issue / 07
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MARK LOSEY
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EDITORIAL / 07
Pay your dues to skateboarding if you love it. G.B.
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ISSUE / 07
CONTENTS FRAGMENTS / photos Maxime Géronzi / upside down PLACES
/ japan (a strange silence)
Nike SB TEXTURE TOUR / Milano and Adriatic coast interview / Pierre André ... 25 years of etnies the dumbest way to Istanbul
/dumb skateboards and carhartt in Turkey
Cover: Marco Lambertucci, bluntslide. Photo Davide Biondani.
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Photo Chiara Tiso.
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EDITOR and CONCEPT Davide Biondani. (davide@abriefglance.com) ASSOCIATE EDITOR Guido Bendotti. PHOTOGRAPHERS Eric Antoine, Leo Sharp, Eric Mirbach, Marcel Veldman, Kévin Métallier, Friedjof Feye, Garric Ray, Alex Irvine, Fabio Montagner, Chiara Tiso, Davide Biondani. CONTRIBUTORS Mauro Caruso, Francesco Paolo Chielli, Jonathan Levin, Anton Jandet, Ailsa Hay, Ale Martoriati,Fabiano Ferronato, Mirko Obkircher, Mark Baines. DESIGN Fake Donkey Lab.
www.abriefglance.com GET ALL THE INFOS at:
info@abriefglance.com abrief glance skateboard mag is a bulletin published by fake donkey skateboard asd. No part of this pubblication may be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. All right reserved. a brief glance
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fake donkey lab
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davide biondani photography. a brief glance
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FRAGMENTS
Simone Bertozzi, Lien to tail. Photo: Davide Biondani.
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FRAGMENTS
Oli Buergin, Crailslide. Photo: Davide Biondani.
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FRAGMENTS
Fabio Montagner, Fs nosegrind. Photo: Davide Biondani. a brief glance
FRAGMENTS
Dennis Klussendorf, Kickflip. Photo: Kévin Métallier. a brief glance
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UPSIDE DOWN
This was the first time I met Maxime and before it I didn’t really know much about him besides he was french, a really good skater and that he was our special guest for the Adriatic coast Nike sb Texture tour. I was curious to know him. The thing the got stuck in my head is how much he wanted to skate everyday but even more were his bangers without warming up: the nollie bigspin down the double set was in a few tries without trying to ollie it first and in a week he just landed straight bangers. The linguistic barriers weren’t a big deal for him because Max is a really funny guy that makes always jokes and in every crew photo he was the one with the weirdest and funniest position. A bientôt Maxime.
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Maxime GĂŠronzi Photos and interview Davide Biondani
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The idea of this trick came from a bet with Mauro Caruso. Mauro always does this kind of bets and while we were chilling he bet Maxime on a fs feeble in less than five tries. He only needed four.
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fs feeble grind.
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switch fs nosegrind over crooked revert.
Maxime is got this trick down: he is showing us how to do it on this wooden bench during a chill session under the first dots of rain.
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Hi Maxime, how are you? Hello, shaped, as always. How old are you and where you live? I’m 20 years old, 21 in no time, and I live in Perpignan. Perpignan is in France but one hour away from Barcelona, do you go in BCN very often? Yes Perpignan is in France, not in Japan, about 200 kilometers from Barcelona. I use to go there very often but now I have my things to do and I don’t have much time. I love Barcelona, the city gives me a sense of freedom, there are many cool places to skate and I like to see the city changed and renewed. Where have you been lately? Italy. How was your trip with the Nike SB italian team? How was having to deal with a bunch of crazy italians for one week? It was a funny trip, with very good people, surprised at the beginning because I didn’t knew It was the only non italian skater of the crew, but all good. I had a great time. Best trick of the tour? The craziest trick of the tour was Marco’s bluntslide on the round ledge. Shocking! How could you try nollie biggie down this big double set as first trick…without warming up ? Ouff... easy dude! Do you usually go straight for a big trick and land it in few tries? Don’t know, I do what comes to my mind at the moment. What do you do beside skateboarding? I do my skate… I live my life peaceful. Three bands you are listening at the moment? 113 clan; Holla; Rakim. Craziest things you have done in your life? Loved a woman, fs rodeo in snow. Any plan for the upcoming summer? Vamos a la playa!!!! I love summer!!! Which are your sponsors now? Nike SB, Mabasi tools, Independent trucks. Thanks Max, talk soon. Thank you Nike Italy, I’ll never come back..ha ha ha… No, I love you!!! Ciao bella family.
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nollie bigspin.
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This trick doesn't really make sense. Not really for the trick itself but more for the fact he went for it straight out the car without even ollieing it.
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switch tre flip.
When you don't really know each other there is always a bit of "tension" for the first few shots together: this was the first trick I got with Maxime.
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fakie ollie switch fs feeble.
This was the warm-up trick for the day, it wasn't easy to land it and Max got a few slams but still got his trick in less than 20 minutes. a brief glance
PLACES/07
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japan
photography and words Alessandro Martoriati.
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a strange silence
Historically japanese follow the rules and remain there’s a big problem...this scares me too. Even if th nicest people on earth they have this cultural probl
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These days I can honestly say that I am obsessed by the recent japanese nuclear crisis and everyday as I wake up I try to get as much “real” information as I can. This is a skateboard magazine and it sounds strange to talk about world problems but I think this time it doesn’t matter. It is worth talking about it. As we all know a large quake (magnitude 9.0 ), the largest in Japanese history, hit north-eastern Japan on March 11, 2011 causing a huge tsunami that killed at least 20000 residents. Then explosions of four nuclear reactors at Fukushima “Daichi” nuclear power plant operated by Tepco (Tokyo Electric Company) put Japan in the worst crisis since World War II. During the accidents, three of the power plant’s five reactors reportedly suffered meltdowns. Most of the fuel in the reactor No. 1 melted. Tepco then, after a long silence, reported that all three reactors melted down. Do you remember the movie China Syndrome?....................................search for it on the web. Since last March huge amounts of radioactive materials are being released in the atmosphere as far as the american west coast Canada, Mexico and Europe.We are all eating this shit.Big doses, small doses, it’s everywhere and you cannot see it. The crazy thing is that this huge crisis disappeared from the mainstream media and now nobody is talking about it. Here in Italy is already out of the main news.
This worldwide silence scares me a lot. Why nobody is talking about it? Why like any nuclear crisis there’s a huge cover-up? They don’t want us to know.............
silent when hey are one of the lem.
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I know japanese culture pretty well. I studied japanese language for ten years, I lived there for a couple of years and my wife is japanese. Everyday I search on the internet and I find all kinds of different informations : Chernobyl on steroids, a ticking time bomb a dirty bomb waiting to explode, 50 times Chernobyl, plutonium under siege......what the fuck is going on?? With such a big problem going on why the world is focused on such fake news like the killing of Bin Laden??? While U.S. Troops are still in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan.............everywhere. America is also the biggest nuclear power in the world......and they are silent too. It seems like that since 9/11 the world as changed...... You know what I am saying. Are they making money out of people’s tragedies? Think about the fact that nuclear power is something really evil and difficult to control and maybe the japanese, even with their advanced technology cannot deal with such evil. I saw robots entering the site but nothing changed. Nuclear Gypsies or “jumpers”, the subcontractors who do the dirty work, are being called “samurai” by the media, but these stupid journalists don’t know that these men that are going inside the reactors are usually poor guys living in the area risking their life for some extra money. They don’t even work for Tepco.Their job is not stopping the release of radioactive materials in the air and especially in the ocean. Experts say they will die within months.....maybe years. Who knows.Iodine 131, Cesium.....
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In the aftermath of such horrific devastation , one can only admire people who seems to handle themselves with such courage and dignity. a brief glance
This “japanese spirit” is admirable especially in a situation like this. So this nuclear crisis entered a second month, killing life in one of the nicest region of Japan (Fukushima is a nature paradise) and I am fucking upset. I went to Fukushima in 2001 and it was an amazing journey. Experts say that is not the worst nuclear accident ever, but it looks like is really complicated. Why they don’t cover it whit cement like the Ukraine plant?... In the aftermath of such horrific devastation , one can only admire people who seem to handle themselves with such courage and dignity. Seeing lines of people waiting patiently for hours or days for food and water is truly remarkable. If it happened in Italy... oh my God what would have happened! The emergency shelters are clean and lots of volunteers are helping cleaning the area. Others are shown cleaning around what is left of their homes. This “japanese spirit” is admirable especially in a situation like this. Lessons are to be learned by such people. Rebuilding from scratch.....this is the phrase I continuously hear from the residents of the destroyed cities. I hope that this crisis will soon come to a end (Tepco says 6 to 9 months...), that will change minds all over the globe about energy (like Germany) and the danger of nuclear power. Just for the record, here in Italy in Aviano U.S. Marines Base there’s the biggest U.S.A. nuclear arsenal (something like 90 Hiroshima atomic bombs). Spread the word........
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Lessons are to be learned by such people.
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Nike SB / TEXTURE TOUR
Milano and Adriatic coast.
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Texture art Andrea Caputo and InvernoMuto. Photography and words Davide Biondani. Captions Guido Bendotti. a brief glance
AFTER SICILY, FOR THE SECOND PART OF THE NIKE SB TEXTURE TOUR, THE DESTINATION WAS MILANO FIRST AND THEN THE ADRIATIC COAST. NINE DAYS SPENT ON THE ROAD FIRST AT JACOPO CAROZZI’S CITY THEN WE HIT MARCHE WITH LUCA CRESTANI AND ROMAGNA WITH MARCO LAMBERTUCCI. MILANO IS A COOL CITY, FULL OF NICE SHOPS, GOOD EVENTS, CONCERTS AND OTHER INTERESTING THINGS TO VISIT; BUT IF GO THERE FOR A SKATEBOARD TOUR, THEN MILANO IS NOT THAT INTERESTING SINCE THE SPOTS ARE ALWAYS THE SAME… IF YOU ALSO HAVE THE SMART IDEA TO SPENT 3 DAYS THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK YOU BASICALLY JUST RUINED YOUR TIME. THAT WAS THE MISSION TO DO IT THOUGH AND WE WERE POSITIVE AND HAVING FATE ON THE LOCAL GUIDE, JACOPO, WE LEFT TOWARDS MILANO; UNFORTUNATELY JACOPO COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT HE HAD TO BRING US AROUND SPOTS AND KEPT US THREE FULL DAYS AT THE FAMOUS TRAIN STATION… AH AH AH. I THINK SOMEONE EVEN TRIED TO CHOKE HIM WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING FOR THIS. ACTUALLY THE CITY IS A BUST DURING THE WEEK: TOO MUCH TRAFFIC ALL THE TIMES, ALL THE BUSINESS ARE OPENED AND A LOT OF SPOTS ARE OFF LIMITS. SO WE SPENT THREE REALLY NICE AND HOT DAYS SKATING THE LEDGES OF MC; LEDGES THAT NOT ONLY JACOPO LIKED BUT EVEN DANIEL LEBRON LOVED THEM, SPECIAL GUEST FROM SPAIN FOR THIS FIRST PART OF THE TOUR. THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE ADRIATIC COAST IS FOR SURE WAY MORE RELAXING THAN THE CHAOTIC ONE FROM MILANO AND KNOWING YOU COULD MOVE AROUND EASILY WITHOUT KEEP THINKING ABOUT THE TRAFFIC MADE EVERYONE MORE HAPPY. IN RETURN THE SUN LEFT US AND THE TRICK OF EACH DAY WAS TO RUN AWAY FROM RAIN TRYING TO REACH PLACES WITH THE GOOD WEATHER, CALLING LOCAL FRIENDS AND ASKING THEM HOW WAS THE WEATHER OVER THERE.
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KNOWING WE WERE GOING TO SPEND THE FIRST 3 DAYS OF THIS SECOND PART OF THE TOUR WITH CREST WE WERE CERTAIN WE WERE GOING TO SKATE COOL SPOTS WITHOUT GETTING KICKED OUT: AND THAT’S HOW IT DID GO. MARCHE IS A GREAT REGION, WITH A NICE COAST AND A NICE HINTERLAND; IT REMINDS TUSCANY FOR ITS HILLS AND REALLY OLD HOUSES IN THE MIDDLE OF BIG FIELDS. DAY BY DAY PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO KNOW THE BEAUTY OF THIS REGION AND A LOT OF FOREIGNERS ARE BUYING ALL THESE OLD HOUSES; THE REGION IS ALSO FULL OF LOCAL RESTAURANTS WHERE TO GET AMAZING TYPICAL FOOD AND TYPICAL WINES. CREST’S HOSPITALITY AND ORGANIZATION WAS ON TOP AS ALWAYS: DIFFERENT AND COOL SPOTS EVERY DAY AND GREAT MOOD. THANKS MATE. MAXIME GÉRONZI WAS WITH US FOR THIS PART OF THE TOUR: HE ONLY DID BANGERS FOR SIX DAYS IN A ROW, WHILE MAURO CARUSO HURT REALLY BAD HIS FOOT AND PRETTY MUCH DIDN’T REALLY GET TO SKATE AT ALL. FOR THE LAST THREE DAYS MARCO LAMBERTUCCI WAS OUR BOSS THAT BROUGHT US AROUND HIS SPOTS IN ROMAGNA, THE REGION FAMOUS FOR HIS BEACHES FULL OF TOURISTS DURING SUMMERS, FOR ALL THE DISCOS AND CLUBS, TO BE THE HOMELAND OF A FEW OF THE BEST MOTORCYCLE PILOTS OF THE WORLD AND FOR THE FLATBREAD KNOWN AS “PIADINA”. MARCO MADE US SLEEPING IN THIS FARM HOLIDAYS ABOVE THE HILLS 40 MINUTES AWAY FROM THE COAST; I GUESS HE CHOSE THIS IDEA TO KEEP US AWAY FROM THE NIGHT PARTY IN ORDER TO BE ALWAYS READY TO SKATE THE DAY AFTER. I GUESS. MARCO LANDED “THE TRICK OF THE TOUR” AND EARNED THE COVER OF THIS ISSUE! 9 DAYS AROUND, 3 DIFFERENT REGION, 8 DIFFERENT CITIES, MORE THAN 2000 KM; A LOT OF FUN AND STRESS, WE HAD CRAZY MOMENTS AND GREAT MOMENTS, A FEW PARTIES AND A LOT OF TRICKS. NEXT DESTINATION OF THE NIKE SB TEXTURE TOUR: SARDEGNA.
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This rail is tall and short. It’s not exactly the rail you can think about poppin’ up tricks. Even if you’re tall like Michael Jordan that stuff is kind of hard... Jacopo is small but can pop like Jordan. Crooked grind where you and me can (maybe) throw a caveman boardslide to save the day.
JACOPO CAROZZI / CROOKED GRIND.
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Hey Jacopo, what’s up? Right after Sicily we went to Milan and then to the Adriatic Cost for the second part of the Nike SB Texture tour, how has it been going so far? Yo dave, all good, I think every tour has been great so far. A lot of fun and tricks. How was it to have the full team around your city? It was so sick! Everyone was hyped and that made me happy. I guess you forgot that being the local you were supposed to bring us around all your spots, you didn’t show us a single spot in 3 days… Ah ha no way. I did show you the spots. It’s just there are not that many new spots. Is it hard to skate Milan during the week? Yeah it is, during the week all the business are opened so it’s hard to skate the best spots. The first spot you think when you are in milan is the big plaza at the central station, how often do you go there? How is the skate scene in Milan in these last few years? I like MC, basically it’s the only spot you can skate everyday. I don’t think the skate scene is that big, also the only indoor park we had just closed last sunday forever. Besides skateboarding, how is living in Milan? It’s ok, I like living here! You have been traveling a lot lately, where have you been? What places did you like the most? I have been to Tallin, Amsterdam and Berlin, I really liked Berlin and I think I can see myself over there in a few years. What do you like to do when you are not skating? Do you have any passion besides skateboarding? Besides skating, I go to school and that’s it. I noticed you like to listening to the 70’s music… Yeah I really like that kind of music, I think that’s the real music. Pick 3 favorite bands you are listening to now. Credence Clearwater Revival, The Who, Mamas and Papas.
I’m attending the first year of a art school and I will probably fail. Too many skate trips! How long have you been skating and how did you get into it? I started about 5 years ago. I was in vacation at the beach with my family when I saw a guy skating down the street, so I asked my mom if she could buy me a skateboard and she did it that same day and I never stopped since! I noticed you go sleep pretty early, you don’t like to party? I usually go sleep early when I’m really tired or when I got school the day after, since I need to wake up so early. I like to party and I go when there is the right occasion to do it. What’s the best moment during the day to go skate? I think it’s right after 6pm, when the sun starts to go down. How was it to skate with the team in these 2 tours? Was it your first time to skate street with them and who impressed you the most? I think the team is sick, I’m stoked about it. Everyone keeps impressing me every time we go skate a new spot and gets me hyped to try new stuff. If you have to describe your mates in the team what would you say about them? The best!!! You had your birthday in the middle of the tour and you didn’t tell us! We should have had a party together… were you afraid about the consequences? Yeah it was my birthday but knowing all of you I knew something bad was going to happen to me ha ha ha, like ripping my boxer or stuff like that! Did you like the idea of doing 3 tours at each riders’ homeland? Yeah, I think it was a sick idea, the best thing to start with a new team. Great jacopo, it was a pleasure to come and visit your city! Anything more to add? Thank you guys! It was a pleasure for me to have all of you guys in Milan, see you soon ciao ciao.
Is it true you won’t pass this year at school? What school do you go to? a brief glance
JACOPO CAROZZI / FS SMITH GRIND FLIP OUT.
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Ehy this is my stomping ground, and here I’ve seen some of the best tech skater work the ledge. I’ve taken notes and now I can smith flip out with ease and speed.
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LUCA DONEDDU / NOLLIE HEEL FLIP. New spot, new trick, same mad man. Luca is far from his Sardinia but it doesn’t matter where he is right now. If his head say “do it”, he does it... ah the strange voices in his head.
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LUCA CRESTANI / BS NOSEGRIND.
Mr. precision Luca Crestani is not a tree hugger. He prefers way more to not rape the nature, but balance himself in the small distance from the nature to the concrete. So respectful.
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Daniel Lebron
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Daniel Lebron was one of the surprises of this series of tours. Maybe you don’t know (and that’s your fault mate), but Daniel is a milestone in European skateboarding. Over fifteen years ago, he left Spain to the holy land of Los Angeles, with his friends ( Jesus Fernandez and his brother) just to follow their dreams of skateboarding. After a few months the “Spaniards”, as they were called by the locals, were greeted with an article by TWS Skateboarding. They had no money at all, skated all day, and located themselves in a really bad neighborhood just to save money. It doesn’t matter what it took, but they just wanted to skate ! At first Daniel was sponsored by Neighborhood Skateboards and with Jesus they started to have some coverage around. He always had the right pop and the right style, but maybe he was missing the right "mind” to skate at a professional level in California… whatever it means. After all these years, and board companies floating around he found himself in Stacks wood, owned by the one and only Reese Forbes, and as Daniel says: "Back in the days I had the legs, but not the mind… Now I don’t’ have legs anymore, but I have the mind”. I’ve seen him around in the most awkward places during this ten plus years, from plaza Colon in Madrid, to USC ledges in Los Angeles, to Macba, and I’ve never introduced myself. My fault. He always looks humble and down to hearth, and really focused on what he’s doin’, and I think that he’s one of the fews that has “the gift” to do something better than other, from play with a piece of wood with wheels, to follow the footsteps of Paco De Lucia. Style is somethin’ natural, you can’t force it, or fake it. He has style and we’re lucky ‘cause he’s not afraid to show it to us. Guido Bendotti.
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DANIEL LEBRON / BS SMITH GRIND. So smooth it hurts. Fuck the A.B.D. if you’ve the style !!!
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Recently TWS mag threw Dani’s name in the mix with people like Carroll, Mariano to determinate the best hardflips of all the time. I’ve never seen somebody tailslide hardflip out, so you can think that a “Never Be Done Trick” can be a little sketchy… not this time. Perfection is the word. For the record, this was the first time Dani landed this trick.
DANIEL LEBRON / FS TAILSLIDE HARDFLIP OUT.
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Ehy I like this spot. It looks fun to skate, do you mind if I try something? Daniel does whatever you want, just let me keep filming you. Thank you !
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DANIEL LEBRON / BS 5-0 HEELFLIP OUT.
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ADRIATIC COAST /
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LUCA CRESTANI / WALLIE IN. Romagna is kind of a summer place, where all the Italian stallions spend their holidays with the hope to get some northern Europe girls. Luca is married, so he prefers to skate there during the end of the winter, so his wife Kiaretta can’t be disappointed and... he can wallie whatever he wants. a brief glance
Disco’s are closed, and you can’t swim with this weather. If you’re Luca, you can dance on whatever rail you want even if the flatground is made of softy gum. Higher is better.
LUCA CRESTANI / 5-0 GRIND. a brief glance
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How many tattoos do yo have now? Don’t know it anymore! I think 15 or 16… ha ha ha Which one was the last one you got? Do you have a favorite one? Actually the last one is from last night! My leg still hurts, this one is great. I dedicated it to an important moment of my daily life ha ha ha you will see. I don’t think I have a favorite one, every single tattoo has an important meaning for me, they reminds me a particular moment of my life. Do you think having a tattoo artist around the house effected you at all about getting tattoos since till 3 years ago you didn’t have a single one and now you are full of them? I got influenced by for sure. Actually I got the first tattoo about 5 years ago. If you like the first one then your body is going to be full of tattoos for sure. Kiara and me share the same passion for art and when she decided to start doing tattoos I was impressed too by this world, full of different artists with different styles and different techniques doing amazing art jobs on your skin. Are you happy about the new Nike SB Italy team? Yeah a lot actually, I think the team now is ready to be competitive with the other european teams. I have always been a fan of the motto “few but good”. You have been on the team before anyone else and you are like a “team manager”, how did you choose all the new riders? It wasn’t easy at all, I had a lot of names to propose to Nike, but a few of them didn’t make it for different reasons. I need to thank Kaspar too that gave me good advices so I decided to propose young and good skaters. I’m happy now because the team is made up by great skaters that try hard to represent the brand and the italian skate scene; with them on tour you know you are going to get good footage and good photos and first of all they are all stoked by each other! There is a cool feeling between all of us. Was it yours the idea of doing each tour at every rider’s house? Yeah, let’s say I was over hearing people in these past few years always asking me who was on the Nike SB team, so after the new team was made up I wanted to let people have an exactly image of each rider so what’s better than doing a tour at each rider’s house showing every time his own spots, his own city and his own culture? This is the new Nike SB Italy team.
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LUCA CRESTANI / WALLRIDE PIVOT TO BS OUT. I’ve seen Luca skate the most junkiest spots around the world. Sometimes it seems that the sketchiest is the spot the more he’s motivated. Maybe if skateboarding is easy for you, like for him, you try to find new battles to test your skills... you lucky bastard!!!
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Right after Sicily, how did it go in Milan and in the Adriatic Coast? I think we can’t really compare the 2 tours; in this second part we had to drive way more kilometers, a lot of stress going around Milan with its traffic, we got kicked out a lot of times right when someone was about to land the trick of the day. This one has been the hardest mission for sure since we had to go in 3 different regions in only 9 days. We also got unlucky with the weather: in Milan we had 3 days of intense smog and crazy hot sun, in the Adriatic Coast we were basically running away from rainstorms. What trick you think was the gnarliest one from this tour? A lot of sick tricks went down this time…I think one of the best was the bluntslide on the ledge Marco did, the spot is crazy and really hard to skate it. I skated in 2005 when I did bs smith and we are the only 2 that have done tricks on it so far. Maxime also impressed me, basically he was throwing down bangers after bangers; especially during a session at these green handrails, he was skating both the small and the big one like nothing. How was it to have all the guys skating your local spots? Let’s say it wasn’t the first time for me to have people here and bring them to my spots, but it’s always a pleasure to have new skaters here since everyone tries to skate the spot differently than someone else so new tricks go down even on those spots you think they are shout down for all the tricks done in the past; this what gets me hyped and gives me that motivation to go back to those spots and try new stuff too. The region of Marche with his hills reminds me Tuscany a lot, many foreigners are buying really old houses like it happened 30 years ago with Tuscany, do you think people are starting to realize how beautiful this region is? I think these places are that beautiful even because till few years ago not many people knew about them since they weren’t advertised at all so they kept that charm not being influenced by the tourism. Its central location is a strategic spot too and you can have a good life spending not much, you got the beach, the mountain and cool hills, a lot of agriculture and overall it’s a quite place, no traffic and a lot of amazing food. Best 3 things about living in the Marche? I’m in the middle of Italy so I can easily reach both the a brief glance
north and south side of it. I’m really closed to my family.
The living standards and its cost is well related to the facilities the region offers to you. 3 things everyone has to do when comes in your region? First of all go visit the beach of Monte Conero, then go visit the famous Monte Sbillini and taste the great and typical food of any local taverns or farm holidays. You are 30 years old and still going on a lot of trips and ripping, do you ever think about your future? What future do you see for yourself? I have been thinking a lot about my future lately, but I also think things need to happen casually, you can’t always stay there making plans for everything. The best part is that anything can fully change in a minute, you only need a particular thing to happen that everything changes. Right now I’m trying to do my best for my passion and my family; these are the most important things about my life. How funny is to follow and keep track of the full team in tour, pay everything, drive, wake everyone up and then skating? Ah ha ha it’s not always that easy, deal with the team, make everyone happy and then find the energy to skate like I would want to. Let’s say they come first, then me; I know I have this engagement so I just need to find the best way to do both without stressing too much and trying to enjoy the most of these tours since you have the best experience out there. I need a good organization before we leave for the tour and then hope everything goes right even if sometimes shit happens! What’s your schedule for this coming hot summer? I’m thinking about some trips for tours and contest outside italy then have a nice holiday with my wife. I will still have all the kids at the local park for the skate lessons and I need to plan some events or contest for the end of summer. In the remaining time I want to skate as much as possible, get productive with new footage and photos. Alright Crest, thanks a lot for your time. Thank all of you for your passion.
“it’s always a pleasure to have new skaters here since everyone tries to skate the spot differently than someone else so new tricks go down even on those spots you think they are shout down for all the tricks done in the past�...
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Ehy Jacopo, it’s time to change that beanie! It stinks!!!
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JACOPO CAROZZI / GAP TO FS LIPSLIDE.
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LUCA DONEDDU / 180 FAKIE NOSEGRIND. First day on the Adriatic coast and first spot on the roof of a supermarket. Usually you can’t skate this spot, but being sunday the market was closed and we spent one good warming up hour here filming ten good tricks. This is what Luca showed us.
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Mauro was hurt and during this trip he could barely walk...every time he was hitting the ground with his heel he would start screaming and suffering‌ He deserved it. Ha ha ha...
MAURO CARUSO / BS NOSEGRIND POP OUT.
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MARCO LAMBERTUCCI / FS KICKFLIP.
This is the Trademark trick for Marco. He can do it anywhere anytime, even on strange buildings in the middle of nothing. Have you seen it? How can you think about build something like that? Then you feel bad if some dirty skateboarder try to skate your place. a brief glance
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Wassup Marco, how are you? Are you at home or around skating? I’m great, thanks. I’m back home right now, I’m back in skateboarding 100% full and after these 2 Nike SB tours I got motivation again to go skate with Mauro Caruso, Crestani, Doneddu and Jacopo Carozzi and try new tricks. Did your life change at all since you have a baby now? How old is he? Let’s say he gives me a big motivation to go skate and rip, he is 9 months old now, just started to walk on all fours and sleep only between your arms! My little Jonathan! What’s different now than before? That I have a baby now. Ah ah ah it’s a beautiful thing. You don’t get too much sleep but I’m used to, with the job that I just had I wasn’t sleeping that much either so... What are the hardest and most beautiful things about having a baby? You need to have always 4 eyes and 4 hands and don’t get distract. Anything can happen with little Jonny around, he keeps you busy a lot, but you get all the hard work back as soon as he looks at you laugh and tries to say something. It’s amazing. How long have you been on the Nike SB team? I’m officially on by january even if I was skating Nike a few months before already, I like the shoe and it skates pretty good. Did you like the idea of going to skate every rider’s spots in his own city? I think it’s a smart thing to do since it’s important to let people now about the new team. Having a local guide in the team let you skate a lot of spots. Do you think it was stressful to put all these tours together, pretty much one every 3, 4 weeks, every time with the same people? Not really, I enjoyed every single moment of it! You spent a lot of time with the team now, what do you like the most about it ? I really like the team, everyone skates really good, with a lot of passion, I hope the whole team will get recognized for the hard work and effort everyone put into this project. Why were you always mad at Jacopino? Is it maybe becau-
se he is got more tricks than you? Ha ha ha... Jacopino is really good and he has way more flat-ground tricks than me, but when I beat him at s.k.a.t.e. he was the one to get mad! Ha ha ha. Your favorite tricks during this Adriatic Cost tour? I really liked Maxime’s switch tree flip and the blunt on the ledge down that gap that I did… ha ha ha. You are living in the middle of some hills far from the coast in a beautiful place, how is living out there? I think all depends on you and on what you are looking for; for example my mom lives in Florida, in the States, but she wants to come back and live here in Riccione, so yeah it’s all about what you like. Anyway the life in general is really good here in Romagna. How come people party that much where you live? Too many clubs and discos? Is that the reason why the craziness level is so high over there? You have to party like that here! You got the beach, the good food, there are a lot of disco for sure but I think people here got that craziness in their blood, you know? A lot of parties here but never enough, we need more! ha ha ha. Among all the places you visited which one would you choose to move in? I really like Barcelona and LA, but my wife works here and with the baby too it would be to hard to move. I really enjoy my life here in Riccione though. You are 30 years old and you have been skating since you were 8, you have been pretty much all over the world and through all the phases skateboarding has had in the last 20 years… how do you see skateboarding nowadays? All the new skaters today are amazingly good, it’s incredible. I never expected to skate this much and it’s just great to have been around skateboarding all these years to see the big evolution skateboarding has had and got to live 100% full into it. What phase did you like the most during these 20 years? Don’t really know, I just know that skateboarding is my life and I need to skate every single day. After these 2 tours I have been asking a question to myself several times…at the age of 30, where do you find the power to jump down huge gaps for hours like you do? No idea, that’s just me! a brief glance
In italy everyone is always complaining about something…it’s your turn! I want and need more to give a better future to my son! skateboarding needs to change inside all those people’s heads that are into it for business and that keep doing bullshit. In the Adriatic Coast tour we had Maxime Géronzi as the special guest, how was it to skate with him? Maxime is super cool, amazing skater and funny guy that a brief glance
always wants to skate, keep the good work up man. What’s your program for this coming summer? I want to go skate outside Italy for a bit and if I can’t bring home some food with skateboarding I need to find a job. Alright Marco, thanks a lot! Thank you Dave! You are a sick photographer and let me tell you this, you got balls, I wish you the best, thanks everyone yo.
MARCO LAMBERTUCCI / BLUNTSLIDE. Find your battles. Show your weapons. And then fight. Marco is a Battle commander that knows his enemies, and when he fights usually he wins. Bluntslide to death drop? Check this out!
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Marche landscape. a brief glance
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25 years of etnies / Pierre André Interview
THIS YEAR IS THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY FOR ETNIES, WE SPENT 2 HOURS WITH PIERRE ANDRÉ, FOUNDER AND OWNER OF SOLETECHNOLOGY, TALKING ABOUT SKATEBOARDING, SHOES AND HIS COMMITMENT FOR THE ENVIROMENT. ENJOY. One of the first photos I remember of you was a G-turn in Paris with the Eiffel tower in the background, stepping back to those days what are your feelings when you think of yourself today as the owner of such a big company? The main feeling is... I’m surprised actually. It all started from my passion for skateboarding and now I have all that. In a sense it’s like when you want to learn a trick, you start trying and you don’t know if you’re gonna make it, you keep focusing on making it, and then you make it and you say: “ Oh my God I made it!” And every morning going to work I say, “Oh my God! What happened? I made it!!!” And right after that I start feeling all the responsibilities for all the people working for the company, all the riders we have, the showrooms, the manufacturers...I feel all the weight on my shoulders...ah ha ha! I had my first board in 1978, I was 15 years old, and I got this orange board called “Banzai”...I never thought it would have taken me there...hahaha.
The name was Etnics in the beginning. Why did it become Etnies afterwards? The original name was Etnics, it was the concept of a tribe..as skateboarders are; we all have different personalities, different cultures but we are all united by the passion for skateboarding. But for the trademark office the name was too similar to another shoe brand called Etonic so we became Etnies.
In the 80’s you were a famous freestyler, you used to ride for Sims if I remember well. Why so many freestylers like you, Don Brown, Rocco, Per Welinder and Rodney Mullen of course have become over the years “the bosses” of skateboarding? Is it because vert skaters made fun of you and you wanted revenge or, as Rodney told me one time because “Maybe we were more intelligent”? Ah ha ha... I would say that we were not paid like vert skaters or street skaters were at the time so we had to find a job and we tried to follow our passion working in the skateboard industry.
Do you remember the day when you designed the first shoe? Yes I remember that day. The first shoe I designed, I had no idea, and my inspiration came from how to do the shoes: how to make the shoe flexible, light, with a sole to absorb impacts, with a side protection, because I was tired of using this superglue to repair my shoes, I put some extra rubber to make them more durable, then I had the need to protect my ankle, so I designed them I little higher...My shoe became like a tank! Ah ha ha. But in few months I got the first samples in my hands.
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And what about the other 2 brands és and Emerica? After Etnies we wanted to develop another brand, but more “athletic”, with more design concept, but about skateboarding, so we kept the letter S as the first letter of the word skateboarding plus we added the accent on the letter E as a sign of our latin roots and we got és. Then with Emerica we had the idea of the word America, being America the “dreamland” for every skateboarder around the world...the place you dream to travel to...so we worked on this concept adding the letter E, and we got Emerica.
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The first pro-model skate shoe ever made was the Etnies Natas shoe. How did a skate shoe company from France end up making the first pro-model shoe for an american skateboarder? The story is funny because before Etnies I was on Vans and we talked about doing a pro-model shoe, we designed it but I didn't like the direction the brand was going and I moved to Vision that was part of the same group as Sims Skateboards, my board sponsor at the time...we talked with them too about a pro-model shoe...but nothing happened with Vision either. When I started Etnies I really wanted to do a Natas pro-model, because he was an amazing skateboarder and since basketball players had pro-model shoes I thought “Why shouldn't skateboarders have it?”...Skateboarders risk a lot more than basketball players...a pro-model shoe was definitely worth it. You moved the company to California, would all that have been possible remaining in Europe? At the time the only way was to start it in California, in the mecca of skateboarding. Nowadays things are different: there are different scenes, local scenes. Skateboarding is more democratic. Would you have thought that skateboarding would become so mainstream as it is today? Yes, since the beginning I had some feelings that skateboarding would attract more and more people. And the fact that non skaters buy skate products is important to keep skateboarding alive when it's not as popular. In '78 skateboarding was something big and the next year it died, same thing happened in the '80's. I don't want skateboarding to die again. So it's important to bring people from the outside into the skateboard market, into the skateshops to finance skateboarding and keep it alive.
Then in 2000 I felt I wanted something more, I felt the beginning of the new millennium was a perfect opportunity to start something new, something different, but I hadn't focused on what I was looking for at first. I had a friend that had been into the environmental field and he made me realize we only have one planet that we skate, and if we keep warming the planet up at some point we'll be dead. So being the owner of a private company I had the chance to decide to do something and have a higher impact doing it as a group and trying to make a change. I didn't know exactly what to do, and where to start from, but the first thing I wanted to do was set an example. Because the environment is the future. So I started designing our new headquarters, using recycled materials, covering the roof with solar panels, and kept on asking what we could have done. We started different programs to reduce the wasting of energy and water inside the company. We started developing new seasonal sustainable footwear and apparel collections. The Jameson 2 ECO is one of these products and part of “Buy a Shoe,Plant a Tree” project. The project Etnies is developing in Costarica where we are creating a brand new forest with more than 35,000 trees. It has been a long process, it took 10 years to reach the point we are at today.
Who had the idea of revising the 90's for the TWS Skate and Create? I think it was Mike Manzoori's idea. You are very sensitive to environmental issues and have done a lot with your company and within your company, where does your interest in the environment come from? I have always had a personal attitude to share what I have, when I skated in Paris I used to give lessons to the kids to teach them how to skateboard. Then when I started Etnies my goal was to give skateboarders better shoes, to assure them more protection and allow them to skate longer. a brief glance
“Nowadays things are different: there are different scenes, local scenes. Skateboarding is more democratic”.
But you still produce shoes in the world’s most polluting country. How have you approached the problem with the Chinese manufacturers? The hardest part was to make our Chinese manufacturers more eco-friendly, and that was definitely a problem. We didn’t know where to start from. All the shoe manufacturers were based in the south of China where they use mainly coal energy...so very pollutant energy. We had the idea of finding out where in China clean energy was used...but no one knew. We also spoke with the Government, and they had no idea. Then luckily, we found a University professor who was studying the different “kind” of energy utilized in the different productive areas of the country. We found our man. He explained that in the west part of China the manufacturers were using clean energy. The problem was then how to move the manufacturers from one region to another. Luckily in the area where we were producing they started to convert the productions towards hi-tech instruments, with better salaries. And we successfully pushed our manufacturers to move to the west where they use clean energy resources.
Your 3 favorite shoes of all time? The Scum, simple and classic. The Accel; after 15 years it is still a good shoe...I tried to keep it as simple as I could at the time..and it ‘s still working; The new Sheckler with the new vulcanized construction.. cold Hi Fusion the new system we are using for vulcanized shoes ”one piece”…and 80% less time of vulcanization, from 115 minutes down to 30 minutes...less energy wasted: less pollution. Your top 3 skateboarders ever? Reynolds, he is still killing it and still progressing; Sheckler, it’s amazing that he’s so good and he is only 21 years old...we sponsored him at the age of 7. Tyler Bledsoe, I’ve been really impressed by this skater, the quality of his skateboarding is amazing. When will a new Etnies video be out, since HI-Five was made in 1995? Hope soon... we have just finished the Emerica Stay Gold video....after Etnies Hi – Five, es’ Menikmati and Emerica Stay Gold...I guess it will take a long time to have a new Etnies video out...
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Dumb Skateboards and Carhartt in Turkey.
the dumbest way to Istanbul.
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photography Alex Irvine. words Giovanni Grazzani.
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GIÒ GRAZZANI IS MAD CRAZY. I’VE MET PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD WHO HAP-
PENED TO ASK ME ABOUT GIÒ. DUMB SKATEBOARDS WAS BORN AND HAS BEEN AROUND
FOR SOME YEARS THANKS TO HIS BRILLIANT INSANITY. A CHARACTERISTIC OF THE DUM-
BERS IS THAT THEY ORGANIZE TOURS TOWARDS INCREDIBLE PLACES EVERY YEAR, AND FURTHERMORE THEY ORGANIZE THEM AS SKETCHY AND RANDOMLY AS POSSIBLE. THE DESTINATION THIS TIME WAS ISTANBUL, TURKEY, AND THEY WERE ALSO ABLE TO DRAG
ALONG SOME CARHARTT EUROPE RIDERS AND ALEX IRVINE THE EDITOR OF KINGPIN MAG ON THIS “CRAZY MISSION,” USING GOD KNOWS WHAT MIND TRICKS. I WONDER IF THEY EVEN REALIZED WHAT THEY WERE GETTING INTO, BUT ANYWAYS IT WAS ANOTHER FANTASTIC DUMB TOUR.
Istanbul has 12 million people…When we decided it would be our next destination, along with Bertrand (Carhartt Team Manager), Simone Verona and Fede (the last two are the ones helping me out with Dumb), I had no idea it would be the most populated city in Europe. The one thing I was absolutely sure of was that it would be damn hot, especially during the beginning of March. As usual, our disorganization caught us unprepared: a few days before our departure we found out that during March last year there had been only 3 sunny days in Istanbul. The remainder of the month it had rained or snowed… What? It gets cold in Istanbul? Obviously Fede, who always makes his van available for our crazy missions, went totally paranoid: “Cold? Snow? If it snows I need winter tires, if we have an accident my insurance won’t pay, if I leave it at a repair shop and they fuck up or even steal my van who’s gonna pay for it? Fuck!! Let’s go to Barcelona! Let’s go to the south of Spain! Life sucks!!” Brief moment of insanity. Luckily Fede is so lunatic that the next day his mood was the exact opposite. The photographer on this expedition was Alex Irvine, the boss at Kingpin magazine. The fact he was willing to go on a trip with us made the whole situation even more surreal. The ingenuousness typical of our tours was starting to turn to anxiety; Alex was asking all these strange questions like: “Where are we going to sleep once we get to Istanbul? Are we going to stop over anywhere between the Greek coast and Turkey? Yeah, where?” On the day of departure usually very few things are certain. We left from Brescia with the Frisco van towards Pescara (Giò is so good at organizing things that he still hasn’t realized we took our ferry from Ancona) on the Adriatic coast and took a ferry to Igoumeniza. Once off the ferry it felt like we had landed in Greenland: bitter wind and snow on the streets… what next?
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“As usual, our disorganization caught us unprepared...�
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Ale Morandi. Ollie.
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Alex told us he knew this guy in a city on the way to Istanbul. Perfect, off we went! After a good amount of hours driving in the snow (with very low morale) we got to Thessaloniki, a city full of spots, warm sun and loads of university students. The guy who took us around owns a skate company called Propaganda. A master in hospitality and a really nice person. Thanks Harris! Three days later we were off again, with Istanbul 10 hours away. This was the first real tour we did with Tom Derich who just recently got on Dumb Skateboards, and he was asking a loooot of questions in the van… He wanted to know how the company works, who does what, etc. “I don’t know” was almost always the answer! Luckily he a brief glance
thought it was funny. Then there was Ferit, our Turkish tour guide that Carhartt sent along with us. Ferit Batir is a savage. He was the self-proclaimed Dj of the tour: during 20 hours in the van we listened to 10 hours of Black Sabbath, 7 hours of Sepultura, and 3 hours of Bob Dylan, and if you dared lower the volume in order to chat with the other guys, you would get that Tom Araya (legendary Slayer guitarist to whom Ferit looks like) look. We tried to abandon him at parking areas more than once, though without success. We eventually got to Istanbul: it was sunny, and it stayed that way for the whole trip.
“The one thing I was absolutely sure of was that it would be damn hot, especially during the beginning of March. Once off the ferry it felt like we had landed in Greenland: bitter wind and snow on the streets…”
Gio Grazzani. Bs tailslide.
The city was chaotic: crazy traffic, floods of people everywhere, ancient mosques side-by-side with brand new hotels, and the city center filled with alleys with hundreds of nightclubs of all sizes, discos with tables on the street and music exageratingly loud. Of course under many aspects, the lifestyle there is the same as ours, but for sure it’s a city that makes you feel kinda distant from the West. I remember having felt this one afternoon at a spot near the sea. Around us crazy traffic as usual, the synagogues close by pumping religious chants more than usual, and police in riot gear all over the place in the most diverse vehicles (afterwards we were told it was because there was a Presidential conference or something like that). I must admit that in that moment I felt as if I was in one of those news reports our Tv stations broadcast from the Middle East…
Among all the cities I have visited it is the only one without pizzerias!!! Incredible! On the other hand it has many spots, and some of them are really fantastic! We were only there a few days, and skated already-known spots as well as new spots, all of which were within a small radius of the center…the day we left this metropolis, we again realized how huge it was, and fantasized on how many precious spots there might be to skate among those buildings…definitely another city to add to the list of “places to visit and skate for at least a month”, hoping to be back soon. Thanks to Carhartt for the support, and to Alex for the photos. Ciao a tutti Giò. a brief glance
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Ferit Batir. Boneless into the bank.
“We tried to abandon him at parking areas more than once, though without success.� a brief glance
Simone Verona. Blunt to fakie. a brief glance
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get your shine on
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