My friend Sam Chami (wife of skateboard photographer Dave Chami) recently hit me up about a new project she’s created and is raising funds for called Work In Skateboarding. Being a lifelong and extremely grateful skateboard industry guy myself, I couldn’t help but spread the word about her idea. Sam’s new website, www.workinskateboarding.com, provides ambitious youngsters with all kinds of helpful resources to help chart their paths in the business. Don’t surrender to mainstream corporate america, kids. It’s not worth it. You’ll wake up at 40—bitter, fat and hating your life. WORK IN SKATEBOARDING or do something equally as awesome and you won’t regret it.
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I’ve known Richard Mulder for a number of years now, but have only recently started trading consistent emails and texts since the rise of his apparel brand, Heel Bruise. I came home from skating the other day and found a box on my doorstep. Inside was a very nice care package from Richard and crew. Here’s a few looks from my box, but go check the official Heel Bruise site for a full look at all their apparel items.
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Juxtapoz Magazine rang in its eighteen-year-anniversary on the evening of March 24th with a party-style reception and exhibition at the Corpo Gallery in Santa Monica, California. With nearly two decades of the best in lowbrow art and culture under its belt, Juxtapoz tapped a long list of underground and overground art celebrity to help celebrate. Curated by High Speed Productions President Gwynn Vitello and Juxtapoz Co-founder Greg Escalante, showing artists included names like Neck Face, Retna, Skinner, Robert Williams, Shepard Fairey, Bigfoot, Jeremy Fish, CR Stecyk III, Don Pendelton, Mark Ryden, Todd Schorr, Camille Rose Garcia, Steve Olson, Estavan Oriol, Mike Giant and many others. Here’s a few of my favorites from the night shot unprofessionally on my iphone.
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There’s a few select brands out there that I just love to watch and Krooked is definitely one of em’. Their projects over the years have never failed in the creativity department and never cease to remind me just how care-free and fun skateboarding can be in the face of some of the more serious messaging that’s out there. Combine that with some wild street lines from Manderson, a smooth soundtrack from what has to be Tommy G and a complete collection of shirts, tanks, button ups and shorts from Matix Clothing and you’ve got yourself a winning collaboration. Go check out the video over at Matix.
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Watch this and stoke your life..skate faster for better results….Pontus Alv – Polar Skate Co.
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My roommate Sagan Lockhart and his buddy Josh Terris just released the first issue of, Fersher Magazine this week. Formatted like the standard punk-zines of yore, Fersher takes readers on a twisted ride through daily life in Los Angeles as seen through the lens of photographers Sagan, Josh, Natalia Brutalia, Legohead, Sage Caswell and other contributors including Jacob Messex, Christopher Zibach, Ryan Maldonado and Mateo De Jesus. The mag features images of everything from skateboard tricks, to party pics, porn stars, sexual awkwardness, juvenile delinquency, drugs, bands, tattoos, Asian dudes in thongs, fat people on Rascals, grotesquely deformed feet as well as rare snaps of people like Tyler, The Creator, Andy San Dimas, Jason Dill along with a vast assortment of other cameos from some of Hollywood’s most known unknowns.
 Fersher Magazine's Editor In Chief, Sagan Lockhart.  At the Fersher Magazine distribution headquarters. Exclusive first edition copies are currently shipping to fans globally. Some lucky recipients might even get a bonus surprise with their order.
- At the Fersher Magazine distribution headquarters. The first run of this exclusive first issue is currently shipping to fans globally. Some lucky recipients might even get a bonus surprise with their order.
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We assembled a heavy crew yesterday and embarked on a righteous pool quest in search of The Illusion. After an all day mission of finding, barging, bailing and shralping, The Illusion magically appeared at our last stop on spaceship earth, The Voodoo Bowl, and proceeded to bless the session with all new levels of cosmic stoke and positivity.
 The first pool was a burn, but the day is young. On to the next one 
- Then we went to this right hand kidney. Pool cover? No problem.
 We removed the cover and found some drink in the deep. No worries. We got bail buckets.  Keep bailing, bros. Almost there....  Clean and dry. Now it's time to shralp!  Not very positive.....  Somewhere on spaceship earth.....The Voodoo Bowl cometh.  The Illusion magically appeared - bringing new levels of cosmic stoke to the session....  The on deck circle heating up......  Attack!!!!  Ripping a hole through the fabric of space time -The Illusion gets busy with an epic carve  The sun sets over spaceship earth.....  The crew shreds into the night before being scattered back out into the universe....
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The road weary Natural Koncept crew hosted the final premiere of its 28 day Creepin’ For Life US tour in LA on Saturday. The video, if you’re at all familiar with the brand, was everything you would expect and more executed in a fashion that only Natty Kon could get away with—an oil drum fire, a hung bed sheet video screen and NK General JZ Radical calling me a few hours before the show to see if I had a projector.
I sold my first Natural Koncept board back in 97’ or so. The brand was an anomaly back then and it’s just as bizarrely lovable if not more so today. You won’t find any glitz or glamour with these boys. No first class flights, no fresh kicks, no big pay checks, no flashy cars, no non-sketchy hotel rooms, no fancy editing, no high tech cameras and none of the glossy pristine the skateboard youth have gotten used to seeing from the big guys.
The video, in my humble opinion, can be summed up via Socratic dialogue: “You want to run that trick that you toe-dragged the landing?” Radical! You landed it. Who cares? “You want to run that odd-looking Airwalk you did in slow motion three times back to back?” Amazing! Let’s do it! “You want to include a shit ton of skatepark demo footage in your part?” Why the hell wouldn’t you? Let’s go for it! “Wobble cam?” So what? “Crazed editing?” Duh! “You want to film your part wearing boardshorts or a range of other unusual and unconventional fashion kits? Of course, dude! Whatever’s comfy. “You wanna acid drop off the side of a fucking barn or do some other equally as crazed, unorthodox skateboard move?” Epic! We want it!
So you see, the beauty and absolute genius of Natural Koncept is that the picture it’s painted as a brand, intentional or not, is a narrative that’s probably much more akin to your own personal experiences with skateboarding as a poor scumbag living in the middle of nowhere America or in any major city in the world than any of the industry’s big dogs could ever hope to achieve. Don’t get me wrong. There’s definitely a time and a place for the glossy stuff too and there’s plenty of amazing skaters, editors and critical filmers who’ve made the skateboard media world a better place with their keen eyes for style and obsession with visual perfection, but that’s simply not what Natural Koncept is or has ever been about. So go get the video, check it out and remember what it was like to be a kid again—and if you are a kid, take it from Steve Perry and hold on to that feeling. Long live NK. Long live Katch 1. R.I.P. Eric Stricker.
 JZ Radical and lady friend.
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The Hydrilla hosted The Skullz Press and Mike Giant at its San Francisco gallery space on November 12 for a zine release blowout event. It was a packed house. Tons of great artwork was on display, there were plenty of free product giveaways from Real, Powell Peralta and the GSOA, and our good buddies at Pabst Blue Ribbon provided tons of beer for guests. Special thanks to Rebel 8 and Juxtapoz Magazine for all the support.
Mike Giant produced 100 limited edition The Skullz Press X The Hydrilla poster prints. They are currently being offered for purchase through The Hydrilla web site. Each print is hand numbered and signed by Mike Giant.
Be sure to check out full event coverage including photos and video over at The Hydrilla.
     
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On Saturday November 12, The Hydrilla Studios At The Warfield will be hosting a special event for The Skullz Press in celebration of the release of three new zine titles—The Americana Tattoo Flash Collections: Volume One, Buddhist Basics and GoatHedz Zine #2.
Event-exclusive poster art will be on display including a limited The Skullz Press X The Hydrilla edition as well as new original work from Mike Giant, a graffiti history slideshow and plenty of free giveaways from Rebel 8, Real Skateboards, Powell Peralta Skateboards and The Girl Scouts Of America. Free beer will be provided on behalf of the generous support of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
 Mike Giant putting in some pre-show work at The Hydrilla before The Skullz Press event. 
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