Recent Replies

@bloftin2 This makes me smile...and will prolly also get *me *posting about skating again, too. Reading skate blogs content often makes me generate skate blog content.

→ 11:55 PM, Jan 28

@bloftin2 Yeah, I totally agree about the too much = bored with it all. Thrasher/TWs came once a month. Now I can see more photos in 20 min than either of those published in an entire year, or decade for that matter. It's made me numb to so much of what's happening. Too much of a good thing, and all that (and not all of it is even "good"). I'll post more about this in near future, too. Been think about it a lot recently....and I'm also back on the injured list again, too (e.g. I have time).

→ 2:54 PM, May 18

@bloftin2 The Beginner's Mind/Eyed. Loved that part. This is a concept I grapple with a lot, specifically how to both follow your own progression, and yet never loose the "Beginner's" lens of (my own) skateboarding--because then when you see/appreciate the real magic that happens on four wheels. I posted something similar on my other blog awhile back. vatorat.blogspot.com/2018/01/t...

→ 9:03 AM, Mar 23

@bloftin2 No worries. The quote is still relevant, in/on a larger scale, even if one never saw the video (maybe even more so, actually).

→ 2:46 AM, Mar 8

@bloftin2 He doesn't post as much any more, which makes me really, really, really sad. He had such an amazing output. And this is one of my favorite, all time, skate quotes.

→ 1:09 PM, Feb 26

@bloftin2 I will forever be envious of a trouble-free youth due to skateboarding. Consider yourself one of the lucky ones!

→ 2:38 PM, Feb 25

@bloftin2 If you may remember, I railed SO HARD against the "skate" line when they first came out. I hated them. I firmly believe that their were some production issues with the first ones that were released. My subsequent pairs have not had the same issue as the first ones. That said, I still think it was lame that Vans suddenly changed a shoe most people loved. They should have added the "skate" version as an additional option, rather than a replacement.

→ 2:27 PM, Feb 21

@bloftin2 Two comments. First, the difference a 1/8" can make is the difference between lightening and a lightening bug. Second, the ultimate contest is with the self.

→ 1:23 AM, Feb 20

@josephaleo Even using Thrasher as the only source material. Look at how many photos of ramps/pools/etc. you see with people wearing gear, compared to any in the magazing today. Huge difference. Phelps even said at one point he would never run a cover shot with anyone wearing pads.

→ 2:22 PM, Feb 9

@josephaleo I run an instragm feed that posts only non-pro pics from the 1980s. I've posted thousands of photos on the feed. Launch ramps, pools, ramps, ditches, etc. Pads are all over the place. I've even posted pics of people skating a Metals, Turtles, and Government Center with them (not to mention C-Bowl, ZTs, and assorted MA backyard ramps).

→ 2:18 PM, Feb 9

@bloftin2 I have a subscription to Thrasher. It has a different tone w/o Phelps, and that's a good thing, IMHO. Is it a pillar of civics and public saftey? No. But nothing that is youth-culture drivren ever was, or will be. My biggest beef with Thrasher is how they have dissuaded pads and helmets over the years. Skateboarding has literally gone the opposite direction of science/the world. In the ‘80s you saw a lot more helmets/pads (in skating) than you do now, and no one in the rest of the world had them, esp. helmets. Today, very few people in skateboarding have helmets, and the rest of the world has widely adopted them (bikes, skiing, hockey, etc.). Meanwhile, skating’s risk level has skyrocketed (esp. street skating). Everyone is free to make their own decisions about what they do, but problem is Thrasher moving the needle about wearing that stuff because it is simply “more gnarly” wihout it, as the risk factor is higher.

→ 11:46 AM, Feb 9