these wheels sound interesting. at least the folks at kontrol where able to add two fresh approaches to wheels: still 100% made in usa and eco-friendliness, which means nothing without certificates. still there is some goodwill compared to the staleness of the competition.
“All our wheels are 100% USA made, and with almost zero waste Kontrol wheels are the most Eco Friendly skateboard wheels in the world.”
because urethane can’t be very eco-friendly they seem to argue with less waste and higher efficiency.

regarding dwindle: does this look like a state of the art production facility?
“For the past three years, under the direction of Rodney Mullen, Dwindle Distribution has developed a secret weapon – The state of the art, Chinese production facility we call Chop Chop Wood Shop.”
so lets see how jart is doing. well, you get the picture.

awesome skater, but a surprising transformation in appearance from ghettorapper to folky dude. hopefully not just some kind of selfbranding.
unfortunately his sponsors are some of the lamest china-made-board-mass-stupification companies ever: almost and other dwindle distibution shit.

proof me wrong but for years i got the feeling that the oh so hated band reunions were one of the few interesting things going on hardcore wise.
at least this reunion show by the the legendary gorilla biscuits rocked.
still when i see this, it feels like i was there yesterday.

right now i find myself in the same situation with this band. it will be hard to resist the deja-vu 20 years later.

this track by negative approach perfectly covers the lost feeling of many young beings in the early 80’s. an all time hardcore classic pioneering the harcore punk scene. it lost nothing of its raw energy more than 25 years later.

“You try to make things work and gain something
It’s all no use, it’s all worth nothing
Complete satisfaction, too impossible to believe
Nothing’s ever fucking gonna work for me

Tomorrow seems so hopeless
Can’t keep it off my mind
Another day of nothing
I’m running out of time
I’ve got nothing I can look forward to
I’m always left with nothing

I’m always told things I don’t want to hear
My destiny’s become quite clear
Life’s never fucking given nothing to me
It’s just stood by and watched me bleed

Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing”

very thoughtful words regarding skateboarding, art and the industry by the remarkable don pendleton:

“Ultimately, the skaters are always going to decide where skating goes. So if they want something cheap made in China, they’re going to get it. If they demand something more, they’ll have that option as well.”

“These days, it seems less of a craft and more of a commodity unfortunately. Those transfer graphics are horrible and temporary but it almost seems kind of fitting for Chinese boards, doesn’t it? I mean, companies went from lovingly crafting these intricately created skateboards and hand screening the graphics color by color to lining up popsicle sticks in China and basically applying a big decal to it. Kind of sad in terms of history and what skateboarding leaves behind as it advances… but it may have helped some companies keep their doors open.”

“The sales force has become a part of the design process because they know what’s selling and what isn’t and the average company is chasing the dragon in terms of give them what they want.”