Bucky Lasek’s BOO-BQ

Captain Jack Lasek… cuts through the air.

Bucky’s Boo BQ. This year it was Halloween costumes, family fun, great food, drinks and skateboarding at Lasekland. The day started early for everyone. Tents were erected, drinks iced down, food prepared, stickers placed and sore muscles stretched out. During last years Bucky BBQ, it came close to being a rain-out but we prevailed. This years event began with a sun-kissed sky, perfect weather and a nice breeze. The costumes were incredible.

sponsorship

Dave Duncan – kicking it.

Chef Christiano Goulart, wife Katie and Nicholas… Rock Lobster

Sergie Ventura and Tony Magnussen

Brian & Cristen Fick- ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter and Beth’

Josh ‘Jeff Phillips’ Stafford- He kept it real all day long!

Captain Jack Lasek- unleashed the pirate’s booty at days end by dropping dollar bills on the children.

Andy Mac- looking spooky

Cookie & Red Vines

some stuff just aint right…

There were the usual suspects in attendance. I have to admit, there were as many heavies on the deck as there were in the bowl. I caught glimpses of Hewitt, Navs, Alex Perelson, Danny Way, Mayer, Lopez, Magnussen, Hackett, Chris Miller, Sam Beckett, Alphonso Rawls, Sergie, Duncan, Daniel Cuervo and a bunch of others. Families were everywhere. There were tents filled with food, drinks and swag around the entire perimeter of Bucky’s bowl. The skateboarding started with a warm up session and then really cranked up a notch in typical Lasekland fashion.

Dave Hackett

Jason Flav Richardson

Warmups. Paul Luc, Steve, Zach, Stafford, Poynter, Elise, Bucky, Cookie and Paul.

Darren Cookiehead Jenkins- making Whoopie with Madonna

Zach Miller- Stale Chicken

Corey Juneau- Hosoi in Spandex

Captain Jack Lasek

Josh ‘Phillips’ Stafford was in 80’s gnar mode all day. Boneless

Paul Wisniewski- The Full Monty

Andy Macdonald. Hang em’ high.

Jeff Hedges- Inversion. “This aggression will not stand man!”

There were some pretty insane runs going down. Steve Revord rolled around in full Motley Crue garb complete with a guitar. Bucky’s bowl is no joke at all and the last thing you want to be thinking about as you approach the coping is, “What the Hell am I doing with this guitar?!” Jeff Hedges inverted, Jason Richardson flew, Bucky cut the air like a knife, Cookie was ruling completely and was voted MVP for the day, Andy crushed, Austin Poynter was Teflon smooth, Zach Miller pulled a sick backside lipslide and just about everything that could be done by anyone was put down.

Steve Revord AKA Nikki Sixx

Austin Poynter. Good Lord!

Brad McClain let down his hair…

Julz- 5-0 turbo blaster

Pierre Luc Gagnon- Dances With Wolves

Jason Richardson- Flavor Flav

Peter Hewitt – flying 5-0

They redesigned the slalom course for this years race. The race started in earnest and it grew heavy pretty quickly. Andy Mac, Zach Miller, Jason Richardson, Bucky Lasek and a long list of riders dropped in and began the serpentine rip ride through the bowl and  around the cones, as each pushed for the fastest time.

Andy Macdonald- despite some really fast times, he was overcome by a guy in a pirate costume.

Cutlass in hand, Bucky sliced through the cones with the fastest time.

Pirate Booty. Bucky opened up the treasure chest and turned loose a rain of dollar bills on the crew assembled there. Money was dropped for best trick, good tricks and all tricks in between. Trick or Treat? Yeah….  Bucky understands the value of a dollar. Tricks were in abundance.

Josh Phillips- tailgrab nosegrind = $$

Bob Burnquist- switch boneless = $$$$

Josh Rodriguez- front blunt sliiiiiiiiiide into some $$$

Tom Schaar made enough money for tricks that he was dropping 20$ bills on the children at the end of the day.

At days end, everyone was happy and healthy. The crowd was well-fed and generously liquored. Money was raining from the sky and even the children were placed into the bowl and treats were distributed. There was a great deal of laughter and fun seen all day. As the sun set, I looked over at Bucky. He had just taken a good long run in the bowl. It was a banger! He was sweating and grinning ear to ear. He smiled to himself as he drank water and looked around at all the fun he was responsible for. We smiled with him. Thanks to the Bucky Lasek family for the great times!

AWESOME!

Bucy Lasek would like to thank the sponsors of this event right here and now.

PUMA, ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK, PANTECH, GOPRO, PABST,NETWORK A, LONGBOARDS ICE CREAM, FRED,  BULL TACO, PIZZACAO

  RAFFLES AND OTHER THANKS

Arnette, ESPN Zone, Disneyland, Ethikia, Flying Icon, HPI, Green Issue Skateboards, Mammoth Mountain, Movietickets.com, Nixon, Oakley, Subaru, K1 Speed, Camp Woodward, X Games, Sector 9

I would like to thank Bucky Lasek and his family, Grind For Life, Jim Goodrich, Dan Sparagna and Brian Fick for the images. Skate- Ozzie

Freddy’s

The skater slowed the car and pulled to the side. Gravel crunched under the tires and he switched the engine off. He pointed to a small wooden house that sat on the west side of the street. “If this one is empty, it is going to be insane. The shape of it resembles the letter ‘P’ and the satellite image is rad.” My eyes scanned the nearby houses. Quiet. Rundown. We got out and saw the disrepair of the structure and fences. I smiled. Looking through a window, I could barely see the pool behind the house,  I could see plaster and tiles. It certainly wasn’t a swimmer! We pushed through a small wooden gate and approached the pool. I felt me heart drop momentarily as I spotted a huge love seat that seemed to take up half of the pool. On closer inspection, the pool looked amazing. It was huge and had fantastic transitions throughout.  Since there was barely any water, we were prepared to drain it the next day.

We came back and I recall Lance coming with us. We crept in and kept pretty quiet. We took a few runs but we were a bit nervous. Lance stated that he didn’t like ten minute barge pools. It wasn’t his style. We heard a car door and I looked through the fence. I quickly told them we had to go. There was what appeared to be an unmarked police cruiser out front. We stood by the fence and listened. The guy walked up to the neighbor’s house and knocked. It turned out to be a truancy officer from a nearby school checking up on a kid. We laughed for a long while after… We had a session or two in the following weeks and then it was gone.

me and my stuff

The pool was soon lost to us as people had moved in. Another family. More children. Over-population. Life. Every time I drove past, I saw numerous cars and children’s toys scattered on the grass out front. One day, I was in the area and drove over to check the neighborhood. As I drove by, I saw a young guy out front. He was wearing Vans and had an Independent shirt on! I thought, “Who knows…?” I pulled over and spoke with him and his parents. The young man’s name was Freddy. I eventually got the pool going as a permission for a short time. They said that they were going to fill it for summer. Freddy and his parents let me drain the three feet of black water out of it that very first day. One day shortly after, Arto Saari, Lance Mountain, Greyson Fletcher, MRZ, Ben Nordberg, Al Brunelle and Rune Glifberg all gathered for a pool mission. We stopped over at Freddy’s. It would prove to be interesting.

preparation

Lance taping the drain down

MRZ, Rune, Ben, Greyson, Al and me

This crew was pretty all-time. Heavies. I had watched  Lance completely dominate backyard pools for a long time and I was interested to see what guys like Rune and Greyson would do with this pool. They didn’t disappoint and neither did Al Brunelle. Lance stepped into awesome mode. He launched inverts and frontside airs, did the deathbox both ways and raised the bar on the session immediately. Rune rolled in hot. He threw down rock-n-rolls and a backside lipslide over the deathbox that had us yelling! Ben Nordberg pulled backside disasters with ease, Greyson floated huge ollies and Al pulled some gnarly heelamonsters. It was a pool rider’s dream session.

Greyson Fletcher leading the charge

Lance inverted in awesome mode

Arto’s opposing view

Ben Nordberg- back D

Al Brunelle- heelamonster

Rune- back lip death

 

Towards the end of the session, Rune really wanted to get over the love seat. He gave it several good attempts, made adjustments and quickly found the line over. Everyone was stoked. Al Brunelle decided to raise the bar a bit. He pushed in and made a frontside air over the entire love seat!  Sunset. The sky bled and darkened. We gathered our things and talked excitedly about what we had done and seen. It was a day of days…Sometimes, I see things and they defy words and explanations. This was one of those. A day of days. Thanks to MRZ and Arto Saari for the images. Skate-  Ozzie

Rune- frontside speed line love seat

celebration

Al Brunelle- yeah dudes! that is a make!

Al Brunelle – Arto’s view

away from the sun II

Lance Mountain -inverted

I recently met up with Ray Zimmerman and Jake Reuter. We did a little tribute to Tom Sims. We rode a Sims Taperkick and tried to show our respects. A few days later, I was hanging out with Arto and Lance. I was riding the Taperkick again and the guys took a few turns as well.

Arto- high speed frontal

Everyone was laughing and having a blast. Here are the results. I suppose that if Tom Sims wanted people to be inspired, skate together and have fun…  he succeeded. This is exactly what occurred. He has moved away from the sun but his light still lingers. Thank you to MRZ for the images. Thanks again to Tom Sims. R.I.P. Skate- Ozzie

laughter

Adrin’s Pool

I once lived in the dark with a stranger. He was me. Lies covered the handicaps. Liquor and pills dressed me up in courageous clothing. Bulletproof. I was unable to feel pain or anything else for that matter. Who was I? I let so many people down. I once was a little boy. I wanted to be like my father. He was strong and I recall him striding into our house in the afternoon light. His legs were dark and long. He seemed to go up and up. His voice rumbled. He hugged me gruffly and took me fishing. Those cold, wet mornings were the most important things in my life. I didn’t know why until much later.  My dad taught me to laugh… especially at myself.

We would sit as a family and make up funny stories to tell each other.  I once laughed often until I became the sad clown in a cheap mask. I lost sight of who I was. I forgot how to laugh. No beauty. Eventually, I received help. I am sober almost five years. Everyday, I try to find the humor in all things. I simply will not be around negative people or those with massive ego’s. I can’t. I won’t. I turn 49 years old tomorrow and it is strange. I feel like I’m only just starting to live. Thank you to MRZ and Lucia for the images. Skate- Ozzie

gonzales pool

The Kennedy clan has their Hyannisport, tennis has its Wimbledon,
basketball has its Madison Square Garden & golf has its Pebble Beach.
Skateboarding has the Gonzales pool. Almost all skateboarding that is
seen & represented on the television, has its origins in the Gonzales
pool. The Z-Boys, The Bones Brigade, The X-Games, The Dew Tour &
everything in between & beyond can directly trace its roots back to
the round plaster walls of this one special pool.

Wes Humpston

The Gonzales pool. There are several places that remain legendary as
the ultimate early proving ground for our kind. Gonzo’s, Dogbowl,
Glory Hole pipe,  Baldy pipe and Wallo’s ditch will undeniably remain
etched in the skateboarding collective memory as places we all
should’ve had the chance to ride. Gonzo’s was located in a quiet area
of Los Angeles. The old spanish-style homes around it, had red- tiled
roofs in abundance, well-manicured lawns and brightly-colored
flowerbeds. Huge, shadowing Ficus trees  lined the sleepy streets,
looking like sentinels watching over the adjacent properties. It has
been designated as a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone. These houses
were built right after World War II and contain excellently preserved
examples of mid-century architecture.

The pool and property was owned by Mr. Jose Gonzales Gonzales. He was
an actor on the hit TV show, ‘Bonanza’ and had many film credits to
his name. ‘Mr. G’ had a large family and had the pool installed by the
‘Anthony Brothers’ pool company out of South Gate, California. It was
constructed in the pool-building frenzy of the early 1960′s. ‘Gonzo’s’
was a huge ( I mean HUGE!) right-hand kidney. It had a very long deep
end and a hip you could -literally- walk up. The transitions were big
and mellow and the entire pool was surrounded with smooth bullnose
coping.

The story that I was told of its discovery has always remained with
me. It was a perfect tale. From sources like Tony Alva, Ray Flores,
Wes Humpston and Stacy Peralta…I feel that it has to be the truth!
They were the key players in its discovery and the formation of its
legend.  Ray Flores found ‘Gonzo’s’ in 1977. He was skating down a
street and as he passed an alley, he noticed a heavy stream of green
water flowing into the gutters, Following the water trail, he saw a
door opening in the ten foot high block wall surrounding the yard.
Stealthy as a cat, he approached and peered inside. The pool was
almost pumped empty and the bright, white plaster glittered and hurt
his eyes. It was perfect. As it turned out, he somehow knew a member
of the Gonzales family and an agreement was soon reached.

Ray, Wes and others of the Z-boys, found themselves a permission pool
unlike anything ever before. They brought TA over eventually and he
showed them just exactly what could be done in such a huge pool!
Jokingly, I was told that the Z-boys initially didn’t tell TA about
‘Gonzo’s’ because he usually travelled in an entourage and they didn’t
want the drama. Truth or myth? When queried, TA told me that back
then, photographers always showed up wherever he skated. It was
accepted by that time. He had won the World Championships and was the
first to pull consistent tuck-knee frontside airs out of a pool.
Whatever the case may be, all the Z-boys were stoked to be riding
Gonzales pool and breaking new ground. After that, ‘Gonzo’s’ quickly
became a staging area for the Z-boys to gather and push both
themselves and each other. Limits were reached and exceeded. TA pulled
back-to-back frontside airs, the others nailed edgers, hip rollouts,
grind transfers deep-to-shallow, and forevers. New ground was
discovered by all. Trick to trick vertical skateboarding was born.

Tony Farmer. Gonzales. October 2000

Ray Flores. the founder of Gonzo’s

It was a place where anarchy & art collided, where the participants
waved their middle fingers at the world & unknowingly created a signal
that generations would forever follow. When they were doing this, it
was a gesture of defiance at what was considered normal sports &
accepted societal activities. Skateboarding was born here. For us to
lose the Gonzales Pool & let it fade into the mists of obscurity is to
make a grave error. This place is a monument & the birth of a
movement. In every sport there needs to be someone to guide it.
Skateboarding is lawless. Its anti-authoritarian. Its very actions &
the mentality of the participants make it an unstructured mess in so
many ways. Skateboarders don’t want it to be anything other than that.
However, because it is being dragged–kicking & screaming–into the
mainstream, against all its better judgement, it still accepts the
paychecks that are handed out.

Dave Shaggy Palmer

With the X-Games, skateboarders stopped
driving Honda Civics & started driving Audi A4s. Families are now
provided for. Health insurance premiums are paid. Skateboarders can
live comfortably. Monetary compensation aside, Nike, ESPN & other
mainstream sports authorities are making skateboarding an acceptable
alternative for youth by a mass of people who in the past thumbed
their noses at it. At Woodward in the late 1990s, parents told me that
they would almost rather send their son to a thousand dollar a week
football camp than a five hundred dollar a week skateboard camp.
Degenerates. Social misfits. Such was the nature & collective
impression of skateborders at the time. Now, in the last fifteen
years, skateboarding has become accepted & embraced. Gonzales Pool
started this whole thing rolling. Thanks to Bryce Kanights, Grant Brittain and the others for the images. Skate- Ozzie

Epilogue- I wrote this out a long time ago and then added an addendum to it. We sent it to a company of people as we were hoping someone would invest and buy the property to save the Gonzales pool from ruin. A skate team house. A haven. However, the property was bought by a random investor and the pool dozed. I am saddened but also happy that so many were able to session it before it was gone. -Ozzie

R.I.P.

forget

August. 1989. She lay by the pool. Water glistened on her skin. Eyes poured over her body from every direction. She was all things to all men. Illusion. Silk. Legs. Lies. She was whatever they wanted her to be. I looked over at her and caught a smile…  I turned my attention back to where it should be. The pool was a concrete ‘shoebox’ hole in the ground. I’d still take it though. I’d drain it & build quarter pipes at either end. Alas- it wasn’t to be. Time worries away even the strongest foundations…. The hotel went bankrupt. The pool was abandoned. Boards covered the buildings windows. Drugs and crime crept under the doors & oozed their way onto the property. The girl with the sun-kissed skin was long gone. Trees had grown up to reclaim the sky above. Shade & leaves fell. Rainwater became stagnant…  a lost concrete hole in the ground. Skate- Ozzie

messed up

First light. Friday morning. I reached over and turned the volume down on the stereo. I had spotted something and pulled up close to the curb. I switched the engine off. The lawn was dead. Once it had grown thick and lush across the front of this stucco  San Bernardino monstrosity. Trash, leaves and old newspapers had collected on the porch and the black wrought- iron railings were thick with cobwebs. I ran an experienced eye over the adjacent properties. Everything in its place. This early in the morning, I could scout and perform my recon with little threat of interference by neighbors. I was dressed like anyone else out here. I looked like I fit right in. That is the key. I look and act like I belong. I remove suspicion, wave at the neighbors and people generally leave me alone. It has worked for years now.

The palm trees were thick and sagging with dried and dusty palm fronds. Stark red Bougainvillea grew across the brick wall surrounding the property. I checked the mailbox, front windows and assessed for human presence. The grass crunched underfoot and I immediately thought of the 2003 fires out here. With the heat and dessication occurring in San Bernardino, it only takes a cigarette and life changes drastically for people. The official estimate for homes lost in the 2003 fire was close to 1500. That’s a bunch of suffering.

I approached the side wall and peered through a broken wooden gate. I saw blue tiles. Pulling myself up, I checked for the presence of dogs and threats. It appeared abandoned. Trash bags of rotten garbage were stacked in a corner of the back patio. It seemed as though the owners just let things go. I saw indifference and abandon at every glance. Whoever lived here, didn’t care.

The pool was a great shape but the surface looked like some giant hand had come down and grated the surface off. It seemed as though the owners had wanted to re-plaster the pool but never got around to it. The transitions looked stellar and my only thought was “…messed up.” A large green lizard –startled by my intrusion–scurried across the deck, blinked and disappeared into the ivy growth. It was a fitting gesture, because whoever lived there had disappeared in a hurry.

Cereal bowls were sitting on the counter with green mold growing out of them. Toys, clothing and a broken television were in the kitchen, strewn about. The propane gas grill was squatting darkly on the deck by the shallow end. Its propane tank was long gone. The lid was in a corner of the yard. Half burnt fire logs were stacked on top of the grills grating like some obscene makeshift fire pit. In the corner beside the grills lid were about a hundred empty wine and liquor bottles. That explained it all to me. Messed up. Letting things go. Booze. Thus endeth the lesson. Skate-Ozzie

away from the sun

Jake Reuter- standing one tall for Tom

Tom Sims passed away recently. There were a barrage of internet tributes and then silence fell quickly. I understand. What more can be said? It is a tragedy. Tom Sims was an early pioneer of long boards, skateboarding itself and snowboarding. His seat at the banquet table of heroes is undeniable. He was on the forefront of great things time and time again. Well, the other day I was at Ray Zimmerman’s house. In the garage, he pulled out a Sims Taperkick in mint condition. I remarked to Ray that it would be cool to take  it somewhere and have some fun carving it around. He tucked it under his arm and we decided to give it a try. Today, we rode with Jake Reuter at his pool. It was fun. I took one run on my board and then decided to ride the Sims board. It was strange at first. I struggled briefly and then got it together. Jake just dropped in and ripped. He pulled a tailtap and I immediately was inspired to get busy. We wanted to give Tom Sims a fitting tribute and I think we accomplished exactly that. Tom has moved away from the sun. He left us too early. He also left us an amazing legacy. Sims skateboards and snowboards. He was a pioneer and he will be missed. Thanks to Jake Reuter and MRZ. Skate- Ozzie

me- 1970’s one-wheeler

respect

Josh Skreech Sandoval- firing what he thought was the opening salvo

Ray Zimmerman and I were driving back from Malibu one day and I remarked to him how difficult I thought it was to do rock-n-rolls in the shallow end of bowls and pools. Ray had done a few that day and I always found them much harder to do on the tight transitions. Ray laughed and remarked that it was nothing. He exclaimed, “Dude, what about back yard pools? I mean, a guy like Skreech can do a lien air in the shallow end of a pool. That doesn’t even count  the things he does over shallow stairs!” I had to agree. Skreech did some pretty mind-boggling things in a pool. A few weeks later, I was looking through one of his photo archives and came across this image of Skreech. I asked Ray why he had never used it anywhere. It is a banger! He then told me the story. “Well, this pool was the San Clemente egg pool and I went there with Skreech. He decided to try a frontside 5-0 over the shallow stairs. It is a long way. Gnarly! Well, I set everything up and we got the shot. Skreech threw it down. A bit later, Nick Gates told us that Rhino had been there a few days earlier and shot Peter Hewitt doing the same thing. I groaned inside. Ugh! I love the photograph but out of respect for Peter Hewitt and Rhino, I sat on our image. That is how it is supposed to be done. Respect.” I nodded and thoughtfully pondered what Ray had told me. The photograph of Peter Hewitt did run in Thrasher awhile ago. It was a really good image. I am stoked that Ray has integrity and keeps it real. There are others that do not.  Silence and integrity are not the same thing. Give respect. Earn respect. Skate- Ozzie

Archer Braun

Combi corner stalefish

A year or two ago, I was with MRZ and we were covering a Protec AM contest at Vans. I noticed a skater who was ripping really hard. He was a little dude.  He had such a great style and pulled some amazing backside ollies right out of the gate. I said hello to him and he was friendly and cool. He said his name was Archer. His wheels were spinning on his skate as he stood there and they sounded like they were lubricated with playground sand from a sandbox. I dug into my backpack and gave him a set of Swiss Bones Bearings. He lit up and thanked me profusely. In the contest, I felt that he got ripped off when he didn’t make the cut. In the subsequent article, I included a photo of him anyway saying pretty much the same thing. Archer ripped it!

Hurricane

Here we are awhile later and I am working with Aerial Action Sports in San Diego. I am trying to put together a team of rippers. Aerial has great boards that are made right in their own factory, good guys are behind it and positive skateboarding is what we all love. I recently asked Archer to come on board with us and check out the ztuntz (stunts) product and the team. We met up at the Combi and MRZ took some amazing images of Archer. I brought him a few 8.25 inch decks but Archer needs something a bit smaller so…  We’ll get him what he needs. Thanks to MRZ for the images and a big welcome to Archer Braun! Skate- Ozzie

blunt fakie on the Duncan

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