just messing around on photoshop

hopefully the original artist won't sue me over this!

Road trip etiquette

With another road trip coming up very soon I was thinking back on some of the stuff ive seen go on during other road trips, some good, some bad.

For me a skate trip is as good as it gets, on the road with your bro’s, new spots, cheep beer, and making new friends, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

But that being said, there is always some kind of downer on every trip, and most of the time this is due to one or two people being selfish, and making the trip less for every one, with that in mind I thought I would write up some basic skate trip etiquette.

Keep in mind that these are all my opinions based on my experiences.

1-

Be flexible! Your dealing with a van or RV full of other people who may or may not have the same ideas on where to be, or what to skate, and even the best laid plans sometimes have to change.

If a majority of people on the trip all want to hit something, and you don’t, or you have nothing for that spot, throwing a fit isn’t going to do anything but kill everyone including your good time, if the spot isn’t for you, don’t skate it, take pics, shoot vid, drink beer, but don’t be a dick about it, don’t treat it like a personal attack on you, it isn’t, it’s a skate spot.

2-

Be flexible!! Your dealing with a bunch of people who may or may not have the same idea on where to eat as you, and sometimes stopping times are a major factor in where the van can stop for food, you might hate micky D’s, but if most of the van agrees it’s the best stop given speed, convenience, then don’t be a bitch about it, there is something in there you can eat, it’s a skate trip, not a gourmet food tour.

3-

Chances are the vehicle your rolling in isn’t yours, its one of the guys on the trip, or a rental that someone on the trip is responsible for, this means treat it way better than your shit, don’t spill shit (accidents happen of coarse) keep it clean, and at the end of the trip don’t volunteer to help clean it, just help clean it!!! Don’t be the person who jumps out of the van and straight into you car, believe me, shit like that gets noticed

4-

There is money involved in every trip, gas, hotel, food, etc.

Don’t make people go looking for your share, if everyone is supposed to chip in say $100, hand it off to the person in charge of the money at the start of the trip.

If things like gas end up being more money, and everyone one is asked to throw in another $20 (or whatever) hand it over without bitching, treat every trip buy in like a minimum, things happen, be prepared when they do

5-

There are always a few people who end up doing more work to make a trip happen, the guy who rents the van, the guy who goes shopping ahead of time to for travel food/beer, etc. be respectful of the fact they did that for you.

If you don’t like the bread, or the chips they picked out for you to eat, then you should have been there helping to do the shopping, or done it yourself, bitching at someone because they didn’t guess what you like to eat on the road is shitty.

And remember to thank the people who did the work, they didn’t have to do it, remember that!

6-

Don’t wonder off, having to look for someone or wait on one person while the rest of the group is ready to go sucks!!!!!!!!

7-

Be flexible!!!!!!

There usually isn’t super comfortable sleeping arrangements on a skate trip, you might have to share a bed, or a floor, or sleep in the van, don’t be a sissy about it, no one else is comfortable either, you whining isn’t helping, think of the fun coming the next day and deal, it’s a skate trip!

8-

If you get hurt it sucks, everyone feels bad, no one likes it, but it happens, if it does to you don’t punish everyone on the trip, we know your bummed, were bummed for you, it doesn’t mean you cant have fun, or participate, grab a beer and a camera, believe me, people will remember you manning up

9-

Have fun, don’t take anything seriously, it’s a trip, make the most of it for you and everyone else by keeping a good attitude no matter what happens

10-

Be flexible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Really hope this helps, a skate trip really can be the most fun a person can have without there genitals being involved

back at the Ramp

gonna start rolling back on getting the ramp done, calzoni chris is in, stoked to get it built and skated. i'm open for ideas, so don't be shy

follow up question with Nate sherwood

this is a follow up question suggested to me by DR Bill Schaffer after reading the original interview, Bill is a far more experienced skater and interviewer than me, and his question seemed worthy of me bothering Nate once again.

thanks to Bill for his advice, and Nate for once again taking the time to answer.

Bill-
"I'd have liked to see you ask him a bit about the way skating has broken down into different camps - like street and vert. It wasn't like that in my day - or McGills."

sam-

as a 36 year old who still skates street, tranny parks,but was never a vert skater, and came up through the 90's, i have my own strong opinions on this subject, but was hoping you could share your for us

Nate-

Yeah my man thank u 4 the link it means a lot to me face book will not let me post it up :) is it the fucks part? lol so funny. oh well. dude i am honored by your kind words and thank u 4 the coverage. I feel u man i been in the game 4 so damn long it is crazy 4 us old guys. the different camps are messed up all this segroskation is bullshit. i cannot even go st skate now with anybody other than my tri pod cause 90 percent of the skaters all want to skate a different thing. "nate i need stairs" nate i want a ditch" nate i need a park" nate I need the mega ramp." i never care what i skate but dudes will fight over where to go i love skating anything rolling around on flat is just a s fun as a huge park. I thibk it is sad nobody is as open minded as they were back in the day. people have a lot more hate in them than they did then. my homey tim said it best when he said the comrodery is gone now kids never talk to eaCH other they listen to there i pod give u a hard face and act as if skating is some kind of contest all the time. huge ego's have ruined the world. the fact vert and park guys hate st. the fact street hates vert. the dfact a rail zero guy hates manny pads the fact manny pad guys hate rail guys and as well ledge dudes just want to skate a ldge but have to deal with bmx chips out of it add,s more stife, it is sad that none of the above can get along it is truly a sad skate of affairs lol.

No Cast, No Rain, No Worries, No Brains!

2 things:

numba 1 - Thanks Sam, that Notorius Nate interview was rad as fuck. looking forward to more o that in the future. good stuff! hey you gotta post some of that footy you been laying down up here.

Numba 2 - calling all AZFUKS - we gotz some skating to do! feeling frisky now that i am cast free and healing up, where we gonna skate next saturday?? i'm got an itch for old Tempe, who's in??

the notorious nate sherwood interview

some of you may know Nate Sherwood from his "notorious Nate" spots on Fuel TV's American Misfits show.
ive been talking to nate a little bit on face book, and asked him if he would do a interview for oldkooks, well he said yes, even seemed really stoked to do it.
im no interviewer, but hope you all enjoy this.


sam:
Ok first off the stats, could you list your sponsors for us?

nate:
Airspeed footwear. Deep end clothing. rekon skateboards , arnette eye wear willy santos and his workshop. bull taco tim taylor filming , jay reilly photo work , and my lady on cooking. linz p. kontrol wheels when they do not flake on mailing goods.


sam:
How old are you, and how long have you been skateboarding?

nate:
i been skating since I was 8 in 1988 I am 30 years old right now damn i feel old


sam:
What size gear do you ride (deck, trucks, wheels)


nate:
trucks fury EVO hi,s for a 7.75 wide deck by 32 inch long and 14'1/2 wheel base. clear grip if i can score it if not I beg Kristin S for some. 50 mm wheels as hard as can be from kontrol , when they flake and trust me they fucking do , i hit up ally chris and trade him lunch for plan b wheels. or beg my dowg matt in philly for some pusher wheels but they flake like dandruff so at times I end up buying some wheels or trading a deck in for some.


sam:
We all have influences in and out of skateboarding that help to shape who we are as skaters, could you tell us about one of yours?


nate:
man I would say Rodney Mullen Daewon Song both have given me insperskation over the years though their creskative mind sets and innovation and creation of tricks. rodney once said to me that yiou should never dork around that is when you get hurt. Daewon said to me that you just need to keep a positive mental attitude and you can pull anything no matter how long or how hard you been trying it for hours. rob welsh has been a big hero of mine forever. he is a nice dude as well. willy santos is my main homey and side kick even though i see him once a year at most now. brandon troy eggelston is my biggest hero outside of skating , he is my best friend. eric stricker who was a close bro and has not passed away was a great mentor on how shady the industry is. he showed me the ropes. SAM FRANSIK is the dude he rules. , RP bess gave me a chance when others were sucking at life. he showed me a lot on how to live off of skating but a lot of lame advice as well. lol todd miller and ted helped a bro out when he was down on his luck and they are chill dudes. paul at cal skate is my bro for life. dan and sean lafferty are my life long hero's i been looking up to them since i was 9 years old. jeremy klein taught me how to be hardcore and to tell people to fuck off who pissed me off. per Welinder is one rad dude as well. so many more i could write a phone book here. I have to say Seu Trhin is one funny dude and has my back. steve and greg at bull taco rock as well. they all shaped me in one way or another gave me good advice and I cannot thank them all enough for their help over the years. Dave Hupp Chris Fissel and rockmen chung mike chin and his older bro all been huge influences in my skating. to this day.



sam:
Ive seen your shoe with Air Speed, how did that come about, what do you do for the company, and what is it like working with a legend like Mike McGill?


nate:
man mike rules I truly am honored to be working with him. the guy skates hard. he rips and he is a down to earth cat. kristin and sumner as well as pat all rock and we have a great posse. j mac the guy who runs airspeed hit me up one day out of the blue. we met up for a meeting and the rest was history. i am trubro stoked to be a part of airspeed.



sam:
In all of the video ive seen of you, and spots on American misfits on Fuel TV, you always seem to be really enjoying yourself, skating joking, and playing, is that stuff truly representative of a session with nate?


nate:
yeah man I laban and ted just fallow me around for 1 weeks time and then they chop it up and boom there is the season.
nothing is planned nothing is blue printed. it is a full organic way to skate rather than my video parts where i spend 1 or 2 days on each trick AND after 2 years have a full part. I feel like my master work is in my vid parts but A.M. is my vent to the worlds to not take skating so serious like my mono lisa is in "more tricks less politics" or the up coming "i suck at life video" which will b e done soon I hope. but my relaxskation is on fuel. ted rocks and i am stoked to be on the show. it is like pollack i just splatter tricks and have fun jump around eat candy and go back to being 8 years old. lol yes i am like that 90 percent of the time it is no act. unless i am stressing a trick but that is rare for me. we just have fun skate and try not to drown or be ran over and it rocks.


sam:
Any big skate plans (trips, vids, etc) for 2010 you can tell us about?


nate:
yes i am headed to lv to skate with some dudes real soon. like late feb. i am wirking on the I suck at life vid, and as well doing non stop vids for you tube check them out under suburban mail box airspeed has me behind the camera and in front so i do mad stuff for them and their site www.airspeedfootwear.com so peep that. I am planning to head back east in summer and finish some biz that I did not get done last year there. i hope to get back home aka portland then as well. I have so many huge irons in the fire it breaks my head. trying to bang out as much covrage as i can for airspeed and rekon as i can trying to get deep end off the ground with the guts over there and as well just pay biils and sleep.


sam:
Lastly I would like to thank you for taking the time to do this, and providing quality entertainment for my family and I, we really appreciate it, and hope to see more of Nate Sherwood in 2010



nate:
no prob brother. I am stoked to do it. oh I would love to thank The Barna,s both for being rad friends and as well my mom and dad. my sis in p town. j mac at airspeed and geraldo at rekon and all my friends all over. oh tim taylor and sam f. and roy u guys rock. talks oon.





links
http://airspeed.us/

some footage from nates upcoming vid dropping in march 2010