Peterson Talks J-Ville in the new issue of The Skateboard Mag

Go check out the new issue of The Skateboard Mag, and check out what Mike Peterson has to say about living in Jacksonville. Thanks to Consolidated for the link. Click on the image to biggerize it.

Happy Christmas from BusStop

More great things are coming in the new year. I hope all of you have a great holiday. 

Skateboard Art Show, Jan 7th.

Click image to embiggen.

Kinda Hot for a December...

So much stuff is going on this month, locally and otherwise. Tampa Am, OP Park, Goofy Vs Regular at Skatelab...

Check out this video from Quicksilver's All 80's vert comp going on this weekend:

See more skate, snow, surf, and moto videos at Shred or Die

Some New Things Going On...

And as mentioned before, OP Park has a contest coming up soon, as well:

SOUTH​ END BEST RUN CONTE​ST
(​CONTE​ST IS ONLY ON THE NEW OBSTA​CLES BUILT​ BY TIM JOHNS​ON)​

-$10 entry​ fee
-Two 2 min. runs
-​Check​ out the OP Park Myspa​ce to see the obsta​cles!​

SATUR​DAY,​ DEC 6th at “The O.P. PARK”​

The Orang​e Park Skate​ Park
1006 Fromh​art Stree​t
Orang​e Park,​ FL 32073​
www.myspa​ce.com/​oppar​k

BusStop's Next Park to Visit is...

Any suggestions? Any parks that aren't yet in the spotlight that you'd like to check out? If so, leave a comment, let me know.

New 8103 Clothing, Blog, More

I was just checking out 8103 Clothing's site today, which has another rad blog you should check out, and add to your RSS feeds if you use them. There are some great photos of the recent Skatelab contest, and they've also got some new gear you can check out here. And if anyone is feeling generous, I added one of those (pictured, left) to my Christmas list. I wear a size L. 

Contest at the OP Park on Dec. 6th

Now that the OP Park is full of new things to skate, it's time for their next big contest. For more info on the park, check my post here, or look up OP Park on myspace. You can find the OP park at 1006 Fromhart Street, Orange Park FL, 32073, or call 904-278-2087 for details.

Danny Way Suffers Back Injury in Sao Paulo, Brazil

I just got this from skatedaily.net -

Apparently, while skating at a mega ramp event in Brazil, Danny Way lost control and landed on his backside just before the down slope of the landing ramp. You can see the full story and video here, albeit in Brazilian Portuguese. Best of luck to Danny, I hope you have a speedy recovery-I know you can do it.

I'm learning to use photoshop today.

Campaigning for Fink

I'm going to go ahead and reiterate my point that I think Matt Fink should win this election. Here's another video from Marcus Gause to support my argument.

Consolidated Skateboards Has a New Blog

If you love blogs (and I know you do), you may or may not be elated to hear about Consolidated Skateboards' new blog. Check it out here.

Did you know?

Way back in the year 1982 A.D., before most of you people were even born, there was a print magazine known as Skateboard, or Kona Skateboard Magazine. In this magazine, skateboarding stunts of epic proportion were documented. Inside it's pages, you could find all sorts of rad stuff. Don't believe me? Well, check it out for yourself, then. You can find it here on Kona's website.

BusStop Game of Skate Results

1st Place 13 and Up Winner, Jack Seely. See more Photos Here. More Photos are coming soon.

The BusStop Game of Skate has come and gone. I had a great time, and I hope everyone who came out did, too. It was great to see so many people from the vast expanses of the Jacksonville area. I want to thank Anjie and Lois from the OP park 1st and foremost, for doing such a great job at helping us get our acts together. I also want to thank Brian Richey from World Industries, Board City, including Judges Justin Riner and Lance Katz and Announcer Justin Lewis, The OP park, the Crown guys, Rachel Henley from EU newspaper, and everyone else who contributed to the contest. Especially those who entered.

Results:

12 and Under:

1st - David Jordan

2nd - Santino Johnson

3rd - AJ Domingo

4th - Cale Nolan

13 and Up:

1st - Jack Seely

2nd - Evan Mirchel

3rd - Chase Loggins

BusStop Game of Skate - Tomorrow!

Final Warning - tomorrow at 11:30, the BusStop and OP Park Game of Skate 2008. 

Events Start at 11:30 with the 12 and under division, with the 13 and up division starting not long after that.

So, tell your friends, bring your parents, and come out and have a good time. 

Check out the map here.

Crown Skateboards Has a New Website

Click on the image to the left to check out the new Crown Skateboards website.

Pictured: Newly announced Crown teamrider, Nick Blanco. Photo: Crown

Who to vote for on November 4th

Now, I'm not the person to try to tell you who to vote for during the election, but I'd like you to seriously consider checking into Jacksonville homie Matt Fink for Element Skateboards' Flow Footy election. His footage will be released for viewing on Nov. 4th, but in the mean time you should check out his skating elsewhere:

Skatelab Clash at the Lab, Nov 1st

Kona 2008 Halloween Am Jam Results - UPDATE - Now with Video -

Video Coverage Courtesy of Marcus Gause

Kona's Halloween Am Jam has come and gone. Check out the full results here.

nd Under
1. Tyler Hunger
2. Nick Leinenweber
3. Tristen T-Bone Harrison

10 - 12
1. Devin Bagnoli
2. Steven Pineiro
3. Clint Beswick

13 and Up
1. Jamie Ceruti
2. Kevin Sikes
3. Gio Georgiallis

Sponsored
1. Paul Hart
2. Jake Sykes
3. Kass Plummer

Damn Am At Volcom

Damn Am Staff, in Costume.

You've got the results, now check out the Chill Cam Photos.

"If I'm gonna skate 30 miles, I'm gonna PUSH 30 miles!"

Busy

I'm on my way to Kona for the Halloween Am Jam, no updates today. Hopefully I'll have something to post before the end of the weekend.

Here's something to keep you busy.

Flash Tetris

Play more games at Fugly.com

Floridians @ Damn Am in Cali

Damn Am is coming up this weekend, which is a pretty big deal. Unfortunately, most of us won't be able to make it out there, But the official website, SkateparkofTampa.com and 411 should have you covered there. I took some time out to list the Floridians I noticed that would be competing over the weekend.

If you aren't AT this contest, I'd suggest you hit up the Kona Halloween Am Jam, which is also this weekend. Thanks as always to Rob Meronek for doing that thing you do almost every day on the website.



The List:

Spencer Lau

Timmy Knuth

Cesar Fernandez

Paul Torrento

Alex Pellegrino

Aaron Collier

Dalton Dern

Abdias Rivera (aren't you pro yet, homie?)

Ben Gore


You can see the full heat sheet posted here on SPoT's website.

Early Signups for The BusStop Mag Game of Skate

This is just a reminder to everyone who is looking to skate in the BusStop Game of Skate at OP Park on November 8th - To save on the time and trouble of signing up on site, you can always sign up early by sending your name, age, and sponsors, if any, to me at busstopmag@gmail.com. This will help in two ways. First, it will help those of us organizing the contest to seed the brackets fairly, and secondly, it will save you the hassle of waiting in line to sign up. When sending the email, please be sure to use the subject line 'Early Registration'. Check back soon for a list of competitors.

New Lower Session Rates @ Mesh

Mesh Skatepark sent out an email today making note of their new, lower session rates.
From the email:

Paying your bills might be getting tough but we're making it easier to get your shred on. Session rates have been reduced for everyone across the board. Some other huge news is that the driveway is finally getting fixed up. No more potholes!

That's right! The best deal on admissions ever is now in effect.

Weekdays - 1 session all day:
Members - $4
Non-Members - $6

Weekends / School Holidays - 2 sessions a day
Members - $5
Non-Members - $8

This Friday 10/24/08 School is Out! Park is open at 12 noon with 2 sessions for the day. New pricing is also in effect. Members $5 per session & Non-Members $8 per session.

Call 407.657.2002 for more info.

Events Events Events

And Don't forget, this weekend is the Am Jam at Kona!

BusStop Game of SKATE at OP Park

Ben Gore on Stereo

Checking My Daily RSS feeds today, I came across this little bit of info from the Skateboard Mag Blogs. Congrats to Ben Gore on Joining the Stereo Sound Agency. If you don't know Ben, check out his part in the Flatline Video "Not Even Here", be stoked, and reminisce a little bit of good times gone by.

Skate Parking - OP Skatepark, Orange Park Florida

When OP Skatepark fist opened back in 2000, the park's reception was less than stellar. The ramps were awkward and poorly built, and there was an 8 dollar entry fee in addition to a pad and helmet requirement. Not only that, but it was located right around the corner from Grove Park Elementary, which was one of the best skatespots in Orange Park at the time, with it's ledge seating in the bus circle. Well, those ledges are gone now, which is bad news, but the good news is that the OP Park has been under new management for quite some time now, and things are constantly getting better. The Park is now totally free to skate, and all you need to bring with you is your skateboard and your helmet. The environment is easy going and great for all age groups, and Ms Anjie who runs the park has done a great job of managing the recent upgrades. Take a look at the photos I took over the weekend. All the new ramps are covered in Skatelite, and were built or are being built by Tim Johnson. 

At the entrance to the park, there is a small shop where you can purchase drinks and snacks, and along the south end of the park, there are bleachers where you can sit and watch people skate. The vibe at the park is as mellow as can be, so don't hesitate to stop by. 

The mini spine ramp is one of my favorite things to skate.

You can see some of the new stuff here.

Summer 2010 Update:

Since the last Update, the OP Park has been nearly totally redone, with the help of Team Pain. The park also has a full snack bar, bathrooms, and an area for putting boards together. In addition to that, there is a small playground, a grilling area for barbecues, and a covered area with picnic tables for relaxing in the shade. It's easily one of the best skateparks in the North Florida area.

Here are some photos from the new parts of the park:

If you want to know how to get to the park, check out the listed spots for directions.

How to Play SKATE.

Here is how the folks at èS Footwear define the game of skate over on their website:

"The Game of SKATE is based on the basketball Game of HORSE. Here's how to play:

The first skater tries a trick, makes it, and everyone else has to make it. Whoever doesn't make it gets a letter. The first letter is "S", the second letter is "K", and so on, until "S-K-A-T-E" is spelled out, and that person is out of the game. When it's the first skater's turn again, he tries another trick. If he makes it, the whole process repeats.

If the first person misses the trick he tries, the second player tries his own trick. If he makes it, everyone else has to make that trick, in order. If anyone misses, they get a letter, and so on."

So in case you were wondering, this is how it's done. Maybe you should try playing SKATE with your friends. Who knows--there may even be a local event coming up soon featuring these very same fundamentals. Why don't you go ahead and start re-learning those pressure flips you used to do so well?

Sale at Board City

(Click to Enlarge)

Footlocker Now Owns CCS

Attention Teenaged Males - Megacorp Footlocker has recently acquired the giant skate catalog retailer "Delia's CCS", or as you know it, CCS. While the catalog has been a little thick on the Transworld-ness lately, I'm assuming things can only get worse. I got my new copy of the CCS catalog in the mail just this morning, and guess what? There was a huge ass ad in the back for Proactiv Solution, featuring everyone's favorite posterboy Ryan Sheckler. -Source-

Super Busstop Zine 2 Turbo: Twitter Edition

Are you not getting enough out of BusStop? Do you want to know what I'm doing, even when I'm not making posts on BusStop? Join me on Twitter, and maybe you can even help me stay abreast of all the skate happenings going on in the world.  You can totally stalk me by clicking here. 

Learn the Basics with Isak

I'm not sure how I came across this, but here it is. If you would like to learn how to skateboard, just take some advice from Board City manager Isak Spoor.

Old Man Bowl Jam @ Tampa AM

Do it! 

More Wild in the Parks Coverage

Kona hooked up a link to some more coverage of the Wild in the Parks coverage, including video. New obstacles on the street course tell me it's time to do another Skate Parking article.

Check it out on Volcom's site here.

RIP - Ben Geiger Jr.

This is a difficult post for me to write. Often times, I read about people in the community passing away, with comments attached that say phrases like 'unreal' or 'I can't believe he's gone". I mean--of course I understand the sentiment, but I haven't really felt that way about someone in a long time. When I heard about my cousin Ben on Tuesday night, I didn't believe it. My brain didn't even process it. I went to bed with a headache, feeling dizzy, but it didn't even begin to sink in. Not until my family got together the next day did I really feel the impact of what had happened, and how it affected everyone in the family and those who were close to him.

Ben was always a pretty cool kid. Aside from him being born, I think my earliest memory of him was when he was a toddler, we were at a weekly family dinner at my Grandma's house in Orange Park. I had my best friend Andy Burr with me. Ben apparently thought Andy was pretty cool, and wanted to play tag with him, but Ben's way of tagging was to punch Andy square in the nuts, which he did right in the dining room in front of my whole family. "AARGGGGH MY NUTS!" As soon as those words left Andy's mouth, he ran out the front door in embarrassment. Ben was laughing, with his trademark smile, and everyone else just stood there with their mouths open. Well, except my Grandma, who said something like "EHHH? What happened?" Actually, I think my cousin Patti (Ben's Mom) was laughing too.

My Brother got along great with Ben, too, and he would often babysit him along with his siblings, and they always seemed to have a good time. Ben was a good kid, and was always in a good mood around my family, never impolite in any way.

Ben was good at skateboarding, and I wish I had gotten to skate with him more often. Some of the most memorable family get togethers at his house involved Ben and I skating with his neighbor on a ramp that Carl Naegle built. It was fun. In addition to skateboarding, Ben was also really into Motocross. It was his main thing. Sometimes he would come out to my parent's place in Ocala National forest to ride trails along with his step dad Brad, and it was always good to see him.

I guess this kind of leads to what happened to Ben, the whole reason I'm writing this. Ben died in a motorcycle accident this week, and we are all in shock. My thoughts are jumbled, and it's hard for me to even put words together about him. If anyone wants to share any info about Ben here, Please do. Please leave a comment. If you have anything else, please send it to me @ busstopmag@gmail.com, or to my personal email if you have it.

There are news articles about the incident you can read here and here, and there is a guest book you can find by clicking here.

I'm going to miss you, Ben.

Wild in the Parks Results and Photos

Unfortunately, I couldn't attend this contest, but looks like Kona's website has it covered. 

14 and Under Winner - 

Gio Georgialis

14 and Up Winner

Jamal Campbell

Pro-Am Winner

Timmy Knuth

Check it out Here. 

Reminder - Volcom's Wild in the Parks This saturday at Kona.

Skate Parkin' - Cuba Hunter Skatepark, AKA "Emerson"

I stopped by Emerson on the way home from work today to take some photos of the park. It's a pretty ok standby for when you can't come up with anywhere else to skate, though you might want to go with a group for your own safety later in the day, as I've heard numerous accounts of sketchy activity going down at the park. Nobody there today but a guy on a bike.

Watch out for tetanus

Note the tag on the ramp that says 'whore'. Stay classy, Jacksonville.

If you've never been to Emerson before, it's pretty much a basic steel construction park. There is a spine ramp, and a large miniramp behind it, though the large miniramp has some pretty hefty kinks at the bottom. There are some BMX jumps in the middle of the park, and on the street side, there are some flat rails, a manual box, a hip, and a large bank with a hip and a quarterpipe embedded in the middle of it.

 

Hip

Directions to the park can be found here. 

Congrats to George Evans

Congrats to Jax Beach Homie George Evans for getting 4th place in the Volcom Miniramp Contest at Surf Expo this past weekend. George also got 3rd place in the best trick contest. You can check out the results here and here. Too bad I couldn't make it down there for the contest, though I heard getting in was pretty harsh.

Update: You can check out the full contest writeup here, with a photo of George in the best trick contest.

Happy Birthday, Mike Peterson

According to 411vm.com, its Mike Peterson's Birthday, so in light of this, I want to say happy birthday. Mike, since I can't buy you a beer right now, I'm just gonna blog about you. If you haven't seen it already, you can check out Mike's part in 411's 'Comin' in Hot!', in addition to his footage in the Consolidated video, Goin Bananas. You can check out his part here, or click here to see Mike's profile on the Consolidated website.

Artwalk - Hustlemania Edition

If you don't know already, Artwalk is an awesome way to drink alcohol in public, meet up with 500 of your friends, and possibly skateboard downtown a little bit too. It seems like every time I go, I run into someone I haven't seen in a hundred years. Last month, I ran into Jimmy Chadwick, a former Jacksonville pro who rode for DNA skateboards. (Remember them?) Now he's working for Vans doing some kind of promo stuff. He had a huge Vans van. This past week I ran into a friend of a friend at Artwalk, you may know him as Piff Huxtable, or alternately, Clyde Singleton. I just wanted to take the time out to tell you people about his blog, if you don't know about it already. You can see it here, with just as much entertainment value as what you have probably read over the years in his columns in the Skateboard Mag. You should also make it a point to check out Clyde's video Minority Report, which you can pick up from Skatepark of Tampa online here. And to everyone, I hope I see you downtown at Artwalk next month. 1st Wednesday of every month.

Photo cred - I borrowed this image from flickr user 'nowax'.

On another note, check out this image that I got while looking for an image of Clyde using his name on google. So random.

Crown Contest in St. Augustine Today

I gotta get in contact with these Crown Guys-I just found out about this today. Someone hook me up! Rad team. Contest today at treaty park. Click on the flyer to embiggen it.

Van Wastell

Image - http://www.dlxsf.com/

Kleeman and Mike

Thanks to The Skateboard Mag blogs, I came across this tonight. Kleeman and Mike is a series of comics, animated clips, and artwork with a theme most of us can relate to, featured alongside other important things worth looking into at the Kleeman and Mike website here. There are more than a couple of clips to watch, and the art is great too. Check it out. This one specifically grabbed my attention. The art featured here can be seen in the much longer clip, Jaime's Taco Shop, which can be found here.

"Kleeman and Mike follows the adventures of two young roommates named Kleeman and Mike. They have a cat named October and a wise friend and mentor named Brick, who is a brick."

When looking at the site, be sure to check out the 'old site' link at the bottom, as you'll find lots more content worth looking at linked there.

Sure, she looks like the therapist from the Sopranos, but what is her stance on SKATEBOARDING?

Skatedaily posted this today. In the middle of a bunch of stuff about Republican VP nominee Palin, I saw this noteworthy tidbit of information:

---------------------

From Politico -

* Palin Supported Penalties for Using Skateboards on Public or Private Property in Wasilla.
“Beginning Oct. 15 — after the expected opening of the $233,000 Wasilla Skate Park — skaters will be breaking the law if they use their skateboards, in-line skates, bicycles, scooters (or any other recreational, non-motorized wheeled device) on public or private property where signs are posted forbidding their use.”

The Frontiersman added, “In the ordinance approved Monday, the penalty for first-time violators of the ordinance is a written warning and the skate device may be confiscated for 10 calendar days. For a second offense, a $50 fine shall be paid and the skate device may be confiscated for 30 calendar days. A third-time offender will have to pay a $100 fine and will lose his or her skate device permanently.” [Frontiersman, 9/18/98]

-----------------------
You know what I think? We need to come together as a people and make politicans work for the SKATEBOARDER vote!

Also, don't expect me to get into politics on BusStop, I was just looking for an excuse to use that picture.

Skate Parkin' - Atlantic Beach Rotary Club Skatepark

I briefly wrote about this park in the Go Skate Day/Bangers for Bucks post, but I thought I would take the time to make a seperate post to talk about this interesting transition-themed park. Basically, this park is like the cement equivalent of the Animal Chin ramp, in bowl form.



The bowl of the park makes a unique formation, with a high rollercoaster in in the middle that sends you straight over the tunnel to the parking lot. Or, through the tunnel, if you aim it just right and need an excuse to not go to work for a few weeks.


Martin Ramos, no hands

There is a shallow corner with quick transitions, a huge deep end, and a small snakerun along the back of the deep end.


Snakerun thingy

Between the deck of the shallow end and the bleachers/seating area, there is a long quarterpipe that extends all the way from near the entrance, to the bottom of the snake run on the opposite side of the south end of the park.



It's been a few months since I've been to this park, but chances are it's still exactly the same. Check out the photos of the park, but remember - pictures don't do the place justice, and this place is built for transition skaters with experience.

You can check out more images of this park in my 'Go Skate Day' Gallery here. Go skate it, and have fun. Chances are, you might just find Animal Chin there.

On another note, note the new buttons along the right side of the homepage - these buttons serve as easy navigation to key points of the website that I've found people look for the most. This park review marks the introduction of this feature, and more parks will be added as I get around to it. Just click on the 'Skatepark' button on the right for a summary of all the reviews I've posted so far.

Free Flow Tour @ Mesh Skatepark in Longwood, FL

If for some reason you missed out on Timmy Knuth and Paul Hart annihilating Kona Skatepark at the Mountain Dew Free Flow tour earlier this month, you still have a chance to catch all the Mountain Dewness going down at Mesh Skatepark on Saturday, August 30th. If you are interested in competing, hit up the Mesh Website or the Free Flow website for more information. Entry to compete is 20 dollars, and you can sign up as early as August 27th. (which happens to be today.) You can also give Mesh a call at (407) 657-2002 for more info.

....aaaaaaaaaand we're back.

Hopefully you people who read the blog are doing alright wherever you are. My home has gone through a number of disasters in the past week, but hopefully by the end of this week we'll have all of our amenities back in working order, all at the same time. Working plumbing, electricity and most importantly AIR CONDITIONING is what I'm hoping for here.

New original content on the way, stay tuned. Also, the Surf Expo is coming up. Will I cover it, you ask? Lets keep our fingers crossed, bro!

ARE Y'ALL READY FOR THIS?!?!?!?!


















Image of Finn Andres, found here.

Red Bull Results, Writeup and More

If you don't know already, There have been some big deal contests over this past weekend. In addition to the Oregon Trifecta and the bank to ledge contest at the Brooklyn Banks, Red Bull's Pro Edition of Manny Mania went down, and the coverage on the Red Bull website is amazingly well put together. Go check it out, and when you are done, get back to me and help me start a petition to get MiniMania to make a stop here in J-Ville.

Image above is property of Red Bull, courtesy of redbullskateboarding.com