Category Archives: Skate

DIY, Ramblings, Skate

Are you ready for The Apocolypse?

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If you believe Harold Camping the Apocalypse is coming in May of this year. I don’t know about that but there are other things you might want to be on the lookout for like economic collapse or another down turn in the skateboard industry (more close to my heart) or something. The end of the world is pretty uncertain as far as I can tell. Maybe the Mayan Calendar ending is a big deal or maybe the calender just ends because when they made it 2012 seemed like a long way off.

Tongue firmly in cheek, I give you the Apocalypse Box. This is the ever expanding collection of skateboard stuff that, lets face it, may not be available forever. A box full of used wheels, bearings, hardware, trucks, salvageable shoes and a stack of used but not ended decks might be important to have if you can’t get them or manufacture them.

Apocolypse Box and other stuff...

Another take on this would be to have you and your skate pals all get sorted on manufacturing the stuff you need yourself. Making your own decks, trucks and wheels might be a good idea to prepare for the future. Think about the bartering power you will have when money doesn’t work anymore. You want Monk or Red to build you your own skate structure you might want to have skate gear to trade for it. Better than that; maybe you want to learn how to work the concrete yourself and maybe you’ll have to learn how to make your own concrete.

Life is uncertain, make it what you want for yourself.

Ramblings, Shop Talk, Skate

When it’s deserved it’s a good thing.

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First post and it appears I’m doing some advertising for a skate company. Not really, I’m just overly stoked that a long time friend and highly underrated shredder has finally got the recognition he deserves and has hooked himself up properly.

Maybe this will help him get to even more events and around the UK than he already does. Kids if you are reading this and are that desperate to get sponsored then you’ll do no better than follow the path Joxa has taken, namely getting out there and just going skateboarding with a smile on your face.

Proud to have known this goon since he was scratching 50-50’s in the Stockport bowl with pink hair – ALL HAIL JOXA!

Joxa FS grind Isle of Man

Also if you are interested then Witchcraft, who have sorted Young Steven out, are a new UK company from the brain of top “arteeest” French who has done stuff for a host of other people. I dig it.

DIY, Ramblings, Skate, Skateparks

Regulating

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Cold afternoon under a bridge

This afternoon I hit the Marginal Way DIY Skatepark with some bridge pals. When I got there a dad and his kids were using the park. The dad was watching the kids use the park actually. One of the kids was on a scooter which I generally think shouldn’t be anywhere near a skatepark. The kids were mostly rolling around in the newest part of the park which can be used apart from the rest if everyone else in the place has the understanding that others can skate elsewhere at the same time. Generally that arrangement works for a period of time before folks skating want to take a run that involves more of the park. Communication is key.

So as I made my way to the other side of the skatepark to set down my beverage and keys before my skateboarding enjoyment, my bridge pal Hector rolled into the larger part of the park at a pretty good speed and just as he hit the opposite wall the scooter kid rolled our of the little part right into his path. If Hector hadn’t spied the kid in time thing could have been really bad for the both of them. Hector yelled at the kid in the middle of jumping off his board and avoiding the collision. Exactly what I would have done.

Of course kid watching dad had some things to say to Hector about yelling at his kid and a short debate was had about who should be allowed to skate (in this case scooter) at Marginal Way. It boiled down to the following points:

  1. Kids need to learn to watch out and be aware of what’s going on in a skatepark.
  2. Scooters are not skateboards.
  3. Skaters built Marginal Way for skaters.
  4. Skateparks are for everyone to use.

After the words were exchanged (I didn’t hear the whole conversation) the dad and his kids left and all was right with the world.

Here’s where I stand on the whole thing. Yes Marginal Way is a skatepark, kids can use it and most of the time there’s no problem when they do. Even on scooters, although I hate those things. But having said that; skaters, especially ones that have helped build, pay for and generally take care of Marginal Way have every right to regulate the scooter kid and inform him firmly about what’s up. Even at a public skatepark I think this is the case. Even more so at Marginal Way because it isn’t a public skatepark built by the city using tax payer money and therefore everybody doesn’t have unlimited access to it.

Dads with kids who are learning to skate and especially kids learning how to ride a scooter should be at their local public skatepark. There they can show up any time of the day and skate/scoot and have some right (scooters maybe not) to be there. They should still expect some regulation from more experienced park users. Marginal Way is probably fine also, but if there are skaters there who aren’t your kids don’t expect them to be accommodating and, frankly, they don’t have to be. Best to go down to Marginal when nobody is there or go somewhere else.

Hector wins this argument every time.