Halloween Treat

Courtesy of Zero Skateboards

I’ve had a tough time with updates lately; too many tests and projects to worry about and get in the way. I really have wanted to put some stuff up on here; I just haven’t had the chance. Since today is Halloween I figured that I should probably write about something scary. Well I confess that my topic won’t be very scary, because other than Jake Brown’s fall at the X-Games, what is in skateboarding?

I’m going to giving you a look back to a widely popular video that was released, coincidentally on Halloween. Jamie Thomas and his company Zero Skateboards out of San Diego are notorious for their mind blowing skate videos. Dying to Live, which was released in 2003, was a video that wowed audiences by showcasing the Zero team’s handrail carnage, backyard pool murder, and stair set torture. Sounds like a horror flick doesn’t it? Well not exactly, but the video did inspire a generation of skateboarders to go balls to the wall in every aspect of their skating. Now you’ll see kids skating pools, stairs, handrails, and many more things to the extent that they are pretty damn good at it.

But let me get back to the video and talk about what else makes it special. The skateboard world knew who Jamie Thomas, Adrian Lopez, and Matt Mumford were. They all had ridden for Zero for quite a while and had established themselves as some of the top professionals in the industry. But what’s important is that Dying to Live introduced some now-household names to the skateboarding community.

Jon Allie, a native of Wisconsin, put together a great video part that included a lot of highly technical flip trick to grinds down big handrails. One of the big things that stuck out in his part was his nosebluntslide down the Hollywood High sixteen rail, one of skateboarding’s benchmarks. Now Jon has a pro model show with Circa and a variety of signature skateboards from Slave Skateboards, the newest venture from the Zero camp. Once a no-namer, Jon seemingly blew up over night and became an instant hit with many skateboarders.

Ryan Smith and Lindsey Robertson are two more that Dying to Live knighted with recognition. I group them together because they share most of the same sponsors and are commonly grouped side by side. Ryan tended to favor the big handrails where as Lindsey took care of the big gaps. Both have signature boards with Mystery and are now know for their disregard for bodily injury and their continuation of pushing the limit of how big good skateboarding must be.

Scotsman John Rattray was well known in Europe before this video came out, but in the United States the opposite was true. In 2003 Rattray stunned audiences with his mastery of every aspect of skateboarding. After all, the guy can do a 540 on a vert ramp and then go lipslide a 15 stair rail. Now Rattray as well known by many and has several signature models with Zero. Another thing that should be noted is that he has a degree in physics from Cambridge University.

The final and by far the most influential skateboarder the world found out about upon the release of Dying to Live is Chris Cole. Though he already had a great part in the Transworld video, In Bloom, about six months before the Zero video, it was in no ways comparable to the Dying to Live part. From 360 flipping large sets of stairs including the Rincon 4 to frontside boardsliding a ridiculously long hubba ledge (as seen above) Cole was amazing. He was promptly turned pro after the video was released and now has several pro model shoes and clothing lines with Fallen footwear and apparel. Nowadays there are lots of kids that want to be just like Chris; look like him, dress like him, and skate like him. I can’t tell you how many times I have been to the skatepark and there will be a kid there saying to his friends “Check me out, I’m Chris Cole” and end up trying to 360 flip a large set of stairs.

Perhaps that’s the scary part of this story, a group of skateboarders influencing a much larger group to do things like jump off buildings, grind handrails, and skate backyard pools. But maybe, that larger group is just simply dying to live. Happy Halloween.

Video Review: Mystery's Black and White

Photo Courtesy of Jay's Boardshop

Mystery Skateboard's first video Black and White is just that; all black and white. It features some of the most liked skateboarders in the business as well as some of the most expensive music money can buy. Set to classics such as "I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash and "Rock Steady" by Aretha Franklin, Adrian Lopez and his boys drop some impressive tricks. Unfortunately nothing positive can be said about each skaters' introduction. They all feature stupid clips of each in their "daily routine." But then again who really cares about anything other than the skating?

Ryan Bobier opens the video with a "I've finally grown up" part. If you do not know what I mean I recommend watching Zero's "Misled Youth" or Adio's "One Step Beyond" to get an idea of what I'm talking about. Even though he's not the most technical skater on the team, Ryan covers the basics on some pretty large rails and stair sets.

Jimmy Carlin has the next part, which I would say is my favorite and probably best in the entire video. He a really good style and does even some of the most technical tricks the way they should be done. Imagine playing that new Tony Hawk game and using the "nail the trick"

"It's Time" (pun intended) for the Circa heads Dennis Durrant, Windsor James, and Adrian Lopez showcase their latest skateboarding accomplishments. Durrant opens the part with some some really good flip in or flip out ledge tricks. Nollie frontside flip switch 5-0 what!? After a dropping dope part in "It's Time," Lopez seems to have struggled filming for this one. I found his part so predictable that I could call the tricks he would do before he did them. Windsor James, however, comes through with some buttery lines and some serious bangers towards the end. He even frontside nosebluntslides the gargantuan Oceanside hubba, which by the way, isn't even the ender.

Richmond, Virginia's Gilbert Crockett has a solid next part, in spite of an absolutely retarded introduction. He kickflips down some serious stair sets and proves that he deserves the coverage he gets. One of the tricks that stood out to me was his nollie heelflip down twelve stairs landed perfectly.

Ryan Smith is featured next. He kills every handrail imaginable, but his lines are kind of disappointing given how popular he is. But if you're into handrail skating, you will really enjoy his part. It also should be noted that this Canadian's kickflip frontside 50-50 down the Rincon mode then you will have an idea of what Mr. Carlin's skating is all about. He skated this ledge that meets another ledge at a corner and fakie 50-50's to half cab flip transfer to 50-50 almost effortlessly. This San Diego ripper is definitely deserving of a board with his name on it. hubba is good too.

Lindsey Robertson is next in line and has the best part out of Mystery's three pro's. He can do heelflips down anything, but you already knew that. I was really hyped on his full cab stalefish. He's got a couple of those in there, that really help to round out his part. If you're reading this Lindsey, using a OBD song was a good call.

A well deserving Dan Murphy has the closer. He puts down lots of flip tricks, often switch, over considerably large gaps. He also has some great looking ledge and handrail tricks. His part is reminiscent of an early Andrew Reynolds or Eric Koston, catching his board high and landing proper. I also want to recognize how good he is at nollies, after all, nollieflipping a thirteen stair is no joke. I'm sure we'll see Murphy boards in skateshops soon.

Overall the Mystery video is pretty solid and worth buying considering it costs less that a lot of other company videos. The amateur squad is most impressive and the pro's aren't too shabby. So if you want to see a video with lots of pure street skating check out Black and White.

Now if you want to know the enders scroll down a bit and I'll tell you. Otherwise go skateboarding!



Ryan Bobier - Backside 50-50 a sidewalk rail to hill bomb in San Fransisco.

Jimmy Carlin - Double Kickflip the Carlsbad Gap.

Windsor James - Nollie Frontside Crooked Grind the Brooklyn school rail.

Gilbert Crockett- Kickflip 6X6 double set as seen in his ad.

Ryan Smith - Switch Frontside Boardslide a 16-stair rail.

Lindsey Robertson - Heelflip a HUGE 6 or 7 stair

Dan Murphy - Switch Frontside flip that double set with brick walls on each side that the Zero heads skate.