88 THRASHER
buddies. They wouldn't
even have to hunt it down,
'cause they'd know the loca-
tion of their eager young
face by heart.
"I told you I skated in Tampa!
I coulda been a contender,
too!" they'd say with a weary
grin. "My friends told me
Jamie Thomas even clapped
after I landed my benihana!"
It was going to be sweet.
Unfortunately, trying to track
down and shoot a mug shot of
each and every skater proved
to be exceptionally difficult for
a bunch of reasons. First of
all, no one wants their photo
taken, especially by a stranger
and without explanation. It
just seems a little fishy. To put
them at ease, I gave them a
short speech while I lined
them up in my sights.
"Hi, I'm Mike. Can I take
your picture? I'm trying to
take a picture for Thrasher of
every skater who entered."
I got to where I could say it
very fast. Even so, many peo-
ple were still suspicious.
"You're not gonna put my
picture in and then dis me
underneath it, are you?"
"No, of course not!" I tried
to sound shocked. "No, no, I
just need to shoot a photo
of everybody."
I was running around like
crazy, acting like an idiot to
realize my art. Now, looking
down at the results list, I know
I didn't get everybody. I didn't
even get all the dudes I know.
On the other hand, I probably
asked some dudes to shoot
their picture about six or
seven times.
"Yeah, yeah, I already
heard it. You took my picture
about ten minutes ago!"
they'd tell me.
"Oh, shit, yes. I, um, didn't
recognize you with your, um,
hair... sorry."
Studying the list, I want to
say I'm sorry to a few people I
probably missed:
Steve Dimbkowitz, I apol-
ogize. I would have liked to
take your picture, as you
were the oldest competitor
in street style. Likewise,
Shane Shlick, I'm sorry if I
missed you. I really like your
name. Fuck, Daxter, sorry I
forgot you too, bro. And
James Craig, I shouldn't have
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: MIAMI
TOUR GUIDE TO THE STARS JOEL MEINHOLZ ZINGS
A FRONT BOARD ON HIS SECRET GAP TO RAIL
UNDER CLEAR SKIES AND BALMY TEMPERATURES.
BIG JAKE NUNN STEPS IT UP WITH A KICKFLIP
BACKSIDE TAILSLIDE IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE.
"THAT WAS TIGHT. NOW DO IT AGAIN...SWITCH."
JESSE, LEARN 540°S AND TURN PRO. LOVE, MIKE.
HALF-CAB HEELFLIP INDY. NATE JONES KICKED
ASS IN TAMPA, THEN KEPT THE FIRE GOING FOR A
GRITTY BACKSIDE SMITH IN MIAMI.
matte Pets Processing
7007
Shorty
2007
DaFFS
89