TRASH
ROAD RAGE
Tim Upson's recently broken leg is
healing so quickly and feels so good that
he sold off most of his pain pill prescrip-
tion for a nice profit. Richard Paez just
had the misfortune of joining the bro-
ken leg club after an accident at the
recent "2 o'clock at
the Dock" demo.
By the look of things
it appears that after
reading the misinfor-
mation printed in the
photo captions of his
most recently released
interview,
angry
and distressed Tim
McKenney decided that
the best thing to do
was go to Hawaii.
Further tidings from the
islands themselves indi-
cate that Tim went
from bad to worse
I when he got off the
plane on the wrong
island and discovered
shortly thereafter that
he had lost all his
money and plastic. He
managed
to
skate
Wallos with Pancho
Moler and make some
collect calls to his
friends back home, but
then returned to mis-
fortune when he
attempted to catch a
flight home on his
standby-only ticket and
ended up in the airport
for a few straight days
due to heavily over-
booked spring break
flight traffic.
UP
STEP U
TEAM CAPTAIN OF THE YEAR
The buzz from Texas is that Zac Martin waited
so long for his package from Greg Carroll to
come that he had to get a job to get some money
for a board. The result of all this is young Martin
sitting pretty behind the counter of a porno
shop, earning $14 an hour.
BIRD SUFFERS
BROKEN WING
another report says that he was castless at the
campus of the University of California in San
Diego with a film crew doing a public service
announcement for the benefit of the war on
drugs or some such related civic benificence.
The recent round of corporate voracious feed-
ing frenzies has upset a number of leading skate
manus. Even the normally placid Steve Rocco
appears to question the motives of some. His
statement was, "While the business of most busi-
nesses is business, skateboarding is not a business
at all." This wariness over some entities' con-
sumptive orientation appears to be widespread.
For example, several mid-California business.
types seem bent over the reportedly cash-rich
Tom Sim's purported efforts to get back into the
skate biz. Tom's penchant for renting stretch
limos and buying yachts fuels the speculative
fire, which has the man intent on
regaining his one time top skateboard
manufacturing slot funded by revenue
generated by some current snowboard
corporate dealing. Seen backstage at a
Kenny Wayne Shepard gig in
Hollywood along with Sims were for-
mer skate team manager Kirk Putnam
and one time Channel Islands / Powell
Skatezone shop manager Kim
Robinson. That same group was later
spied up at eccentric designer George.
Greenough's Montecito estate caressing
a mold for an ultralight foam-cored car-
bon fiber skateboard. Former skate pro
Henry Hester is reportedly deep into
other
secret
rec esoteric high tech
approaches at Rusty's factory, where a
number of other ex-slalom racers such
as Bob Skoldberg also log on. Not to be
outdone, Quiksilver Incorporated,
which generated $231 million of net
sales last year, is readying to wage war
with their subsidiaries Gnu Snowboards
and Arcane boots. And Tony Hawk's
recent pronouncement that Nike "was
rumored to own Birdhouse" was so per-
suasive that in past days certain lower
echelon swoosh promotions men are
quietly claiming that "the Air Hawk era
is at hand." Jason Jessee and crew were
so motivated by their deep love of
Beaverton that they barged a session
on Nike's corporate Headquarters' steps
and videotaped their expulsion from
Sneakerland. "Just think if they treated
all athletes like skateboarders." "Hard
Copy," "A Current Affair," and "60
Minutes" are all said to be hot on the
trail of this tape exposé which demonstrates that
Birdo never sleeps. In unrelated moves: Nike is
rumored to be pulling out of the YMCA project
in Encinitas while Gotcha is allegedly involved in
a $240 million park/skate/snow/surf/store in
Anaheim, California near Disneyland.
Tony Hawk reflects on his first broken bone in 22 years of skateboarding.
Kris Markovich was so rattled when heard
about the upcoming Kickflip Showdown at the
Wallenberg Four that he forgot he had just got on
the 1st Division wheel team and had an ad, and he
quit to ride for someone else. A lot of people say
Cairo Foster could easily take the title on this four-
stair kickflip challenge since he, like Markovich,
has already landed it, but reports are that he's a
little shy about throwing down when all the guns
are in town. Jesse Paez has apparently accepted
the challenge and said he'd show up whenever
everyone was ready. Andrew Reynolds is another
possible contender who could be willing to slug it
out on the big day, which has not been precisely
zeroed in on as of yet.
FORE HEAD
Can it be true that Shiloh Greathouse is too
busy to skate because: 1) he's practicing his drives
and putts to go pro in a sport with some real
money in it, and 2) he's studying the complexities
of Stephen Hawking's theories of the universe
under Rodney's humbly masterful tutelage?
BROKEN BONES
During a session in the semi-ghetto area of San
Diego's Golden Hill, Shorty's puzzle piece Peter
Smolik countered a local's heckling with some
blows to the dome that ended with the smart-
mouth in a puddle of his own ooze. Whether it
was then necessary for Lil' Brandon Turner to
I finish him off with some boots to the uncon-
scious head is under speculation, but needless to
say, the Golden Hill homies are on the war path
for skateboarders, much to the chagrin of Hill
residents Joe Pino and Ditch Burly. No chinga
con la raza!
In addition to running his True Clothing empire,
kickflipper-turned-entrepreneur Willy Santos has
opened a Chula Vista skateshop called "Kafe-
Cuts and Fades," that, in addition to stocking all
your skate needs, also houses a full-time barber
shop. Surprisingly, Willy's old mini-trucker cut is
not on the price board.
The conflicting currents of Tony Hawk hearsay
can leave one dizzy. In one rumor the Bird had
inflicted a broken elbow upon himself in the
midst of shooting a Sprite commercial, but
TIRED TALK
More news from shoe land. Adidas, fat off
mega sales of gear to the hip hop nation, is said
to be close to releasing a Gonz-designed shoe.
And at the Van Doren Rubber Company, wasn't
that Snoop Doggy Dogg who was onsite with
Omar Hassan? Snoop, who took nine cases of
Vans back to the 'hood, is said to have offered to
do a Dogg shoe. This provocative hookup may
have been the inspiration that allegedly caused
ponytailed V ad campaign guru David X to stand
up and bellow out at a Newport Beach luncheon,
"Hey, we're Vans, we've got $160 million, and we
could crush you like a grape. We invented the
street shoe market and we're not going to kiss
any ass." As for the "soul remains the same" tag
line...Meanwhile, is a certain Jewish defense
political action group upset over the Vans same-
since-'66 sole pattern, which they say resembles a
matrix of six pointed stars?
And from the halls of Niketown the "newest"
Tony Hawk rumor is that "Tony's 3 million dollar
take from the recent sale of a video game of his
style management at the new Escondido
skatepark have taken to stretching chains across
the flat of the vertical U even if someone is still
taking a run. In a recent episode, Chris
Livingston received a tweaked ankle for riding
TERRAINASAUROUS REX
The new bowl at Encinitas has everything you could ask for in a pool. Square
shallow end, deep bowl, and a hard masonite surface make it tough to beat.
design produced 16 thousand dollar Easter bonus-
es for the Birdhouse team." To some observers this
may be identified as a two year old bit of skate biz
gossip, but as they say in the shoe biz: don't just
do it, do it again and again and again.
DIS MISSED
Are repercussions still falling out from the recent
Tracker trade show exhibit that seemed to depict
a couple of team riders using Indy and Venture
trucks? Did Larry Balma actually stage the shots to
throw rival industrial spies off the trail of his
super-secret new model truck testing? Is Tracker
tactitian Bryan Ridgeway employing his library of
esoteric deceased publications like Poweredge,
Skate Fate, and Skateboard World as sources in
this alleged misinformation distribution scam?
Sponsoring corporate types seemed justifiably
worried when snowboarding endorsement man
Shaun Palmer began ranting about his desire to
become a mountain bicycle motocross world
champion. Will Palmer's current spoked fetish
end up alienating his economic support team? Or
will the marketing-savvy MX master in training
snag some even bigger bucks multinational
types? The much-rumored seriousness of intent is
perhaps evident in Palmer's apparent avoidance
of the snow scene.
FLAT LINE
In an effort to enforce the nor-
Imally lax "last run" rule
of ramp skating, the
football-coach-
+
Skateboarding Hall Of Fame. Watch for the
premiere induction to be made in Canada
this summer.
VH1 in Canada is doing a documentary on
skating. Their video crew filmed at the
Skatelab and at the California Museum of
Photography in Riverside. Interviewees Kevin
Boyle and Zach Cordner seemed suspicious
when the docu dame director asked so many
fashion questions. The woman was so fashion.
forecast focused that she asked about "Max
Dufour's new designs," apparently not know-
ing that Max was a skater rather than a maker
of haute couture. The museum's show of
skateboarding photos was popular enough
that its Website received 1 million inquiries
during a single month.
MAJOR MINOR
The Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum
fielded an expo which included efforts by many,
including Amano, Ancell, Sandow Birk, Gomez
Bueno, Moish Brenman, Dave Carnie, Nathan
Carrico, Thomas Campbell, Sean Cliver, Lynn
Coleman, Garry Scott Davis, Shepard Fairey,
David Flores, Mark Gonzales, Guerrero,
Humpston, Andy Jenkins, Chris Johanson, Court
Johnson, Ken Jones, Kozik, LOS, Giant, Twist,
Jerry Mahoney, Raphael T. Melendez, Dawn
Martinez, Jenny McGee, Johnny Mojo, Dug1,
Noto, Chris Pastras, Kamau Patton, Jim and
SNOW JOB?
after time was called. His protest led to a police
escort off the property and cries of foul by those
in attendance. Peter Hewitt has since boycotted
and a complete desertion is expected once the
new re-vamped Encinitas YMCA is unveiled.
Rumors of flying fists flew
around Huntington Beach when
a certain "I wear black on the
outside because that's how I feel
on the inside" Birdhouse pro got
popped by a glue-footed Flip
rider over the solemn wog's
poor phone etiquette. In a sur-
prise twist, the matter was
rumored settled via a sponsor-
enforced cash penalty equaling
the price of time lost in front of
the camera due to some
unsightly bruising and puffiness.
RIP TIDE
Steve Olson arrived unan-
nounced at the Skate Lab in Simi
Valley and donated his pair of
vintage padded Molly shorts to
Todd Huber's skate museum.
CALL COLLECT
After cashing in at
Nagano, gold medalist
Jonny Mosely gives props
to the mag that got him
started down the road to
"360° mute-dom."
The Sausage Man, aka Dale
Smith, is associating with the
founder of the sixties Cooley
Bun Buster company and
asserts that he almost has inked a publishing
deal for his fifteen years in process book on
the history of skating.
nds
Other millennium
reassessment
projects include
the formal
establish-
ment of The
Jimbo Phillips, Mic-E Reyes,
Scott Starr, Craig Stecyk, Ed
Templeton, Jeff Tremaine,
Demetrie Tyler, Sundee White,
Ken Wormhoudt and Tobin
Yelland. The opening day
demo closed off De La Guerra
street and had elements of
the Church of Skatan, Powell,
Stereo and Think teams. Local
artist Mike Santarossa sur-
veyed the presentation and
said it "looked like a Bones
Brigade reunion." Curator
Armando Rascon is consider-
ing touring this elaborate sur-
vey show.
LOG JAM
"The most important thing
about a skateboard is the
grip tape."-Rick Howard
"I could tell that the alligator
wasn't feeling too good
because he was already
dead." -Tim McKenney
"You've got to cough up some dues for the fam-
ily treasury." -Phelper
"Every day's Saturday when you're pro."
-Andy Howell
"Boardriding. A visual metaphor of who we are
and what we stand for."
-Quiksilver Inc.
"We are all obsolete. Yeah, just like skateboard-
ing."-dialogue from the film "The Full Monty"
"Just because it hasn't happened before doesn't
mean that it can't happen for the first time."
-Andrew Currie
Contract negotiations for
the new head-bangin'
skate shoe took a turn
for the worse when
Rune, Lemmy,
Blackdog and
Mickey Dee ran
out of beer.
130 THRASHER
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