West Gate of Babylon

Wallenberg Recap

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:37:54 -0700

Flying though the air, Chris Cole is halfway through a succesful backside 360 ollie down the Wallenberg four which he landed on his second attempt, helping him take home the $6,000 prize for 1st Place.

The ladies portion of the contest set the theme for the rest of the day: gnarly!

Marissa Del Santos (far right) made eleven attempts at being the first woman to ollie Wallenberg and came damn close.

True to the Deathwish moniker, Lizard King (a.k.a. Mike Plum) was relentless. Here he is at the top of his ollie to disaster…

…and he sticks it!

Elissa and Braydon watch the festivities from the crowd…

[All photos by Brett Rector]

48 Hours Until Wallenberg!

Thu, 28 May 2009 08:36:09 -0700

48 Hours Until Wallenberg!:

Only 48 hours until the contest at Wallenberg High School. With $10,000 on the line you’ll be sure to see slams way gnarlier than the those found in Chris Cole’s tre-flip sequence.

Happy Birthday Golden Gate

Wed, 27 May 2009 20:00:32 -0700

Happy Birthday Golden Gate :

The West Gate turns 72 today. Here’s a photo taken during the consturction before the bridge opened on May 27th, 1937.

Usugrow SF Show Closes This Weekend

Wed, 27 May 2009 19:28:00 -0700

Usugrow SF Show Closes This Weekend:

I might be way ahead of the curve or I might have been sleeping on this and everyone’s already heard, but artist Usugrow’s installation at 24FiftySF is closing this weekend.

I love his art. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the Edmund Joseph Sullivan piece that got turned into The Greatful Dead skeleton and roses graphics, but retains a distinct japanese tatoo styleee…

24FiftySF / 252 Fillmore St / SF CA

5th Annual Adidas Berlin Clash

Wed, 27 May 2009 08:28:23 -0700

5th Annual Adidas Berlin Clash :

Check out this Adidas Video of the 5th Annual Berlin Clash. SF local turned pro, Denis Busenitz, killed it along with Bastien Salabanzi who took first overall.

Island Vibes at Carnival in The Mission

Fri, 22 May 2009 18:20:43 -0700

Island Vibes at Carnival in The Mission:

This weekend is Carnival in The Mission and it’s going to be a reggae/dancehall infused affair!

Come see all of your favorite local reggae DJ’s tear shit up Saturday and Sunday on Harrison Street between 17th and 18th near Mariposa.

Bay to Breakers 2009!

Thu, 21 May 2009 20:15:00 -0700

Bay to Breakers 2009!:

I’ve been busy and haven’t posted in a while, and just in case you’re wondering this is what I’ve been doing instead.

I just can’t reiterate it enough: I love San Francisco!

Matix Signing at DLX SF

Tue, 05 May 2009 19:51:00 -0700

Matix Signing at DLX SF :

Calling all Mike Mo fanboys! Head on over to the DLX SF shop on Friday to get your Girl board autographed… Then ask him to land a hard flip first try down six!

Blood Wizard Party in Golden Gate Park

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:50:00 -0700

Blood Wizard Party in Golden Gate Park :

Local skateboard start up Blood Wizard Skateboards is hosting the 1st Annual Lord of the Ringers horse shoe tournament in two weeks at the horse shoe pits in Golden Gate Park.

Their skateboards are sick, and so is all of the Blood Wizard art which is done by local artist Skinner Davis.

He recently worked on a mural project sponsored by YouTube that was featured in a recent issue of Juxtapoz.

Here’s a close up from the mural…

On a related note, some friends and I are throwing a Wizard Staff Party to help prepare for the impending horse shoe wizardry, and our livers for Bay to Breakers…

If you’re interested in coming here’s the info:

Please join us for a day of wizardry and magic spells at the Golden Gate Park Speedway Meadows.

We’ll be celebrating the black arts, comradely between fellow wizards, and of course beer. Here’s how you can transform yourself into a Wizard:

1. Purchase beer (cans are best as only the most experienced or foolish wizards attempt the 2. Arrive at the Golden Gate Park Speedway Meadows on May 9th at HIGH NOON!

3. Begin drinking beer rapidly

4. As you finish each beer, the empty will be magically attached (e.g. duck-taped) to the bottom of your staff.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until your staff is as tall (or taller) than you are…

Only then will you become a full fledged Wizard of unimaginable power!

We’ll be BBQ’ing so please feel free to bring your favorite cut of Orc Meat or other grill-able treats and snacks.

Also the 1st person to become a full fledge Wizard will receive an awesome prize!

Golden Gate Park Speed Way
Near 25th and Fulton
Saturday, May 9, 12:00PM

IF YOU ARE STILL CONFUSED: CHECK OUT THIS LINK!!!

Chezidek at 111 Minna

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:37:00 -0700

Chezidek at 111 Minna:

Veteran roots reggae artist Chezidek passed through San Francisco on Friday night, blessing up the mic at 111 Minna as part of their Suite Jesus party.

I’ve seen Chezidek a bunch of times but I can’t believe I’ve never been to 111 before… It’s dope! Two big rooms, nice sound system and $2 PBR’s all night.

I’m definitely passing through next month… See you there!

Boneless to Pop Top

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:57:10 -0700

Boneless to Pop Top:

Creature has a new board series out called, “Brue Killers” and have a cool little video to promote it. Bonus points if you can indentify the park where it’s filmed.

Bay to Breakers Mash Up from last night’s Board of...

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:54:00 -0700

Bay to Breakers Mash Up from last night’s Board of Supervisors meeting courtesy of Melissa Griffin via SFist!

UPDATE: Here’s some pertinant thoughts from SFAppeal:

B2B Update: Valiant populist rhetoric fails to alter path of evil corporate no-fun machine, while nice churchgoing folk flip proverbial bird at everyone.

City supervisors will next week vote on a resolution urging international insurance giant ING to please, pretty please, not make the annual Bay to Breakers drunken orgy un-fun. 12K/

What will ING do about it? Not a damn thing - it’s too late to make any changes to the route or the race structure, but ING will think about it for next year. That is, if there is a next year.

Here’s the real news section: the race WILL have the additional benefit of anywhere from 150 to 200 extra portapotties (providing they are not set afire prior to the starting gun), though we don’t yet know where.

Beyond that, nothing else is new: No kegs. No bottled beer (cans, and presumably boxed wine, are all fine). No shopping carts. Floats must begin at the beginning, and the post-party race is at the polo field, not at Speedway Meadow, Crazy Horse or in complete stranger’s garage.

Naked people = whatever, but please consider hitting the gym before shedding your shorts. Oh - and won’t you please register for the race? Pretty please? Especially you, Facebookers.

The race’s 900 pound gorilla is still comfortably seated in the room, and appears to have signed a long-term lease: there is simply no way to fully enforce the race’s rules, whatever those rules turn out to be.

Mirkarimi related an anecdote from last year: while walking through the carnage in the Panhandle, he saw a group of 10 or so racers pissing on - rather than in - a bank of Portapotties, in full view of a San Francisco police officer. When Mirkarimi asked the cop why he wasn’t doing something about it, the cop shrugged and replied, “Well, what CAN we do about it?” Good point. There’s not enough buses in the Muni fleet to drag all the ne’er race wells off to jail, and once you detain one public pisser, there’s literally thousands more to police.

Though we did find something out on Monday afternoon. We used to think that when it came to B2B, there was only one stance or the other to take: you were either a serial public pisser jealously guarding your right to party, or you were a mean, old NIMBY wishing to water your lawn with something other than recently-recycled Pabst Blue Ribbon on a Sunday in May.

There is, in fact, at least one more way to look at it all: courtesy of Rev. Amos Brown, head of the local NAACP and a former supervisor, we discovered the “fuck you all, I have to go to church” faction.

“People can’t get to church [on race day],” said Brown, who estimated there are as many as 70 places of worship along the race route (we wonder if those will get mapped, as well). “All this is done at the expense of others.”

To those kindly churchgoing folk, no solution or alternative was proffered. For our part, we hope very dearly no desperately-thirsty racer remembers some church services offer wine

Konshen’s new video for “THIS MEANS MONEY” is...

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:24:19 -0700

Konshen’s new video for “THIS MEANS MONEY” is mad…

Western Edition drops Marvin Gaye gear

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:32:10 -0700

Western Edition drops Marvin Gaye gear:

WE RAW Marvin Gaye Tribute from Western Edition on Vimeo.

Western Edition dropped their Marvin Gaye tribute gear and board last week. I’m not a huge fan on the dead celebrity tie-in (unless it’s somebody totally gnarly like G.G. ) but whatever.

The video, which features a bunch of SF skate spots, is pretty cool and worth checking out.

Cooyah Tonight w/ DJ Gaucamole

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:38:00 -0700

Cooyah Tonight w/ DJ Gaucamole :

Tonight I will be DJ’ing the early set tonight at Cooyah, which takes place every Wednesday at Bruno’s on 20th and Mission. I’ll be warming things up around 8 PM and as always it’s absolutely free. Resident selectas Green B and Daneekah will be blazing brand new dancehall and I’m sure Guacamole will be dropping some hot WBLK dub plates.

To get in the mood check out this dope time lapse video that DJ Gaucamole put together.

$10,000 Best Trick Contest: Back 2 the Berg

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:45:00 -0700

$10,000 Best Trick Contest: Back 2 the Berg:

Mark you calendars! Thrasher and Zero are throwing down $10,000 cash for the best trick at the infamous Wallen 4.

The Gonz did it first in Video Days but that was before my time.

Chris Cole 360 flipped it recently in New Blood.

And here’s some video from Thrasher’s last big trick contest in SF, Bust or Bail, which took place last August. Sheckler may have won $25,000 that day, but he can still eat a bag.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Courtesy of the man Dee-Cee, here’s a video of my favorite...

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:35:04 -0700

Courtesy of the man Dee-Cee, here’s a video of my favorite sound Jah Warrior Shelter killing it with I-Vier pon de controls. They’re playing tonight at Toppa Top with special guest selecta Daddy Rolo

[Toppa Top Thursdays / Club Six @ 6th and Market / 11 PM]

DEA Raid in San Francisco Today

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:02:13 -0700

DEA Raid in San Francisco Today:

From SFist -

“In yet another attempt to harsh SF’s buzz, word is the Drug Enforcement Agency is here (as of 4 p.m.) doing a bust. According to an anonymous email, ‘I just went by [unintelligible] dispensary on Howard and 12th [street] and they are being raided right now by the DEA. My phones down. Get the word out por favor.’

There is a cannabis club on Howard, so that’s probably the place. More info as it comes in to us.

Update 4:55 p.m.: The raid is happening at Emmalyn’s California Cannabis Clinic at 1597 Howard Street. Also, there seems to be some sort of joint protest going on at said club against the DEA. So, you know, leave your baggies at home, crack- and pot-heads.

The Marijuana Policy Project send out the following press release today regarding the raid in progress.

(Check out the press lease after the jump.)”

Doesn’t this contradict the statement made on 02/09/09 by White House Spokesman Nick Shapiro, where he indicated that, “the president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws”?

Went to the Bro-down Showdown in Sac Town today. It was a lot...

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:00:08 -0700

Went to the Bro-down Showdown in Sac Town today. It was a lot of fun and I picked up a whole bunch of cheap shit. More photos soon…

Skylark Sessions: Mr. Lucky's Earthstrong!

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:21:43 -0700

Skylark Sessions: Mr. Lucky's Earthstrong!:

Monday was Mr. Lucky’s earthstrong at Skylark. I had to roll out to show support because he might be the nicest guy in The Bay and he’s got all the wicked tunes.

The boys from the mighty Now Time Sound where in the house, and everyone was ready for a birthday shot.

Not sure if this was immediately before or after the round of shots.

Seelo brought a couple of brand new InI Vibe / Mr. Lucky dub plates by Tarrus Riley as a birthday gift.

Now that’s friendship!

The Joe-L took control of the decks and the whole place went MAAAAD…

This is a picture of Joe-L playing “Picture on the Wall” by The Natural-Ites which may be the greatest song ever recorded.

He plays it to tease me because I’ll never be able to find it on vinyl, but I love it.