August 18, 2009

SHRED

I picked up the most comprehensive skateboard book, the other day, down in Venice. The Disposable Skateboard Bible is FILLED with every board from the sidewalk surfers of the 60s, to the hammerheads we grew up with and beyond. Not only do they show the board, but also every colorway it was available in. You'll be flipping through yelling out, "I remember splintering that one on the coping of the drained YMCA pool in '87 when I was busting a gnar and getting rad!" The best part of the book is the section of prototypes. A huge collection of "one-offs" never before seen. How many of these pro-models had their riders end up in jail?

Inside this book, rests the brightly colored icons of days-gone-by, and the layered pieces of wood and paint that represent a fleeting moment in sub-cultural history when skateboarding videos... had plots.