VERT'S NOT DEAD

A funny thing happened on the way to the wallride. What happened was that I slammed. I rarely slam, because I rarely skate. I go skating a lot but this usually involves watching my friends push themselves while I try and document it. But said friends are constantly risking slams when I shoot photos of them. So it was only fair when Chris said he'd skate for some photos on some of the great new vertically inclined stuff at the Kingshighway spot ONLY if I skated in a photo too. So yeah, I slammed harder than I have in a long time. And it wasn't even that hard! I'm sure Chris slammed harder rolling out of bed that morning. Anyway I'm glad I knocked some much needed dust off myself. Meanwhile please note just how much higher Chris is getting than me on the wall. Jeez Louise. Anyway a big huge thanks to all my talented friends who let me continue to take photos of them! -Worful

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED!!!

Happy birthday to one of the nicest and stylish dudes we know. We hope you had a good birthday weekend Jared!

NEW CATALOG FROM THE HIGH FIVE

Check out the new catalog from The High Five! Featuring Randy's new boards?! Is that a dolphin?! YEAH RANDY! Holy crap, I think I just OMG'd all over myself. -Worful

AND THEN IT APPEARED

Did this barrier at the Webster park appear out of nowhere? It seems like it. Is the placement of it somewhat problematic? Probably so. Does it weigh a million pounds? About that. Can it be put to good use? According to Kyle (and others) it definitely can. But yeah, it may need to be moved. -Worful

BOYZ AND THE HOOD

Looks like it's a video week. Well alright then. Today's offering is courtesy of the 222 Collective and includes a guest appearance by none other than our esteemed homey, John Hood. Do try his tricks at home, folks.

JABARI PENDLETON FOR WESTERN EDITION

Jabari Pendleton from Western Edition on Vimeo.

Okaaaaaaaaaay!

REAL TALK

Kids,
We need to have a talk.

When you travel to another city it's customary to go the local skater-owned skateshop and ask the locals where the spots are. This is a time-honored tradition; and, quite often, most shops will help you out.

It is not cool to go to the local skateshop and steal things from them. If Hell really does exist, there is probably a section of it devoted to the particularly heinous crime of stealing from skater-owned and operated skateshops. Possible punishments in this (hopefully) small portion of the Ninth Circle include attempting a trick for all eternity but never landing it (a la Sisyphus), having to watch The Storm (with Jerry's and Smolik/Turner's parts edited out) on an eternal loop, or perhaps being trapped inside this place during a sweltering St. Louis summer forever.

This past Saturday, our good friends at Escapist in KC phoned to let us know that some skaters from St. Louis stopped by and asked for directions to spots. After being given directions, one of them proceeded to steal stuff from Escapist. Pretty Skateboards roundly denounces this vile action. Our message to the perpetrator is simple: Fuck off and quit skateboarding, you ungrateful pile of shit. Right now.

BTW, if anyone can identify the person wearing the backwards hat in the above surveillance video, please let us know.

For the rest of you who know better: Please disregard this lecture, thank your parents for raising you so well, and enjoy the rest of your summer.
Sincerely,
Pretty

THAT'S OUR (BIG) BOY!

Congratulations to our friend Tim Ward who was awarded the title of favorite "Big Boy" by Foundation's team manager Mike Sinclair. Yes!

CRUISE CONTROL

Recently Reggie borrowed Bobby's bike for a minute to do his best Tom Cruise impression, which Bob seemed to appreciate.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RANDY!!!

Happy birthday Randy! We hope it was a good one of the utmost "professional" level.

43 MAGAZINE

Allen Ying, a NY-based photographer and former SLAP contributor, is starting a new print skatemag/art book called 43 Magazine.

If you have some spare cash, please donate to help get the project off the ground. Print media may be nearly extinct, but getting your skate media fix from a mind-numbing computer screen just doesn't compare to reading and holding a real book or magazine.

ALEXNOIS

Here's a shot of Alex that was on the Skate Illinois site from one of his many recent trips there. Yeah Alex!

DO OR DON'T?

Gabe wanted to know if this was fashion and/or skate faux pax, but I didn't have the answer. -Worful

THE NEXT QUESTION

Now that we know that Randy's pro the next question is what will his first board look like? Our good and talented friend Chris Roeleveld had some ideas. He dug these two classic images up from his archives the other day. I believe they were both used in an old sponsor me tape that randy sent out years ago, but they might have just been digitally downloaded daydreams straight from Randy's brain. Both are fairly plausible. -Worful

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON!!!

As you might remember Jason is Pretty's unofficial hairstylist, he keeps us looking much better than we actually do. Thanks Jason! We hope it was a good birthday. And as always call him for an appointment if you want your hair to look awesome.

FOR THE CITY

For The City from Zack Mack on Vimeo.

Check out Jabari and others ripping out west.

CRAILTAT

Yes! Thanks to friend of a friend and Girl Skateboards designer Hershel Baltrotsky for getting this photo posted on Crailtap. It's of Derek "D-Rock" Leroy's famous "Crailcat" tattoo. -Worful

IS BIKING THE NEW SKATING?

David Uthus is somewhat of a trendsetter to say the least. So what are we to make of his latest coverage at the Webster park? Is biking the new skating? Is skating the new biking? This kid seemed to think so. His direct quote after he borrowed my board and David borrowed his bike was "There's just so much more you can DO on a skateboard mister!" I added the mister, but never the less the point is he was hooked. Meanwhile David seemed to leave his harsh ollies behind for the more cuddly sounding "bunny hops." Joel was into it for a few minutes, but then had an identity crisis and went back to ripping on his board. -Worful

SKATE JUNKIES

Welp, Jake and Kyle Seidler seem to have things covered so you know, WHATEVER. But I too have some photos from when the Illinois rippers were in town, as well as some other ventures from last weekend. I went to "The Barracks" to meet up with the Kehoes and watched some rippage go down. Then I met up with the aforementioned rippers from our sister state, that was fun. They were on a mission! Also they were super nice enough to hide my board when accidentally left it at a spot. Thanks guys! I don't even know why I bring it out of the trunk of my car sometimes, but I digress. Then Sunday I met up with Bobby and Guy for a mellow golden hour session at the blind school. -Worful

ILLINOIS BOIS

My friend Danny had some friends come to town this weekend, including authentic Heath Ledger lookalike Stephen Perdue and the eternally hyped burn victim*/shutterbug/avid vacationer Kyle Seidler. They came to town accompanied by Northern Illinoisans Callan and Cameron. Kyle documented the entire trip and posted it on the Skate Illinois blog, so check it out, and thanks for stopping by you guys! We all miss you tremendously!

-Jake

*Kyle is currently physically recovering from the burns he acquired bombing a hill. Allegedly, he mentally recovered merely moments after obtaining them, as made evident by him standing up, smiling and proclaiming, "I'm on vacation!"