kooking it

Located southeast of Japan, is a small island called Guam. Though a small island, it has a solid skate scene. Pleasure Island 1 and 2 , GU1000  and Dude!Bro.Dollar!  are some of the local videos that came out of there. Mark is one of the OG's of the Guam skate scene. He's an absolute skate nerd and always stoked on skating. I am fortunate to call him a good friend of mine. Mark has always had some crazy grip jobs on his board, and I thought it would be fun to ask him a few questions about it. This is Mark's Grip Thumb:

Welcome to part one of where I talk about Crailtap. In this post, I will be talking about one of the most forgettable brands: Royal Trucks. I will also be talking about Lakai and Girl/Chocolate in later parts which I will link as they publish. Part 2: Lakai

The most unexpected side effect of skateboarding is caring what your pants look like. Who would've thought that when I was still pushing with my front foot, that pants would be all I would be thinking about years down the road. I've committed my own sin by skating in skinny pants , despite thinking (knowing) baggy pants looked so much cooler. The latest fashion craze—baggy pants. With the resurgence of Y2K fashion, clothes have become a lot more loose and oversize fitting. Much more comfortable than the form fitting skinny pants, baggy pants also offer space for breathability, perfect with the impending doom of global warming. First of, where did it all begin? In terms of skateboarding, the first young generation of skater rocking the baggy kit was John Shanahan. I can't remember exactly which video part or what year it was, but I do remember thinking "oh baggy pants are gonna come back." I kept telling my friends in high school that baggy pants were gonna come ba...

Yep, Gravis is making a come back. Not globally or in the US, but in Japan. To be clear, Gravis as a brand has always available in Japan, despite ending in America. I guess brands work differently overseas. When éS first went under in 2012, Japan kept selling the red Accel OG. A teaser for Gravis Skateboarding posted by @GravisJapan Gravis was founded in 1998 under the Burton umbrella, but the skateboarding program didn't begin until 2006. Most people, including me, remember Gravis for their infamous Dylan shoe released in 2010(?). A skate shoe heavily inspired by dress shoes, perfectly complimenting Dylan Rieder's personal aesthetic and style. The Dylan was a shoe like no other at the time: a sleek, minimalist leather shoe. I like to describe the ordinary skate shoe of this time to be in a transitional period where shoes were becoming slimmer but were still relatively well cushioned, carrying over the chunky shoe DNA from the years prior. Examples include the Lakai Mike Mo , é...

Whenever something begins to become popular or trendy, I like to go back and pinpoint when and what caused that hype. In the latest Dunk craze, I would point my finger to the Travis Scott Dunks released in February 2020. Before then, nobody in the general public really cared about Dunks. It was all about Yeezys and maybe Jordans. I still remember in middle school looking through the Tactics website and seeing Dunks readily available, wanting a pair because I thought they looked good for heelflips with how puffy the shoes were, compared to slimmer models of Janoskis, Lakai MJ and the like. 2015 Screenshot of Nike SB shoes offered by Tactics via Wayback Machine The popularity of Dunks, however, has made skaters angry at hypebeasts, sneakerheads and resellers for buying their shoe without the intent of skating it. Dunks offer nice padding/cushion and decent boardfeel for a cupsole. Not to mention the many colorways and potential colorways available due to the number of panels the shoe has...