The Detroit FILM Chronicles

I got the film back from the Detroit trip and let me say, I'm stoked! Here are (most) the shots for your viewing pleasure.

Jim with an ollie in a rock.


Mike Sholar with a front feeble sporting my
custom "flash glare" look.


Who skates a rail while it's wet with no light?
Shaun Hover does. Front smith.


Sorry Mike, I chopped your hand and my flash
didn't fire. Frontboard 14 first go.


Ben, frontside halfcab flip.


Chris, front board.


Daryl with a switch tre. Oh so butter....


Dave coming through with a new spot and
sweet lookin' switch ollie.


This was my last day in Detroit and also one
of my favourite photos. Duke is about to get
gnarly in the roof mini.


Duke again, boardslide.



That's it boys!

The Detroit Chronicles

I've been home for almost a week now and missing Detroit a bunch. This was the second time around that I was down in Detroit and met even more dudes with even more tricks and even more gnar, it was dope! Anyways, I'm not going to say much as I'll let the photos do the talking but as always, I will be back.

Chris was looking at this gap in ways nobody
has before.


Jim, ollie into the rock. For being
a filmer the dude can throw
down!


Tag Team.


Adam Mueller has got some serious SNAPS!


Duke with a stylish front blunt.


Mike Sholar! This guy is a rail maniac but
you're going to have to wait for the film to see
that.


Duke and Jim...light check.


Rainy Days at Landslide...I'll never forget how
Justin had to drop me off here because he had
to work. Eights hours....eight hours!!!


In the grimiest of the grime Justin seems to be
able to relax with a busted ankle. That's Daryl
getting some hang time.


Chris with a pokey front smith.


Kevin with a back lip in the
Cass Corridor. Being the biology
expert he is, Justin identified human
vertebrae that was just lying
on the ground.



While you're at it check out the video everyone down there is filming for at www.shredtilyerdead.com and the promo is here.

When one walks by a wall and another sees it as a ledge...

You know you've got some serious snaps, not to mention with a broken board. We'll leave the "ledge" photo for another day though. Oh yeah, this is Shaun. A cool ass dude with some mean pop.

Back in the D, fool.

Yes, I'm back in Detroit and milking the last few days of my summer before I'm back to school. I probably won't be making as many blog updates but that's ok, juicier content will ensue. I had a huge heart-breaking moment when I was in the car and Matt told me Justin had rolled his ankle on his trip to Wisconsin after I had last seen him in Toronto. Damn! Anyways, this was my first day (right off the bus) of skating and I met a new guy named Joe and skated with Dave who I had met the last time I was here. We already have some plans for the weekend and everyone already knows Monday is Labour Day...

Dave, backside lipslide.


Joe, front crookie grind.


Joe middle-of-the-ghetto-at-12am
frontside noseslide.


Dave, first go switch ollie.



Got to test out my new Bronica 35mm fisheye too, pretty stoked.

Detroit Film

Got my film back from my Detroit trip and scanned it all today. I learned a hard lesson with four separate rolls of film as soon as I started scanning and that's to always make sure no dirt gets inside your back. If that does end up happening look forward to tons and tons of fun with the clone stamp tool in photoshop.

Ben, back tailer.


Pole jam.


Justin, 5-0.


Backside 180 nosegrind to gap out of my frame.


Back smith. That poke.


A high switch 5-0, that's for sure!


Hart Plaza fountain


Hart Plaza manual pad/ring


I'll be back.

Time to say goodbye!

I've always tried to avoid going to Toronto just because I've heard (and dealt with it first hand) the stories of people having no idea where to go and getting trapped downtown at the most common and worst spots. On the other hand, when I had heard Isaac was going to come out and then we'd pick up Drew when we got into the city my worries went away. Basically two guys that are a walking spot book, things went smooth. Our first spot of the day was going to be the junkyard until we caught wind that all the ledges had been smashed up. With quick improvising we all warmed up at a ledge spot close to Drew's house. Drew mention this cool little bar in a snake run and when we got there the word "death" was going through everybody's minds. Short and brutal run and a smooth pavement that sends you flying through a bush there was no time to mess up when trying this thing. Being the man he is, Ben stepped forward and did two ollies, both looking awesome. On our way to the next spot we hit up a common upledge in the middle of a highway, no biggie. Ben got a clip there too. Two and counting.

Our next spot was a bit of a bust when we rolled up since there was already a crew rolling 6+ deep. None of us were into that so Drew mentioned this bank that we all headed off too. I was told this thing doesn't get skated much and I could see why, the thing was basically gravel. Luckily Justin had a sign so that made things a tiny bit better. Drew got a dope trick and Ben got one too. Three clips now! When Isaac told the guys we were going to a spot Levi Brown skated they both got super stoked, off to the Beaches Rails we went. The guys messed around a little and Ben started thrashing the stairs. After a warm up ollie he got faked out with a high five by some hood rat, whatever. Ben was over it and got down to business. Once warm up ollies and kickflips were done and over with Ben put down a front shove and a hardflip. Both of which he did twice because the first ones were too sketchy. Five clips in one day? What a trooper.

My favourite spot of the day was
the snake run. Ben, 2 pushes on
cracked wood and ollie.


Ben, back tail.





Ben, Pivot fakie.


Do I really need to repeat the name? Front
shove.


Hard flip.


I forgot to mention Ben got
a little worked skating the steps.


I'm glad the Detroit guys could come and skate Canada soon after I left even if the whole loonie and toonie system was a bit confusing. Hopefully see you soon guys!

Looked Who Followed Me Home

While I was down visiting in Detroit I was let in on a little secret that some of my new found friends would be coming to my homeland to shred some gnar, I was stoked! Today they showed up and we skated around Kitchener and Cambridge for a bit while they got acquainted with some of the local guys from here. We didn't do much skating as we'll be getting busy tomorrow in Toronto (stay posted for a blog from that day for sure) so we just took it easy. Watched some skate videos (Nota Bene!) relaxed. Photos from the short day are below.

A quick start before Aaron Wynia is late for
work.


Justin didn't land this switch
5-0 but got totally worked trying
it so he deserves his picture up
here.


Ben, nosegrind on the sign
in Cambridge.


Aaron, back smith.


See you tomorrow!

Day 5: CAMPUS police suck.

So the final day has come and gone *tear tear*. I'm a little bummed as I write this considering my Detroit adventure has come to an end but I'm also pretty damn stoked on everything that has come out of it. A ton of new homies, a solid Detroit connection and future (Canadian and American) adventures with the same guys.

Getting to the basic run down of the day...

Justin, Matt and I headed out to downtown Detroit early on to try and get some skating done before meeting up with some of the other guys. We skated the harbor front ledges for quite a bit while we warmed up and decided it was time to get down to business. We headed off to the Comerica (black out ledge) ledge because Matt was really feeling a boardslide pop out. In no time at all he was rolling away and we were ready to move on. The next spot was dubbed "poo poo alley" because crack heads will sit up against the wall and take a shit, leaving a brown streak down the wall. Pretty fucking disgusting but for some reason we stayed there for a good hour while Justin got a few tricks.

It was time to meet up with Mike Sholar so we could go shoot a handrail at a university. We got there, met up, took care of business and just as we were leaving the campus police roll up and start laying into us super hard by taking our boards away and putting them in their trunk and acting like they ruled for catching some pesty kids skateboarding. I was pretty amazed and pissed off at the same time that porker in the school patrol uniform was straight up throwing us around. Whatever, we played the super respectful game and got our stuff back and we were on our way.

Finally Ben and Daryl had shown up so we decided to go and see what was happening at Hart Plaza. Unfortunately the def-mute security guard had to kick us out and call for back up because the poor bastard had some how forgotten how to speak. We had no choice but to cruise around and figure out a new spot. We stuck around the harbor front area for the rest of the night and got a few tricks, you'll just have to stay posted.

Justin, 5-0 for poo poo alley.




Mike, front board.


focus check


Justin, switch 5-0.



I'm stoked for things that are going to come in the future, can't wait to see these dudes again.

Day 4: Chili's rules.

The day started off slow at the indoor park here and I was a little afraid not much would get done. It seemed like everyone was working during the day and Ben couldn't really get anyone to come out. We eventually thought it would be a good idea just to go check out a few spots and see what was up. Spot number one (and only spot due to a shinner) was this chunky-ass flatbar outside of a person's house. I had never seen a chunky metal bar before but I guess there are always firsts for everything. Ben got the hustle on his tricks though. Front smiths were all the norm on this day and then he decided to step it up and try a front feeble pop out. Things got a little messy (and frustrating for Ben) until something clicked and pulled one out. Thinking it was too sketchy Ben went back for more and the rail was not willing to go for a round two so Ben walked away with a brand new shinner. Time for some food and back to Landslide to meet up with Garza, Bill and Robbie.

Back to the Pontiac ledges (which I really didn't mind skating). A guy named Kevin ended up showing up and him and I both got lines on film, only difference was that his was super dope and mine was......cool. Icing on the cake for Kevin was that he was doing a Russ Milligan trick and skated just like Alex Klein. Awesome. After a lengthy session at the ledges it was dinner time. Since roughly all the main dudes from my trip were together tonight we went to Chili's for a "special" *tear tear* dinner since tomorrow is my last day in Detroit.

Things weren't over after dinner! I don't know what Justin's deal is but he gets more stoked to skate at night than any other time. This time he was feeling a super rough ledge spot at some high bust spot. So I set up really fast and we realized one thing: there was no lighting there at all. Justin barged the shit and "copped" (I've been teaching these guys weak-ass Canadian words) a back smith there and security showed up right after, a bitter end to the night.

Tomorrow is the last day of my trip and we'll have a deep crew heading downtown Detroit, hopefully everyone will be able to "cop" something. Nevermind, fuck that word.

Ben, front smith.


Same dude, same spot, new trick. Front feebs
pop out.


Justin, back smith. Maybe one day I will reveal
the secret to his tweak.


Stay posted, day five is going to go off with a bang.

Day 3: Dodging rain drops and Detroit's finest crack heads

This morning when Justin and I left the house I had an unsure feeling about how the day would end up since the forecast was calling for isolated showers and there was a giant dark storm cloud over head. That aside, Justin and I drove on to downtown Detroit to meet up with Daryl, John, Ben and a Jim. Justin and I ended up waiting around for a few minutes so we decided to check out the harbour front ledges where there apparently was a wedding with hundreds of drunk bone-head retards walking around and stumbling on the ledge we were trying to shoot on. Just as we decided to pack up the rest of the crew arrived and the rain started to come down. I was getting pretty bummed. We hung out in the basement of Hart Plaza for a bit and the rain stopped and dried up pretty quickly. Daryl got down to business and decided to nollie shove the little Hart gap within three tries. I just happened to snap a quick photo but I wasn't feeling it too much. Now the rain started to come off and on which became rather annoying. Eventually Daryl decided a hardflip would suit the little Hart gap so he put one down in perfect manner, everyone got stoked. Soon after Ben put down a rather lofty front shove and everyone thought that was a good way to start the day, next spot!

I'll be honest, I'm damn tired as I write this and I imagine it's not the best time to do up an account of the day so I'll make this short and sweet.

Throughout the rest of the day we skated an out ledge, an over-the-rail spot and a flatbar spot. Ben got a really dope sequence (see below) at the outledge spot while Daryl did an ollie at the over rail spot and focussed on his board trying a nollie. All dudes decided it was time to retire except for Justin who was still hungry for some tricks. This flatbar spot is no joke since it's right up against a wall. Justin got technical with a backside 180 switch nosegrind and reversed that with a switch 180 5-0. Check the goods below!

Justin, backside tailslide.


Ben, front shove nosegrind.


Daryl, ollie.


Justin, back 180 switch nosegrind.


Reverse Reverse! Switch backside 180 5-0.

Day 2: When it rains, it pours.

Today it rained on and off just enough to keep us from skateboarding outside. Daryl showed me a lot of videos from the Michigan area so it was cool to see the area's skate history. Tomorrow we will be going into downtown Detroit if it's nice so I will definitely have stuff to report back with, weather permitting.