The Baker/Deathwish tour is in full swing through the Southwest, so if you're around, you should check it out. If not here's some footie of Reynolds, Ellington, Greco, Lizard and the boys killing some park in some state where they voted for Bush. For more on the tour go to www.shakejunt.com, www.bakerboysdist.com or www.kr3wapparel.com





On day two of my New York adventure, it was time to go Back to the Banks. This is the event I was looking forward to the most of this past NYC skate weekend. The Brooklyn Banks are just such a rad place. They've been a legendary skate spot forever, and the actual banks have withstood numerous renovation threats from the city. Even though the place has changed over the years due to construction, the heart is still there, and will always be there, thanks to the NYC skate warlords that protect them.

One in particular is 5 Boro founder, NYC skate legend and Brooklyn Banks protector, Steve Rodriguez. He's been able to have the place turned into an actual skate park, free from the greedy hands of developers. Steve also is the man behind the Back to the Banks contest, so stay tuned for an interview with him about 5 Boro, The Banks and NYC skateboarding in general.

Alright, back to the contest. It goes like this: four obstacles, four winners, one overall winner and five $2,000 cash prizes. The obstacles are as follows: bank to wall, bank to ledge, bump to spine and the rail. In the end it was just a super stoney kind of day, with all but one of the cash prizes going to a Volcom rider. Huntington Beach's own, Colin Provost, was the most consistent spot killer, and the overall winner. Willy Akers slayed the actual banks so hard he took home both the bank to ledge, and bank to wall. Then on to the none bank sections, Chris Blake won on the rail, and David Gonzales took it on the bump to spine.

Like always, it was a great event, it seemed like the whole damn NYC skate scene was there. The kids had a great time, the adults had a great time and the bums had a great time. It seemed like the only ones not having a great time were the bicycle riders, who having a tough time getting through the crowd.

Here's some shots from the day most taken by me, except the three labeled Remy Stratton:


Colin Provost with a noseblunt on the bump to spine.


Colin with the Southern Californian mean mug after sticking the blunt.


Neckface and Braden Szafranski getting their bank on.


Steve Rodriguez pumping everyone up.


David Gonzalez getting his blunt on. Photo: Remy Stratton.


David amped after sticking it.


Willy Akers ruling the actual banks. Photo: Remy Stratton.


Yeah Willy!


Colin with a f/s 3 over the rail. Photo: Remy Stratton.


The man behind some of these shots, Remy Stratton, and an injured, Caswell Berry.


Mark Nardelli was pumped on how it went down.


So was Felix Arguelles.


And so was Billy Rohan.


Of course Reda was there.


A statue of George Washington on the walk back to Kadillac's place.


And George's camel toe.


The banks are directly under the Brooklyn Bridge, hence the name the Brooklyn Banks,
even though they're technically in Manhattan.

On their way up to San Francisco for the Wallenberg deal, the Girl/Chocolate team will be stopping at the Encino Val Surf, to put on a demo for all you valley girls and boys. So, instead of going to mall, or sitting in traffic, or whatever you do in the valley, cruise over to check it out.

The crew will consist of: Guy Mariano, Mike Carroll ,Marc Johnson, Biebel, Mike Mo, J Dubbs,Vincent Alvarez, Alex Olson, Daniel Castillo,Chris Roberts,Chico Brenes and Brian Anderson.

Hubba wheels has a funny little interview over on their site with Brayden Szafranski. Click here to check it out. Photo above: Jerry Hsu. Speaking of Jerry, he has a "Top 5 Ways to get him to Take Your Photo" video over on Crailtap. You can click here to check that out.

Braydon Szafranski's shoe release party was last Thursday at the Viper Room in Hollywood. I was supposed to be there, but I had date reading issues and showed up Wednesday night. I even bought a camera and everything for the night, because I had forgotten mine at home.

I walked into the Viper Room and it was filled with cornballs and wannabes, or maybe just cornball wannabes. Well to make a short story short, Braydon's party was Thursday not Wednesday, and I had I flight Thursday morning to Orlando for SURF Expo. You know what? It may have been a case of me subconsciously wanting to go so bad that I just convinced myself it was Wednesday.

Anyway, check out the photos over at Shake Junt, it seemed like a sloppy fun time. The Boss even played a set, not Springsteen, Reynolds with Shane, and Spanky, as in The Goat and Occasional Others. The after party looks like it was a good time too, it seems to have involved a fire extinguisher and some groupies.