guest post: keith hufnagel (2011)

Felt like a good time to revisit this... 

The following is a repost of Huf's Chrome Ball Guest Post from 2011.

A simple premise: I asked Keith to choose ten of his favorite skate flicks and give us a few words about each one.

...and Keith came though, like he always did. 

A true legend, not only was Keith one of my all-time personal favorite skaters growing up, he was also one of this website's earliest (CBI #3) and most constant (CBI #119) supporters. 

Forever grateful for that.

R.I.P. Keith Hufnagel 

Thank you.

=O =O =O 

**The Huf Incident**

I was such a fan of Jason Lee and Gonz in the day... I loved Blind until they left the company. I remember one time, them showing up to the Brooklyn Banks and ripping. I was just a little kid but I was so stoked to watch them skate.

I wanted to grab an older photo of Gonz but this one is just too epic. Look how skinny the ledge is! You would have to be Gonz to try this. AHHHHHHHHH!

 

I had this one on my wall as a kid. This is the photo that made me want to learn how to do 360 kickflips. I remember always watching Jason and Jovantae do them in videos and wanting to do 360 flips like that.

 

I've been a big fan of Guy Mariano ever since the Blind Video. I never really liked watching little kids skate but he always had so much style.

Guy did every trick in the world 10 years before anyone else did. Much respect.

This photo defines the period when I first moved to SF in '92 and would chill at EMB. Mike was always there and became a great friend. I've always been a fan of his skating.

All I can think of when I look at this photo is Del the Funkee Homosapien... and what the hell is going on with Mike's hair?!

Doing ecstasy with Mike and going to raves... damn, those were the days!

I saw Sean in front of Skate NYC one day. He was doing the hugest ollies in the street. All I wanted to do was ollie high after that.

This was always the sickest photo to me. Julien Stranger after the '89 earthquake. Seeing him ollie so big off a natural bump back then. Damn! You know I had this one on my wall as well.

Phil Shao. I was there in Las Vegas the day this photo was taken. I wanted to ollie off that myself but was too scared. Phil is the man. He also ollied up that huge ledge as well. No one knows that shit except for me and Lance. Most stylish skater ever.

R.I.P. Phil. We miss you.

I had to have this one as part of my top 10. Ray Barbee is one of the steeziest guys out there. He was always innovating and pushing the limits of street skating. Style for days.

Epic Cardiel photo. If you ever go to Ft. Miley, go as fast as you can to this hip and try to bust a fat ollie. After you try for a few hours, call me up and tell me how fucked up this shit is. It is fucking epic. I only know of 3 people that can ollie off of this hip this high! Amazing!

Alright, I just realized that my picks are almost all ollies... fuck it.

Shit is tight!

-Keith

big thanks to Jaycee, Jim Thiebaud and Huf for coming through once again.

jon horner's search for animal chin

"Look at the size of it!"

Long-time Chrome Ball favorite Jon Horner came through with a printable construction kit for your very own micro Chin Ramp.  

Just print out the following pages, cut along the lines and connect those numbers... everything will come together.  

Jon was even kind enough to provide a few Bones Brigade luminaries for extra fun. 

And don't be afraid to experiment with cardboard or whatever else you have lying around your current quarantine station. Yapple dapple.

Make the Radman proud and get your Skate Martian on this weekend. 

...Just don't fall through the hole in the ramp! 

Big thanks to Jon for doing all this and sending it over. 

Stay safe out there. 

Look for a new CBI Interview to post... probably next week. 

guest post: dave swift's stories of heath

Heath Stories

Chrome Ball Incident

Words/Photos: Dave Swift

Switch Kickflip, Sorrento Valley 1993

The first time I met Heath came about because I was introducing Frank Hirata to Josh Beagle. At the time, I was shooting with Frank a lot and he was looking to do a team switch to Foundation but first, he had to pass the personality test. Pretty sure we met Josh and Heath in Sorrento Valley to skate the popular asphalt bump that everyone was skating at the time. Heath was just a little skate rat (maybe fifteen) and while Josh and Frank skated flatground and talked, he decided to try switch flipping the gap. I don’t think Heath and I even spoke words to each other, I just got my camera out and snapped a few photos until he made it—which didn’t take long. One of my jobs at TWS in 1993 was deciding who got Check Outs each month and with that move, Heath got a slot in the very next issue.

...Oh, and Frank got on the team.

Frontside Feeble Grind, El Dorado

In 1994, I was having the time of my life shooting skateboard photos for TWS. Every weekend was spent driving around Orange County, LA or wherever else to shoot and it was an amazing time. Hitting spots with Heath, Josh Beagle, Steve Berra, Ronnie Creager, Frank Hirata, Geoff Rowley, Tom Penny and Ed Templeton was never disappointing.

I’m pretty sure this school, in the city of Orange, is called El Dorado (I could be wrong) and it is close to where Heath grew up. There is nothing particularly special about this spot these days, but in 1994, it was the perfect place for some new tech handrail moves from this new generation of rippers.

I have no idea how this ended up on the cover of TWS; I might have picked it for the photo section and Ted Newsome (art director) liked it enough to design it for the cover. Weird how things work out as this was the first of four (five if you count the Sight Unseen video box) Heath covers I shot.

Backside Tailslide, American Flag, Oceanside High

I remember Heath coming down to the TWS offices one day and he had this idea to shoot a photo with a huge American flag as the backdrop. I was down. All we needed from there was a flag large enough and a spot to shoot at. He called me up later to say he’d found a spot in Downtown LA and he was ready to shoot something that night, we just needed a crew of people to hold the flag tight. I picked a few TWS staff members to help with the job and we drove up to meet Heath at the spot. That night, it was super windy and we just couldn’t keep the flag up, as it would get caught in the wind gusts and knock everyone over. There was a couple back Smith attempts that looked decent, but in the end, we wanted something better.

Heath figured Oceanside High School’s 13 stair rail would be a great spot for a back tail so we planned the shoot for another night. I got the same crew together and we all met across the street from the high school around midnight. We needed a generator to light up the spot, which meant that we’d need to drive inside the school to drop it off. Easier said than done as the front gate of the school was locked up. Heath figured he could just cut the lock with his “Sawzall” while we waited out of sight across the street. This gate is on the main road and the noise he made trying to cut the lock was so loud, it seemed like the cops were definitely getting a call. After a few minutes or so of that, it suddenly stopped and Heath appeared where we were waiting, looking frustrated. He told us that he just couldn’t cut the lock... But then, all of a sudden, he just hops in his car and drives over to the school, straight through the gate like a terrorist on a mission. SMASH! So loud. A minute later, he comes back to where we were waiting.

“Let’s go!”

A group of us rolled into the dark school, turned on the generator and got everything ready for the shoot. Heath warmed up with some flatground and boardslides until we were all ready. Flag holders hoisted the flag and Heath started locking into backside tailslides. I shot about three rolls of medium format film and a half roll of 35mm before we packed up and left around 3:00 AM. It’s crazy that the cops didn’t show up as this definitely was not a stealth mission by any means.

Kickflip Backside Lipslide, Bricktown Rail, Santa Ana

Heath was not the first person to flip into tricks on handrails but he definitely raised the bar for that kind of skating at an early age. I remember seeing a sequence of him doing a kickflip frontside boardslide on a handrail (I think the same rail I shot his first cover on) that was a Foundation ad. I didn’t shoot that but I did shoot him attempting kickflip 50-50s on the seven stair at UCI that he never landed it. Fast forward a couple years, Heath needed something big for his first Hook Ups shoes ad and there was a new rail in Santa Ana known as Bricktown that only a few people had skated. The trick Heath came up with was a kickflip back lip, which, at the time, seemed completely insane on a rail that big. But he was determined to make it happen.

I met up with Heath and J Strickland at the rail in the middle of the day (Heath would have rather skated it at night but I didn’t have the capability to shoot night sequences on film back then). After some warm up backside lipslides, it was straight to business. I kind of feel like this was a turning point for Heath in that he started to have this mindset going forward of trying a trick until he made it or was physically unable to try anymore. He would flip his board and get into the back lip pretty much every time, but on several occasions hammered his body into the ground trying to land it. But after a bit… bam! Perfect flip, perfect slide, landing bolts on the slippery brick ground as he’s riding away in that Heath style we all know so well. This is probably one of my favorite sequences I’ve ever shot.

Noseblunt Slide, Coke Machine, Mission Valley

When Heath was hanging tight with Jeremy Klein, I would often receive last minute calls to go out on these wild skate missions with them to random spots. On this one occasion, they called to tell me that they’d “borrowed” the Coca Cola Machine from Birdhouse, loaded it in the van and wanted to set it up on an asphalt hip, down in Mission Valley. Heath, at the time, hated skating spots when people were around so the only time he’d go out to get tricks would be late at night or early in the morning.

They picked me up at my house before the sun came up and they must have been up all night, playing video games and drinking all the soda out of that machine because they were bouncing off the walls. We got to the bank spot at first light and the three of us unloaded the soda machine, putting it atop the bank so they could skate it. The bank was mellower than originally thought so after Jeremy got a back lip and Heath got this noseblunt slide, they were over it. We loaded the machine back up into the van and called it a day. All of this before 9:00 AM. Oh, and I don’t think Birdhouse owner Per Welinder ever had any idea that his coke machine had been kidnapped.

50/50 Santa Barbara

Heath really wanted the cover of the first issue of The Skateboard Mag and we were down, as long as he came up with something worthy of a new magazine’s first cover. He told me about this spot in Santa Barbara that only The Muska had skated and I was down to check it out. Well, the spot was at a mall and Heath wanted to skate it when no one was around but not at night, so we needed to hit it first thing in the morning.

I live in Oceanside and Heath was living in the San Fernando Valley at the time, so I was going to have to drive up, spend the night at his house so we could leave early as shit and get to Santa Barbara at first light. I have no idea how anyone could skate that early, let alone something super gnarly on a chilly January morning. But that’s what Heath wanted to do.

Jon Minor, Justin Regan, Heath and myself were the crew and, for whatever reason, that first attempt was a failed one. I think we must have gotten there a little too late and security was on us right away before any skating even happened. So we just got back in the car and headed back to LA, vowing to try again in a week but knowing that we’d have to get on the road a little earlier.

On that next occasion, we arrived before it was light, set up the gear and went about our business hassle-free. Heath landed the trick in a few goes and we were back in the car headed south to LA before most people were even awake. Crazy how easy things can be—yeah, right.

So, I got the shot and it was all set to be the first cover of The Skateboard Mag… but there was one hitch. Another image was brought to our attention and we needed to make a quick decision as to what would be the cover. In the end, we went with Danny Way’s gap to rail frontside noseblunt while Heath ended up on the cover of the second issue. It was a bummer having to tell Heath about our decision to go with Danny but once he saw the photo, he understood.

UCI Moves:

Backtail Shove

Five-0

Curve Tailslide

Smith To Lip

50-50 

Kickflip Backside 50-50

Frontside Nosegrind

Gap Out Noseblunt

-and-

Gap Out Back Lip

As everyone knows, the UCI (University of California at Irvine) is known around the world because Heath Kirchart finding and destroying spots all over that campus. It’s true, lots of other skaters have done stuff there but it is known as Heath’s School” because of all the stuff he’s done there and I was fortunate enough to shoot several of the good ones. The back tail shove-it at 7:00 AM on New Year’s Day, the first try 50/50 down the huge hubba on Thanksgiving morning, gap out noseblunt at night and curved rail tailslide for Sight Unseen, kickflip frontside and backside 50/50s on the ten stair, and the many moves on the white hubbas that he battled to get. All I can say is the many nights and holidays I spent at UCI were well worth it.

Backside Noseblunt, Wilshire

In the last days of filming his part for Birdhouse’s The End, Heath had some moves in mind for the infamous Wilshire Rail in downtown Los Angeles. This was a rail that was next-to-perfect but security was tight and quick to kick you out. That being said, we got lucky one Saturday afternoon and Heath got two tricks on film before we got the boot. He did the kickflip front board super quick but the trick he really wanted was a backside noseblunt, which took a few tries but also gave me the opportunity to shoot some stills before getting in there with the fisheye for the sequence. First time I ever shot a successful backside noseblunt on a handrail… I think.

Lipslide, El Toro

I wish there was a good story that went with this image but it was really kind of one of those rare times where everything went great. I mean, the only thing I can really think of was that Heath had already tried to do this lipslide a couple weeks before with Atiba Jefferson but came up short. For whatever reason, Atiba wasn’t available so I got the opportunity to shoot it (along with a young Seu Trinh who was shooting fisheye from the side). As I mentioned before, this was one of those shoots where everything went perfect. Sunny morning, no security and second try rideaway—still not sure why anyone makes a big deal about it. Ha.

Tailslide, UCLA

I think most of the Heath missions I went on for Sight Unseen were filmed at night. And when I say “night”, I don’t mean just after it got dark but super late, after midnight so there were no people around to distract Heath from getting his move. My ears are still ringing from the generator noise all these years later. I think this UCLA tailslide was the last thing we shot for the video but I can’t say for sure. I met Heath, Greg Hunt and Jon Holland in Irvine and we all drove north to LA in Heath’s police cruiser Crown Vic. We’re setting up to skate the rail and minutes after the generator got turned on, security shows up and gives us the boot. I want to say it was 1:00 AM or something. Determined to get it that night because of deadlines, we figured that we’d wait it out and try again in a few hours, hoping security was gone (or asleep). We hit an all-night deli in Santa Monica to use up some time before heading back, only to find security still lurking. Heath was pissed but there was nothing we could do about it. So we start headed back down to OC, thinking the spot and trick weren’t happening. But about halfway down the freeway, we all convinced each other that security would be gone at first light and turned the car around. Sure enough, come dawn there were no humans about and we got the trick with no hassles.

Backside 360, Bob’s, Vista, Ca

Heath was set to retire from professional skateboarding but still had a few things he wanted to do before he exited the limelight. While on skate trips during those last few years, Heath had been tossing up huge backside 360s at park demos to hype up the crowd. I think from that, he decided he wanted to try one over Bob’s mega ramp gap as the ender to his retirement part. I thought he was nuts and it was never gonna happen because that just isn’t the kind of skating Heath was accustomed to.

As the deadline for that part got closer, Heath hit me up to see if I could call Bob about setting up a session for him to give it a try. I think Bob thought I was just making shit up but he gave it a go and we all rolled out there one afternoon to check it out. Heath walked up the roll in, riding down several times and jumping off his board just to see what it felt like to approach such hairy stunt. I honestly didn’t even think he’d try it.

Once again, Heath proved us all wrong by not only going for it but actually riding away from one of the sickest backside 360s ever. I mean, he broke a truck and fucked up his shoulder pretty good in the process, but in the end, he rolled away into retirement on his terms. So sick.

big thanks to Swift for taking the time. 

recommended by: vols. 1 and 2

In the spirit of Natas' Public Enemy shirt, Julien's love of Bukowski and Big Brother's fondness for Pink Flamingos, there's something to be said for the honest recommendations of those you respect. The following represents an experiment I've been conducting for the last year or so on the @ChromeBall Instagram channel where I ask friends and family to recommend 1 album, 1 book and 1 film for future generations. The choices are left entirely open to their interpretations and discretion. Bonafide classics, slept-on gems, embarrassing guilty pleasures, personal faves... whatever. The only necessity being that person's official seal of approval in a public forum. 

These are the results. Thanks to all who participated. More to come.



Recommended by: Greg Hunt

*) "Viva Last Blues" / Palace Music
Hard to explain what it is about this album but it's never stopped growing on me. Bonnie's finest.

**) "In the Blink of an Eye" / Walter Murch
This one's for the filmers, editors, etc. out there. Trust me, just read it.

***) "Paris, Texas" / Wim Wenders
I don't know how many times I've watched this movie. The last 30 minutes are about as good as it gets in my opinion.

=O



Recommended by: Aaron Meza

*) "Lifted" / Bright Eyes
Now that I know Jeff Grosso is a fan, I've found new confidence (and less shame) in saying that this is a favorite record. It can be yours, too.

**) "Middlesex" / Jeffrey Eugenides
Kinda Oprah Book Clubish, but the best story narrated by a hermaphrodite that I've ever read.

***) "The Cruise" / Bennet Miller
If you need advice or direction on how to appear as a debonair individual despite interior feelings of despair, then I highly recommend you watch Bennet Miller's first film, "The Cruise".

=O

Recommended by: Don Pendleton

*) "Roman Candle" / Elliot Smith
This was his first solo album. It's an amazing record but it's also remarkable because it's just him, a guitar and a 4-track most of the way through. And it goes to show you can create something amazing with almost nothing if the talent and creativity are there.

**) "Citizen Kane" / Orson Welles

This was Orson Welles' first feature film. It's considered one of the best for a reason. Not only did Welles star in it but he produced it, directed it and even co-wrote the screenplay. Sometimes the very best creations come from collaborations. Sometimes they come from one talented person who does it all. A lot of people want to do it all but Welles was just one of those rare people who could actually do it.

***) "A Happy Death" / Albert Camus
Another first…I think some of the most inspiring work is some of the earliest from an artist, musician or author. Camus wrote this before his much wider known 'The Stranger' and it wasn't published until 10 years after his death. It's relatively short and it's simultaneously optimistic and pessimistic (not an easy task) and it's the best book to pick up when you need some perspective on life.

=O



Recommended by: Tobin Yelland

*) "TNT" / AC DC
I have good memories listening to this album while driving to go skate. I can listen to the whole album over and over again.

**) "Ham On Rye" / Charles Bukowski
Autobiographical fiction from a son of German immigrants. Filled with many things a boy thinks about and deals with growing up.

***) "Amarcord" / Federico Fellini
I love the layers and time that goes by in the story of this film. It never feels long even though it's 2 hours long.

=O



Recommended by: Alyasha Owerka-Moore

*) "Q: Are We Not Men?" / DEVO
Skateboarding, DEVOlution, punk rock, subgenius, innovation, social satire, spudboy, anti-establishment, heroes, part of the soundtrack to my life since I was 8-years-old. One of the most underrated albums by one of the most misunderstood bands of all time.
"I'm a spudman. I got eyes all around."

**) "The Bear That Wasn't" / Frank Tashlin
One of the first books I remember reading on my own. Albeit a simple children's book and about a 10-minute read, it holds much meaning to me. I vividly remember my mother giving it to me and its message has been a mainstay and driving force of me following my gut and sticking to who I am ever since. As a kid, I was labeled "learning disabled" and "dyslexic" and they wanted to put me in a Special Ed program and had written me off as a dumb kid who would never make it anywhere in life. Regardless of my IQ. I was easier for the system to just put me in a generalized group instead of recognizing that I was actually intelligent. My mom fought with the Board of Ed to get me out of that program because it was so damaging.
"I'm not a silly man who needs a shave and wears a fur coat"
In short, fuck your status quo!

***) "Repo Man" / Alex Cox
One of the first VHS tapes I owned. I watched it over and over. One of the best original soundtracks of any film I've ever seen. I feel a lot of my personal sense of humor comes from this film. As a kid, there was a lot that went over my head but because I'd watched it so many times, bits and pieces of how ahead of its time and the subversive social political satire come to my head regularly and make more sense of things and the time we live in.

=O



Recommended by: Mark Whiteley

*) “Midnight Marauders” / A Tribe Called Quest
Midnight Marauders sums up an era and a sound in hip hop that’s never been surpassed for me, and as an album is just so complete. Front to back, it’s a perfect journey. Makes all my senses fire simultaneously when I think about it. Plus, the cover is incredible.

**) “Blood Meridian” / Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy’s choice of words and economy of language shatters me and Blood Meridian is his most gripping story. The “Legion of Horribles” passage is probably my single favorite bit of writing in any novel. Like whoa.

***) “Rushmore” / Wes Anderson
The first real look into the wonderfully bizarre and richly imagined worlds of Wes Anderson. Bill Murray obviously destroys here and the “Oh, are they?” line is pure genius. Best soundtrack to a film ever.

=O



Recommended by: Aesop Rock

*) "Grief Pedigree" / Ka
Ka's 2012 LP hasn't really left rotation since it came out. Mood-heavy rap music from Brownsville, BK.
**) "2013 Sketchbook Collection / Kim Jung Gi

An astonishing lesson in what you can do with black lines on a white page.

***) "The Proposition" / John Hillcoat
Australian western from '05 written by Nick Cave. It's slow and violent and beautiful. Ray Winstone is an underrated actor.

=O



Recommended by: John Rattray

*) A River Ain't Too Much To Love / Smog

My friend Sam (@perfidiousalbion) from Glasgow turned me onto Bill Callahan & Smog. This album in particular hits me every time. Me and Philippa listened to it on a loop driving around the Rocky Mountain National Park near Boulder and it helped me through some rough, dark times in Scotland. Understated, minimalist delivery meets the perfect balance of clever, funny and poignant.
**) Galapagos / Kurt Vonnegut

I can't decide if he's a salt-coated sugar cube or a sugar-coated salt cube. Either way, I have a decent list of favourite writers and Kurt Vonnegut will always be way up there. Big subjects refracted through your favorite uncle's spectacles and distilled into a salty-sweet shot that leaves you feeling cleverer than you are. Galapagos might be the most optimistic dystopia ever written. It teaches that love conquers all, Blue-Footed Boobies prove it and, after cash, it's natural selection that rules everything around us. Duh.

***) The Angel's Share / Ken Loach
If anyone from outside skateboarding has the potential to make the ultimate real-life skate film, I'm putting it out there that Ken Loach could easily be our dude. One of the greatest British film directors, 'The Angel's Share' is Ken on a slightly more upbeat note. Basically, if my childhood friends from Scotland got involved in a whiskey heist then this is the movie that would result. Ken balances on that tightrope of pathos and good times and never falters. Real-life stories expertly told.

=O



Recommended by: Chris Miller

*) Sandinista / The Clash
The Clash is probably my all-time favorite band and I particularly love skating to their music. The album is incredible in its depth and range and kind of opened me up to other styles of music. It also exposed me to a political and social point of view that at a time was mostly unexpressed by mainstream media.

**) The Little Prince / Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I love this book for its simplicity and wisdom about life. I prefer simple wisdom to dogma and authority. I embedded the quote "what is essential is invisible to the eye" into a bunch of my art and at least one early Planet Earth graphic.

***) My Life As A Dog / Lasse Hallstrom
It's a Swedish film about childhood and coming to terms with the realities of life... But I guess I just found it so relatable to my own experiences that I was deeply moved by the film.

=O



Recommended by: Rob Brink

*) Live in Reykjavik, Iceland / This Will Destroy You
TWDY began as an Explosions in the Sky clone (not necessarily a bad thing) and about three albums in, really came into their own by introducing spacey, synthy, drony textural elements to their music. This performance is the essence of all they are. There is no empty space. It’s a sonic avalanche. They are the stuff that puts me in the right headspace on daily bike rides or while writing.

**) Make Something Up / Chuck Palahniuk
Short stories are my favorite form of writing, and the thing about Chuck is I’m perpetually attempting to comprehend from what beautiful fucked up place his ideas come and how he manages to weave together banger after banger of a sentence without depleting the well from which they derive. It’s like if a skater had a four-minute part full of enders every single year. If you’re skeptical before buying, Google and read “Zombie” as a teaser to this collection.

***) Cafe de Flore / Jean-Marc Vallee
This film floored me. Like, tears in my eyes and a tension and pain in my chest kind of flooring. Not unlike Malick’s films, Café De Flore is somehow beautifully and transcendentally about EVERYTHING—life and death and love and the space in between and before and after. I’ve watched it a dozen times and I’m still discovering layers and in awe of how it was written, process-wise. I don’t know how Jean-Marc Vallée did it so seamlessly and can’t begin to fathom how I’d ever pull it off if I were to try.

=O



Recommended by: Lance Mountain

*) The Collection / Captain Sensible
The new soundtrack of skateboarding by late 1978 for us at the parks was punk new wave. As some of the bands tried new stuff or members did solo stuff, some of it was interesting. I always dug the sound and childlike feel to Captain Sensible's tracks. I'm going with The Collection just because it has some of the best in one place.

**) The Pilgrim's Progress / John Bunyan
I'll have to admit I'm not much of a reader, in fact, I can't even recall more than a handful of books I've read. I wanted to reread one of the first books I remember reading, The Pilgrim's Progress, and this post has encouraged me to do so.

***) Lambert and Stamp / James D Cooper
One of the last movies I've seen that stood out is this documentary about the Who and how the band was created and developed. I enjoy that the sort of ideas behind it had a lot of similarities for me to how the skateboard industry was nurtured and developed in its early years.

=O



Recommended by: Rick McCrank

I know John Rattray did one of these and he stole my book answer for Kurt Vonnegut so in his honor, I've gone with a Scottish theme.

*) The Incredible String Band / self-titled
Scottish psych/folk from the mid-60s. I'm a huge fan of the track "October Song"

**) Ratcatcher / Lynne Ramsay
This film is beautifully shot and incredibly acted. It's dark and slow and follows a young boy around his impoverished Glasgow neighborhood in 1973.

***) The Wasp Factory / Iain Banks
This is Banks' first book and one of my favorite reads. Again, it's very dark and twisted with some fantastic writing also set in Scotland.

=O



Recommended by: John Cardiel

*) Runaway Train / Andrey Konchalovsky
Runaway Train because, to me, it expresses man's need to be free of the mental and physical angst put upon him by the system, confronting the wrongs done onto him by his fellow man.

**) Beyond World War III / Mikey Dread
Just enough lyrics to keep you interested and carefully orchestrated rhythms with just the right touch of echoes and reverb to keep the vibes pumping!! This album never gets old 👊
***) Atlas of the Human Anatomy

My most favorite book because, basically, it is a roadmap to your body. I like to picture what might be going wrong inside me, figure out how it happened and how it must be fixed.

=O



Recommended by: Louie Barletta

*) Bona Drag / Morrissey
I love Morrissey and this album was very influential to me as a teenager. It came out right when my best friend that I'd been skating with for years had moved away. Morrissey's lyrics spoke to me, man. They made me feel like it was ok to be alone and not fit in. It's dark subject matter filled with poppy, catchy beats! It totally gave me confidence in just being me, the way I am, the way I skate. I just immersed myself in skating in every way and this album was the soundtrack that got me thru those years! From beginning to end, it's perfect.

**) V For Vendetta / James McTeigue

I love the idea that drives the story. An idea stronger than anything. Stronger than one man, stronger than law. It's based on the same essence that's similar to how a lot of us view skateboarding. It's not just the act that defines us, it's the idea. The idea that we're free, with no rules and no boundaries. We're only limited by what we think is possible on a board. In the movie, it's about toppling a regime but that same sentiment also rings true when talking about just keeping skateboarding fun!

***) The Necronomicon
I just love a great, relaxing read in the bath, surrounded by aromatic candles burning.

=O



Recommended by: Sean Sheffey

*) Straight Outta Compton / F Gary Gray
I love the way it tells the hardcore come-up of each member's life and the group as a whole. That shit is hype! N.W.A for life!

**) Meat is Murder / The Smiths
I really loved the period of my life when I stumbled across this music. Progression, romance and travels were all so intense back then... Building blocks that still stand for the S.S. I am today!

***) Wild Style / Charlie Ahearn
This book (and movie) illustrates how the art of graffiti traveled all over world! From NYC, of course!

=O

Recommended by: Quim Cardona

*) Tao of Jeet Kune Do / Bruce Lee
Aka Way of the Intercepting Fist, this is a great book that could apply to your everyday thinking and action. I strive to understand giving the discipline and time to train in order to be healthier and keep skateboarding nontraditional and unconventional.

**) The Giving Tree / Shel Silverstein
I'm actually recommending the 9:44 movie from '73 here, spoken by Shel Silverstein. You can find it on YouTube. The story follows a selfish man who only takes throughout his life, never giving back... the tree just appreciates the companionship. By the end, the man is left with a dead stump to use as a place to sit and rest. The moral of the story is to be less selfish and give more.

***) Kind of Blue / Miles Davis
He was, and always will be, influential and quintessential for his time, for years to come.

=O



Recommended by: Jeff Grosso

*) Script of the Bridge / The Chameleons UK
Neil turned me on to them in '85. Their music speaks to me. I don't know... just listen to it. It's fuck'n beautiful.

**) A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius / Dave Eggers
I read it when I was in a very fragile state. It's a memoir and the guy's story just gave me hope.

***) Lucas / David Seltzer
It's an insightful, sensitive film about real kids dealing with real problems. Ha! Plus, I believe it's Winona Ryder's first film.

=O



Recommended by: Tommy Guerrero

*) Ethiopiques, Vol 4 / Mulatu Astatqe
**) Lost in Translation / Sofia Coppola
***) The Things They Carried / Tim O'Brien
Why? BECAUSE I SAID SO! 😉

=O



Recommended by: Brian Lotti

*) Heathen / David Bowie
I'm not the hugest Bowie fan but there's something timeless and moving about this album. I've been returning to it as music to work to and also to make sense of different times in my life. A Better Future is particularly nice.

**) Zen Flesh, Zen Bones / Paul Reps
The collection of short stories and fables in this book are filled will great reminders and they point inspirations toward the ways I endeavor to live life.

***) The Big Lebowski / Coen Brothers
A timeless cinematic feast, this movie has really grown on me over the years. I love the actors, the story, the music, and the Los Angeles mythology that the Coen brothers tap into. It's very entertaining and I'm always seeing something new. I always seem to get a fresh perspective on things after watching this movie.

=O



Recommended by: Al Davis
Not my favorites, just what I'm on right now...

*) IV / BADBADNOTGOOD
Literally listening to this album right now. I've been editing 60 rolls of super 8 footage that I've got so I've been listening to a lot of music with live instruments, plus soft vocals.

**) Rockers / Ted Bafaloukos
Jamaica in 1978. If you have a dream for your whole crew, you have to put everything you have into it. Similar to these days, I get hyped on the underdog coming up after a long struggle. It's a good laugh. Check it.

***) The Bang-Bang Club / Silva and Marinovich
My friend Jake gave it to me on a skate trip. Anyone that loves photography will be into this book. Raw war photographers going hard as fuck.

=O



Recommended by: Giovanni Reda

*) Me Talk Pretty One Day / David Sedaris
I laughed out loud on the plane reading this. It's really funny and an interesting look into someone's life.

**) Out of Step / Minor Threat
I heard this album when I was 12 and instantly related to it, from the black sheep on the cover to the message it sent. Always be out of step with the world.

***) The Godfather / Francis Ford Coppola
Probably the best movie ever made, the transformation of Michael from innocent to mob boss is just epic.

=O



Recommended by: Andy Jenkins

*) What Makes a Man Start Fires? / Minutemen
My friend O took me to Neil Blender's house in the mid '80s. Not only was I meeting one of my favorite skaters, but he was blasting music that blew my mind. I left without knowing what it was. A couple months later Kevin Wilkins shoved a red album into my hands at the record store. "Here, get this." That was it, that was the music Neil was playing. "East Wind/Faith" was the song— fucking amazing. "Double Nickels on the Dime" is right there as well.

**) Ham On Rye / Charles Bukowski
Buk spilled his guts on paper for us to devour — or ignore. He didn't care. This was my introduction. A raw and resolute story of surviving childhood. It opened the Bukowski gates for me... that's when I began devouring.

***) Wings of Desire / Wim Wenders
There was an old, dilapidated movie theater in Hermosa Beach we used to go to. It was really cheap and they mostly played shitty "art" films. I saw "Wings of Desire' there. That film stirred so much emotion in me. It paralleled some of the ways I saw things. Plus Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds played "From Her to Eternity" in it.

=O



Recommended by: Dante Ross

*) Moonlight / Barry Jenkins
I recently saw this and it brought me to tears. What an amazing story. The exploration of addiction, sexuality and the notion of compassion was so honest and sans judgement. It encompasses the importance of forgiveness and the search for inner peace in such a beautiful and truthful way. Best film of 2016, hands down.

**) Sign of the Times / Prince
Lately I've been rocking this a whole lot. If I Was Your Girlfriend gets me everytime. The title song, Adore, Starfish and Coffee, the Ballad of Dorothy Parker, The Cross... basically the whole record is so damn good. When I listen to Prince, I feel like I'm hanging out with an old friend. I love Prince and have since I was a teenager. His being on Spotify is a game-changer for me.

***) The Sellout / Paul Beatty
Beatty is simply the greatest living American fiction author. The Sellout is his 4th novel and possibly his best. It's funny, insightful and has a subtle depth to it. It's the best commentary I have read about race in America in a long time. Plus, it's hilarious.

=O

Recommended by: Jason Adams

*) Where There Walks a Logger, There Walks a Man - Buzz Martin
I don't know how I came across this but when I did, I was so hyped. Johnny Cash-style folky country songs... every single one of them is about logging, written and sung by a logger.

**) I Lived To Tell It All - George Jones
I read this autobiography years ago... it's fucking Insane! George Jones is a country music legend for more than just singing, I will tell you that! Motley Crue has nothing on this guy!

***) Filmage - Descendents/All
Probably my favorite punk band of all-time. This is so much more than the story and facts of a great band. So inspirational! Bill Stevens fucking rules so hard!

=O



Recommended by: Jason Lee

*) City Lights / Charlie Chaplin
An incredible film that was done as a silent film (with only sound effects) about 5 years after 'talkies' were introduced. People thought it would not be successful because of the absence of recorded dialogue but it was a huge success. A testament to Chaplin's ability to tell a moving and funny story without words.

**) On Reading / André Kertész
My favorite photo book and one that still gets me every time. It spans decades, with all the photos having something to do with reading in common.

***) Desire / Bob Dylan
An album I've listened to a lot on various photo road trips. First time I think I really heard Dylan was from Mark Gonzales when we lived together during the Blind days, so there's a good connection with Dylan there, too.

=O



Recommended by: Sean Cliver

*) Animals / Pink Floyd
Tone deaf and dumb that I am, music might as well be a magnet: how does it work? I have no fucking clue. It’s a miracle! That said, this could have gone 50 different ways, but for now and the illusion of brevity I’ll have to settle on Pink Floyd’s “Animals.” The album is just five tracks and 23 minutes in all, but it’s my equivalent of the Boy Scout Handbook. I’d leave a copy in the drawer of every hotel room if I had the tenacity of a Gideons loon.

**) Sombrero Fallout / Richard Brautigan
Although this isn’t considered a critical high-water mark for Brautigan, you always remember your first and Sombrero Fallout was mine. The master of the metaphor, Brautigan’s impressionistic word formations were a real sock to the gut—albeit one sensitively swung by the likes of Elliot Smith, not Ernest Hemingway—and probably my greatest inspiration in terms of writing, the absurd, and other affinities best not gotten into here.

***) Pink Flamingos / John Waters
It’s easy to be jaded in the Age of the Internet, but this seminal Waters film from 1972 still goes. Pink Flamingos was a truly soul-sullying experience when I first viewed it at the age of 18, because until you’ve seen an elasticated anus lip-syncing to “Surfin’ Bird” you can’t fully comprehend the definition of fucked-up. I don’t know… some people look for enlightenment at the top of a mountain, but mine always comes from the bottom of a barrel. So it goes.

=O



Recommended by: Jeremy Fish

*) Lice Two / Aesop Rock and Homeboy Sandman
Rap duos are coming back in popular music and these dudes are the best of the genre. Not the most famous, or the richest, just a couple of very clever verbal beasts teaming up with both their original styles. They are like the Arnold Palmer beverage of rap music. A perfect blend of two ill flavors.
**) The Kindness Diaries / Leon Legothetis

This documentary series warms the human spirit and reminds us how important good intention and a big smile can be. Highly suggested. Good travel mojo for all of us.

***) Bury Me With The Lo On / Thirstin Howl the 3rd
Because the Ralph Lauren story, in relation to hip hop culture is an amazing story. New York rappers explain the obsession of Polo in a fancy-ass, artsy coffee table book. Two thumbs up, best book in print in 2016.

=O



Recommended by: Max Schaaf

*) Blue Highways / William Least Heat-Moon
I'm a sucker for books about travel. Escapism is a tool that, when used correctly, will give you a new set of eyes. I know this firsthand. This is an autobiography from a man that needed a break from his day-to-day life and set out a very untraditional voyage. He equipped his small panel van for travel and wandered out chasing the "blue highways", the small forgotten roads connecting towns that had become almost even more forgotten. 13,000 miles of random hitchhikers, towns with peculiar names and random conversations with folks the average human would never come in contact with.
**) Indian Runner / Sean Penn

Sean Penn wrote and directed this movie based on the Bruce Springsteen song Highway Patrolman....pretty cool approach for writing a movie to base it on a single five-minute song. Personally, I have a brother that has his problems with being a law-abiding citizen and fitting into mainstream society so the movie hits close to home. On a side note, I really dig Vigo Mortensen's dress code in this film.

***) Then Play On / Fleetwood Mac
It's impossible to pick a favorite album when your equipped with drastic mood swings on a daily basis, but Then Play On is really good Sunday morning dancing in the kitchen while frying eggs with a piss stain on the front of your boxer shorts music. 1969, pre-Stevie Nicks but still with Peter Grenn, this album can get a little jammy but it has some really unexpected breakdowns to break most of them up. I really dig the song One Sunny Day. You can most likely find this album in the 99-cent bin. Go into it with low expectations like I did and maybe it'll surprise you. Maybe it's "dad music"... shit i don't know, I'm not a dad.

=O



Recommended by: Bill Strobeck

*) Niandra Ladies and Usually a T-Shirt (cassette) / John Frusciante
A good friend of mine, Goose, used to listen to this in his car all the time while we drove around skating Syracuse. On a trip to NYC, I once asked him to dub me a copy. He dubbed one side of the tape for me and I went back to Philly and I listened to it over and over. I never really got into drugs cause I was scared of them but I felt like I was on drugs everytime I listened to this album. I just felt alive when I listened to it. This album is poetic and original and speaks to me like no other album. The cassette also has 2 extra tracks: Ants (my favorite track of all-time) and Untitled 0 (soul removal)... eerie album. Thanks Goose.

**) The Perfect Childhood / Larry Clark
All Larry's books are great... he's inspired me and a ton of people from my generation, photo and film-wise. But this book sticks out to me. All the cut-out newspaper clippings about satanism kids and court cases with teachers fucking their students are wild cause I'd seen all that on tv in the 80's. Teen Beat posters of Matt Dillon... skateboarders in the 90's in NY mixed in with teenagers getting there dicks sucked by hookers is just a heavy portfolio. All of his photos and visuals are just put together proper. True damage... from the champ.

***) Streetwise / Martin Bell and Mary Ellen Mark
The greatest american documentary about a group of runaway kids in Seattle. I love runaways and fucked up shit, always have and always will. The runaways in this are perfect for a film. Sad but beautiful. Kids named Rat and Shadow, livin on the streets at age 15, telling business men to fuck off as they run around the city, trying to survive.
I love Rat's first quote: "I love to fly. It's just... you're alone with peace and quiet. Nothing around you but clear, blue sky. No one to hassle you. No one to tell you where to go or what to do. The only bad part about flying is having to come back down to the fucking world." (then he jumps off a bridge into a river in all his clothes). Very inspiring...watch it.

=O



Recommended by: Travis Millard.

*) Just Farr a Laugh, Vols 1 and 2 / Earles and Jensen.
Earles & Jensen are so great because there’s a no-cruelty policy to their calls. They bewilder the person on the other line but never leave them too angry.. sometimes even injecting totally confusing joy into their day. E&J are kings of obscure pop culture references, quick as hell, unpredictable and outrageously funny. A double CD set from Matador Records ~ greatest prank phone calls ever, indeed!

**) The Way Things Go / Fischli and Weiss
This short art film is so much fun to watch. Swiss duo Fischli & Weiss created a sprawling Rube Goldberg-style machine out of everyday utility items, fireworks and household chemicals. You’d never imagine what a thrill a spinning trash bag could be as it lightly knicks an old tire that rolls into a 30-minute chain of seemingly impossible artful calculations.

***) My Friend Dahmer / Derf Backderf
Derf is a fantastic cartoonist, I’ve admired his work for years and this book is a masterpiece. It’s the dark, true story of Derf going through high school in Ohio with Jeffrey Dahmer, the young would-be cannibal serial killer. Dahmer was an ignored outcast but Derf & his friends had a rapport with him and shared the lunch table. Beautifully drawn and a completely engrossing story, I heard they just made a movie from it.

=O