Brian Krans's Blog, page 14
February 24, 2015
Podcast: Wasted Woodward Weekend
Victor Arias guest hosts this episode of the Rock Town Podcast as he and friends invade Woodward West for a three-day weekend full of blading and other shenanigans.
His guests, including E. Rod, Dave Lang, B. Free, Peter D., Cameron Talbott, Matty Shrock, Raymar Hardy, and Chef Paco, host their own industry meeting and talk (often all at once) about the role of Rollernews, getting broke off, reaching out, selling out, and doing it for the love.
Highlights include, but are not limited to, B. Free with a pure profession of passion and the explanation of how Dave Lang’s hip ended up looking like this:
In keeping with tradition, there are plenty of shout-outs.
Huge thanks to Miguel Ramos for hosting us at Woodward. Gracias, amigo. Hasta pronto.
Support these skaters through Filth Juice, Blader Gang, Aggressive Mall, Valo Brand, Vibralux Denim, SSM, Ground Control, Circolo Wheels, Street Artist, and Gawds.
Stay tuned for the edit:
A video posted by #Valobrand (@valobrand) on Feb 24, 2015 at 3:01am PST
To support this podcast, purchase books, a poster, a hat, or some toilet paper from Rock Town Press.
You can also subscribe to the Rock Town Podcast and listen to past episodes on iTunes and Stitcher.
January 27, 2015
RTP: The Thing About Bill Cosby’s Penis…
Being a child actor is no easy game, especially when your childhood hero was Bill Cosby.
Kennan returns to the Rock Town Podcast to exercise his demons while his cousin, Salty Jake, forces him through conflicted memories of Jello Pudding Pop commercials, anti-drug ads, and moving Theo out of the Cosby house.
We’re long overdue for an episode, so here’s this one…
Yeah, you can’t find enough of Kennan’s clips on YouTube…
But here’s his latest…
January 2, 2015
Blader Digest: Happy 20th Birthday, Rollerblading!
It may now be the year of the Hover Board, but professional rollerblading—the way we do it—turns the big 2-0 in 2015.
It’s been two decades since aggressive inline skating got its first international audience with the inaugural “Extreme Games.”
Yeah, rollerblading in the X-Games exists only in VHS-pixelated memories, but at least we’re more extreme than fucking playing Call of Duty.
Rollerblading has seen many changes in that time, from blading technology to social acceptance. Most would agree for the better on the first and worse on the latter, but since fashion and fads go in a 20-year cycle, blading, at least stateside, may see a resurgence.
But before we all go and purchase personal helicopters with our fat corporate payouts, let’s reminisce about what happened the year before rollerblading got dumb popular again.
In 2014, Brian Aragon, the Prince himself, got the royal Jordon treatment, i.e. getting a piece of footwear from a sport he no longer actively participates in. The man’s got a skate park named after him outside Denver and a sixth pro skate from Razors, not a bad way to spend an unannounced retirement.
But, yet again, Franky Morales got the real Jordans, a full-fisted hard-on for the eclectic sneaker heads, who generally live in herds down in SoCal.
Erik Bailey got a reboot of his original Vans pro skate, a nice little touch as he approaches his 12th year as a Valo pro. Unlike most skate promos, this release schedule allowed you to skate the not-so-limited edition blades for a good month before Bailes comes along and shows you how you’re doing it wrong.
Montre Livingston got another his first much-deserved pro skate, and it definitely respects the Jah. (Sorry for the earlier mistake. He had a Nimh skate before. Thanks, dubious fact-checkers.)
Montre and Franky’s skates were only two of about ten dozen carbon or carbon-free skates USD released in 2014. By the time I’m done writing this piece, there will probably be five new ones on the market.
What didn’t happen yet (sigh) was the release of the new Create Originals that many of us pledged in the Kickstarter that ended in April 2013, but a little Jewish bird tells me early 2015 is looking promising. But no promises from my end.
But that’s just gear. Every year we get more. Sometimes it’s fucking dope. Sometimes it’s shit. The biggest shift 2014 brought was how we consume our digital media.
2014 was the year of the VOD
Since I was in college, newspapers tried to get people to pay for quality journalism. A few, like the New York Times, were able to do it, but their a rare breed. So nearly all websites are advertising based, which is why opportunistic dumping grounds like RollerNews and BuzzFeed exist.
But there’s dignity at stake. (Then again, there’s not enough consumers of rollerblading videos—minus the Human Giant sketch—to give anyone a chance to bow to the whims of corporate sponsors.)
Rollerblading continues to be a self-funding industry to the low point where those with the biggest stake in the sport should form a collective LLC, 501(c)3, or something.
One example is Shred ‘Til You’re Dead all them years back. With the support of huge financial backers like Justin Hertel and Jon Julio, Ivan Narez was able to release it in online installments for free. Then Chris Dafick Kickstarted money to get the Spanish homies stateside for a good ol’ American road trip video.
Now, there’s pay-per-view in the form of Video on Demand. SSM started in the spring with their 666 Series (6 edits, 6 minutes, 6 bucks). On Vimeo, they continue to release fresh sections from their biggest names, while still providing free content from other riders, namely Matty Schrock ‘n’ Burn.
The 666 series started with the answer to the lingering question, “Why is Brian Shima in a wheelchair?” The answer: because he’s still Brian Fucking Shima, that’s why. The dude paid more for that edit than the $0.99 it costs to rent or the $6 to have your own digital copy.
The same goes for videos like KCMO, 18Plus, and may others that asked for digital currency to please your blade-loving eyeballs.
The new staple of VOD is the Kindle of videos. While it doesn’t have the same feel as physical video, it does provide instant viewing gratification and allows more money to go directly into the hands of people making the videos and the skaters risking injury (temporary and permanent) to provide something worth watching.
That noted, I still love paper books, but my tablet doesn’t have a DVD drive.
Chris Haffey’s the next in the VOD series to raise money for USA-made jeans from Vibralux. So far, John Bolino proved he’s only getting even that much better every time he puts on his skates, and B. Free showed he’s got bunnies under his feet and can take a tumble down the stairs. Since Haffey’s been living on the mega ramp, I’m juiced to see what he throws down after hanging out with Adam Johnson in the streets.
Haffey is, according to the Wiikipedia article on aggressive inline skating, one of our sport’s superstars, behind, of course, 2014 Windy City Riot champ Sean Darst.
Since most sites—this one historically included—do end of the year awards, I only want to recognize a few that really stood out, in my opinion. No list, whether democratically chosen or not, could really give everyone their due shine. (Check out the ONE Magazine and Mushroom Blading lists for other awards).
This sport kicks ass and will always survive in one form or another because of everyone, not just a few people. Whether it’s on Big Wheels or freestyle, blading will continue to evolve into something greater and stranger than others could ever imagine possible.
Video of the Year: f33t
There were some DVD releases this year, but they weren’t from the usual filmmakers. No, those come online and piecemeal now, but when individual skaters get to hustling, there’s little holding them back from releasing multiple VODs a year.
f33t, Lonnie Gallegos’ latest in the Feet series, isn’t available on DVD. You want a case and cover? Well, better get Bob Vila on that shit.
But the lack of DVD case and jacket make no difference. Lonnie and crew pulled hard in their usual fashion to put together a great video filled with technicality, ferocity, and good times.
Bravo, gentlemen.
It also makes one hell of a video to drink along to, if you feel inclined to do so. It’s available on Sellfy for $25.
Scene of the Year: ATL
Atlanta is one connected and talented mass of skaters. Yeah, we got Gumby up here in NorCal studying at Berkeley, but the ATL homies have been killing it for years and 2014 was no exception.
The skaters individually—David Sizemore, Julian Bah, Chris Smith, Adam Bazydlo, Daniel Henderson, Adam Ehalt et al—continue to dazzle the shit out of our eyeballs. Whether it’s Smith’s reinvention of smooth Southern street style, Sizemore’s ability to technically execute in obscene spots, or Henderson’s ability to make rollerblading look like the most fun thing in the world, the ATL scene continues to be a lively one.
That little fucker Sizemore can squeeze into anything, namely being named ONE Magazine’s skater of the year while riding the brand of the year for the edit of the year. Not bad.
To endcap the year, Jamie Olmstead and Kevin Dowling returned with the the long-over-waited Footage Tape and GODDAMN! it didn’t disappoint.
Four years in the making, the video paid homage to the old Atlanta Waterpark Tours, but this time at a put-put course. Then there was wine tasting and shredding in Georgia wine country, some wheel-melting hill bombs, and enough fucking jokes and laughter to keep Georgia on your mind.
Footage Tape did, however, go from being a free online video series to one worth, at least to me and others, the $10 asking price. Some people weren’t initially too excited about it.
The best part of Winston’s comment to Dowling was that it ended civilly, which is a rarity when money or the internet is involved and a near-impossibility when both are. But differing opinions will always be there and haters, well, they’re gonna fucking hate, whether you like it or not.
If you want to survive today, you got to have hella hustle in your heart, whether it be on the blades or in the blading business.
I could have been easier to pick Sizemore as skater of the year for many obvious reasons, including the fact he went pro, put together a great edit for it, had a huge section in f33t, and pulled hard for Footage Tap.
But fuck that. I’m done coddling Sizemore. He’s pro now.
This year’s SOY is flow.
Skater of the Year: Adam Bazydlo
It’s easier to call him Bladezilla because fuck if I know how to pronounce his last name.
But when it comes to having heart and hustle for blading, you have to wake up at 5 a.m. everyday to meet Adam Bazydlo.
If you pieced together all the clips he regularly tosses up on Instagram, you’d probably have the longest skate video produced all year. But that hustle got him picked up by Scribe and USD, and that happy-go-lucky hammer lacer just kept going.
But be a bit wary of him. Here he is hanging out with Screech from Saved by the Bell at a bar in March. Nine months later, Screech is stabbing people in Wisconsin bars.
Bazydlo spent all year piecing together hammers for several edits, skating any spot in front of him, and doing it all with a big goofy grin on this face.
With Aragon in retirement, blading is short a go-big American pretty boy blader. But Bazydlo isn’t Aragon. If anything, he’s working his way to Feinberg.
(And so you know, this fat kink at a train station was Adam’s warm-up spot of the day and had to hit the ground and immediately slide out or bust his head on the wall. I was there that day. Glad he’s not dead.)
Oh yeah, GL-Joe (aka Joe Esquivel) became a soldier of misfortune needs some lawyer money, so help a brother out if you can. Jail blows and no one should opt to spend 2015 there.
Thanks, everyone for a great year that was 2014.
Here’s to staying free, paying people what they deserve, and continuing to shred into 2015.
Blade or Die,
— Brian Krans
P.S. — Huge thanks also go to everyone who has supported me to put out my latest book, including funding the Kickstarter, coming to my readings, hosting me, blading, and sharing some beers along the way.
If you haven’t checked out my latest book, Assault Rifles & Pedophiles: An American Love Story, you should. People seem to like it. Go to RockTownPress.BigCartel.com, use the code BLADING for 20 percent off your entire order. The money helps me buy blade edits.
December 28, 2014
Blader Digest Podcast: Bailey and Martz
Erik Bailey and Kyler Martz are Boise blading brothers, to say the least.
In this episode, Erik, a Valo pro for nearly 12 years, and Kyler, whose art is ubiquitous in blading, talk about taking second place in a booty-shaking competition, famous blading spots in Seattle, suitcase tattoo parlors, the highs of painting indoors without ventilation, puking in host bathrooms, mormon bladers, and more.
This episode was recorded Dec. 27, 2014, in Erik’s living room while the rest of his family was sleeping, so you’re going to need to turn it up a bit.
Support for these two can be directed towards valo-brand.com, aggressivemall.com, and kylermartz.com (where you can see latest works buy exclusive prints straight from Kyler).
To help us save up for better audio equipment, please purchase books and other merchandise at rocktownpress.bigcartel.com.
November 17, 2014
Blader Digest Podcast #7: F33t Drinking Game S#!+ Show
What goes better than beer and blade flicks? Beer, blade flicks, whiskey, and a pre-determined set of rules designed to get your quite drunk.
This episode feetures John Vossoughi, Matty Schrock, Danny Malm, Tyler Noland, Moose, and Young OG. They all watch F33t, the latest video from Lonnie Gallegos, while Krans and Tyler play the drinking game associated with it.
If you want to play along, the video, drinking, and commentary begins at 4:35.
For the full set of rules, check out BladeorDie.com.
You can purchase your own copy of F33t via Selfy.
The Rock Town Press/Blader Digest Podcast can also be found on iTunes and Stitcher.
November 14, 2014
The Unofficial F33t Drinking Game
Damn it, Lonnie.
2 Feet was one of my favorite skate videos, so it was exciting to see the long-awaited third installment of what I hope ends up running longer than Rocky or the Halloween franchises.
F33T’s asking price of $25 online may give some buyers a bit of sticker shock, but since I’ve already watched it three times in eight hours, this is the video to beat if you want your video to be remembered as the best of 2014. And it’s worth every goddamn penny each time you watch it.
If you absolutely must have an excuse to watch it yet again, grab yourself a few 40s and some airplane bottles because …
It’s time to play the Unofficial F33T drinking game!
1. To start, take a drink for every kink in the rail Chris Farmer does in the opening sequence. It’s like giving your liver a warning shot and a grazing just to let it know you mean business.
2. Each time Rob G. does a one-footed trick, take a drink. Your quickly ending sobriety will remind you how stomp-able that right foot of his is. Also, take a sympathy drink for his ribs during this.
3. For each time Ben Schwab cesses into another trick, take a drink.
4. And you know what, let’s also toss the good man a sip for every rooftop he touches. Don’t forget there’s one in his first trick in the opening credits.
5. When there are more than one person on an object, take a drink.
It’s too late now. You’ve already signed up.
6. When you watch Jeremy Soderberg skate, watch for the front unity to fast slide. Take a drink for every second he’s stabbing out that fastslide.
7. In the homies section, every time a filmmaker has a clip, take a drink.
8. And one for each time Obie does a parallel grab, just because he makes them look so good.
Maybe now is the right time to pause the video to call work and tell them you’ve come down with something, which explains why you won’t be into work in the morning.
But since Kruise is a good person to start a party with, he’s going to take this drinking game to the next level.
9. For each time someone hits or kicks Lonnie, whether his head or merely the camera, take a shot. Like of liquor.
And, no, Fireball doesn’t count.
If you haven’t read all the way through the rules before beginning the game, you have a retroactive shot to take from earlier in the video. Hey, Lonnie’s Twitter handle is @kickpeople. It’s only fitting.
Steven Cortez’s skating will bring you special pleasure to your eyeballs, but this next one will make them go cross-eyed before too soon.
10. Each time Steve transfers from one object to the next, take a drink.
After this sequence, it’ll be the point in the evening where it’s best to hide your cell phone from yourself. Really, dude. Admit it. She’s gone, it’s over, and it’s best to move on.
For New York, there will be no rules. You’re hard-pressed enough with the others and while you think you’ve had just about enough, realize this is merely an intermission and there’s another 20 minutes left.
Be strong, my friends, You can make it.
But totally order pizza now. You’re going to want by the time it’ll arrive.
Besides, David Sizemore is next, and you know that little fuck will be curb-stalling your way to inebriation.
It’d be easy to tell you to take a drink every time the rail Sizemore skates doesn’t have stairs on the other side, but that’d be ludicrous. He’s from the ATL, and those fools sweeten their morning coffee with drop rails. And I mean, c’mon, no one should die for this game. This isn’t Saw.
11. Instead, during David’s section, take a drink for each deadly obstacle he forward 3s into, like a window or a drainage ditch.
12. I’m taking a drink for Haffey. Because Haffey.
13. If you’re name happens to be JC Rowe, take a shot. Mainly because you’re the man, but also a big fuck you for trying to sneak into the 30 and Up division of the Blading Cup. Karma shut that shit down, dude. Sorry, Rowe, but you’re still pro in the universe’s eyes.
14. If your name is Jon Julio, take a shot for another great Blading Cup and having Them Topsouls.
The same goes for Chris Calkins, for building for and blading in the Cup, but also for winning the ThemXNiggas topsoul contest and having some awesome clips in F33t.
15. Fuck, everyone drink for Calkins. He’s the shit.
16. Everyone takes a shot for Don Bambrick, because he recently became a dad.
17. For every time Victor Galicia’s yellow stocking hat comes off his head, take a drink. Take two for each time he catches it.
That brings us to Farmer.
18. For every negative he does, take a drink. You know there are going to be lots and it’s going to take you a few tries before you can correctly call them, but at this point, no one should be judging you for having a slow brain.
So grab a few more cold ones, pee if you need, take a deep breath and get chugging because Farmer doesn’t fuck around.
19. Oh, and since we started with the drink-for-kinks rule at the beginning of the video, might as well follow suit and do the same for the first rail he surfs into glory.
Xsjado better put that boy’s name on a skate again real soon. His trademark masochistically technicality on every spot should sell skates hand plant over toe roll.
20. But the last drink of the night must go to Brandon Negrete.
Like many before it, F33T is dedicated to the SoCal video-making legend. The end of the video is capped with a heartfelt tribute to Brandon with the last clips he and Lonnie filmed together.
Brandon’s proud of all of you guys. You made a hell of a flick.
Now go throw up, find your phone, call your dad, and challenge him to fist fight over Thanksgiving.
Because you’re drunk, that’s why.
Don’t forget to tell him you’re gay.
Cheers!
Blade or Die,
— Brian Krans
P.S. — Blader Digest sometimes comes in podcast form as the Rock Town Podcast, so be sure to check it out on Stitcher, iTunes, or this site. Also, books.
November 5, 2014
Blader Digest Podcast #6: Too Easy (with ESG and Kennan)
Fresh off 11 hours of emceeing the Blading Cup last weekend, Erick Garcia and Kennan Scott break down yet another amazing skating competition. To keep with tradition, there are plenty of shout-outs to the homies working, bladers, those who built the bulletproof course, “neggers,” F33T, the mystery of Canadian skaters, and the new battle cry courtesy of ThemXNiggas.
Don’t forget to check out www.filthjuice.com.
And do your wardrobe a favor and pick up the Too Easy Tee straight from Swap Meet Distribution.
November 3, 2014
Blader Digest Podcast #5: Cameron Talbott
Cameron Talbott is the man and we here at Blade or Die are big fans of him. A Missoula, Mt., blader and all-around good guy, we were able to get Cameron to talk about blading in the north country, the skating scene in Indonesia, hunting, swimming, and other aspects of the mountain man life.
This episode was recorded Wednesday night as Cameron and I drove from Aggressive Mall to Santa Ana, Calif., for the Blading Cup, where he ended up destroying the deadly out rail on the Razors box.
For the full effect, listen to it on your drive to the skate park.
October 28, 2014
Blader Digest: What Do You Do for Money, Honey?
Car accidents are the major killer of young adults in U.S., but if kids figured out how much work adult life is, suicide wouldn’t be No. 3 for much longer.
I used to sarcastically (to the point of cynically) joke around at my last job that I was living the dream. I actually was in the American Dream sense of the term, and that’s because it was good work populated by some really great people. I just didn’t fully realize it at the time.
But right now, and I’m saying this to the 15-year-old kid that loved rollerblading more than anything else in the world and to the 22-year-old college graduate who wanted to be a writer, I’m living a dream I didn’t think was possible.
I’m making a living, at the moment, from writing and rollerblading, something no one could predict was possible in the 21st Century unless they were working for Red Bull to write a Taig Khris biography.
A few weeks ago, I was able to sucker Justin at Aggressive Mall, a good friend and longtime steward of rollerblading, into giving me a job. Yeah, I might have an ironic black lung from stirring up the dust of old newspapers in their new warehouse, but occasionally a homie stops by to make some informative blading shenanigans with the help of my dog and I.
And thanks to that I can put “Professional Go-Kart Stunt Driver” on my resume, which you know I have, anyone reading this during a background check. (And they give away free beef tacos at their monthly Meat Ups, so that helps n0urish a body.)
Besides days at AMall, I’m also freelance writing. It’s a really interesting combo, but it makes for interesting weeks. Such is the good life for anyone in blading or writing.
For me, it’s really interesting to see the day-to-day for the rollerblading industry. I’ve been talking to a lot of people for quite a while, but an added perspective to any situation always helps.
In case you’ve been living inside a Salomon for the last decade, rollerblading isn’t the most thriving recreational (professional? Ha!) sport on the globe, no matter how publicly accepted it is in Europe.
So here’s what I’m saying (again): rollerblading needs money.
Everywhere.
From VOD to local skate shop patronage.
While some people are foolish to hold their breaths and wait for someone else to do something, the reality is that our ability to be a self-sustaining industry is becoming abundantly clear: it’s not that we can’t, it’s only that we’re not really that good at it right now.
Let’s just say if rollerblading were a public disaster or public television, we’re long overdue for a telethon…
…like if Mr. Rogers needed new lungs because of a drug-resistant tuberculosis infection.
And it makes the upcoming Blading Cup weekend all the better because, like any other rollerblader event or telethon, the money goes to a good cause.
In this competitive case, thankfully, it’s the talented skaters who will put on a damn fine show while risking their health and livelihood for something they love more than anything else in life. Not a bad way to spend a sunny Saturday in Southern California.
Then Sunday comes, there’s more work to be done, and then it’s time to pack it up and get home to the job that makes the money. It’s the same for the spectators as it those providing the spectacles.
And then we all have to continue to work to put on a good show for each other. That means good products at a good price as long as consumers are willing to invest in their hobbies and causes.
We, rollerbladers, may be few in numbers, but we’re passionate. We’ve got love. We’re all smitten little children who got their first crush on a great way to collect scars and stay in trouble.
We still rollerblade because, for us, it wasn’t a fad.
It was fun. It was friends. And it’s still about those same basic principals.
And that’s why I can’t wait for this weekend. I get to help build a quality course for some of the most talented athletes the world could ever witness. At least that’s how I see those bladers and bladies. And I get to do it with a whole bunch of good friends.
I love volunteering at the Blading Cup and being among the fortunate few to ever work at AMall. Both have given me a chance to actually do something to give back to rollerblading for giving me so much. I always dreamed it would be my athletic talent, but then puberty had some funny shit in stock and I’ve been dealing with it ever since. Doesn’t mean I’ll ever stop loving it.
So I’ll travel down to the Blading Cup after work Wednesday and come back up after helping put away ramps on Sunday.
And then I go to work at AMall on Monday. Haven’t had a bad one there yet. (Insider info: They named my dog, Friday, “Monday, because nobody likes Monday” on our first day. And those fuckers love them Monday now.) It’s been some needed physical work (especially since I’ve yet to do a single pullup), but also a reminder of important business skills—i.e. spotting the fraudsters early—that will come in handy quicker than I realize.
I haven’t had a bad day in a while…
…which is always nice to say.
Putting some sweat and creativity towards something that’s given me a greater sense of personality and family than many I share DNA with is a great way to earn a buck, whether it’s recognized currency or good ol’ karma.
And that’s what it means to be a rollerblader today, whether it’s ideal or not. It is what it is, and we all make it that way, good or bad. If you want it to be better than what it is right now, you have to put in the work.
Work, for many of us, is also identity. Men have always been known for their trade, and for many, it’s their namesake, like families with the last names of Guerrero, Farmer, Franklin, Foster, Fisher, Baker, Gardner, and a workload of others.
It’s also one of the first questions someone will ask you when you’re forced into conversation with someone, whether it’s meeting a pretty girl with an empty glass at a bar or or the company holiday party.
My formative college childhood idol Tyler Durden told me, “You are not your job.” But then again, he’s made up. Even in the made-up narrator’s head.
After all, money talks.
And we all dream that we’ll make it someday. Some people quit believing in their dreams, some people work on them on the weekends after working a stable job, and some people will do anything to see them through.
Those last ones, those crazy fuckers, are the people who deserve our support the most. Because dreams don’t come cheap, but nothing is earned if you fall asleep.
We’re all out there, the last holdouts of a species evolution wants to breed out. And we so happen to like wheels attached to our feet.
But in order to survive, we must continue to sustain ourselves. Unless you’re like those [SPOILER ALERT!} cannibalistic survivalists in the latest season of The Walking Dead, you’ll know that money is still a valid currency.
So here’s the telethon …
Get yourself some freshies, whether wheels, bearings, soul plates, or even a full new ride. You work hard. You skate hard. Life is getting shorter every day. You deserve it. Chase the dream.
You have to spend money to make money, and whatever you spend on your blading will only increase its life-affirming effects and rejuvenate your performance at your current workplace. You’ll get promoted. You’ll earn more.
So invest in your future success and invest in the latest and best accessories for your aggressive rollerblades.
If you’d make that order with Aggressive Mall, I’d be happy to watch that order be filled while I empty Dre, Nolte, and Doug’s garbage cans.
Still better than working at Wal-Mart.
Blade or Die,
— Brian Krans
P.S. — If you’ve been meaning to pick up my books and plan to be at the Blading Cup, come find me. I’ll have copies in my truck and can get you a good deal on them. I’ll be hustling for beer money while I’m there and gas money to get home.
For those of you who won’t be there, check out later article on Blade or Die and I’ll have the usual link at the bottom. I’m not posting it here because I won’t be able to send any orders out until next Monday. (But if you want to get a copy of my latest from Aggressive Mall, they’ll get it out the same day if you order before 3 p.m. Pacific Coast Time.)
Other shops carry my books as well. If yours doesn’t, ask them why not and hit me up on Twitter. I’m @citizenkrans.
October 16, 2014
The Blader Digest Podcast Ep. 02: Mead Avenue Hustle
I lied. There is a second episode.
This time on the Rock Town Podcast, Krans sits down with Matty, Jay, and Moose at their apartment on Mead Avenue, one of Oakland’s most notorious drug havens. Besides open drug deals outside their living room windows, the boys talk lifelong flatrocker skating, the best riders to ever wear Salomans, living the dog’s life, and other fun things.
This episode features an unheard performance (recorded on a potato in July 2012) by Blower in the former Shredweiser house on Campbell Street.
This episode was recorded on Oct. 14, 2014.
Intro music provided by The Afterdarks.
Blade or Die,— Brian Krans
P.S. To support Blade or Die and the podcast, purchase books fromwww.rocktownpress.bigcartel.com.
