The Many Doors of Dickies Honeymoon Premiere
Mad Max has nothing on the fury road hellscape that is Los Angeles traffic at 5:00pm. Especially when your escaping
Read MoreMad Max has nothing on the fury road hellscape that is Los Angeles traffic at 5:00pm. Especially when your escaping
Read MoreWallies over portals, 5-0s on pillars and a variety of other insane tricks best describes the skate scene at Marginal
Read MoreHow long ago did you start skatepark activism? What led you to do it? I am really advocating for kids and for public spaces, as well as dismantling no skateboarding & no scootering policies and laws along the way. I am an elected official, a member of the board of education in my district (Bridgewater-Raritan N.J.) and I chair the parks committee in my town. However, to answer the question: I started hustling skateboarding lessons in New York City in 2003. I was working in NYC at a corporate job. I skated the streets of the city, but I was not really a street skater. I loved skate parks. LES (Coleman Skatepark, Manhattan NY) was going through a bunch of weird evolution and Chelsea Piers opened around that time. I met Adam Ziegler. Adam introduced me to Steve Rodriguez. Steve was trying to save the banks and I wrote stories about it as it was being shut down to renovate the bridge. I also did some charity work with youth programs and local schools that did not have robust physical-ed programs due to having only a blacktop. Did you start the BR Skates Foundation?I founded BR Skates as the pandemic was winding down. I also ran for the Board of Education at the same time. It was imperative that schools never get shut down again. The lack of socialization and physicality in an anxiety driven vacuum of social media addiction had an enormous impact on young children. During that time, the skatepark in Somerville (which was originally a tennis court) was turned into a pickleball court and the same year it became illegal to ride anything on wheels in most public spaces and on sidewalks. There is very little to do in my town (Bridgewater) and the neighboring urban train towns (We used to skate all the towns along the train line and the BMX guys would ride along the tracks to the brick factory) I worked with Bridgewater Recreation to start a skate program and they gave me permits to run the program on a tennis court. During this time I began going to town council meetings to advocate for a skatepark. Are you advocating in New Jersey only or beyond?I say build a skatepark, but really it’s way more complicated. My preference is multiuse recreational spaces. I think of the U.N. Plaza as I say this. (the first video that got me mad hate from the skate community) As I began doing pop-up demo/contest events in towns all over Somerset County, kids from neighboring towns were begging me to help them build a skatepark. This is where it gets complicated. Most municipalities (all over the country) are in deep financial straits as a result of the pandemic. This makes them vulnerable to “revitalization” or redevelopment – aka gentrification. Revitalization is often a situation where developers want to build apartments, medical complexes or warehouses. But they don’t want to pay taxes, so they offer municipalities large sums of money over a period of time called “PILOT” Payment in lieu of taxes. To appease the public, they offer to build recreational facilities as part of the development… pickleball courts, playgrounds, and even skateparks.. But we don’t want those skateparks. These urban towns are most vulnerable. This kind of development creates highly dense populations. Lots of people and cars, but no bike lanes. It also wipes out skate spots and skateparks (Oakland is an example) It is imperative to skateboarding that we advocate for the consideration of skateboarding in redevelopment, but we have to get creative about it. It’s happening whether we like it our not. DIY and Traditional skateparks work in “forgotten areas”, but not in redevelopment. We really have to reimagine skate spaces. For example, start thinking about vertical environments, like the top of parking garages. Along trail systems – especially trails that connect neighborhoods. Even simple additions as a skate bench on a basketball court or a municipal parking lot (doing this in Raritan N.J.) In order to preserve skateboarding in urban areas (especially with modern day surveillance), skatepark features have to integrate as a part of urban design. Something to think about… You are pretty upset with pickleball for taking over skateparks, do you think tennis players were pissed when all these skateparks took over the tennis courts? HAHAAHAHAHAHA!!!
Read MorePulling up to the parking lot my car blends against those visiting the drive through ATM at theshopping center bank.
Read MoreWaving hands guided a string of cars to empty parking spaces outside the Vans headquarters in Costa Mesa, California. A
Read MoreFirst question is, how large is the collection coming to the Skateboarding Hall of Fame?Oh, you know it’s funny. I
Read MoreA long strip of sidewalk was overtaken March 28th in Downtown L.A., with crowds from throughout the city crowded a
Read MoreWhen did you start drawing?I’ve been drawing since middle school, like 1986-7. I’ve been drawing most my life. It used to get me in trouble in school. I drew a NWA Hundred Miles and Running album cover on a table and I got caught. I had to go and wash all the desks in the classroom after school. Are your comics analog or digital?I do them mostly digitally. I started with pencil and paper, eventually I used ink. Then the game changer was with digital. Digital let me try all kinds of things and color changes. Now my technique is on my phone with a stylus. I’m inspired by all kinds of things. I think as a skater we just see the world different. I always find something skate related and I work on it a bit then send it to my tablet if they need to be big like a board. Have you done any boards?Nothing really big. I’ve done some for Slappy’s Garage down in San Diego that Jason Carnie, pro from the 90’s, owns. The biggest ones I’ve done are a Matt Hensley guest board about 2 years ago. I did some Wee-Man graphics. Most stuff is small brands like Sk8 ??? How many comics do you do a day?I don’t make one a day. I usually do about 3-4 a week. It depends what’s going on in my life with my son and my family. I saw your Instagram mentioned your printer wasn’t going to print your Cincinnati Reds knock off. Have you gotten any cease and desists?I was hoping! I thought I would get one from Mad Magazine because I did a series of them for Slappys. I did a Vision Psycko Stick too. It was my first real board I ordered out of Thrasher. I remade that board when it was reissued, Gullwings and giant risers. What are some of your favorite artists?As far as favorite artists/comics goes I’d say Charles Schultz, Gary Larson, Jim Phillips, Marc McKee. There’s so many rad artists. What’s the name all about, how did you get it?The name came about mainly just out of humor. I wanted something to embrace the culture around me (Hispanic) and have a little fun with it. I remember as a youth getting called a gringo (which is actually American) but it gets used a lot for fair skinned people. I just ran with it. “Long live the fucking American” Grab an almost daily dose of Skateboarding Funnies by following VIVA on Instagram!
Read MoreIn a back-page world, skateboarding has always been right on the cover. Nothing’s hidden awaywhen the truth sits at the
Read MoreMike is a ripping skater who is on a journey to skate in every country around the globe. He documents
Read MoreLet me start off with the big overriding question is what was your original plan when you decided to go
Read MoreChaos and high energy! Those two words best describe Halloween at Burnside. Everything from gnarly ripping to unnerving mortar shells
Read MoreLondon calling, yes I was there too and you know what they said? Well some of it was true.
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