“PALATE CLEANSER: MAKIES SKATESHOP – A Book of ’80s Skate Shop Photographs by Francis Makiej” by Anthony Pappalardo via Artless Industria

“PALATE CLEANSER: MAKIES SKATESHOP – A Book of ’80s Skate Shop Photographs by Francis Makiej” by Anthony Pappalardo via Artless Industria

by | Jun 9, 2022 | Book Review, Industry, Retail History, Skate Art, Skateboard

PHOTOS BY FRANCIS MAKIEJ SPOILER ALERT: I Made a Book/Zine Facebook sucks. (Full stop). If I were to think of something valuable about the platform or “product” as some call it, I wouldn’t try to kid you with claims about “connecting the world” or “providing a space for people to share ideas.” Nah. It’s not that. If I collected things, I might say Facebook Marketplace is kind of great but I rarely use Zuck’s creation. However, several years ago a page appeared with the images above, along with a grip of other equally stunning, weird, cool, and innocent photos of kids and their (mostly) new skateboard decks. I may not be a collector but I’m a digital hoarder so I downloaded them all, contacted said admin, and waited. The photos are from a shop called Mackies Skateboards and Bicycle Shop but for the skate of brevity, we’re going to refer to it as Mackies Skateboards. Notice there’s no apostrophe? That’s how it was written back in the ‘80s and I’m going to honor that. Mackies was located in Lowell, Massachusetts. I went there once. All I remember was that they had a great board wall and low ceilings. I don’t remember who told us that Lowell was a great city to ride skateboards in but it was, so one Saturday we convinced an older cat to drive us there and he did. That’s huge. He even took us to RRR Records and I bought a Uniform Choice cassette for $3.99 (the good one). Anyway, we were skating some stairs and I broke my board. One of the members of...
“BRA Book Review – ‘The Tao of Skateboarding: Rolling Through Life: A Skateboard Philosophy, Volume 1’ by A.E. Gold” by BRA Executive Director Doug Works

“BRA Book Review – ‘The Tao of Skateboarding: Rolling Through Life: A Skateboard Philosophy, Volume 1’ by A.E. Gold” by BRA Executive Director Doug Works

by | Aug 20, 2021 | Book Review, Community, Skateboard

Book description: A modern interpretation of the original Tao Te Ching. The meter has been preserved to its original intent, while the subject matter is about skateboarders and non-skateboarders instead of merchants and farmers. May this bring peace, empathy, compassion, and stoke to all who hear it. Short excerpt from Verse 2: Relative “We know style because there is stinkbug. We know good skateboarding by how it feels. We know bad skateboarding by how it looks. Being hurt and not being hurt, create each other. Difficult and easy, long and short, define each other. Just as push and roll follow each other.” Short excerpt from Verse 15: Know Your History “During the steel wheel era skaters knew their board through subtlety and grace. Because this is so foreign to us, we can only describe their skating with great effort. They were cautious to look for any crash inducing crack. Wary of any size pebble that would end in pain, dignified like golfers yielding like rotten wood innocent as a brand new board open like an empty skatepark turning freely like broke-in trucks. But today, who can wait for their trucks to break in?” BRA Book Review Both the Author (Ari Evan Gold) and I have known each other and skateboarded together many times over the past 30 odd years starting way back in the early 90s in Tampa. A few months ago, I noticed a post on Linked-In that contained a link to The Tao of Skateboarding on Audible so I communicated with him about his writing and his skateboarding as well as what he has been doing in...
BRA Book Review of “The Radical Undersea Journey of Mr. Dude by Vipe Desai” by BRA Executive Director Doug Works

BRA Book Review of “The Radical Undersea Journey of Mr. Dude by Vipe Desai” by BRA Executive Director Doug Works

by | Aug 12, 2021 | Book Review, Community, Social Issues, Surf

A surfer at heart, Mr. Dude is someone who – like so many of us, unfortunately – never put a whole lot of thought into the ways that his decisions and behaviors affected the environment around him. He used plastic straws, he guzzled one bottled water after another, and he carried things around in plastic bags. A local surf hero, he was content not to know the effect that he was having on the ocean that was so dear to his heart. It was not something that he did out of meanness or malice: rather, he lacked any real intentions. He did what he did thoughtlessly. Introducing: The Radical Undersea Journey of Mr. Dude by Vipe Desai In this book, Mr. Dude is in for an awakening – rude, important, and life-changing. The Radical Undersea Journey of Mr. Dude is a children’s picture book that tells the tale, beginning with the local surf hero’s eco-unfriendly exploits and leading into the momentous day on which he finds himself transformed into a fish. As a fish, Mr. Dude sees firsthand just how tremendous is the destruction he has sewn. A fun and impactful adventure, this is one that I am confident will inspire loving hearts and real action, encouraging the next generation to do what is right for our planet by cultivating a sense of awareness and responsibility with regards to our roles in the world. – Vipe Desai (the Author) A portion of the proceeds from the book will benefit Vote The Ocean! Board Specialty Retail Shops can order books by emailing: donate@votetheocean.org BRA Book Review Recently, I checked my mailbox and found an...