2010-04-21
"I Survived a Joburg Blackout" (Words Luke Jackson)
The Zoo York international tour to South Africa took place in the second week of April and included visits to Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg. Zoo riders Zered Bassett, Forrest Kirby and Brandon Westgate made the long trip across the pond and put together what Im calling the most productive international tour ever to go down in the country and, well, the continent of Africa for that matter. They did five demos in six days, hit countless street spots in all three cities, went out every night and managed a trip to the Lion park If thats not a productive week then I dont know what is.
Before we get down to what went on during this tour, lets ascertain just exactly who it was visiting our shores. Zoo York is one of those highly recognised companies known by skateboarders and nonskateboarders alike. Based in New York City on the East Coast of the United States, Zoo York has been a massive contribution to the backbone of the East Coast skateboard scene for many years. From releasing videos that are synonymous with classic skateboarding, to hooking up some of the most recognised names in the industry, Zoo York has done a lot and continues to do a lot for skateboarding and skateboarders alike. When I first heard about this tour and who would be in attendance, I was instantly hyped. Firstly Zered Bassett, the man needs no introduction really, but Im going to give it to you anyway. Ever since the first time I saw him in videos like Vicious Cycle, City of Killers, Digital - Diversity and Skate More to mention a few, I have been blown away by the ability and confidence he has on a skateboard. There is no shortage of amazing footage of him on the net, so get busy after reading this article. Forrest Kirby is from Miami and he skates and lives with the laid back attitude and style that one would associate with being at the beach. Two words to describe him are style and control. He has ridiculous technical ability on a skateboard and he makes it look easy, and I personally think it is easy for him. The video that really blew me away with regard to Forrest is 411 Issue 65, but you can also check him out in some classic older videos like, Static 1 and Fore and Friends. Brandon Westgate is fairly new on the international skateboard scene, but after witnessing anything he has done, you cant help but think that big things are coming from him in the not too distant future. His part in the new Zoo promo is amazing and with recent tours all over the world with Zoo York and Emerica, his approaching first full part in the new Zoo York video is something worth waiting for. Behind the scenes of every skateboard tour, video or company in general, there are people who do a lot of hard work to allow the skateboarders to get coverage and present them with opportunities to travel and skate. Three of the good people who achieve this at Zoo York were also on this trip: RB Umali, Sean Cronan and Seamus Deegan. To me and quite a number of others, RB Umali, the Zoo York fi lmer, is one of those people who has done and continues to do, immeasurable good in the world of skateboarding. RB puts out more footage than most and he has been the mastermind behind some of the greatest videos in skateboarding history, such as Mixtape, not to mention the fact that he puts out almost daily clips that he has fi lmed and edited from trips all over the world, and he has also contributed footage to some of the most well known videos ever made. Check out the Zoo York video report at www.zooyork.com, which is his blog. Sean Cronan is the Zoo photographer and he is the man that shoots all the tour photos and Zoo York adverts that most people would have noticed in just about every skate related publication released. Sean gets down to business, - I have never seen anybody that sets up all their equipment, knows exactly how they want to get a shot, gets it and then moves on in such a short space of time. He gets amazing stuff done under pressure and all the photos in this article are thanks to him. Finally, we get to Seamus. He is the Zoo York team manager and a work-horse, but at the same time the easiest and most pleasant guy to deal with and to chill with. Seamus does everything behind the scenes from organising the tour beforehand, to coordinating all the riders and tour crew as well as shaking hands and organising signings, demos and all the product tosses. Oh yeah, he also tries to fi nd some time to skate, contributes with fi lming and still manages to keep a smile on his face. Seamus understands skateboarding on a higher wavelength and he does a lot to bring it to you, the public, soyou better recognise. On top of all the international entourage, the local contingent included Kerry and Dave from Zoo York SA, who did a good job of keeping everyone happy and made sure things ran smoothly, the trusty tour van driver and tranny killer Dave de Witt of team Murth fame, and finally, Bod and I representing Session magazine and acting as tour guides.
The Zoo York international collective arrived in the country and headed straight to Durban, where they did demos at Gateway and at the Beachfront park, as well as hitting up a couple spots including the big rails down at the beach - keep an eye out for some Zered magic at that spot. The Durban leg occurred over two days and as well as skateboarding it included some pretty big partying from what I heard. After spending Monday and Tuesday in Durban, I only met up with the tour on Wednesday upon their arrival in Johannesburg. The team hotel near Rivonia was to be the base camp for the rest of the week and a good location to head out to Pretoria as well as get around Johannesburg. My first encounter with the Zoo guys was at their hotel and everyone was looking pretty tired after spending the night before out partying and drinking with Zoo SA owner, Roger down in Durban. After an afternoon recovery period (which was perfectly acceptable on the only day off they had), the busy schedule resumed and was to continue for the rest of the trip. With so many foreigners in the group, we had to give them a taste of South African wildlife, so a trip to the Lion park was organised by Kerry who managed to hook up a special night time experience just for the tour. The guys were pretty hyped that they got to touch lion cubs butprobably the most memorable experience for them, was getting to watch a large pride of Lions getting fed on a night drive. The facial expressions and words of amazement were fl owing all night. Not to mention the fact that our game drive vehicle was in constant pursuit by a galloping Giraffe, which is not something you witness every day. The most humorous experience for me, was when Zoo JHB rep, Dave, was clawed in the side by a hungry Lion cub. I wonder how many people hes told that he was attacked by a Lion... A chilled night at the Lion park was a good way to get to know the guys and an opportunity for me to talk to some of my favourite skateboarders in the world. The guys were super tired but everyone became acquainted and that set the tone for the next few days of non-stop skateboarding. The plan every day was to leave the hotel by ten o clock and hit a spot in the morning before heading to the demo for the day. It was pretty diffi cult logistically, because we had to be at one o clock demos every day. Therefore, we hit a spot every morning, then went through to a demo, did signings and a product toss etc. Afterwards we would go hit more street spots til the sun went down. The fi rst demo we went to was out in Pretoria at Menlyn and then there were two more in Johannesburg, at Montecasino and at Brightwater Commons. Although the guys were not really into doing too many demos, they were hyped to go skate, so if a demo had to be done, then they were going to get something. They did happen to mention that we have more parks in this country of a decent quality than they have on the whole East Coast of America and that its a good thing to make skateboarding more accessible to people. But at the same time they wanted to shoot photos and get footage and for that you have to head out and fi nd spots. From the first demo in Pretoria it was clear that Zered and Brandon were the demo killers;they hit everything with fl are. The first time Brandon 360 fl ipped a box, Bod and I looked at each other with astonishment and every demo after that, we were just waiting for the moment when he would unleash one. Forrest is more chilled at demos; its not something he would normally do, so he would hang back a bit, but everything he would hit would be amazing, like a noseblunt pop-out fi rst try. With tight schedules, TV interviews and signings they tried to not spend too much time stuck at a mall and preferred to head out and get something done in the streets. A major diffi culty over the whole week, which has been a big problem for many lately, was all the power cuts. Everywhere we went we got stuck in traffic with lights not working, which added immense pressure to our short amount of time. The guys were really patient though, with feelings of great frustration, they kept complaints to a minimum and focussed on getting as much done as possible. Seamus indicated that fi rst prize for them would be to hit spots where they could get good photos. RB aimed at getting footage around spots where good photos were a possibility and indicated that their preferred places were bumps and banks. That was a good thing, because our country is littered with bank spots but not many stair or rail spots, which luckily they are kind of over due to the saturation of that kind of skateboarding in the industry. They looked through Session magazines and watched Bang Chong and then indicated the spots that they wanted to hit. Bod and I would then lead them to spots and were often joined by some JHB lo- cals like JJ Harris and Kevin Love. Foreigners love Kevin because he brings herbal remedy to lift their spirits. Zered was defi nitely feeling the remedy. The energy at spots was chilled with everyone hanging out and skating, in contrast to the demos, which were crazy and chaotic, but in the end both added to the experience that made the tour what it was. Lets go through some of the more memorable things that went down: Forrest got a ridiculous line in Pretoria including a switch pole jam, switch feeble, switch back nosegrind pop-out and a switch fl ip. He also got a cab flip at Siemens in JHB and a switch nose manny pop-in as well as noseblunt pop-in at Fox banks in JHB. Brandon got a long-ass back 5-0 on a chunky ledge at PTA city hall, got an ollie over a huge bump to rail gap in PTA and an ollie over a huge block into a steep bank in JHB - the guy has got crazy pop and serious steeze. He did the hugest alley-oop backside flips at Emmerentia banks and hit the rough banks at Carlton like it was a skate park. Zered, did so much its hard to remember. He pretty much gets something everywhere. He got enormous fl ips at two of the roughest bank spots in JHB and did so consistently. He got a tailslide at the Edenvale petrol station hubba second try and got two of the most diffi cult tricks Ive ever seen at Fox; a front blunt to fakie 5-0 180 in and afront blunt to fakie nosegrind revert in. The spot that he truly blew me away at was Siemens, he does everything right at the top when most people can only get about half way up, including a switch 360 fl ip fi rst try, a half cab fl ip, switch hardflip, switch frontside flip, nollie front heel and the list goes on. They got a lot of photos, did a lot of demos and they got a lot of footage. Thinking about it now, Ive never witnessed anybody get so much done in one week of skateboarding, but I think its just testament to the kind of people they are and the kind of ability they have. Motivation levels were second to none despite numerous challenges. I guess they showed us what is capable in this country if you get off your ass and get something done. I chilled in the van a lot and spirits were high. They also took a genuine interest in fi nding out about our country and for me that was refreshing to see. Forrest is the mood maker in the van, playing everything from hilarious R Kelly tracks to Chapelle and Will Farrell sound clips. He is really chilled and is comfortable with himself on a skateboard, he knows
gives up until he lands what hes trying and no matter how long it takes, he never really gets angry. He has more determination than I can even imagine and ultimately, confidence in himself. Thats what makes him such a great skateboarder. Brandon is quiet, not bothered by much, and then gets on a skateboard and skates with such finesse and energy that I was left pretty stunned. These guys dont care whether you are the most talented individual on the planet, they are down for skateboarding and if you are feeling it and are passionate about it, then they are down for you. what he wants to get and he does it perfectly. If hes not feeling it, he wont go out of his way because quite frankly he has nothing to prove, he kills it and I for one know that for certain. Conversations with Zered were good. He does so much yet he always wants to do more and looks at others like Guy Mariano in the same way a hyped kid would. That was amazing to me. Hes not tainted by skateboarding success and is still a fan and he still strives for more, getting hyped from what other people are doing. Another thing about him is that he never The trip ended on a high note for everyone except Bod, I think. The last day, a Sunday we went out to Pretoria early and hit spots til lunchtime, then we headed back to JHB for more spots all afternoon. We got so much done in terms of photos and footage that everyone was feeling good and the end of the trip had come so we went out that night, straight from town after a marathon skate mission. People got loose, thanks to Brandon and the copious amount of Jagerbombs he bought for all. Old school jams were supplied by Seamus and JJ That was the end of it all. I had a really good time and got to chill and skate with some of my favourite people in skateboarding. I hope the Zoo York guys liked South Africa and maybe they will be back in the not too distant future. Thanks to Bod for inviting me on the trip, to write this article, and for some special laughs. Thanks to Dave de Witt who is the best guy to drive in convoy with, cause when you need to change lanes he cuts off any other vehicles nearby. Thanks to Seamus, Sean, RB, Brandon, Zered and Forrest for making the trip and for trying to make the most of what we had to offer - those guys were the best to hangout with. Finally, thanks to the people at Zoo York SA who worked so hard to make the trip a reality, Kerry, Roger and Dave.
Now go check those video parts that I mentioned earlier and be on the look out for a SA tour podcast on the net, with footage from the tour that RB is putting together and maybe a trick or two from SA in the new Zoo York video scheduled for release later this year. on the jukebox and everyone had a good time. It was on the way home that a busy week and night got the better of Bod, as he fell asleep next to Zered in the back of my car and was promptly covered in ink. He awoke the next morning to find that while he slept, Zered tried to take his car out to get food and destroyed his gear box, thanks to a gear lock, and he had a flat tyre thanks to a broken bottle. All I can say is sorry for Bod, but the rest of us had a good time laughing at the antics, especially me cause driving home listening to Wu-Tang with Zered while he disrupted Bods appearance is an experience I will not soon forget.
2010-04-21
One For One Under The African Sun (Copy Dave Allan) (Photos Clinton Theron)
Ive been accused of being a cynic on more than one occasion. It is the automatic response that all is not as it seems, or something along those lines. Im working on it? Moving swiftly along, during the beginning of October we were set to welcome a team of travelers from TOMS shoes, and our colleagues from Element USA. It was the beginning of the ElementTOMS board and shoe drop. Its been a year or more in the planning from our side and apparently 2 years and some change from the good people across the Atlantic. Here is the concept. For every pair of TOMS shoes you buy, the benevolent people at TOMS will give, gratis, a pair of shoes to a childperson in need. You read that correctly the first time. Buy one, give one away. Its called a One for One model, and TOMS seem to be pioneering a new way of doing things.
Lets set the scene and take a few steps back to arrive at the beginning. Blake Mycoskie is the founder and chief shoe giver heading up the TOMS organization in the U.S. To vaguely quote the TOMS website, In 2006 traveler, Blake Mycoskie, befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One.
Most children in developing countries grow up barefoot.Walking is often the primary mode of transportation. Children can walk for miles to get food, water, shelter and medical help. Wearing shoes literally enables them to walk distances that arent possible barefoot. Wearing shoes prevents feet from getting cuts and sores. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected. The leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted parasites which penetrate the skin through open sores. Wearing shoes can prevent this and the risk of amputation. Many times children cant attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they dont have shoes,
they dont go to school. If they dont receive an education, they dont have the opportunity to realize their potential. There is one simple solution...SHOES.So that takes care of the shoes portion of the story, what about the boards? Well, it turns out that Johnny Schillereff and Blake are mates and being mates, they chat shop over a couple cold ones. This gives rise to the Element/TOMS collaboration and the production of TOMS Element boards and Element TOMS shoes. Pick up what Im putting down?
Fast forward to the 10th of October and we have 33 335 pairs of TOMS shoes and 200 Element complete boards ready for delivery to the youth of South Africa. Cynic 0, World 1. We had driven up the week prior to organize any last minute chaos that is involved in bringing product into this country for benevolent purposes, and lets just say its not easy and it was chaotic. The drive, as always, was an exhilarating experience through the vehicle-friendly environs of the former Transkei. The fi nal body count for the drive up, ended with: 19 dead dogs, a family of 4 Hadedas, 1 cow, the near miss of another cow and a pedestrian who was sucked into the path of a truck! The sad state of our roads and the attitudes of drivers once again provide evidence to the fact that life is cheap in the good ?ol Republic we call home. This also makes it 2 out of 2 for witnessing the human body mangled by a moving vehicle on the same stretch of tar. Makes you think of Newtons third law. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So, a truck moving in direction A hitting a person travelling in direction B, smashes the shit out of the person! We were destined to meet up with Bod in Ballito, our base for the next couple days, so 12 and 1/2 hours of driving brought us within sight of home. Feather foot, as Clint would become known on the trip, and I had been in 2 almost identical Volkswagen T5 Kombis for the drive up, thanks to TAVCOR in Port Elizabeth. We maintained sanity by conversing on our trusty two-way radios. It felt a bit like something from Smokey and the Bandit, and gave rise to the inevitable Roger, Tango type sign off after every chirp. The two-ways proved both useful and not so useful over the course of the next 2 weeks. Not so useful when the Feather foot had got lost and spat the dummy because he was antagonized by yours truly?.
We spent the next couple days jumping through hoops to get around some pretty impressive red tape for the shoes to be delivered. We passed the time skating with the boys and pushing (read hurting) ourselves. We hit up the bowl in Ballito for some fun and games. I reckon with a little effort from the local skaters, the old girl could be returned to her former glory. We also had the chance to skate the Richards Bay Park, which is defi nitely worth a visit. The locals were cool and eager to spill the beans on what had transpired with all the teams that had come to visit prior to our unannounced arrival. An added bonus was the opportunity to see the energy sapping awesomeness that is an aluminium smelter. I managed to buy a piece of the small bowl as a keepsake from the trip. Nice. As the 10th approached, and most of the paperwork and deliveries of boards and shoes was coming together, we started collecting all the people involved in making the trip possible. Our fi rst pick up was the Angel of Mercy herself, Ana Maria, who was responsible for all the logistics for TOMS. We played a fun game of Spot the guest at the airport and settled on the assumption that she would be 500kgs of Latino heat! We ended up looking supremely guilty upon her arrival, great fi rst impression. We later had to admit to our assumption over dinner; much to the amusement of Ana Maria, who it turns out is more of an Elf in stature than anything else. Body had the pleasure of enduring constant ragging during the rest of her stay, as we likened his hugging technique to that of an anorexic bear mauling a small child. Over the next day or so we assembled an awesome mix of people ready to do their bit for the benefi t of others. TOMS staff and volunteers made up the majority of the group, with Element Advocate, Amy Purdy, Pro Skateboarder and super sub Levi Brown, Ryan Kingman and Mark Falkenstein from Element global with Paul from FUEL TV bringing up the rear. More on team SA later.
Drop Day 1: Indigo Skate Camp ? Valley of 1000 Hills
The day started pretty early for all and would set the tone for the entirety of the trip. As you may have fi gured out by now this was more of a humanitarian exercise than a full on skate trip. The agenda was simple for the day: drive around 40 people to the Isithumba Village, home of the camp and Msomi household, and deliver boards and shoes to the greater community. Driving down the long winding stretch of tar to camp always brings a sense of anticipation and the bus was fi lled with nervous energy from all concerned. On the descent into the valley we were constantly greeted by smiling faces and enthusiastic waving. This scene was to be repeated for the majority of the trip and is always a reminder that the people in this country are amped to see and meet new people. Upon arrival, our intrepid group of volunteers and staff started unloading the boxes. It was pretty interesting to sit back and watch the looks of awe on all the faces as they walked down the path to the ramps. The setting is defi nitely surreal with hills framing the facility as if hand-placed by the Gods. Once the initial excitement had passed, the business of giving shoes out started. All the while the skaters had a jam session on both ramps. A highlight for me was standing on the decks of the large ramp with Kingman, talking shop, when we see a small Zulu boy of about 8 years old freshly kitted out in some new shoes, grab the nearest board and proceed to drop in and Rock Fakie the crap out of it! Indigo is the training ground for the future vert kings for sure. It was an amazing day, so much so, that Blake cancelled his fl ights to stay longer and not miss out on anything. The new garden was opened, and we were all treated to a bit of the Zulu culture with the kids putting on some traditional garb and dancing and singing the day out. The drive out the valley was a hair raising one as the mist rolled in to make things interesting along the winding tar. We headed back to HQ, which for the remainder of the trip was at Dallas house. A sprawling pad at the right address near the right places.
Drop Day 2: Umthombo Safe Space ? Durban
The morning of the drop had me in mixed spirits as to what we were trying to achieve, with questions of sustainability of the shoe and board drops, and how we all fi t into the social responsibility mindset that permeates society. In my humble and uneducated opinion about the cause and effect facing kids and people living on the streets of our urban sprawl, I do feel that anybody or organization trying to help displaced individuals rebuild their lives and communities need to be supported. A skateboard magazine might not be the fi rst place someone would look to fi nd a comment on our social evolution, but we as skateboarders are part of the urban sprawl environment because of what we do. We see fi rsthand, the outcasts from civil society. Skateboarding has always been the social outcasts choice of activity, so we are in a sense members of the street childrens alliance. This drop was by far the most emotionally charged of all the subsequent drops. I was not witness to all the events of the morning, as I was driving around looking for a couple of the skateboarding street children to ensure they got hooked up with fresh boards, but by all accounts the handing out of simple shoes and boards brought home the fact that what was going on was a step in the right direction. Pun intended. The kids insisted on giving us a surf demo, so the intrepid among us skated from the Point road area to New Pier, while the volunteers mounted their chariot and headed for the same destination. The beachfront looks as though a bomb has been detonated with the amount of construction and deconstruction going on. We skated down to North beach and were astounded to see earth moving equipment destroying the bowled area of the park closest to the old Indigo shop. We did fi nd out later that this was part of the Master plan for the beach front of Dirt bin, and a rebuild and extension plan was in place to improve the current facility. The international contingent moved their part of the trip into tourist mode and headed east for a stay at Hluhluwe and the best game viewing opportunity one can get. Mama Africa continues to deliver and surprise all comers. We had the next day off and decided to get some footage for the new, free, AV Skateboarding destined for imminent release. Thabo had made the trip out from JHB for the drop, sorry Siya we hope you understand? He was joined by Dlamini of the Dlamini clan, who was subsequently dubbed D2 for our foreign friends, who try as they might, couldnt pronounce D L A M I N I. We headed for the beach and proceeded to skate the pool and stair combo seen in the previous magazine. D2 is the silent assassin for sure. Not one to mouth off at any opportunity or tell you about a personal pool TF facility - Mullet, he just dropped the hammer and skated. Quite a contrast to Thabo, who is fueled by Duracell or something and never ever stops moving, talking, skating or getting up to mischief. Dont get me wrong, I wouldnt change any of it. The combination of these guys seemed to push the level constantly. The HUX/Revolution Park we skated can attest to this fact.
Drop Day 3: Saphinda Primary School ? Umlazi
We headed into town to meet up with Tim from Peace Players International, www.peaceplayers.com, who would be our guide for the journey out to Saphinda Primary in Umlazi. Peace Players are involved in spreading the word of sport and social upliftment via basketball, and have a skills exchange program on the go at various locations around SA and the world. We didnt have anywhere to skate at Saphinda, but the teachers were keen to get some skating going for the kids and this is an avenue for future trips. We all got stuck in distributing the bounty and I was reminded how small the world is and how funny assumptions can be, when a small boy asked me if I knew Chris Brown. Chris Brown the singer, I asked? To which the reply was, Yes, whats he like? It was hilarious, as he thought this pale face must be from America, and not from SA. Jamie from DOPE Industries, and I then tried our damndest to remember all the isiXhosa, because were from the Western and Eastern province, we were ever taught at school to convince him we were natives. Class: Molo Titshalakazi. Teacher: Molweni Bafundi. Anyhow, after these failed attempts at proving residence, we all gathered for a meal prepared by the teachers and sat down with the governing body of the school for lunch. Speeches were made, thanks was offered and received, and we left with a renewed sense hope for the future and our next shoe drop destination. We headed south to the Sacred Heart Childrens Home situated in rural Umtwalume, which is supported by the good people of Thanda, www.thanda.org, whose main focus is dealing with supporting children orphaned by AIDS. Dallas had been taking explorative trips further south a part of his latest venture; Indigo Youth Movement, and was instrumental in tying in all the NGOs for the trip. There are some road improvements from just after the Sipofu turn off and there is plenty of opportunity to bomb those hills in the area! The Sacred Heart facility overlooks an impressive valley and we did the shoe drop in the hall of the church, which echoed with the voices of all the children getting their personal fi tting. It might also be a good time to mention that each child is personally fi tted with the shoes to check the correct fi t and all concerned were on their hands and knees making it happen. Amy Purdy was an inspiration during the trip; she is a snowboarder, skateboarder, makeup artist, actress, and model and is also a double leg amputee. Check out www.amypurdy.com for more info. Dont ever let me hear you whine about life being hard and how tough you think youve got it. Cry me a river, Justin! A fl at ground skate ensued on the disused tennis court while the little nippers were being fi tted with shoes, much to the excitement of the children. Dallas got one of his prodigys out the crowd of smiling faces, and she proceeded to skate her heart out amongst the throng. After we had done pretty much the entire 500-odd strong recipient list, we headed back to HQ in Durban, while our colleagues headed for Hibberdene for the night.
Drop Day 4: Murchison Primary School ? Port Shepstone
This would be the last time we would leave from Dally wood, as from here on out we were making our way down the coast and heading to the fi nal destination for the drops; Port Shepstone. Just out from the Oribi Plaza, heading for Murchison, we came across an old guy pushing himself coffi n style along the road on a dilapidated skateboard. It was a perfect opportunity to keep the spirit of the trip alive, so we executed a perfectly synchronized U-turn, and pulled up next to him. We jumped out and explained our good intentions. He was ecstatic with the upgrade and made off into the distance at a much better pace. ?Onward and upward, was the call and we made our way to Murchison. We arrived ahead of the main group so took a detour to the closest sugar cane plantation. It seemed the perfect time for a team shot, and impromptu cane munching exercise. This drop was the biggest we had attempted, and in total we did approximately 800 or so pairs of shoes. Thabo and D2 skated a small stair gap along the main school building corridor, and had a pretty interesting line going over a bin. We also witnessed the biggest box fi ght I had ever seen, as the kids proceeded to beat each other senseless with the empty shoe cartons. This, coupled with the opportunity to share the art of sugar cane eating, made this particular drop a varied affair. We mounted up and began the 3 hour drive down to Port St Johns in our beloved Eastern Cape. The rawness and contrasts of the Transkei area make this section of the country well worth a visit. There has been a deterioration of some of the infrastructure over the years, but as long as you keep the driving within sunlight hours, you should be OK. Be prepared to scare yourself shitless over blind rises, as they generally contain a herd of cattle?
Drop Day 5: Eluxolweni Boys Home ? Port St Johns
We moved into our new accommodation at the Amapondo Backpackers, www.amapondo.co.za with our host and shoe drop facilitator, Anni. The setting of the establishment is pretty wild and to say the place has some folklore about it, would be an understatement. I would equate it to a Fight Club type scenario. You dont talk about Fight Club. Do yourself a favour and check it out for yourself. The greater community of Port St Johns is in some need of love, and our fi nal drop for the trip was in the hall of the Eluxolweni Boys Home. The day was very wet and made proceedings trying to say the least. Our friends from across the pond were dumbfounded every time a child wanted the toilet, as I had the opportunity to meet a host of interesting people on this trip and it turned into one of the best experiences Ive had since getting into skateboarding all those years ago.
they would either squat/stand under the nearest tree, or if really little, pee straight Element Toms Tour
One For One Under The African Sun (Copy Dave Allan) (Photos Clinton Theron)
Ive been accused of being a cynic on more than one occasion. It is the automatic response that all is not as it seems, or something along those lines. Im working on it? Moving swiftly along, during the beginning of October we were set to welcome a team of travelers from TOMS shoes, and our colleagues from Element USA. It was the beginning of the ElementTOMS board and shoe drop. Its been a year or more in the planning from our side and apparently 2 years and some change from the good people across the Atlantic. Here is the concept. For every pair of TOMS shoes you buy, the benevolent people at TOMS will give, gratis, a pair of shoes to a childperson in need. You read that correctly the first time. Buy one, give one away. Its called a One for One model, and TOMS seem to be pioneering a new way of doing things.
Lets set the scene and take a few steps back to arrive at the beginning. Blake Mycoskie is the founder and chief shoe giver heading up the TOMS organization in the U.S. To vaguely quote the TOMS website, In 2006 traveler, Blake Mycoskie, befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One.
Most children in developing countries grow up barefoot.Walking is often the primary mode of transportation. Children can walk for miles to get food, water, shelter and medical help. Wearing shoes literally enables them to walk distances that arent possible barefoot. Wearing shoes prevents feet from getting cuts and sores. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected. The leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted parasites which penetrate the skin through open sores. Wearing shoes can prevent this and the risk of amputation. Many times children cant attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they dont have shoes,
they dont go to school. If they dont receive an education, they dont have the opportunity to realize their potential. There is one simple solution...SHOES.So that takes care of the shoes portion of the story, what about the boards? Well, it turns out that Johnny Schillereff and Blake are mates and being mates, they chat shop over a couple cold ones. This gives rise to the Element/TOMS collaboration and the production of TOMS Element boards and Element TOMS shoes. Pick up what Im putting down?
Fast forward to the 10th of October and we have 33 335 pairs of TOMS shoes and 200 Element complete boards ready for delivery to the youth of South Africa. Cynic 0, World 1. We had driven up the week prior to organize any last minute chaos that is involved in bringing product into this country for benevolent purposes, and lets just say its not easy and it was chaotic. The drive, as always, was an exhilarating experience through the vehicle-friendly environs of the former Transkei. The fi nal body count for the drive up, ended with: 19 dead dogs, a family of 4 Hadedas, 1 cow, the near miss of another cow and a pedestrian who was sucked into the path of a truck! The sad state of our roads and the attitudes of drivers once again provide evidence to the fact that life is cheap in the good ?ol Republic we call home. This also makes it 2 out of 2 for witnessing the human body mangled by a moving vehicle on the same stretch of tar. Makes you think of Newtons third law. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So, a truck moving in direction A hitting a person travelling in direction B, smashes the shit out of the person! We were destined to meet up with Bod in Ballito, our base for the next couple days, so 12 and 1/2 hours of driving brought us within sight of home. Feather foot, as Clint would become known on the trip, and I had been in 2 almost identical Volkswagen T5 Kombis for the drive up, thanks to TAVCOR in Port Elizabeth. We maintained sanity by conversing on our trusty two-way radios. It felt a bit like something from Smokey and the Bandit, and gave rise to the inevitable Roger, Tango type sign off after every chirp. The two-ways proved both useful and not so useful over the course of the next 2 weeks. Not so useful when the Feather foot had got lost and spat the dummy because he was antagonized by yours truly?.
We spent the next couple days jumping through hoops to get around some pretty impressive red tape for the shoes to be delivered. We passed the time skating with the boys and pushing (read hurting) ourselves. We hit up the bowl in Ballito for some fun and games. I reckon with a little effort from the local skaters, the old girl could be returned to her former glory. We also had the chance to skate the Richards Bay Park, which is defi nitely worth a visit. The locals were cool and eager to spill the beans on what had transpired with all the teams that had come to visit prior to our unannounced arrival. An added bonus was the opportunity to see the energy sapping awesomeness that is an aluminium smelter. I managed to buy a piece of the small bowl as a keepsake from the trip. Nice. As the 10th approached, and most of the paperwork and deliveries of boards and shoes was coming together, we started collecting all the people involved in making the trip possible. Our fi rst pick up was the Angel of Mercy herself, Ana Maria, who was responsible for all the logistics for TOMS. We played a fun game of Spot the guest at the airport and settled on the assumption that she would be 500kgs of Latino heat! We ended up looking supremely guilty upon her arrival, great fi rst impression. We later had to admit to our assumption over dinner; much to the amusement of Ana Maria, who it turns out is more of an Elf in stature than anything else. Body had the pleasure of enduring constant ragging during the rest of her stay, as we likened his hugging technique to that of an anorexic bear mauling a small child. Over the next day or so we assembled an awesome mix of people ready to do their bit for the benefi t of others. TOMS staff and volunteers made up the majority of the group, with Element Advocate, Amy Purdy, Pro Skateboarder and super sub Levi Brown, Ryan Kingman and Mark Falkenstein from Element global with Paul from FUEL TV bringing up the rear. More on team SA later.
Drop Day 1: Indigo Skate Camp ? Valley of 1000 Hills
The day started pretty early for all and would set the tone for the entirety of the trip. As you may have fi gured out by now this was more of a humanitarian exercise than a full on skate trip. The agenda was simple for the day: drive around 40 people to the Isithumba Village, home of the camp and Msomi household, and deliver boards and shoes to the greater community. Driving down the long winding stretch of tar to camp always brings a sense of anticipation and the bus was fi lled with nervous energy from all concerned. On the descent into the valley we were constantly greeted by smiling faces and enthusiastic waving. This scene was to be repeated for the majority of the trip and is always a reminder that the people in this country are amped to see and meet new people. Upon arrival, our intrepid group of volunteers and staff started unloading the boxes. It was pretty interesting to sit back and watch the looks of awe on all the faces as they walked down the path to the ramps. The setting is defi nitely surreal with hills framing the facility as if hand-placed by the Gods. Once the initial excitement had passed, the business of giving shoes out started. All the while the skaters had a jam session on both ramps. A highlight for me was standing on the decks of the large ramp with Kingman, talking shop, when we see a small Zulu boy of about 8 years old freshly kitted out in some new shoes, grab the nearest board and proceed to drop in and Rock Fakie the crap out of it! Indigo is the training ground for the future vert kings for sure. It was an amazing day, so much so, that Blake cancelled his fl ights to stay longer and not miss out on anything. The new garden was opened, and we were all treated to a bit of the Zulu culture with the kids putting on some traditional garb and dancing and singing the day out. The drive out the valley was a hair raising one as the mist rolled in to make things interesting along the winding tar. We headed back to HQ, which for the remainder of the trip was at Dallas house. A sprawling pad at the right address near the right places.
Drop Day 2: Umthombo Safe Space ? Durban
The morning of the drop had me in mixed spirits as to what we were trying to achieve, with questions of sustainability of the shoe and board drops, and how we all fi t into the social responsibility mindset that permeates society. In my humble and uneducated opinion about the cause and effect facing kids and people living on the streets of our urban sprawl, I do feel that anybody or organization trying to help displaced individuals rebuild their lives and communities need to be supported. A skateboard magazine might not be the fi rst place someone would look to fi nd a comment on our social evolution, but we as skateboarders are part of the urban sprawl environment because of what we do. We see fi rsthand, the outcasts from civil society. Skateboarding has always been the social outcasts choice of activity, so we are in a sense members of the street childrens alliance. This drop was by far the most emotionally charged of all the subsequent drops. I was not witness to all the events of the morning, as I was driving around looking for a couple of the skateboarding street children to ensure they got hooked up with fresh boards, but by all accounts the handing out of simple shoes and boards brought home the fact that what was going on was a step in the right direction. Pun intended. The kids insisted on giving us a surf demo, so the intrepid among us skated from the Point road area to New Pier, while the volunteers mounted their chariot and headed for the same destination. The beachfront looks as though a bomb has been detonated with the amount of construction and deconstruction going on. We skated down to North beach and were astounded to see earth moving equipment destroying the bowled area of the park closest to the old Indigo shop. We did fi nd out later that this was part of the Master plan for the beach front of Dirt bin, and a rebuild and extension plan was in place to improve the current facility. The international contingent moved their part of the trip into tourist mode and headed east for a stay at Hluhluwe and the best game viewing opportunity one can get. Mama Africa continues to deliver and surprise all comers. We had the next day off and decided to get some footage for the new, free, AV Skateboarding destined for imminent release. Thabo had made the trip out from JHB for the drop, sorry Siya we hope you understand? He was joined by Dlamini of the Dlamini clan, who was subsequently dubbed D2 for our foreign friends, who try as they might, couldnt pronounce D L A M I N I. We headed for the beach and proceeded to skate the pool and stair combo seen in the previous magazine. D2 is the silent assassin for sure. Not one to mouth off at any opportunity or tell you about a personal pool TF facility - Mullet, he just dropped the hammer and skated. Quite a contrast to Thabo, who is fueled by Duracell or something and never ever stops moving, talking, skating or getting up to mischief. Dont get me wrong, I wouldnt change any of it. The combination of these guys seemed to push the level constantly. The HUX/Revolution Park we skated can attest to this fact.
Drop Day 3: Saphinda Primary School ? Umlazi
We headed into town to meet up with Tim from Peace Players International, www.peaceplayers.com, who would be our guide for the journey out to Saphinda Primary in Umlazi. Peace Players are involved in spreading the word of sport and social upliftment via basketball, and have a skills exchange program on the go at various locations around SA and the world. We didnt have anywhere to skate at Saphinda, but the teachers were keen to get some skating going for the kids and this is an avenue for future trips. We all got stuck in distributing the bounty and I was reminded how small the world is and how funny assumptions can be, when a small boy asked me if I knew Chris Brown. Chris Brown the singer, I asked? To which the reply was, Yes, whats he like? It was hilarious, as he thought this pale face must be from America, and not from SA. Jamie from DOPE Industries, and I then tried our damndest to remember all the isiXhosa, because were from the Western and Eastern province, we were ever taught at school to convince him we were natives. Class: Molo Titshalakazi. Teacher: Molweni Bafundi. Anyhow, after these failed attempts at proving residence, we all gathered for a meal prepared by the teachers and sat down with the governing body of the school for lunch. Speeches were made, thanks was offered and received, and we left with a renewed sense hope for the future and our next shoe drop destination. We headed south to the Sacred Heart Childrens Home situated in rural Umtwalume, which is supported by the good people of Thanda, www.thanda.org, whose main focus is dealing with supporting children orphaned by AIDS. Dallas had been taking explorative trips further south a part of his latest venture; Indigo Youth Movement, and was instrumental in tying in all the NGOs for the trip. There are some road improvements from just after the Sipofu turn off and there is plenty of opportunity to bomb those hills in the area! The Sacred Heart facility overlooks an impressive valley and we did the shoe drop in the hall of the church, which echoed with the voices of all the children getting their personal fi tting. It might also be a good time to mention that each child is personally fi tted with the shoes to check the correct fi t and all concerned were on their hands and knees making it happen. Amy Purdy was an inspiration during the trip; she is a snowboarder, skateboarder, makeup artist, actress, and model and is also a double leg amputee. Check out www.amypurdy.com for more info. Dont ever let me hear you whine about life being hard and how tough you think youve got it. Cry me a river, Justin! A fl at ground skate ensued on the disused tennis court while the little nippers were being fi tted with shoes, much to the excitement of the children. Dallas got one of his prodigys out the crowd of smiling faces, and she proceeded to skate her heart out amongst the throng. After we had done pretty much the entire 500-odd strong recipient list, we headed back to HQ in Durban, while our colleagues headed for Hibberdene for the night.
Drop Day 4: Murchison Primary School ? Port Shepstone
This would be the last time we would leave from Dally wood, as from here on out we were making our way down the coast and heading to the fi nal destination for the drops; Port Shepstone. Just out from the Oribi Plaza, heading for Murchison, we came across an old guy pushing himself coffi n style along the road on a dilapidated skateboard. It was a perfect opportunity to keep the spirit of the trip alive, so we executed a perfectly synchronized U-turn, and pulled up next to him. We jumped out and explained our good intentions. He was ecstatic with the upgrade and made off into the distance at a much better pace. ?Onward and upward, was the call and we made our way to Murchison. We arrived ahead of the main group so took a detour to the closest sugar cane plantation. It seemed the perfect time for a team shot, and impromptu cane munching exercise. This drop was the biggest we had attempted, and in total we did approximately 800 or so pairs of shoes. Thabo and D2 skated a small stair gap along the main school building corridor, and had a pretty interesting line going over a bin. We also witnessed the biggest box fi ght I had ever seen, as the kids proceeded to beat each other senseless with the empty shoe cartons. This, coupled with the opportunity to share the art of sugar cane eating, made this particular drop a varied affair. We mounted up and began the 3 hour drive down to Port St Johns in our beloved Eastern Cape. The rawness and contrasts of the Transkei area make this section of the country well worth a visit. There has been a deterioration of some of the infrastructure over the years, but as long as you keep the driving within sunlight hours, you should be OK. Be prepared to scare yourself shitless over blind rises, as they generally contain a herd of cattle?
Drop Day 5: Eluxolweni Boys Home ? Port St Johns
We moved into our new accommodation at the Amapondo Backpackers, www.amapondo.co.za with our host and shoe drop facilitator, Anni. The setting of the establishment is pretty wild and to say the place has some folklore about it, would be an understatement. I would equate it to a Fight Club type scenario. You dont talk about Fight Club. Do yourself a favour and check it out for yourself. The greater community of Port St Johns is in some need of love, and our fi nal drop for the trip was in the hall of the Eluxolweni Boys Home. The day was very wet and made proceedings trying to say the least. Our friends from across the pond were dumbfounded every time a child wanted the toilet, as I had the opportunity to meet a host of interesting people on this trip and it turned into one of the best experiences Ive had since getting into skateboarding all those years ago.
they would either squat/stand under the nearest tree, or if really little, pee straight from the doorway of the hall to avoid getting wet. Priceless! We ended the day with a hearty lunch of boerewors and pap at Amapondo, perfectly complimented with a couple or 10 milk stouts to ease digestion. The pub area was buzzing and all in attendance did their utmost to strengthen international ties. Stories were traded about the highlights of the trip and how much it had affected the volunteers and crew of people involved. ww. I felt personally responsible to act as an ambassador and guide to unlocking peoples perceptions about our country, and what we have to offer. We said our goodbyes that evening and parted ways with the good people of TOMS. We would be continuing the drive to J-Bay with Levi and the rest of Element, but thats another story altogether. We would not have been able to pull any of this off without the help and dedication of a number of individuals. I would like to thank TOMS and Element for using their dollars and cents to make a difference in somebody elses backyard. A big shout out must go to the Element SA crew, in particular Dallas and Clinton for making the trip happen, Jamie OBrien from DOPE and AV for fi lming and Body from giving us the platform to present a snapshot of what happened. Element is proud to be driven by the good people at TAVCOR in Port Elizabeth, who supplied the Volkswagen vehicles used. Clint owes me R3600 for damaging another Kombi?. Go skate. Go get involved. Hamba kahle!from the doorway of the hall to avoid getting wet. Priceless! We ended the day with a hearty lunch of boerewors and pap at Amapondo, perfectly complimented with a couple or 10 milk stouts to ease digestion. The pub area was buzzing and all in attendance did their utmost to strengthen international ties. Stories were traded about the highlights of the trip and how much it had affected the volunteers and crew of people involved. ww. I felt personally responsible to act as an ambassador and guide to unlocking peoples perceptions about our country, and what we have to offer. We said our goodbyes that evening and parted ways with the good people of TOMS. We would be continuing the drive to J-Bay with Levi and the rest of Element, but thats another story altogether. We would not have been able to pull any of this off without the help and dedication of a number of individuals. I would like to thank TOMS and Element for using their dollars and cents to make a difference in somebody elses backyard. A big shout out must go to the Element SA crew, in particular Dallas and Clinton for making the trip happen, Jamie OBrien from DOPE and AV for fi lming and Body from giving us the platform to present a snapshot of what happened. Element is proud to be driven by the good people at TAVCOR in Port Elizabeth, who supplied the Volkswagen vehicles used. Clint owes me R3600 for damaging another Kombi?. Go skate. Go get involved. Hamba kahle!
2010-02-27
First, let us mention that if you
haven't heard by now, the Maloof Money Cup Street Team will be
year-round now, so keep your calendar marked for when we come to a skate
spot near you. We may just pop up on the radar at random too, so you
gotta start following us on twitter twitter.com/maloofmoneycup
So the MMC street team was out in full force
at our first street team event of 2010 and where else could be finer the
the VANS Skatepark in Orange County, Ca! The weather was terrible if
you were trying to skate outside, but it was perfect for a skate event
at VANS due to it's HUGE indoor skate park. Despite the bad weather, we
had about 3 X's as many skaters and spectators alike came out to show
the MMC some love and support. We had folks like MRZ takin' action shots
of the skaters throughout the day, the head of the Central Valley Am
Jam Competition in northern California stop by with their kids to skate
it up (MMC is giving away a spot in THE WORLD INDUSTRIES AM STREET
CONTEST AT MMC 2010 IN ORANGE COUNTY,CA to the top overall winner at
this comp which starts March 13th in Atwater, CA) and the legendary
Jerry Madrid was hanging out with the skaters. We don't bring in
official judges for these contests, we let YOU, the skaters, choose who
was throwin' down the most on each of the mini-comps. Keep in mind that
the street team isn't allowed to win in these comps we do, so all you
skaters still got a shot at winning our stuff throughout the year.
Oh, and we also mixed it up a little this
year, giving away some MMC decks for the winners, a ton of these new MMC
TECH DECKS and of course, good ol' Vitamin Water for just about
everyone!
The first comp was best trick off the 9 and
man, these cats were throwin down some bangers. There was all kindsa
crazy going on! We almost thought our own guy Edgar Torres was gonna be
the winner until this one skater stepped on deck. Then watch-out cuz the
winner of this contest was Justin; and this kid was insane!!! He's got a
bright future in skating ahead of him if he keeps it up.
Kids were telling him to stop skating and
give them a chance because the way he was killin' it left and
right....it was just too unfair!! LOL!
The second comp
we had was on the 4 stair and the ledge next to it, but a lot of the
skaters decided to mix the tranny into it, which was all good. During
this part is where we had seen one of the most impressive tricks for the
entire day from Larry Winston who also won it by hittin' tranny to
tailslide on the guard rail.
Then over to the best trick off the kicker
and best flat ground trick. During the best trick off the kicker, it was
so close as to who got the best trick; nollie inward heel off the
kicker by Brian and another insane trick by Justin....which slips my
mind, anyone remember(Post up here )? Everybody decided that they should
solve who the winner was the democratic way, with a game of S-K-A-T-E!
These two were goin' at it, trick after trick, with Justin becoming the
victorious one. We would like to point out real quick just how much of a
class-act this dude is. With Justin winning the game of s-k-a-t-e and
best trick off the kicker, he was taking home his second MMC deck of the
day, however, he showed excellent skatesmanship by giving his deck to
Brian....now that's a real bro right there, YOU ROCK JUSTIN!!! During
the best flat ground trick, the winner was easily decided on by all
skaters, and it was won really quick with a kickflip underflip - like
that son!
Lastly we were over at the mini's which
only had a few participants, but man did they bring it. There was
Allysha Bergado & Lizzie Armanto shreddin everywhere and Dontae
Overton doin it right. Now of course we are a bit partial to a few of
these riders since some are on the street team, but they step up when
it's game time, so watch out!
All in all, VANS was an awesome host and we're
so stoked to have them as a new presenter of the Maloof Money Cup this
year. Man, what a fun day.....next stop is Atwater for an appearance to
show some LnS (love n support) on the 13th, then back here in
chino(ayala) skatepark march 20th.
Holla if you hear us?Westside
PS: Just wanna give a quick shout out to our
riders this year. For the guys we got Mark B (Barnett), Dillion (insert
cool name here =) Lantry, Edgar (insert another here :) Torres, Dontae
'The Snake" Overton, Keith "Tigger" Wick, Victor "Ferby" or "Bobo"
Garcia, Antonio Smith (administrative), Seyvion Collins (video footy),
Josh Bates (photo) and of course, our boy Beanz from the newly built
(and awesome) Compton skatepark - Throw some Beanz on it!!. It was
Beanz' first time to a VANS skatepark and boy, did it make an impression
on him, thanks Vans! Can't wait to see you guys in Compton! And for
those who couldn't make it like Josh Peraza and Josh Baird and some
remote ones like Monte Amundson and Beau Buckmaster (god i love that
last name) - sorry you couldn't be here this time fellas
For the gals so far, we have Allysha
Bergado, Lizzie Armanto & Mandy Esch is helping us out as well. We
need more skaters for our girls team, so come on down and hit us up.
We'd love to see what you got and your love for skateboarding, but you
gotta hurry because these spots won't last long!
We will be highlighting our street team
riders this year over the next several weeks, so if you see them skating
at a park near you, hit em up cuz these are some chill skaters that
simply skate cuz they love it....
