Meeting Ed

I was pretty excited to find out that I was on the email list Sole Technology's press office. Someone must be taking notice of the skateboarding/trainer-related writing I've been doing. I was even more excited when an invitation to Ed Templeton's new photo exhibition at the Elms Lesters Painting Rooms – Drinking the Kool-Aid.

Altough I have to admit I could never call myself a huge fan, I have been aware of Ed Templeton since my interest in skateboarding first surfaced. In the (many) years since then, I've also become aware of his photography so, when the opportunity to meet him arose, I was never going to say no.

I went along to 'An Evening With Ed Templeton' at Elms Lesters earlier this evening. I got there early, hoping to get to meet Ed and ask him to sign my copy of Nobody Living Can Ever Make Me Turn Back, his book documenting a cross-America road trip on Harley Davidsons. This book will have been the single biggest influence if I ever buy a motorbike.

Ed turned up around 6.30, by which time the gallery was packed. But I still managed to get my book signed. Very, very happy.

The exhibition is on till 16th April, and definitely worth checking out if you're in town. And, for those of you not that interested in skateboarding, don't worry – this is far from a show about just skateboarding (and naked ladies).

The sound of my shoes

The trainer queue. It's something I've only ever read about. Anything from a handful to hundreds of dedicated souls waiting outside a shop for anything from a few hours up to a week to get their feet into that special pair of trainers on the morning of release. This weekend, I finally bit the bullet and tried out the experience for myself. But the queue is just part of the story...

On Friday night, I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the UK release of the Fluff SB book launch. The book, presented by Nike Skateboarding and dutch skateboard magazine Fluff, comprises photographs by Marcel Veldman, following 117 riders from the European Nike SB teams on various tours through 19 European countries.

To celebrate the book release, there's an exhibition of photos from the UK content of the book at the Nike Sportswear London shop, 1948.


The show opened on Saturday, but I was there for the party on Friday night. As most of the photos were taken in Ramsgate, the exhibition has a traditional British seaside resort theme, with the photos displayed on the walls of beach huts.

Keeping with the theme, there was also free Nike SB/Fluff rock. And a free copy of the (600-page, 5kg) book for everyone who was invited. There was also free beer. Lots of free beer.

After the Nike party, it was on to party two. It started out as Kate's birthday party, but soon turned into a celebration of Kate and Steph's engagement.

Getting home from drunken karaoke at about 2am, I went to bed for about two-and-a-half hours before getting up and heading out into the snow to pick up one of 12 pairs of Nike Zoom Bruin SBs, designed by the people at Fluff magazine, that were released to promote the Fluff SB book.

Swaddled in all my warmest clothes, some of which I hadn't worn since climbing Mount Kenya in the summer of 1997, I got (back) to 1948 (the aforementioned shop, rather than the year) around 6am, definitely feeling the after-effects of the free booze consumed in the very same place not 12 hours before. There were two people already there. They'd turned up at 1am and slept in their car. Between then and 10.30, when the shop opened, people turned up in dribs and drabs, until there were about 16 people (unfortunately for the last four, the fact that there were only 12 pairs had previously been just been a rumour).

Despite one of the guys in front of me also being a size 8, I was very happy to pick up a pair in my size. Very happy, very relieved and ridiculously tired. All in all, the trainer queue was an enjoyable experience, but not one I'm planning in making a habit of.

For those of you with an interest in photography or skateboarding, the Fluff SB exhibition runs until 14th February and it's well worth a look.

And it's over to the public vote...

At the risk of sounding like Simon Cowell, which is not something I would usually be worried about doing, I'd like to request you all to use your democratic right to vote. No, it's not to have 'Jedward' physically morphed into one using a car crusher, glue gun and someone with the surgical skills of that deformed tube-dweller from Creep, it's about skateboarding.

Having several day's worth of holiday to use up before the end of the year but no money to go anywhere, I've been forced to stay indoors by the weather. That hasn't been too bad because I've been working my way through a backlog of skateboarding DVDs I've bought but not found the time to watch – largely because they are one of the few things that actually require complete concentration when watching, so I can't keep one eye on the internet, looking at shoes.

First on the list was The Big Push 2009. For those of you who don't know, The Big Push was started by Percy Dean of the much-missed, sadly closed Document magazine. The concept is that the skateboard teams of different companies are given a list of places to visit and tasks to complete in different regions of the UK, but only a few days to do it in.

All participating teams film their progress and the final edits are compiled into an hour-long film. The DVD is currently available as a cover-mount with the November issue of Sidewalk magazine. Alternatively, you can watch them all on the Big Push site. You can also vote for the film section you like the best. I think you should all vote for the Nike SB team. Not only because it's really good but also because I know the guy who stepped up as temporary team manager for the competition and I'd like to help him out.

A good day indeed

To promote the release of Paul Rodriguez's third signature skate shoe, Nike SB has created a microsite based around the 'Today Was A Good Day' TV ad for the shoe.

The site features a full, 2:20 version of the ad featuring cameos by fellow Nike SB team members Eric Koston and Theotis Beasley; Basketball legend Kobe Bryant; and Ice Cube, probably best known for his role as Danny Rich in Anaconda. It's well worth a watch.

The shoe itself is coming out in this lovely red colourway in September. I like it lots.

On set

I was there when the Hold Tight guys filmed this. Oddly enough, I didn't make the final edit. Oh well, practice, practice, practice.

And while I'm on the topic of skateboarding, these decks have just cropped up in Brum's Ideal skateshop:

Since Spike Jonze, director of the forthcoming film adaptation of one of my childhood favourites, Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are, is also co-owner of Girl Skateboard Company. So it's not too surprising that the company has produced these lovely numbers to go celebrate the imminent release of the film.

I can't wait for it to come out. And I want all the decks too, please.

Go Skateboarding Day

After tooling round Mile End skatepark a bit today it would appear that having a few weeks off has sapped me of all my "skills". Bugger. Oh well, maybe I'm just out of practice. And there's something I can do about that.

Talking of skateparks, this place opened today – Paul Rodriguez's park in Pacioma, California. It looks amazing.

It's black, it's white, shomon (muthafuka), yeah yeah yeah

For me, saying "no more trainers" is like Bubs going up to receive his "24 hours or a sincere desire to live" keyring. The habit is even harder to kick (if you'll excuse the pun), when Nike SB bring out these brilliantly simple black/white Dunks and Bruins:

Actually, I'm not going to even bother trying to kick the habit and fully intend to "cop" these when Slam City get them in next month (hopefully). Thankfully, I won't have to sell stolen metal or whiteys from a shopping trolley to pay for them.

Update: check out the coincimental timing. I posted this a mere six days before Jacko carked it. Spooky.

Something for the weekend

I'm very much looking forward to this. I'm not intending to take part in any of the organised events but will pop down to Mile End skatepark to have a roll around, very much in the spirit of the tagline on the poster below, designed by Steve Caballero:

www.goskateboardingday.org