In case you weren’t able to make it out to the recent Vans halloween party, Greg Dewitt is able to fill you in on a little bit of the happenings.

It was the Friday night before Halloween and I was heading to a party sponsored by Vans in South Philly. My brother Ryan works for Vans and said I should stop by to check it out. When I pulled up to the Philly Warehouse, a key-holder only ramp run by Scott Kimenc, the party had spilled into the alley and I could hear The Trowels, a local Philly band, tearing it up. I saw Ryan right off the bat. We grabbed a beer and climbed the ladder to watch the session unfold. There were quality costumes with my personal favorite being The Kenzo’s, two people who were dressed as a couple from Kensington with a Cabbage Patch kid in tow. The warehouse doors were open and the bails of hay below made a soft landing for those that decided to skip using the latter to get to the party in the alley. However, this led to Johnny Law making an appearance, ending the party earlier than expected. Unfortunately, Chuck Treece’s McRad didn’t get the chance to play. We broke down the Vans tent, packed up the truck with the rest of the Halloween decorations and headed across the bridge to our favorite South Jersey bar for a night cap. – Greg Dewitt
 

Dan at his Finest. Photo: Hammeke

Words: Eric Witmer.
Photos: Jon Coulthard, Joe Hammeke.

I never really thought I’d be sitting here writing up an intro about Dan Drehobl. Seriously, it’s an honor. This guy rules. Dan has been around for quite some time now and is still producing quality footage and photos. He’s not stopping. He’s one of those dudes who you’ll see a photo of, and the first words you say are “that’s gnarly.” Because that’s what Dan is…gnarly. Not to mention he’s a genuine, down to earth guy who just wants to have a good time. So with all of this I present to you, the Dan Drehobl interview. Enjoy.

What’s up Dan? How have things been for you, man?

Things have been good, just been skating. I got married a few months ago and that’s pretty awesome. I was just recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. You would probably think that would suck but other than it being annoying having to test my blood sugar and inject insulin daily, in a way it’s a good thing. Now that I’m on medication I’m feeling better than I have in years.

What happened over at Elwood? Did you quit, or did things over there fall through?

Things fell through. The owners decided they could save some dough by kicking off their skate team. Really sucks because I thought we had a pretty good thing going.

How do you like Ergo? You seem to fit in pretty well there.

Everything is going great with Ergo. I just went on a little trip and everyone on the team gets along pretty good. I’m just starting to work on getting some more skate friendly gear going with them.

What was it like growing up in Maine? How was the skate scene?

Looking back, growing up there was awesome. At the time I hated it and just wanted to go somewhere else where there was more to skate. The scene was small but it was pretty cool. If you skated and lived in Maine, you knew pretty much every other skater in the whole state. The winters were pretty harsh and the salt they put on the roads makes the ground really rough. One year we would have a nice bank or ledge to skate and then the snowplows would come though and fuck everything up. It’s not California by a long shot, but I think it helped shape the skater I am today.

How did you deal with the terrible East coast winters?

The winters sucked and that was the biggest reason I wanted to move. For the last few years there was an indoor park that we could skate but before that we would just deal with it. Either not skate or bundle up and skate a snow bank. We would shovel off ramps and skate them with ice frozen into the wood. It could get pretty sketchy.

Did you grow up having a mini ramp? It would explain why you’re so good at tranny and it would definitely get you through long winters!

I always wanted a ramp and my parents had a huge yard but they never allowed me to build one. They thought it would turn into a big party scene and attract trouble. There were always a few ramps around that we would skate.

Is there anything in the works over at Krooked? A video perhaps?

There has been talk of starting to work on a new video, probably in another year or so.

Boardslide to fakie. Photo: Jon Coulthard

What’s it like having Mark Gonzales as the head guy at Krooked? Does it ever get crazy?

It’s amazing, Mark has always been my favorite skater.

Do you have any good Gonz stories that you could share? Perhaps your most memorable?

The dude has reflexes like a cat. When he kickflipped the Gonz Gap way back, when he would bail he would run and jump and put his foot on the edge of this garbage can that was in the middle of the gap and then spring off it and then jump up to the top of the gap. Like in just two quick jumping steps, bing, bing. Well one time when he went to do this his foot slipped into the garbage can and he just pull his foot back up really quick put it back on the edge of the can and jumped up to the top no problem. My friend Greg and I both saw it and looked at each other like holy shit. It’s kind of hard to explain but basically any normal human would have just eaten total shit but he pulled it like it was nothing. And then he went on to kickflip the gap which nobody else had done before even though tons of other dudes had gone there and tried it only to come up short.

How did becoming a character in Skate 3 come about? Was it random, or something you kind of wanted to be a part of?

There are two skaters in charge of getting that game put together and they just hit me up, I’ve only played that game for about 5 minutes so I don’t know much about it. I’m not really into playing video games.

How did Lowcard come together? Were you just homies with the guys who ran it?

Lowcard is my buddy Rob Collinson’s baby, we grew up skating together in Maine. Now he is also doing Strange Bird distribution and I’d say he’s doing pretty good for himself.

What made you move out to San Francisco?

Growing up skating in Maine I would see California in the mags and videos and always dreamed of skating out there. After graduating high school I tried moving to San Diego but I couldn’t find a job and eventually ran out of money. After moving back to Maine and spending another winter back there, I knew I had to get out so I decided to go to art school in San Francisco. Pretty much as soon as I got out here I met Bryce Kanights at Thrasher and Greg Carroll at Think and started getting hooked up. About a year after living here Greg asked me to go pro, so I did and ended up dropping out of school so I could travel.

Blunt to fakie. Photo: Jon Coulthard

How bummed were you when you saw that Foundation ad from a while back that said at the bottom, “p.s. Dan, you’re off the team”?

That sucked pretty bad but I think it all worked out for the best.

How were the old days back at Think? What happened that made you leave?

Those we’re some of the best times of my life. Phil Shao was one of the best skaters of all time and a really intelligent and rad guy. I really miss him. After over 10 years with Think I just felt like I just needed to make a change.

Can you see yourself working for Deluxe one day?

Maybe, I haven’t really given it much thought.

Is there anyone that works at DLXSF that you secretly hate? Now’s the time to tell them!

Not really, I try not to hate people and nobody over there has ever really given me any reason to.

On an average day, how many cigarettes are you smoking? And are you starting off the day with a cup of coffee as well?

I smoke about a pack of American Spirits a day and yes I drink coffee, I’m drinking a cup right now.

Are you one of those guys who goes to bed with a cig in his mouth while he’s sleeping?

I have done that before after having too much to drink but it’s really not cool. My wife doesn’t let me smoke indoors anymore which I prefer.

Are you trying to quit soon, or just not even bothering?

Maybe I will one of these days. I’m sure I would feel a lot better if I did.

Isn’t Berkley park one of those places where if you fall, you get some weird toxins or something in your body?

I barely skate that park anymore. There is chromium in the soil under the park and when it rains a lot the puddles there are toxic. After spending a winter skating there I started to get nose bleeds a lot which is one of the first signs of chromium poisoning.

Going back to your Free Your Mind part. How was it skating tranny with Tony T?

Tony is an amazing skater. I’ve known him since he was about 14 and showed up out of nowhere doing kickflip methods. I really miss Jim’s ramp.

What skateboarders did you look up to growing up? How about now?

Growing up I’d say Mark Gonzales, Lance Mountain, Tommy Guerrero, Jeff Phillips, Sean Sheffey, Mike Vallelly and the list could go on and on. Currently there are so many dudes shredding at such a high level I wouldn’t even know where to start and the list would just go on and on and on.

If there is one thing that you could take back or redo involving your career as a professional skateboarder, what would it be?

I probably should have taken the time to get 360 flips better, and I probably shouldn’t have quit trying to land a 540 also.

The interview has come to a close. Thanks for this opportunity, Dan. Any shout outs or last words?

Thanks everybody, bye. Keep on, keep on truckin’.

It’s been really funny watching this kid grow up. I remember the first time I met Anthony was at the skatepark. I was filming with my buddy, and Anthony came over and asked if he could have my friend Kevin film his sponsor me tape. We didn’t even know who the kid was, but from there we went to Philly and got some footage. Looking back, the tricks he got were so disgusting looking. It was full of lopsided kickflips and a bunch of toe drags. Now, Anthony skates with full confidence. He lands his tricks bolts and doesn’t settle for anything less. It’s actually an honor to be able to interview this guy because he is definitely going somewhere in the skate world.

What’s up, Anthony? How have you been man?

Eric, I have been good man. Trying to skate and manage school.

Your new video part just dropped and it came out amazing. Are you hyped on it?

Thanks dude! Honestly my part does not compare to Kevin Liedtke’s or my one friend Evan Dittig. Watch out for those parts, they’re insane. To be honest, I did not get a chance to film everything I wanted and my part was cut short. Things just didn’t work out towards the end. Jake Todd worked really hard with everything so give it up to him.

What’s it like to see your video part up on Vianouzzzzz’s YouTube channel?

I am one of the biggest skateboard nerds out there. I literally have watched every video that Vianouzzzzz has ever put up. I was not aware that it was sent to him. When I got home from school, I looked and my name came up! My video does not compare to most but for me it has been goal for a while. I’m hyped I accomplished it.

Better than Vianouzzzzz, what’s it like to see that Ishod posted your video on his Facebook wall?

Ishod is one of the best skateboarders out there. I literally clicked on the video link five times to make sure it was actually my video hahaha. I feel like my part does not deserve that kind of attention, but I look up to Ishod a lot and it got me hyped to see that.

So I heard Fairman’s just put you on their team! Congratulations man, you deserve it. How are you feeling about that?

I have always been a West Chester kid. I guess you could call me a West Goshen park rat. Chris Mathis, Neil Herrick, Matt Militano and everyone else at their shop kills it. It is awesome to ride for a shop like that.

How was it skating in your first shop contest this past Saturday at York park?

York Park is one of the best concrete parks I have ever been too. It’s kind of hard to skate when there is literally five-hundred people and Nik Stain is skating a hundred miles an hour haha. Everyone killed it. I like the layout and the fact that I can skate with guys I look up to.

What’s the deal with Voyage? Are you getting boards from them now or any time soon?

Angel Acevedo who is one of the best skateboarders and a dude I look up to mentioned it. This is still up in the air; it is mostly all talk I think. Voyage is one of my favorite companies and I like the direction it’s headed in. Also Brian Douglass, in my opinion is one the most underrated skateboarders.

There are three tricks in your part that really stood out to me. Let’s discuss them. The beginning fifty fifty on that eleven stair handrail, the front lip to noseblunt on the two stair ledge and the backside heelflip down the Drexel five block. How long did those tricks take to land and how pumped were you on how they turned out?

The 50-50 on the eleven stair handrail is at Cabrini College. Probably the gnarliest and steepest handrail I have thrown myself down. I had tried it the day prior and slammed pretty hard. That next day Luke Darigan asked to go shoot it. I was hyped that I got an opportunity to go out and shoot it. Luckily it worked out. The front lip to noseblunt I filmed two times. The second time I got it way better and Jake liked the angle more. Unfortunately right after I got it, I tried another trick and dislocated my knee. Lastly, the Backside heelflip down Drexel five block was completely random. That was my first day skating Philly, and our last spot and Kevin did a perfect switch frontside bigspin down the stairs third try. He got me hyped to skate it and things just worked out!

Stepping aside from the skateboarding questions for a moment, what’s a typical day for Anthony Parisi?

I am a very boring person. I literally wake up and watch Vianouzzzzz’s YouTube channel or whatever else that is in my subscription box. I try to eat a healthy breakfast. Work on some homework and then try to skate. If no one hits me up then I usually go to West Goshen Skate Park. Then I come home and study and leave my facebook up, hoping a
girl will chat me.

How’s the girl situation? I heard you have like nine girls chasing you ever since your part dropped.

Hahaha, definitely not that many girls. To be completely honest, for the people that do not know me, I rarely talk to girls. For a fact I have never hugged or kissed a girl and I am 17. I have had some opportunities but I do not take them. I guess I am just waiting for the right one.

Are cardigans the ultimate way to steal a hipster girl’s heart? How many do you own?

Well now everyone is going to know my secret hahaha. Cardigans are the best. I own seven asof right now (thanks Mom)! When I wear them to school at least four girls say they like my outfit. The ultimate way to steal a hipster’s heart is rolling your pants up.

Between getting with girls, filming solid tricks, and not being mainstream… how do
you find time to maintain your 4.0 GPA?

It’s a challenge. I look up to my sister a lot. She has helped me along the way. I definitely try to use my time wisely. I make sure school comes before skating.

Back to skating. Who do you look up to in skateboarding? Any favorites?

My favorite skateboarders are George Moreno, Ian Coughlan, Zak DePiero, Sheehan O’Connell, Ryan Reyes, David Loy, Tom Knox, Dave Abair, and Tom Karangelov. Hahaha I have a lot of favorites but I mainly look for style. I like skateboarders that can skate cool spots and can make skateboarding look fun. Everyone I mentioned constantly
kills it, and I could name a lot more.

What happened to your obsession over Cory Kennedy?

I used to have the biggest crush on Cory Kennedy’s skating. I liked watching him when he wasn’t pro. I like watching skateboarders who haven’t made it and skate for fun. Cory has one of largest bags of tricks and is awesome to watch.

Generally speaking, who do you roll with when you go out skating?

As of right now I am usually skating with Matt Steindl, Matt Militano, Cj Cassidy, Tim Hewczuk, and Luke Darigan. I skate with so many people so I am definitely leaving a lot of names out.

Do you have any plans for the future with skateboarding?

I just plan to keep skateboarding as much as I can and see what happens. Everyone in skateboarding is amazing now, so it is hard to say. I hope to eventually get to skate San Francisco. It definitely is my favorite place to watch great skateboarders come out of.

Time to come to a close, any last shout outs?

I would like to thank you, Eric, for the opportunity for an interview. Also my mom, sister, all the family for supporting me, Matt Steindl, Luke Darigan, Jake Todd, Matt Militano, Tim Hewczuk, Raymond Porreca, Angel Acevedo, Jason Hornung, and all the girls that are going to send me a friend request when this goes up!
 

Filmed and edited by Jake Todd.

Words: Stephen Oliveira

Some of you know may him as Josh Cronje, some of you may know him as Bangersallday. But no matter what you know him as, you still know that Josh is a talented filmer emerging out of South Florida. We strive to bring you readers nothing but the best of the east coast, and that’s how it’s always going to be. With that being said, enjoy this interview!

So how old are you and where are you from?

I’m 19 years old, and I was born in Durban, South Africa. I lived there for the first three years of my life, and then my family and I sailed to the United States. I’ve lived here ever since and recently moved off of my sail boat and into my first house.

Damn so you went from sailing the seas, to being one of Florida’s most notable filmers. How’d it feel to touch down, retire the boat and be in a house?

It was really crazy how everything played out in my life. I used to live in a marina that looked like Iraq, and I would always have bb gun wars in the junkyard part of the marina. Now I live in a nice house in Dania Beach and film skateboarding. It’s a great feeling knowing that people are hyped on my videos, and it makes me more motivated everyday to do more with my filming. I wouldn’t be here without Josiah Gatlyn’s help though. He’s the reason anyone knows my name. He moved in with me about a year ago and I look up to him as a brother. He’s helped me out more than anyone with filming and has given me endless opportunities.

From one extreme to the other! How’d you get linked up with Josiah?

My friend Dean met him a while back and started to film with him all the time. Dean called me and told me to meet up with them and film some second angles. I ended up driving him to the dudes house he was staying at and after that we started skating on the regular. Next thing you know, he’s living with me and we’re out filming every chance we get.

That’s what’s up. So tell me a little about Brotherly Love. What can we expect?

Well I’m very undecided about Brotherly Love. It started off with a lot of hype and we were out filming day and night for it. But then my friend Carl who was supposed to have a part, moved to New York and the hype from all the other dudes just faded away. My homie Matt Jay lives in Boston so the only way to get footage with him is when I fly out there. I’m just going to help Josiah film his Cold War part and keep filming with my friends. When I get enough footage I might still put out Brotherly Love, but I guess only time will tell.

At least you have other plans to keep you still out filming. What all’s in your camera bag anyway?

Yeah that is true. I currently have a Panasonic HVX200 and the Xtreme fisheye. Plus a canon 7d with a 50mm for all the “artsy” footage. I’m looking into getting a dolly soon though. I’ve always been interested in them.

Even though both of your cameras are HD, I figured I’d ask this anyway. How do you feel about a good portion of the industry moving to HD? Do you think VX1000′s will ever die out completely?

I have mixed feelings about the switch over to HD. The VX1/MK1 setup is definitely the best setup if you’re filming skateboarding. It’s proven itself to be the best in hundreds of videos and there’s a reason so many kids have it. HD on the other hand is a very “bipolar” side of filming. Most of the edits that are HD are horribly filmed and it looks disgusting. People hate on it and say VX is the way to go. But when you get the handful of HD filmers that are good at what they do, it shows the possibilities of what an HD camera can do. Jason Hernandez is who I look up to and I personally think he’s the best filmer/editor in the biz. My inspiration comes from his edits and I watch every detail of his videos to improve on my own. He is the definition of a legit HD filmer.

That’s a very good way to look at the change. I know you’re doing this interview while you’re at work. Where do you work? It’s obviously somewhere without a crazy anti-texting policy.

Haha yeah it’s not strict working conditions because my boss is my dad. He owns a marine engineering company and we work on mega yachts all day. It’s nice to work on 45 million dollar yachts, but sometimes the snobby people that are associated with them can really aggravate me. The pay is good and that’s how I have all my cameras. Thanks to my dad for hooking me up with the job three years ago.

Haha I’d put up with anybody if the pay was good enough! Did you ever encounter any pirates or anything when you sailed here?

I wish I encountered pirates. That would have been some good memories. But the only thing that happened to us was a U.S. Coast Guard carrier stopped us and interrogated my dad. They came on the boat and searched it for drugs and stuff, but from what I remember they were really cool. On the way here my parents stopped at different islands so we could go swimming and stuff. My dad would hold me and dive under like twenty feet so I could learn to swim back up. At times there would be hammerhead sharks and he would grab me and dive in the water with them. Sketchy, but an experience of a lifetime for sure.

That sounds sick! Hammerhead sharks are pussies. Haha nah that’s sketchy… But before I start calling out any more sea creatures, I’m gonna go ahead and wrap this up. Thank whatever/whoever you need to thank. Maybe even shout out to the sharks for the good times. Whatever you gotta do. It’s been good!

Haha I just want to thank everyone for all the support and my parents for being the best parents I could ask for. And my beautiful girlfriend Amanda for putting up with all my shit, and making me the happiest dude ever… Thanks Stephen for the opportunity!

What is your name? How old are you? Where are you from? Who do you ride for?

My names Giorgio Villone, I’m 20 years old, I’m from West Islip, New York, and I ride for Bentleys Boards skate shop.

I want to get all the random stuff out of the way early, you ready?

Yeah, here it goes haha.

So you’re 100% Italian? Does that mean you bathe in Ragu sauce?

Hahaha, oh my god. These are the kind of the things that get spread around to everyone when you hang out with Matt Militano. First of all, I’m half Italian, half Irish, and Matt is 100% Italian but he always fucks with me for being Italian and saying shit like “You bathe in Ragu sauce.” Ever since I met him he’s always said shit like that. Matt and Sam Bass made this picture of my head on top of Marios body holding a can of Ragu sauce, it’s pretty funny.

If you’re Italian… That means that your family is in the mafia. Any comment?

Haha nah, I guess I’m the exception.

Why in the world do you have pasta instead of the traditional turkey dinner at Thanksgiving?

This story got so blown out of proportion haha. Every thanksgiving I have turkey and all the normal stuff but this year my dads girlfriend made pasta too. We still had turkey and all that other stuff, but when I told Matt and Jake that they thought it was so funny and so now everybody gets this impression that I eat pasta all day everyday.

Why do you scrape the cheese off of your pizza?

Haha I don’t know, I’ve always done that. I just don’t like cheese in general, I think it’s fuckin’ nasty.

I’m going to quote Militano on this. “His wallet is SOOO big it’s like a filing cabinet… He keeps every receipt he gets.” …So, are you a pack rat?

I don’t keep receipts in my wallet but it’s still pretty big. I don’t think it’s reached the point where it’s like a filing cabinet but it’s getting there haha. I am kind of a pack rat but its nothing too crazy, everything in my wallet’s got its purpose… It’s not like I’m a hoarder.

And now I’m going to quote Jake Todd on this, “Giorgio has a tape worm, well not really but I think he does. One time at Chipotle he ate two burritos in one sitting like it was nothing. And just the other day all within six hours he ate Qdoba burrito, a steak sandwich from Bennys, two buffalo chicken rollers from 7-11 and a bag of
chips.” …I mean, is that normal for you to eat that much? I heard you can down a two liter of Sprite like its no big deal too.

Yeah I wonder sometimes haha. When I’m skating all day I can eat so much. I think I just burn it off real quick or something but normally I’ll eat like 6 times a day or something like that. Oh and with the two liter of sprite, I’ll just get one to last me the day so I always have a drink at a spot.

Moving away from your poor eating habits… Are you filming for Jake Todd’s “Fully Flacid”?

Yeah I’m so hyped on it. All my homies are having parts, it’s gonna be super sick.

Right before we move into the skate questions, I wanted to ask you how you met Jake Todd! Do tell.

Okay, so I was with Matt on the way to light up a spot and I had to pick Jake up because he had the generator and he was filming. Jake gets in the back seat where I have these sick brand new Vans flannels hung up on the coat rack in the back seat, and the first words he ever said to me were “Dude whose flannels are these? I spilled coffee all over them.” So I turn around to look and hes got a stupid smile on his face and said “Just kidding.” So my first impression of Jake Todd was that he was a retard with a shitty sense of humor. But once we got to the spot I was laughing about it and I’ve been filming with him ever since.

I saw some of the footage that you sent me and it looked really good. Are you putting a lot of work into this part?

Thanks, yeah I’m trying to push myself and make it as good as I can.

SPOILER ALERT: How long did it take you to front tail frontside bigspin out on the black hubba in NYC?

Haha that took me a while because I had never done that trick down anything before. It probably took around an hour.

Why aren’t you riding for any big name companies? You’ve been killing it for so long. Do you just not care?

Dude I don’t know, I would be so hyped to skate for a bunch of big companies but the chance just hasn’t presented itself yet. Hopefully it does, that’d be awesome.

I heard you don’t prefer to skate normal handrails, but rather really gnarly handrails with kinks. Are you in it for the thrill?

Haha nah I skate normal handrails. I’m just picky sometimes, but lately I’ve just been really hyped on skating double kink rails, nothing too gnarly. I don’t know, it’s just something different, you gotta switch it up every now and then.

Switch 180 feeble seems like your go-to rail trick. For most that would be a problem, how did you get those so easily?

I don’t know, its just one of my favorite tricks. I guess I do them a lot, but I just love the feel of that trick.

On a typical day, who do you go out skating with?

Normally I’ll go skate with dudes like Alex Matassa, Matt Militano, Kevin Liedtke, Evan Dittig, Dorian Tineo, Cooper Winterson and Max Bluestein.

Any plans skate-wise for the future?

Pretty much just have fun, skate everyday, travel more, and film more clips.

Any shout outs before we wrap things up?

Damn this is gonna be long. First and foremost, my Dad because he does everything for me and is always super supportive. Nate and Leo from Bentleys, Jake Todd, Aj Italiano, Matt Militano, Dylan Bakner, Kevin Liedtke, Evan Dittig, Caleb Shank, Dorian Tineo, Cooper Winterson, Sam Bass, Alex Matassa, Max Bluestein, Eddie Gerry, all my homies, and Eric Witmer for doing the interview.
 

Trevor Colden… What is there to really say? With a good head on his shoulders and a natural talent for skateboarding, this kid kills it. He went am for both Mystery and Emerica within four months of each other. You can expect to see a lot more from Trevor in the future. But for now, just enjoy some of his top 5′s.

Top 5 Cities:
Virginia Beach
Raleigh, NC
Philly
Greensborrow, NC
Atlanta

Top 5 Movies:
Rush Hour 1
Your Highness
The Longest Yard
Billy Madison
Happy Gilmore

Top 5 Underrated Skaters:
Jt Aultz
Aaron Suski
Ed Duff
Jimmy Carlin
Shawn Owens

Top 5 Foods:
Hawaiian bread
Spicy doritos
Cheez-its
Faffle fries
Pb&j

Top 5 Show’s as a kid:
Hey Arnold
Scooby Doo
Dexters Lab
Johnny Bravo
The Grinch

Top 5 Hobbies:
Watch Netflix
Instagram
Hanging out with my buddies
Messing around on my little motor bike
Watching movies

Top 5 Bands:
That’s a hard one to choose just five..

Top 5 Websites:
Hellaclips
Theskateboardmag
Thrasher.com
Skateboarding.com
YouTube

Top 5 things that piss me off:
Cops
Old boards
Falling hard on stupid stuff
Trying a trick forever
Dirty griptape

Top 5 things I’m grateful for:
My awesome family
My dog
my friends
All my sponsors
Being able to get up every morning!

The weather’s feeling nice out all around the east coast. So go outside, kick back and read what Eli Reed had to share with us, in this week’s 10 top 5′s!

Photo: Sean Cronan

Top 5 Cities:
New York
LA
Boston
SF
Philly

Top 5 Movies:
Deer Hunter
Mean Streets
Good Fellas
The Fighter
Good Will Hunting

Top 5 Underrated Skaters:
Gavin Nolan
Randy Ploesser
Jon Wisdom
Andrew McGraw
Spencer Hamilton

Top 5 Foods:
Oatmeal
Texas BBQ
Plantains
Seaweed sailed
Split pee soup

Top 5 Shows as a kid:
Saved By the Bell
X-men
Who’s the Boss
Beavis and Butthead
Tom and Jerry

Top 5 Bands:
Black Sabbath
Rolling Stones
The Band
Fleetwood Mac
The Beatles

Top 5 Hobbies:
Swimming
Fishing
Snowboarding
Dancing
Steaming

Top 5 Websites:
Theelireed.com
Quartersnacks
Hellaclips
The Berrics
Youtube

Top 5 things that piss you off:
Bad service in a restaurant
No socks
Rude people
Kooks
Dumb broads

Top 5 Things You’re Grateful For:
Family
My Life
Skateboarding
Friend
Every new day

I’m not by any means the best skateboarder out there. But I do know what I can do, and how well I can do it. This gave me sort of a benchmark in my head to determine if the physics behind Paradox Grip were true or just a Paradox.

After gripping a fresh board with a sheet of Paradox, I headed out to the local park to give it a test. Between dodging moms and kids on scooters, I was able to do all of my normal tricks either first or second try, even with a new board. Were the physics really working? Was it just a placebo? I really have no idea, but I’m sure not complaining!

I’m very choosy about my grip tape. I’ll skate any kind of wheels, boards, and trucks, but I normally don’t put anything on my board that isn’t my grip of choice. I’ll buy a board at one shop, and drive to the next shop if they don’t carry that grip. I’ve been faithfully riding the same kind of grip for years now.

But after skating a sheet of Paradox, I realized that those years of dedication would soon come to an end. If you’re not a believer of the physics side of Paradox, you can still appreciate the perfect amount of grip that it has. It’s not over-grippy to the point where you can barely move your feet without destroying your shoes, but it’s definitely not some slippery feeling grip. Paradox has found the perfect balance within their grip level. While other grip tape starts out super grippy and eventually become about half as grippy is it originally was, Paradox maintained its same amount of grip throughout the life of the board. -Stephen Oliveira