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CONCUSSION R.I.P.
VERSUS 34 June 2009
MORE DEAD COPS!
VERSUS 34 Juin 2009
SUICIDEZ-LE S’IL VOUS PLAÌT
From Davoud Kermaninejad: hi there - there should probably be a new issue of concussion on your doorstep by now, or maybe early next week. unfortunately it is probably the last one you’ll get, at least in its current glossy 8×10 form. as many of you know this has never been a for-profit operation and we’ve been skidding by, barely breaking even for the past few years. so when the recession kicked into high gear late last year, many of our longtime advertisers had to pull the plug. we lost about 1/3 of our core advertising base in a month, as many of you know because sales at the end of the year tanked. i could’ve shrunk the page count in half but to use the cancer patient analogy, i’d rather go out with a bang than have it die a sad, slow and painful death. personally i feel that this is one of the best issues we’ve put out (aside from the flaky art direction, sorry) and so this is a good way to end this chapter of concussion. i only found out about this in very late december and have been kicking around our options, but deep down i knew it was a bag and it is time to cut our losses and not get under any more debt. and that’s fine, im pretty busy as it is. i could use more time skating and shooting photos and less time behind the computer. i do enough of that at my day job. but it’s sad nonetheless, i started concussion right out of college and i’m now 36, so that’s a good 15 years of doing something that is not your day job. concussion may continue on as some sort of photo / shit talking website or i might do a small size zine on the copier at work, but the days of printing 10,000 copies in the bookstore are done unless i win the lottery, or one of you guys wants to publish us. just kidding about that last part. so id just like to sincerely thank all of you for your help and support over the years, couldn’t have done it without you. like i said, we have never been for profit but without all of our advertisers we wouldn’t have even had the money to break even and keep printing. on top of that you all know that small mags like us don’t always reach the most people or the target consumer and so it was always nice to have that support from y’all because it felt like you were supporting something that was more true to pure skateboarding and less so to mass market advertising. anyway, we have a dvd coming out in a few months (irony, no?) and a shitload of back issues and old product to unload so we can get out from this mountain of $10,000+ debt we have from this latest issue, after that i’ll figure out what i feel like doing and we’ll see where it goes. part of me wants to start something new and part of me wants to wash a couple vicodins down with a few beers and go skate some more pools. whatever, it’s been fun. ill be in touch about new projects as they arise, if you have any web budget for this year we will probably be interested in tapping into that at some point. we’re probably going to relaunch the website with a redesign at some point, although right now everything is up in the air. feel free to hit me up with any suggestions you have or whatever. anyway i wanted you to hear it from me first although the issue has shipped and some of you already know the news. it was a go but now it’s a bag... thanks for everything. xoxo - davoud
Je ne sais pas ce qui est le pire dernièrement au sujet de Jereme Rogers... qu’il se soit fait attrappé à poil (défoncé) sur le toit d’un immeuble, ou sa nouvelle collection de tatouage (plus ridicule les un que les autres), ses déclaration dans la presse (Dieu m’aide à replaquer mes tricks) ou alors son album de “musique”... C’est pour quand le TV-Show déjà?
SKATEBOARDING IS A CRIME IN MILTON FLORIDA Si vous voyez un skateur descendre une courbe dans un skateparc, avec toutes les proctections nécessaires, vous faites quoi vous? Vous regardez? Vous vous en foutez? P’tain vous n’êtes pas un bon citoyen! Aux USA, quand on voit ça, on appelle la police. Et que fait la police? Ils rigolent et ne se déplacent même pas? Non! Aux USA, ils se dépêchent, et donnent raison à ce bon-samaritain (en France on appelle ça un collabo), puis on écrit un joli petit papier au skateur lui interdisant de retourner dans ce skateparc pour les 30 prochains jours. Freedom Fries qu’ils disaient?... ahahaha...
VERSUS AWARDS #1 Citoyen du mois!
Pourquoi dès que tu t’es fait un nom dans un certain milieu, tu peux te pemettre de faire n’importe quoi, et les gens “cool” vont quand même trouver que ce que tu fais c est “cool”? L’expo Imagine sur Yoko & Lennon à Montréal par exemple... Désolé mais c’était à chier! Versus c’est pas vraiment “cool” donc vous imaginez ce que l’on peut penser de ce luste...
Si je ne voyageais pas tout le temps, si je n’avais pas un fanzine de skateboard, (oui je sais, avec des si) je n’aurais probablement pas besoin d’internet. Et des fois, je me dis que cela me rendrait probablement plus heureux...
VERSUS AWARDS #1 Policier du mois!
Vous ne trouvez pas qu’elles ont l’air super intelligentes? En tous les cas, si elles m’invitent à faire un road-trip quelque part (même si c’est aux USA) et bien je pars direct!
VERSUS AWARDS
LA vidéo de merde de l’année! Baker-Deathwish S’il te plaît Antoine, reste en prison la prochaine fois, Versus, et le monde du skateboard en général t’en seront grandement reconnaissant. Paix.
En plus, je suis sur qu’elles ont plein de nouveaux tricks à nous apprendre. Entrevue (photos) dans Versus à suivre
VERSUS AWARDS LE Skate-Team de l’année 2009!!!
WWW.ESPN.COM
VERSUS 34 June 2009
JUST ANOTHER LONELY MILLIONAIRE SKATEBOARDER by Allison Glock
It’s 10 in the morning and cherubic skateboarding pro Ryan Sheckler is sitting at a large conference table watching a PowerPoint presentation scored with “inspirational” techno music. The 18-year-old is flanked by entrepreneur (and Apprentice Season 4 contestant) Josh Shaw and Steve Astephen, his agent. Sheckler eyes the skin-care promo with strained interest. This is his third meeting in as many hours, and he will have at least five more before the day ends. As Shaw runs through his shtick, Sheckler nods and says, “Yeah, yeah, uh-huh,” as if a string were being pulled. His hair is buzz-cut, and in his ears “IT WAS THE FIRST TIME glitter diamond studs that frame his round I REALIZED THAT PEOPLE, face and Bambi-wide eyes. SERIOUSLY, HAVE NO BRAINS,” His watch, the size of a tricycle wheel and rimmed with more diamonds, is a gift from Nixon, one of his sponsors. Bedazzled, short (his bio lists him at a generous 5’8”) and boyishly handsome, Sheckler looks like a cross between Chris and Charlie Brown. Shaw tries to fan his interest by trotting out products, and Sheckler obligingly sniffs the lotions and lip balms. “A signature ChapStick would be so sweet” he says to no one in particular. Encouraged, Shaw leans forward. “So” he says, “how do you feel about flavors?” Not much later, Sheckler is in a hired car, headed to his next appearance, lip balm deal still to be finalized. He’s in New York for two days in May, and marketing executives for his sponsors— Etnies, Red Bull, Oakley and Panasonic, among others—want him to drop by stores to meet and greet. Also on the day’s docket: an appearance on Run’s House and a Kanye West concert he’d rather not attend. “When I met him, I told him I was a big fan,” says Sheckler. “And he said, ‘Of course you are.’ “ He rolls his eyes and slouches into his seat. Astephen, the pied piper of action sports, asks him if he’s up for “the thing at the place later on.” “Whatever you need, man,” Sheckler answers. “It’s part of the gig.” He is unlike any street skater in history. One, because he is preternaturally gifted, able to ride with uncommon grace and with the consistency of a dart pro.
VERSUS 34 June 2009
WWW.ESPN.COM
And two, because he’s happy selling out. oft-shirtless skater as a young man interHe plans to start a clothing company. A ested in far more than mastering tricks. gear company. Do movies. “You know The show pulls healthy ratings, easily what I really want?” he asks earnestly... winning its time slot in the coveted 12-to-24 “My own cologne!” demographic. As a result, sponsors beyond Sheckler’s willingness to acknowledge the usual skate companies have begun cirhis Hollywood-size ambition in a sport that cling the Sheckler brand. Film scripts arrive pretends it doesn’t have any sets him apart. on a regular basis, including, Sheckler says, From other riders. From (male) spectators one based on Avril Lavigne’s song “Sk8er at contests. From anyone who objects to Boy.” So, too, TV development deals. his fame and fortune and resents the fact To the real world, Sheckler is a hot guy who that while most skaters earn thousands— happens to skate. But to the skate world, pros with a signature board or shoe make he’s Paris Hilton on wheels. healthy six-figure incomes—Sheckler earns “His show adds a lot to his problems,” millions. “I get ‘Sellout’ a lot,” he says. says Rogers. “It’s like a skateboarding “The real skate rats, they don’t want to Laguna Beach. He cries on TV. They latch see Panasonic have anything to do with onto that.” skating,” says pro street skater Jereme “People knock on him pretty hard,” says Rogers. “Personally, I think skateboarding Andy Macdonald, who became the first is harder than throwing a basketball into a vert skater to net a drink sponsor, when he hoop, so I’m all for it growing up and being signed with SoBe nine years ago—and was taken seriously. Ryan is helping do that, harassed as soon as the sticker went on his and he gets hated on the hardest.” helmet. “The people hassling Ryan need In 2003, at 13, some perspective. “PEOPLE WHO WATCH HIM Sheckler began We started doing this AREN’T SKATEBOARDING FANS, skating for prize because we wanted THEY’RE RYAN SHECKLER FANS.” money, becoming to make our own the youngest skater rules. And now this ever to turn pro. The same year, World core group wants us to conform.” Industries released a Sheckler pro model Haters loathe Sheckler for taking street board. Since then, Sheckler has dominated mainstream, for turning something mutistreet skating, racking up wins at the Slam nous into something your mother would City Jam, Vans Triple Crown, Gravity love. Also, because he gets more play than Games and X Games. He’s the undefeated Tiger’s putter. “He’s on teenybop magathree-time winner of the park event on the zines,” says Rogers. “He has a fan base of AST Dew Tour. “I won the first contest girls. That’s a first for skateboarders.” I ever entered, when I was 6,” he says. At events, Sheckler’s “People were like, Who does this kid think supporters are obvious: he is? Even back then, people were giving the young, pretty ones me s—.” who pack the stands, Trash-talking is part of skate culture. squeal with delight Even so, Sheckler has received more than at deafening decibels his share. “For some reason,” says his while he rides, then mother, Gretchen, “hating on Ryan seems leave after they see him to be the cool thing to do.” Never more change his shirt. “Ryan than lately, as his hit MTV show, Life of is the first legitimate Ryan (filming its third season), has turned teenage heartthrob in the former niche celebrity into a bona fide our industry,” says pop culture touchstone, revealing the Macdonald.
!!! MUST SEE !!!
!!! MUST SEE !!! http://www.liveleak.com/ view?i=154_1248394681
THANX!
Thanx again for everything, see you soon somewhere!
WWW.ESPN.COM
VERSUS 34 June 2009
“People who watch him aren’t skateboarding fans, they’re Ryan Sheckler fans.” Which suits Sheckler just fine. “I’m going to capitalize on everything I can,” he says unapologetically. And though he may wince when someone yells “Douche bag!” as they pass his autograph line, it’s a rejection he registers for about as long as it takes him to roll up the window of his CLK63 AMG Black Series Benz. “Every time somebody calls me out or tries to start something, it’s motivation,” he says cheerfully. “I want to give them more reasons not to like me.” Sheckler’s first fight happened when he was 15 and 115 pounds. An older, much larger football player thought Sheckler was after his girl (“I wasn’t”) and suggested they meet in a parking lot. They wrestled for a bit—Sheckler was on his school’s team—then went their separate ways, amid much red-faced bluster from the football star. “It was the first time I realized that people, seriously, have no brains,” Sheckler says. It wasn’t the last. Since he’s become a TV personality, strangers throw themselves at him. Girls grab at his clothes. Nipples are flashed. (Not just his.) Tough guys want to prove themselves by talking smack and pushing his buttons. Sheckler brushes it all off; he says he’s trying to keep his eyes on the prize. And for the most part, it’s working. After reinjuring his right elbow days before the event, Sheckler came in fourth at the July 13 Maloof Money Cup. (Paul Rodriguez took the top spot —and the $100,000 purse, the richest in skate history.) But he’ll take aim again when he skates in street and superpark at the X Games in August. He’s hired a personal trainer and says he tries to swim or bike every day to get into what he calls “contest mode.” Sheckler takes skating seriously, not just because he loves to ride but also because he’s smart enough to know that skating is the goose that laid the golden egg, that without it he’d be just another pretty California boy with ripped abs and prematurely acquired tattoos. “People think this life was just handed to me. But I started from ground zero like everybody else. I have been doing tricks since I was 6 years old. I was focused and determined from that long ago. That’s why I am where I am.” Sheckler’s resolve is legendary. He was on a board at 18 months, doing ollies at 4. He could kickflip before he could read. By 8, he had two sponsors (Etnies and Volcom). When asked if stage-parenting ever came into play, the Shecklers demur, even though their son’s show captured choice scenes of Mom and Dad pushing Ryan to heartbreaking limits. (The two decided to divorce last year, a private event that played out during the filming of Life of Ryan.) “I worked 18 hours a day so that we had the money to facilitate Ryan’s hectic amateur traveling schedule,” says father Randy. “Many parents come and thank me for raising Ryan the way I did. Quite frankly, I’m at total peace with it.” Ewan Burns/MTV
“HE CRIES ON TV. HIS FANS ARE GIRLS.”
WWW.ESPN.COM
VERSUS 34 June 2009
The drama never stops for the cast of Life of Ryan (including from left, Sheckler buddies Taylor and Casey, brothers Shane and Kane, and Ryan). Sheckler says he is too. He credits his parents with making him “mentally strong,” a child who didn’t cry when his arm had to be reset at age 6 (after he failed to clear a picnic table on a jump), an adolescent whose doctors said he should be x-rayed every six months because he never complained when a bone broke, a 16-year-old who skated in the Dew Tour with seconddegree burns on his foot (from stepping on a hot hibachi) to keep himself in the hunt for the title. “That’s what it takes to be a champion,” Sheckler says, voice rising. “My mantra? Never give up.” He takes a breath, twirling his pinkie ring around his index finger. “I don’t think a lot of people think like me.” He is proving as much even now. Despite his gammy elbow, Sheckler intends to skate a full contest season bracefree and will deal with the consequences (and probable surgery) later. For now, Sheckler is managed by his mother, a situation he calls difficult. “I miss that just-Mom relationship. I could never fire her, though. It would kill her,” he quips, alluding to the future that all child stars face when they outgrow their momagers. The transition is something neither party wants to talk about. “When he talks to me as his manager, he calls me Gretchen,” says his mother. “Without even thinking, I respond. “It’s second nature now.”
family’s palatial San Clemente house and into his own place, a three-story Mediterranean in a nearby gated community. The 5,000-square-foot house has ocean views and a tiered-seating home theater. “My mom said I couldn’t leave home until I was 18,” Sheckler says. “So the day of my birthday I put an offer on a house.” He says the move has made him feel “so old—like 25.” Sheckler goes on, his words tumbling over one another like a litter of puppies. He talks about his best friend, Casey, and his family trips to Hawaii and how The Goonies is his favorite movie, “for real,” and how the other day his brother Shane, 16, got in a fight because some jerkoff was bad-mouthing Ryan. “Run’s House is my favorite TV show,” he says. “Ever since he made fun of my tattoo.” Sheckler is referring to his back tattoo, a mammoth, shoulder-to-shoulder rendering of his surname in Old English script. He has other tattoos, the newest being the word Fear on his right forearm and God on his left. “I travel with the Bible,” he says, completely serious. “I get so consumed in my life. That’s why I got those. To remind myself this is God’s plan.” Sheckler is eating a breakfast of biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs on the side. Here, in the W Hotel’s dining room by New York City’s Union Square, no one recognizes him—unlike yesterday, when, while walking down the street after his business meetings finished, a gaggle of high school girls clocked him. “I saw him first!” one shouted, rushing to snap a picture with her phone. “I got swarmed,” he recalls, laughing. Sheckler twists his hips a bit in his seat, then pops his neck. Although only 18, his body is tweaked. His ankles ache every night. His elbows appear to be hiding PingPong balls under the skin.
TASTY TREND if versus was a real skatemag here we should write the results of the x-games...
We really had a Bam overdose during a while, but now, it seems that’s his turn... Poor mom, she thinks that it’s just because he’s not eating enough... allô??! Good recovery anyway.
if versus was a real skatemag here we should say how GREAT THE NEW NIKE VIDEO is...
“A SIGNATURE CHAPSTICK WOULD BE SO SWEET” Sheckler turned 18 last December, a milestone he celebrated by moving out of his
R.I.P. PAUL CULLEN
WWW.ESPN.COM
Ryan Shrekler was not in Basel for the ESC, but some of his fans were... Wearing clothes that “professional” do, trying to climb the fence during the best trick... and stay stucked up there due to their too tight mini-skirt.... Why not a single tried to enter the course during the girl contest even if the level was amazing?
R.I.P. ANDY KESSLER
VERSUS 34 June 2009
“My whole body hurts pretty bad every day,” he says. It’s not just his body. His brain has been spinning out of control, thoughts colliding and overlapping like waves. “I have ADD. It was diagnosed in 2007. My mom didn’t believe I had it, so we went to the doctor. I don’t take Ritalin or anything. I just roll with it.” But there are days he gets unbearably manic, dizzy, irritable. He longs for it all to stop, to be still. On those days, Sheckler gets into his Mercedes and drives as fast as he can (“I like speed”) into the open landscape. Sometimes he checks into a hotel alone—no phone, no TV—and just sits in the room until he can breathe again. “I just go away. I need time to be quiet. It just happens. It makes me an a—hole to be with, I guess.” He sighs. “It’s not like depression or anything. I just deal with so much bulls— all day. I can feel overwhelmed. But then again, I never want it to stop.” Sheckler offers a worldweary look. “I’m a normal kid with an extraordinary life,” he says with a weak shrug. Then he smirks. Even he can’t swallow that one. He knows the truth. That he is exceptional. That most kids can’t make two-story drops on a rolling piece of pressed wood. That most kids don’t party with rap stars or get their pictures in the tabloids or travel the world in private jets or have TV shows named after them. He knows, too, the price of that life. That he is growing up fast and is expected to be a man, to be marketable, to be a product, to live as if he were a normal kid when he so clearly isn’t, to—most critically—capture all of the contrived reality on camera for YouTube and MTV, so that we can watch while his life of Ryan unfolds, watch him cry and fall and suffer, then decide for ourselves who he is and what his life means. “I may just be telling myself that ‘normal’ stuff to make myself feel better,” he says, dropping his fork to his plate with a clank. A short while later, Sheckler climbs into a waiting car and opens a can of Skoal. “My only addiction,” he says, tucking a wad into his lower lip. “I started doing it about six months ago. I don’t know why.” He says he doesn’t do any other drugs but does drink a little now and then. As it turns out, he drank the previous night until 3 a.m., hitting the clubs and dance floors of New York City, making out with America’s Next Top Model winner CariDee English, a woman nearly five years his senior. “She kept tugging at my hair. It was like, What is that about? She wasn’t so great with the conversation, either,” he says. “She wants to fly out to a contest. Whatever.” The car inches slowly through the city streets, and Sheckler, hungover but sociable, is imagining his bright future, something he has done since he was 7. “Ten years from now, I’ll be relaxing on my yacht.” He laughs. “Nah. I’ll still be doing the same thing, you know. I’ll still be skating, doing my business things, doing everything I want to do. Clothing line. Acting. Only with more downtime.” There is no downtime on the current schedule. “This is my job. I love my job. My job is fun,” he says, almost robotically, looking out the window, his reflection bouncing back at him in the glare of the glass. He grabs an empty water bottle and spits as the car drives past the Brooklyn Bridge. “How high do you suppose that is?” he asks. “That would be one good jump.” He was told that Travis Pastrana jumped off a bridge for fun recently and knocked himself unconscious. Nearly died. “Dumbass,” says Sheckler. Then, after a pause, “Did anybody film it?”
Entrevue: OLOW Vous savez normalement je ne fais pas d’entrevue avec les marques que j’apprécie. Mais comme celles que je n’apprécie pas n’acceptent jamais de répondre à mes questions, et bien du coup, je me retrouve avec 0 entrevue. Résultat, je met des photos de mes moi pour boucher les trous. Et on est tous d’accord ici pour dire que personne n’en a rien à foutre n’est ce pas? Comme je viens de le dire, parler d’une compagnie que l’on aime bien, ça donne toujours un résultat “gentil” (pour ne pas dire “lèche-cul”), comme toutes les entrevues que l’on retrouve dans les “vrais” magazines de planche à roulettes quoi. Et comme Versus est déjà à la limite du “wanna be magazine” des fois, faut que je fasse attention au contenu! Bref, je ne sais plus où je voulais en venir. Ah si, ouais, ne tenez pas compte de ce que je viens de dire. Parce que l’entrevue qui suit, c’est avec Olow, une petit marque de t-shirt qui en vaut vraiment la peine. J’vais quand même essayer de leur poser 2-3 questions à la con, histoire de ne pas me retrouver avec une entrevue “à la Sugar”... Salut Olow. Je reviens tout juste d’une visite sur votre site (www.olowshop.com), histoire de préparer cette entrevue comme il se doit et... Il n’y a pas un seul endroit où j’ai réussis à savoir pourquoi “Olow”... Alors? Explications? Salut Mr Versus! Alors pour la p’tite explication, Olow une déformation du mot english Hollow, qui veut dire creux. Bref ça nous correspondait pas mal, vu qu’on a démarré avec presque rien, bien au fond du trou! Espérons qu’on arrive vite à monter sur le talus, bref ça arrive, j’entrevois un peu la lumièèèère… Sinon faut dire que ça sonnait bien ce p’tit nom. Encore une question chiante. Ouai je sais, ça commence mal... Bref, faites-nous un petit historique du pourquoi du comment. Olow est né en un soir d’été sur une plage californienne d’un groupe de surfers nains unijambistes… Putain merde pourquoi j’essaye toujours de faire un humour qui fait rire que moi… Nan Olow est né à l’automne 2006, dans le béton de Paris. Après avoir bossé pour différents projets artistique, on a décidé de monter une marque « intelligente ». Le but n’était pas que de vendre des sappes, mais plus de faire passer des idées. Le t-shirt est et à toujours été un très bon support pour ça. Mais on n’a pas voulu faire ça a la va vite, il fallait créer un produit différent. Allier un graphisme travaillé à un message subtile, satirique… C’est une tactique commerciale d’être dans le milieu du skate? Pour paraître plus cool, ou alors il y a d’autres raisons? Ouais c’est exactement ça, en fait le truc c’est qu’à la base on est des mecs pas cools. Comme des gros bizznessman que nous sommes on flaire les bonnes affaires, et on s’est dit tient pourquoi pas exploiter ce créneau. Depuis on s’est laissé poussé les cheveux et la barbe, on boit de la bière, et on essaye même d’écouter du rock… C’est parce que c’est à la mode dernièrement que l’on retrouve des thèmes tels que “ la mal-bouffe” ou encore “l’environnement” sur vos t-shirts ou alors vous ça vous touche vraiment? Ouais carrément, on est juste des « victimes de la mode, tel est mon nom de code », dédicace mc solaar. Que dire, à part que ça nous touche évidemment…
VERSUS 34 Juin 2009
VERSUS 34 Juin 2009
Entrevue: OLOW
Comme apparemment vous vous préoccupez des problèmes actuels, et bien il est temps de vous mouillez maintenant! Je veux votre avis sur: -Israël vs Palestine? (J’ne prends pas les paris, j’veux savoir votre avis!) J’ai toujours préféré David à Goliath -Obama président, nouveau héros ou encore un pantin? Un peu des deux, mais le simple fait qu’un homme de couleur devienne président des USA est une avancée immense… -La crise économique actuelle, vos impressions? C’est comme un château de carte, où les cartes sont en fait des billets de banque, à force de trop vouloir jouer, mr capitalisme à voulu monter trop haut, il en veut toujours plus et là il a perdu…et intérieurement ça me fait sourire. Sinon je pense que je suis sado maso car pour le bizz, forcément ça se répercute ! Ce n’est pas un peu frustrant de savoir qu’avec un graphisme intéressant, et des messages intelligents, que vous n’arriverez probablement jamais à vendre autant de t-shirt que Plan-B avec la belle gueule de Mr Ryan Sheckler? Wait and see !!! ah ah ah Si je peux me permettre un petit conseil marketing, j’pense qu’il y a un truc que vous n’avez pas encore bien saisi... Les modèles pour présenter vos t-shirts sont essentiellement des hommes, et en plus, ils sont habillés. Va falloir repenser le concept un peu là les gars... (ceci est une blague évidement! c’est juste un clin d’oeil pour dénoncer l’utilisation systématique de femmes à poil pour vendre n’importe quoi) Les actrices porno des pays de l’est arrivent t’inquiètes pas! Sinon j’aurais pu essayer de me mettre à poil, mais bon je ne sais pas si ça aurait été très vendeur... Bon et bien les gars c’est déjà fini. Je vous laisse quelques lignes pour vous faire un peu de promo (où trouver vos trucs etc...), nous parler de votre futur, puis aussi de remercier vos potes et / ou insulter vos ennemis. Voilà. Merci encore de votre temps, et bonne continuation! Les t-shirts Olow sont disponibles sur notre site web www.olowshop.com, ainsi que dans une cinquantaine de shops en France et Belgique pour l’instant. D’ailleurs pour info on est en pleine recherche d’un distributeur au Canada, donc si y’en a un qui est intéressé qu’il hésite pas à nous contacter héhé. Pour finir j’aimerais remercier un quebecois bien cool, qui taff dans une ferme suisse! Si tu le vois tu lui diras merci de notre part! Merci à tous ceux qui nous soutiennent! Et grosse dédicasse à notre team : Camilo Reyes, Alex hermann, Léo Flitti, Damien Rubis, Christophe Luez, et Vince Cegielski
VERSUS 34 Juin / Juni / June 2009
Schlampe bitch!
David Martelleur
Yo alors c’est parti, David Martelleur, alias roost, martopic, danger, marto, ect... âge 34 d’origine de Charleroi mais refugier politique à Brusse. Je ne sais pas si tu ressens ça aussi, mais dernièment dans le skate, rider d’la courbe ça redevient à la mode... Tu ne vas bientôt plus être “underground” mais “cool”! Es-tu bien préparé?! Cette vague de béton est très bien, il y a de plus en plus des skateparks qui poussent un peu partout en europe, c’est bon pour la scène skate, pour le reste, moi jsuis un vieux, donc d’office je reste undreground! rires
Chauvin ou pas David Marteleur... Le chocolat... Belge ou Suisse? Clair, chocolat belge. La Belgique est le seul pays au monde où l’on peut obtenir un doctorat en bière... ça ne t’intéresse pas? J’ai pourtant entendu dire que t’avais pas mal d’expérience sur le sujet... J’ai une licence à ce sujet... Top 5 Bières: -Duvel -Le Chouffe -Jupiler -La pirate -Maredous blonde Et les filles? Blondes, brunes, rousses..? Sur se sujet, je dirais tous les styles. Fait-il suffisement beau en Belgique pour profiter pleinement de tous les nouveaux parks qui poussent à droite et gauche?
Hehehe, nan impossible de donner des dates, le projet est encore en cours. mais pour vous faire une idée du truc allez sur konbini.com... le reste c’est une surprise.
Quand t’es belge c’est normal pour toi, j’ai des potes qui sont passés cet été, ils on eu 10 jours de pluie, ils ont craqué... Tiens rien à voir avec le reste, c’est juste pour faire plus sérieux... Ton opinion sur la crise économique actuelle? Je dois faire gaffe à mes actions et placements en bourse... Quelle est pour toi la guerre la plus stupide?... Flamand-Wallon ou Français-Belge?
Oui cette session était trés cool, je me rappelle bien, avec le pastis comme apéro, ça, c’est le truc qui ne marche plus trop avec l’âge, hehehe... mais c’est vrai que quand tu vas faire une session de bowl avec tes potes, il faut d’office ton sixpak de bière... Mon style de skate, je dirais hip hop, super tech!
Connerie de politique...
J’ai lu plusieurs fois que la musique était un facteur important pour toi dans le skate. C’est quoi ton Top 5 Groupes:
Merci qui?
Il y en a de trop... frustration: we have some...
VERSUS 34 Juin / June 2009
MERDE, SHIT, & PLUS
Black Flag : six pack Billy Idol : rebel yell (live& acoustic) Slayer : raining blood Danzig : 777 Big Boys : fun fun fun
C’est le moment de nous parler de ce projet de film sur ta vie... On veut un scoop, vas-y raconte...
J’étais à Marseille pour le Bowlrider en 2005. La dernière fois que la finale a eu lieu là-bas. Je ne t’ai presque pas vu pendant le contest, mais le tard le soir, pas vraiment ajeun, tu t’es mis des boîtes pas possible (qui auraient calmées la plupart d’entre-nous) en essayant madonna dans le gros bowl. Tu te souviens?
Juin 2009
Ok j’arrête de t’emmerder. Merci de ton temps. Je te souhaite que du bon. En espérant te croiser sur un spot 1 de ces 4! Ciao Yo, bien merci pour ton interview que j’ai fais avec un peu la tête dans cul sorry! Mes sponsors : vans, carhartt, vz, yama. Mes parents et mes potes... Rock’n’roll et Skate and Destroy!
C’EST TELLEMENT LA CRISE QU’ON A MÊME PAS DE PHOTOS POUR ILLUSTRER CETTE INTERVIEW...
Salut David. Une grande majorité des lecteurs de Versus n’ont certainement pas lu l’interview que Coach a fait avec toi sur sk8.net il y a quelques temps. Mais bon, pour que ce soit un peu moins emmerdant pour toi, je vais tout de même essayer de ne pas répèter les mêmes questions. Théoriquement je devrais faire un paragraphe d’intro aussi, mais je préfère te laisser faire plutôt que de dire de le merde... Alors vas-y présente-toi:
VERSUS 34
Les rumeurs vont bon train depuis quelques semaines. En effet, il semblerait que le célèbre groupe de Montréal reprenne du service sous peu. Avec Nounours le bassiste original, Turbo le meilleur de leur guitariste, Lafrance le premier chanteur, mais avec un nouveau batteur (non mythoman, ni obèse, ni voleur... tout un changement donc). Il s’agirait de Huchpop aux dernières nouvelles... à suivre...
MICHAEL JACKSON IS (FINALLY) DEAD ... and we don’t care!
“ANOTHER HARD DAY AT THE OFFICE” Full documentary coming soon...
“À notre, époque, les jeunes, ils avaient du respect au moins...”
VERSUS-SKATEZINE.CA
VERSUS 34 Juin / June 2009
RATHER SKATE THAN FUCK!
VERSUS 34 Juin / June / Juni 2009
NEWS, LINKS, LIES ETC
IF VERSUS WAS A REAL SKATEBOARD WWW.SKATEISTAN.ORG MAGAZINE, J’imagine que vous aviez déjà tous remarqué, mais, ouai, Versus est toujours en retard. Tellement qu’à force les dates, infos, news, etc ne font plus aucun sens (c’est écris “Juin” partout dans ce numéro, au moment où j’écris cela on est déjà fin-juillet, et c’est loin d’être fini...). Bref, je ne voulais pas de contraintes, mais j’avais besoin d’une date butoire pour me pousser à finir chaque numéro dans un temps raisonnable. J’ai choisis le format mensuel... Et je suis obligé de reconnaître que je n’y arrive vraiment pas. Tout ça pour dire, que Versus, comme FTBX, est maintenant officiellement un fanzine à parution irrégulière (skate oblige). Merci de votre compréhension et patience...
FULLY BUSINESS
HERE wOULD
http://a2mains-xd.blogspot.com/
BE AN AD FROM A
Brewce Martin, Skatopia
Good recovery man! See you soon on board!
SHITTY BRAND OR
http://damorceaux.blogspot.com/
EVEN BETTER FROM THE Amanda & Claude, South America... Enjoy!... We miss you gang of stonerz!
Milano Bastard!
if versus was a real skatemag here we should say how cool habitat (=burton) is for having launched their skateshoes line...
ARMY
DIY MF FROM HELL!!! CRETE-SLAVE.BLOGSPOT.COM
www.ftbx.net
Bordel de merde, mais qu’est que vous foutez à Beauvais hein?! FTBX’S NOT DEAD! Réveillez-vous!!! La France toute entière attend avec impatience un nouveau numéro de votre célèbre fanzine!
We don’t really know what should we think about this new kind of advertisement... Whatever, skate & destroy!
FARRAH FAWCETT R.I.P.
CHRISTOPHE BETILLE R.I.P
J.R. NEVES R.I.P.
VERSUS 34 20-100 / MTL / Tom
Sick dude!
Crete-Slave!
VERSUS 34 Max / Shallow-end / Andi Ross
This shit got pop!
VERSUS 34 Local / MTL / Tom
VERSUS 34 Oli / Bern / Michi
Switch Bitch
Yeah, whatever!
VERSUS 34 Michi / Bern / Flo
VERSUS 34 Max / Stuttgart / Sven
Beers, Bowls, Bitches
Canadian Flag
VERSUS 34 Tom / Z-SPOT / Z-Wane
VERSUS 34 Jack / Z-SPOT / Tom
Fouhaltch
Heaven & Hell
VERSUS 34 Z-Wane / Z-SPOT / Phil B.
VERSUS 34 Dan / Z-SPOT / Tom
Viva Mexico Cabrones!
WWW.ROBBRINK.COM
RYAN SAGA
Do you want to smell like me bitche?
WHATEVER!
VERSUS VIDEO Filming now!
DICTATURE
Take care, Niniche KK is everywhere!
TARANTULA!!!
VERSUS 34 June 2009
Warning: This one is explicit. You might read about dudes boning one another in the ass. It bewilderingly juxtaposes skateboarding and gay porn. If you think can handle graphic descriptions of gayness and a horrible misunderstanding of skateboarding videos, read on. If you can’t, go somewhere else. I’ve always wanted to do something with this gem of an article. I stumbled across it long ago while researching my Wood Recycling article. I simply Googled the term “Bareback skateboarding” to look up the popular skateboard deck manufacturer, and ended up finding No Limits: Necessary Danger in Male Porn. I’m not quite sure how the worlds of gay porn and skateboarding meet in the eyes/mind of the author, Paul Morris. It seems he’s simply stating that film makers in each industry are “socially irresponsible” (for lack of a better term on my part) because they don’t portray the risks involved with the two activities in their films...only the successes. So, for example, even though a skateboarder could get injured or die while attempting a trick, and a gay porn star could get AIDS and die as a result of filming a porn, the average viewer is only given the impression that “irresponsible” and “high risk” behavior such as skateboarding and gay anal sex are “safe.” Morris also claims that slams, injuries and run-ins with the law are deliberately left out of skateboarding films, (TransWorld’s videos specifically) which, in turn “misleads” the viewer to thinking skateboarding is “risk-free.” In late 2002, I sent this essay to Dave Carnie, hoping it could be my gateway into writing something for my favorite skateboard magazine ever, Big Brother, and this was his response: That essay was indeed crazy. i’m usually pretty thick-skinned when it comes to gay stuff, but something about men feeding men, and that one hour rim job story kind of got to me. To be quite honest, we try to keep homo stuff to a minimum, if at all. The Safeway chain didn’t like our “Gay Issue” very much and since we’ve tried to please them with our outwardly heterosexual content. I’m sort of kidding. I was pretty stoked that I managed to send something Dave’s way that actually “got to him” Needless to say, although he wasn’t into me handling this piece for the mag, he extended the invitation for me to pitch ideas to Big Brother, but it went out of business shortly after. So that’s the history of this little thing. One other funny little side note, this essay was “presented” at the World Pornography Conference in LA during the Summer of 1998. Paul Morris actually hired and 18-year-old skateboarder to read it for him. Morris also enlisted in the Navy at age 19, serving three years before receiving a dishonorable discharge for being caught on base at a self-made glory hole. The passage where skateboarding is compared to gay porno is excerpted below. No Limits: “Necessary Danger in Male Porn” By Paul Morris ...Let me jump here, and bring in for comparison another American physically-based male subculture— skateboarding—and compare elements of their representative videos. The following are several simple points of similarity between the two: 1) Both skateboard videos and gay pornography emphasize the contextualization of the creative and erotic act in everyday life. I experienced a nice coincidence that illustrated this. I interviewed a couple of young skateboarders several months ago. They told me that they came up with some of their best tricks on the way to the local 7-11 a few blocks away. That night I happened to watch a male porn video in which the central character met his first trick on the way to a convenience store. This is more than simply playing with the word “trick”. In both cases, the practices that are peculiar to the subculture occur in the context of everyday life and are given a heightened meaning through the contrasting uses of these public spaces. They take place within but apart from the mainstream world. 2) The videos in both cases connect isolated members to the subculture. They show the viewers what people are doing, how these things are done and what they mean. 3) Both focus on places or situations in which the denizens of the subculture predominate and the conditions for their optimal functioning are readily available. These are videos that tacitly imply that “We are everywhere”. 4) Both represent acts that are essential to the subculture because they are on the edge, because they are dangerous and illegal. Some skateboard and skateboard video company names I’ve encountered are Death, Danger, Watch Me Masturbate, Skull, Numbskull, Boner, Gloryhole. In a remarkable skateboard video called “Radioactive Throwup”, boarders not only skate, they also juggle while they skate over and off the roofs of houses. In many skateboard videos, unpleasant encoun-
VERSUS 34 June 2009
WWW.ROBBRINK.COM
ters with cops are shown, and risks are taken that are exhilarating, beautiful and irresponsible. Let me footnote this—taking myself further afield—with a story about surfing, a sport that is obviously related in many ways to skateboarding. I spend a good deal of time in Santa Cruz and around the Monterey Bay and have many friends who surf and skateboard. As you know, the Monterey Bay is a favored habitat for Great White sharks. A few years ago, a young surfer was killed by a Great White, literally bitten in half. The next day—the very next day—I watched young friends of mine surfing in the same spot. When I talked with them about this, about risk and fear, they said that this is what often makes it best. This was the point of surfing: to experience not only of the proximity of danger and death, but also to feel a kind of species humility in being shunted down to a low point in the food chain, animals again. It’s a practice of exploring the wilder animal self in the restrictive context of a neurotic society. That the price of admission includes the real possibility of death serves to point out the seriousness of their commitment as well as the ultimate expendableness of what they experience as self. Danger is the boundary that demarcates their cultural territory. There was recently a controversy in the world of skateboarding videos. The controversy was due to the fact that larger companies such as TransWorld had been making skateboarding videos that were slicker, more expensive and more polished than most. Many skateboard videos are made by the boarders themselves. The TransWorld videos, in contrast, were designed not only to represent the practices of the culture and sport, but also to promote the sport to novices in order to encourage the purchase of merchandise being sold by sponsoring companies. In these videos, the “best” skateboarders (a term which rankles the sensibility of the street skater) performed extraordinarily difficult tricks. And they did them beautifully, perfectly. I was fortunate enough to be “on set” for the shooting of one of the TransWorld videos. The location was an outdoor staircase near the gym at UC Irvine. One boy was to ride down the banister of the staircase. He did the trick over and over. I counted fifteen tries. He got it right two or three times. He got it perfect once. By the end of the shoot he was bloody. The perfect take was the only one that made it into the video, with no blood in evidence. This sanitizing of the performance of the trick epitomizes commercial duplicity and irresponsibility. These videos sell well across the country. Newbie boarders try incredibly difficult tricks and are seriously injured. Important information—information about desire and danger—is being excised. The problem wasn’t the dangerousness of the tricks. The problem was the way in which they were depicted, a basic dishonesty that is linked to the needs of merchandising. The corporate skateboard video producers are presenting an image of skateboarding that is more saleable to the general public because it is buffered from the dangers the sport actually entails. The producers carefully remove images of either physical mishap or conflict with the law. These videos lead to a misunderstanding by the viewer of the nature not only of the “sport”, but also of the culture that has developed about the sport. They also set the idea that only “special” or especially talented young men skate—young men such as those chosen for the videos, young men who seem able to perform the impossible trick perfectly in a single try. This allows the creation of a competitive elite among skateboarders which in turn enables the development of a lucrative system of sponsored competitions, sponsorship of marketable skaters and intracultural celebrity... ...It’s perhaps sad but it’s true: we cannot be trained not to do things because they are unsafe. We smoke, we drink, we eat wrong, we drive faster than we should, we leap from airplanes, we bungee jump, we skateboard, we have sex. It isn’t that we must do these things, it’s just that they must be done. This is one of Gabriel Rotello’s errors: in our world, safety cannot be mandated, particularly where the passions at the heart of our identities are concerned. As a people, we do believe in miracles. We are optimistic and irrational. We believe that we can be saved if we will just be ourselves. We smoke, drink, fuck and play because this is what we are and this is what we do. It is this depth, this complexity and this eloquent and tragic irrationality that porn has the responsibility to represent and represent accurately and honestly. That is its job. An avoidance of unsafeness doesn’t work as an anti-AlDS strategy, and it has been bastardized by the slicker elements of porn in ways that have only exacerbated the problem, promoting not a culture of sex and sexuality, but a perfectly tantalizing world of vapid heat and “sexiness”...
SKATARTISQUE www.leblogdesoma.blogspot.com)
WWW.B-REAL.DE Damit die Jungs und Mädels hier auch die Chance haben mit eigenen Brettern zu fahren, hat sich Allyoucanskate freundlicherweise bereit erklärt, sechs Decks zu sponsern. An dieser Stelle vielen Dank für die wunderbare Kooperation. Die Maße der Rampe sind angelehnt an die Konstruktionspläne von Rick Dahlen, der seine Pläne kostenlos der Öffentlichkeit zur Verfügung stellt. Ich habe meine Rampe nur ein wenig breiter und länger gemacht. 8m lang, 2,7m breit und 1,1m hoch ( zusätzlich 40cm Spielraum unter der Rampe). Die Mini ist sehr sanft zu fahren und meiner Meinung nach perfekt um gemütlich zu tricksen. Besser wäre es natürlich gewesen sie doppelt so breit zu machen aber das war eine Frage des Geldes. Für diese Rampe habe ich insgesamt 200€ bezahlt, 65% davon gingen für den Belag drauf. Zu Beginn meiner Planung wollte ich die Mini, bis auf den Belag, komplett aus Bambus bauen. Ich bin nach wie vor davon überzeugt, dass dies möglich, jedoch wesentlich schwieriger ist, denn es ist nicht einfach mit Bambus auf den cm bzw. mm genau zu arbeiten (besonders bei einer starken Einschränkung des Arbeitsmaterials). So habe ich mich entschlossen die Transition aus Holz zu bauen. Mangoholz ist hier das billigste. Nachdem ich mir klar gemacht habe wie die Rampe bauen will, habe ich zuerst den Bambus ausgewählt. Zur Konstruktion sollte ein Bambus gewählt werde, der älter als drei Jahre ist. Ich habe acht Stück ausgewählt, die das Grundgerüst bilden sollten. Für den Table haben wir (ab jetzt gab es Unterstützung) 24 Stück á 1m zurechtgesägt und. -gehackt. Da es hier sehr viel regnet und der Bambus zudem uneben auf dem Boden gelegen hätte, haben wir 30 Bambuspfähle (ca.60cm) in den Boden eingelassen, um auf ihnen die Rampe zu bauen. Beim nächsten Mal würde ich sie einbetonieren, denn der Regen wird sie schnell verfaulen lassen. Deswegen haben wir das Gerüst zudem mit Ziegelsteinen gestützt. Das Grundgerüst des Tables wurde nun mit Draht befestigt. Um die Löcher in den Bambus zu bohren, habe ich mir extra einen Akkubohrer aus Europa mitbringen lassen. Um ein wenig Ordnung in die lose dastehenden Bambuspfähle des Tables zu bringen, haben wir sie mit einem 270cm, etwas dünnerem, jedoch sehr stabilem Bambus verbunden. Querverbindungen sollten nun zur Stabilisierung dienen.
VERSUS 34 Juni 2009
WWW.B-REAL.DE
VERSUS 34 Juni 2009
Den Rest habe ich jetzt nicht mehr aus Bambus gebaut, sondern aus Holz. Hier in Nepal kann ich leider nicht einfach in den Baumarkt gehen und mir das passende Holz kaufen. Naja, „leider“ nur bedingt, denn es ist ja auch nicht schlecht sich alles Maßschneidern zu lassen. Aus diesem Stamm wird die Struktur meiner Transition geschnitzt. Zur Anfertigung einer Schablone dient diese Planungszeichnung auf dem Boden. Holz ist fertig geschnitten und wird auf die Grundstruktur genagelt. Damit das im Bogen geschittene Holz für die Transition später nicht bricht, wird es von unten unterstützt.
MERCI-GARETH: Versus 34 is brought to you by, Tom@3 Stars Charity, Kévin, 666, Alain & Catherine, Douille, Satan, Mischou@achtung, Jack, Hell, Jan@roja-media, Milä & Simu, Claude & Amanda, Colinski, Oliv, 6frs, Christinette, Grufa’s mafia, Vince, Nico, Ranouk, Bob, Nalri Billette, Gerwack, Belle-Guelle, Youle & Irène, Potch, Malik, BG, La Fouine, M&P Marceaux, Pat, Pia, Michi & The Zolli-crew, Adi, Drew, Niniche KK, John, Ray, PhilB, Bib & Pics, DIY, Ponk, Beers, Bowls, Bitches & BBQ, Max@crete-slave... thanx you all!
Auf die Grundstruktur des Tables kommt nun ein Rahmen. Auf den Querlatten wird später der Belag angebracht Zuerst wird als erste Schicht, ein 6mm Belag angenagelt, der nicht wasserabweisend ist. Anschließend wird quer dazu ein 10mm Belag, wasserabweisend, aufgeschraubt. Mein Akkuschrauber erweißt sich als goldwert. Das Coping liegt noch lose in der Fassung. Später werde ich dicken Draht durch es hindurchfädeln und damit befestigen.
COMING SOON... VERSUS SPECIAL FUCK THE POLICE
Die Arbeit war bei Temperaturen bis 46°C nicht immer einfach und ich musste mich sehr davor hüten einen Sonnenbrand bzw. –stich zu bekommen. Als letztes habe ich noch einen Belag auf den Table gepackt, Aufkleber vom Sponsor drauf und fertig ist das Kartenhäuschen. Bretter zusammen bauen Und ab auf die Rampe Einen Bericht in der lokalen Zeitung gab es auch. Leider konnte ich die Rampe nur ganze drei Tage nutzen, denn ich musste Rajbiraj traurigerweise vorzeitig verlassen. (bin gerade in Kathmandu). Für mich sehr schade, denn diese Rampe lässt sich wirklich sehr gut fahren.
WWW.VERSUS-SKATEZINE.CA JEREMYVERSUSDURAND@HOTMAIL.FR
BURN IN HELL! To see more idiots like him: http://katiecallan.com/ reportages/christianskateboarders-43.html
BACK COVER ADS?
INCROYABLE! Mr Alain Marceaux aussi connu sous le nom de “P’tit Tonton” aurait été aperçu sur une planche à roulettes. Fait réellement extraordinaire, puisqu’il est connu pour se déplacer uniquement en camion (ou en voiture pour handicapé). À suivre...
Désolé... Ouais, j’ai quitté la France il y a plus de 7 ans maintenant... Alors mon français ne s’améliore donc pas vraiment... Désolé pour les fautes que vous trouverez tout au long de ce numéro!
VERSUS 34 en retard / zu spaet / too late 2009
Sorry... I’m actually french, and like everybody know, french people are not really able to speak english... I’m sorry for all the mistakes you will find in this issue!
Entschuldigung... Ich bekomme nicht genuck geld mit Versus (ahaha...) für ein deutsch kurse nehmen... Ich bin also für alle Rechtschreibfehler betrübt, die Sie in dieser Nummer finden werden.
“One day, my mom’s size will be mine!”
“Hummm?...”
MÉTÉO = LOTO
SKATECRAP
Il devait y avoir dans ce numéro de Versus un article sur le skate en Normandie; En effet du 18 au 24 Juillet, Kévin, Naharkola & G.I.Jey se trouvaient sur place. Ils ont juste eu le temps de skater le parc de Flers pendant 30 minutes entre 2 averses...
SKATESHIT
SOUVENIRS, SAOÛL-VENIR...
Sacs à Gnôle, Parabellum, Banlieue Rouge, Café Chaos Montréal
LONGEST MANUAL EVER Sorry, in Versus 33 printed version, legend from the pictures were not printed...?
Rumors are running, that a color issue of Versus is coming soon... Is that a joke or not? Nobody knows yet... Could it finally be the missing number 12? or 24? Only time will tell...
I’ve no clue what’s so wrong in Bern about skatepark, but it’s just not getting better... The Köniz new miniramp doesn’t make exception. It’s made out of material that gonna die in no time, it gets so warm with the sun that you can cook eggs on it, it’s slippery as hell, and with this amount of money, skateboarders could had get so much better... Fuck, “better than nothing” is just not enough! If somebody has some informations, contacts, about the concrete project there, please let us know before another disaster...
SKATESCHEISS