Category Archives: Skateboarding

Tony Hawk’s history in skateboarding alone could fill an entire museum. From his early days as a grom at the Del Mar Skate Ranch to the Bones Brigade years, starting Birdhouse, countless contest wins, innovative video parts, the 900, and the impressive Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game collection (and I’m literally barely scratching the surface here), the man has seen it all, done it all and continues to inspire us on a daily basis. 

And that’s exactly why clips like these are absolute gold! Taken from a „trick reference“ video while gearing up for the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Tony dug these clips out of the archive and recently took us back to an impressive vert session in 1998. Take a look:

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„We weren’t able to properly capture most of these during our problematic MoCap session so I decided to send videos in hopes that they could use these to animate from. It worked; many of these look exactly the same in our original games,“ Tony mentions in the caption. Tacking on, „Fun facts: I hadn’t yet made a Sack Tap when I sent this, and still haven’t done a proper Seat Belt.“  

Related: Origins of the Japan Air with Tony Hawk

Like many, I grew up in what I consider the golden era of the THPS video game series. The original and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 just can’t be topped as far as I’m concerned, which is why seeing this part of the process is so rad and fascinating. 

This dude is a machine and his bag of tricks is as deep as the ocean. One after another, he rifles off these difficult moves like the legend he is. So dialed. So casual. The fact that they were able to use these clips and properly mirror them into the game is just the cherry on top. How rad is that!? 

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater unarguably influenced an entire generation of skateboarders, and it introduced skateboarding to such a broader audience at the time all the same. A lot of work went into making those games so successful, but at the end of the day, it all funnels down into one thing: skateboarding. 

Whether you grew up with these games or not—maybe it was before your time or perhaps it was a bit too far after—we can all agree that if anyone had the power to make a game about skateboarding work, it was Tony. There’s only one Birdman. And that’s the way it will always be. 

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Mark Suciu is one of those guys that can pretty much skate anything and still make it look rad. He’s just that talented. And this unusual skatepark in the middle-of-nowhere, Tennessee, is no exception. Who else could skate this place like this? 

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Honestly, it’s almost like this park was made for Mark. Quick feet and creativity are total bonuses when it comes to a spot like this, and as we all know, this dude has both. Also, say what you want… but I think this place actually looks pretty rad! If it was down the street from my house or something, you can guarantee I’d be there every day. At the very least just trying to figure it out.

The only other person who comes to mind when seeing a park like this is Mr. Daewon Song, and it’s really no surprise that he’s up in the comments of the post saying, „Wow!! Skating and park look [fire emoji]“ Can you imagine a demo here, but with only Dae and Suciu? How rad would that be!? 

Related: Mark Suciu Breezes Through This Unique DIY Spot In A Way Most Others Can’t

Sometimes you just have to take what you can get—it’s up to you to turn your lemons into lemonade. But seriously, this place is sick. Who’s got that pin!?

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If you happen to be in or around Paris anytime in the next few months, be sure to stop by the ‚Introspection Narrative‘ exhibition (curated by Thomas Busuttil), featuring an array of amazing photos published in the 10 books of De Paris Yearbook collection shot by a ton of talented, respected photographers in the Paris skate community.  

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The exhibition officially opens tomorrow, April 26th, (which also marks the 10th anniversary of the release of the first volume of De Paris Yearbook), and will be open for a few months. If you happen to be around, look for it at 39 rue de Rivoli, on the fences of the Tour Saint Jacques. 

The man behind the exhibition, Thomas Busuttil, tells us: 

„Introspection Narrative raises the question of what we want to convey through the images we publish. Whether as a media outlet or as individuals, everyone shapes the image of their culture based on what they show to others.“

With a variety of incredible photos published between 2013 and 2022, each which has really helped shape the life and evolution of Parisian skateboarding in one way or another, the exhibit offers a unique perspective of their local scene through the lenses of some really creative photographers. Get there!

You can find the complete collection of De Paris Yearbook books here.

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About three months ago, Paul Rodriguez posted a video mentioning he was giving away a brand new Tesla to one lucky winner as a way to celebrate 10 years of his brand Primitive being in business. That’s one way to celebrate! And as expected, there was a lot of banter all over social media in response to it. 

But on April 24th, Paul posted another video dropping the Tesla off to the winner in Hawthorne, California, and his fans (and countless others) were pretty stunned, to say the least. He really did it!? Yep, he really did. Check it out:

I’ll admit, even I thought this was pretty ambitious. I mean… there has to be some heavy logistics involved, right? Well, regardless, I knew he wasn’t lying—P-Rod is a good guy—but I was eager to see how it would all unfold nonetheless. A Tesla!? I can still remember going absolutely wild over free stickers! Sometimes I still do.

Related: Paul Rodriguez is giving away a Tesla. Here’s how you can get it

The contest was pretty simple: For a certain duration of time, every dollar anyone spent on the Primitive site earned them a raffle ticket (so $100 meant 100 entries, etc.) and there was no limit to how many tickets you could collect. Wild, right? He simply ended that initial video saying, „Get as many entry tickets as you’d like… and you might just get lucky.“

And, well… here we are. Someone definitely got lucky!

In similar fashion, I love that Paul ends the video above saying, „For all those people who didn’t think we were serious, maybe you’ll believe us now.“ 

That’s definitely a mic-drop moment if I’ve ever seen one. Congrats to Luis Aguirre and his family! And shout out to Paul for paying it forward like this. This is pretty life-changing, in all honesty. Like Luis said, „Who wins a car, you know?“ 

And I just have to say—apparently, you do! What a time to be alive. 

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Nestor Judkins and the folks at Salad Days just released a new documentary focusing on Rochester local, Ben Rubin and the former Skateistan instructors who helped set up the nonprofit, ROC Rolling Resettlement, in Rochester, New York, shining light on all the incredible things they’re doing for refugees in their community. 

The doc takes us on a trip back in time to 2022, giving us a peak at the humble beginnings of ROC Rolling Settlement and all the incredible work they’ve done—and continue to do—for the folks in their community. As Ben mentioned, they’re really just picking up where they left off in Afghanistan and bringing that stoke and positivity to Rochester (and hopefully beyond). 

It’s a great reminder that skateboarders have the power to do so much more than simply skate. And it’s always a beautiful thing to see organizations like these doing their part, because they’re often few and far between.  

Related: Wish You Were Here with Nestor Judkins – Salad Days Of Skateboarding

On a recent post on the Salad Days of Skateboarding IG, they mention: 

„We’ve been partnering with @rocrollingresettlement since they formed in Jan, 2022 by helping supply skate equipment for their programs. This film was shot during our visit in Spring 2022 as they were just starting and it’s an amazing Time Capsule to see how much they’ve built upon since then!“

Major shoutout to all parties involved. Your hearts are filled with gold and your efforts certainly do not go unnoticed. The positivity and confidence skateboarding can provide to literally anyone in the world—despite what they’re going through—is pretty awesome when you really think about it. And seeing these folks experience that first hand is a wonderful thing. 

If you haven’t already, watch the documentary to learn more and be sure to follow @rocrollingresettlement and @saladdaysofskateboarding on Instagram to stay up to speed on all the great things they’re doing. 

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