The Parking Block Diaries

Please allow me to introduce you to Kyle DuVall. He is a skater and writer (like myself) who has started a blog called The Parking Block Diaries.  You may recognize his name (now spelled correctly) from the current issue of Luchaskate (#5 to continue my overuse of parentheses).

Check out his work by clicking here.

Posting this picture...

...because I like it.

Don't forget:  Barrier Kult Interview in the upcoming issue #5.

Where the Heart is

Most of my trips back home to Russellville, Arkansas (where I attended high school, college, and briefly went to grad school) are with my son. We go to visit my parents out in the country. Sometimes we don't even make it in to town at all. He wants to be out in the open with the horses and his "Meme" and "PaPa."

This weekend I made the trip solo, and got the chance to skate and visit all my old favorite spots. Some are gone now, but I managed to find a possible new spot along the way. Other than with my son and a list of friends whom I care for very much, this is where my heart remains. It is here with my family, my town, my old skate spots...

This ditch wasn't there 10 years ago. Looks so fun!

This used to be a bank spot that went from a low of two feet up to 10 feet tall. Gritty yet fast. R.I.P.

My favorite ditch! Looks like it hasn't been hit in a looooong time.

Somebody needs some wax.

The Lot. This was the old meet up to skate spot. It still looks the same (just without the stuff to skate).

Lot 2

Another of the new ditch. I want to skate this!

Russellville Skate Park. Small but so fun!!!

This little bowl has so many possibilities! I can't wait to hit it again!

My ankle doesn't let me do stairs anymore.

Overview.

I'm planning a trip back to Russellville next month. We used to think there was nothing good to skate there. Now, I can't wait to hit it again.

Duane Peters, Skate Rock, Me

As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, Thrasher Magazine's Skate Rock Tour came through Memphis on Wednesday, and I loved it.  To see that many top notch pros at a local spot was awesome. Heck, to see that many people at a local spot was awesome.  The skating was great, and the envelope was pushed to new levels (see video).

It seems that as they moved south toward Jackson (their next official stop) they picked up an impromptu music gig at a place in Oxford. From what I understand, things didn't go so smoothly in Oxford. In fact, there was quite a bit of online noise about the gig. Negative things have been said about both the skate/music crew coming through town, and about the Mississippi natives.

I'm not going to join up with either side on this.  I just have something I'd like to point out:

The skater in the video below is Duane Peters. His nickname is the Master of Disaster. He has fronted tons of punk bands including "The Exploding Fuck Dolls" and "U.S. Bombs." It is rumored that he is the person who first came up with the term Thrasher that was adopted both in name and theme by the magazine.

Part of me would love to see skateboarding be a squeaky clean activity that I could go out on weekends and do with my son. And, in fact, it can be just that. I think of a good friend of mine who has brought so much positive media to the local scene by being himself: a father, a skater, a caring citizen. However, we can't ignore the history of skating. Skateboarding was and is a sport for the misfit that doesn't fit in with the team mentality. It is an individual sport that smears the line between sport and art. It has reveled in a rebel image since the first young skaters were banned from riding the first skateboards. It continued through the punk rock heyday when the name Thrasher was born. It was the refuge of the small town weirdo kids in the 80's.

And finally, the rest of the world caught on that skating is amazing.

But we're still the misfits.

I'm not condoning behavior. I'm just pointing out history, and let's just say the name "Bad Shit" might just be a clue that this ain't gonna be Rodney Mullen doing a freestyle demo in short shorts and knee pads.

skull skates on urban rush

Ok. Watch this.  Then write an essay for the book, Common Criminals.
 Email it to me:  luchamag@yahoo.com

been a while

Here is the deal. I haven't been blogging because I've been too busy skating and working on Common Criminals the book (anthology) we have coming out just around the corner.

Write for the damn thing.

Hit up West Point, MS last weekend.

This is an old picture of me at West Point.  I've grown my beard back (thank God), and I've retired the worn out Outlaw El Bandito deck.  I'm now rocking the fickle punk point 8.5  Believe it or not...I googled West Point MS skatepark and this was the first image that popped up.  Stoked.

This week I've been really into curb/street skating. No comply tricks and slappys and kickflips etc etc etc...

The Parking Block Diaries: Deloreans, Driveway Destruction And Vicious Acts O...

Digging this blog, click the link and visit The Parking Block Diaries:

The Parking Block Diaries: Deloreans, Driveway Destruction And Vicious Acts O...: Courtesy Skateandannoy.com 1985 was the year Back To The Futur e came out, the year I got my first wide-bodied department store knock-of...

On the Injured List/New Issue Almost Ready

Well, I fell on my ass last week, and still can't skate.  I tried this morning, but as soon as I tried to pump transition it brought me to my knees.  Oh well, I guess I'll spend the day getting the next issue a little bit closer to publication.  It will be out next week, and it is looking good.

Here is a little something from my favorite skate movie.  Yep, showing my age:

Another Year Older

I'm one year closer to forty.  In fact, counting each day as one step closer, I have a mere 364 more steps until I stand on the big 4-0.

It was a time of reflection for me as I celebrated my 39th birthday at the local park.  I thought about all the years I've skated.  I thought about all the people I've met, the spots I've had the pleasure of hitting, and all the joy and joyous frustration skateboarding has given me.

As a teen, skateboarding gave me a place to focus my energy and aggression. My family moved from Nebraska to Oklahoma to Arkansas (to yet another town in Arkansas) within three years.  In each town I turned to my skateboard.  My skateboard was my best friend, and my gateway to new friends.

As the years passed by, I thought of quitting.  I tried other sports from cycling to martial arts. No other activity could reach my soul the way skating did.  Why would I give that up?

As an adult, skateboarding has continued to be a focus for me.  Getting divorced?  I'm going for a skate.  Broke?  Going skating.  Lonely?  Yep, I'm gonna skate.  I'm going to hop on my board, and lose every single problem in my life for a couple hours on this thing other people think is a toy.  Other than my family, skateboards and the act of riding a skateboard has been the constant in my life.

Don't try to tell me I'm too old, and that a skateboard is a toy.  This piece of wood, metal and urethane has kept me from getting old.  It has reached down to the core of who I am and touched my soul.

Thank you, skateboarding.

To my distance skating friends, look for distance skating to become a topic on here once again.  I've felt the need for a good 20 mile ride again.

Dog Tacos: Stoked again

Hitting the local park for a daytime session is usually two things:  1.  Hotter than hell.  2.  Inspirational

One is self explanatory.  This IS Memphis, after all.  The second is also probably, to some degree, self explanatory, but I need to expand on it a little further.

You meet the raddest people during a daytime sesh.  Travelers coming to check out your park.  I met Lew from Fickle this way, and, now, I've met Terry McChesney, lifer skateboarder and author of the book, Dog Tacos.  I saw his Dog Taco shirt, and said, "I've heard of Dog Tacos.  Do you know Alberto?"  By God, we have a friend in common.  Conversation happens.  Stoked!  I got a copy of it from him, and I plan on sitting down to read it tonight.  Look for a review in the next issue of Luchaskate.  Brian Brannon of JFA wrote one of the blurbs so you know this gotta be rad.

Terry with his novel

Thanks for the stuff!

How many books have t-shirts?  Rad.

Branding

I allowed the fluorescent and day-glo colors of the eighties, for the most part, pass me by. The closest I came were a couple loud pairs of chucks (Chuck Taylor shoes). One pair was a turquoise-like blue while the other was purple, bordering on lavender. I would wear one blue and one purple shoe, an act one of my grandfathers couldn’t comprehend.

By now I was used to being an outcast at school, but acceptance within the family had always been a given. I was aware that they didn’t necessarily like the way I dressed, but I always felt that, at the end of it all, they knew the me that was hiding underneath this new style.

Suddenly, after some questioning that felt like an interrogation, I knew I was becoming separated from them as well. Teenage angst coupled with the fact that I didn’t see many of my relatives very often left us, quite often, speechless with one another.

I felt like I was expressing myself through my clothing. I was dressing how I felt.

The greatest oxymoron of punk rock was that you had to, in some respect, wear the punk rock uniform. The same could be said of skateboarding. Even the five guys that made up our local scene found ourselves identifying with certain companies and ‘branding’ ourselves to match them.

Generally, it started with the type of board you rode (or wanted to ride). Each brand had its standard type of graphic to identify with. All of them had their fair share of skulls and colorful monsters, but each company had a certain, individual flair.

Powell Peralta graphics tended to be punk yet professional with a child-like innocence. How is that possible? The graphics on a skull and sword deck was something my mother would like despite the skull and sword. On the other hand, Dogtown skateboards, with their connection to punk/metal crossover band Suicidal Tendancies, looked mean, almost demonic. Their possessed to skate deck was a mother’s nightmare.

Then there was Skull Skates. Skull decks were always black and white. They didn’t even contain grayscale. It was as if they were made by stencils and spray paint. I immediately identified with Skull skates. This was the epitome of punk rock and skateboarding combined.

Marketing. Every style niche in skateboarding comes down to marketing. At one point in the eighties every board had essentially the same shape. The standard deck had a short, rounded nose that rolled into a ten inch wide main space. Every deck had approximately seven inches of tail. Sure, there were different levels of concave and every company used wood from a different source, but overall the differences in decks were very minimal except for the graphics and, of course, the pros that the graphics symbolized. Of course, the common skater didn’t have to be aligned with one single company, but generally the companies one chose were within the same spectrum. At the end of the day we are all consumer victims of marketing.