Skate Reanimate

Today I discovered Tony Hawk’s interview of Rodney Mullen from 2009. Both of these guys were heroes of mine as a kid. You can tell these guys not only go way back together, but that they’re good friends, too.

In part one Rodney reveals how he lost his tooth, and explains the home-grown technique he uses to tear his hip away from the socket to which it’s continually trying to fuse itself (hint: it involves an automobile):

At least that explains why Mullen was so anxious to erase his stance.

I’m really digging Zander Ritchie’s “Scottish 5 Tricks” video series that he’s pumping out over on mpora.com–and not just because I’m 1/4 Scot! As the title suggests, this series spotlights Scottish locals showing off 5 tricks.

So far:
Scottish 5 Tricks with Stu Graham at Edinburgh skatepark
Keith Allan & Dave Lane do back to back 5 tricks each.
Scottish 5 tricks with Daniel Nicholas

Those of you who know me personally probably know I’m into education and instructional technology. The following 4 minute video highlights some efforts to bring skateboarding into K-12 physical education, and even using skating as a gateway to learning about physics and construction. Au-then-tic!

• Watch Video: Skateboarding in Education

My brother sent me this vid on how to kickflip, since he knows I still can’t land one moving, and only randomly land them stationary:

How to Kickflip

Ugly guitar riffs aside, this was probably the best how-to-kickflip video I’ve seen, since it covers positioning of both feet, and mentions that you shouldn’t flick until after you’re well into the ollie (I do that sometimes).

I watched “Almost Round Three” tonight courtesy of Netflix. Rather, I gaped, with my mouth hanging open, eyes bulging occasionally, small grunts and whoops emitting from my throat. Aside from a few short clips on YouTube, Round Three was the first skate video I’ve seen since, oh, probably 1993. Things have changed quite a bit.

As with the Jason Adams video I linked to earlier, the Almost team impressed me most by skating anything, anywhere, and constructed crazy stunts around found objects.

My 7 year old son, who hasn’t been interested in skateboarding yet, is suddenly amazed.

Discovered this video clip through Tea and Whizz, but had to repost it here as this is what street skating is all about…

In this balls-to-the-walls assault Jason proves NO terrain is unskateable.

Fine retro skills! This was probably about the time they started hating on Mullen and calling him “The Robot”.