If you visit Quarter Snacks often, you have probably caught subtle references to my disconcertment with the majority of what is going on in skateboarding videos these days. Unnecessary slow motion, skits, intros, seagulls, foliage, the filmer evidently more concerned with an ample balance between his blues and greens than he is with the actual trick at hand, fancy titles — I hate it all. There are maybe two videos to come out each year that I have a compulsion to watch more than twice, so when a memorable one actually does come out, it is pretty significant.

There are three “filmmakers” in skateboarding that don’t suck: Jay Strickland, myself, and Beagle. (Justin White is kinda cool too.) The last one is responsible for what will most likely wind up as my favorite video of the year not made by Alien Workshop. Baker Has a Deathwish is dubbed as a throwaway video, but it comes off as a pretty fleshed-out product, where the skating is by no means of a lesser quality than what you would expect from a more well-promoted and hyped-up company video. Beagle makes a conscious effort to ensure the fact that his videos are actually fun to watch, and they make you want to go skate. The soundtrack is mostly retarded rap, which is always a plus in my book. The skating is evidently not the result of a tedious process in which the same bench line was re-filmed five times to filter out anything that may begin to resemble a tick-tack. (P.S. The Habitat video came out five months ago and has already aged horribly.) The basic rundown is: Lizard King is the epitome of drug-skating and actually did a trick on Hollywood High that I cared about, Ellington is back on drugs (resulting in a better part), Jim Grecco is still off drugs (resulting in a forgettable part), Spanky still skates and is still kind of good at it, Bryan Herman is the new title-holder for the best line of all time, Beagle switch firecrackered twenty stairs, Sammy Baca is very good at shortening his life-span, and Antwuan Dixon is the only person in history to pull off a good-looking nollie varial heelflip.

If you haven’t found a link for it already, here you go. Worth the purchase whenever it surfaces to DVD though. I’ll be sure to have it on my shelf with the other eight skate videos I own.
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Other nonsense:

A few of the better skateboarding sites out there have had some rather New York-centric updates as of recent times…

Police Informer posted this Quim Cardona Interview from 1996, which is a little bit umm… “out there,” to say the least. But if you’ve ever wondered about the merging of skateboarding, hemp clothes, yoga, and the spirituality of dreads, then it may be a worthwhile read. Matt Field did the interview, so you should kinda know what to expect.

Bonus: Quim’s section from Real’s Non-Fiction video. This is actually the second clip from this video that I’m posting this week, and I’ve actually yet to get around to mentioning the best part in the video altogether. You should already know that, though.

48 Blocks posted an out-of-left-field Peter Bici interview. In case you were born in the 90s, Peter Bici is most famous for being the only person to ever film a line on the outside of the fountain at the Flushing Globe, and also for having the random white kid in the red fitted bopping his head behind Busta Rhymes in his Mixtape part.

The éS Game of Skate date has been announced, and it is on June 23rd. Unlike past years where it was held by Autumn and done at Tompkins Square Park, this year, KCDC is hosting it, and it is randomly going to be in the abandoned pool-turned-outdoor-concert-space at McCaren Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. They also spruced up their registration process, and it seems like you can no longer randomly show up five minutes before it starts and still participate. Click here for registration info and forms. I’m sure there will probably be a reminder post once it gets closer because it is still almost two months away. I have a good feeling that all the new requirements and inflexibility of the contest are going to have devastating effects on the drunken antics that have been the highlights of past years’ games.

Quote of the Week: “What’s up Taji? I seen you kickin’ ill game on Youtube.” - Luis Tolentino

Also, I would like to formally apologize to all of those who I offended with the previous post, which evidently had nothing to do with skateboarding. I am only apologizing to be a good sport, but the reality of the matter is that the last post had more to do with skateboarding than the majority of the content posted on Quarter Snacks, you are just not deeply immersed into the dark underbelly of New York skateboarding, which is still blinding you with its facade of wallies and lipslides.

The underage drinking community recently suffered a significant loss to its already depleting body of alcoholic resources when The Hat put an end on “to-go” margaritas. This beverage was favored heavily by the 16-20 age group, because in exchange for the meager sum of $8.00, customers would receive a cool, refreshing, whopping five ounces of margarita, composed largely of Georgi Vodka and cost-efficient margarita mix, concealed in a plastic cup. The plastic cup would enable patrons to consume the beverage just outside the immediate vicinity from the location where it was purchased. Unknowing police officers would overlook the unsuspicious group of seventeen-year-olds non-chalantly posted up against a wall on Stanton Street at 2:30AM on a Wednesday night, all drinking from similar cups, which they likely presumed to be a family-friendly beverage like Kool-Aid, or Hi-Ci (for the white people).

Underage drinkers have had a range of reactions. While some reacted furiously, others greeted the news with a wave of cool indifference. “Little” Kevin Tierney, 18, of Astoria, Queens, who would often save up his lunch money for the purchase of his weekly margarita on Fridays is among the many left to cope with the emptiness left by The Hat, “Yo, that’s o.d., yo. How [are] they gonna do that, yo? That’s o.d.” Others have began to discover that perhaps they did not derive as much joy from The Hat as they may have once believed. Matthew Mooney, 20, of Spring Street, SoHo, brushed the ban on to-go margaritas off with little concern, “I don’t give a fuck. That place is gay anyways.”

Many L.E.S. cultural commentators and trend forecasters have compiled a variety of theories regarding what the future may hold for the beloved Stanton Street staple. Many have speculated that it would soon run out of business, granted that the overpriced margaritas, combined with the abundance of underage drinkers getting an early start on ruining their lives have helped pay the rent. Others believe that the “sub-par” food, and Mexican decor of The Hat is enough to maintain a healthy stream of Bridge and Tunnel drinkers, equipped with IDs, Diesel jeans, and the mandatory popped-collar button-up shirt.

We will keep you posted on more of this story as developments come in.

Since things like Police Informer continue to grow in popularity for those of us accustomed to a time when skateboarding was much simpler, devoid of sixteen year olds doing fakie front crook 360 flip outs, I figured I would join in on the party. So here is Huf’s Pro Spotlight from Transworld back in 1998, when east coast skateboarding still kind of mattered to people.

You can find kickflips, 180s, and ollies in..

Real’s Non-Fiction (1995)

Real’s Real to Reel (2002)

FTC’s Penal Code 100A (1996)

P.S. If you had not already noticed.. I added this “Recent Comments” thing underneath Iron Mike’s head to the right of the posts, where you can stay up to date with all the very intelligent discussions that go on here at Quarter Snacks regarding french literature, foreign films, classical music, politics, existentialism, and Black Dave.

Everyone is well aquatinted with the phrase, “all good things come to an end.” But it seems like in skateboarding, most careers do not see the start of their demise until the given culprit is approaching the 21 mark, where they become accustomed to the high life embodied by beer, liquor, weed, pills, hoes and occasionally heroin. New York recently began to feel the pain when one of our most promising upstarts (meaning he could do things besides front shoves and 180s over trash cans) was lost to a life of decadence forever.

This past weekend went something like this: Thursday night BD was spotted outside of the Fish (at approximately 11PM, mind you), screaming “I got dat Switch Mike ID.” Friday night, the words “BD RULES” were found etched in front of some other trashy Avenue C place. Saturday night, after all of these situations begin to point towards a new, dark chapter in BD’s career, I hear, “I saw BD in Lit the other night…by himself.”

Fake IDs, the leading killer of careers in New York.

John Roman updated his site with legitimate photographs.

Stick Up Kids posted one of my favorite internet skate clips in a while, with a selection of really good, and seldom seen spots, in addition to a somewhat inferior to the original, but still welcome change of pace song selection.

Quote of the Week: Zack Malfa-Kowaski: “Did you get that board at the mall?”
Hippie Save-the-Whales Liberal White Girl on a Cruiser Board: “No, Paragon.”

A recent rumor is gradually beginning to seem like a reality. During the winter, there was some word of the imminent transformation to be had in the back of Union Square, in which the wide open space and much coveted farmer’s market would be transformed into an array of small stores, like the ones that occupy the front of the park during the holiday season, where tourists are able to purchase shirts condemning politicans, candles, and other environmentally sound goods. It seems that the parks department has taken initial steps towards rendering the back on Union a long lost memory. This obviously has repercussions for those of us who occasionally skate flat there when there is nothing else to do and we have expended all other possibilities, but of course, this is not all that significant.

It is still hard to say which community has been hit hardest by this devastating new reality — the ravers/goths, the squatters, or the people who own skateboards, but are unaware of anywhere else to skate in Manhattan besides Union Square. The goths, and particularly the ravers, being the adaptive individuals that they are, as evidenced by their clinging on to a scene that has not existed for over ten years, are most likely the community with the least to lose in terms of lifestyle modifications. They are, however, at a heavy loss of prime real estate, since inevitable relocations will never quite amount to the amazing proximity Union had to Saint Mark’s Place and the Goth store on 4th Avenue. The most probable possibilities for relocation will most likely be greeted with a significant rise in overdoses on stimulants (for the ravers) and suicides (goths). Presumably, both groups will attempt to reclaim Washington Square Park from the pushing-fifty Haitian drug dealers, but will all be either arrested or scared away by the various.. umm… businesses in the park, who will be forced to choose between the revenue to be derived from both goths and ravers, and the increased police presence that would likely proceed all of the glowsticks and kids dressed like they are on their way to the Jonestown People’s Temple. Tompkins Square Park is also another candidate for relocation, but is an unlikely one when you take into account that the park closes its gates in the nighttime, and the pants both groups wear are a very significant health hazard for anyone who may wish to hop a fence, you know, with the extraneous zippers, 40 inch wide hem, and all that. Furthermore, it is a very far walk from the goth and exotic apparel store on fourth avenue, and the spanish kids from the Avenue D projects probably would not rush to establish a welcoming committee either.

The squatters will be forced to relocate to the dim corners of McCarren Park in Brooklyn, since they are not in extreme need of the various “alternative dress” stores (also known as costume shops) and inexpensive fast food places favored by the goths and ravers. If that does not work out, they can always go back to their parents’ house in Sheepshead Bay, where they ran away from due to the enforcement of a 10PM curfew.

The people who own skateboards, but do not know of places to skate besides Union Square will quit skating and become full-time sneakerheads.

Any way you slice it, it is going to be a very interesting summer.
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Other important, but not as important things:

Somebody recently posted this video of Matt Hensley’s part from Gullwing’s Full Power Trip (1988). The part was largely filmed in New York, during a mostly undocumented time in the city’s skateboarding history. There is even footage from the Harlem Banks, which many people commonly cite as never appearing in any skate video.

A pretty good Paulgar montage, despite a bit too much 12th and A.

I just wanted to say, thanks, iPhone. It’s the only thing that keeps me sane these days. Well, that and the meth.