Game of skate Championship 2019 is here. Miks Grantiņš sat down with Arvids Zvaigzne to draw the players for the upcoming games. This year, along with the veterans of the championship, we have more younger skaters and some guys who skipped last year. We will try to catch last days outside and then move to the warm doors of Spot Center. The plan is to have first games up next weekend. Stay tuned.
Major shout out to our splendid sponsors: Clockwise, Tikari, MindWork Ramps, Commune DIY and the Spot Center.
Couple of weeks ago we got approached by Amanda Kaufmane with an idea for a skate event. Amanda studies literature and enjoys composing poetry. She and her friend Linda proposed a poetry reading event in combination with a skate jam. A pretty odd idea at first, but we liked it. As some of you may remember, we recently took a shot at poetry, so this event idea made a lot of sense. However, what is their plan and what is the idea behind it? We sent five questions to Amanda and hopefully it will shed more light on “Poetry, Skaters and other Animals”.
Hey, could you please introduce yourself? We are two friends – Linda and Amanda. We met while making a Christmas related event and stuck together trough other projects and events. Together we could laugh and cry about anything, think of pretty random ways to solve problems and drink lots of coffee.
Tell about the event and how did the idea came about?
At first the idea came to us as a joke. We were playing with different scenarios and thoughts, making jokes. But this time it was different. As the idea was so weird we were laughing about it and being pretty sarcastic however somehow it stuck. We became really passionate about it. We decided to do it. To unite skaters and poets. And then dropped the idea because we didn’t know anything about skaters… and then we changed our minds once again. That’s the point! We wanted to know, we got intrigued and here we were again – talking about cute skaters and planning our event. This time for real.
Could you tell about the program? What is going to happen? Everything will start with an exhibition opening. It will get everyone to not only enjoy the art but also explore the skatepark (the spot center) as it’s going to be the exhibition hall for the night. We are going to continue with some poetry readings. Seems weird enough already as the location is really unusual for this type of activities. As everyone will get used to seeing art in a skatepark we will change it up again and skaters will introduce us to skater jam. Ok, sounds good. You can do anything anywhere. But can you do anything anywhere and at the same time? Yes, you can! We will demonstrate a skater and poet united performance. Ok, we proved our point you may think, everyone saw it happen. Poets and skaters can be friends, but what about anyone else? We found a way that could unite us all. And it’s music, so the night will end with a small concert.
What is the main goal a of the event?
So if you couldn’t already tell. We are really stubborn. We want to prove to society that the world is bigger than we see it on day to day basis, in our comfort. We want to show different hobbies, different opinions and opportunities.
What are your thoughts on skateboarding?
We find them really cool and see it as a big part of urban culture. We love the aesthetic and everything we see on the streets and on the internet but as we don’t really have any skater friends ourselves we don’t know the reality.
If you are interested make sure to come by The Spot center on 9th of November 19:30. For skating part, we plan to arrange a best line competition. More info to follow
This has all ingredients of a great edit: good crew of homies, beautiful spots of Barcelona and close surveillance of a filmer/editor with a good taste. Titas Mackevicius captures his friends having time of their life and leaves all of us wish we were part of their crew. The guys charge and push themselves hard! Especially young wild bull – Kernius Trakymas! The future looks really interesting, can’t wait to see more
Arguing with security and being outlaws in the streets is so common for skaters that we never considered a different approach to street skating. But things can be different. Skaters can work together with city planning team and make skateboarding a part of the city. Bordeaux is one European cities where skateboarders did exactly that. It is hard work, but with right attitude, right arguments and right people making the calls a lot of things can be achieved. Let’s take notes.
Absurd skateboards take the road less traveled, actually the road never traveled, in their latest video titled DNO. Russian word Dno means the bottom in English, and, as the video shows, the small town of Dno in Pskov Oblast really is the bottom. Absurd team has traveled to many “exotic” places for their travels, and Dno is probably their most absurd choice yet. The Baltic countries are not the same as Russia, but I guess some of us have seen glimpses of Dno around here too. And it is only five hour drive from Riga.
Days are getting shorter and we have less time to skate outside, but still got plenty of good skating coming out from everyone in the Baltics. Let’s hope we can a full street top 10 next month!
For those who grew up skating in Riga it’s not a secret that Rainis monument is the most OG spot there is. Skaters have had sessions there for decades probably since street skateboarding made its way to Riga. It was one of few skate spots in the center in the 90s and early 2000s. Riga street skaters learned their first grinds and slides there as well as some history about who Rainis was. Those of us who didn’t pay attention at literature classes found out basic facts first hand from irritated pedestrians and police officers. Rainis was a high caliber writer, the godfather of Latvian poetry. There is even a whole poetry festival called Dzejas dienas (eng. Poetry days) which started on 11 September 1965 on the day when the monument was opened and Rainis had hundreds birthday.
Great poems of Rainis’ led to the monument which later turned into a skate spot with a big history as well (more on that some other time). Poetry days is still an annual event in September and we (skaters) would like to try and participate in the celebration. By making this post we want to pay a tribute to Rainis for pushing Latvian literature and in a way skateboarding. We asked skateboarders to write poems and this is what we got.
Inguna Skujiņa
Photo: Dennis Lopez
There’s a preschool for skateboarding. A triolet.
There’s a preschool for skateboarding.
It’s called childhood.
Climbing trees, falling and hitting your knees.
There’s a preschool for skateboarding.
Knocking out a tooth while jumping on rolls of hay,
Inspecting the bodies of animals that have decayed.
There’s a preschool for skateboarding.
It’s called childhood.
If I didn’t skate, I’d be a deep sea diver,
Swim far from shore, sell oysters for a fiver.
Chill with the fish, look them right in the eye,
Wouldn’t taste concrete, wouldn’t have to cry.
Backrolls not drop-ins, kickflips in fins?
No pads are needed, okay are your shins.
In full pools I’d practice, confined water dive,
I wouldn’t know what the hell is revive.
So beautiful creatures are passing me by,
I slowly descent, not sure I could fly.
Gently I pat on someone’s back and tail,
It is very nice, no one here is stale.
As I sit back on the dive’s eve,
I remember a man; his name’s Scuba Steve.
Anonymous
Can I really write a poem about skateboarding-what does it mean or feel like? No, I definitely cannot.
I cannot let my self speak in one tongue instead of hundreds of thousand ones. It would be a subjective matter.
But maybe that is the problem.
That is the answer to my own dilemma.
Skateboarding is subjective
What matters is your own perspective
I don’t care much for video making
Aching for internet’s earthshaking
The feeling of freedom is just too overtaking.
It doesn’t really matter
If I’ll ever break any records other than my bones I don’t need no rewards, -What I praise is happiness, homies and their supports.
gotta get out
gotta get at it
there is a big black cloud
roaming around
maybe i should drop it
only thy prayer
to Jake Phelps
from hells crater
shall bring the sun
and a happy layer
to thy pitiful life
of a skater
University of Skate panel. Discussion on how academic research can improve skateboarding
It can be hard to express ourselves in a way that is meaningful when talking about the thing we care for so deeply – stoked, blessed, endless emojis and other cliché taglines that make you roll your eyes are ways we often use to describe the activity that offers us, skaters so much in life. I myself often struggle to communicate how much the seemingly casual act of skating with friends or getting involved in skate projects ( and now also academic conferences! ) add to my life. Pushing Boarders is leading the way in having more meaningful conversations surrounding skateboarding.
This year’s event took place in Malmö – the city home to the skateboarding high school Bryggeriets and where Gustav Eden works as a skateboard coordinator for the city hall, making the Swedish city one of the most unique and progressive places for skateboarding.
Madeleine Uggla and John Rattray discuss mental health in skateboardingRick McCrank chair of the Skate and Educate panel
Pushing Boarders is a not-for-profit event run entirely by volunteers who have worked endlessly to organize four days filled with panel discussions mixed with skate sessions throughout the city’s amazing skate spots and film screenings in the evenings.
At first thought the idea of a conference and skateboarding can sound contradictory. Why do skateboarders need panel discussions? The often emotional reactions of the skaters I met at the event proved that being radically honest brings us together- which we need, desperately.
Skate and Educate panel. A discussion on how to learn from skateboarding
Skateboarders have more to offer than the pure act of skating. Among us there are creatives, critical thinkers, caretakers of the community, writers, academics etc. Pushing boarders is the place to bring discussions that have been taking place in skateparks to a bigger platform to then later hopefully take the discussions back to the communities. The event kicked off with a topic that became a running theme throughout the event – mental health in skateboarding. The panelist shared their personal stories and expressed the hope that one day we’ll talk about depression and anxiety as easily as we talk about a bruised ankle.
Rage against the gaze panelist. Discussion on prejudice and allyship in skateboarding
Pushing boarders opened up space for conversations that often get brushed aside by the mainstream. Reflecting on skateboarding’s past and raising the necessity of progressing from a very one sided voice to a more diverse one. Every single panel changed the way I see skateboarding and the people in it. As a skater from a small city in the Baltics, hearing topics being discussed that in my local community are faux pas (immigration, LGBT+ inclusiveness) was to me, crucial to keep my love for skateboarding alive. I am grateful that I got to share this experience with some of my local crew with whom we can hopefully be the voice of these values within our skate community and keep in mind the conversations had when creating projects.
Movie screening at BryggerietSkate Malmo street jam
The list of topics and voices is extensive (skate friendly cities, role of technology, skateboarding journalism etc.) and is all worth your time, so please follow the link to https://www.pushingboarders.com/ where you can check out last years discussions and where this years ones will be posted soon enough as well.
In the mean time go out skating, say Hi to someone you see skate the park alone, make human connections, build DIYs with your friends, call out bullshit and be apart of creating a more connected and meaningful skate community.
A mix of Kelvinas’ tricks from insta during a summer trip around Europe. Featuring wild Kernius Trakymas as well. Lithuanian skateboarding looks doper than ever.
This year Around the block was pretty mellow. We didn’t skate many “big” spots, instead we utilized the launching powers of the mobile kicker that Fricis put together for us. The whole event was all about the kicker pretty much. We placed it to everything we could find – kicker to ledge, kicker to stairs, kicker to a cellar door (the best combo), kicker to a street gap. Once you have a kicker the city becomes way cooler.
We had minor problems with weather reports the week before the event. All reports promised heavy rain on Saturday, so we canceled the whole thing. It was only on Friday that the forecasts were suddenly more promising. Fricis, the brain behind Around the Block, decided to un-cancel the event one day before. And good thing he did that because it didn’t rain at all. Not a single drop the whole day. Good lesson to all of us – cancel your events on the day of the event not before.
The day started with a downhill session at Griziņkalns. Of course the kicker got involved too. You had to go down one small hill and then blast off the kicker into a bigger hill – for Riga it is a pretty gnarly hill :D. Some people couldn’t handle it, some experienced ones gave extra pushes, nevertheless it was fun for everyone. Latvian style GX1000 action.
After the downhill session everyone moved on to find good spots where to place the kicker. Most of the action got documented and is featured in the recap, but not everything. The kicker to cellar door, somewhere in deep rajon of Brasa, was not filmed. It was like a corner – a cellar door with the kicker on the side. Marks did a fs flip and Paugurs pulled a bs flip (by the way Paugurs had tricks on every spot and is definitely a secret MVP of the event). The event ended late in the evening behind Dailes theater where kicker shape shifted into a bank.
One of many kicker formations. Pitch black euro gap sessionOn the run upHappy spectators
Big thank you to everyone who showed up and made this day special. Also huge shout out to our hot sponsors Clockwise Skateshop and Tikari Skateshop. These shops care a lot about skateboarding, so go buy something from them!
