It's crazy just how prevalent skatestoppers have become over the years. It's sad to think that these days, a limited amount of time is available at a spot before it will most likely be rendered unskateable. The feeling of having your favorite ledge, rail or bank stolen away with just a few well-fastened knobs is enough to drive the rational to the brink of buckwildness. The worst part about this great travesty, is that each skatestopping knob looks to be easily removable, if only one had the right "tamperproof" tool.
Now, a guy by the name of Peter Verdone has done us all a substantial solid and posted this useful page on his website. Peter points out that each standard block or knob can be removed real simply. All you need is a special socket. It's cheap and easy to use and all you need is to know where to find'em. Luckily, Mr. Verdone tells us where. Finally, there's a much more subtle way to take back the streets against wack-ass marks. —Jay Riggio
Upper Playground
Jeremy Fish X Andy Howell Collabo Deck
Artist, skateboarder and phenomenal beard wearer, Jeremy Fish has lent his artistic talents to many skate brands over the years. He's done graphics for Real, Creature, Think, The Unbelievers (which he started up with Scott Bourne), Slap, Skateboarder and more. Each season, Jeremy's brand superFishal, introduces a new series of three collaborative board graphics which are screenprinted in small limited editions. The concept is to take artists with completely different styles from Jeremy's and have'em merge with the man for a super unique board graphic. The newest installment of superFishal decks feature collaborations with Mike Giant, Will Barras and OG, art legend/pro skater, Andy Howell. My favorite of the series is the Howell (pictured), which combines Jeremy's illustrations with two of Howell's classic board graphics on Schmitt Stix, seen here and here. Each board comes in different widths and retail for $80 bucks. A bit steep, but regardless, these things look damn good. Hell, if for some insane reason you feel like taking it down from your wall and riding one, these things come from Watson Laminates, the fine board plant that makes all those extra sturdy Tum Yeto decks you've been riding. To come up on one or all of these sticks go to the Upper Playground store. Tell'em Riptide Riggio sent you! Actually, don't do that. They won't know what you're talking about.
PITCREW Sends Out The Reunion Memo
PITCREW Skateshop
PITCREW Reunites This Sunday
Class reunions for the most part, are lame. They're nothing more then an excuse to regroup with people you generally didn't like in the first place and brag about how amazing you're doing now. The bastards who don't have much to brag about don't usually show up at those things. I know, because I'm one of those bastards. A small bank statement, a non-existent mortgage and a back that resembles the inner thigh of a walrus. I'm not exactly winning.
However, one reunion that sounds like something that I'd be into, is this Sunday's PITCREW Skateshop Team Reunion and Barbecue. Starting at 3 PM, this Nov. 2nd, at the Frederick Skatepark (not far from the shop), PITCREW riders, both past and present will be assembling to catch up, eat burgers and franks and get their proverbial rip-on within the confines of the sweet-ass Fredericks cement park. Show up to skate with dudes like Zach Lyons, Paul McElroy, D-Streets, Jake Rupp, Jimmy Pelletier, Bobby Worrest and more. And if you're lucky they'll be some legends floating around. Chris Hall? Andy Stone? Brian Tucci? Sheffey, even? We'll have to wait and see, bitches.
eS Footwear
Like a copy of Girls Gone Wild, but with curbs and banks and absolutely no women
I've always dreamed of a time when I could show up in a city and know instantly where a spot was. In the world of globalization, that has become a possibility. But, it's hard to initiate that whole process. The French book "Finest: Le Spot Montreur" seeks to compile all the good spots in France, but you might need to learn the language of love. Apparently, there's some secret book in England called "Harry Bastard's Spot Guide," but I can't find it anywhere. It must be a local's secret. Even Thrasher took a stab at it with "Epic Spots: The Places You Must Skate Before You Die," but directions like (and I paraphrase), "This spot in Japan is gnarly. You'll never find it!" seem to defeat the purpose of the book.
Hopefully, eS shoe's Show Us Your Spots Contest will shove the process along a little bit. If we're lucky, they'll make a list of the entries and put them all on the internet (like this spot in Bhutan and all these in Sao Paulo). If your spot's good enough, you might win some shoes. The next step is to get them all together into a plug-in for google, so you can just type in "skate spots" to find where you want to go. Then again, just skating around and bumping into a spot is half the fun.
