Skate Soup

Ryan Mckowen Blog

It looks like the Ryan Mckowen blog is picking up some good content.  Well, it is good if you appreciate the stuff he is posting.  Mountain Board Dudes in Morgantown , the Onion!, and Long Board Nose Manny Shovs.  What more do you need.

Mind Field Video Premier at the Head Board Shop (All Ages)

February 7th, 2009. 
Alien WorkShop Video
Premier of Mind Field.

Put on by the Head Board Shop

There will actually be 2 showings.  The first will be at the Head Board Shop in South Side at 7:00 PM and it will be all ages. There will be refreshments and pizza provided for your general merriment.

Then at 9:00 PM the much cooler "Over 21" crowd will be going to Ruggers Pub at on 22st for "adult" refreshments and a second video premier.  Not to be excluded are certainly Martinis, Old Fashions, Gimlets, Gibsons, and Manhattans.

Thanks to Moreboard for the heads up on this one.  I did see it there first, even tho it was actually posted on the Head Board Shop 2 days earlier....but got to give credit where credit is due.

B/S Feeble 360 Flip Out

This was one of those tricks I always thought about.  Now I don't have to think anymore.  This just makes me want to get out and skate.  Not happy about this winter thing. The video is actually Title Thousandth Try Thursday. Which fits into our theory of Manic Depressive Mondays

A Challenge for Yinz - Free Ad Space on Skate Soup

  I've been working on this for a little while now and I think this is the time to launch it. 

Alright, here is the deal.  As the SkateSoup.com traffic continues to grow, we are going to begin placing skateboard only ads on this site.  We would prefer to support skater owned companies.  These ads will only take you to skateboard companies or shops.  No monster truck ads or pro skaters with milk mustaches.  The ads will be relevant to this site.  I will accept no less.

So how do you get a free ad?  One thing I have always tried to do was bring the skaters of this city and suburbs together and unite it.  Whether is through shops who co-sponsor events or local skate companies who put on their own events. 

Pittsburgh has shops.  But, how many skate companies do we have?  There are no local board or wheel companies.  We barely have a hardware company.  There is Direction East, and that is rad.  But do you see where I am going with this?

At this point of time in Pittsburgh, there are no local companies supporting local skateboarding.  So my challenge to you is this, START A COMPANY and Skate Soup will help you promote it.  I am not promising your company will take off, but we'll be here to give you ad space, press releases, team rider interviews and other product news.

Here is how it will work.  Start a company between now and June 2009.  You don't have to do it tonight-ok?  Take your time, put something together that you can be proud of.  There is no rush on this offer from Skate Soup. 

As always, your press releases, team rider interviews, company news or products news will be freely promoted as content on SkateSoup.com.  Then, when you are ready, for a period of 30 Days we will run your companies ads on our site.  There will be 3 different ad locations for you to choose from and we will disclose those details as we get closer to unveiling our ad program in March.

If you are interested, click on Add to the Soup and send us an email about your plan.  We can even give you some advice and direction on how to set up your company and how to start producing your own line of products.

Jason Lee "Tincan Folklore"

This post started while I was searching for a video of a good chicago flip.  I was thinking, "When was the last time I saw a good Chicago Flip?"  And of course, you can't get any thing out of youtube when you search for anything related to 360 fliips other than a million Jason Lee clips.  But this one I never saw.  Most of you won't care or get it, but that is not why I am posting it.  You'll figure it out. 

This one is for the Douche Locators who were responsible for the shortest Jason Lee song ever.
He was on Blind and Stereo
There's Something about me you just don't know

I..want..to.. be  (want to be)
Ja....ason.....lee!  (Jason Lee!)

Mutton chops and Video Days
All those things that get you laid

I..want..to.. be  (want to be)
Ja....ason.....lee!  (Jason Lee!)

Of course this is not the same Gator Pit Back Flipping Super Jumper Jason Lee or the Baton Twirling Champion Jason Lee

Y.O.T.W. - Mini Ramp Jason

How many girlfriends have you had that look just like you?
Hahaha very funny Jeff, well one but that is just what people thought and it was her face compared to mine but not exactly.

Have you ever even slammed on concrete?
Yes I have actually and it isn't verry fun. It was at Imperial and i missed the coping on the vert wall in the snake run and fell straight to my knees down the ramp and smashed down on the flat ground. I also got a stinger in my left arm and couldn't move it there, it was all numb and limp kinda like things Jeff enjoys.

You sure seem to like goats alot. Is that a Freeport thing? Is your high school mascot the Freeport Goats or something?
No actually I hate them I came across the one I have from a peg legged Indian name Solantos. He said it would come of use at some point in time and apparently it did, Jeff?

You seem to have many several Freudian slips that reference spending intimate time with men. So what is the deal with that? is there something you want to "come out" on SkateSoup.com?
Sorry I can't speak properly, but no I deffinatly don't swing the other way Jeff as much as you would like me to.

Did you just come from a renesaince fair? What is up with the Village Idiot hair cut?
I don't have a hairstyle I wake up it's there if I get a shower it's wet or if I'm going somewhere it just sits there. Which ever way my hair lays is my hair for the day.

 Is Village Idiot going to be the new Dirty LA Rocker Look for 2009?
You know Jeff I don't know what 2009 has in store maybe I'll go with the beer belly, full beard, slicked back hair style but it wounds like someone I already know?

What is the worst job you ever had in Natrona?
Blank Skate was by far the worst job in my life. The boss was a total jerk, kids don't listen to noo food or drinks in the skatepark, it was the filthiest place ever, and there were dead pigeons in the basement.

For real though I would like to thank Jeff for letting me have the chance to work on this and I hope you enjoy this as much I did making it. I would also like to thank all my friends that filmed for me.

For Gits and Shiggles

Sometimes I forget how much fun running the shop was.  There were so many times that were just plain choas and other times that were 100% complete boredom and stress.

But then, I also start to see the crazy things that I never would have intended happening.  There are some things that are out of your control when you build your own brand and sell direct.

Our decks were used all across the country in Finish Line shops to display Nike Shoes.  (I am trying to find photos of this - none exist online).  I was only in 1 Finish Line and they didn't have it displayed at the time.  The whole project took longer than it should have and the shipments couldn't get scheduled.  After we shipped the decks they had to be re drilled by their marketing team.  It was nuts.  At that time we never handled an order that big and had no idea what we were doing.  At that time Jeff in Lancaster (Kenny too) was making our decks.  They hauled ass to get this done.  oh yeah.....i forgot to mention, they had to grip them too!

Another major retailer used our products in a commercial.  (Although they never would disclose who it was for, I believe it was for Target.  They needed an all orange board for a commercial shoot.  About 3 months later there was a Target commercial with a someone skating a pool in an all orange board.)

The decks were also used across the country in various art shows, tattoo shops, and festivals.  Artists even made their own creations.  Filmers and photo studios used our wheels for tracks and their cases.  There was even a corvette shop that put our wheels under corvette bumpers so that the bumpers would not scrape when a corvette went up a curb.

Just today I was at Nordstroms at Ross Park Mall and crapped my pants.  I saw these boards that were our longboard wheels and longboard trucks.  These come from Atlanta and an artist named Didi Dunphy.  She makes these puffy style skateboards and must do pretty well.

Of Course there is:

"EPISODE 14 - Ray vs. Taylor on Trading Spaces for Kids
Skateboarder Ray wants to shred his boring bedroom. He's looking for a space with more color and curves. So friends Taylor and Ava team up with Designer Jordin and Carpenter Ginene to ramp up Ray's dull digs and create his very own Skate Park. Coffee lover Taylor is looking for a place to chill with her friends. But her cluttered pink pad is cramping her cappuccino style. So friends Ray and Arthur join Designer Scott and Carpenter Barte to stir things up in Taylor's bland bedroom and create a cozy Coffeehouse Café"

Guess whose skateboard wheels they used in this episode?  I never saw the show, but apparently it was a big failure.  They tried to glue 100 some wheels to a lampshade, but the glue would not work and it was a disaster.

There are others.  But I'll save them.  Thanks to Steve Dimbokowitz For the Foosball Beat Down Edit

Things You Didn't Know That I Didn't Know About Skate Soup

I was searching for a bunch of domain names (some of which will rear their ugly heads in coming days), and then skatesoup popped up.  I figured that could work and it is easy to remember.  The "skate" part kind of goes with the theme of the site and the "soup" part implies that it has a bunch of stuff in it from all over the place.

But what you never realize at the time is how much a domain name may already be in use or if it is something that already exists in nature.

For example, there really is a "Skate Soup".  The "Skate" is some sort of water creature related to the ray.  People make soup out it because its delicate white flesh becomes rippled when it hits the hot broth.  Here is a recipe from cookitsimply

1 lb (450 g) skate
1 medium onion, skinned and thinly sliced
125 g (4 oz) celery, cleaned and sliced
3 tbsp (60 ml) lemon juice
2 bay leaves
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/4 cup (1/2 pint) 300 ml milk
5 fl oz (142 ml) soured cream
25 g (1 oz) lump fish roe (caviar-style)
snipped fresh chives to garnish

If you like getting totally extreme, then you are going to love the "Skate Soup" t-shirt available over at zazzle.  Here is what the description says, "

Bring style to your wardrobe by implementing this Prymate Unltd "Skate Soup" tee-shirt designs. Whatever your style might be, (Urban, Punk, Rock, Skater, etc..), this shirt would absolutely take it to the next level. This is a great gift for all.

Gnarly.....Totally Rad....Tubular.....Tubular?????

Can you tell it is winter in this city?  Look at the crap I am posting.  The temperature has been from -7 to +7 degrees for the past 3 days.  I am going crazy!

A.S.R. -- KILIING IT!

Sike.  They are being killed.  For those of you not familiar with A.S.R. (Action Sports Retailers) it is a trade show put on by big money.  They use Skateboarding as a means to draw a crowd, but generally cater to big brands writing millions in orders.  Its all hand shakes and smiles with 90% of the people there not skating.  Nobody in the North East likes ASR.  You have to either go to San Diego or Orlando to be in the show.

The tradeshow concept for the skateboard industry is fairly out of date.  It will cost your shop $2000-$3000 to get out there for a few days to save 5-7% on your orders 6 months from now.  Most of the skate shops in this area don't have that kind of money to shell out.  Pittsburgh is notorious for core shops that don't make any money.  But they don't do it for the money either.

Besides, all of the companies you deal with either have full color catalogs or a local sales rep that will come visit you.  So why shell out $2000 to save $300?

A.S.R. merges all "action sports" under one roof.  You have surf, skate, swim, snow, moto, wake, lifestyle and streetwear brands.  JOCK OVERLOAD.

Skaters historically hate ASR.  Now What? 

Well Jamie Thomas of Black Box Distribution and the Good Guys over at 3rd Lair are putting on Skater Owned Trade Shows, Contests and Demo Weekends.  These shows are skater run and operated.

So if your choice is to go to a Jock Fest or to a skater run trade show, I hope you choose Crossroads January 21st, 2009.  Or just screw it and make them come to your shop.

Also, check out 3rd Lairs Trade Show during their Annual Top Shop Contest.  May 1st - May 3rd.  It is a total blast and worth the trip.  If you are a shop, you can think of it this way: 

• You can spend money on a trip to buy stuff at a trade show or
• You can spend money on trip, enter your team riders in a contest, party for 3 days, have a good time and promote the crap out of your shop for the next month.  You also can focus on 3 days of filming and get lots of footage and photos.  Tons of publicity and locals checking up dates on your site.

I can personally tell you that you will get no greater publicity of your shop and brand that going to TOP Shop at 3rd Lair.

If you are a shop from Pittsburgh, send me an email and I'll give you the in's and out's of the trip.  What to expect, where to stay.  I will even reveal our secret hotel location where we stayed at.

Direction East - New Product Line

Direction East Clothing is from right here in Pittsburgh.  The new threads are now up on their site.

Are you supporting local brands?  Does your local shop carry Direction East Clothing?  Tell them they should. 

Support Pittsburgh Skating because no one else will.   I mean, it is your scene.  You need to create it and support it or else it all just melts away.  Local companies are the ones that support your local skating.  They are going to be there with the shops when local even are thrown, products are needed to be tossed, or donate some time to help out on a local project.

You may or may not like the Direction East Threads.  If you do, support them.  If you don't, create your own company.  Make your own boards, pants, shirts, hats and see how hard it really is to run a skateboard company.  It takes a dedication far beyond what you may be able to contribute.

And by "support" I don't just mean "go buy all their stuff".  Slap a sticker a on your board, post something about them on your myspace/facebook/twitter.  Show up at their events.  You can be down for something just by showing your support.