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| BUCKY'S BOWL-B-Q / 10-10-09 |
| BLKPRJKT |
Overview prior to the starting gun.
Lineup.
Bucky doing his best impersonation of Dave Hackett.
Horse Country---
Horses are generally large and powerful animals. Sure there are those cute little ponies that kids can ride at county fairs, and the fabled miniature horse that will surely become the next fashion accessory to the vapid and self-indulgent after a pandemic of chihuahua flu wipes their little canine shopping companions from the face of the earth. But real horses are big. They need space to roam about. Vast swaths of northern San Diego county are subdivided into large plots of land where the equine friendly can house their stallions. And directly in the center of one of these enclaves, a professional skateboarder, one Bucky Lasek, decided to carve out his own homestead, free of any 4-legged alfalfa-eaters. Rather than the customary stables, grazing areas, and performance rings found on his neighbor's plots, Bucky appropriately installed a massive concrete bowl on his south 40. Invisible from the street, this structure most likely went largely un-noticed by most anyone in the area. At least until yesterday. That's when more than one of Bucky's neighbors must have been thinking "there goes the neighborhood". A street lined with cars and a lot of skate-types trudging to and fro. Certain individuals toting case upon case of PBR. Enough to raise the warning flags in just about any burg, let alone one built on equestrian society and wealth.
Zach Miller zips through the slalom course.
The course definitely favored regular footers, still, Josh Nelson posted some good times.
Jason Ellis. DQ.
Double-A scorching the tight line to victory.
Skate Country---
Bucky isn't the first pro to invade a quiet community and raise a little hell on his own property. Hawk did it back in the late 80's with his vert / spine / bowl combo. If you've ever been to Bob's compound, you know it's more like a skateboarding theme park than someone's residence. The major outsized vert ramps throughout history have usually occupied space in places like this. This is nothing new. Unless, of course, you take into account that Bucky possesses possibly the largest privately owned concrete skate structure in the known universe. This is no accident, it's all entirely by design. You can't just set up shop in an urban or even moderately suburban area and have your sponsors help you build this sort of thing. For this you need space. Land. A semblance the semi-open frontier. California Skateparks, funded by RockStar, Vans, Billabong, Element and the like, did the deed. A 40-horse sunken concrete garage, is perhaps how it was described on the permits, but this structure was not suited for anything other than some very high-performance skateboarding.
Ngoho, wall #18.
Salba hucks a nice slob during the endurance test.
Andy Mac goes Devo on his way to winning the add-a-wall event..
Bowl-B-Q-ing---
Bucky has had this bowl for a couple of months now, and select skaters have been making the pilgrimage out here, mostly to be humbled or awestruck by the massive scale of these wailing walls. But a formal christening was definitely in order, an opportunity for many to come out and celebrate skateboarding and perhaps one of its next evolutionary phases. Big concrete is nothing new either. In the late 1970's certain skateparks housed pools and bowls that approached a similar scale, but the construction techniques were far less refined and some of these pools were far more of a survival challenge than a performance environment. Bucky's bowl is a nearly flawless work of art, and definitely a performance-oriented structure for skateboarding's elite masters. All of Bucky's sponsors came together, along with fuelTV to host the festivities. Grind For Life was in the house as well, doling out popped corn and good vibes. Skate-wise, legends, heavies, and groms collectively threw down in session that had none of the trappings of an overly competitive event. Some open skating was followed by a bowl slalom event that Aaron Astorga handled with ease, an add-a-wall event, and later a cash dispensation by Dave Duncan for specific moves. Some people even made money just for showing up, but in this instance there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. The day ebbed along with free food and drinks, and not a sour face was seen in the house. Even when we were all buzzed repeatedly by an out of control helicopter flying at dangerously low altitude courtesy of fuelTV.
Big Ben Raybourn and TSM-Ed Dave Swift.
Rock Stars.
Raybourn stands up through an arrowhead corner.
Kevin Staab. Frontside invert.
Chris Miller full throttle lipslide.
Hosoi, no caption necessary.
Random Insanities---
It was Bob's birthday. What better way to celebrate than a padless frontside 540 in a 14 foot bowl? Rune was terrorizing all afternoon exploring some very unorthodox lines. Miller and Miller Lite went head to head in both slalom and a high air joust, and displayed perfect genetic continuity. Old man Ngoho was barley edged out by Andy Mac in the add-a-wall event, impressive for a 15 year handicap no? 10 year old Tom Shaw spinning a couple of 540's, at coping level, no less. Tom "not so grom" Remillard laying down some grown ass man moves. The birdman swooped in for a few lengthy back lips and a casual 5 in the deep end before flying away. T-mag logged some airtime. Holmes dropped by late in the day and used his superior pump and flow to put on a one man demo. So many heads got in on the action. Too many to list here. There can be no doubt that this is Bucky's house. Airs in the 10 foot range and lines that were unbeleivable. He actually won a few of the tricks for cash prizes that he promptly put into the hands of other people simply for coming out to his celebration. All in all this day was for everyone lucky enough to get the invite and come out and share in the celebration as much as it was for the host. Hats off to you Bucky, you are a true king among men.
Apocalypse Now.
You know you're heavy when you win 100 bucks just for showing up.
Rune casually hurls a tail grab through a corner.
Zach Miller.
Grosso- "Bob always looks like he just got out of rehab, like they just handed him some clothes and told him to go get a job". Fuck, if rehab can help you do a padless front 540 in a 14 foot bowl, where do I sign up?
PLG on the tail grab tip.
Parting shot: Bucky got serious for just a second. That's 10 feet plus.
-BLKPRJKT / PHOTOS MRZ |
Monday 12th 2009f October 2009 05:54
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