Skate

I have always had a a fascination with skateboarding. A frustrating fascination sometimes at the fact I can't skate and quite an elating one when you see a friend work really hard to nail a trick before finally riding away clean. This infatuation developed into snowboarding and bmx but there is just something that always brings me back to skating. The culture, the characters, the progression and overall diversity of the skating lifestyle.

I recently watched a short documentary on youtube simply called Canvas: Skateboarding Documentary (Link here) . It really showed what skateboarding is all about. Just hanging with your friends, letting your actions do your talking, having a good time and pushing yourself through physical and mental barriers. The biggest thing that struck me about the documentary was how it was then and how it is now, the clothes, the music, the quality of boards, the brands, the skates, the tricks, all different but the underlying skate culture is the same. Sure now and again you get a clic of absolute morons who spoil it for the rest but they are few and very far between.

One guy who stood out then and who still does now is Rodney Mullen, an absolute geek and legend. He is the biggest skateboarding dork ever but one of the most technically proficient skates to ever ride a plank of wood. In the documentary he is nailing tricks that would look brand new and innovative in this day and age, he has such a rare style that you never really see anymore so it's a blessing he is still on the fringes of skateboarding.

Enough waffle, get watching.