If you want to see a blooper reel of me blowing it while trying to do a reading for the camera ... watch at 6:40 of this clip ... but because Adaptive Action Sports is so rad, you should watch it all!
The Power Balance saga continues. As I read this new TMZ article and fondly look back on the days of Already Been Done— in particular, shooting Dave Carnie ideas for articles that he would either tell me sucked or accept and execute with genius every time—I couldn't help but also remember how we couldn't get a hold of Sheckler for a quote or two, despite multiple efforts, for an article Dave was working on.
I wanted to talk to Ryan about Power Balance, but he did not respond to my requests for an interview. According to an etnies source, Ryan was a little worried about how he would be portrayed in this article and that it might endanger his relationship with his sponsor.
I've wanted to get back to more frequent updates for a while now. The last few years have been blurry. Not in a bad way, but somehow work and opportunity have taken me further away from writing and doing my own thing than I'd like to admit.
I saw this new Orion clip of Kevin Taylor and it sparked the idea to re-purpose my older pieces (and possibly share them with a newer generation of skaters who never saw them) based on what current stuff pops up online.
I'll just call it "Now and Then." The name is highly unoriginal, but I'd rather focus on getting this done than procrastinating by contemplating a bangin' title for weeks.
Skating in NJ in the mid '90s, Kevin was a local hero of ours. Yes, the area of NY, NJ and Pennsylvania is considered "local." Coincidentally, he rode for a Pennsylvania board company called Little* that flowed me boards for a minute. Kerry Getz rode for them as well.
Kevin was pretty quiet during this interview. It's not groundbreaking by any means. Quiet guys usually make for tough and under-stimulating interviews, but there's something I admire about people who's skating speaks louder than they do.
I found out AFTER I interviewed Kevin that he's a bit of a gambler and it would’ve made for good conversation. He also he made out with a female friend of mine who road tripped to Tampa Pro with me, on a dance floor at a club in Ybor City. Pretty sure that was 2002. It was pretty rad.
Just a quickie from my phone that I filmed during practice before I helped judge the event. Justin (handstand) won best trick and Greg (front blunt) won the contest. Rippers!