Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Stringbean and the Good Reverend


After the Inspecter 7 show at the Wonder Bar Saturday night, we went over to the Langosta Lounge and saw Stringbean and the Stalkers. I was invited to sit in but declined as I was pretty faded after playing the Wonder Bar show. Instead the Good Reverend Wright took to the mike and I to my camera to film this small bit for your enjoyment. It was another fine evening.



Waxin' Poetic

I have a serious love/hate thing goin on with surf wax. Love the way it smells, texture, taste (c’mon, you haven’t?) etc. Hate the way it makes my skin all greasy. Goin out at night with a shiny face after immersing myself in petroleum product all day kinda sux. Also, the brands that smell like cheap air fresheners get no love. A friend from West Coast Surf shop in Florida sent me a bunch of a new (unmentionable) organic wax to try. While it was generally, ok function-wise, I found it had to be reapplied before every session. Lame. No wax=No traction. $3 bucks a bar? You can keep it. I went to The Surf Wax Museum (http://www.surfwaxmuseum.com/ ) and selected a few favorites from some of the more colorful, adventurous, risqué, and just plain classic brands of days past.








Thanks to:

http://www.surfwaxmuseum.com/

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Sims '84 New Wave Redux

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I got the idea that I wanted to re-create the first skateboard I ever owned. It was a 1984 Sims New Wave in Aqua green that I got at Island Style in Sea Bright, NJ. It had the worst example of 80s style graphic anybody could have come up with. It came with Tracker trucks and yellow Sims Street Wheels. I put some serious miles in on that board, taking it state to state and even getting hospitalized once.

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I found out that Sims had recently been reissuing decks, and the New Wave was one of the few. Limited quantities. I grabbed one for like $60 bucks. Tracker Trucks also had a small re-issue program as well. Many of the limited run trucks were already gone. It had been a thing they did in ’09. They did; however, have the Six-Track that was on the original board. Sick. Got two for $30 bucks.

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The search for wheels led me to discover that this idea of mine was apparently not an original one and I found myself immersed in the world of black market skateboard wheels. It would seem that 1980s Sims Street Wheels were trading for an absurd $300 bucks! F that. Instead I got a set of 80’s Kryptonics for $34 bucks. That’s pretty much the standard current price for wheels anyway. They were brand new, never used and in a kind of hot/flamingo pink color. They gave the board this Miami Vice color scheme that seriously kicked up it’s 80s cred.

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To finish it off proper, I found some new old stock 360 tail plates in the same color as the wheels. Bam! A NOS 80’s “nose bone” guard in purple matched the crazy graphic on the deck, so I grabbed that too. A set of Christian Hosoi (you bet) rail guards in white went perfectly as well.

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I got everything together and headed over to Branded Surf & Skate where Adam hooked me up with bearings, riser pads, and grip tape. The grip tape proved a bit of a challenge as they make the rolls thin for the boards of today. He had to do some cutting to make the pattern the original board had. We also did some drilling to the deck too. Sims set it up with the new school bolt pattern. Wow. Once it was done, the board looked sick. Ronnie Jackson was in the shop working on the store sign with a few other guys and everybody was trippin on this board. This kicked off a round of back in the day talk about skate spots, gear, grinds, etc. Killer.

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The board rides with a real 80s swag, though at first the trucks felt a lot looser than I remembered. After I tightened them down almost as far as they would go, it was spot on. I listened to some new studio tracks as I took the dog for a run with the board. It was a really cool way to start November.

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