Robert Brink - Writer

Videos By Number

July 2, 2005 | Skip To The Comments (1)

This article took months to do and a lot of time in front of the TV rewinding and fast forwarding many many skate videos. It also inspired a column called "By the Numbers," which Skateboarder now runs monthly.

Videos By Number
By Rob Brink
Skateboarder January 2002

Number of steps Ali Bouala attempts to ollie in Flip's Sorry: 25.

Number of instant replays (different angle, normal speed, or slow mo) in H Street's Hocus Pocus: 21.
Number of instant replays (different angle, normal speed, or slow mo) in Shorty's Guilty: 67.

Number of slow motion tricks in Blind's Video Days: five.
Number of slow motion tricks in Es Menikmati: 115.

Number of street handrail tricks attempted or landed in 411 #1 (commercials included): 15.
Number of street handrail tricks attempted or landed in 411 #49 (commercials included): 133.

Number of wallrides, pole jams, and wallies in Eastern Exposure 2: one.
Number of wallrides, pole jams, and wallies in Eastern Exposure 3: 50.

Number of times Aaron Harrison attempts to ollie off a dumpster into a bank in Zero's Thrill of It All: 15. 14 slams and one land.

Number of seconds that Jamie Thomas slow motion grinds the rail for in the end credits of Toy Machine's Welcome to Hell: 87, Which would make his actual time less than nine seconds.

Number of mini Ramp Tricks in Element's Third Eye View: 55.

Number of blunt/noseblunt variations Daewon Song does in Daewon Song vs. Rodney Mullen Round 2: 20.

Number of boards Alex Gall breaks in his 411 #39 “Wheels of Fortune:” eight.
Number of boards Charlie Thomas breaks in H-Street's Next Generation: three.
Number of boards Ryan Smith breaks in RDS FSU 2002: eight.

Number of computer generated “Pac Man” characters in Chomp on This: 62.

Number of Dinosaur Jr./J. Mascis songs in Alien Workshop's Memory Screen: four.
Number of Operation Ivy songs in H-Street's This is Not the New: five.
Number of Operation Ivy songs in Life's A Soldier's Story: three.

Number of original Toy Machine members in their last video Jump Off a Building: one, Ed Templeton

Number of original Girl members in their last video The Chocolate Tour: nine-Eric Koston, Mike Carroll, Rick Howard, Guy Mariano, Rudy Johnson, Sean Sheffey, Tim Gavin, Tony Ferguson, Jeron Wilson.

Number of tricks Jovantae Turner had in all of the Girl/Chocolate productions while riding for Girl. 16-eight in Goldfish, zero in Las Nueve Vidas De Paco , four in Matinee and four in Mouse.
Number of sidewalk cracks Mike Vallely manualed over at the end of his part in World Industries' Rubbish Heap: 37. The manual last 34 seconds.

Number of full rotations in Rodney Mullen's g-turn in Rubbish Heap: 11.
Number of full rotations in Rodney Mullen's g-turn in Plan B's Second Hand Smoke: 16.

Number of nuttings in Zero's Misled Youth: 10.

Number of “skits” in Birdhouse's Feasters: zero.
Number of “skits” in Birdhouse's The End: 11.

Number of riders in Plan B's Questionable who did pressure flips in their part: eight out of 10.
Number of riders in Plan B's Virtual Reality who did pressure flips in their part: zero out of nine.

Since it's debut issue, On Video has done spotlights on only three skaters. All were from the original Plan B team: Danny Way, Rodney Mullen, and Pat Duffy.

In Powell's Propaganda (1990) Steve Cabellero reportedly logged 1,485 hours of air time while skateboarding in the 10 years previous. At that rate, the number would be 3,267 hours in 2002. That's 136 days in the air on a skateboard.

Longest video parts (non-skate intros and intermissions omitted)

Mike Carroll, Plan B's Questionable: 5:40 min.
Tony Hawk, Powell Peralta's Ban This: 5:45 min.
Alfonzo Rawls, H-Street's Next Generation: 5:45 min.
Mike Vallely, World Industries' Rubbish Heap: 5:50 min.
Mark Gonzalez, Blind's Video Days: 5:55 min.
Eric Koston, H-Street's Next Generation: 6:35 min.
Brian Lotti, Planet Earth's Now and Later: 6:35 min.
Mark Gonzalez, Real's Non-Fiction: 7:05 min.