Name Changers #4: Chewy Cannon

I first heard about Chewy with his standout part in Diagonal. The name is unique enough, or for this matter playfully unrealistic enough, that it sticks out and is easy to remember. Since then I really gave the full name "Chewy Cannon" no double take and just went with it. But when he came back on the radar with his sweet Transmission part (above) at the start of this year, it got me thinking about his actual name. Chewy only works as a nickname in Star Wars so I knew there had to be some story behind Mr. Cannon. Didn't find a full interview about the matter but according to Kingpin and some other random photographers and friends posting online, the real name is Lewis/Louis Cannon. The Chewy-Louie theory makes the most sense. Still not sure about the correct spelling but the name is there regardless. In the skate industry, Lewis/Louis is probably more evanescent than the hundreds of web clips coming out every day. Chewy Cannon is much easier to remember.

Speed Demons #1: Dennis Busenitz

Dennis Busenitz's name is fairly synonymous with speed in skateboarding. If you look at him just skating flatground or a ledge even a simple curb, it only makes sense that he employs that speed for good use in his video parts. Just look at this firing line too: he starts off with plenty of speed for no pushing through the first few tricks and then uses his signature short and powerful pushing pulses to quickly gather speed for one last great backside flip. No wonder why he's come out with so many sick video parts where just about every clip he gets involves some pretty crazy speed.
I'd go more into Dennis's part in The Cinematographer Project since I actually have the DVD but I just don't have access at the moment. So I will mention his crazy back noseblunt TWS cover at 3rd and Army, which involved coming in super fast to get all the way around the curve. Managing that significant decrease in speed through the curved noseblunt is also pretty wild to think of, but Dennis would be the guy to handle it.
Taking a look at his shared part with Zered Bassett in Skate More, Dennis's first and last lines gain speed by going downhill (at 1:04 and 3:16 respectively) and both stand out as a "speed demon's" kind of line, especially with his ability to keep his composure long enough on the last line for that final 50-50.
In his Pushing San Francisco feature for Real Skateboards above, just about every single clip is fast. Now the camera work and effects certainly help build that feeling of traveling at some high speeds, but only so much can come from videography to achieve that vibe of flying by on every trick. The two lines starting at 1:19 in particular showcase some awesome flatground tricks and just messing around in the streets all while zooming along.
For Dennis's shoe, he was basically given a new part in Adidas Euro Lines, which was a very welcome surprise. Again, he's skating super fast. Just like at 1:08 when Dennis plows through one 50-50 only to grind some more and gap out into the street. Watching him sprint and push at 2:03 is a pleasure in itself, even if it's just to get on top of the huge bank. Most people will climb to the top of the bank to start or just ask for a convenient tow-in, but Dennis does it the old-fashioned way through some heavy leg work for a more rewarding experience for us viewers.
In Since Day One (remixed), he uses his speed rather well in DC at 0:35 to tre flip up onto the ledge and then nollie frontside flip the gap. The double ollies at 1:04 must take a lot to just hold onto the speed to jump out to the street, and what's even cooler is that the clip is followed up by the 3-up-3-down spot where Dennis frontside 360's WAY OUT beyond the 3 stair just because of how fast he's going. And then at 2:35, Dennis claims the throne of 3rd and Army with 3 more sick lines to add onto his already impressive resume at the spot; the last line of 3 tight tricks and no pushes makes me smile every time.
And finally, in my personal favorite part from Dennis, Diagonal, the first downhill SF kickflip still in black and white sets the tone of the rest of the part to display some great speed. Dennis comes in hot for the two lines at 0:41 at some pretty well known spots. At 1:07, after pushing a bit, he quickly ollies down to set up for the back tail on the ledge and somehow seems to gain speed on that little jump down! Only Dennis... Seeing the ground fly by with the two lines at 2:06 and 2:39 is visually stunning, and I still wonder how Dennis manages to carve around after the back 180 in that second line because it looks like he always rolls out almost too far to come back up the stairs. Again, seeing Dennis physically run up at 3:26 for a huge frontside ollie is very gratifying, and his final ollie in Barcelona over the bench and down the stairs at 3:33 is one of my favorite ollies of all time. (Which makes Gilbert's AWS ad that much crazier.)

Ams that Should be Pro #5: Lem Villemin

This post may be coming late, but so would Lem Villemin's name on a deck.  This dude's been around for quite some time now and word of Lem going pro was started years ago back when he had something possibly going on with Chocolate.  His part in the Adidas Diagonal video (above) is an immaculate display of proper, stylish skateboarding, which has been out for 4 years now.  Lem was also one of the original recruits at the Berrics, even before his near perfect part with Adidas, and even back then I'm pretty sure I remember talks of "Lem should turn pro soon".  Despite some injuries which has taken Lem off the radar lately, he has been on Cliche for about two years now and has come out with a solid mini part for Cliche as well as some always graceful and much appreciated footage in their new video Bon Voyage.  Basically put: anything Lem comes out with, however rare these days, is pure gold and it's quality footage (definitely not quantity as of late) that should support his turning pro campaign.  (For the hip-hop/rap listeners, I'd compare Lem to Jay Electronica in that there is considerably very little coverage of either of them, but what is out there in the industry is just a beautiful display.)  I recently heard Lem is doing better from injuries so I'm hoping he's working on stacking some smooth and powerful clips for his turning pro video part soon.

Video of the Week: Raul Navarro - Adidas

For the weekend, I decided to pick this video part of Raul Navarro for Adidas that went up on Tuesday. I had somewhat heard of Raul from Adidas before through his Diagonal part and when he was in the Adidas International Team Montage (that cab flip at 3:21 has been cemented into my memory). Being off the radar for most skaters, Raul pretty much defines that OG European tech style: fast, assertive pushes, and really capitalizing on the use of shove it tricks.  To me, watching the typical tech skater now is for the most part like "kickflip back tail, and now let's see what craziness he can do out of it".  So when someone uses shove its and 180s in super technical tricks, it's really refreshing to watch. (Shoutout to JB Gillet as well). Tricks like these help you see just how much control someone has.  The fakie pop shove at 2:40 and the cab noseblunt to regular at 3:13 stick out to me for their cleanliness and for how properly they were done. Overall, really a fun watch thanks to Raul's one of a kind style and trick selection and the consistently beautiful editing from Adidas.