7.07.2013

guest post: julien stranger

Julien Stranger? Never heard of him. 

Some of these photos are probably more personally relevant while some are big picture rad. I mean I think they're all rad but a couple are probably radder to me for personal reasons. Anyway, out of the thousands of sick photos of skating that have kept us all interested and stoked over the years, here are a few that have stuck in my head, I guess...


This just really sparked my young imagination. It looks like a wave and it's in SF.

Like kids and skaters have been doing forever, I was just, "WHERE IS THAT?! I WANNA SKATE IT!"  I remember finding it on a little 13-year-old skateabout and just freaking out. Getting home that night and trying to explain to my Mom the radicalness of my discovery...

All that AND it turns out to be Fausto.


WHAT?!  WHERE?! WHY?!  DID THEY LIVE? Mach-speed. Oblivion. This photo and others cemented (or validated or whatever) me wanting to be a skater. You want to be bad ass enough to do something like that... you want to FEEL THAT.


A rarely seen pic of Natas. The old Jaks' ramp on South Park in a neighborhood that completely fucking sucks with money now. I spent many afternoons lurking back there drinking beers and skating with Shawn Martin, Danny, Wheat, Ferdinand, Coco and Joey. No one ever did anything close to what Natas has going here. He muscled it in revert, too.


Skateboarding is rad! That's what.


This sesh at Montague Banks in San Jose this was epic. It was all the energy that I loved about skating: the chaos and mayhem, boards flying, snaking and screaming and yelling and overall freedom. For me, it was one of those early high points that convinces you that this is it.

And then you have Christian, one of the most generous skateboarders ever, getting weird on some one time, one-of-a-kind boardslide shit.


Operation: SPLAT ZONE. The Mess, Venice, the Pavillion: all big parts of my life.

This photo is aggro as fuck.


H.P. ramp. Sam's ramp. melto-man. The first ramp I ever skated or even saw in-person. Pierre lived under the extension for a time. Check the scene back there....and Jake.


I was trying to think of the perfect photo of Tommy and then he posted it on his instagram, backside snatch over the hip at the Hell Hole where his board is a perfect 90 degrees to the ground. Thrasher pic. I remember going back and staring at that photo a lot, something about the symmetry... and he's boosting!

But he beat me to it so I'm going with this one: T.G. corner air China Banks, can't really go wrong.


Two hardcore East Coast (at this time) street skaters and I've always loved Shut so there you go...


Look at his back wheel! Is that intentional? Did he even realize his truck was wrapped under the rail? B.A. rules and skateboarding is fuckn gnarly. And visa-versa, and all-at-once.


I think we can all relate to the internal struggle here... or is it just that board in his way? With gravity and levity, the Gonz leads the way.


Skating continually ups the bar on itself and sometimes in the most surprising ways. I mean how much fuckn fun are you allowed to have?!


I can't thank Jim Thiebaud, Deluxe and Julien enough for this. 

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

SERIOUS BIZNESS

all photos cause instant stoke.

so mad at you chops for going out but mad respect for the way it's happening. classic moments, hope for nothing but the best for you considering the far corners of the brain you and your connects have helped tickled. lifetime pass well earned, after all of this skateboarding owes you a living. you've been a reliable narrator.

thanks JULIAN!

Loo Ganida said...

YES!!!!
THIS RULESSSSS!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Holy shit. I'm outta words. Chops, this can't end. There's a need for this shit. What's next? Seriously. I'll give you money.

JayCee said...

You did it! :)

Unknown said...

damn, Julian writes good captions, i just relived all the joy skating brought me applying his words to my own personal stories (bombing hills in SF, first drop-in, etc)

Chromeballincident is Dead...Long live Chromeballincident!!!

Patrick said...

Neat post, obviously. I love the inclusion of that photo right below Fausto; first, something so ancient and obscure that few of us have ever seen it and fewer would have seen it, and secondly, and more importantly, because of how universal it is. One of those silvery, weird images that everyone understands. I truly love skaters like Julien who besides being great themselves, are obsessive fans as well.

Stoked at any Shawn M. Martin mention.

Lastly, on the instagram link in the TG caption, the dude at Blood Wizard says that he skated Hell Hole a a couple of years ago, w/ Colpitts (!). For the love of god, does anybody know where it is?! "A pond outside a cemetery south of the city"? Please help/care to share?

Giles said...

chops you are on some next level shit. a phrase i've never used nor will again. thanks again for all of this work.

Paulos Crudos said...

Thank you. X

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
vincent said...

this is even better than an interview for Stranger. keeps the mystery alive.

and this collection of photos is amazing... I love how that perfect B. Anderson ad is thrown in there.

Sean said...

god bless you both.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Chromeball, Jim Thiebaud, Deluxe and Julien this was a totally epic read that brought back that stoke.

Keith said...

For me, it's cool to get a legends take on some of these photos mostly because we normal people get to see them from his perspective. He's gotten to skate most of these spots and knows most of these guys.

Fausto pic is great.

davidlindberg said...

Second photo is Tony Alva and Duane Peters bombing into the water. 1982

Unknown said...

O r b would call sam from H.P. ramp melto man because Sam used to put some kind of heavy duty medical acne medicine on his face and drip it all over the place.

BariSkates said...

infinite stoke ,

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