If you haven’t already noticed, there’s a new link up top that says “Columbia.” That link will bring you to the official Columbia Missouri section of the website… it’s actually a website on its own. I’ll be helping run it for a little while, but Shane (the godfather of the skate scene over there) will be taking over as soon as I show him how to use the blogging software we use here.

Anyway, I want to say WELCOME to all of our new family members… be sure to join the forums and talk some smack with us.

w000t!

Here’s the deal… click on the image above (or the link to the right that says *your Christmas Wish List*) and fill out the form… you have to fill out everything or we won’t get the list! Basically, tell us what you want for Christmas, and we’ll do our best to make sure your parent or guardian (or Santa) comes by the shop to hook it up for you!

According to our weblogs, the Dave Carnie interview has been (and is being) read by a lot of people… most notably, Skate Daily linked up to the interview, and it made me realize that due to oversight on my part, I’d never linked to them (which was really stupid on my part seeing as how I read their site every other day). If you’re a skateboarder that’s truly interested in current skate news (obsessed even), then you must add them to your bookmarks. Click here to see what I mean. They’ll also be in the linkage section (on the right side of our site) for future reference.

By the way, cheers to all of our new visitors… if you don’t feel like browsing the site, I’ll just tell you that Small Time Skates is a skate shop (boards only… none of that “Action Sports” crap) owned by two life long skaters, and this website is run by a third life long skater (and really close friend/rider/computer geek for said shop)… we’re located in south east Louisiana, we ride hard, and we appreciate you coming by. Should you ever make a trip to Louisiana to taste our concrete park, give us a shout… we’ll set you up with beer and we might even be able to hook you up with a place to crash.

Big props to Braman for telling us about Old Man Army… it’s a site run by (and dedicated to) skaters 30 years old and older. If you’re a skate vet, check it out… they have killer forums and a lot of nice people you can talk to.

Hey, we’re on the verge of hitting 300 on our friends list at Myspace… I bet we can break that number this weekend. Hit us up and add us!

Update!
Only three more friends to go! Where y’at?

Updated Update…
Two more!

Final Update!
You people are good… 300 in the hizzy fa shizzy!

Next stop, 400!

I’ll be leaving Hammond very early on Friday morning to take a train trip to Washington, D.C. for a work conference, then on to New York for some vacation (Brooklyn Banks, yo). I may miss a day or two of updates on the main page of the site, but I’ll do my best to stay in communication with Kerry and the shop so that all of you know what’s going on (should any breaking news develop). If I find that I have a lot of computer time while I’m out, I’ll post some photos in the forums of things that may or not be of interest. Peace!

I thought I’d made the forums completely public, but I was mistaken… sorry! Any and everyone can post in the forums without registering, although I really recommend setting up an account… if you register in the forums, you’ll automatically be able to add your own photos to the gallery… by doing so, you’ll be able to share your pics on MySpace or on your own website. So there you have it… if you want to talk, complain, give props, or just lurk… the choice is yours!

Do you know how to build a website and use an ftp program? If so, you can have your very own site hosted here at Small Time Skates! (If you only know how to use Frontpage, I can set something up for you as well, but Dreamweaver + ftp is a way better route to take). If you’re interested, give me a shout using the contact page, and I’ll set you up. You can have your own smalltimeskates.com email address, and you can use the photo gallery to host your pics! You have to be a skater, or at least someone whose life revolves around skateboarding (filmers, photographers, etc). We’ll link you on the main page and help you get seen. Hit me up!

I don’t know if it’s something in the air or what, but we’ve been getting a lot of adds lately on our MySpace page… which is very bad ass.

On a completely unrelated note, check this out… it’s a flatland freestyle skateboarding comp that was held in England in 2005 (roughly 48 minutes long). Some of you might think that freestlye is a bit odd, and you may be right, but you have to remember that nearly every flip/tech trick we do today is because of this form of skating. Up until the late 80’s, freestyle was pretty big here in the US, but it wound up becoming a part of street style… though there are still a few people in the US that practice flatland freestyle, it’s all but died here. It’s neat seeing this particular skate discipline alive and well in Europe. These skaters may be the pocket-protector wearing practitioners of skating, but they’re also the architects of more advanced tricks. I especially dig freestyle because of its purity… just a skater and a board, nothing else.

Oh yeah, and Rodney Mullen is a mad man.

Cast your vote here or make a suggestion!

PS

Don’t forget to register in the forums!