David Loy has been off the radar for a minute and I don't recall any definitive part that I associated him to. Even though I've heard much more about his brother lately, David's gradual off-stage destruction eventually culminated with this going pro part. The part reminds everyone that he is one of the gnarliest dudes out there, with a well-used height advantage too. The wallrides, drop-ins, and tall drops he takes are deadly. Mix in some huge rails and hubbas and this part will be in the spotlight for quite some time. Congrats David! I'm not alone when I admit to sleeping on this guy for a while, but this part was like 10 shots of espresso and a few Monsters to wake everyone up to his lunatic skating.
After everything that's been happeningoverthepastfewmonths, it's really not surprising that Alien Workshop has called it quits. Manolo's Tapes pays tribute to the iconic company with a bittersweet compilation of almost every rider to have ever ridden for AWS. Where the remaining riders will go is now the big question on everyone's mind [field].
In other skate news from the last week: Peanut Head's part in Footage Party is filled with wild ripping and some startling clips. (Switch big flip came out of nowhere!) Spencer Pratti is really good and shows it in this ironically-named Straight Skating clip. Adidas took some of its team to the Skate Copa contest in NYC and ended up with some rad street clips from its stylish squad. Melbourne is showcased in this edit full of awesome skating, including one of the gnarliest gap to 50-50s I've ever seen from Tim Williams. Beagle's part in The Cinematographer Project is released and packed as expected with fun homie vibes.
Since I want to do the Speed Demons justice and not fly through them on this blog as fast as their skating, I will save the posts for next week when they will be thoroughly covered. Until then, enjoy what I may say is my favorite single video part of all time below. (It's only weird to say that because it's a mixtape of footage, but it's outstanding regardless.)
There were a great deal of solid skate videos this week, but I must give top honors to Rodney Mullen's recent TEDxTalk. Even though the video came out prior to this past week, I didn't see it mentioned until this week and it is just too critical of a video to pass up mentioning.
Rodney has to be one of the brightest people on this planet. Finding enough physical and mental strength to progress any physical activity like Rodney has with skateboarding is already a feat in itself, which explains the whole industry behind professional athletes. But it takes a truly brilliant mind to pick apart at that psychological/physical teamwork to express the process behind doing what we do as skaters. I'm sure everyone's had those instantaneous fleeting thoughts right before you pop a trick that result in the board being kicked away and busting yourself, and just like Rodney said, you tell yourself that you're not going to do that the next time. I believe Rodney called it a "cognitive override" when he referred to getting back up again just to conquer the trick. His ability to put into words the evanescent thoughts that fly around in our heads to analyze skateboarders like no one else has before is remarkable. Personally I really enjoyed hearing him discuss skateboarding as a language, which is a relatively common connection, but going further to describe how "environmental components" shape our "physical dialect", a comparison I've never thought of before but really do admire now.
Rodney has intellectually conquered his body to the point of knowing his limits when it comes to ripping apart scar tissue, and through that has converted his physical setback into the most legitimate switching of stance possible for skateboarders. At least, that's what is currently considered because who knows what skaters will accomplish ten years from now...much like how Rodney established that learning tricks through others is merely learning that tricks are possible after being materialized from some innovative skater's thoughts.
I have boundless respect for Rodney and this video captures a lot of the reasons why he is one of my greatest inspirations.
On a more standard level of skateboarding videos, this week had a nice dosage, so listed below are some videos worthy of views:
Pat Rumney and Taylor Kirby's shared bonus part in the Deathwish Video, spawned after this week's welcome video for Pat onto Supra Footwear.
JP Souza full video part via Thrasher
Dashawn Jordan's pretty crazy raw clips
Alex Schmidt's exclusive part for The Skateboard Mag
Bert Wootton's Sequel video part
And last but not least, congrats to Sammy Winter for turning pro for Cliche! I love the whole Cliche squad and Sammy is definitely one of the sickest underrated dudes out there. Also in honor of Sammy turning pro this week, we have a short film by the one and only French Fred, Sammy's remixed part by Manolo from Bon Voyage, as well as his original part from the Cliche vid.
I would like to include an additional post for this week's content of switch backside kickflips. There's no doubt that Lewis Marnell was a master of all flip tricks, which allowed him to perfectly land them down stairs and then take them into ledges to get as tech as he wanted. Not only that, but his style is truly one-of-a-kind (I doubt anyone else could make SB Dunks looks that good) and also manages to display his uplifting personality through his tricks. In regards to the switch backside flip, Lewis did possibly the most memorable one ever in his firing line above with an unmatchable style. He's done plenty more throughout the years as well, but to keep it as respectful and tasteful as I can, I will just highlight Manolo's Tribute to Lewis Marnell, which is the best edit I can imagine to celebrate Lewis. In this edit, Lewis pops a terrific switch backside flip in the opening line and then lands another one down a large set at 1:28.
It is always difficult writing about those who have left us, so I will just keep it to a short story about meeting Lewis. The first time I ever met a pro skater was at a Zumiez Couch Tour event in NJ, about two hours away from my house nonetheless. My dad had driven me the whole way and let me go check out everything going on with the local skaters trying to get noticed in the contest. Some kid was trying to ollie off the top of some huge quarter pipe and after a few tries finally committed to it, but snapped his tail off in the process. The kid was totally bummed, but out of nowhere I suddenly see Lewis making his way onto the park area and moving towards the kid. At this point, the Volcom pros were still in the bus behind the park while the kids were skating, so seeing Lewis walk out amidst the locals was a really exciting surprise. I had always kind of felt that the skate pros were like Hollywood Red Carpet superstars with fame and glory, yet seeing Lewis walk right out into the crowd of locals felt very humbling in that he was really just your average good dude with incredible skate skills, nothing like your standard superstars. Anyway, Lewis walked right up to the kid trying the ollie and just handed him one of his Almost decks and told him to go right back up and keep trying. A few tries later, all thanks to Lewis's selflessness, the kid landed his ollie and the crowd went nuts.
Lewis Marnell, you were too great of a person in every respect to have gone this early. Ride in Paradise brotha!
