StrangeLove
one louder
Sean Cliver
My dear friend Megan Baltimore once interviewed me for an issue of Wallride, where she asked, "On a scale of 1–10 how uncomfortable are you in your own skin?" Without skipping a beat, I replied, "This one goes to 11." Yes, the very same number on Nigel Tufnel's infamous Spinal Tap amp. And it's true. So much so that I can be an exceptionally awkward and uncomfortable human being to be around or interact with at times—some may even say most times. All depends who I'm around, what exactly is happening, where it may be publicly or privately, and how many other humans are involved or in the immediate area. The why, however, is probably the most important variable of all, because if the scenario happens to be a recorded interview, say for a documentary or a podcast, well, then this number of mine ratchets straight past 11 into unnerved territories best not triggered because the only thing to be echoing throughout my vacuous brain pan is, "WHY THE FUCK DID I AGREE TO DO THIS?!" Hence my near bulletproof policy of passing on any and all such recorded invitations. Some, I think, may take me for dick because of this, but trust me: it really is best for all parties involved that I don't dunk my psyche into any further tanks of stress and anxiety than I already experience on a run-of-the-mill normal average old day—my basket case just isn't woven properly. End of story.
a matter of size
Sean Cliver
Several months ago I stopped in at Kingswell to have a look at the board wall and wound up shooting the breeze for a good while with shop owner D.J. Chavez. Throughout the course of our scattered conversation the topic of wheelbase eventually came up, at which point D.J. rolled his eyes to the sky and recounted the time when a couple of Baker and Deathwish riders first zeroed in on these mysterious incremental measurements and how their synapses immediately exploded into uncharted levels of mind-spinning OCD.
what if... anita tessensohn had turned pro?
Sean Cliver
Off-the-nose kickflip—a give or take 3.5" nose, mind you. Ask any kid who watched Powell-Peralta's Public Domain, aka Bones Brigade Video 4, when the VHS tapes first hit skate shops in 1988 and that's one of the highlights they're sure to remember from Anita Tessensohn's 15-seconds of instant video fame. This was, I believe, an on-video NBD at a time when most skaters were still learning how to do regular ol' kick flips in the mobbest of eras. Oh, not to mention the fact that hardcore female street skaters in the '80s were the equivalent to spotting hen's teeth in the mouth of a unicorn—or at least so it was in my red neck of the Midwest woods where skateboarding was frowned upon in every single imaginable sense. So, to see a girl seriously kicking ass on street made the fantasy of the West Coast… well, even that much more fantastic.
meet the new artist on our block: tyler pennington
Sean Cliver
This is only the first sentence, but allow me to backtrack. Think New Hope to Phantom Menace if it helps… or maybe don’t because it doesn’t? Anyway, like almost 10 years ago now, circa 2014, Nick and I were both spitballing skateboard company dreams while strolling along on the streets of San Francisco. For my wishful part, I'd long harbored a fantasy about starting something up and getting all my art friends and acquaintances to jump in and out on era correct boards produced in era correct methods. I mean surely they'd all love to do that. Why wouldn't they? What fun it would be! Well, as it turned out, there were plenty of reasons why not. Definitely more than I would have imagined and none of which I'll bother going into here—well, aside from one artist in particular: Aaron Horkey.
jasper steinbach and the village psychic
Sean Cliver
Hello darkness, my old friend, that same ol' same ol' time has come again where I find myself wavering between waves of procrastination and the subconscious terror of my hand being unable to cash the checks my mind has written. So, instead of boldly facing my fears, I've designated today as the day I mope around the website mopping up all the loose ends and dangling threads—one of which being a formal post congratulating our team rider Jasper Steinbach for his recent drop on the Village Psychic and resultant #9 clip on the Quartersnacks Top 10 for April 26, 2024.