Saturday, November 3, 2012

Bones Brigade @ Sunray Theater - Paparazzo

Last week, Sunray Theater was the host of Bones Brigade: An Autobiography. Tons of well-knowns came out for the event. The movie was great, and the venue was even better! Thanks to Martin Ramos at Kona for the opportunity for something like this. You can check out the gallery of photos here.


"Welcome to WahzzieVille" Promo

Check out this promo from my homie Ryan King! "Welcome to WahzzieVille" is a homie video he put together and I can't wait to see the full thing. 

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Veer! at the Jax Film Fest, Plus a Skate Demo 11-2-2012

  
This event includes vendors (jewelry) a "video village", 5 bands, entertainers, food trucks, and as well as a craft beer tent. Demo is 5:30-7:30pm with Mike Peterson, Matt Fink, George Evans, Tim Johnson, Spencer Lau, Marshall Lafrance and Vinny Sandoval. So come on out an watch Jacksonville's finest Skateboarders perform! Then head on over to JPL theater (Jacksonville Public Library) for the Veer premier at 8:00pm. Veer is a narrative, feature length film written by Patrick Barry and Jesse Sorensen. It is based on Patrick's short film of the same name, which is one of the seven short films selected to premier. This film was filmed throughout Jacksonville and also the legendary Kona skatepark.


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Bones Brigade Movie @ Sunray, Brought to you By Kona Skatepark

Monday October 29th, 7 p.m. at the Sun Ray Cinema, 5-Points, Jacksonville, FL. Brought to you by Kona Skatepark.

Get Ready for Veer!

Many skateboarders know about this Jacksonville based film, but to those who don't, Veer! will be screening at the Jacksonville Film Fest this year. Here's a trailer. Stay tuned for more details about the screening event which is rumored to be way awesome. You can check out the website here.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Phillip Thompson and the Fancy Lads of Fancylads


Sometimes people tell me I look like Phil. Sometimes we wear beanies and we both wear pants that fit and have long hair. Phillip, however has something of a creative talent for filming and creating video gems that I have yet to develop. Phillips work is rad, and his style is evident when you see his VX and his Super 8 footage with his edits. I interviewed Phillip Recently and talked to him for a little bit about what he is doing with Fancy Lads. -Norm
 ---
So first off tell me about the Fancy Lad video you've been working on. How did you get started with that?

Faruk 
I've been pen pals with Colin Fiske since the days of MySpace, after the split from heroin he started skating for Fancylad and i just kept in touch. they did an east coast tour and I lined up a place for them to stay in Jacksonville and got all their footage while they were here and since then I've been trying to get footage to go towards the video.

So they are from Boston, right? How far along is the video?

Yeah Boston Jamaica plain, the video should be done within the next few months, there's actually two videos in the works, they're working on a tour video titled Grindstorm and the second full length Fancylad video titled Newhell.




So do you do much else besides film? Who's on the team right now?

Yeah I’m  also the "sales rep" for northeast Florida For Fancylad, I'm just kind of selling decks out of my car but Young Loud and Snotty just started selling decks and hopefully more shops soon. I also work a normal job. And right now the team is Nicholas "big" Murray , Colin Fiske , Eric Belhummer, Marty McCue, Legs, Dave Vey, Mike Fork, Zacher and Puff. I'm probably missing some people.

Some of those sound like stage names. So have you been doing a lot of skateboarding yourself lately?

Here and there, if I'm not working.

So what kind of camera are you using these days?

The vx2000 and a canon super 8 814.

How do you go about editing the super 8 stuff? Is it complicated?

A little, more expensive than anything and it's a long process, I order the film off line through Kodak which cost about 20 bucks per roll, plus shipping. Each roll is 50 feet which is about 5 minutes of footage. Then the film has to be developed, which is about 40 dollars or so, and after that the film gets scanned and put onto a disk in which cost around 40 bucks. Then it's good to edit.



You know I can edit film by hand with scissors and tape? Looks like hell though. Any other projects you've got going on?

Eventually a short skate video when ever I get the funds together. More youtube edits and also eventually a short documentary.

Any other projects you've got going on?

Well, other than the two fancylad videos, theres the riverwalk slalom contest october 7th which should be very awesome, and I just finished up an edit of the Fancylad Jacksonville chapter for Jenkem Magazine featuring clips from Andrew Green, Broc Litton, Spencer White, Steve Darlington, Tarrin Daggs, Willie Hecket, Nate Shellhorn and Faruk Vakufac.

Thanks Phillip!



Thursday, October 18, 2012

Skate Park Guide: Possum Creek Skatepark

Eric Haddock, pivot on the quarterpipe ledge thing.
If you are sick of the spots in Jacksonville and are looking for a change of pace, it wouldn't be a bad idea to hit up the Possum Creek Skatepark in Gainesville. This outdoor park is pretty new and is a fun diversion from the bust-worthy spots at the University of Florida campus. I heard there is actually a skatepark on the campus too, but couldn't find it. That's a different story.

Possum Creek is a somewhat interesting park, not just because it's made of cheap modular parts with gaping holes in the concrete where the lift hooks go, but also because of it's relatively pornographic layout. I can say with 100% confidence that the designer of the park placed a giant penis shaped bowl in the park on purpose. Not only that, but the head of it is some weird hard to skate hip ledge thing that nobody would design for any other purpose but to look like a specific part of the male anatomy. Once on Skate and Annoy I saw an annotated overhead layout noting that it appeared to represent a couple in natures embrace. But kinda in a dirty way. Can't find that image, but you can probably google it.

Regardless of that, the park is pretty fun. It's not too much of a flow park but more of a plaza, with some banks, some hubbas and a large rail, and the d%^k bowl.  Check out the photos below. Click the photos to enlarge, and if you need a map, scroll to the bottom of this post.















View Larger Map

Monday, October 8, 2012

Snaps - Eric Haddock

Eric Haddock - Pivot to Fakie at Possum Creek Skatepark in Gainesville, FL

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Pat Schaefer on Shredit Cards

I was blown away when I saw BusStop homie Pat Schaefer on Shredit Cards today! Check it out:

Friday, September 14, 2012

Snaps - Matt Roda

Roda by Emily Smith
 Matt Roda slides frontside with his adult beverage of choice @ Kooktown. Photo: Emily Smith 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

An Interview with Writer and Director L. Gustavo Cooper





I'm really stoked to have done this interview. Ever since the first details about Mr. Cooper's newest project, Velvet Road surfaced, I have been intrigued. Having traveled all over the place with the short film and promoting it in festivals, he was nice enough to answer a few of my questions. Photo © Jensen Hande 2012

Ok, first off, tell me about Velvet Road. I've seen a lot about it. What is your role in this project?

I’m the director of Velvet Road, The film is about a man journey in the final moments of his life. its a film about choices and the idea that we all make them. The idea of hatred and ignorance being a powerful weapon against our society. The film itself takes place during the Civil rights movement during the height of racial tension in the deep south. I wrote the short film in college and made it my senior year.

Tell me how long you have been into filming and how you got into it. I assume it's from filming skateboarding?

I used to film when I skated in order to get sponsors and to push me and my friends to do cool stuff. Then we started editing and that turned into a 411 show. Realized that I couldn't skate my whole life so I went to school.

What were your first and most memorable cameras to use, and what is your favorite type of equipment to use now?

When I started I used a VX1000 it was like the skating standard at the time.
I now like anything that does the job... I use the right camera for whatever aesthetic I'm looking for. I actually don't shoot really anymore... I write and Direct everything. Because I’m so heavily camera oriented its easy to communicate to the crew and my director of photography.

I remember being so stoked on that 411 show when it came out. Was that a paying gig? Whatever happened to it? It seemed like that was about the time that 411 was finished making videos and was becoming online-only, right?

Yeah it's was around that time. It was not a paying gig. It was more of a fun thing.


Velvet Road /// Behind The Scenes from L. Gustavo Cooper on Vimeo.
So do you do much with skateboarding anymore? I remember seeing some rad photos that I think Shrickling took back in the day and being really stoked on them.

Yeah and no, I mean - skating use to be everything to me and it got to a point where life was changing but the people around me were not. So I started to focus on the positive and progression of reality.

What would you say your main hobbies are lately?

I like to build stuff like tables and shelves and whatnot... Filmmaking has become my life and that's really all I think about these days. I write a lot now.

It's awesome to hear that you are writing and directing. Making it happen! I have had so many friends from skateboarding that seem to have just fallen off in life.

Do you think that skateboarding contributed to your creative spirit, or do you think that's more of something that was just there from the beginning? I mean being creative, making things.

Yeah skateboarding gave me a lot of persistence... It taught me the idea of networking and that it's all who you know and surround yourself with. Skateboarding definitely taught me to have thick skin.

Who are some of your favorite skateboarders of all time?

Some of my favorite skateboarders of all time would have to be Mike Peterson of course, Heath Kirchart, and Marc Johnson.

Are there any other local film dudes/ projects you are stoked on right now? Anything Else you’d like to add?

I'm stoked on anyone who truly tries to do something passionately and shares that effort with the world.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Connor Cornell: An Interview


I have to admit I didn't know too much about Connor before I went into this interview. I've seen his photos and made note of them, especially his work with the Penny Brand. Rad stuff. I'm glad I got some insight on Connor and what he's into. He's into what he does, and I'm into it too. I hope you're stoked on this interview, I was stoked to do it. 
-Norm 


Ok, first off, how old are you and how long have you been taking photos? 

I'm 18. I've been taking photos for a little over 2 years now. 

What was your inspiration for getting into photography?

Well I took a photography class junior year in high school, just to fill an elective class, and thought I'd like it. I started using Canon Rebel XSI. After a couple weeks in that class, I was pretty amazed by what you can do with an SLR, so I couldn’t wait to buy my own, and start shooting surfing and skating.

That's cool. So what kind of equipment do you use now? 

As of right now, I shoot with a Canon 7D. & the Lens setup is pretty basic: Rokinon 8mm fisheye, Canon 28-135mm, 50mm, & Sigma 135-400mm.



What's your favorite gear to use at the moment? 

I've been shooting doing a lot of mid-zoom lenses. So I have to say shooting with the 50mm is my favorite at the moment. It’s actually easily to film with. Gotta love the nifty fifty.

I know you do a lot of skate stuff, but tell me about the other stuff you like to shoot. I've seen a decent amount of your car stuff on the web. Have you always been into cars? How about surfing?

I started with the car shooting when my friend Alex Canni and I got into the sport drifting, and developed a website based on the media side of drifting in early 2012. It’s called Drift5150.com, and it’s really insane and so amazingly fun to shoot and watch. I've been into cars, and the sport drifting for a little over two years now, and the sport is growing huge.



Ever since I was a kid I've been surfing, and I never really wanted to shoot surfing, because when there are good waves, I only want to be in water surfing. Haha. But the photo editor for VOID magazine, Logan Bowles, pretty much inspired me to start shooting surfing, because all of his work is amazing, and I wanted to try a shoot shots like that. Haven't had too many chances to shoot some good waves lately, but I intend to soon!



So I've seen you do a bunch of stuff with Penny skateboards, it got me wondering- is that a hookup or is that just a fanaticism of yours? What’s the raddest thing you’ve seen going down on a Penny?

A little of both. It begun with my friend Steven Pineiro. He just started shredding on this Penny, and doing tricks that were unthinkable on this plastic skateboard. So I filmed a short, little video of 20 min of skating one afternoon, and it ended up getting a lot of views and interest. So I sent it over to the guys at Penny skateboards on Facebook, they were pretty shocked with it, and we just started talking. Next thing you know Steven Pineiro, his sister Stephanie and I are on a plane to California to go on tour with the Penny crew. Skating ,traveling, and just having a blast with some Aussies. All expenses paid, too!
Skating with Steven and his brother Juan, you see so many sick tricks, but one that really stands out and is completely insane would have to be Steven’s finger flip in the combi bowl. Video isn't released yet, so wait for that!!

That's rad that you got sent on tour. Did you do much else besides shoot skateboarding when you were out there? 

When we weren’t doing park events, We got to go all around LA, and saw a lot of famous places, got to hangout on the beach, (west coast is way better),and just had fun skating around the city. 

Tell me about your favorite places to skate and surf, favorite places to shoot.

I've never surfed out of FL, so Jacksonville is my favorite. As fir skating, grew up skating treaty, in St. Auggi, and it never gets old to me. I love that park. Transition/park is my favorite to skate. Favorite Places to film? Well I guess I've had the most fun filming in California, because it’s just an amazing environment to me. And over there, there are just spots after spots to hit and film, most of the spots being really unique.



That's cool. I've been skating in St. Augustine a lot lately at the park by the lighthouse. So where do you live now? 

Yeah I've only been there once. Fun little park! I live in Orange Park currently, which is away from everything! I really want to move out the beaches area now that I'm graduated. So much to do and shoot of there.

Are you still going to school?

I graduated this past year from Fleming Island High.

You're right about Clay county, It's a sprawling wasteland. I grew up out there, but way back then, I never had the OP Park, or anything. We knew a BMXer with a BMX vert ramp that was almost impossible to skate. That was it. Things are better now though. Besides the Penny video, do you have any other kind of project going on? 

Yeah OP Park is about the only good thing about where I live, especially since it got totally rebuilt. I'm working on a full part of Steven for Penny and I have little side projects coming along, but other than that, nothing too serious right now.

Are there people you get inspiration from-like professional, or friend-wise?

I like to take inspiration from those who do professional work.

Well put. In closing, is there anyone you want to shout out to, or say thanks to, or tell us who to be on the lookout for?

Well, I really wanna thank my dad, for supporting me, and buying me my first camera. Thanks pops. Always there for me. Also shout out you for this interview! Also to the Pineiro's, and everything they have done for me, shout out to all the local homies, Aqua East, Void Magazine for running my first photo, and the guys over at Penny Skateboards!

Be sure to look out for the Pineiro brothers. They are on their way to the top. Real Talk.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Kooktown beautification team now accepting apps.

Do you like to get your hands dirty, build weird shit and then skate it? If you want to help lend a hand, hit us up at busstopmag@gmail.com with your contact info.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Skateperception's King of the Road 2012 - 904 Style

I group of insanely rad Jacksonville dudes got together to film for this year's Skateperception King of the Road contest, and this is the result. Blew my damn mind.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

the Full Length Chris Jolly Interview






 

For this next interview in my series of influential people I know, I picked Chris Jolly.  My first real experience getting to know Jolly was on the BusStop Tampa road trip, which could simultaneously be called a disaster and a rad time all at once. We had problems with the hotel, problems with renting the van, and we also nearly lost a lens. It was my first time organizing something like that. Nonetheless, it was one of the best road trips ever, and I'm glad Jolly came with us. Since those days, Jolly has put together countless web clips, realeased a full length skate video titled Full Length, started a blog entitled Jollyvision, and probably done a bunch of other rad things you don't know about. So:  here's an interview I did over the past month or so with him over Facebook. It's short, but I'm calling it the Full Length Interview anyway, because it sounds good. I hope you like it. Photo Credit: All photos are from his facebook profile. Ask there. 

 
Where are you originally from, Jolly?
I was born right here in the smelly city of Jacksonville.  I moved to Gainesville when I was 3, then came back around 13. I've been here ever since. I love it and hate it at the same time.

Tell me- who ISN'T glad to see Chris Jolly when he walks into a place?
The doormen, maybe some people I’m sure some ladies too. But I don't have haters, only fans in denial.

Tell me about the first tattoo you ever got.
I got my first tattoo when I was 17 inside my friend’s house , I don't even think we knew what the heck we were doing but he tried to put my mom’s name above my knee, the outcome was pretty horrible. It ended up looking like a 2 year old did it.

Where have you been hanging out lately, and what kind of things are you working on right now?
I have been at the beach lately, haven’t really had too much time to really hang out but when I do I usually just go skate around with the homies Matt Fink, Jack Seely, and a few others. Right now I’m working on an edit for Jamal Campbell and Gio Georgeallis of our trip to Tampa for the Gatorade contest. I’ve been staying busy with edits and shooting photos workin’ on the Jollyvision site.

  
What did you think of go skate day 2012?

Go skate day this year was by far my most memorable moment in Jax. George brought his ramp and set it off, and then the Autoline best trick on the hemming rail was insane. I was just hyped on seeing how many people came out to support us. I wish the city would be more lenient on us, but hey--at least they gave us that day.
  
How did you get into filming? Was there a video or movie that inspired you?
When I was in middle school, my good friend and I would always do crazy stuntman things around the beach like jump off tall stuff, ride bikes into ditches, just random CKY type stuff, and then I met Chris Eldred who was really good at skating. He made an old sponsor-me tape for Flatline. I saw it and was hooked, I wanted to make a video of all of our stunts and add our skating to it. It was called O.S.A., which stood for Old School Anarchy. We would just tear stuff up at the beach. My skate filming all was inspired by Toy Machine videos. I was into those people.

  
What was the first camera or video camera you ever had, and what are you using now?
My first camera was some mini VCR tape recorder that I would bring everywhere and shoot everything. I would buy and sell until one day I finally got a 3CCD canon and started taking it seriously. I then moved to Sony, which is what I shoot with now.

Tell me about some good experiences you've had while filming friends.
I guess some of my best experiences filming were the trips out of town with all my homies. I think one of my favorite experiences was when Kevin Graver, George Evans, David Morico and I went to Atlanta to film for our video 'FULL LENGTH". Fink almost got shot by a pissed off old man at the yellow bars. It was intense, and we were drunk nearly every night. Fun times.


Above: Saturdazed - Youtube

How long do you think in total it took to film your video Full Length?
It took around 4 years to complete FULL LENGTH, I had the Canon and then we realized how much footage everyone was stacking so we all thought about just making a video with it. Then things got serious, we all skated together so it was easy to get a trick from everyone on a daily basis. But--there were a lot of mistakes on my end with not being organized and losing clips left and right. Not to mention the last few months of filming the camera was glitching nonstop. It was crucial, but probably the best experience of my life. I’m going to make an all-HD video very soon. Peep the site jollyvision.wordpress.com, or subscribe to the channel on YouTube. We are still doin’ work daily!!!!!!!!

So right now, let’s do some shout outs.
I want to shout to Jack Seely, Cinny Gramz, Matt Finklestein, Georgie boy Evans, Kevin GraverTrain, Ryan King, Ryan and Joey Corey and the boys at Autoline, Chris Kendall, and anyone who I forgot, thank ya’ll too. And you, Busstopmag!!!!!!!!


Thanks Jolly! 


Don't forget to check out Jolly's Youtube channel as linked in the video, in addition to his wordpress blog as linked in the intro. 

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Nate Cary: The BusStop Interview









I honestly don’t remember meeting Nathan Cary for the first time. What I do remember about Nate though, is that he’s the first person in Jax I met that was a full on ripper. Lots of my friends at the time were pretty good, but this guy totally destroyed a miniramp like nobody I’d seen before. He was part of the Riverside crew, which included the Nicotine skateshop team. Truly a new-school OG, if that makes sense to you. It does me! I’m glad Nate is still at it and holding his own in these days of pint size rippers taking over skateboarding, and creating some fun content for his friends while he’s at it.  (don't forget to click to enlarge)
-Norm


First off, how did you get started with taking photos? Was it school related?

  

I first got into photography in the early 90's when I was about 12 or 13. I made a little skate magazine called "FREE" and I would scan the pics, piece together articles and interviews, and hand them out to my friends at school. That went on until I was about 16 then I just kind of got out of it. I guess you could say that I rediscovered my love for photography last fall, when my college course "digital capture" basically mandated that I purchased a DSLR camera.


Bruce Tyler, AKA Old Dirty Bruce Blasting the Hip at Emerson/Cuba Hunter Park
Tell me about your favorite photo you've taken so far.
  
That's a tough one! I mean, I own better equipment now and I'm certainly better at photography from when I was a teenager, but I prefer some of my old photos from 91-94'. It's crazy seeing the tiny wheels, baggy pants, and the types of tricks from that era. It makes me reminisce about the style, music and the non-conformist attitude we had during the dwindling 90's skate scene. I'll admit, there is a lack of proper exposure, clear focus and overall professionalism in my old pictures, but if I had to pick just one... It would be my pic of Rodney Mullen doing a demo in 92. This was at a small shop in North Carolina and he probably only made around $100 for doing it. Times were surely different then.
  
Rodney Mullen
Wow, so you were a zine maker! That's awesome. Do you still have any copies of Free?
  
No, but I wish I did! The old computer I used to make the zine crashed and I wasn't able to retrieve the TIF files from it. It's all good though... I feel blessed that I've been able to hold on to about 70% of the photos from that time.
  
So you were in North Carolina-Do you remember the name of the shop?
  

Yeah, it was called Ozone Skate Shop. It was really cool shop and it had a 1 and a half foot mini ramp in there. They actually had contests on it!
  
Is that where you are from? I'd always assumed you were from here, since it seems like I remember meeting you a million years ago in Jax.
  
Yeah it's been awhile man! I moved to Jacksonville in the summer of 1998. Before that, my whole life (as a skateboarder) was spent in North Carolina. There was a brief time when I lived in Portland, Oregon 93-94' which was amazing, but I have to claim Charlotte, NC as my home town.
Craig Lockwood Jumping a Hydrant on a Cruiser

Bruce popping off the transition on to the back guard rail at Emerson.
 You have to go there in person to see how nuts this trick is.  


So you've been making web clips of skating for as long as I can remember you being my friend on facebook. Obviously your new equipment has taken it to the next level, are you planning on getting into full on skate video making in the near future?
  
  
I don't foresee any full length videos in the future but we'll see. Right now I'm pretty content with making video parts for people, short commercials and maybe music videos here and there. That said; anyone who's interested in doing something can hit me up via Facebook or whatever. If I can fit it in, and it sounds cool I'll be down to do it. While I obsess daily about learning new video techniques and gear, etc., I have to humbly admit, that I'm still a learner at DSLR videography. So working with people on video projects at this moment in time, is not only going to benefit them, but myself.
  
Stay tuned for part 2!







 

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Go Skateboarding Day 2012 - A Wrap Up

Photo: Nate Cary
  Looks like the crew from Kona Skatepark did it again. At first word of this event, I was skeptical. A contest at Hemming Plaza? We've been skating Hemming for decades, getting the boot, getting tickets and getting hassled for it. How can the city possibly sanction an event here and expect it to work out?
Well, I don't know the circumstances, and I don't know any of the behind-the-scenes details--but I do know it was a hell of a good time. So what if we didn't storm the streets. On June 21st, it seemed, Downtown Jacksonville opened it's arms to us for the first time in history, as far as I know. It's a day worth remembering. If not for that, than at least appreciate it for a fun time. It was. 
  

Autoline, a main sponsor of the Day's events, has pretty thorough (and sick) coverage of the best trick on the stairs/rail/ledge:

Here is Connor Cornell's Take:


From BusStop Homie Nate Cary: 


In other parts of the world:

Skatepark of Tampa and Andrew Reynolds took it to the streets in Detroit.
Go Skateboarding Day in Detroit: Andrew Reynolds and Crew Boss Past Police from Rob Meronek on Vimeo.



There is plenty more content on the way, so come back for updates! 

Sunday, June 17, 2012

While things are slow at BusStop

News is slow right now around the BusStop office, so in the slump, why not check out Jolly's wordpress blog over here?


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

SPOTS on Ride Channel Featuring Kona Skatepark - Part 1



I've always known what Kona Skatepark meant to me. Watch this, and find out for yourself what our legendary local skatepark means to the rest of the world.