A day with the boys on Barona iela and a bit of Terbatauskas. A few ollies and grinds; some well balanced manuals and of course some nice spin tricks over a manhole. It was a nice, windy Friday and also a jazzy one.
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FRIDAY
#RAJONTOP10 – APRIL 2021
April turned out a really solid month. We’ve seen some street edits from all Baltic states. It always makes compiling top 10s easier and more pleasant. Shout out to all the Baltic folks.
Also, we put some clips from our own edit in this top. NBD. But if you are not gonna hype your self up, who else is gonna do it, right?
Hope you guys are having a good time out and it is not snowing.
ORIGINAL CLIPS:
INTRO: Linards – super slam
10. Emils Vetra – insta clip
9. Jaan Suits and Romario Simmer – insta clip from Tartu
8. Domantas Antanavičius – FullyGhetto – MURDA
7. Linards Viksniņš – RajonTV GHOSTS
6. Kristo Õismets – insta clip
5. Deividas Barkauskas – FullyGhetto – MURDA
4. Denis – insta clip
3. Enric Jo – insta clip
2. Fricis Štrauss – RajonTV GHOSTS
1. Kelvinas Litvinas – again by Grant Dawson
Is it ok to skate monuments?
This week we look into skateboarding on monuments and attempt to answer the question, “Is it ok to skate them?” We invited Kārlis Bogustovs on the show as he has experience in negation with sculptors and city planners. Also, as long-time skater, Kārlis has skated the majority of Riga’s monuments. The main issues raised are: what drives our decisions to skate certain monuments and not skate other ones? Should we even bother worrying about monuments and simply treat them as another skate spot?
The topic is certainly not an easy one. Is there one ethical principle that determines whether to skate or not to skate a monument? Is it based on whether we believe in what the monument represents? Does the location of the monument play a role or the opinion of the sculptor?
We definitely just touched the tip of the iceberg here, yet it is a decent start for this conversation. Share you opinions in the comments and enjoy the episode.
DISCLAIMER: “Niklāvs asks for forgivness about the podcast being late, and no disrespect to slappies and wallies”
Show Notes:
MADARCADE
Red Bull – Skate Arcade 2013
LATVIAN EXTREEM SPORTS EVENT ARCHIVE by Mikus Ojers
Angelo’s edit
Karlis Kickflip at Kalpaks
Kelvinas Bs 360 at Kalpaks
Karlis’ web site
GHOSTS
Our new edit.
Featuring: Rudolfs Rorbahs, Linards Viksniņš, Marks Voronenko, Fricis Štrauss, Niklavs Vetra. With a special ghost appearance from Mikrobs.
Filmed in September 2020
Tähe skatepark
Our buddy Jaan Suits (the author of the legendary Estonian bs flip) sent us this clip of himself and Romario Siimer skating Tähe skatepark in Tartu. Jaan has been away from skating for some time and returned last September. The bs flip is still on lock.
Video by Rainer Kaur.
MURDA
Fully Ghetto gang released a new clip to accompany the drop of their spring collection that includes shirts, boards and even a pant. Recommend to check their store, as it is something next level for the Baltics scene. The two spots the guys skate in the vid are in Kaunas: the War museum, with all the ledges; and the Kaunas Unity Square, with all those natural quarters. These spots alone are enough to consider a summer trip to Kaunas, and kick it with the raddest crew. Obviously consider refreshing your Lithuanian before going.
P.s. If you are keen on Kaunas scene, recently a new insta account popped up about Kaunas skateboarding. Check it out. Not sure who’s behind it, but it looks really nice.
Winter Lockdown
Our good friend, Meelis Erm, just got back into the filming game with an acquisition of a VX-2000. Meelis has always been keen on making vids (you might remember his previous video projects out of Parnu city, his home turf). Now being a Tallinn resident, Meelis is on a steady skate mission which I’d describe as lowkey cheese & crackers movement. He and his buddies put boxes on ramps, move quarters around and build some weird/fun contraptions. Like the quarter on tires over a fly box. I guess first you’d build something and then figure out how to skate it. Brilliant.
Also, props to the young ripper Jeremy with a Muska Shorty’s board.
AGAIN
Everyone in the Baltics knows Kelvinas Litvinas, the talented Lithuanian shredder. He’s a beast. A style god. However, since Kelvinas migrated to London, we haven’t seen much of him (probably the last time was in Titas Mackevičius’ video, Baby Sharks). But thank god Kelvinas is back to grace us with his proper back tails and massive ollies. Can’t wait to see more.
Kelvinas, keep it up!
Video by Grant Dawson
Featuring:
Curtis Pearl Kelvinas Litvinas Adam Delarue Kyle Wilson Levi Hinkley Bill Emmanouilidis Hedgie Rauri Jones Seb Tabe Jake Church Julian Kimura Myles Shankie Dennis Roberts Josh Church Alex Hatfield
#RAJONTOP10 – MARCH 2021
Baltics 2021 street season has started it seems like. Still cold outside though, and the weather forecast shows three snow icons during next week. Bummer.
Don’t seek for too much logic in this month top 10. Similar to the weather outside, some stuff might not make much sense.
Original CLIPS:
Kārlis Purvens – IG clip
Tomass Vilks – IG clip at Podnieku DIY
Emils – IG clip from Kandava
Arturs Nesaule – ROB’s Stage 1 edit
Toms Berziņš – SUPER BAD HARDWARE VIDEO
Domantas – Fully Ghetto IG clip
Niklavs – ROB’s Stage 1 edit
Dovydas Jucys – out for blood YT edit
Raul Urberg – IG clip
Madars Apse – Mosaic Part
GRZ BOX
Griziņkalns was once the epicenter of all “extreme” sports in Riga. But in the last decade, the place lost its status and transformed into a workout/ basketball court area. During its heyday however, Griziņkalns skatepark had both the skatepark zone and an open space zone with a few boxes and flat bars, which is why it was so attractive. The place could host big contests and serve as a meet up spot for the homies.
Despite the transformation, a big portion of open space is still available, and few days ago the crew went to check it out, with a box.
Pics by Nauris Dollins
Feels great to skate a place with so much history. In case you go there make sure not to leave trash behind.
Related: BARAX BOX DOCUMENTARY