BIG CHOCOLATE
100% NUTZO SKATEBOARDING
NET WT 8 OZ (226
Spread: Huf hopping a
shopping cart the color
of banana Laffy-Taffy.
Inset: Carl Shipman
chews English tof-
fee while doing a
frontside 360' off
of a loading
dock bank.
Last summer in Chicago there
was this mysterious quarter-pipe in the
park downtown. I saw it from the bus one
day when I was going to the record.
store. I think it was probably hailt
by some BMXers, because it was
penity harsh with a big-ass bump at
the bottom, but when you pushed it
up against crack in the sidewalk, the
hump wasn't that bad. I skated it a
bunch of times, and I was usually the
only skater there, but there was always
a bunch of homeless people hanging out
next to it, cheering me on. Usually there
would be some little kids playing there too.
They would always ask to try my board and
always fell on their ass.
One day my friend Dave Z and his girl came
into town from New York. I told them to meet me
on the steps of the Art Institute downtown. I
mised down a little early to skate the quarter-pipe..
There weren't any other skaters there, but the usual
contingent of homeless people were hanging out,
and a bunch of little kids were throwing crab-
apples at each other. I did a little frontside ollie
and I heard this voice behind me say, "Yeah!!
Nice one, dudel" I turned around, and there
was this big happy black guy standing there
with his board. He looked pretty normal except
for some ill scars on his neck and forehead and
the fact that he didn't have any griptape on his
board. He went up to do a kickturn, and his
board flew one way, and his chin flew the
other right into the transition I went to help
him, but he pupped up before I got to him, seemingly
unfazed. I asked him. "Isn't it sorta hard to skate with
out griptape?" He said he just came from the
skateshop, but they wouldn't give him any. "They
wouldn't give you any "Yeah, I know. They give it
out free when you buy a board. it's not like
they're gonna miss it I'm about to go to the
other skateshop, you wanna go? I told him I
had to meet my friends in a little bit, and
he looked kinda bummed. But then
he perked up and said, "Well,
could you loan me three dollars to get some griptape? I was like, "Sure." He
got so psyched and surprised. He looked all happy for a few seconds and
then his lips dropped out of a smile, and he said. "So, like, you probably
don't like me now cause I asked you for money, huh?" "No, it's cool. I'm
always down to support a fellow skater." He started bugging and getting all
excited again. "That's so cool! That's just how I feel. I mean, that's what
I's always trying to say, but other skaters don't feel like that they're always
vbin' me. I'm gonna pay you back, don't worry! Then he reached
into his back pocket and pulled out a rumpled 3x
index card and handed it to
me. "OK, so