At 12, I could only take so many falls before it became too easy to move on to throwing baseballs or riding bikes.  I learned quickly that having something to hold on to was advantageous.  Roller skating and ice skating fall into the same criteria, as the newbies hold on to the rails and walls around the rink.  I received my own skateboard for Christmas in 1976.  I spent that weekend in the long narrow utility room of my aunt’s house rolling back and forth holding on to the washer, then the dryer, then the freezer, and finally to the far wall.  After three or four weeks I was proficient at skateboarding, tackling some small hills, tick-tacks, rolling off of curbs, etc.  The first weekend of barely being able to stand on the skateboard was a forgotten memory.

TEENAGER – FEARLESS, NO PAIN, NO GAIN

By the time I had reached 16 years old, I was virtually fearless.  Atleast within my ability and sanity-based constraints.  I was sponsored by Sims and did everything I could to keep up my abilities so Tom Sims could see what I had going for them.  My home park had a 13 feet deep pool with 3 feet of vert; quite burly.  Big, deep, and fast terrain was what we preferred and showed in the way we rode.  Falls happened, slams hurt.  13 feet deep run-outs when your knees were too sore for sliding transferred the pain to your heels; basically, the alternating pain in the knees and heels dictated how you skated.  Our pads were adequate.  But even those capped Rectors, that were miles ahead of the slide-on basketball pads, were not near the level of the pads that became available in the late 80’s and continue today. 

TWENTY SOMETHING -  EXPERIENCE BREEDS CALCULATED RADNESS OF EPIC PROPORTIONS

A few setbacks in the early 80’s put me on a different course, my competitive drive was greatly diminished.  When you do something night and day for a couple of years, then stop cold turkey, it takes on a different perspective.   For me, the drive for engenuity and risk taking began to drop away alarmingly quickly.  The manuevers that were “old hat” became the staple; thats where I stayed.  This does not mean that perfecting them to higher levels is out of the picture.  Skating often, day in and day out, brought about a sureness of the terrain and ability that was second to none, but age was beginning to show some longer term wisdom.  This is the time in the skater’s life where the maturing begins to show.

THIRTY SOMETHING-  OUCH, THAT DIDN’T USED TO BOTHER ME, I CAN STILL RIP

When skaters reach their thirties, the mature perfection of the twenty-something aged skater is still very evident.  The surefootedness on the board is still there.  The confidence level on most any terrain and situation can be incredibly high.  But the body is showing signs of wear.  Aches and pains begin taking their toll.  What used to be nothing more than “get up and shake it off” fall, suddenly becomes a one or two day recovery.  No major set-backs, just a little delay.  Something I really noticed was my decreased flexibility.  Many skaters are still humping it insanely into their thirties and beyond, but I assure you their bodies are feeling it, and they are beginning to slow down a bit.

FORTY SOMETHING- EXPERIENCE BREEDS CALCULATED CONSERVATIVENESS, A COMFORT ZONE

Turning forty is milestone of sorts in peoples’ lives.  Skaters are no different. This is the time where the body’s performance, or rather decreasing of performance, begins to really effect skaters.  Once injuries and aging begin to enter the picture, there is really not much more growth in the skateboarder.  For me, it became a time of injuries and I required multiple skate sessions a week to stay on top of things.  A two week hiatus brought about atleast a one week set back of reaclimating to the board.  It is still possible to rip in your forties, but it takes a huge drive and skating hard nearly everyday.  When skaters reach their mid to late forties, thats when you see a marked decrease in aggressiveness of the unknown.  Comfortable and sure terrain is the order of the day.  This does not translate into baby steps, it just means more of a comfort zone.  For example a vert ramp jockey will continue on vert ramps, but the aggressivenesss gives way to surety.  You won’t see them beating themselves to a pulp learning and slamming often.  Skaters that used to excel on all aspects of skateboarding such as racing, freestyle, and tranny will begin following their most comfortable path.

FIFTY SOMETHING- THE BUCK STOPS HERE, WITH THE BASICS

I am not there yet.  I intend to be skating in my fifties, but it will merely be a shadow of what I consider I was capable of at one time.  The very core basics of balance, speed, manueverability, and thrill are what the skateboarder should be able to relate to.  Bypassing these will be detrimental to one’s ability in the older years.  Case in point, few, if any of the modern young skaters are going to be able to hang on to their fifties.  Their bodies cannot take the abuse, and they have no histroical frame of reference of “skateboarding”.  The skaters that can hang on to their fifties, and beyond, are the ones that grew up seeing what skateboarding truly is; not the marketing, not the fashion, but the real activity of skateboarding.   What this means for the fifty-something skater is that the simple joys of speed, thrill, and manueverability will be the motivating factor.  A skating style that draws on the very genesis of skateboarding is what will keep them going.  It wont be the stalled out contorted invert, but rather the nose grab right on the coping.  It wont be spinning 360’s till the cows come home, but rather knocking out 5-10 at a moments notice,  and enjoying it for what it truly is.

Skateboarding was likened to surfing on land, in its infancy.  When skaters reach their old ages, skateboarding, for them, will return to its infancy.  It will not be too long till you see some senior citizens carving gentle hills.   The skaters who really kicked it off in the mid 1960’s are approaching this  milestone.  Russ Howell is still out there, and there are many others.

PS: The point of me writing this is because I cannot seem to stay away from injuries now.  It has been nearly two years since I have been hurt from skating, but hockey, as well as completely unsporting activities continue to sideline me with injuries.  Right now (6/9/09),  I have some sort of neck thing going on that prevents me from using any portion of my upper body that draws on shoulder and neck strength; forget about doing frontside turns.  I get breathtaking pain when I look towards my shoulder in my frontside direction.  Maybe I will be better by week’s end.

With the purchase of a pair of skate shoes and t-shirt you receive 10% discount off the purchase of a professionally assembled pro skateboard and instructional video.

_________________________________

Heck, I got 2 pair.

This is funny from a couple of different angles.  First off, the consumer has to be told which shoe is a “skate shoe”. Do these skate shoes work correctly if used for walking around the mall?  That is a MUST KNOW.  I will get back with you all on that later.   Next, the t-shirt completes the outfit.  What about skinny jeans? I thought the skinny jeans rounded it out, but maybe shirts and shoes do it. I know they do the trick at restaurants.  Shirts and shoes allow you to get served, except in this case they allow you to look like a skateboarder.  Hmmmm, does that mean that everybody that wears shirts and shoes are skaters?  No, only if they are specially designated as skate shoes.  By the way, who is Hecko Enmexico?  Are they pro or am?  And, what’s with all the maidens?  Maiden Thailand, Maiden USA, Maiden India, etc.  What if I don’t skate in skate shoes, or what if I skate in don’t skate shoes?  I saw a guy skating in the lightweight desert combat boots.   Those were definitely don’t skate shoes, but they worked for him.  I wonder if he referred to them as “combi-boots”.  This is too much thought.  One last thing, does the t-shirt have a big arrow pointing downward to your feet, so people will notice your skate shoes?

Now that you have purchased the official skateboarding outfit, you can receive a discount on the ultimate accessory; the professionally assembled professional skateboarder’s skateboard.  The video becomes the topping for the whole shopping spree.  Does the skateboard match the shoes?  Does the skateboard have a pocket or velcro patch to hold the video?  Does you get to pick your own skateboard? Are they bagged up like those Easter baskets that have all the candy and stuff ready to go?  Do you get a coupon to purchase the board at a later date, or is it automatic at checkout?  Are the wheels white or black?  Are the bearings ajax rated or just imported junk?  Does the video show you how to unpack your skateboard?  You know, they do not roll well when the packing and cellophane covers up the back truck.  How long do you have to ride it before the griptape finally rubs through the cellophane, allowing your shoes to grip?  I bet it shows you how to ollie.  Maybe, I need the video too.  I saw a kid nailing some freaking awesome ollies, then when he removed the box and cellophane, he busted his butt.  But, his shoes sure did grip better.  Now that I think about it, the video has to show you how to unpack the skateboard; surely it must.

Skateboards have been available in the marketplace since the 1950’s, with scooter carts and the like (pre-runners to skateboards) coming out of the 1930’s and 1940’s.  Likewise, longboards are not a new concept either.  There were 32″ and even 36″ skateboards available in the 60’s.  The counter-arguments will say, “32″ isn’t a longboard”.  However, when many of the offerings were 19″ long, a 32″ board takes on a different meaning entirely.  Lets see, thats at least 1.5 times the typical length, at the time.  Thats like comparing a 48″ longboard to a 31″ popsicle; it seems logical to me, more so than saying longboards are some new fangled idea.  Skaters have been outfitting water skis with trucks and wheels, to make even longer boards since the early 70’s (probably even way before that).  The true history goes on and on, even though the current media and market make claims to the contrary, staking out their originality.  I guess the 44″ Sims (as one of the most popular examples) in the mid-late 70’s was a slight oversight on their part.

 Do I hate longboards?  No.  In fact, I have a “period correct” replica of an old Sims that I ride on tranny/roundwall, banks, and street cruising, as well as a more modern Chuck Barfoot that I carve hilly terrain with.  What I hate is laying claim to new fangled ideas that are not new at all and attempting to redefine the obvious or established.  A longboard is a skateboard (period).  Hate to break the news, its not some new invention, its simply a longer skateboard.

How does frontside and backside fit into this rant on longboards?  Skateboarding was born out of surfing, thats for sure.  Comparing surfing to skateboarding, or longboarding, will not be invalidated by anyone’s arguments.  But, there are some differences.  The definitions of backside and frontside do differ between the two activities of surfing and skateboarding; this is not new or revolutionary.   In surfing, it’s all relative to the wave.  While traversing across the wave, if your back is to the wave, it is backside.  If your front is to the wave, it is frontside.  Regardless of the direction of the bottom turns which put you back on to the wave, the definition is completely relative to the body’s position relative to the wave.  While moving across the wave, you are either facing it or you have your back to it. 

With the new fangled attempts of comparing longboarding (void of skateboarding) to surfing, using the surfing definition of frontside and backside terminology becomes muddled because the terrain is static.   Without a background in skateboarding, the longboarders are trying to define all this based on hill position, gravity, etc.  With a background in skateboarding, the longboarder would know that turns in skateboarding are simply based on the direction you are taking the board.  If you are making a turn with your back to the inside of the turning radius or path, then it is frontside (your front is toward the outside of turn).  If you are making a turn with your chest to the inside of the turn, then it is backside (your back is to the outside of the turn).  It’s not dependent on riding position (left or right foor forward), its simply the direction you are turning.  Often times, it gets described as heelside (frontside) or toe side (backside);  do your toes or heels lead the turn. These terms are used in snowboarding.  Though not conventional, atleast with “classical” skateboarding, it does fit nicely, and is consistent with the established definitions.

In surfing, backside and frontside are still consistent terms in their own right.  There is no mistaking if your back or front is facing the wave that is coming at you.  Just like in skateboarding there is no mistaking your body’s position relative to the turning path.  There is no moving terrain, so turns are relative to themselves only. The description of the body relative to the direction of the turn path or radius is not a subjectivite abstract idea.  In skateboarding, this was established long ago.  Since longboards are skateboards, the terminology is already established for you, why not use it. 

Right-  1) That which is just, morally good, legal, proper, or fitting.  6a) Something that is due to a person or governmental body by law, tradition, or nature. 6b)Something, especially humane treatment, claimed to be due to animals by moral principle.  7) A just or legal claim or title.  http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/right

Privilege-  1a) A special advantage, immunity, permission, right, or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class, or caste. See Synonyms at right.  1b) Such an advantage, immunity, or right held as a prerogative of status or rank, and exercised to the exclusion or detriment of others.  2) The principle of granting and maintaining a special right or immunity: a society based on privilege.  http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/privilege

Obligation-  1) The act of binding oneself by a social, legal, or moral tie.  2a) A social, legal, or moral requirement, such as a duty, contract, or promise that compels one to follow or avoid a particular course of action.  2b) A course of action imposed by society, law, or conscience by which one is bound or restricted.  3) The constraining power of a promise, contract, law, or sense of duty.  4a) Law  A legal agreement stipulating a specified payment or action, especially if the agreement also specifies a penalty for failure to comply.  4b) Law   The document containing the terms of such an agreement.  5a) Something owed as payment or in return for a special service or favor.  5b) The service or favor for which one is indebted to another.  6)The state, fact, or feeling of being indebted to another for a special service or favor received. http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/obligation

When it comes to skateboarding, as it applies to publicly funded skate terrain, are we as skaters to take our usage of the terrain as a right or as a privilege? Likewise, is it an obligation of the communities to construct skate terrain because they have to satisfy skaters’ rights, or is it an obligation of the communities to effectively use tax money (therefore budget planning/spending) for the betterment of the community in which skaters may reap some benefits, thus becoming a privilege.

To me, communities have no obligation to skaters.  Communities DO HAVE an obligation to serve the needs of the community.  In the end, if a skatepark fits within the plan, then the obligation should become the best cost-worthy approach to meet those ends.  The skaters have a right (because the door has now been opened) and privilege to use that facility.   But at what point does the operation or rules of the facility become a violation of a right to skate.  For example, tuesdays may have a rule stating that no one over the age of 15 can skate from 3:00 to close.  How about, skaters must wear helmets to use the skatepark.  Or how about, the park closing at 10:00, even though it is lighted.  Some skaters view these rules as a violation of their rights.  To me, the fact that a park is even there in the first place, makes it a privilege to use the facility.  If I travel long distances to skate a park, only to find it closed, or not open to adults, etc.,  I can be mad and frustrated, but I dont view it as a violation of rights. I simply say, live and learn, next time I need to check or research more carefully.

 I guess, to me, a right is something that comes from the nucleus of us functioning in society.  The right to free speech, the right to protect myself, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  The right to skate at a public park void of their rules or requirements just does not fit into this scenario.  Others certainly have the right to disagree, thats what it’s all about;  different views.  Agreeing to disagree is a valid outcome.

For Christmas, my wife’s parents gave me the DAK music conversion program and mixing board to convert my album collection to electronic format for cds and my I-pod. I also bought the graphic equalizer so I could tune the music during the conversion. I still have a killer direct drive turntable, but both of my headshells/cartidges assemblies had damaged styli. It took a while to find a replacement stylus for one of the cartridges. Now, everything is up and running nicely. It is quite weird playing music through the computer, though it works great. It has been a real blast tinkering with music I have not listened to in years.  I had completely forgotten about how often albums have to be cleaned to prevent that static background noise.

With the recent passing of Lux Interior, I have been looking through my Cramps albums. There were some definite favorites I had to convert. Without a doubt, first on the platter was the Smell Of Female. As I looked through my other Cramps music, it occurred to me, what is a Cramps fan. What does it take to meet the requirements of being official fan of any group?

During a 1981 interview in a local Alabama Skate paper/zine, I talked about Cramps music. Later in the ’80’s, in another zine interview (Brain Bucket), the Cramps’ music came up again. I played Cramps music all the time; at home, at parties, in the car, etc. On one occasion (~’81/’82), at a high school party of non-skaters, I brought a Cramps tape (of course, compiled from the first three albums). At first, the comments from the crowd were less than stellar. Some of the jocks were already making their way towards the stereo to change the music to Journey (or whatever) as songs from Psychedelic Jungle blared out of the high powered stereo. I held them off until “The Way I Walk” started up. About 30 seconds into the song, almost everyone at the party stopped in their steps and listened in wonderment. The crowd that wanted to “turn that sh*t off”, now, could not get enough of it.

The Cramps are a sort of paradox. At first, they seem like a joke. You might ask, by what authority do they classify their sound as music?  Then it happens; I don’t know how to explain it other than just simply calling it the Cramps. It grows on you, in you, and around you.  The Cramps are rock and roll in the purest sense; not the bubble gum radio stuff, but the true infancy of rock and roll itself.  The sounds that drove the pioneers of the 50’s. Music brings out all sorts of thoughts and feelings; calm, relaxing, energetic, anger, all sorts of others. To me, the Cramps bring out a feeling unlike any other music I have heard. Listening to “The Way I walk”, “Rockin Bones”, “Can Your Pussy Do The Dog” , and “Wilder Wilder Faster Faster” will get it started. Is it music? Oh yeah, most definitely, and it will stick to your ribs.

The Cramps are great. I am indebted to Ivy and Lux’s love for, and drive of, a music, entertainment, and style that has bridged 30+ years. It certainly changed my life and mood.

Here is a snapshot of my Cramps collection with the Alley Cat perched front and center. 

Yes, I’m Cramped.

A couple of months ago, my 12 year old son entered his first contest.  He registered for the street course as a beginner, pitted against 13 other kids ranging in age well up into their mid teens.  The street course was a mixture of typical street obstacles and quarter pipes placed into a sort of cement banked reservoir with some real roundwall and banks to add effect.  I told him all he had to do was stay on his board and he could do very well.  As the contestants made their runs, one by one they would fly down into the area and make some wild attempt at a move they have never made or even hoped to.  They would land something once in a blue moon.  Once they were on top of one of the ramps, they would start again with speed to their next bail site.  My son’s first run was a small ollie over a pyramid, up onto a 6 ft quarter pipe ,where he made a nice bs kickturn, nearly grinding, then back across the course where he carved high up into a round pocket coming back to another wall with a fs kickturn, then onto a long wall that he stayed high on to get some speed.  With that speed he went across the course and did a nice little bert, coming down with more speed than usual hitting a few more ollies and half-cabs, then finishing up with two 360’s on a bank.  All he did was ride, and he came in second in the contest.  He stuck to the basics, even the most archaic basics, and it was solid enough to place 2nd out 13 skaters.  Some parents say, well since Dad (me) skates he can show his son what he needs to do.  I did show my son what he needs to do.  What I showed him is “riding a skateboard”; it wasn’t tricks, it was simply riding.  With a firmer foundation, he can excel quicker. 

I feel that the internet age has driven skateboarding, and most everything else, to a sense of instant gratification.  It has taken the concept of paying your dues completely out of the equation.  Is this a good thing or bad thing?  who knows?  Its an opportunity for tricks, tricks, and more tricks to thrive, but at cost of losing touch with the basics. Essentially, the start-off point has forever been altered.  What I do know is that in paying your dues you get an appreciation for the effort, as well as an understanding of the hows and whys.  I get a very bad feeling when I see someone fly off of a loading dock, doing some sort of hellacious flip or footwork; yet at the end of the day, they cannot even ride down a hill, which should be the most basic and raw form of skateboarding (period).

I know that Ivy will never see this, but there is always that hope. 

Dear Ivy,

I am one of the many fans that you have never met in person.  I was lucky enough to catch one live show, but your music and style have become part of my personality.  I came up through my teenage years, my 20’s, my 30’s, and now my 40’s listening to you all play like nobody else.  It has been my pleasure to support the Cramps all these years.  I am sure you have countless memories of Lux in all sorts of situations.  Keep those memories close, he was one of a kind.  Peace to you.

While the popsicle stick can be utilized over a wide range of terrain from flatland freestyle and street skating to parks and pools.  The common theme with this board is high manueverability at slower speeds.  As the speed increases, additional stability is required.  Tightening the trucks takes care of handling the speed, but manueverability suffers. This is why increasing the wheelbase is beneficial.  Along with the increased wheelbase comes the need for improved leverage for turning; increasing the board width fixes this situation.  Case in point:  mount a set of trucks and wheels on a 2×4.  Now that skateparks, with deep fast flowing roundwall lines, have become extremely popular, boards have increased in wheelbase and width.  Terrain dictates the board parameters; it always has.

Change the terrain to something like a rough ditch or even roadways and softer wheels enable a much improved ride.  Increased the speed even further and a purpose built speed board makes for an easier ride.  Trying your hand through a set of cones requires cat-like turning ability made possible with super soft rubbers and tuned truck response, not to mention the equally important wheel selection.

As the marketplace has jumped into the longboard boat (even if the media hasn’t), average people/skaters have atleast seen the existence of two different board designs: popsicles and longboards.  Years ago skateboarding encompassed a wide range of styles and terrain, skaters saw the benefit of having multiple boards to perform on different terrain. 

An easy example would be a ditch thrasher board and then a pristine rider that is maintained in tip-top condition.  But it could go on endlessly with differing wheelbases, shapes, etc.  In my case, I have my main tranny/roundwall rider, an almost identical thrasher except with soft wheels, a retro/resto ‘75-’78 vintage board, and a slalom board. My son has a popsicle (which he rides virtually everwhere and simply swaps out wheels) and a slalom board

This is not a quest to get skaters to buy more boards, but rather for skaters to broaden their horizons and try other aspects of skateboarding.  Don’t be stuck riding the board and terrain spec’d out in the mainstream media, take advantage of varying terrain and designs.

Later, after skating, I began thinking about the “banana board”.  Hmmmmm, let’s see,  mass marketed, colorful appeal, a booming market, ease in manufacturing, etc.   The description is starting to sound a little bit like a popsicle stick isn’t it.

It’s an odd way of thinking about it, but today’s popsickle sticks are a lot like tomorrow’s banana boards.

Why isn’t the terrain at hand the obstacle?  Now days, the skate terrain is simply a tool to enable tricks.  Therefore, if the tricks are not workable, then it’s the terrain’s fault.  What happened to conquering terrain? What happened to taking your tricks to the next level, to burlier terrain? 

This whole trick-trick-trick mentality that spawns from the instant recognition of ability is too overrated.  The internet and instantly ready digital media have taken the adventure out of skateboarding.  The end effect is that the magic is gone, only the trick is left.  It’s a sad set of circumstances to look at skateboarding with a measuring stick based in tricks, as opposed to conquering terrain and possibilities therein.  These skaters say the terrain is the tool to conquering, or rather demonstrating, tricks.  In reality, the skateboard is the tool, along with ability, that conquers the terrain. 

Don’t get stale.  Ride for the sake of riding.