing nose wheelies atop
moving double decker buses.
Rumor Mill: Was Steve Olson accosted
by Don Johnson at a 4-star party in Aspen
Clockwise from Far Left: Snow
Summit is the spot for the L.A.
skate/snow set. Big Mac lets
it all hang out at the S.C
Christmas bash while latch
ing on to a tasty McNugget.
Red Dog Muir, always on the
lookout for new graphic
ideas, checks out Hank Wil-
Nams Jr's tour bus in Oregon.
Photo: M.Fo. Anthony Sedillo
and Rich Riffle skate in front
of the cameras during a Dlet
Coke shoot destined for the
Super Bowl XXIII telecast in
30. John Shultes, star of the
new H-street vid "Shackle
Me Not, braved the
rowcy premiere show-
ing accompanied by
alluring bodyguard
Shannon Smith.
recently? Did Sonny actually threaten Bulky
with something to the effect of, "If you ever
come near Melanie again, I'll..."
Question Twenty-seven: Which top pro
skater is actually a quiet owner of another
skate company? Does this skater occasion-
ally answer the phone and take orders at the
secretly owned company?
Why is Jeff Grosso spending so much
time in his room lately? Is he habitually tired
or is he learning to play guitar on the sly?
Is Tracker Larry turning in his fleet of race-
tuned BMW's in favor of an all-original '57
Oldsmobile Delta 88? Did Indyman Mr. F.
respond to the challenge by obtaining a
chopped and channeled metal-body '32
Ford, which he promptly parked in the middle.
of a warehouse and never drove again?
Were Mr. Fo and Tumbleweed actually
rousted in the press box by anxious security
forces at the prestigious S.F. premier
engagement of Penn & Teller? Were the
guards alarmed by Weed and Fo's regula-
tion SS officer coats or were the appearing
magicians so rattled by their "Mofo the
psychic gorilla" character that they pushed
the panic button? Did Mr. M.Fo make am-
mends by giving the magicians some billion-
year-old fossils he'd found on Santa Monica
Pier? Did Mr. Mo then fly down to an LA.
movie screening on the Burbank Studios lot
where he impersonated Harry Warner and
ordered the trashing of an entire street of
sets? Did he actually order compliant work-
men to re-wire a screening room and to then
re-paint Beaver Cleaver's TV set house?
Were Skip Engblom, Be-Vad "Aleric"
Valentin and Jack Daniels also along on
Mofo's VIP studio tour? Was the film in ques-
tion somehow related to Bobby Hoffman