Flippin' Boards
Beats&
Flippin'
Words
and Photos
by Nik Freitas
Burgers
Am Showdown in Madera
was at work last night with my friend Barney doing the
usual: flipping burgers and frying chicken nuggets. There
was something wrong though; Barney was looking pretty
bummed. This wasn't unusual; neither of us wanted to be there
so we were always bummed, planning ways to get back at the
bitchy waitresses and walking out of the damn place. But
Barney was really looking down, so I asked him what was up.
"Nothing, man," he muttered.
Now, I'm not one to pry, but I was bored and I wanted to be
entertained. "What is it, man?" I repeated.
Barney threw down some fries in the fryer and started talking.
"I went to some skateboard
Jesse Paez gives the ams a little
something to think about
with a gigundo 360°
frontside grab. Boo-yah!!
Rabbit-boy Ryan Johnson
jumps out of one
pocket and
into another.
park in Madera today and they
were having a skate jam," he
explained. "The person with
the best run got 500 bucks, and
the runners-up got 300 and
100 dollars."
"Damn," I said, picking up
a burger I just dropped on
the floor and putting it back
on the grill.
"I was sitting there drinking a
beer and watching fifteen
dudes going at it in these
wooden bowls for half an
hour," he continued. "This kid
Ryan Johnson was flying
around the bowls while this
other kid, JR Neves, was flip-
ping his board way up there
and then landing back on it!"
Barney was starting to scare
me because his eyes were
getting big and his voice was
getting louder.
"These other two guys were
doing good too. Jon Klein was
one; he was smooth and never
fell off his board," he said,
looking confused. "Casey
Lindstrom was the other guy.
He kept hitting the metal pipe
on the ramp super hard. He
was good, dammit, good!"
I was looking for a way to get
out of the kitchen because
Barney was getting angry, but
he kept reeling on.
"So who do you think got the
money?" Barney asked.
"Shit, I don't know, that guy.
Casey?" I answered back,
having no clue.
"Wrong," he wailed. "That
bastard Ryan Johnson got 500
bucks! JR Neves got second
and 300 bones, while Jon
Klein took home a hundred
easy ones."
I saw that his fries were
burning, but he didn't care, he
Helmets are mandatory for
cookin' Casey Lindstrom
as he liens to tail away
from the spin.
44 THRASHER
just kept talking.
"I stuck around a while longer
sipping on another beer, thinking,
'Why can't I do this skateboard
thing and win easy money?""
Barney was staring off into space
now. "I used to skate; I had a Tony
Hawk skateboard. My friend had.
a half pike in his backyard, but we
could never do what those guys
were doing. After the contest I
watched this kid Jesse Paez flying
in the air off the ramps like it was
nothing. He should have gotten
some money too, dammit!"
Right then Kim walked by with
fire in her eyes. "Where are my
fries?" she asked.
"Shit!" Barney yelled as he saw
that the fries were now black in
the fryer. I knew he was going to
explode any minute so I ducked
behind the freezer.
"Order up!" Barney screamed,
throwing all the fries at the wait-
ress. "I'm out of here."
And with that, he was gone.
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