Today Was A Good Day

Dude, one of the reasons why I love twitter so much is that I feel so connected to news as it happens. And this handy perk involves me always being able to see things before my friends that aren't on twitter. For example, that Nike SB commercial P-Rod did with IceCube. I got to see this ages ago, because some dude on twitter that I follow linked me in with his tweet. I think I watched that commercial like 100 times... it is pure BUTTERRRR. And yeah, sorry on the late post... I think I post this stuff on facebook like two weeks before it reaches my blog. I'm just so lazy. But anyways... the video below is the extended version of the commercial... full footage... with Koston and Kobe to join in on the fun. I found it while browsing through Nike SB's YouTube channel. They also have a lot of behind the scene footage of the making of the commercial. Head on down to Hypebeast's recent interview with P-Rod too.

DEBACLE!!!!

Nike SB's long awaited DEBACLE is out today. If you haven't heard of it, check the awesome trailer out below, then go pick it up at your local independent skateshop. Not sure if their gonna have it... head on down to Spadina & Richmond and cop it at Adrift, they've been excited about it for a while now.

Dark Chocolate Decks

Chocolate Skateboards blast us with their newest series - Dark Chocolate. The decks depict a simple design but a very cool one at that. Almost too nice to skate on! These decks are available now at Mischief Skate. I’ll take one of every flavor, er… colorway rather. Sweet! No pun intended!

LRG In New Zealand and Down Under

Lifted Research Group recently finished a skate tour around Australia and New Zealand and have brought a video chronicling their stay and their newest member to the team, Rodrigo Peterson. I've watched the new skateboarding videos coming out now, and I must say that I see a significant difference than their predecessors. Skateboarding videos, for the most part, have always had skateboarders riding beside catching all the footy. I've realized for this video along with other vids such as "Skate and Create" and 10 Deep's Skateboarding Promo Video, that the shooting has become more artistic with stationary cameras, doing their pans, zooms, and pivots smoothly. I actually really like it. Its something refreshing than your normal skateboarding video. The videos really seem that they require more planning and artistic vision. Check out the "LRG Australia & New Zealand Tour" video on Hype Bytes HERE.

Stoops... R.I.P.

Remember Stoops?




























Today is exactly 2 years from their last blog post. Let's try to stop it from happening again. Support the independents.

Comme Des Garcons Guerrilla Store Decks

Comme des Garcons LA's Guerrilla Store has released 3 skateboarding decks to co-incide with their Fall/Winter 2008 Collection. Although Comme Des Garcons has been mostly known in the high end fashion industry, many people overlook the fact that tey are very much a part of streetwear. This company is also very familiar with SoCal and skate culture, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that they chose skate decks to tribute their series of items being launched.

TKE THT Vol. 1

Featuring Rashad Turner and Rickey Webb, fresh from The Hundreds skate team. Although this video was just a project and not officially affiliated with any skate team. The video's already racked up some interviews with the likes of C'EST LA VIE and Odd Future Mag, and a premier at Active Mail Order.









TKE THT! would like to present TKE THT! vol. 1 finally released to the public this vid was brought to you by the likes of videographer and director akeem turner, graphic design by RA909 the video consist of riders such as: bruno vega,rashad turner,oliver rivas,ricky webb, richard villa,thomas wardlow,derrick barney,ryan ashburn...so enjoy and also upload to ur ipods mp4 file for your viewing pleasure..enjoy! TKETHT!08. You can get more info on the Take That MySpace page or their Vimeo page. Enjoy.

DVS Skates and Creates Some Steez With Ease

If any of you are into skateboarding videos, you might have already heard of Transworld's Skate and Create. An interesting pro contest/skate vid project between skateboarding shoe greats DVS, Osiris, Emerica, and Globe. Each of the shoe companies pulled together their 5 top skaters from their team and put them all in a California warehouse where they were given the task of creating their favourite skate spot within a certain budget. They had complete control of their whole project, photos and video footage of it all and turn it in on the due date. DVS took first with Daewon Song just tanking it through.

Toronto Skateshops

So as I said in my last post, this past weekend I was in Toronto looking for a new skateboard. So I'm back to tell you what I saw. I don't remember everything since I was only looking for specifics that I wanted. For a deck, I was looking for either a Chad Tim Tim deck, a 5boro deck, a DGK deck and possibly Adrift's shop deck. Trucks, I was looking for Grind Kings or Silvers and wheels I was looking for Hubba's or Ricta's. So I'll give a little review of each of the skateshops I visited.

Adrift has a small deck collection from brands like Chocolate, Creature, Girl, Zoo York, and Plan B. I actually wanted to get a shop deck from this store, however their truck collection didn't hold what I wanted. They only had Ventures and a couple Royals. However, Adrift has my favorite apparel and shoe collection out of all the skateshops in Toronto, fitted more to the streetwear enthusiast. Their pro complete package prices just over $175, before tax. However, if you push cash, you might catch a taxless purchase.

























So Hip It Hurts is one of the more popular skateshops in Toronto. Located on Queen Street West, it houses one of the biggest deck collections in Toronto, with excessive amounts of shop decks. They didn't however have a Chad Tim Tim deck. Their truck collection is decent, but I don't think it as good as Hogtown's. They have the cheapest pro complete package at $190 including tax, beating Hogtown's price by a bit over $2, after considering tax.




















































Noise is a skateshop with a collection of clothing, shoes and skate hardware, all in brightly coloured and trendy designs. Their small deck collection includes brands like Listen, Stereo, Chocolate, and Cliche (i think). I didn't catch any prices.












Hogtown was probably the best skateshop in downtown. It had the second cheapest pro complete package at $169 before tax, with the best and widest range of decks from a large variety of skateboard companies. They had an incredible range of DGK decks. This is where I decided to buy my skateboard. They were the only skateshop that sold a Chad Tim Tim deck, which was what I was looking for. (Sidenote: Chad Tim Tim is my favourite skater, he's half Asian and used to skate for Stussy and Popwar) They also had a very good truck collection. However, their collection of wheels was not that great. They had a ton of Spitfires, which is what I ended up getting. However they only had like 4 Ricta's, some Momentums, and Bones wheels. If you're kinda lazy, this skateshop might not be for you. They have a wall full of displayed decks, yet they had so many decks, they keep the remainder of them lined up in boxes behind the desk. Each brand has its own box full of decks (priced at $70). They have two full sale boxes of $50 decks from companies like Listen, Element, and Girl.

































And if you thought West49's pro completes were cheaper, you're wrong. Their $190 before tax, actually more expensive than all these skateshops I visited in Toronto. That's one more reason to support the independents.

My Skateboard:




































Deck: Element Featherlight- Abstract Series- Chad Tim Tim Pro Model

























Trucks: Silver S-Class (Special Edition Canada Model)







































Wheels: Spitfire Lighterers- Marc Johnson- 52 mm
Bearings: Generic Abec 7
Griptape: unsure

08-08-08

So if you didn’t already know, today is August the 8th of 2008, otherwise referred to as 08/08/08. It's the first day of the Olympics which means it's time for the traditionally glamorous opening ceremonies.













Now everyone knows the whole event is shrouded in China’s poor human rights record. I recently watched this thing on CBC showing the mixed views of the people in China. In some of the people there, the Olympic games is instilling a sense of pride and duty in their nation. Some people are excited for the games and are actively participating in the campaigns that the government is fitting into their preparation. They are forcing last minute etiquette lessons on the people of Beijing, telling everyone little tips of politeness, anything from not spitting to not gambling.

Other people however are devastated, as the government is evicting thousands of people with little to no compensation. This is leaving many of the people homeless and in complete poverty while the bulldozers make room for China’s urban renewal that will continue after the games.

As for me, I won’t boycott the Olympics. I don’t know how much it would help if I did. I seriously don’t think the Chinese government will change their human rights policy to encourage a couple million more people to watch the games. I also don’t think it’s fair to our athletes who have worked so hard. I even don’t think boycotting companies that make their stuff in China, because that will just put more impoverished people out of their jobs. I think it’s just important to raise awareness of these issues. Tell people what’s going on. Find alternatives and financially empower companies and organizations that can actually help.

Anyways, to the lighter side of things, I heard that BMX and Moto-Cross will be added to the list of events for these games. I find it weird to have an action sport in the Olympics. (Below is a picture of the stadium housing the moto-cross and bmx events.)

I am just glad that it will only be the racing aspects of those activities. I would actually be really irritated if freestyle BMX became an Olympic event. And to think about that, I couldn’t imagine how much I’d flip out if skateboarding gave in to the Olympics too. I find the X-Games cheesy enough as is, the Olympics would just be too much. However, I’m fine with the rest of the Olympics. I find that the motivation and determination of these athletes should be an inspiration to all of us. However, I don’t think there’s room for skateboarding in the Olympics. Skateboarding is not meant to be surrounded by rules, like sports are. It’s more like an art that you can express yourself with, and do whatever you want with it. Let’s just hope that skateboarding stays out of the Olympics.

Skate and Create

Orisue is a streetwear label that has always stayed true to skateboarding.
So it comes as no surprise when their team rider, Dom Johnson, does a little shredding for their web promo.



Anyways, I thought I'd give a little update on the happenings of the sneaker world.
Nike SB has always made a serious impression on sneaker heads. So it shouldn't come as a shock that their was some hype passing through as people saw P-Rod rocking some P-Rod III Test Samples at the Dew Tour.
















They definitely remind me of the J-Rod's, which I've always been a little fond of. However, they did do a little tweaking. Here's a closer look: