Trash - skateboarding news

Thrasher Magazine, Nov, 2002 by Stevie Dread

ALBATROSS LOST

IMPERIAL DISTRIBUTION HAS CLOSED UP SHOP, DOING AWAY with its popular Maple, Judah and 151 brands. After several alcohol-fueled years, 151 finally got cirrhosis, leaving new pro Pat Smith in the lurch once again. No news on Sam Hitz, but Chet "Screaming Lord Chalba" Childress has signed on with Jason Adams' Label sub-brand Six Gun. Maple riders up for grabs include Chad Knight, Daxter Lussier and radical ams Dan Roberts and Tyler Hansen. Judah's Satva Leung and co. will likely be shopping around as well. Maybe Smith and Frank Hirata will start another new company.

Up in NorCal, Dan "Corpsy" Drehobl has retired from Think to become the first rider for Gonz' Krooked, with Gest (sic) models in the works for Alex "Trainwreck" Gall and Matt "Hot Rod" Rodriguez.

The highly anticipated tradeshow boxing match between Kris "The Fist" Markovich and "Bad" Chad Fernandez was called off by Kris due to a wrist injury. "My skating comes first," said Markovich, who did not announce a make-up date for the event. Chad, meanwhile, has been taking out his aggression on giant handrails all over Southern California, including his beloved Hollywood 16. Concurrently The Nuge, Justin Roy, and KM were off the map hanging with the kanakas out in the Sandwich Islands. The Hollywood-goes-Hawaiian gig involved no commercial actions of any sort. Jeremiah Babb and Phil Kent have been added to the Consolidated team. Go Atlanta! No news as of yet on Stormy Pruett. In the chickens-coming-home-to-roost department, Jesse Paez has rejoined his lil' bro Richard and the rest of the Central Valley boys back at Consolidated, as well. East Coast powerhouse Alexis Sablone is a new am for The Firm. Yanni, the skater, apparently has turned pro.

BACK BURNER

Giant's new Populus line is taking shape with the dope dudes from New Deal, mixed with Kenny Reed and Cairo, who split with Real. The Deal is holding strong, don't you worry.

Call off the death watch, Point Loma High's well-known Leap of Faith has been removed during recent remodeling. In other spot clobbering, the San Diego bump over the ditch is no longer with us. RIP. On the brighter side, the Mission Valley YMCA park is up and running in San Diego with a giant vert ramp, a mellow street course and, best of all (if you're over 30), a sweet combi-pool built by Wally Hollyday. Full pads are required and the place is run by a team of gruff-but-lovable teenage girls with silky-smooth skin.

Keith Wilbur just happened to be rolling around nearby the Topanga Canyon ramp and he found a package addressed to Maria Shriver. Inside was a diamond bracelet. What did "Willie the Pearl" do? He returned it of course! Shriver's grateful husband Arnold Schwarzenegger swore his eternal friendship to Keith. The Terminator also dropped Tony Alva's name just to demonstrate that he was down.

The Quik-subsidized 16mm film These Colors Taste Like Music was not finished on its widely advertised due date, but was presented in its rough-cut version anyway. The flick, which highlights the skate-snow-surf-art-music-moto activities of Nathan Fletcher, was well received. It was hard to judge Fletcher's take since he went to the islands before the final-final was done. And how did Q film executive MJ take all of the last minute pressure? Some say his acerbic critique of one of the film's creator's lateness reeked of bug out. MJ's purported rant was instantly stopped when the unnamed filmmaker allegedly offered to perform some dental alteration on the spot.

The reconstituted Jay Adams is now being represented by PJ Mark, who operates out of the New York branch of the prestigious powerhouse International Marketing Group. The IMG represents such notable athletic celebs as Bobby Knight, the Williams sisters and Tiger Woods. IMG Literary is currently shopping around Jay's unexpurgated life story Fred Durst has also reportedly been calling Adams to get insight into how to direct the upcoming Lords of Dogtown feature film project. If all goes well Jay may be back on the mainland soon and perhaps working on the film, his book, his boards...

GONE ZONE

And how fares the bounty of big business? Fran Richards, the public face for the AOL-Time Warner-TWS combine, has left the corp. Ditto for long-time editor Miki Vucovich, who is favoring a change to video direction. Mega ad agency McElroy-FCB is said to have been axed from the Vans' campaign. Popular V-team manager Tim Sauers is also now absent from the shoe empire. One of the Hill brothers came over from OZ to baby-sit and peruse Dwindle, which is Globe's most blatant recent acquisition. Meanwhile back in Australia, the Globe owners made the country's most wealthy individuals list. The Skateboarder/Surfer cartel is losing their building in the latest Prime Media corporate absorptive strategy Many execs were made edgier when a tel-number with the 666 prefix mysteriously arrived on their desks in the middle of all the aforementioned trauma. Were they surprised when they called it and discovered it to be World founder Steve Rocco's private cell unit?