Jeremiah Babb hovers above this
handrail in Tuscon, AZ before
slamming his board into a lipslide.
Emerging out of the darkness,
Jed Davis vaults a gothic railing
in Knoxville, TN.
The Celebrity is no stranger to the road. It has zig-zagged around the
country for the last few years, parked next to some of the best
skateparks, climbed the highest mountain passes, been covered in snow,
and gotten stuck in the mud. To say the least, Celbs is a trooper. I will
admit that lately I had not been taking the best care of it, and I was ques-
tioning whether or not it would get to see the Pacific Ocean one more
time. Whenever I would verbally express doubts to the group, an opti-
mistic Gary Collins would always say, "Have pride in your ride. Don't
sweat the Celebrity."
With our roster intact in Atlanta, we headed for Alabama. It was
raining steadily when we reached Birmingham, washing away any
hopes of street skating, so we opted to check out a park called Ramp
and Speed. It didn't really have much to offer, but it was an excuse to
roll around. The next day we pulled off in Memphis in search of
more street. We found a few things, but 30 degrees and wind wasn't
enough to motivate anyone.
Paving our way west, we stopped at Little Rock's Kanis Bowl. When
you pull up to the peanut-shaped bowl, it
looks like something you would find in
Australia, not in the Ozarks. Gary popped
blunts to fakie, Stormy smacked lien to tails,
Jeremiah did feeble grinds to fakie, and
Chris did the most blaspheming act to pool
skating: he waxed the coping. If you ever
skate the Kanis Bowl, beware of the slick
spots and the men in pickups creeping
around the parking lot.
So much of our country is desolate and
unexciting. I'm referring specifically to the
drive from Little Rock to Albuquerque on
Interstate 40. Attempting to break up the
This natural bank in Phoenix, AZ is a
perfect place for Joe Lanega to take
his tailslide to fakie.
grueling drive, we found ourselves in
Oklahoma City. Someone had the idea to
call a skate shop and get the inside on
the local spots, and the people working
at the scuba/skate shop pointed us in the
direction of a park. The "park" consisted
of piles of splintered wood and flesh-
impaling metal objects. With mirages of
better skate spots in the distance, we
pressed on to the Southwest.
This is my favorite part of the country.
There is so much to skate, and the skies are
always sunny and blue. It was around this
time that Jeremiah came up with the term
"desert people" to describe the inhabitants
of this region. After a few drinks, he was
quite liberal in the manner with which he
used this term. On one occasion, he
Aaron Suski snags a sweet melon out
this tight tranny in Tucson, AZ.
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