Skateboarding and the 90's

We (OES) Just got back from a trip to Tampa that has rekindled several things in my life, skateboarding being the only one I can seem to make any sense of so here it is.

We stopped at Urban Outfitters in Ybor City (pronounced eee-bore) on the trip and much to my delight I got a chance to gaze upon a book written solely about skateboard art. It was like going back in time. I think I had forgotten just how much I loved skateboarding. Sometimes (like twice) I get the the chance to skateboard with Chris Dobson and I always say "Skateboarding is the best thing ever" but the fullness of its glory is often overshadowed by X-Games and sports drinks. And kids who don't skate but wear skate shoes because they are cool, nevermind the fact that I/we were ridiculed for their lack of a "Swoosh™" back in the day and now they sometimes have the said "Swoosh™".

When I was younger (before the beautiful Graphical user interface that computers now have) I/we would get CCS catalogs in the "mail" from time to time and they were received with such joy that a visual memorization of every board graphic and shoe model was due. The majority of the skateboarding industry was and still is based in Southern California and for po-dunk rural South Carolina kids CCS, Transworld and Thrasher was our only link to this fabled land of goodness.

Skateboarding in itself though obviously quite the physical endeavor is definately an art form for me. I dont know that any other "sport" is even close to it in its progression or history, especially in such a relativley short time of its existance. The untrained eye may not see the difference in the aesthetics of houshold trick names such as "ollies" or "kickflips" but I assure you the same way that giant baggy jeans from 1992-1999 look ridiculously retarded, so does a "Kickflip" from that era.

I watched a documentary on Tom Penny (akin to a Michael Jordan if you will) and some of the commentary was from non other than Rob Dyrdek (a legend as well). Now every body knows Rob from MTV these days but there was a time (1993 perhaps) when Dyrdek was super rad because of his ridiculous technical skating (noseslide-crooks-backward nose grind combos and way too many other tricks to list) and because he was pimpin a lowered honda civic. It was not flat black either but just as murdered out for the times.

Jason Lee (My name is Earl) was also a late 80's early 90's prodigy who was wrecking shop back in the day until acting called. He possessed a style that demanded attention and it didn't even look like he was trying, ever. It could have been the baggy jeans though. But not really. He also gave taller skaters (like me) hope that we could not look like retards while looking like retards in our retard clothing.

I'm not sure what I'm really trying to say but I will end with this:
I went to my local city skatepark (these were also unheard of in my youth) and they were blasting Nirvana and Pearl Jam. I'm not sure if it was the famous pianist Bill Evans (Miles Davis) or Joe Pass but some body said "Your ability to see the future of music rests in your knowledge of it's past". (That may be a bad paraphrase as well) Either way we were listening to music from 93 and the kids are wearing Vans that have not changed since then as well but somewhere in those middle years from then until now you would have been a kook for sporting either. I have been skating for 17 years. I can't hang when it comes to throwing yourself down a huge set of stairs anymore but I know enough flip tricks that on a good day (last one was 2005 I believe) I can make you re-consider whether you know any tricks at all. That is, unless I play S.K.A.T.E. with Chris Dobson then I just go home and ice my ankles and play guitar which he is also good at. I hate you Boy Wonder, but thanks for letting me skate with you.
-Jonathan

Tom penny. Commentary by Rob Dyrdek.