TRASH
SEVERED HEADS
IKE RAFTER WAS CANNED OVER AT SANTA CRUZ, RESULTING
spirit of camaraderie and was soon taken in by Kareem, Joey and the rest of the City
Stars. With fat checks coming from multiple sponsors, it's rumored that Taylor is the
highest paid am that no one's ever heard of. With Rafter out of there, hard-working
Steffan Attardo has been elevated to pro status.
Other team rumblings include Dave Coyne's
departure from the Maple team after the powers
that be caught wind of Leaf Boy's wandering eye.
Good luck, Dave!
Another nasty rumor has Ronnie Creager remov-
ing himself from the e'S roster to avoid having to
shoot photos ever again.
MARRIED LIFE
Skateboarding's sweetheart, Elissa Steamer, took
Born Bad; Neil Heddings
and son Marcus show
where their bread
is buttered
THRASHER
a shot to the grill on a recent Phoenix Deck Park
sesh, earning her some broken teeth and a split chin.
Housemate Erik "Mule" Ellington ain't doing so
good either, having broken his toe in an extreme
household stubbing.
Tosh quit Rusty to sport
Volcom and Trainwreck quit DC
for an unknown footwear future.
North Carolina mini-ramp champ
Mike Sinclair will be juggling
team manager duties down at
Maple. Send your tapes attention
Sinclair or give him a call or two.
After an exhaustive hell-ridish
mission to Quito, Ecuador,
Hewitt, Buddy, Charno,
Partanen, Bailey, Preston,
Puleo, Razo and Rhino left CIA
sketchmaster Brewce Martin
behind in the third-world nation
after he was locked in, naked, by
the proprietors of one of Quito's
finest strip joints. In other disap-
pearances, Bailey's camera gear
was unsurprisingly stolen (for
what is probably the fourth or
fifth time).
French Filmin' Fred has
holed up at Arto's for a tour of
duty aimed at finishing the
Flip video, not like anyone is
anticipating it, though.
TRICKS & HOS
rade of a contest is a pathetic attempt to capitalize
on individual sports and riders. Their "Action Sports
Feat of the Year" competition pits Bob Burnquist's
fakie 5-0 kickflip out vs. Laird Hamilton's tow in
surf ride in Tahiti vs. Carey Hart's motorcycle back-
flip vs. Candide Thovex's toxic d-spin 900 vs. Dave
Mirra's double BMX backflip. To compare such sep-
arate and dissimilar things is utter nonsense.
Combining them with action music awards and
The
Hollywood celebrities is obscenely exploitative."
list of nominees for skateboarding is: Rick
McCrank, Bob Burnquist, Eric Koston, Arto Saari
nominees despite the fact that there are a number
girl surfers, girl skiers and girl snowboarders
honored.
being
Andy "This is not a long jump contest"
MacDonald was seen by six million viewers on Jay
Leno's Tonight Show flying over what were
described as beautiful XFL cheerleaders. Leno asked
the hard questions in Mac's interview but he failed to
inquire if Danny Way and Colin McKay were seri-
Poser of
the Month
Poser: Joel Taylor
Crime: Trophydom
Punishment: Cremation
From the same perverted marketing
geniuses that brought us B3 (Boards,
Blades, and Bikes) comes the Inaugural
ESPN Action Sports and Music
Awards. To quote from the press
release: "ESPN will unite athletes,
sports legends, musicians and
Hollywood celebrities to present the
most explosive evening in the history
of action sports." This ludicrous cha-
ously upset when they discov-
ered that their characters
never win in the Andy Mac
video game. Following the
interview the jump ramp was
donated to a local skatepark.
Meanwhile Brian Patch
recently set a new world mark
of 58 feet on a 48 foot tall
jumper with a 30 foot gap for
the Guinness Book of World
Records television show.
Macdonald is currently help-
ing to organize the upcoming
Air and Style jump event in
Berlin Germany which will
feature a re-positionable
hydraulically activated land-
ing ramp. Let's reiterate this
once again: Andy Mac has
never been interested in set-
ting world records. And if you
believe that...
I'M COOL
In SoCal there is a rebirth of
the private skatepark. The Girl
team's got one. Steve Berra
has a secret world class facility as well. Volcom is
reputed to be remodeling theirs. The Sake Bomb
crew is also rumored to have built a challenging con-
course in their new downtown warehouse.
Tommy Guerrero and Mark Gonzales have
released a CD entitled (What it Isn't) on the
Sakura label. It features Gonz poetry as orches-
trated by Guerrero.
Numbers: Are there one billion dollars generated
yearly by the retail sales of pro-level equipment? Are
there 500,000 wheels manufactured each month?
Are there 20 million skaters internationally? Is Paul
Matt Allen gets Burnett's choice as ginsu flip for the next generation.
Graveyard Shift
The Old School Skate Jam burned off like toast at the Skatelab in Simi Valley. Hours of skate
brilliance occurred as guys like Eddie Elguera, Erik Dressen, Fingers Murray, Wally
Inouye, Duane Peters, Alva, Olson, Vallely, Hawk, Hassan, Patch and Jaya
Bonderov traded up lines. Odd scenes abounded as Jerry Valdez and Red Dog Muir
DUANE
TA HOFFMAN OLSON GELFAND
whipped out their piercings to compare notes. Agent Orange and Salba's Powerflex
Five played. Vile truths were recorded by Friedman, Ted Terrebone, King James
Cassimus, and Bryce Kanights. Brad Bowman shot prom like portraits in a field studio.
Riki Rachtman brought a notorious XXX actress as the belle of the ball. Henry Hester,
Bob Skoldberg, Sausage Man and Fat Mac wandered through the skate museum. The
invitation-only affair drew hundreds of major players like: Waldo Autry, McGill, Staab,
Caballero, Mountain, George Orton, Tom Groholski, Mike Folmer, Jay Smith,
Ben Schroeder, Billy Ruff, Eddie Reatigui, Curtis Hesselgrave, David Hackett,
Bob Biniak, Paul Constantineau, Polar Bear, Jeff Ho, Skip Engblom, Pineapple,
Wes Humpston, Malba, Marty Grimes, Hirsch, Losi, Andrecht, Flores, Gifford,
Wee Man, Economy, Schmitt, Alan Gelfand, Brandon Cruz, Don Hamilton, Jason
Jessee, Adrian Demain, Danforth, Ron Emory, the Godoys, Jim Gray, Monty
Nolder, Tim Payne, Buck Smith, Grosso, Lucero, Strople, Grisham, Pat Nogho,
Scott Obradovitch, Bob Ballou, George Wilson, Skatemaster Tate, Todd Swank,
Sam Cunningham, Chris Chaput etc... all that and no Lee Ralph or Mark Gonzales.
Schmitt seriously attempting to build one million
decks this year?
CHINESE DEMOCRACY
Beastie Boy Adam Yauch has taken to riding a
motorized skateboard. It is rumored that a percent-
age of each tank of fuel is donated to the Free Tibet
Fund. Soon the Dali Lama and the other perfect
masters will be going moto, too.
The Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo came and
went at Long Beach, CA. Monuments to the strength
of the skate life included Birdhouse's glowing white
illuminated multi-tiered shrine, World's hell house,
Element's green box replete with life-size photo-
graphs of their team and Vans' Stalinesque fortress.
The structural steel of the Vans booth was so
hit
and weighed so much that it reportedly cost a million
dollars j
just to move and store it. Alien Workshop got
hit up for 45 decks and the thieves also stole Joe.
Bower's entire sample clothing line. Planet Earth and
Droors were also rumored to have suffered losses. All
the players attended the DC party with the
Alkaholics. Swank and Tum Yeto hired a night club
and did business from there, avoiding nonsense with
a full bar on stand by. Bob Denike got booted out of
his own Indy anniversary party for throwing beer. The
trade show is a very dangerous
place, which Chad Fernandez
discovered after
getting in mul-
tiple fist fights with his usual
protagonists. While the Drunx
escaped with some bumps and
bruises, 'Nandez got taken
downtown in handcuffs and his
special lady friend got spit on!
Amateurs aren't safe either,
which Brian Emmers discov-
ered after Osiris' mascot/gimp,
Baby Schizo, broke a bottle.
over his head for the crime of
wearing a Boston hat.
OLD HAT
Colt Cannon took street and
Jussi Koshonen took vert at
the
Tampa Amateur
Championships with both dis-
playing foreboding talents for
the future. Other envelope
the
at
expansion occurred
Hotel Milner where the cops
descended en masse several
times following outbreaks of
furniture tossing out of the win-
dows. The PD kicked numerous
groups of skaters out leaving
them with no rooms. CKY per-
formed
at Skatepark of
Tampa's party, where nasty
moshing prevailed and toilets
got thrown. After the finals
Mic-E Reyes took to buying
Jagermeister shots for those left standing. Sasha
Steinhorst and Tino Razo got in each other's face
as a Zero man jumped over the bar. Mike Chin
poured his own while Chris Nieratko went head up
with a huge lard ass only to be saved by Justin
Hall of Weak
Jamie from Georgia should be ashamed of
this "road rash" after the assortment of true
carnage that has come before him.
Regan. Organizational beings Brian Schaeffer and
James Fitzpatrick should have judged the after
parties, since this is where most of the sponsor's
money was expended. As it should be.
A
vintage Bob Biniak Dogtown Bullet deck sold on
the internet for $3500. The movie isn't even out yet.
PARK KING
Josh Kalis is sporting a new Beamer, a new Rover
and a new house. This is a definite upgrade from his
old Honda Accord days.
All in Oz: Donny Barley, Kerry Getz, Justin
Strubing, Brian Anderson, Ethan Fowler, Jason
Dill and Andrew Reynolds. Steve Rocco was seen
training the notoriously anti-ocean Rodney Mullen
near the Great Barrier Reef. Cab and Sandro Dias
were with Big Day Out.
Lending moral support on the Block in Orange for
the Vans Amateur World Championships were Ed
Templeton, Lance Mountain, Rodrigo Tx, Brent
Kronmueller, Geoff Rowley, Greco, Omar
Hassan, Neal Hendrix, Arto Saari and Lincoln
Ueda. Mizael Simao of Brazil took vert and Austin
Seaholm of Anaheim was first in street. Both will
receive a one year pro contract from Vans.
TALK SOUP
"Am I Arto Saari?....Sometimes."
-Arto Saari
"I'm easy to find. I have a 666 phone number."
-Steve Rocco
Adelito Garrido runs a
girl's skate mag in Brazil
called Checkitout;
don't worry,
we do
178 THRASHER
SKATEBOARD