Seriously, why can't we just continue living our lives normally and leave it up to the people to report any suspicious activity? This is a hindrance to the airline industry and is not stopping the problem at the source. If I had to stand there with my underwear dropped, I'd be giving that unprincipled federal worker a little shower while he/she was down there.
I couldn't go without sharing this video because it is absolutely incredible from both the director's creative viewpoint to his filming as well as Danny's creative viewpoint with his riding. Check it out: So this video has been spreading across not just skate websites, but the internet as a whole like wildfire and I'm quickly seeing the internet skate community trolling this guys business to make his life a living hell and I didn't want to let it go without putting in my two cents.
It's really unfortunate the owner couldn't reason with the skater like a human being instead of going mental. The way he handled that was unprofessional and downright childish. Once he put his hands on that skater, that skater had every right to push back and get difficult and no, he wasn't a minor. The shoe store owner did have every right to be ticked off though. Owning a small business is stressful enough. Trust me, I've worked for small businesses and you always have to be thinking like a manager so the bills get paid and your bottom line isn't bleeding into the red (<--Accounting and money management, important stuff). I have a strong faith in small businesses ability to create jobs and build a strong GDP for our economy (something very important right now). Even a skate shop owner wouldn't want people loitering on his property. It creates a bad public image and makes the value of his property worth less. My final verdict: All this could have been avoided if he was a better skater and didn't need to remove a bush to do the gap. Pop over it or ollie through that shit. That's how a man skates. Making it happen again with the follow up to their insanely popular previous video. This one was filmed in Spain this time around and could probably be used as a travel commercial for Spain. My mind is blown. This dude is the most HS! And he doesn't live far from me which makes it more awesome. I'll be honest, I was highly influenced by freestyle skateboarding in my early days. The first time I saw Mullen skate, I was inspired to experiment with my environment in innovative/creative ways. And while I could definitely be considered more of a "park shark" these days, I try bringing some of that with me. I was never really sure if people recognized that (even though my youtube title is supposed to be read as "Freestyle Kyle").
Recently, I stumbled into some videos of the 2010 World Freestyle Skateboarding Championships. For some reason, all the skaters names were sounding familiar. Suddenly, when I was looking at some "recommended friends" on a social networking site (yeah the one they made a movie about but I'll chose not to say) all these names were showing up and I realized that's why I've heard of a majority of them. That kinda made me feel like I actually do have some ties to the freestyle family. And watching this event, I realized the fact that they are like a family is what makes it so great. While freestyle skateboarding is dead to most of the world, there is still a small group of freestyle skaters that come together from around the world to keep the tradition that Rodney Mullen made a part of skate history alive. And as weird as it was that these skaters were on the verge of dancing with a skateboard, I completely supported their manner of skating; because they have kept a grassroots approach to their event and continue to keep it in the hands of skateboarders. Overall, it just makes it a much less competitive environment and it just goes to show that you don't need energy drinks trying to be crammed down your throat to make something happen in a skate community (although it's completely understandable why more companies want to get their hands in our growing industry). With all that said, this is an event I really hope I can be a part of next year. Bring out the shin guards! For the record, this song is where the title of my blog spawned from: which, in turn, is a reference to this classic movie: Obviously, this all has some meaning to me. The whole reason I started this blog was to speak my mind, and I'm a generally pissed-off person so my mind has a lot to say very often and I find writing to be an expressive outlet (along with skateboarding). What I'm saying is before you formulate an opinion, there are two questions you need to answer for yourself: Who are you & where do you stand?
Don't stand by as a neutral spectator. I firmly believe that if you sit on a fence, you'll end up getting shafted, because literally, you will have a fencepost up your asshole (Take what you want from that insightfully vivid message). Speak your mind if you ever intend to make a difference in this world. Be proactive and take responsibility for your actions alone. After all, DOWN HERE IS OUR TIME. Make the most of it so that you're not slaving away at some 9-5 job when you could be doing what you love for a living (even though you will most likely have to slave away at some 9-5 job anyways because of the ways we have already allowed our future to get so bad by putting it in the hands of a small few....but hey, at least you can do what you love part-time and try turning it into something full-time), take a stand. If you don't like something you see, hear, etc., stand opposite of it; rebel. You can never be certain what comes next, so make the most of each new day. Live for the present and aim for the future because tomorrow marks a new day away from the past. High Spirits Fun Fact # of references to hardcore songs that I consciously used in that post: 5 |
Authorthe ramblings of an outspoken skateboarder Archives
December 2015
|