I did a short interview with ray barbee and mike peterson at kona’s 30th anniversary party over the weekend. I’m gonna post it up as soon as the paper is printed. (they won’t let me show it sooner).
wut do u do for a job?
I do many things, but I write for a local entertainment paper. I’m also a local to the park so it was pretty easy for me to get into all of this. Ray Barbee is so awesome though, I couldn’t believe I was actually talking to him.
I skated mongo for almost 7 years… Bad thing was that I had less time to set up for a trick (anything off tables or small ledges with no space were hard for me), but I did have a lot more control of the board when pushing.
Ah… the skating years. I told myself I’d never quit. Well, until I get a car 
Here are some things I wrote about Kona Skatepark’s 30 anniversary along with some photos I took. This is the oldest privately owned park in the world. I grew up skating here.
Links:
(PDF) Kona Article starts on page 12
Website:
good shit:tup:
Deck: Loaded Bamboo Pintail (Flex 3)
Trucks: Paris something something.
Bearings: ??
Wheels: 70mm retro zig-zags (Switching to 80-something gumballs soon.)
Shoes: Heavy ass Lugz.
A loved one passed away recently, and I got this on a whim. It turned out to be one of the very few things that help. Since my random forum lurking was a factor in getting it, I just wanna say thanks to Srk.
how hard is to learn to skate if you never skated in your life? well except maybe falling on your ass a few times as a kid.
i’m pretty athletic and ive been thinking about trying it out. i have a few cousins who skate but they suck.
How much will it cost me to get started?
Board,trucks,wheels,misc. tools,SB tape,and probably some Nike SB shoes?
lol them nike sb’s will push u over to 180 ish lol…i got a free deck…blank from a friend who used to be sponsored and had them lieing around. so i went to eastern boarder to get them to hook me up…came out to be sumtin like 60-80 for them to put it all together.
you can get a decent complete for like 80 go to activemailorder.com
sbs seem to be more than regular dunks. maybe like 70
lol theres alot of people that are athletic but suck ass at sucking. i dunno just take it slow watch vids, slo mo them.
i would say the best way to get good quick is to skate with people better than you or skate your local skate park.
please tell me your skating cause you really want to not cause its the cool trendy thing to do now.
i kinda stoped skating for a while, but i remember people use to hate on me so hard for skating and being black. but i keep doing i caused i loved it so much.
Are Skate boarding shoes a necessity?
ANYTHING better than Vans
I don’t think Skate boarding has reached that kind of mainstream level yet.Maybe some of the fashions though.
Who used to hate on you?Other Black people?
well adidas or pumas are good.
you get the idea. they gotta have some grip thou.
sb’s can range from 70-100ish…paul rodriguez sneaks are in the hundred range. but low hundred.
Ah,I see.
At those prices,maybe Vans aren’t that bad I suppose.Just purely as Skate Boarding shoes though,and not torn to shreds,dirty,emo shoes.
hope i didnt come off as a dick.
yeah biolink black people did
well they would just give me that look. my friends in school were cool with it. but now its like lot of people started skateboarding and posing and shit. throwing up star track signs trying to be like pharell and just riding around not even trying to do tricks.
like the city i grew up in theres alot more people started skating like this year. (i moved)
vans are cool if your just starting. if your talking about slip ons or these <img src=http://caliroots.com/data/campaign/20075320141647622308.jpg>
they will rip really easy.
wait people take pharrell seriously?! lol…i dont live in an area where people skate cuz of tv. all the skaters i see have been skating cuz of the love. i dont think anything lupe or star trak has done pushed people to skate in mass…that ive seen.
thats exactly what im getting, every one started skating cause of t.v.
where i went to school every one is a trend whore. people that wearing tall tees and af ones now wear slim ass shirts and vans.
i mean i wore tall tees af ones and vans too, but i change it up alot thou.