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December 2018 Links

This month Rajon Report edit features some legendary Latvian skateboarders. You can spot well-known faces such as Karlis Bogustovs skating in The Spot center, and Eduards Nehajenko skating in sunny New Zealand! Edit also features some of Riga’s most promising youngsters – Valters Luriņš, Kristers Kalniņš and Martiņš Reitups alongside their mentor Kristofers Ozols, who sent us the footage. Major shout out to Andžs, and Raul who sent us clips from sunny down under. The rest of the skaters in the edit are your same old locals: Ed Gaba, Kaspars Gobiņš, Kaspars Polis, Rudolfs Rorbahs, Arturs Nesaule, and Arturs Bogdanovičs.  

And now it is time to wrap up the last month of 2018.

Not much happened in December. Latvian skate scene was blessed with a Straightforward skateboards’ movie Pis Taisni. Which is definitely the video of the year in Latvia. Congrats to Armando for putting in the effort!

Our neighbours in Lithuania had a bit more video production going on this year. As you probably remember we had a Fully Ghetto video recently, which was rad. Also Lithuanian homies from No Hype  which is now dubbed Chess VLN premiered their new video Buried on 28th of December. It is not out yet, but promises to be sick as it features our favorite Vilnius skater – Kelvinas Litvinas. Pretty excited and looking forward to watch it. Maybe Chess guys will  come over to Riga to show their vid here?

Staying on that Lithuanian note. The Kablys Game of Skate, an obvious parody of RajonTV Game of Skate Championship, which is a parody of Battle at the Berrics, which is a parody of eS game of skate, which is a parody of simply skating flat, has just finished. In the finals Fully Ghetto Domantas had to play against Lithuanian late 2000s child prodigy Gytis Bliusvas. Gytis, an AOG (almost OG aka too young to be an OG but is soon to become one), showed some consistency against traditional timeless G tricks like nollie bs heels and nollie fs heels, but what Gytis was not ready for was Domantas’ 2015ish trendy sex changes. He sneaked them in between the regular tricks so noone could notice and Gytis was like: “WTF? We didn’t do that back when me and Arturas were killing da game at WB park!”. But Domantas didn’t care about that AOG stuff as soon as he had a chance he threw another sex change in the mix, this time with a one foot innit. Good thing all mighty shy judge asked him to re-do that shit and “Taisnība uzvarēja” as Latvians say. Gytis had his turn and he did what he did. Watch the whole game here!

Lithuanian Kablys Game of Skate is nice, but let’s be honest, those guys have no chance against Latvians in RajonTV Game of Skate Championship, pff not a single one! We just wraped up the second round and the following people are officially in the third round: Karlis Bogustovs, Niklavs Vetra, Kristaps Judris, Kaspars Polis, Miks Grantiņš, Emils Metlans, Rudolfs Rorbahs and Jevgenijs Kostirko.  The championship is going to continue first thing in January! Stay tuned! 

December is the time to put out some stacked summer clips. Here is a summer edit from Aivo Jeez (?) with a nice pop tune and familiar Estonian faces. There is also a funky video of the Surf House skateshop team skating in a warehouse. Be carefull with that forklift guys!

To wrap up December 2018 links we bring you the latest video offereing from BrokeLads. Our good friend Klavs Laivenieks has spent his holidays skating and filming around the streets of warm and friendly Malaga and here is the result – Mañana video! In Spanish mañana means tomorrow, which is like a joke among Spaniards who are though of leaving work for tomorrow. Also Mañana is a dope bar in Malaga, run by a Latvian family with our homies Rob and Edgar in charge. BrokeLads have probably spent quite some time in Mañana bar.

Keep it safe everybody! Be wise, don’t mix drinks and Happy 2019!

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RAJONTV GAME OF SKATECHAMPIONSHIP 2 [ROUND 2 GAME 8]

Well here it is! The final game in the second round is here to close the year. Obviously we are going to continue first thing in January, but for 2018 it is all.

In this game Kaspars Polis, the guy who started the championship this year by winning Aleksis Sokolovs, is up against Robert Potašs who is Sokolovs’ homie. Aleksis was a bit upset after his defeat and now it is up to Roberts to take revenge for his friend. Will he do it? Well, it is not going to be easy as Kaspars is known for his abilities to pull himself together during competitions, and Roberts, let’s just say, is rarely interested in competing.

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RAJONTV GAME OF SKATE CHAMPIONSHIP [ROUND 2 GAME 7]

It has been a tough time in RajonTV office. Grandma’s mayonnaise filled salads (Christmas special) don’t increase energy levels that much. As well as excessive free time contributes heavily to laziness and procrastination. Great plans are postponed forever and the fear of looking at 2018 to-do list, only to find one-third of goals achieved, is paralyzing. Nevertheless, it is the last time to make a difference and be productive.

Our game of skate championship is in the middle right now, and second round has only two games left. Today we have notorious photographer and Pis Taisni ambassador Nauris Dollins playing against glass sculpture enthusiast and one of the best skateboarders in Latvia Karlis Bogustovs.

Tomorrow last game in the second round! 

Roberts Potašs vs Kaspars Polis 

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RAJONTV GAME OF SKATE CHAMPIONSHIP 2 [ROUND 2 GAME 6]

Ex-Boards.lv rider Miks Grantiņš, currently Tikari skateshop rider, is up against Arturs Bogdanovičs, Boards.lv current representative. Both of them have strong tricks and consistency most of us only wish for. Arturs definitely has a heelfip advantage here; some of his heelfip variations can get him the win. However, as you probably know, unless Miks has a cold, a back pain or a broken leg, he normally wins majority of games he enrolls in. That’s bad news for Boga!

Nevertheless, with these two on board, the game promises to be a good one.

GAME COMMENTARY 

With an utterly advantageous score, seven to zero, Miks Grantiņš, obviously, won the game and you could hear some Shang Tsung in the air. Flawless it was! All in all it is a pretty evident culmination considering Miks’ previous game with Rudolfs which had the same result, seven to zero. This makes Miks Grantiņš the only person who has gotten to the third round without any letters whatsoever. The dude’s clean! Can he keep this going, it is going to be interesting to find out.

As for this game!

We are well-informed about Mr.Boga’s bs heel abilities, he rightfully earns the title of the meanest bs heelfliper in Latvia; howevre, Miks’s talent is not a single trick. His thing is to repeat whatever is thrown at him.

Exhibit A: Boga’s signatures are no match for Graņa

Miks’ last trick in the game. Keeping it interesting for us with surprise moves like these.

Exhibit B: making this despised move in switch = pure evil

Thanks for tuning in, see you tomorrow for another game

KARLIS BOGUSTOVS VS NAURIS DOLLINS

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RAJONTV GAME OF SKATE CHAMPIONSHIP 2 [ROUND 2 GAME 4]

Two young gents – Niklavs Vetra and Hugo Berziņš battle it out on the most exquisite arena in Riga, the Spot Center.  Everything is perfect: it is warm in the park, there is no one in their way and the flat doesn’t slide. Not to mention that they are both young and talented dudes, they can do anything they want. Especially Niklavs! You saw his game in the first round, it was bonkers. Niklavs’ trick selection is outside the average tricks: he adds extra spins, late flips and pops his tricks higher than required. Hoever, there are these days – the days when you can’t do shit! That day when we filmed this game was just like that.

Game Comments 

Not much to say here. Let’s just appreciate this cab flip by Hugo. That was pretty sick.

Exhibit A: Cab flip

TOMORROW: RUDOLFS RORBAHS VS MARTIŅŠ REITUPS

 

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RAJON NEWS: Pis Taisni Premiere

Last Friday Riga skate scene was taken over by the premiere of Pis Taisni, a movie by Armands Baumanis who is a pretty well-known character in local skateboarding circles. The movie captures the expiring year with the main focus on parties and skateboarding. Despite rumors that the movie was mostly about parties, it had plenty of skate action to hype everybody up. However, it didn’t have any separate parts, as Armands explained himself: “Each part of the film is about a city, so cities have parts not skaters”. This year he managed to travel a bunch: Germany, Switzerland, Estonia, Finland and, even, USA are all featured in the Pis Taisni movie.

Of course our beloved Riga was also featured and had, skatewise, the heaviest section. The spot selection is minimalistic: there are some random streets, some LNB, and the spot of spots, the Barix. The so-called no-go zone was the main shelter for Armands and Co. during hot summer days. It has also served as the proving ground for tricks and filming. The guys have spent the most time there, and it is all captured in the video. Moreover, some footy will forever go into Latvian skateboarding history books. Everybody killed it, but special shout out goes to Niks Kolosovskis! His switch 360 flip, which is indistinguishable from a regular one, deserves special appreciation. Also that noseslide nollie heel looked exceptionally cool. Niks’ skating is like the finest top-shelf liquor that most of us can rarely afford. 

But the video didn’t want to reach for the top-shelf all the time, it remained affordable and simple. The notorious horse water was a frequent feature, and the results of usage were shown in a special edit set to a dramatic score.  These good times scenes reminded of the classic. All the good times wasted having good times – the eternal story of humanity. The video continued with some more good times sections: the Viljandi Bash and Helsinki Helride, showing the capabilities of Latvian skaters to withstand any amount of beverage and remain in the working condition. You can also spot a Pat Duffy cameo there. He hosted the guys at his place during their stay in Helsinki.   

The video ends in New York, which is a pretty unique ending for a Latvian skatevideo an NBD for sure, where Armands skates one of the most iconic spots in the world – Brooklyn Banks! He told us that the spot is closed down and it is illegal to skate there now. However he was lucky to be in New York during some holidays when police didn’t work, so he skated there without problems and even filmed a trick.  

Overall Pis Taisni was an enjoyable piece and as Armands said “I am going to start filming the second part”. Looking straightforward to that!

Check out full video –

 

 

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Rob’s Vision ep.4

Last summer was really really amazing.

I think this was one of the first trips outside Rajon. The trip was organized by Madars, he invited a few of his foreign friends to Latvia to show them how things are done here I guess. The crew comprised of: Nick Garcia, Pat Duffy, Gosha Konyshev and Josef Scott Jatta. Madars also invited the Latvian boyz to compile a more romantic atmosphere: Gaba, Naurix, Deda, Graņa and me (Rob). More homies joined as the trip progressed. We visited three Latvian cities – Ventspils, Kuldiga, Liepaja. Each city with a different vibe and smell, architecture and water. Some good times, music, water and skateboards and friends. Very good recipe for a trip. Enjoy!

Thank you friends for the good times and thank you skateboards!

Words by Roberts Krums

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RAJONTV GAME OF SKATE CHAMPIONSHIP 2 [ROUND 2 GAME 3]

Major shout out to Miks Grantiņš for letting us skate and film at the Spot center!

Last year Edijs Aizstrauts got into the semifinals of our championship, also this summer he won the Game of Skate during go Skateboarding day, so he has all chances to get through this game without any problems. His consistent bag of tricks, that includes the infomous doble flips, can certanly help him.

Jevgenijs Kostirko, on the other hand, has never won anything as far as we are concerned. RajonTV Game of Skate championship is a rare occasion when Jevgenijs is introduced to a broader skateboarding audience. Last year his efforts in our championship didn’t pay off; however, this year he got past the first round, and now (not that he cares) he can prove himself.

 

GAME COMMENTS

What a great game! You could feel the tension was high. Jevgenijs’ showed incredible control in the second part of the game. He was one step away from losing, one double flip away to be more precise. Edijs has some consistant moves that usualy get him the win; however, was it due to mockery or the aspiration to show that he can do something else – he didn’t pull them. The double flips! Where were they? This decision cost him the whole game.

People who skate with Jevgenijs on the daily basis are aware of his abilities that periodically spark hype. I believe this is the first time when he showed his real potential to the skate community! Quite happy for Jefka and if he stays as consistent as he was during this game he might win the whole thing.

Exhibit A: ss bs 180 one foot

This was a rare one! A different angle would give it more justice.

Exhibit B: ss 360 flip

This will keep their heads ringin’!

Have a good week everyone! Next weekend two more game are coming your way:

RUDOLFS RORBAHS VS MARTIŅŠ REITUPS 
HUGO BERZIŅŠ VS NIKLAVS VETRA

 

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RAJONTV GAME OF SKATE CHAMPIONSHIP 2 [ROUND 2 GAME 2]

Major shout out to Miks Grantiņš for letting us skate and film on the premises of the beautiful the SPOT center!

Same as the other games, this game features two exceptional gentlemen: all around goofball Kristaps Judris, representing the Boards.lv skate forces; and one of the finest Aizkraukle’s procrastinators Marks Voronenko, representing Trunk Boyz. 

First round went quite good for Mark, his game against Linards is considered to be the best game yet. Kristaps is also a guy who can make a great game (watch last year game with Madars). So with these two anything can happen!

Although we got a lot of complaints (see comments), we still decided to give Aleksis Sokolovs another shot at refereeing. We are a humane organization and strongly believe that people change and can improve.

TOMORROW – EDIJS AIZSTRAUTS VS JEVGENIJ KOSTIRKO