You have until 8 pm to vote for mayor (as well as other political positions). The place you vote depends on where you live… if you’re not sure, call the registrar of voters at 985.345.3717.
This is going to be sick as hell… on October 18, Hammond will be visited by the Bacon Skateboards crew, where they’re going to basically kick us all in the face and show us how to ride… the day after that, our homies at Urban Nine will host them, where they’ll tear up Baton Rouge, recreate it, then destroy it all over again. I’m not putting in too many details yet, but as the day gets closer, I’ll make sure you all know exactly when and where you need to be.
Here’s the flyer:
Be there or I’ll come to your house and steal your cheese.
Our great friend Dave (skater, skate dad, shop regular, and forum contributor) hooked us up with a virtual gold mine of skate photos from the early-mid 80’s… he entrusted me with them, and though I’ve taken waaaaay too long to get them scanned in, I’m glad to say that they’re in the gallery right now! Check it:
This image gallery features legends like Christian Hosoi, Gator, Jeff Phillips (rip), Tony Hawk, Tex Gibson, Billy Ruff, Steve Steadham, John Grigley, Cab, plus a ton of pics of Dave and his crew skating various vert surfaces, as well as some classic shots of Houston’s famous EZ-7 ditch. Dave, thanks for sharing these with the world… we really appreciate you man!
September 30th is voting day… make sure you’ve registered, and don’t forget that Mayson Foster is one of the main reasons that we have the best park in Louisiana! We have some of his brochures at the shop… if you’re not old enough to vote, at least give some to your parents or guardians. Mayson did a lot of good for skateboarding, let’s try to do something for him.
We’re skipping out on the am contest… my ankle got a bit tweaked, so I’m in no shape to enter this thing. Everyone’s kind of zombified, so we’re goin to go skate Tallahassee again for a bit, then hopefully make it back to Louisiana around midnight.
We got to the Surf Expo today…
When we got there, a pro mini ramp contest was well underway… the ramp itself was HUGE… a six-footer with one foot extensions on one end, and an enormous off centered banked ramp… this thing isn’t just wide, it’s long… longer than some ditches I’ve skated. Here are some pics:
Pat Duffy, BS Disaster on the extension.
John “The Man” Reeves, FS rocks the big bank.
Omar Hassan, fiddy fiddy.
Chris Haslam, flippty trick to blunt to flippity floppity thingy out.
Tony T… FS boneless on the bank.
Tosh, fat FS ollie alley-oop.
Nuge and Duffel demo’d at the Orlando concrete park the day before (right after we left the place).
There was free beer, loud music, sick skating, and a number of living legends all over the place. Check the forums for more pics.
At the end of the evening, we enjoyed Turbodog and muffelatas at a New Orleans themed cafe in the center of downtown Orlando. I think I’m going to make it a point to eat at every Louisiana-style restaurant in every state I go to, just to see how close they are to getting it right.
As you may already know, I’m currently on the road in Florida, getting ready to compete in a mini ramp contest on Sunday… this is the crew I’m rolling with:
Big Brad and Donnie “Babykilla”…
Former pro rider Shannon May and Little Joseph…
…my cigarettes. They taste so good, but damn they eat up some lung.
First Stop: Tallahassee
Photos can’t to this place justice… it’s huge, it’s free, and it’s open 24 hours a day. We skated here until we got dizzy. Actually, some of us were dizzy from the trip, making the already surreal landscape even moreso.
Next:
Later on that same morning (the Tallahassee photo above was taken at 1 in the morning), Shannon brought us to these crazy brick transitions. They’re 5 feet, but they go straight to vert. They may look like an easy ride in the photos, but they’re quick as hell… you WILL eat concrete here… all of us had at lest two or three good spills. Here’s some of the damage we were able to inflict on the spot:
Joseph, front layback/bertleman up the kill tranny…
Shannon, FS Rock Layback Steeeeezed out…
Donnie, FS Slasher
Your neighborhood geek, FS Rocks.
Later on, we went to the Orlando Skatepark… concrete everywhere, but the centerpiece was this sick clover bowl:
Here’s a look at the inside:
So deep, so fast, and so perfect… look at that pool coping.
While we were there, we hooked up with Tito from Team Pain…
He cooked up some of the best ribs I’ve ever had, and he brought us to a backyard bowl jam that was full of some of the best skating I’ve seen in years… real bowl heads just killing it:
What you’re seeing here is a back disaster at 1,000,000 mies an hour… the locals (and pro rider Kyle Berard) destroyed this place until we got rained out.
We’re about to head out to the Surf Expo now… the beer is flowing. I’ll keep you up to date. Stay tuned for part two.