Skateboarder Aug-Sep-12

See these videos? Take a long look because they may be the last of their kind. They are already like fossils from a soon to be bygone era that’s quickly being left in the dust by the digital age of Internet-only skate videos that are here today and forgotten about tomorrow. It sucks to think that such great modern skate videos have only a short shelf life these days. In the next 10 years, you won’t be able to look back and easily dig out any of the classic videos from our current era because if they’re still around they’ll probably be buried deep within your computer’s hard drive right next to that illegally downloaded porn that you forgot about. Things are easily forgotten when they’re not in view. Out…

Bro Style, the number one choice of the bros, offering up griptape, bolts, wax, etc., is a new accessory brand out of Tum Yeto done by Leo Romero and some other key hombres. Heath Kirchart is down for them, so you know they’re doing shit right. Bro Style or No Style…Cons shook things up recently when they picked up Mike Anderson and Jason Jessee for the team while dropping Anthony Pappalardo…In other shoe news, Louie Barletta and Duffs have parted ways with Sweet Lou landing at Globe. Louie also gained two new teammates at Enjoi with the addition of ams Zach Wallin and Ryan Lay who are both crushing it…Pete Eldridge made the move from Mystery to Cliché…Blind Skateboards and Jake Brown have parted ways with Jake moving to Sk8mafia.…

KROOKED START I started getting boards from Real through my good buddy, Mike Nalls. He was getting Deluxe stuff and got me to send a vid to them. Then Krooked started, and I was given a choice: “We would like you on Krooked and we are gonna send you a box. If you don’t like the shit, then you can keep getting Real stuff.” The box they sent had so much crazy goofy graphics; I was totally digging it. It was really different. Then soon after, Krooked did the guest trip to Japan. At the San Francisco airport was the first time I met Tommy Guerrero, Mark and Mic-E. I knew Mark was one of the biggest influences on street skating, but I had no idea about his personality and…

1. The date was wrong for years on this camera. I think this was 2001 or so. Me and the fucked-toes man himself, drunk wrestling. 2. I think this was New Year’s 2002. Andrew, my friend Louis Slater, Shane’s arm, and Braydon on the right. 3. Thumbs up from The King. Mucho passion! Low Life Tour 2011. 4. A couple of my favorite people: Alex Gall and Shane Heyl. This was at that same 2002 New Year’s party. I always thought it was funny how Shane was just waiting for that bottle, and Wreck looks like he’s taking his sweet time. 5. Big Twuan, warming up for the demo somewhere in the south. Low Life Tour 2010. 6. This happened at a house party about a block from where I…

LEFT SIDE THE OLE SWITCHEROO In high school, I snuck out to go skate with these older dudes. They came and picked me up and we went out to skate this knee-high wall. I tried to switch ollie it, landed it and folded my ankle over the nose. So I had to go home and wake up my parents to tell them I had to go to the hospital. They were pretty bummed on that one. NAIL ON NAIL CRIME While staying at Biebel’s old house in Sacramento, I went to run up the stairs and my toe went under the stairs and caught on a nail. When I went for the next step, it all but ripped the big toe’s nail off. It was kind of just dangling. I…

Steve Olson is back! Well, at least his rhyme-spitting alter ego, Crazy Monk, is. Tracking down the AWOL, Internet-snubbing, Shorty’s rubber boy took a minute. My only lead to do so was the rumor that he’s currently working at a skateshop in his native state of Washington. But with some help from the Yellow Pages and after some awkward, random phone calls to a bunch of shops one bright day, I fulfilled the dream. Crazy Monk picked up the phone at All-A-Board in Puyallup to announce a freshly pressed “hardcore, grimy, spiritual, political” hip-hop album called 27th Letter of The Alphabet and to reminisce about times when he was just “the other Steve Olson.” I take it you’ve been into spirituality for a while? I definitely learned it from my…