Send in the clouds.bring down the rain.

I'm pretty sad to report that Silver Jews' frontman David Berman has called quits. I was a pretty big Jews fan as you might have been able to tell by my references to their lyrics in this blog.Fortunatly I was able to catch them play in SF last year during what was only their second time touring since forming in 1989. His lyrics made me feel like a character in a book who drifts from town to town, staying in hotel rooms and drinking a lot of scotch.

RIP Silver Jews.

!VIVA EL FORTIES!

Ok so here's another post dedicated to a short-lived, obscure 90's skate brand.This time i'll be nerding out over Forties, the Deluxe-backed clothing company that at one point or another had John Cardiel,Julien Stranger,Tommy Gurerro,Bobby Puleo,Karma Tsocheff,Ray Barbee,Ethan Fowler,Sean Young and even Jerry Hsu riding for them. I'd say they should bring it back but it would never be as cool.Not even if they made Ethan shave his head and start wearing Dickies again.Although that would be awesome.
I do think if they did come back Alex Olson,Anthony Pappalardo and Dennis Businetz would fit in with their vibe pretty well, although they'd never be able to get them away from their current high paying clothing sponsers.Ok this is starting to sound like some fantasy league shit now.Go bomb some hills.

Da BEEZ kneez.

These dudes are taking "gettin weird" to a whole nutha level and it's fucking awesome.

RIP Oscar Grant.

For those of you who don't already know Oscar Grant was fatally shot in the back on new years day at the Fruitvale BART station by a BART cop while handcuffed and face down on the ground. Some are claiming this was an accident but i see no reason why the cop had his gun out in the first place when he could have easily grabbed his tazer or pepper spray. This murderer needs to be brought to justice. That being said destroying innocent peoples' property and vandalizing independent businesses is a shitty way to bring attention to your cause.

Keep it simple stupid.

After watching Anthony Pappalardo's episode of Epicly Later'd i was reminded of this sweet youtube clip of Pops and friends shreddin around New York, in black and white set to a tune by Charles "Jesus Christ" Manson. Shit like this gets me way more hyped to skate than Fully Flared because i can relate to it. Don't get me wrong the skating in FF is amazing but who the fuck skates like that? Those dudes don't even skate like that.I guess what i'm tryin to say is: Take it down a notch, Skateboarding. You're getting too big for your britches.

Merry Christmas Dudes.

The Fourstar team,The city by the bay and the Silver Jews.Enjoy.

out of step: The sheep shoes video review.

Sheep shoes was a company out of sole tech(emarica,es,etnies) in the mid 90's. They were pretty ahead of their time as far as having slimmed down vulcanized shoes, a quirky team and psychedelic video style similar to something you'd expect from Alien Workshop.I remember having some of the Ed Templeton pro models back in the day and getting clowned by my homies cuz they weren't tech enough.Jokes on them...I was settin trends fool!Needless to say they didn't last long, but they had the right idea while they were goin on. Anyway here's my shitty review:

Frank Hirata: I remember bein pretty psched on this guy back in the day.I think he had a part in a 411 that was pretty cool. Skates fast,poppy and cool frontside 360's.Last i heard he was breeding ferrets and designing shitty skateparks in so cal.bummer.
Rick McCrank:This video has a couple"before they were stars" in it. This is pre Girl, maybe even pre Birdhouse? I like canadians cuz they usually seem kinda weird. He does a back 50-50 to late shove it, which is awesome.
Matt Field:Keeps it earthy by opening his part with a dirt ride to forrest cruise.
Charlie Wilkins:You can tell he's from the east coast, which is agood thing.Skates some really long rails.
Brain Anderson:Again, pre-skate stardom and pre-girl.BA's the man, but you already knew that.He skate's BOTH ledges at hubba hideout and throws a few frontside slappies in for good measure.
Mike Manzoori: Im pretty sure he edited the video and he has the best part in it, if you ask me.Skate everything.Fast,stylish and creative. That frontside air on vert is amazing.
Sergei Trudnowski: Its cool to see a philly dude skating sf spots. He adapts well. Where's Matt Reason?
Ed Templeton: Ed T+Sonic Youth=classic. It's a no brainer.The Tempster's been killin it for ages. That bank to curb spot looks fun.

Well i doubt anybody will actually read that whole thing but if you did well...im sorry you can't get that piece of your life back.Later.