JUNK FOOD
welcome to the first rendition of JUNK FOOD, a weekly series of lukewarm commentary and half baked thoughts on some of the best skateboarding in the planet, from one of the worst skateboarders in the planet. so without further ado, here’s week 1:
it’s never been more evident that we’re living in a post-blobys society. the all black converse with black socks and cut off jeans, the board well past its expiration date, the need for chapstick, the wallies, nollies, and inexplicable combos. this is my video of the week.
there’s also a lot of things on fire in this video, just as one last reminder that he’s french.
Amin Sharif in "slept on psyxXxo +MIXTAPE+" by Mohkie
This is the exact type of shithousery and skating that burberry.erry thinks he brings to skateboarding, but, like, good. i can’t believe i watched a mf get smoked while skating to “bubbly” by colbie caillat. if this is the direction we’re going to go with when the mid 2000s trends resurge, then i’m here for it.
also, i was telling one of my friends this week that i got a book on che guevara guerilla warfare in Bolivia and he asked me if that was the dude with the hat. Amin wears the same hat in this video.
A YEAR WITH THE HOMIES - GODSPEED 2020 by Davonte Jolly
alex “mid” midler proves once again that he’s an incredible skater, and also one that i really never want to watch. seeing these behind the scenes clips also makes it seem like he’s also the jester of the Davonte Jolly group, which is pretty tough for a guy who backside 360-ed the sunset car wash bank. the “they got my back like jansport” from him proves that he’s pretty good at that role, too. kevin bradley is doing jason dill in blessed numbers when it comes to high fives vs. clips. ishod wair is god. noe is ridiculous and gets almost no press.
on a more serious note:
this video made me feel ANCIENT. they were some of the early things i remember watching that kept me skating when i was younger, around my senior year of high school. now i’m 23 with my own apartment and bills to pay. just like real life, skateboarding is somewhere where you see your own growth at such a minute level that the differences aren’t apparent until something forces you to take a step back and see for yourself — this video did that for me, and judging by the comments, for countless others as well. it’s essentially a 50 minute rough cut, but it’s every bit as enjoyable, if not more so, than Godspeed itself.
TJ Rogers - TJIF
tj rogers spent the majority of the 5:15 of this part doing tiago llemos karoake, right down to the unnecessary switch mongo pushes. truly we’re just lucky that this part was filmed in HD. also - the gold watch. i see a lot of people dressing like tony soprano on my tiktok feed, usually with the pique knit shirts and front pleated olive trousers, but you don’t see a hefty gold watch like this very often. you have to wonder if that weighs you down.
we here at discotheque are here with the final verdict on wired headphones - take that shit off. and tj, no one (except heitor da silva - we love you heitor) is above the law. it looks so contrived. you’re telling me you felt comfortable lipsliding a rail that big with wired headphones that fell off as soon as you landed? the music was that good? the presence of the camera equipment at the top of the stair set ruins all the chill vibes you try to force through this video.
The Necessary Evil 002 - Davonte Jolly
Before Nak and TJ left FA, I was praying that Jolly and Nak would branch out and start their own company. Jolly is so clearly well respected by the best skaters in the industry, and the chemistry between him and Nak is undeniable. I’m also over illegal civ’s bullshit, and the best parts of that brand over the last few years has been Jolly bringing in the skaters who aren’t actually on IC (although zach saraceno is also sick). this video is 8 minutes long, but it’s as smooth as a 2 minute video. i can’t wait for the next jolly video in 2023.
Kevin Braun - Pier 7
A lot of people hated on this part because he isn’t really one of the guys you think of when you think of pier 7, so there’s a bit of stolen valor going on. but i’m from the east coast, so i don’t know too much about all that, would this video be cooler if it was dennis busenitz? sure. but what video wouldn’t be? mark suciu also decimated this spot in his SOTY videos. as i keep writing, i think i’m starting to understand the haters more and more. but in a vacuum, this vid is sick. he fakie tre flips the manny pad. there’s a seemingly never ending stream of flip in-flip out manual tricks. and to kevin’s credit, this video made me want to skate this spot more than anything suciu or busenitz put out. getting a whole part out of one spot is pretty creative, and i want to see someone like max palmer do that at the canal fountain.