118 THRASHER
TAL CHU
ST. JAMES CATHED
Clockwise from top: Steffan Attardo's double-kink boardslide in
Chicago has serious religious implications. Check that jagged edge! Check
that water! Check my wang! Check out Eric Bork! Rafter-Tech gets nutty by
snaking through the thick Columbia crowd to blast a thick nollieflip.
TOP
disrespecting the
van!" Mike Rafter
would yell out. "It's a good van!
Be cool to the van!"
But the van did get disrespected, albeit
mildly. "Fuuuuck!!!" we would yell, our
fists jack-hammering skywards. Punching the
ceiling was the favorite van affront. Sometimes it
would almost sound like we were in a hail storm or a rock
slide. The ceiling blasts were so loud and steady.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. "FUUUUUUCK!!!!!"
More extreme disrespect included karate-kicking off one of the
side mirrors (although there are reports that this may have been an
accident) and setting small fires in the van due to ill-placed fire-
works displays (this, again, an accident, and we were actually quite
lucky we didn't lose Ron with that one).
But as Rafter reminded us, the van is a cool van. It's the one out
of the ad. It's huge and has a TV and VCR.
When I climbed into the van at the Minneapolis airport, some
of the dudes had already been on tour for a month. Needless to
say, van hierarchy had already developed and seat claims were as
good as set in stone.
Heading to the 3rd Lair skatepark demo were Ryan Parsons,
Ron Whaley, Steffan Attardo, Mike Rafter, Eric Bork, team
manager Matt Sharkey, Chuck the sales dude, and two filmers
named Domingo and Ewan. I skated the bowl with the old
guys (including one-time NHS pro Dave LeRoux) while the
team warmed up on the street course, Chuck worked the
babes, and the filmers filmed. This was the first time of a few
where I was asked to sign autographs-a task that always
makes me uncomfortable, especially this time, as the item to
be autographed was a teenaged girl's thigh. I signed it as I
always do: Ken Park, Town and Country '85.
Leaving the park, we ran into some street spots. In near darkness,
Steffan backside 180'ed a big rail and set of stairs and got a big
cheer from a group of Minneapolis street dogs.
Not only were seat assignments largely unwavering, each full-
time rider had developed a nesting system to better stake their
claim and afford themselves as much van comfort as possible. The
most common nest accessory was what I started referring to as the
pimp pack: a backpack full of comfort items such as Walkmans
with oversized headphones, journals, cologne, several changes of
T-shirts, Indy girl-sized shirts to win over demo babes, and God
knows what else. Bork's nest was probably the best, as he made and
put up name placards out of Emerica stickers. He also had a
medium-sized cardboard box where he stored all the spillover from
his pimp pack.
The most impen-
etrable van stronghold
by far was Ron's. Wedged
into the rear-most seat, Ron
not only had his imposing six-foot-
seven-inch frame to keep out intrud-
ers, he also had his own private entrance
(through the back hatch doors), and a
league of stolen motel pillows. The second
most secure area was Ryan Parsons'. Young
Ryan took a more organic approach to nest
encroachment prevention-he wiped boogers on
everything in arm's reach.
For whatever reason, Chuck the sales guy held full-
time shotgun. Lining his nest area, which had the bonus
of including the extended dash space, were a sea of nov-
elty truck-stop hats, sunglasses, and many, many other
impulse buys. Sales must be booming over there at NHS, 'cause
if there was a wacky item to be purchased at a truck stop, Chuck
was there. He also bought a retro Schwinn banana-seat bike while
on the trip and owns, and wore, a pair of leather pants.
The next demo was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the new Four
Seasons skatepark. This park is fantastic and features, in addition
to a state-of-the-art streetstyle area and a couple of swell mini-
ramps, the finest Masonite triple-bowl in the United States. Paul
Zitzer's family runs the shop, and there is talk of holding a Tampa-
style event at Four Seasons in the near future.
In Milwaukee, Tony Tieu joined the tour.
That night we went to a club to see live hip-hop featuring local
rhymester White Rob. Although White Rob's call for all "bitches
150 pounds or heavier," to get on the dance floor received mixed
reviews from the crew, we had a great time reliving his white-angst
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