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.

Quarter Snacks has began expanding over the Atlantic and started laying the groundwork for QS International. The first affiliation has began over the Italian border. I wanted to actually get this clip in a Quicktime file, but thanks to the 28k connection that the majority of Italians are equipped with, it began to seem more like a dream that would never be realized. So we had to settle for the next best thing.

QS International: Italy. Check out Eye On Flo for more Italian QS affiliates.

2nd Nature out in Westchester is premiering their video this coming week in several locations, the most convenient of which is downtown on Allen Street at Epstein’s, a mere TWO blocks away from the Fish! That premiere will be happening on this coming Thursday. Click here for the flyer. Also, Steve put a trailer for the video on his website. Watermelon Alex, Jose Pereyra, Steve Marino, Brian Brown and others have parts in the video.

New York montage from FTC 3

Quote(s) of the Week [Deluxe Edition]: “There’s a 35% chance of rain and and a 55% chance of beer.” - Charles Lamb

Gonz: “Moya, could you set up my board?”
Moya: “You’re pro. Go set up your own board. ‘Fuck outta here.”

“Why would you go to a flea market if they don’t even sell fleas there?” - Benjamin Nazario

On April 20th, Billy is hosting a best trick contest at the wind tunnel located on 12th Street. Expect a lot of people who you never see in the city [except maybe occasionally at Union Square, licking the wax off the curbs] to be trying kickflips down the wooden ten stair to get their moment in the limelight. In fact, this contest in itself is wholly misrepresentative of the ideals put forth by “best” trick contests. Given the date [4/20 fool, woo], it will inevitably wind up being a who-is-able-to-function-best-on-a-skateboard-after-getting-high event. But let’s get to the real dilemma at hand here…

There can only be ONE King of Spring, and that title has been long established and secured with a Wendy’s mascot wig. Although the real King of Spring is actually John Mooney, none of you know who that is, so we are going to have to settle for the next best thing. So without further ado..

Coda Premiere tonight at 10PM at some bar, somewhere in my favorite neighborhood (Williamsburg!) Open bar!!! Click here for the flyer.

If anybody still wants to contribute anything to the Christmas 2007 Clip, I’m still open to submissions until around Christmas Eve.

Sorry for the worst photoshop job ever but Don King notified me of this event on very short notice. See you there.

We’re taking bets by the way. Drop a line.