The Santa
Rosa Bomb Squad
DRIVING OUT OF SAN FRANCISCO over the Golden
Gate Bridge always deposits you into another world. The
weather is better, the people are really stupid and every-
thing seems alien. Santa Rosa is no exception; it's the
suburbs, after all-wide roads, little houses, serial killers,
gas stations and vacant fields. There's lots of room for
adventure but nothing to do.
In the middle of all this there is Santa Rosa Skatepark,
right across from the local high school. Too bad the
course is entirely fenced in with eight-foot chain link that
makes your eyes tired if you look at it for too long. Not so
great for a contest; it's more like being at the zoo.
This didn't stop the screaming fans, the pimps and the
players and the cross-eyed starfuckers from standing
around the fence, happy to be near the spectacle. Okay,
maybe not at this contest, but there were a lot of babies
and some weird looking dogs. Feeling lost in the crowd,
we blindly followed the sound of MC Greg's voice.
Taking Ludens and no shorts, Greg-Carroll-who-could-
not-shut-up was on the mic so the verbals were entertain
ing when the skating was flat.
I wanted to see these guys work it but they wouldn't,
damn it! Why not? A lot of the pros seemed tired, not
into it, burnt. Who was on: Chris Senn (skinny legs), Matt
Pailes, Phil Shao, Aaron Astorga and ferret boy Frank
Hirata. Off: Justin Girard and Mike Carroll (plagued with
equipment problems). Lookin' good: The most punk
Duane Peters, the proud owner of my favorite sweater, a
fuzzy red job with black edges. Bummer that it was too
hot for him to wear it and show 'em who's boss. The heat
did not affect Wade because he is made of metal. What
about Mike Manzoori? He had the sagginest pants.
Tommy G always sports a tight tank top wifebeater and
so remained consistent in his fashion outlook. Nanda
Zipp? Nice choker. Theo Hand was fence climbing and
beer drinking. Jaya wears cords, need I say more?
Speyer rhymes with flyer and Wade (opposite) took his pop into the
stratosphere. The original street chicken, Tommy Guerrero (top) cleared
the fun box with style. Local gone loco Nanda Zipp (left) impressed the
assembled onlookers with his mastery of the lines around Santa Rosa.