When it comes to style in modern skateboarding there are many names that come to mind, but one in particular is Sewden's own, Ali Boulala. With a name like that how could you not be stylish? Shit, just signing his name is steezy. Ali is the complete package when it comes to creating a cool persona around professional skating ability. While he was skateboarding for a living he was simply put; different. The way in which he skated was like no other, the way in which he dressed was like no other, and the way he acted was like no other.

That brings us to what is so sad about the skate career of Ali Boulala; it was cut short. He is currently incarcerated in Australia after a motorcycle accident that killed his friend and fellow professional skateboarder, Shane Cross. Boulala had a blood alcohol level of .162 at the time of the incident and was found to be responsible for the crash and sentenced to 4 years in prison, even though the Cross family never pressed charges. Boulala was critically injured in the crash and sustained brain injuries that will have life long affects on his motor skills. It was just an all around sad thing that happened on that Australian night two-and-a-half years ago. Ali made a gigantic mistake, and is now paying for it.

His friends in the skateboard community have done a great job of making sure his contributions to the skateboard culture are never forgotten. He hasn't stepped foot on a skateboard in over two years and still managed to have a part in the biggest skate video release of 2009, his long-time board sponsor, Flip's Extremely Sorry. Out of all the brands in skateboarding, Flip was affected by that crash more than any other, by far. They lost two riders, as Cross was one of the deck manufactures best up-and-coming ams. Even though Shane and Ali haven't skated in years, if you go to www.flipskateboards.com, you'll see that both still are listed as team members (with profiles on each), and Boulala still has pro-model decks, and Cross has a limited edition Extremely Sorry deck. Never Forget Shane Cross.

To keep the memory of Boulala alive the guys over at Shake Junt have even released a limited edition Ali Boulala tee shirt that features the one and only Swedish ripper in mid Michael Jackson tip-toe pose. That's the thing with Boulala, he was such a unique character that he will never be forgotten, and this shirt parallels his persona to that of the King of Pop on a skateboard.

Just like Jackson, Boulala combined great talent with a unique sense of style that set him apart from the rest. His get-up could best be described as a modern day gypsy, meets pirate, meets jester. He would combine some of the most outrageous pieces of clothing together perfectly, and that combined with the way he just chose to skate made his video sections some of the most anticipated. Whether it was old Baker videos, or Flip's Sorry trilogy, he would always find some sketchy thing to ollie off of, onto something even sketchier. He would find some ledge that went down an insane amount of stairs, and do the most stylish nose slide down it perfectly, and in some crazy gear to boot. One of his most famous displays of sketchiness, came in Flip's first video Sorry, when he attempted two 25 stair ollies. Not one but two, and the compression his body experiences in the second sends shivers down anyone's spine.

Style in skateboarding is such a subjective thing, but at the same time one of the most important. If you don't have style no one wants to watch you skate. From the way you just push, to how you skate, to the clothes you wear. It all comes into play. One Ali's impacts on skateboarding can be seen in the pants a lot of skateboarders wear now. During his infamous Piss Drunx days he was one of the first to start wearing the super tight pants. He combined them with leather jackets, and punk rock accessories. Then 10 years later you have a guy like Corey Duffel, but Ali did it first. Then, he moved onto his gypsy/pirate/guitar face and that's about the time we lost him.

Ali Boulala was a style master on a skateboard, who threw caution into the wind with every crazy thing he attempted. It was that ultimate risk taking behavior that ended Shane's life, and his own skateboarding career. Everyone makes mistakes, some worse then others, but with this one it's hard not to be mad at Ali. Let's just hope that something positive can come out of this, like someone thinking twice about driving drunk. I would be a lier if I said I've never driven after some drinks, but with events like this on my mind I don't anymore. I hope there more out there like me. Skateboarding lost two very good skateboarders, and two of it's most stylish. NEVER FORGET SHANE CROSS and FREE ALI BOULALA.

Here's Ali's two 25 stair ollies:

The much anticipated premier of the new Flip video, Extremely Sorry, will be September 16th in Orange County, CA with an international premier tour to follow. DVDs will be available shortly after. More info will soon be announced.

The much anticipated FLIP video EXTREMELY SORRY, may have nothing to be sorry for after all. Not only are they going to blow your mind with some of the best skateboarding you've ever seen. They're also going to blow your ears off with an original soundtrack featuring appearances from major players in the rock, rap and punk genres, and it will be available on Volcom Entertainment. That's right! Mr. Geoff Rowley has been in the game for longer than most, and has made some connections along the way. If you remember, Johnny Rotten hosted their first video, Sorry.

Flip has also enlisted the help of fellow red-coat, DJ Baron, who's been working on the soundtrack for as long as it takes a non-skateboarder to finish high school. We're usually on the two year plan, aka until we're 16 and able to drop out. “EXTREMELY SORRY has been 4 years in the making and the most insane journey I have been on. The music was made to serve the skateboarding and the skateboarding is epic,” said Baron.

FLIP feels this soundtrack, which is expected to drop 10/20/09, is going to set the standard for years to come, as far as skate films go. To give your ears a little taste of what to expect, they've offered up an instrumental song available for free at the Volcom Entertainment site.

There you go, Flip + DJ Baron + Volcom = Video of the Year? We'll see. What's going to make it so rad, is not only are you going to get to see some of the best skateboarding the world has to offer. You're going to get to hear some of your favorite musical acts, in songs you've never heard before, only because of this video.

The arrival of the third installment of the Flip skateboards Sorry series is getting closer and closer every day. Flip's a funny company because they were around for awhile before they released a video. It just took them a little bit to get their act together, which is expected. This is skateboarding, as much as some other companies want it to be more like baseball or something, or even snowboarding for that matter. We're not in the fucking Olympics, and let's hope we never are.

Alright, well back to my point. It took this British skateboard company some time to release a video, so when they did in 2002, they called it Sorry. Then a year later they released some leftovers under the name Really Sorry. That was six years ago, and now it's time for Extremely Sorry. This much anticipated video is going to have some new guys, and is expected to be one of the videos of the year.

Here's a MORINformed Top 10 list of reasons and questions as to why you should be prepared to cruise by your local shop, cough up the money, and pick a copy up for yourself.

1. Mark Appleyard's part. May just be the best section of 2009.

2. Geoff Rowley as usual has a lot of say in what makes the cut, so you know it's going to gnargit.

3. The young-new guys who haven't been in a Flip video yet. Names like: David Gonzales, Rodrigo TX, Luan Oliveira Louie Lopez and Curren Caples are going to show you what the future holds.

4. The old-new guys who haven't been in a Flip video yet. Lance Mountain and Bob Burnquist have been in the game for longer than most, are still on a pro team, and still kill it.

5. Tom Penny? You never know what you're going to get with this guy.

6. Shane Cross tribute? I wonder if they've been sitting on some unused footage of the one we lost way too soon.

7. Will Johnny Rotten, excuse me, I mean John Lydon make another appearance.

8. The sound track. They hired this guy Baron from England to make an original soundtrack for the movie.

9. Will General Rowley take us on a Mountain Lion hunt, or show us some footage from the secret skate facility in the desert.

10. If Rune has an absolutley killer section of pool and park destruction, and since Rowley, Appleyard and Burnquist already have one, could Phelps make it a foursome and declare Rune the Thrasher "Skater of the Year," aka S.O.T.Y. He has been killing transition everywhere, and winning contest after contest along the way. Plus, you know Jake Phelps is all about the pool/park guys. Fuck, Tony Trujillo has a S.O.T.Y.

Mr. Rowley has leaked a little trailer of David Gonzalez footage that didn't make the cut for Extremely Sorry, and if this footie didn't make the cut, you know this video is going to be good. It's a Berrics exclusive, so you're going to have click here to check it out.