Amelia Brodka and Sore Thumb Films invite you to a private advance screening of Underexposed in Long Beach on August 1st at 7:00 PM. To attend, RSVP by sending an email to Underexposed.doc@gmail.com for the rest of the details. Please try to attend and support our ladies and this film. Thanks- Ozzie
Zach Miller amid the IG paparazzi
Some days are a thing of perfection. They don’t really go as planned, they are never what you expect and everyone has more fun than should be allowed by law. A few weeks ago, I spent a day with Zach and Chris Miller. We are a doing a ‘Day in the life…’ type of thing for the Blue Tile Obsession. Arto, Wesley, Lance, Buddy and Rick joined us all and we ate, skated and threw down. We had a really fun day and in the end, the Instagram thing sort-of got out of hand. We were all lined up trying to do an Instagram blowout… I think we accomplished our goal. Some days… Thanks to Arto for the images. Skate- Ozzie
IG
Never. I have no house, nor will I. Alone I am and will remain. I sit and read. I write poetry and long stories as the candles dance and cold silhouettes writhe across my walls. They are companions that neither argue or love. In the evening, as the sun burns away and lends itself to the other side, I wander the streets restless. In huge unchewed bites, I devour the sidewalks. A solitary figure, I am hunched over and mumbling. Sometimes I feel as though I understand nothing in my life. Instead, I write lies until I produce a fake one. I invent love. Her. Comforted… I hold it close. She murmurs in my ear, “I will never need another…” I gulp one last breath. Drowning. I have come to realize that there is no lifeguard on duty. If my problem is Russian Roulette, the solution can’t be to play less often… the solution must be to throw the gun away. My heart sticks in my chest. I pull and pull… Ozzie
Blue Tile Obsession shirts are in and the larger pool deck is going to be ready Monday. Get busy… Thanks for reading and supporting my deal. Love- Ozzie
https://shop.aerialactionsports.com/p/200
Logan completes ready for Sunday
We are excited for Sunday. We will be in Vista at Aura Skate Park at 12:00 noon. Come out and see us, try the new completes and visit with the Logan family. Skate- Ozzie
Salba rides a remnant of the 2003 fires.
Fires ravaged the Highland and San Bernardino areas back in October of 2003. The Angeles National Forest lay blackened and charred. Homes were gutted and families lives destroyed. Ash fell onto the streets as far as Costa Mesa in Orange County. It was like a scene from Schindler’s List. I watched in morbid fascination as fire crews battled around the clock… for naught. Within a month, we were moving through the area and taking an inventory.
We helped where we could. We were cleaning up the pools. Some of the people didn’t care. Some did. Some never returned and never knew. We would drive into the wasteland and return exhausted, dirty, sweat-soaked and content. In a perverse way, we made good on another’s misery. We didn’t want it that way… it just happened. Lightening strikes. Things burn. Ashes remain. Wasteland. In the month of October in 2003, God looked the other way…
Thanks to George McClellan and MRZ for the images. Skate- Ozzie
Tony Alva goes back to Revere and his roots on the Logan Earth Ski Torger model.
Saturday. I stopped in Hollywood and met up with TA, Wesley and Arto. We had things to do. TA grew up skating at the Paul Revere schoolyard banks and it was where we were headed. Aerial Action Sports is releasing the Logan Earth Ski line this coming Sunday. The Logan family has been involved since the beginning and Bruce, Brian, Brad and Robin Logan are really excited about the upcoming release. Back in the 1970′s, the Logan name was synonymous with radical skateboarding and quality products. Aerial has reproduced the Bruce Logan, Torger Johnson and the slalom models. I gave one of the Torger completes to Tony and asked if I could get a few photographs of him. “Revere” was all he said. I smiled. I knew exactly what he meant.
Revere
After meeting together in Hollywood, we drove over to Revere. It is a mythical place. A long wire fence wrapped the place tight and within the fences, the descending black ribbon of banked asphalt looked inviting. It cried out… “Come and ride.” TA walked up tight along the fence line. We followed. He kept up a running dialogue on past missions, sessions and dodging authority. We smiled. At one end, we pushed on a chained gate and slipped inside between the wires.
stories and memories
TA quickly flowed like water through the place. Berts, high-speed drifters and cut backs proved that he’d been here before. We took a few photographs and were soon gone into the afternoon sun. The schoolyard fell silent once again. The trees looked on. Quiet sentinels to a stylish start and an enduring classic spot. This Sunday at noon, we will gather in Vista and the Logan family will be there to sign posters and visit with old friends. We ask that you come by and see us. Thank you to TA and thank you to Arto Saari for the images. Skate- Ozzie
Tony Alva
“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.” – Andre Gide
At one time, Tony Alva was one of the most loved and hated skateboarders on the planet. People loved his success, brash style and intense pool riding abilities. He pushed the frontier of a brave new world. Others hated him for virtually all the same reasons. However, he is still here and most of them are not. There are no pretenders to his throne. He is the real deal. Thanks to Bill Sharp for the image. Skate- Ozzie
The Jer – frontside grind from deep to shallow
August 1977. The city baked under the angry glare of the sun. Smog. Pollution. A yellow haze hung in the air like a bad reminder: “Don’t breathe too deeply.” Cars jostled for position on the freeways and the streets were crowded as always. Concrete. Humanity. A frantic paced world of chrome, glass and sweat. Jerry Valdez and Kent Senatore cut down an offramp from the 110 freeway. They slipped the car into traffic and moved into the sun driving up Exposition Boulevard. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum squatted on the left side of them like a giant statue to the gods. Its sprawling parking lots were empty and the team pennants and banners hung lifeless in the hot summer air. Jerry lit another joint and inhaled deeply. Ted Nugent wailed away on the stereo as he handed the smoking weed to Kent. They were headed to the Coliseum Bowl. The neighborhood had changed in the ensuing years since the city had built the Coliseum. Poverty reigned now. Houses sat vacant. Liquor stores flourished and drug dealers peddled their vice to an ever-hungry population. Escape. Despair. They both knew that there were awesome pools to be found in the ghetto’s of Los Angeles. They drove around and found them. They kept it positive and real.
Kent laughed as Jerry made faces and yelled out of the car at a few teenage girls walking nearby. They pulled up to the pool. Kent helped get the brooms and buckets out of the car. The house sat boarded up. Life had left this place a long time ago. Jerry and Kent pulled old furniture and a bathroom sink out of the deep end. It was a beautiful square pool and the mid wall transitions looked perfect. A few local kids cruised by and watched. Once Jerry and Kent started riding, the local kids grew excited. This is what skateboarding is all about! Jerry pulled frontside grinds as a few local thugs came to the pool. They tried to intimidate but Jerry wasn’t having it. They kept riding and the drug slingers left them to their pool. This one lasted for a short while only to be replaced by others. Shelf life then no life. Bulldozers reduced the property to rubble. This image and Jerry’s memories are most of what remains. It seems that it is all we’ll ever need. Thank you to Jerry Valdez for the memories and Bill Sharp for the image. Skate- Ozzie
Jurgen Horrwarth BS Air 1st Place Pro
Some of the best skateboarders from Australia, the United States and Europe could be found skating this past weekend at the legendary Monster Bowl in Münster, Germany at the fourth Volcom Bergfest. The enthusiastic crowd was just as international as the riders who delivered a high level of skateboarding and created a breathtaking atmosphere together with the crowd.. People from Sweden, Holland, Austria, Italy, Belgium and France celebrated a huge skateboard party. The concert by the punk rock veterans from California, ‘The Adolescents’, was the cherry on the cake for this contest at the Berg Fidel skate park.
Adolescents
For the first time ever the Bergfest contest took place during two days. The qualification runs for the upcoming skaters of tomorrow was already held on Friday. The highlight of the first contest day was the Death Race which is a variation of a slalom race through the bowl landscape. Tricks are not important, the speed counts and for the second time the local skater Christian Krause was able to walk away with the win and 200 dollars in prize money.
Ben Hatchell front blunt. 2nd Place Pro
Ivan Federics- lien to tail. 3rd Place Pro
Berlin-based Jürgen Horrwarth was able to grab first place in the professional group with spectacular skateboarding, fast lines, high airs and impressive lip tricks. Just following up in second place was last year’s winner, the American skater Ben Hatchell who laid down some incredibly technical tricks at the highest level. The biggest surprise of the Bergfest was the thirteen year old Ivan Federics from Italy who used the entire park in a creative manner and with loads of tricks. He was able to grab third place in front of Renton Millar from Australia. In the Masters group, first place went to the current reigning German bowl champion Thilo Nawrocki. The street skaters also had a lot to see during the weekend and were able to battle it out with some tough tricks for some prize money during the Globe “Battle of the Bergrail“.
Renton Millar – FS ollie. 4th Place Pro
The live webcast was also brand new this year. An entire camera team captured the whole contest in HD-quality making it possible to watch the contest around the world and the footage is available for the next few weeks online. Well-known personalities from the skateboarding scene were on the judging team. The American vert legend Ben Schroeder was flown in for the contest to support the judges with his experience.
Podium
The Skatepark Bergfidel support group was extremely pleased with over 1,500 spectators at the event, thousands of webcast spectators and an international group of over 100 skaters participating in the contest: a great amount of feedback and a successful event.
More information: www.bergfest2012.com
Webcast – Volcom Bergfest 2012: new.livestream.com/volcomlive/bergfest2012
Results:
A-Division/Pros
Masters
Am Division
Kids Division
