Will Jivcoff Photo

Winter Nights

2012-02-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that Southern Ontario's winter has been unseasonably kind to us. Scott is a Kitchener to Toronto transplant and has been taking full advantage of the dry and actually-kind-of warm weather downtown in the big city. Check the video below for some goods from Scott, Jay Brown, John Lennie and more. Filmed by Rob Mentov.

Scott Varney - Winter Nights from Rob Bob on Vimeo.

The Beast

2012-01-15T20:22:00.000-08:00

I miss skating with this buddy.

Beaster, frontside boardslide.

Style.

Redstar in Detroit

2011-12-20T18:46:00.001-08:00

Near the end of the summer I trekked off to Detroit with the Redstar guys for a solid three days of skating. If you haven't got yourself a copy of the new issue then head over to the Concrete site and check out our article in full by clicking here. Enjoy!

Red Star: Dysfunctional in Detroit from Concrete Skateboarding on Vimeo.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

2011-12-08T16:24:00.000-08:00

When I'm 35 with a wife and a child, I want to be able to shred just as hard and just as often as my buddy.

Next time some dude gives you that age old excuse, "Well I had to quit because I got a girlfriend/job." you can call them out for half-stepping because Mr. Jamie Jeffery does it all and then some as seen below in his new video part.

Nosegrind.

Bluntslide to fakie.

Feeble jump-over.

Thanks for the inspiration dawg!

Style and Grace

2011-12-06T17:50:00.000-08:00

Although sequences are neither stylish or graceful, the subject in this case, is.

Joel, switch flip manual.

Slappy noseslides!

Have you seen the Labour of Love trailer yet? Better get a copy...

Annual Heartbreak

2011-11-30T18:23:00.000-08:00

Well, it snowed today and some of it managed to stick around which means the annual heartbreak is here to stay. Anyways, here's some goodies that I logged over the happier times(also known as summer).

Will Marshall, switch inward heelflip.

Paul Machnau, wallride.

Jesse Brown, hardflip.

Josh Clark, fakie ollie.

J-S Lapierre, noseblunt.

Mikey Plantus, frontside flip.

Kevin Skutnik, ollie into the bank.

Those should keep you warm until you leave your house next.

"What's been done here?"

2011-11-28T19:44:00.000-08:00

If you're skating around the Kitchener-Waterloo area and want the typical rundown of each spot and what's been done, Tyler's name pops up quite a bit. Him and I stayed pretty busy over the spring and summer as seen in his interview in the latest Kingshit. Here are the photos from said interview and even the raw footage to go along with it.

Switch backside 180.

Nollie front board.

Switch frontside 180.

Nollie noseblunt.

And check out that proof right here!

How's that for 4 month blog hiatus?

AVOCADOS AND OLLIES

2011-08-08T12:53:00.001-07:00

Some good homies from Kitchener and Detroit got together and are collaborating on a skate and health food blog...it's tight! Check it out for quality skating and food ideas.

AVACADOS AND OLLIES.

Isaac Watamaniuk, crook.

43 Magazine

2011-07-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

Allen Ying is an amazing skate photographer living in NYC. He's start up his own (PRINT!) magazine and needs donations for it to see the light of day. Check the link for info and get a donation going.

If there's one thing I can stand by, it's knowing that the quality(content and actual paper stock) of this magazine is going to be amazing. Don't hesitate, check out the donation link and Allen's website and blog below.

Donate: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allenying/43-magazine

Website: http://allenying.com/

Blog: http://allenying.blogspot.com/

Something like a heatwave...

2011-07-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

As of late, southern Ontario has been experiencing a brutal heat wave keeping some of us indoors until the sun goes down late in the day. The sun has been on a ruthless mission forcing skateboarders into the deep end of pools during the day only to let us come out for a few hours at night for some shredding.

A quick weekend trip to Cadillac, Michigan.

Paul Machnau was in Kitchener for a week and

a bit and laid down some tricks. Here he is

checking one out.

An antique store in Cadillac. Can't make this

stuff up.

Mikey, front board in Toledo, Ohio.

Slowpoke

2011-06-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little slow over here with content. Myself and a few other media guys are working on a new side project showcasing the talent and happenings that go on in the 519 area code. Take a look for video and photo content from the past and present.

www.519streets.blogspot.com

Morgan Smith, switch backside flip for fun.

A weekend in the Armpit

2011-05-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

Somehow the stars aligned properly and I managed to get a Friday to Sunday streak off while the weather cooperated at the same time. I thought of no better place to take advantage of such an event than a good ol' city called Windsor. I headed down late Thursday night and immediately the next morning some insane shredding ensued until sundown on Sunday. These type of weekends are few and far between but damn, when they happen, you know it's good.

These cats!

Crossed into Detroit for the day and met up

with none other than Mr. Bohl! He showed us

this wicked authentic Mexican joint too.

Ending a day in Detroit with some beans, rice

and flautas. Amazing!

Back to spot checking. Hill checking out a death

pit.

More spots...

Rigged something up...look at the smile on this

guy's face.

Another spot check...

If you've ever been to the Plantus' residence

you'll know this face as soon as you start driving

away.

Mikey ain't bad at art either!

Gotta love it!

Patching Things Up

2011-04-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

With mother nature becoming less and less of the harsh mistress she used to be a few familiar faces and myself have been dodging work hours to get out and do some skating. Nothing overly exciting here but have a look below for some fun.

I really need to watch what I say. A week or so

before I shot this I was talking an incredible

amount of shit on grass/dirt gaps. Ah well...

Scott, frontside heelflip.

Headed to Guelph to meet up with Byron and

Colin. This was the first spot of the day.

Spot checking....

Sam snacking out. Brought two cans of

spaghetti and a can opener to get things crackin'.

Who doesn't like a fresh strip of bondo?

Tyler waxing his wheel wells.

...and that is how you absorb impact my friends.

This is an actual frame from the land too.

Swing....and a miss.

2011-04-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

While most skaters are itching to get back out into the streets, I, myself have been feeling a little sluggish trying to get back into the swing of things. Have no fear, as soon as mother nature stops throwing some heavy curve (snow)balls at us every other week this blog should fill up with a bit more photo content. In the meantime, indulge below, my friends.

Mitch, frontside flip. One of those, "But dude,

you were so close!" type of situations.

Drew, getting urban downtown Toronto with

a front crook to fakie.

Isaac, backside noseblunt at a very rad DIY spot

in Toronto. The utmost respect goes out to

whoever built this - sometimes skateboarders

amaze me.

Scott and I managed to get out one night while

the streets were temporarily skatable. Ollie

the hydrant to 5050 the curb.

Beaster, backside noseblunt. This little buddy's

interview just came out in Kingshit. Bow Digga

showed me his footage in Barcelona last winter

and my basic reaction was, "I need to shoot with

this dude." That being said, I'm stoked to have

gone out shooting with you bud! Good work.

Home Land

2011-03-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

First off, all apologies to everyone that may have been expecting constant updates from the road while the gang and I were in Florida. Believe me, I had every intention of doing so but eventually getting back to the hotel at 10pm and updating your blog becomes a little low on the priority list. Things like food, beer and sleep usually take over. That being the case, I'm cramming this post full of photo goodies and stories from the road. Enjoy!

Jamie got a little broke off at this spot...

Then Hugo barged Jamie's session.

"Oh maaaan I want an epic hero shot too!"

These jerks barged our session at the brick

quarter pipes. Look close!

Bow Digga, feeble stall.

Checkerboard spot in Atlanta.

Why is this here? Epic spots.

Hilliard, light test.

Jamie, kinky 5050 on a filmer board

downtown Miami.

Jamie, epic face.

Mikey, more epic spots.

Dan Ray, 5050.

Hugo, wallie over....

but not before he threw some gang signs.

Mitch "That's Gang Related" Pryma, 5050

past the curb.

A sad, sad man named Sonny

that we met at the spot. Hopefully

he's still alive right now.

Hugo on the hunt for some crocs while we

stopped in 'gator country.

Some cool trees by a spot we were skating.

Spring break? More like SPRING FRANK!

Yes that is Mitch Pryma.

Downtown Miami at night.

A young gunner(seriously) having some fun

on my board.

I shot this timelapse on our drive from

Windsor to Florida beginning with frigid snow

and ending up in the beautiful sunny weather.

Untitled from will j on Vimeo.

Down to Business

2011-03-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

Dan Ray's mom has been putting us up for the past couple days while we enjoy the splendors of clean beds, blankets, a pool and properly cooked meals. Fort Myers is so small and skateboarding is banned everywhere around the downtown area so we've quickly worn out our welcome around here. We managed to makenames for ourselves and got red flagged in a matter of days. Tomorrow we're going to try and take care of some last minute spots and then off we head to the land of paying for hotels, Miami. Take a peek at the photos below to see that we haven't been completely slacking.

We like to start our days right in the morning.

Jamie, feeble at a chuddy barrier spot.

Later on. Filming lines at the beach.

This spot had a shiny floor.

Dan Ray, ollie.

The next day. Trying to get out a little earlier

to be the sun and humidity.

Quick contemplates.

Mikey, back lip. Talk about

style.

He got so fired up he went on

and did this!

Backside angle on Mikey's

backside lipslide. Check that back

foot! Sheesh!

Pilgrimage

2011-03-01T19:14:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I headed to Florida to skate and get some business done with the likes of Hill Sulpher, Jamie Jeffrey, Mikey Plantus, Chris Quick, Bow Digga, Dan Ray, Mitch Pryma, Glencoe Hogle and Hugo Balek. We kept ourselves busy on the road with energy drinks and beef jerky that gave us food poisoning and immediately started cutting our pants into shorts as soon as we hit Fort Myers. The journey was a long one but we made it. Here's to the next two weeks of sun and shredding!

Mikey, packing up the truck in Windsor.

This guy!

So long, snow.

Seeing a little less now.

Seeing little to none.

Stopping for a quick stretch.

Who's driving next? Yeah right...

Passed through Cincinatti. There is potential

you might see some photos from there in the

future...

Another rest stop this time with wild cats.

Mandatory.

In awe and amazement at the menu of

Waffle House.

Joann showing us some love in Kentucky.

Thanks woman!

Back on the road...

Another rest stop. Is there a better feeling

than pissing on the door of the bathroom?

Sketchy, thick night fog.

7am, another rest stop. We found out really

quick that their "Free Juice" was not so free...

or existent.

Florida hype!

More of this.

SUNSHINE!

Testing the weather...it's good! We aren't

home free without a little...

Food poisoning and puke. Sketchy

gas station beef jerky will do it

to you.

NOW we're home free!

New Life

2011-02-16T19:13:00.000-08:00

I've been making weekend trips down to Michigan every month or so to skate and shoot the shit with the homies down there. This passed weekend ended up being a good one to head down there since mother nature decided to smile on us and allowed a bunch of the crew to get some skating done outdoors. I think all the skateboarders can feel it...spring is on it's way!

Nothing like a good ol' game of skate in the

STREETS to warm up!

Shane haulin'.

Shane, switch heelflip. Yep, definitely a little

rusty(on my end).

Is it pathetic that I pretty much didn't pick up my camera all winter? I'd say. Check out this while you're spending your life on the internet.

Watch "KBYE" Online!

2011-01-10T12:58:00.000-08:00

Filmer, good homie and all around awesome guy, Jordan Guzyk, premiered his video "KBYE" in London in December but it's now up on the internet along with a few photos and some captions for your viewing pleasure. Take a look right here for the goods!

A few recent things

2010-12-11T12:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a few recent photos. Some you may have seen in print, some you haven't.

Marty Murawski and Jeremy Wray taking

a breather from the Ontario humidity this

past summer.

Kody Thompson, nosegrind through the skinny.

Jesse Landen, kickflip over the rail and into

the bank.

Marty Murawski, backside 180 nosegrind revert.

Mikey Plantus, ollie into the death bank. Shot

this on colour as well but just got the black and

white roll back.

Also updated the website with a few photos, take a look here.

Justin Cefai Believes

2010-11-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

A good pal of mine from Michigan who is now living in Santa Monica, California just got on board with Hype! Skateboards. Congrats Justin, keep on ripping!

About two summers ago in Central LA.

Backside 180 nosegrind revert.

Check out his intro video here.

Attack of the Slack

2010-10-18T19:33:00.001-07:00

It seems like the burn out has hit everyone as the end of the season draws near, myself included. The next time you see a blog post it might be mid-winter in some southern state.

A somewhat chilly Michigan weekend.

Ben, frontside bigspin.

The weekend after and much nicer.

Jamie, nollie heel to fakie.

And the weekend after that.

Beaster, backside 5-0.

Byron's got a nice front board.

Tyler at the fat stack.

Kinda over it, and out.

The End is Near!

2010-09-22T07:14:00.000-07:00

It's a heart break and a fact that all skateboarders have to face when September swings around. Yes, the end of the season is near. No longer can we count on every day being a sunny, warm and being able to skate without lights and a generator until 9:30 in the evening. The plus side to all of this is that when it is sunny it's the most perfect time for skating. A light sweater for protection just incase you do happen to get roughed up all the while remaining comfortable and not sweating buckets...ah yes, perfection. Below is a good example of a perfect fall weekend: sunny and perfection temperatures.

Peekabo....

It's Beaster! Caballerial.

Met up with Tyler O'Grady and he wanted to

huck at some stair case switch stance. I obliged.

Put your hands in the air, it's Sunday and

sunny!

Mitch got down with

a noseslide.

Jamie backed him up going switch-footed.

There were a few minute kinks to be worked

out.

Jesse, front lip.

"The Dark and Sad side of

Christopher Quick" coming to

a theatre near you!

On Point

2010-09-07T09:17:00.001-07:00

It always seems like long weekends suddenly sneak up on us skateboarders and plans to get some solid shredding done never actually see the light of day -until this past weekend. What better a crew to make it happen with the often-ten-deep-or-more Windsor guys. Shred sticks with their respectful owners came from all over -Oshawa, Windsor, Orangeville and myself, Kitchener. Even after nights of heavy partying we were all somehow coordinated enough to beat mother nature as she rained off and on every couple hours and would throw in heavy wind storms here and there. No holds were barred when it came to skating spots. If someone had something in mind we made it happen regardless of distance...within reason of course. One day we were even out and skating by 9:30 in the morning. That's some serious dedication when it comes to talking about skateboarders!

Warm up spot, Vanderhoof. It was probably

around 10:30am when we shot this which meant

we had already been shredding for an hour.

Jesse, 5050 ollie past the curb.

Jamie, boardslide with ease.

Over the course of the weekend we couldn't

tell whether the rain meant packing up or

just waiting it out.

We waited it out.

Mikey, front blunt to fakie.

Andrew lent us the bungee for the day.

Deadly fun indeed. Mikey Plantus isn't ever

allowed to be near one of these things again.

I can only imagine what you're thinking right

now.

Jesse hitting it backside.

Dillon, Dy-lon, Pilon, hardflip.

Over and out.

Until....next weekend?

That griptape....

2010-09-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

Spent the last couple days with some of the London crew and checked out the new Emerica video "Stay Gold" with them on Wednesday. Check out some photos below for the antics.

Colin, switch boardslide.

He said the shop ran out of regular griptape,

I'm calling bullshit. Either way that grip is

unnecessary....

....shake junt for life I guess.

Down with....Kitchener?

2010-08-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

I was pretty stoked to have Jesse, Hill and Quick roll through Kitchener for the day to try and hit some spots. It seems to be that if I bring someone in from outside of the city it's almost a sure bet for them to get a decent trick. We also hit up Guelph the next day to shralp some spots around there with Mr. Pryma. Unfortunately Sunday was way fucking hotter than Saturday and I think everyone came down with some sort of mild heat stroke while Mitch got the worst of it and started chucking. Heat stroke ain't no joke...hydrate fools.

That's Hill on the right questioning my integrity

and whether or not I know what a skate spot is.

At this moment I was scraping algae off the bottom

of the ditch to try and make it less slick for

my buddy.....

....aaaand action!

Jesse made it out of this one

unscathed. Yeah, no clue.

This hydrant also decided to just pop up out

of no where.

Until next time...

On the Scene

2010-08-22T07:58:00.001-07:00

I guess one could say that some rather unusual skate sessions took place over the past week. Something to do with transport trucks in the middle of Dundas Square...yeah I don't quite know what that's all about either. See if you can make some sense of it below.

Ryan and Magnus checking out

a new spot.

It seemed ideal.

A bit of a change in scenery now.

All of Ryan's fans were there.

Concrete Photo Annual

2010-08-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

Here are two photos of mine that ran in the Concrete Photo Annual issue.

Colton, front smith. I originally saw a video

of him eating absolute shit on this thing but

knew that if he went back I had to shoot it.

Sure enough...

Colin, front crook in the rain. The man has

'em like that.

Do yourself a favour and check out that issue. It's

got a lot of good stuff from photographers like

Rich Odam, Jeff Comber, Owen Woytowich and

Geoff Clifford.

Meandering

2010-08-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

Just a few photos over the past week and a bit for you to take a look at.

Tried to skate some Kitchener spots and got

kicked out of every one we went to.

Colin, back 50.

Went to Guelph to try our luck.

This young is starting to skate

with us a bit. Alex, ollie.

Colin, nollie.

Look close...serious style points.

Forgot to throw this one in the last post. We

did it and regretted every moment of it.

Anyone willing to get wet and possibly a bit

banged up? SBC photo annual is coming up...

Justin on point with the focus game.

*no caption necessary*

"...think there's a big market for camo slip-ons?"

Heading to Whitby for a few days. Bound to get

some goods there.

Like a Moth in the Light

2010-08-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

Once again Isaac, Joel and myself took a trip down to Detroit and brought none other than Mr. Williams with us for his first round of skating in the D. Between some authentic tacos in Mexican town, the regular crack heads lurking our sessions and Ben's mom cooking us up some bomb meals it goes without saying that it was an awesome time. It feels like Detroit is one of those cities that never gets old to me. You'd also think that because it's dirty as hell and the city is sketchy at best that we'd skate there once and be done with it. But no, not this city. Take a look below for some Detroit shadiness below.

Benjamin, doubling up on his ollie game.

If one spot could sum up Detroit

best it might be this one. Sketchy,

dirt, terribly built and bum

shit everywhere. Ryan, back d

in the D.

Stopped by the shop Pigeon to do a little

meet and greet with the kids. The young kid in

the front holding up a Love board bought an

8.25 and learned to skate it just to spite the

"older kids" that told him an 8inch was too big for

him. He can skate that thing too!

Isaac, 5050 into the plate at

the roughest spot ever.

Stopped in Windsor on the way home. Hill

got a new whip!

"Wait, you want to do what

where?"

As usual I'm back at home trying to

figure out the next time I can get down

there.

Oh yeah, I finally got a website up and

running. Check 'er out!

http://willjivcoff.com/

Broken bodies, finished tapes and exposed rolls.

2010-07-18T21:19:00.001-07:00

Home from the Vancouver trip and let me tell you, almost three weeks of skating from spot to spot, fighting for floor space at night and skating every day really wears down on the body. Check some throw away photos and the video below for a fun time.

Colin, nollie varial heelflip at some blown out

three block in the 'burbs.

A pleasant walk in the park.

Colin has a weird fettish for wall rails. 5050.

Byron and Tim hurt themselves early on in

the trip so they came to spots for moral support.

Colin, 5-0 for warm ups. Pardon the finger/ghetto

sun shade.

Mandatory beach sunset shot.

Breakdown breakdance.

Colin, bs bigspin boardslide for shits n' gigs.

Went to Victoria for the weekend, some nice

scenery and new friends out there.

These were our hosts, Fran and Pat. They

fucking ruled.

Jordan made a montage of throw

away clips from the trip. He'll be

pissed if you don't watch it below.

"You on the west coast you on the best coast!" - Tupac

2010-07-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

A bunch of us have been out in Vancouver for the past week and will be here for one more. We've been slacking on spots a bit so I haven't got much skate-photo content for you guys but the least you can do is check out our lives via cell phone photos.

Not stoked.

Jordan on the other hand, was.

A mighty trek.

Colin warming up.

Kids in a candy store(Supra dist.)

Got my first board crack to the dome. It left

a nice hole...thanks Colin!

Kids in a literal candy store(well, just outside).

T-Bobs, warm up ollie.

Josh has these sick tre flips.

Focal check.

Ventuuuura

2010-06-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

I got a text early Monday morning from Hill telling me to call him up. Sure enough he had nothing but good news, "Yo, let's go to Detroit this weekend!" I don't even think a second passed before I said yes...I'm sure everyone on here knows how much I love skating in Michigan in general. This time would be a bit different because I'd be staying on the other side of the border(Canada) and actually skating Windsor which I was equally as stoked on. As usual, everyone kept it casual while dropping hammers left and right. Seriously, what's better than that?

First day in Windsor and met local Mikey

Plantus. He throws down. He's tight.

Sizzle, back tail up. Too many good quotes from

this guy.

"My slave name is Mike, my real name is Sizzle."

Sizzle is such an upstanding

citizen to society. Here you see

him display a proper focus-check

for me.....

...so that Paul could boost this

huge ollie.

Everyone was bummed on Jeff because he

popped this switch frontside flip so high and made

this actually-huge set look tiny. Good job Jeff?

Sizzle, power ollie....

....into the drink!

Hill and I rolled by to see if it was possible to

get a photo here but there was water in it.

Jamie on the other hand didn't mind one bit...

One of the very few things the U.S. has going

for them currently.

I was in Detroit for 30 minutes and we went

straight to spot checking. Burly to say the least.

An action packed weekend is a good one.

Oh yeah, I got a new lens too....

No-Go's

2010-06-20T14:54:00.001-07:00

Here are a bunch of photos that for whatever reasons didn't make it into print. Some are old, some are more recent. Take a peek.

My second trip to Southern California. This

is Michigan transplant Shaun Hover doing

a proper ass back smith.

Another Michigan transplant in the same

session. Justin, bs 180 nosegrind revert.

Mitch, switch tre flip.

The second angle of Mitch's switch tre. Sometimes

filmers just do not want to cooperate and you

have to ask the skater to huck a few more after

he's battled with it.

Dave, full cab.

Drew, ollie over bs lipslide.

Colin, front crook onto the worst landing ever.

Isaac, nosegrind.

Closure

2010-06-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

Now that the Bones trip is over I'm sure everyone that was in the van for the entire thing is a little relieved so they can go home and relax for a minute. Overall the trip was really productive and I had a great time. Below are some more cell phone clips from the road.

Most of the Bones guys hadn't seen the Niagara

Falls before so we made a trip out there to

do some sight seeing.

Before that happened we had to wake Dyet up

first. This was after we pulled him by his ankles

off of the bed.

Skated a pretty well-built barrier in St. Catherines.

Big ups to Andrew for being our guide for the day.

At a spot in Peterborough they had a free zoo

so a few of us went to take a look. Finally found

out why shoe-lace belts are so useful - baby

bobcats love 'em!

One of them misty days downtown.

Good times had by all! Now back to regular programming....

Demo Daze

2010-06-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

We're on the last few days of the Bones trip before it comes to a close. Here are some clips from the road.

Seems like as soon as the free product starts

getting tossed out kids think they have a license

to kill. Sad, but true.

Demo kids.

Tried to get serious at a rail, the dogs were

not cooperating.

Jared stressing over the dogs.

Marty figuring out manuals at

CBC. It got figured out quick.

This chick was ripping so Jared

put her on the Bones team on the

spot.

Some dude acting a fool at CBC.

Crunch time!

Bones Trip

2010-06-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Got the chance to go on a Toronto+surrounding area trip with part of the Bones Wheels team. Been pretty tight so far, here are some cell pictures from the road. Big thanks to Norm and Brian for hooking this one up!

Marty at Ultimate Distribution.

Norm is the TM at Ultimate East and he

cooked us a feast at his house on the lake. In

the meantime J.S. met a new friend.

He also kept it real while roasting marshmallows.

Couch surfed for a day at a friend Ashley's

place. Nice view of the harbor front.

Also got the chance to catch up with my pal

Aaron over some pad thai.

Bon voyage, friend.

2010-05-31T14:19:00.001-07:00

Anybody who is a close friend to Joel is known for a while now that he'd be taking off to Europe for a good while sometime soon and, well, that time has come! Our buddy is going to be shredding across the European continent and having the time of his life. He did say he was going to try and send me a few updates here and there so as he sends 'em I'll post 'em. Have fun dude, it's going to be the ride of your life.

Joel on Canadian soil.

Nollie halfcab in Toronto.

Fun in the Sun? Not Likely.

2010-05-30T19:03:00.001-07:00

My recently jobless self decided to start the weekend on Thursday by heading to London for a couple days and then Toronto for the two after. Unfortunately, my fair-skinned self couldn't avoid getting sun stroke for the life of me. This, of course, caused me to lay in the back seat of my car all of Saturday while "we" were downtown Toronto "skating" and telling the homies only to beckon me if a photo needs to be shot. How fucking lousy does that sound? Ah well, I guess it has to be done once in a while.

Byron on the hubba? No shit. Front 5050.

Justin and Chris came up to visit for the weekend,

too bad I couldn't skate for shit. As for the trick?

Yeah, switch pop up to this thing is no joke.

Switch front 50.

Isaac, back tail through the skinny.

Starting next Sunday my Bones will be a rattlin' for 10 days....

Slaying

2010-05-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

A long weekend was on the come up and I got word that the homies Jordan, Byron and Colin were heading to Toronto to stay with Mains for the weekend. What better reason to quit your job to go and skate? None! As one can assume, the weekend consisted of beautiful weather(for the most part), disgusting farts, Jordan only bringing one pair of socks and boxers and all of us almost killing each other at one point or another. We soon learned that Colin's madness is fueled by as little as a couple packs of gummy worms and a two litre of Pepsi Max a day. On one hand I was a little shocked but on the other, not really, it is Colin after all.

I also got Jordan familiar with the website known as "Chatroulette". If you don't know about it by now save yourself the memory scar and just don't do it. Jordan was into it though. Anyways, photos of the madness below. What a damn good weekend. Thanks for giving us a place to stay Mains.

Things were getting serious at the rail with

bro talk.

Mike, hang ten nose manual.

Somebuddy worked for a trick.

It was pretty hot out too.

Byron. Not quite on another level but definitely

on his way there.

Colin, 5-0 warm ups.

Another 5-0 warm up, backside this time.

This diet equals....

...stepping to rails like this.

Myself on the other hand kept it modest,

Barca style!

After much frustration of arriving at the antique

ledge with a car parked we felt it was necessary

to leave a note.

Eating on the go. How appetizing does a big,

cold slice of watermelon sound on a hot day?

Thumbs up for a bangin' weekend!

Head over to buddy-filmer's blog for a video

version of this update.

Portfolio Check

2010-05-20T18:40:00.000-07:00

Derk from Tagsters Online Magazine came to my rescue and threw up some of my portfolio photos online since I've been blowing it and haven't got a website going. If you've got a minute, take a look right here.

Hut Weekend

2010-05-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

Contrary to my last post Mother Nature just so happened to let up and let the goodness that we know as the sun shine on through. What better reason to seize the weekend and head to the Hut? Anyone that knows about the Hut crew knows that they get down on their boards but keep it casual and make sure that it's always a good time. Not to mention that if you're lucky enough to be around for dinner while Chef Digga is cooking you're in for a treat. Flicks of the madness below!

Part of the posse.

Jesse, crook.

There's no such thing as a mellow Saturday

night at the Hut. Full photo feature in the next

Wordzine.

Jesse innovating skating with

his new trick dubbed the flying

squirrel.

Sizzle Chest, wallride crailgrab.

Not the last visit to the Hut, no doubt!

Local Shenanigans

2010-05-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

Fellow photographer Curtis Rothney told me I should be updating my blog a bit more regularly so, you know, here I am doing it. Here are some goods that I've shot over the past few weeks and if it weren't for damn Mother Nature shitting on us this post would include weekends as well. Enjoy!

Scooter, polevault.

Matt, beaster back 180 on a broken tail.

Greg, tailskid around the bus stop.

Isaac, wallie.

Joel, crook.

Scum

2010-04-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

Isaac and I were out of local spot ideas so we decided to try our luck at skating Cambridge and Brantford. Aside from the one gem in Brantford, the rest was shit just like we assumed. On another note, Aaron is home from school so he came out to shred while Lucas got his board focussed by a van. It seems like whenever I end up in Brantford or Cambridge the lurkers just get worse and worse, especially at the skateparks. Negativity aside, tricks we "copped" and fun was had!

Aaron, cruiser wall ride.

Kody repping the illest

(snow)board company of all

time. Front 5-0.

Now it's Sunday so I can only hope for better spots next weekend.

Struggling for 130

2010-04-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

What a gruelling 130th post...and I just barely made it. This blog has been totally off my mind's radar(obviously) so I haven't even thought to update. I have however been getting a lot of questions about whether or not this blog is toast....fuck naw! This blog is in better shape than ever, the posts are just few and far between. In celebration of a 130th post and the love you've been showing me, here's some photo content!

Went to Pittsburgh with some of the Love dudes

for Easter weekend. Got roughed up.

Ben, ollie up gap to back lip in Pittsburgh.

One of the many weekends

in Toronto. Isaac, 5050 drop down.

Drew boy and Joel in tow. Boardslide.

This one's for my buddy who slammed so

hard his vertigo came back.

Isaac, backside kickflip.

In due time there will be another post....you will not be forgotten!

"Are you handrailskater444 from Youtube?"

2010-03-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

The other day some good buddies of mine that I haven't seen in a while decided to venture in Kitchener for the first time of the season and what better reason to do so on a day where the double-digit temperatures were practically pushing 20 degrees Celsius? None, my friend! Colin, Dave, Byron and Jordan picked me up with "the Pod" and we all crammed into the clown car to go skate. At the first spot some young gun recognized local celebrity Jordan Guzyk and proceeded to pick our brains on how to get sponsored and why we wanted to get sponsored. A full day of fun ensued but I'll just leave it at that. Photos below!

Back to this thing. Colin, backside

5050.

Sick landing! Colin, pusher front nose.

Came and conquered.

God damn it feels good to be outside and shooting with the homies again! Check Jordan's blog at the side as soon as you get to this period.

Pelicula(Film)!

2010-03-07T17:40:00.000-08:00

Three and a half hours of scanning and countless more of dust touch ups, cropping, sharpening, yada yada. That's why we love film right? Anyways, feast your eyes on some not-so-digital photos below.

One day at Universitat Jesse did a sick line...

...and then the homies peeped it.

Fondo.

I wish I could remember this kid's name. His

dad said he was four years old and he looked

incredibly comfortable on his board. He was

slappying curbs, riding off the ledges and even

doing ollies on flat. This photo is for you

little buddy.

And maybe you'll see some more later....

Mi Casa

2010-03-06T19:10:00.000-08:00

Back home in Kitchener! There may be snow around but some of us have already been out street skating. It sure as hell isn't Barcelona but it is an awesome feeling to be skating around here again. I got my film all developed and scanned up, below are a couple preview of things to come.

I took the digi in for repair so I probably will be posting very little this month.

Pedro is a Saint

2010-02-21T12:52:00.000-08:00

Since Pedro is such a nice guy he decided to lend me his DSLR for the rest of my trip, I'm stoked! I'm sure everyone that reads this was stressing when they heard they wouldn't be seeing anymore juicy content but fret-no-more. Take a look below for some flicks!

Parc Guell

Myself with a coffee at Parallel

Fruits

The old men are vicious out here.

Will loves Gossip Girl.

JB! By the time you read this he will

already be back in Michigan.

Spectating.

A digi photo of Alex's front blunt. He didn't

land this but it's still nice lookin'.

On the Up and Up

2010-02-20T02:27:00.000-08:00

Homeboy Colin Findlater just got a profile on the Supra website. Congrats buddy!

http://www.supradistribution.com/team/colin_findlater.php

Perma-Fucked.

2010-02-12T04:28:00.000-08:00

That title, of course, is in reference to my digital camera that decided to focus it's own shutter the other day while the gang and I were out shooting. Unless I can get ahold of a DSLR somehow, it's digi point and shoot photos from here on out! Gotta make the best of a shitty situation somehow.

Skateboarding.

It used to be my birthday.

Donezo.

Birthday Blogging

2010-02-08T06:05:00.000-08:00

It's my birthday and it also happens to be raining so we're lazing around for the day and waiting for nightfall. Here are some stills and sequences from the past few days. Met up with the homies from the Windsor Hut and then some. Take a look!

Byron, warm up kickflip 5-0.

Lankmaster Zach, 5-0 180.

Geoff Strelow

Things didn't go so smooth after warming up.

Brandon

Jordan, back smith.

Brandon, warm up nollie crook.

Jordan, kickflip.

As a special birthday bonus, I'm giving YOU guys a gift, check out the prequel to Marty's new part in Make Friends With the Colour Blue, Make Friends with Marty!

Child's Play

2010-02-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

We decided to head out to the Sant Marti rail the other day. Sure enough, madness ensued. All sequences below were shot in under 30 minutes.

Byron, switch crook.

Nollie nosegrind.

Kickflip frontboard.

Nollie tailslide to fakie.

Nollie noseslide.

Nollie front crook.

New Arrivals

2010-02-01T13:12:00.001-08:00

I know, I know, I'm in Barcelona and have only updated once or twice. But here we are, on our third blog post and ripping away skating-wise. A new homie Jeremy Tuffli has been added to an ever-growing list of new friends we meet out here, skateboarding is a truly a universal language. Moving on though, just yesterday we had the pleasure of welcoming Jordan and Brandon to our apartment while we bid Matt farewell. That being said, today was their first day of skating in Barcelona but they didn't let jet lag or any excuses get in their ways. One month has already flown by...I'm afraid to think of how quick this one will go.

Jordan, 5-0.

Jeremy, bluntslide pop into regular.

Pedro filming at sunset.

Matt, backside 5-0 on one of

his last days.

Byron frontside flipped this set and Pedro

shat his pants.

Congratulations Marty!

2010-01-17T07:06:00.001-08:00

Fellow friend Marty Murawski was turned pro this past week. Congratulations dude!

Cuenta la Mierda de Perro

2010-01-16T14:07:00.000-08:00

Ah yes, we're still being eager beavers and doing the skate tourist deal but we've been getting busier and actually shooting some photos. I'm not too sure what we're going to do next month without Matt here, he's always the one to wake us up, drag us out of bed and get us to go skating before noon. Since we've actually been skating spots other than Macba and Parallel we've also been meeting some new skate buddies and getting casual pro sightings - it's pretty tight! I can't tell you whether or not these updates are going to become consistent so sit tight.

This rail was a ton of fun. Byron,

just-learned nollie front feeble.

Matthew, back smith.

Marty showed up for a day. He's on some next

level trickery.

Matt, gap 5050.

"I hate manuals." Byron, kickflip nose wheelie

nollie flip.

Hola!

2010-01-04T07:50:00.000-08:00

We finally made it to Barcelona! Bad weather, cancelled flights, getting switched to different planes and lost luggage made one hell of a journey getting here. That airplane food didn't help either.

But the city...ah yes, the city. The architecture is like no other place I've seen. To me, it seems like this entire city was made with a skateboarder in mind. Lightly-cracked sidewalk blocks so your wheels clicked, granite everything and perfect ledges everywhere really made all of us ask, "Why does this exist?!" Our new homie Pedro has been showing us around and even hooked us up with a spot book he made. What is normal to him has been blowing our minds with every other push through the city, I honestly mean it. So far we're just "skate tourists" in this city while Pedro shows us around. Soon enough we will be getting down to business...if you know what I mean.

This thing.

This probably shouldn't exist, but it does.

Not actually.

This place blew our minds.

Five spots in one? Sure, why not!

Pedro cruising to the metro.

Parallel

Is your mind blown yet?

Will Jivcoff Video

2009-12-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

Took one last road trip to Michigan before I head out for the next two months. Ben gave us a place to stay and his mom hooked us up with a fat breakfast each morning along with some other goodies. Did some after sessioning at Landslide and caught up with the homies for the last bit of 2009. See you in 2010 suckers!

Real street skating...in December!

Ben got a new camera.

Anything you can ever imagine

finding is in here.

Just being an American...no big deal.

It's cold again.

Now for some footy!

Ben did a line.

Isaac did a new trick.

Joel did a line too.

Mike also dropped in to do a hammer.

A snowy, cold hell.

2009-12-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's winter. Yes, we're in hibernation. Do you need a better reason to watch a skate video? I think not! Do yourself a favor and watch "City of New Lights" filmed by Jarvis Nigelesky and with parts from a bunch of west coast heavy hitters by the likes of Chad Dickson, Dustin Montie, Spencer Hamilton, Lee Saunders and many others.

You were expecting photos, weren't you? If you can wait three weeks I'll have some goods for you. I know, I know, it's going to be hard but it will be worth it.

Keeping it Local

2009-11-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

The past couple weekends it seems like I've been doing some more skating around Kitchener and inviting people to come skate the plentiful amount of spots that we have here...if you'd like to call them that. In the end it's not only productive but ends up being a lot more fun knowing that the spots around here still have some life and offering in them. Take a look below to see what I mean.

Drew with some fancy footwork. Frontside 5-0 backside

bigspin out.

Scott, kickflip.

A frontside Matt Smith grind.

Joel, polejam manny.

Colin, crook.

Colin went to war with this

hubba. Backside 5-0.

Let's put an egg in our shoes and...

2009-10-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

It appears that the temperatures this week are going to start making a steady climb into the double digits and today it started it's venture upward. Ben and I met up at the park to take care of some business at the dirty gap before meeting up with a few others. After that we took off to Laurier to check out what the new spots had to offer and had some fun there. Upon arriving Sir Matt Pancer also decided to show up after being out with an injury for pretty much the entire summer. As we were vacating the campus the agro security guard with a heavy Irish accent that all the skaters around here are befriending tried arresting us...better luck next time bud.

Back in action and saucier

than ever.

Security is doing their job well

these days.

Lucas, almost-noseblunt.

First day back and hoppin'

on hubbas? Not quite, no need

to risk another injury. Here's

to another five years!

Matt, noseslide.

Original Yolkster Ben Locke, bump to bump

tre flip.

Ben, backside biggy.

Until ne- will there even be a next time?

Potentially Dead

2009-10-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

Since the season is coming to an end very fast us skaters are scrambling to make plans to skate and scrounge every last day that the weather is in the double digits. Unfortunately the double digit-temperatures have come and gone and by the looks of it they aren't coming back for many months. Because of the long weekend I was able to cram some heavy skating and as I sit here typing this update I'm starting to realize it may very well have been the last weekend we'll have for skating at all. The frost and snow warnings at night kill any hope of skating for much longer than another two weeks at the most. The life story of a skateboarder on the east coast....

The next stop for Danny Way.

Relax, Lucas did not fall in while doing this

5-0.

Potential future room mate

Jordan Moss got down with

a front smith.

Mitch Donovan, another

potential roommate.

Tim, hard flip with ease.

I had never met Dillon before this night but

he showed up and started blazing these nollie

heel's down this new 3 flat 3. I felt obliged to

shoot a photo.

Another new homie. Cole, front

lip.

Until next time. This may be a very long time.

New Love Skateboards Promo

2009-10-07T14:49:00.000-07:00

The good homies over at Love Skateboards put a new promo up to build some hype for their new video which is due during winter 2010. Do yourself a favour and head over to their site to check it and their other goods out.

www.loveskateboards.ca

Ben Schwandt, heelflip.

Drew Williams, wallie frontside 180.

Isaac Watamaniuk, backside 180 switch

nosegrind revert.

Joel Watamaniuk, front

blunt to fakie.

Ben Locke, ollie out backside kickflip.

Absolute Neglect

2009-09-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a month since I've updated my blog which means I've been nagged for the past three weeks or so to update my blog. The regular weekend trips to London almost end with me wanting to kill Jordan because he doesn't stop telling me how lazy I am and how shitty my blog is without a new post. He might just be the only dude that checks this thing though. Regardless, check out the last month in photos!

Getting to skate this spot is rare. Isaac, front

wallride.

Surfs up bro! Colin, nose manny nollie 3 shove.

The only sequence that matters. Byron, crail grab.

Colin checkin' his stee.

Joel, front blunt to fakie.

"I always slam on manny's"

-Byron

Anthony McManus showed up

one day to break dance.

Colin, warm up 5050.

Isaac, crook.

Gavin rolled his ankle because of this so I'm

throwing it up. Back smith.

Until next time...whenever that may be.

Like a Glove

2009-09-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

I've been back down in Michigan since last Thursday and will be here for the next week or so. As usual plenty of good times and laughs have already been had and more on their way...we've been doing some skateboarding too. Totally unskate-related, I had a cashier throw a Canadian coin back at me while growling "No Canadian!" Is the dollar that bad? Check the photos below and good vibes will ensue...my word.

Went to Ann Arbor for a day.

Tony, frontside flip.

Adam didn't land this wallride

nollie out but it's pretty.

Primo.

Ben, heelflip. This spot is

brutal.

Alex always has an eye for

cool tricks, spots, photos or

all of the above in one. Here

he flexes his artistic mind with

a frontside 5-0.

And again, 5050 pop up.

Sheer patriotism.

More to come...duh.

The Homeland

2009-08-27T12:35:00.001-07:00

As August comes to a close I realize(and am thankful) that I wasn' back home in Canada all that much. Below are some goods in between travels of California and a final Michigan trip. Enjoy.

Even getting the time to sweep away the rocks

at this spot is lucky. On this day we had the

skate gods' blessings. Isaac, frontside wallride.

Joel met Tony Hawk one day.

KBye coming soon. For now, a focus test at TD.

Colin, crookie.

Byron, back up back lip.

Byron got scared.

Lucas, crailslide.

Next up...Michigan!

In...and out.

2009-08-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

Seeing as I didn't update my blog once while I was in good ol' So. Cal I'll be doing so now. For the most part, Justin and I were a strict sleep/skate schedule and therefore not much time was spared for the blog world. Anyways, below are some flicks from the trip. A few things you can count on are: copious amounts of In N Out were eaten, Cherry On Top is delicious and the bro-scene there is absolutely bumpin'.

"Fuck it." Justin, front blunt
backside flip.

Moments later Justin ate total
shit trying this crook pop over so
he gets an honourable mention.

You better believe Mr. Shaun Hover made
an appearance! Front blunt.

Shaun, easy peasy back smith.

Late night beach session. Justin, back 180
fakie 5-0.

A new homie: Tyler Kindred, nollie shove
noseslide.

What are you doing up there?

Riley!

Hell.

Late night DVP session. Colin in the front,
Broah in the middle and Justin on the bench.

Left Coast

2009-07-27T01:11:00.000-07:00

Back on the West coast again! This time staying at Justin Cefai's place in California. Ah yeah, the weather out here is fucking beautiful(as are the girls) and the skating couldn't be better. I made about one, maybe two updates while I was in Michigan so below are some photos from when I was shredding it up in the Mitten...Cali photos come later. Double pits to chesty, bro!

Not too sure what makes a person
actually want to skate a spot like this.
Regardless, Adam got down with a
switch bigspin.

Justin, back 180 fakie manual revert.

Chris, gap to noseblunt with ease.

Alex, fakie flipper.

Ryan , front board 270 out to dust sweeper.

Fellow photographer
Justin Broadway got down with
this back tail.

Cali photos...soon!

A Change in Pace

2009-07-12T19:44:00.001-07:00

Well the day came last Thursday that I had to depart from hot and sunny Arizona. It was a fucking blast, no doubt about it! All those dudes put up with me for a good while even when their apartment was packed. Here I am now leaching off somebody's wi-fi single in good old Michigan where the pace is a bit slower but definitely welcome. I present to you some of the final photos of Arizona and the beginning ones of Michigan. Enjoy!

James, frontside 5-0 to fakie on the steep
Chase Bank banks.

Kevin, 5-0 180 into the front
bank.

Duke, warm up front tail to fakes.

EAST COAST BITCH! Joe,
blunt to fakie.

Chris, ollie in pitch black and blinding flashes.

Keep checking back for updates from good ol' MI.

Love Skateboards Secret Spot Throwdown

2009-07-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

Through out the summer, Love will be holding best trick throw downs at spots through out KW. They will take place on Friday evenings, twice a month or so. Classic "5spot" style set up. Spot will remain secret until the day of. Come skate, best trick wins a board. It all starts this Friday evening July 10th at 7pm. Check the Love site or the facebook event page for the spot listing the day of

and spread the word...or don't. The more people out the more fun it will be but the less people out, the more chance you have of winning.
Hope to see you there.

www.loveskateboards.ca
Facebook event page

Zed

2009-07-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

It was on July the 4th that Mr. Austerberry had to work until 2:30am so we decided to go skate beforehand, wait up afterwards and go skate with him when he got off work. We headed on out for our mission to the university(ASU) and cruised around. Keep in mind we began our cruise mission at 4:30am. We kept it pretty local in the spots we skated, only hitting up some things a few streets over from each other but it was fun nonetheless. With a dilirious Jim in tow, we all packed it in and were home in bed by 7am.

The evening prior to our morning. Kevin, a
big back 180.

Marty battled with tricks.

Mountains at 4:30 in the A.M.

Duke, ollie through.

Hanging out in an alleyway before most people
get up. No big.

Bill, nosegrind.

Gotta love skateboarding! Arizona
is a blast.

Arizonin'

2009-07-03T16:44:00.001-07:00

It's fucking hot down here! Temperatures breach the 40 degrees Celsius mark mid day and don't go down past 38 at night. It's fun nonetheless and I've gotten used to it pretty quick. It's a total skate house where I'm staying though which is rad. For the amount of dudes here we're actually pretty productive and get a lot of stuff done. Peep the flicks belowwwww!

Not a serious shot but one for the homies.
Mike and Jim getting down.

A ditch! Duke is going to win the X Games one
day.

Kevin, ollie to death ditch bomb.

Mike, front smith.

Shaaaaaade.

Recently Mike has had a thing for rails
against walls.

E.M.

2009-06-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

Took a trip for the weekend to Michigan with the likes of Isaac and Joel. We perched up at Sir Ben Schwandt's place and had a grand ol' weekend of shredding. We also met up with Justin Bohl and Joe Ferry. It was a little exhausting doing two days of hard skating in a row but the pay off was great. Everyone got tricks, had fun and even learned a valuable lesson about dealing dope and how to not get set up. This blog is for the dope man of Eastern Market that once was up but now is down!

The gays came to invade America.

Stretching, or something.

Ben "One More Try" Schwandt,
biggie boardslide pop in.

Back ups. Isaac lipslide 5-0 down.

Joe, front smith.

Dudes hanging out in Eastern Market.

Isaac, front nose fakie.

Discussing tricks at Cass.

Ben, gap out crooks at Cass.

Beaters + asphalt

Tuesday.

Don't mind me, only here to pillage the scene.

2009-06-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

*I lied a little. This post is not from Arizona but in fact from a day trip to Hamilton consisting of Byron, Zach and Hamilton locals Sam Fidlin, Garret Gardiner and Brandon Sheppard. They were kind enough to risk their lives in the hot hot heat and show us around for the day. We checked a few spots here and there, got a few flicks and clips and then decided to pack it in due to the heat. 35 degrees celsius due to humidity really isn't that fun so either stay inside or do some real skating and skate the park all day. Check the photos below.

Yeah, really.

Malfunctions. Dopest setup.

It was hot.

It was hot.

Byron, switch o.

Sam, nosebonk.

Sam's van is a limited edition collab between
his mom, AWS, Satan and Deathwish. So hot
for summer '09.

*All pictured above is not real skateboarding.

Filthy.

2009-06-15T18:30:00.001-07:00

Well, I think it's safe to say that summer is finally here. The days where you're constantly stick and uncomfortable are unavoidable and it's in your best interest if you don't get the middle of the back seat while riding from spot to spot. This past weekend I had the pleasure of skating three different cities. Each day was productive and fun and with that it reminded me of the good times to come during the summer. Exams are over, school is out and it's time to fucking shred!

Victory dog.

The sombrero sold us on who we should have
bought 'dogs from.

Isaac, nose manny 5-0 on a steep bank.

REALLY?

Just filthy.

100 blog posts deep AND 12 days until I'm in the hottest
place in North America...yayuh!

London Falling

2009-06-11T18:08:00.001-07:00

Byron and I headed to London to meet up with the usual suspects for the day last Sunday. On this particular day everyone's skateboards decided it'd be cool if nobody rolled away from their tricks. Road rash(on the ass, I might add), wooden planters, shitty boards and skate coach dads were some of the numeral factors involved. Contrary to the negativity of this post, we did get some photos! Feast your eyes below.

If I had paid attention this sequence would
be shot and laid out properly. Byron, nollie
biggie.

Tim did not land his tricks.

Colin, switch ollie over mother duck.

Diiiiiirrrtyyy D!

2009-06-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I took a trip down to Michigan to hang out and skate with some homies that I met up with last summer. Friday night Justin and I just took a cruise around downtown Detroit for spot ideas and to get a look at all the freakin' weirdos down there. It all came back to me how much I really loved the place!

Saturday was a bit of a change from just cruising around. Out at noon and in by 2am, it was a shred mission! For the most part, we stuck to downtown Detroit with Dave, Adam, Tony, Daryl and Ben. The day went pretty smooth seeing as there wasn't one security guard interaction the entire day, it was a nice change.

On Sunday we kept it a bit more mellow with pretty much the same crew. This time we stuck to the 'burbs and actually had more problems with superhero-citizens and police than we did downtown. Bummer. Regardless, we kept on with our day heading from spot to spot. Soon enough the day came to an end and I had to head back to good 'ol Canada. It seems like there's never enough time to stay, skate and hangout with all the Michigan dudes.

Adam, tre flip to the skinny.

Ben, ollie up backside flipper.

Adam with a pretty-lookin' front shove.

Dave, nose manny around.

HOT OFF THE PRESS! Justin with a casual
back tail.

"Look Ma, no hands!" Justin again with a switch
crook pop out.

Adam, backside flip at turbo speedz.

Chris came through with this gnarly back
50 and popped back into the bank.

Seems like the minute I get back from Michigan
I'm making more plans to get there again.

MI+CA do KW

2009-05-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend good friends Justin Bohl from Michigan and Paul Kwon from California came up to Kitchener to hang out and skate. I was pretty stoked to host and show them around so we skated here for a day and then hit up Toronto. Lucky for them they got to see the type of interesting characters that the downtown core has to offer. We did the meet-and-greet deal with a bunch of dudes here and they even had the chance to skate the super-park known as the Kitchener Auditorium. Toronto was more of a day for spot checking and cruising around so we didn't get any flicks for Sunday but check out the goods below.

Paul, easy-peasy frontboard 270 out at
Southworks.

Justin, 180 nosegrinds for days.

Paul, switch crook.

More of these two to come in the future! In the meantime
check out Paul's blog(at the right) for another account of the trip.

When Henry's doesn't fuck up....

2009-05-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

I get pretty stoked.

Here's a fine example of Henry's getting my film back to me in three days without destroying the negs or damaging them other ways. They even cut them like I asked too! Anyways, peep the shots below for some film goodness.

Sampson hates my camera and I but I still
love the dude. Look at that facial expression....
so stoked.

One of those days where the flash rain storms
roll through and swallow the sun.

Beans in Toronto.

Lucas rolling through.

Scott, front tail to fakie. Check a few posts back
and you'll see why film rules over digital.

Another prime example of why film kicks
digital's ass. Scott, frontboard pop in to regs.

Joel, a high switch crook and a nice haircut!

And now for a lesson in skateboarding.

Mad Dash

2009-05-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

The weather lately has been in the same pattern as a crack-head's mood. One moment, the sun is the shining, the sky is blue, there might be a few clouds in the sky and an hour later the clouds have rolled in for a flash rain storm. Give it 15 minutes or so and everything dries up, humid as all hell. On this particular day I had met up with Kody, Damien and Luc while we ran back and forth between Kitchener and Waterloo dodging the dark storm clouds until they finally got the best of us and shut us up inside market square. Peep the snap on Damien's trick...zaaaammmm!

Lucas, kickflip in. The light was right.

Damien, nollie backside 270 heelflip.
(click for larger)

Nutty

2009-05-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

Damien has been back in town for a couple weeks now but this was the first day we actually got out to go skateboarding. It was a treat for both of us since we went to check out/skate the new barrier spot in town. We dinked around for a bit and saw some interesting people before we got down to business. All in all, I guess King street does have a lot to offer when it comes to types of people...this is not always a good thing. Scott and Grant pretty much appeared out of no where so we zipped around the corner to try and get a trick at the mini hydrant. Between large busses, other traffic, different schedules and drunk natives getting angry at us, we had to cut the session short and weren't able to come through with a landed photo, but it's all good. Take a look for the flicks and an interesting story below.

Damien, front tail up.

Ah yes, this dude was not stoked
on us. He came over to me and
gave a good kick at my camera,
saying we were all pussies(with
some awfully funny gestures) and
that we needed to get real jobs.

Damien, the mediator and Scott in the back
being my camera bag protector. Thanks buddy.

Yeah, Scott didn't land this
but it's purrrddyyy looking.
Heelflip.

Gotta love the downtown Kitchener bus terminal.

A sight for sore eyes

2009-05-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

Checked my email the other day and got a lovely message from a good buddy Matt Pancer. He's posted up in China right now after about two years of living in Australia. Needless to say, the dude didn't forget his gnar boots after leaving Canada almost three years ago. See you soon homie!

Matt gettin' buck in Shanghai
with a one-foot 14 stair
cracker.

If you're bored on this rainy night....

2009-05-01T17:16:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple things to check out:

The guys over at Push.ca just threw up a Love Skateboards interview along with their full length video "Sextape". Check it out here.

Jim Tumey just got his new website going and loaded up his video "Shred Til Yer Dead" that they've been filming for over the past couple years. Most of them are based out of Michigan but have relocated themselves to AZ. Definitely worth checking out here.

Meds

2009-05-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up to wet streets and a sky full of dark clouds, I wasn't too impressed. As the day went on, the weather started to shape up. I eagerly watched the sun come out from behind the clouds through my classroom window with one intention in mind: skateboarding. I called up Scott and made the plans, we had a skate date. I met him and Greg downtown after class at the hot new barrier spot. Apparently the city can't do shit about building a good skatepark but they can provide great street spots. Anyways, a Friday afternoon in the middle of King street was a lot busier than I had anticipated. We met and saw a few usual characters you'll find on the downtown streets, got our photos and got out. Next, we headed on out to Waterloo to check out some ledges. The spot was great, two different ledges in one. Just like the previous spot, we got there, got the goods and took off. By this time the gray clouds had made their way back into our sky and a rain ensued. We packed it in and decided today was a good day for productivity. Amen!

This lady was just going off about random
stuff. People across the street were gossiping,
telling everyone she had forgotten to take
her meds that morning.

Scott, a busy frontboard pop in.

Greg, boardslide pop out to fakie.

Scott, tailslide fakie.

Scott, warm-up gap back 5050.

Until next time...

Dev'd Up

2009-04-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

A big reason I like going to London is because there's this camera store called Stan C. Reade that develops 120 film in one day for super cheap. Whenever I've got a few rolls of film that I need developed I never hesitate to bring it there. What could be better than dropping off film in the morning, heading off to skate and picking up your slides at the end of the day? Nothing! Anyways, here's some film clips from the past week or so, enjoy!

Isaac, ollie down on to the skinny block.

Colton, front blunt.

Scott, noseblunt.

Isaac, kickflip. A damn shame this spot is gone
now, it was dope!

Colton, backside 180 nosegrind.

Mack-dawg, lipslide 270 shove out.

I threw in a couple sequences for turbo enjoyment, holla.

It's coming...

2009-04-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

Freedom...