Thursday, April 30, 2009

10 Questions: Craig Lockwood

What is your full name?
Craig Lockwood

Where are you from originally?
Grew up in Bradenton Florida... I've lived there, Ocala, Gainesville, and Virginia. I've been living in riverside since 2004.

Where is the last place you rode your skateboard?
to the store to get some beer.

Describe your first memory of skateboarding where you currently live.
First time I visited Jacksonville I went to Kona... ate some mushrooms and killed the park. Shit... That was back in 99 I think... still had to wear full pads.

Who do you skate with most, of all the people you know?
The motherfuckin' murder squad... Stokes, ODB, and fucking Ralf

Name one thing that could make skateboarding better in your area.
Not too much... skating is great here. If you don't like it you need to reevaluate what you're doing

Who do you look up to the most, and why; skating, or otherwise?
The people I skate with.


Do you think you will still be skateboarding 20 years from now?
Yeah... if I can still walk I'll be skating.

What is the most common place you go to eat before/during/after a day of skateboarding?
Somewhere in 5 points probably

What is the last trick you learned, and how many tries did it take to learn it?
Beach flips!!!! I landed one in probably 5 tries, and then did one nollie in 3. Got 'em pretty good now.

What are you going to do, now that you are done with this questionnaire?
Get back to work.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

10 Questions: Brooke Crawford

What is your full name?
Brooke Crawford

Where are you from originally?
Snellville Georgia

Where is the last place you rode your skateboard?
Grant Taylor's backyard bowl with Al Partenen. That was a pretty fun skate sesh.

Describe your first memory of skateboarding where you currently live.

One memory from when I first started skating was riding down the hill in my neighborhood on an Airspeed board from Wal-Mart and getting speed wobbles like crazy and my feet almost goin' numb from the vibration of the wheels on the asphalt. Haha.

Who do you skate with most, of all the people you know?
I usually skate with Ray Fennessy, Shawn and Chris Coffman, and Morgan Rutledge; they're all rippers and help me out a lot.

Name one thing that could make skateboarding better in your area.
One thing that would make skating better for me in Georgia is if there were more girl skaters here. I love going to contests in other states and skating with all the girls because it pushes me to skate better and its so much fun to be with your friends and be able to skate and also talk about things that you can't normally talk to the guy skaters about.

Who do you look up to the most, and why: skating, or otherwise?
I look up to everyone who has succeeded in skateboarding and everyone who has confidence in themselves and believes they can do anything if they try hard enough.

Do you think you will still be skateboarding 20 years from now?
I'm pretty sure ill be skating in 20 years, ill be 36 so that wont be too old. I see my self just cruising around and hopefully skating with my kids at that age.

What is the most common place you go to eat before/during/after a day of skateboarding?
Quicktrip is the place go between skate sessions. Haha- its quick and they have everything you need, me and Marllee Miller (Florida ripper) go there and get hyped up on some crunk juice. Haha

What is the last trick you learned, and how many tries did it take to learn it?
The last trick I learned was layback grinds. I got them after about 15 tries back to back. Its a really fun trick and cool little trick.

What are you going to do, now that you are done with this questionnaire?
I'm gonna go barge a new skatepark they're building near my house! Hopefully I don't get kicked out by the cops!

Click on any of these photos to enlarge. Thanks to ATLSkater.com for the photos. If you want to help Brooke get to Oregon, go here to make a donation. -Norm

Monday, April 27, 2009

4 for 40 - Week One Winner

Well, time is up for this week's contest, and the next round is going to start SUNDAY. How about this past week? There was just one entry. Sure, the footy didn't follow the rules, but it's win by default regardless. It's still a sick 4 tricks. Just like the last contest BusStop ran, the money goes to Jack Seely. Check back at the end of the week for details about the next round. 

Crown Video Premiere coverage on Jaxscene

If you missed the premiere for the crown video over the weekend, head over to Jaxscene to see what you missed. You can thank Tom P. for the photos.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Busstopmag.com Presents: 4 for 40 - A video contest



I've been kicking around this idea for a while now, but haven't been able to put anything together till now. Basically, here is how the contest works, step by step:


1. On a piece of paper or a notecard, write the date, along with the text "busstopmag.com".

2. Film yourself doing 4 tricks. Each trick has to be at a different spot, and only one trick can be at a skatepark. (if you are under 12, you are exempt from the skatepark rule) Before each trick, you will need to show your notecard or paper with the the site name and date.

3. Upload your video to an online hosting service that is viewable and sharable on the web. You can use sites like Vimeo.com, Youtube.com, Flickr.com, or something similar. Just note that I have to be able to embed the video on the site. When you are done, email me the link at busstopmag@gmail.com with the subject 4 for 40 submission.

4. I'll review the video. 4 Videos will be featured at a time, and I'll post them up all at once. Videos will be judged by me, with heavy consideration given to comments made in the comments section. This means you should get all your friends to post up and say what they think of the videos shown. Remember, do this in the comments section, and not in the chat box.

5. The deadline to submit your videos is one week from now, or April 27th. As mentioned before, 4 selected videos will be posted up for reader review for a period of one week, and judged at the end of the week. If your video wins, you get 40 bucks.

6. If your video didn't get selected the first time, be patient! The contest starts again in 2 weeks, and will run up to 4 times. I will only be posting up 4 videos at a time, so you might have to wait. First come, first served.

For more detailed rules, see the rulesheet here. Please read this before entering the contest. Be sure I know your first and last name and your age.

10 Questions: Erin "Sparky" Dray

What is your full name?
Erin "Sparky" Dray

Where are you from originally?
I'm from a little town called Grand Prairie,Texas. you wouldn't know it unless you've been there. its about 30 min. from Dallas.

Where is the last place you rode your skateboard?
At Aberdeen yesterday. Good little session with all the local kids before it got dark.

Describe your first memory of skateboarding where you currently live.
The first time I remember skating here in Florida was at treaty park with P-nut, Kyle, and I think Ben was there. This was years ago before I even moved here and we were just hucking ourselves up the step up one after the other. It was good times.

Who do you skate with most, of all the people you know?
If I'm gonna be completely honest, I would have to say myself. Get up and just go out early and pop in them headphones is all I need to have a good time on my board. Other than that it's probably Kyle or Dick.

Name one thing that could make skateboarding better in your area.
I don't know if anyone is to familiar with state road 210, but if you are you know that I'm not lying when I say that anything would help. the parks are OK but I have to drive a good little ways to get any decent street spots.

Who do you look up to the most, and why-skating, or otherwise?
I try to look at the way people around me are handling things in their lives, so in a sense I look up to a lot of people. Duddy to start off with for steppin' up and takin' crown to a new level. Anyone that's trying to better themselves or their situation is worth looking up to at least a little bit.

Do you think you will still be skateboarding 20 years from now?
I'm sure gonna try to. I will go as long as my body will let me. And if not, I will definitely be doing something that is in the skateboarding world.

What is the most common place you go to eat before/during/after a day of skateboarding?
I go to the gas station. If its early I just get myself a big banana nut muffin and a chocolate milk. If its later in the day, I go for a big Dr. Pepper, some cinnamon pop tarts, and some hot Cheetos. and depending on how low I am at the time, a pack of smokes.

What is the last trick you learned, and how many tries did it take to learn it?
Good fs k grinds. I've been working on 'em for a while but I just got 'em down pretty well. K grinds are so scary frontside 'cuz if you overshoot it, you're done. Not like backside where you can just step off.

What are you going to do, now that you are done with this questionnaire?
Have a glass of milk, watch some Squidbillies, then some King of the Hill.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

New Feature: 10 Questions

In an effort to get more community involvement, I'm opening up the interviews section to everybody who wants an interview on busstop. Starting in two weeks, I'll be posting up a bi-weekly interview section called 10 Questions. Everyone who rides a skateboard or works in the skateboarding industry is eligible. You'll be able to find these interviews alongside the featured interviews in the link on the right side of the page.

If you want to talk about yourself, show people how awesome you are, got bugged by me to participate, or just want get your name on my website, go here and answer the listed questions. When you are done, send photos to the listed address. That's all there is to it.

Happy Earth Day

To celebrate earthday, I'm going to recycle. I'm going give away two semi-used decks to the first two people to email me. Just email me your name and address. No photos of the boards or descriptions, and it's up to you how to use them. Just email me here. I won't post up who gets them, either.

On another note, you people had better get crackin' on this video contest, the week is halfway over! I'll pick 4 videos to be posted on monday night.

Monday, April 20, 2009

What are you doing today?

I hope it involves skateboarding, and not some other kind of criminal mischief. Here is what the guys at Skatepark of Tampa were up to this time last year:

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Photos From Brian's Brain Benefit @ Skatelab, Saturday, April 18th


Although I don't know Brian personally, I was more than glad to head out to Skatelab for the cause. I had a good time, and it was good to see everyone skating. Click on any of the photos to go to the photo gallery with the full res versions.

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Monday, April 13, 2009

Don't Ever Become a Slave



Check out this short about Eastbound and Down's Danny McBride learning how to skateboard. Video courtesy of Funny or Die.

Cancer Benefit Contest/Session at Skatelab, April 18th

I talked to Todd Johnson (as seen here) this morning, after getting a tip on an event happening this upcoming weekend. Turns out, Todd is working on a benefit for a close friend of his who is dealing with a brain tumor. Not sure about the nitty gritty details, but I do know that the event starts at 3pm on Saturday, April the 18th, at the location of what used to be Skatelab. I'll be there to show my support, I hope you will be, too.

(if someone has a flier or more info for this, please email it to me so I can post it.)

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Photos from the Crown Cookout, April 11th, 2009

I missed the cookout by about two and a half hours. That's what I get for being a dad and having dad-ly responsibilities! Luckily when I got there, there were still lots of people skating and having a good time. I'm not going to tag most of these photos, so you people are going to have to drop some lines in the comments section to tell me who some of these people are.

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Dan was there. He was doing this:

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Aaron Mullin


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This Board Will Murderize you. (especially your Ankles)


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The Brothers Pineiro Were Present.

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Craig almost got by me with this one. I was too quick for him though.

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This kid has dope style. He could even make early grabs look good, spinning them 360 like it was 1985 or something. Yes, I was alive in 1985.

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More Rippage.

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All the Riverside Celebs were there. Well, the darker complected ones.

For all the photos, just get to the gallery by clicking on an image.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Ante Up! Finals - Joey Corey Vs Chris Kendall

Here it is, the final match. Stay tuned till the end, where ODB starts shouting about regular tricks not counting to finish a game of skate, or something like that. I think he may have had a beer or two.

Sorry

I didn't have time to edit and upload the footy from the final match last night. Here is something I did a while back when my foot was hurt and there was nothing better for me to do.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Ante Up! Chris Kendall Vs Jack Seely

I'm pretty sure this was the second place match from Sunday's contest. It's Chris Kendall vs Jack Seely. If you can't see this video, you can see the lower quality youtube video here.

Up Next - The finals.

Ante Up! Chris Kendall Vs Jack Seely from Norm Stovall on Vimeo.

ANTE UP Game of SKATE in Riverside Results, plus video footage

This is how you organize a community game of skate: You just do it. No stress, no bullshit, just a congregation of homies coming together in Riverside. The event was a huge success by my standards, considering almost all the advertising for this event was by word of mouth. By the time I got to Memorial Park (I was about 10 minutes late), there were tons of people skating around near the river.

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Doing Work

I had planned on helping out with the brackets, but couldn't get the software to work. No worries, the numbers ended up being even, and Kevin and Chris Jolly ended up doing everything by hand. The brackets were single elimination, and names were randomly picked from a bag to set up the matches. Since there were so many people, the first round was set to three letters: S-K-8. Well-two letters and a number. The first matchup was between Ralph Starkel and John Macintosh, which set the pace for the event. I was actually expecting some off the wall craziness from Macintosh, but I don't think those tricks came out till later in the day.

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Julio has a sweet bike.

After about the second match, the cops came around and told everyone to leave. They were nice about it and everyone took off to the abandoned basketball courts at Riverside Park. I'm assuming the cops had to be nice, since there were at least 60 people there skating. I don't think they felt like writing 60 tickets. Either way, I'm glad they didn't.

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Celebrity Guest Appearances

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Surprisingly, I've never seen Nate make that face before.

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Girls love guys who are Jolly

Once everyone got to the second destination, the game of skate resumed, and there were some great matches that went down. The vibe was chill throughout the event, and there were hardly any issues at all, save the do-over for the second place match (I think?) due to some descrepancies over technique. I didn't get exactly what that was about, but either way, Joey Corey came out the winner, without a doubt.

Here is what went down at the end of the day-more videos are coming tonight.

Pat Vs Joey

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Ante Up! Game of S.K.A.T.E. in Riverside Results are In

Looks like Joey Corey walks away with the first-place dollars.

It was just under a week ago that I found out about this contest. Kevin Graver gave me a call to ask if I could put a flier up on the site, which I gladly did. In just a matter of days, enough word got out to result in a virtual sea of skateboarders swarming on Memorial Park in Riverside. So many people showed up, in fact, that we got kicked out by the police just 15 minutes into the the second game. No worries though, everyone just trekked out to the basketball courts in the back end of Riverside park, which was just a few blocks away. This spot ended up being an awesome place for the event, due to the smooth surfaces and the secluded location.

The games went fast, and in the end Joey Corey walked away as the winner with a handful of cash. Lots of highlights to go over, so check back tomorrow for footage of the final matches and reflections. For more photos, go to the Flickr photo set here.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

On my soapbox RE: FBC Downtown

Have you ever been hassled by members of First Baptist Church of downtown Jacksonville, just for skating past the church on the sidewalk? I have. Numerous times. Apparently they own the city blocks and all the sidewalks around the church. Weird, huh? Check out what I read today about the church via jacksonville.com. Basically a blogger critical of the church was investigated via a subpoena to Google. A detective, who was a security detail for the church, basically broke the law and outed this guy. The article also illustrates some slanderous words used by the pastor of the church to criticize this blogger. From the blog in question:

My initial comment on the article: how sad to read the depths that Mac Brunson has sunk to. A pastor, a man supposedly called by God Himself to love and shepherd Christians, that he would unequivocally declare to a news reporter that I, one of his sheep until just recently, am "obsessive compulsive", and that I am "not stable at all", and the real humdinger that "What you're dealing with here is sociopath". Mac suddenly knows my mental state, when he has never met me, my wife, or my kids. Not one single conversation with the man and he declares me to be a sociopath. People who know me at FBC Jax and my new church and elsewhere know this is not true and just a pathetic attempt by Mac to attack the credibility of one of his critics. The sad truth is that Mac telling a news reporter this lie about one of his sheep speaks more to Mac's lack of character and lack of a pastor's heart than it does my mental state. Thank you, pastor, who never met me or my wife or my kids - for lying about me to Jeff Brumley - but I do forgive you, brother.
Sure, you might say this has nothing to do with skateboarding. But I'll tell you this: I skateboard downtown regularly. I hang out downtown regularly, and the only thing I have ever seen come from FBC is bullshit regulation due to the church's stranglehold on the city, and getting kicked off a SIDEWALK for not looking the right way. If you want to know why there isn't more cool stuff downtown, here is your reason. Because FBC is downtown. They ran off the Film industry back in the day, and they haven't stopped keeping people out since. So here is what I have to say to First Baptist Church: Until you start publicly doing something positive for the community you reside in, that community is going to continue to look down upon you. Right now, it's looking like you'd rather not associate with the people in your neighborhood. And god knows they don't want to associate with you.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Photos from the TSI Miniramp Contest

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Photos from last night's contest are up, just click on the photo of Ralph to go to the Flickr set. Unless you are offended by boobs, in that case don't click on it.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Tonight - Miniramp Contest, Grill, Beer, Champagne.



Tonight - Miniramp contest, grillin', champagne, and beer. According to Kyle, they are building new skate stuff as I type this, including a new box.

If you don't know how to get there...


View Larger Map

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Kona Spring Fling Results are Up

Unfortunately, I couldn't get off work this past Saturday to make it out, (wedding photography, meh) but it looks like a good time was had. Results, photos, and other info about Kona's annual skate contest/rain dance, head on over to Kona's website to check it out. It's the main dealio on the homepage blog right now.

Fine day for a "good cop" story.

According to the Naples, Florida based naplesnews.com, One police officer took it upon herself to not only get kids out of no-skateboarding areas, but also arranged for kids to get complimentary paid memberships to a local skatepark.

As quoted on Boardistan:

"Instead, she found a solution that would make the businesses happy all while keeping the boys rolling. . . “If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t be skateboarding,” Jose said. . . . Cercone also used her encounters as an opportunity to build a relationship with kids in the community. . . .“I think it’s important for the young kids in the community to develop a good rapport between themselves and the police department,” Cercone said. “They are the future of our county.” "
You can see the full story here. Seems like I've been hearing more and more stories about police reaching out to skateboarders. Weird.