May 26, 2010
Kevin Long
Words: Rob Brink
The Skateboard Mag, July 2010
With the final countdown to Stay Gold underway, the Emericans recently embarked on one last filming mission to China. Upon returning home to Los Angeles, Kevin Long battled illness, a broken phone, video deadline stress and more than three days of jet lag-induced insomnia and deliriousness.
Not so good.
You see … these kinds of distractions interfere with Kevin’s agenda as a professional skateboarder. He’s got a lot going on, both on the board and off it. His quest for un-boringness makes him one of the more interesting personalities in skateboarding today. Every pro is a good skateboarder in one way or another, but not every pro is the type of person you want to be friends with. Kevin possesses a special kind of magnetism and he’s a tremendous asset to our present day microcosmic skateboarding situation.
Any good stories from this China trip?
Atiba just blowing my mind constantly. He decided to introduce the renegade shotgun to China. Almost every day he would grab a beer, have the translator gather the crowd and show them the renegade. But it wasn’t well-received—just crossed arms and frowns.
You’d think they’d be impressed. I always am when he does it.
I think they were just absolutely confused by the whole situation.
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May 7, 2010
Milestone: Ray Barbee
Words: Rob Brink
The Skateboard Mag, June 2010
“When someone’s heart isn’t in something, you can see it. They’re just going through the motions. I don’t want to be that person,” says Ray Barbee, now pro over twenty years, reflecting on the thought of eventually retiring from professional skateboarding.
“My good friend Salman Agah once said, ‘Skateboarding is like food. You just keep eating until you aren’t hungry anymore.’ I’m just not done yet,” continues Ray. “And I’m not ready to be done.
“I had a friend named Randy Smith who was a big influence on me when I was a kid,” Ray says. “He just looked so good when he skated. His style was kinda loose—like a ragdoll. So when I met with Sean Cliver to do my first pro model graphic I told him I wanted a ragdoll and that’s what he came up with.”
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May 6, 2010
Storefront: Supreme LA
Words: Rob Brink
The Skateboard Mag, June 2010
Since first opening its doors in New York City in 1994, Supreme has never had a problem being cool. Seriously … the name is cool; the logo is cool; the location is cool; they’ve always been affiliated with cool people and cool brands. In fact, Supreme was so cool right out of the gate that they pretty much set a new standard in skateboarding retail and became a direct influence for so many of the “skateboard boutiques” and skate shop/skate brand collaborations that have become so commonplace today.
But Supreme is more than just cool and more than just retail—always has been. With five shops in Japan and a location in Los Angeles that opened in September 2004—a decade after the NYC store, the shop has become a brand and the brand has become a vibe. Or maybe the vibe became a shop and the shop became a brand—actually, come to think of it, any combination of those three elements in any order is almost applicable.
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May 5, 2010
Contenders: Kevin Terpening
Words: Rob Brink
theskateboardmag.com, May 2010
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