Every day I feel blessed to be alive for so many reasons, there were many times as I grew up that I hated the world so much I didn’t want to be part of it anymore but I always pushed through. Since I moved to BC in 1998 I have been so lucky to live the life I live with so many amazing people of all ages surrounding me at all times. I have friends that are in their 50’s & 60’s, I have friends in their 30’s & 40’s and I have friends who are 20, 16, 12 and even younger. It’s awesome how when you just accept people for who they are you don’t judge them on things like age or appearance or anything else. I think growing up as a skateboarder/snowboarder taught me this way of thinking and I am so happy to have been a part of this culture for the past 28 years. Last year I went through some pretty tough depression with the loss of my Dad. I had just started this website (www.protestskateboards.com) about 2 months before he died and I remember the last conversation we ever had and I was telling him over the phone how I felt like I had slipped away from what I loved to do most and needed to stop working so hard at my Cabinet Business I was running at the time and focus more on Protest Skateboards again. Skateboarding was in my soul and I had spent the past 3 years at that time really working hard to make my woodworking business a success, but something was missing in my everyday life and I wasn’t the happy Hippie Mike that I used to be. I also felt like I needed to free up more time to spend with my own son Kaelen as he was 2 1/2 years old at the time and I did not want to miss out on his childhood memories. So I decided to close down my Cabinet Business and resurrect myself back into the skateboard world. But I didn’t want to just focus on Protest alone and what I was doing, but more on the entire local community and how much was actually happening in the Lower Mainland, BC, and all of Canada. My Dad knew how much passion I had towards skateboarding and making a positive impact in the world through skateboarding and he was very supportive during that conversation. I remember him saying that he was so proud of me for how far I had come with my Cabinet business, but to always follow my dreams, even if it meant starting from nothing again. So I started writing, writing about all kinds of things and the website started churning out material, and when my dad passed away it just created a huge fire inside me to keep on going at full speed for as long as possible. He meant everything to me and he was gone, and I wasn’t going to lose anything else at that moment. I would just lock myself in my office and write. Things started happening fast and before I knew it people all over were talking about my site and the articles, interviews, contests and recaps that were on it. I started feeling a little better but my emotions stayed raw for a long time.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing others enjoying themselves because of something that I created for them, and I think that’s why I push myself over the limit so much where I just keep on thinking of awesome new ideas and then do whatever it takes to bring them to life. When I was growing up I always remembered the people that brought me opportunities to grow and gave me what I needed to survive and stay happy, and the ones that shared important knowledge with me that mattered in life, and that is probably why I feel the need to give so much back to so many people. I was blessed with love from every direction even when I didn’t want it, and now it is reflecting back to the next generation through me.

When I look at my life today I am truly happy – I have a beautiful caring wife, a son that I couldn’t be more proud of, thousands of friends who love me, a sweet house with an amazing yard, multiple successful businesses, and my skateboard. There was an article that recently came out in Concrete Wave Magazine that was all about how skateboarding saves your life and points you down the right roads at the right times and it is so true. I was a big part of why that article was written and all the legends speak the same language in it – if it wasn’t for skateboarding, they would have nothing. So I want you to think about this for a minute, “What do you do every day?” and “What makes you happy in life?” Now put those 2 questions together and ask yourself this one – “How can you take what makes you happy in life and do it every day?” That question is the key to success, the key to happiness, and the key to a wonderful life.

In April 2012 I asked myself that question and the answer changed my life forever…

Yesterday I was reminded how I’ve always spent most of the days of my life in some sort of pain. As a skateboarder, a snowboarder and just a flat out athlete growing up I was always getting injured, and still am, but I just learned to live with it. I’m sure many of you can relate. It’s funny when you think about it how we sprain an ankle so bad and just limp around putting most of our weight on the other leg until it heals, or you break your wrist and 3 days later you’re out there skating again, just with a bit more caution. As skateboarders, we must expect to get injured and must always be prepared to deal with it. That’s just part of our painful life…

So yesterday I showed up to continue renovations on the new skate shop and my 1 finger was just growing and growing in size. It had started the day before and I had hoped it would magically heal while I slept but that did not happen. So I knew that it must be infected and called the doctor. Now I’m a self-healer and don’t visit the doctor for too many reasons. Even when I blew my MCL and couldn’t walk for months I never even went to the doctor, I just rehabbed it all myself. So I worked all day framing and getting some drywall started and then off to the doctor’s I went not knowing what he was going to do for me. This was the first time I ever met this particular doctor since it had been so long, and he walked in looked at my finger and just started squeezing it as hard as he could. Then he looked at me and said, “I was trying to save you from the incision but it looks like we will have to cut it open.” I asked what caused this and he said it didn’t matter, it’s an infection and needs to be drained out. So after telling me how the numbing solution he was about to inject into my finger was going to hurt 10 times more than what it already feels like and explaining that if he has one of these infections he won’t even freeze it because of that, he injected it. Holy F#%@!! I couldn’t believe it. I always consider myself to have more pain tolerance that anyone could imagine but this was ridiculous. I was swearing, started sweating and actually wanted to throw up from the pain. I’ve had dislocations, herniated discs, internal bleeding and much more, but this might have been the most pain I ever felt. He sliced my finger open and squeezed out what he could and then sent me on my way with a band-aid. The worst part was that the pain stuck around in full affect until the numbing solution wore off 2 hours later. It was insanity, I couldn’t even function, but it’s all good now and I’m glad that I went. But now I know why the doctor won’t even use that technique on himself.

It was just a reminder that no matter how much we train our bodies for pain and injury, you never know what is going to happen next. I was lucky that this wasn’t a bad one in the end and glad I went to the doctor when I did. But next time I get an infection I’m gonna think twice about how to fix it…

I was always a very social person in the sense that I loved adventure and would always just talk to anyone anywhere. That’s how you meet people and how you expand your mind by listening to random people’s stories. It’s great to meet someone new and only know them for a few minutes but remember them forever. In skateboarding this happens all the time.

Earlier this year I was on Facebook and saw a photo of one of my distant friends Yuya Ishikawa posted and he was at the Plaza and I wasn’t sure if the photo was recent or not. I new Yuya from a visit he had made in the past to BC but knew he was back in Japan. Next thing I knew Bam, there he was at Chuck Bailey Skate Park the very next day. I was so stoked to see him as he is such a rad dude, and sick ledge skater. Yuya had a girlfriend with him named Nana Kunugi and she was very happy to meet me. I gave them both Protest Stickers and told them to check out the website as there were lots of upcoming events that I was posting about and wanted to make sure they knew about them. These 2 hardcores started coming out to every event I was running in Surrey, they would bus all the way from North Burnaby out to Cloverdale or South Surrey just to be a part of these events which takes hours, and I thought it was so cool. It showed how much they enjoyed the atmosphere at the events. I considered them real friends and was super happy at how much they appreciated the skate scene out here, so I would try to give them rides to save them travel time and they would come back to my house and hang out whenever they could. It is so great when you can overcome a language barrier and still just hang out with others because you have things in common. So many people visit here from Japan to skateboard and they are all so amazing, super friendly and inspirational. We had some great times this summer together and created some awesome memories. Now these 2 friends will be flying out of Canada on Monday to spend a year in Australia and I wish them the best. I know I will miss seeing them around.

People come and people go, some are forgotten and others are always on your mind, and with today’s technology we can actually stay connected forever.

To Yuya and Nana –
Thanks for coming to Canada and sharing your smiles, spreading your joy, and displaying your happiness. I can’t wait until we meet again. Good luck on your journey

– Hippie Mike

“Being a skater most of my life, I was naturally drawn to the event. The energy of the event felt much like how it was when I was a kid skating. I was leaning over the railing when I ran into and met a local Surrey skate legend: “Hippie Mike,” founder of Protest Skateboards. I asked Hippie Mike if I could try his skate. He of course was more than willing. So there I was, in full uniform, my duties for the moment forgotten, skating. I was trying old tricks, as much as I could do with the 30 extra pounds (of uniform). Within a short time, people were all around, filming and taking pictures. It was foreign to me, as I am not the smoothest skater around (especially in full uniform), but I recognized I was in a position of my duties and a Mountie. The skate high dropped back down to reality. People noticed I had tattoos and asked what they were. I pulled up my sleeve and they immediately recognized the Skull Skates logo on one arm and then the Harris graphics on the other. Hippie Mike was floored by the idea of a skating cop with tattoos like that and immediately called Kevin over.” 

• Troy Derrick

Somehow I always end up being part of historic events and this is truly one of the most historic articles that has ever been published in a skateboard magazine. It started out at World Round Up contest last May while I was interviewing Freestyle Skateboarders for the website and a cop in full uniform came up to me and asked if he could ride my skateboard. I said sure and handed it over. He was with another officer that I knew from working in the City of Surrey and he let me know that he worked closely with my events DJ Jordan Wiebe all the time and knew all about me. I’m not sure if I was more impressed by that statement or the fact that he jumped on my board in full uniform and started manualling and popping ollies and nollie 180’s. My first thought was “Jesus, don’t let him fall on his gun…” but my second thought was “Who is this guy?” I was straight up surprised and he pulled up his sleeves showing me that he was pure to the core with a Skull Skates tattoo on one arm and a Kevin Harris Mountie graphic on the other. Right away I called Kevin over and got them to pose for a photo. Little did I know that photo was going to make history. When Michael Brooke from Concrete Wave Magazine caught a glimpse he was instantly attracted and wanted to know more and it ended up becoming something amazing. Kevin and Troy started hanging out together and conversing about so much life and we all realized that there had to be an article to teach that cops and skaters don’t have to separated anymore, and show the world that they can actually unite and be one. When I grew up I was a cop hater in my own senses and part of that came from being a pure street skater and having to deal with them on negative terms all the time, but another part came from always being prejudged by the police by my appearance and believe me I have been through some serious uncalled for harassment from these so called “Peace-Makers”. I hated on Police for a long time and always dealt with any situations myself instead of ever calling on them for help. My opinions of cops changed when I started working with the City of Surrey Parks and Rec and worked tightly in the community. I started meeting all kinds of members and found out that some of them were into being police officers for different reasons than just going out there and throwing there weight around. Some people become cops to work in community development and support those who need help and put all their concentration and focus towards providing positive opportunities for kids and other people in need. I’ll always be weary of Police because of the way I grew up but I learned over time that they aren’t all bad, and cops are people too. So this was a great experience to see a cop who had skateboarding in his blood and still itched for it, and once I knew there was going to be an article about it I couldn’t wait to read it. The crazy part about it was we were totally focused on the aspects I had just talked about – a cop that skateboards, and how skaters and cops can get along, and just all about the persona – but the article turned into so much more. As Officer Troy Derrick began to spill his guts to Michael Brooke about his upbringing and the abuse he went through as a kid and the hard times he lived out growing up as a First Nations person he kept coming back to one thing – skateboarding. Skateboarding basically kept him alive, and kept him happy through the toughest of times, and no matter where he went and how he got there all he cared about was his freedom to skate. This tear jerking story that Troy wrote sparked some serious memories in Michael Brooke and he began to write his story of how skateboarding guided his life to where he is today,  and that created a whole new article involving so many amazing Canadian Legends who all had one thing in common – they found a skateboard to be the key to a successful and happy life.

This article is so historic, from the uniformed Mountie on the cover of the Magazine, to the different yet so similar life stories of multiple skaters that are all considered mentors, to the sole facts that skateboarding can change anyone’s life forever….

It took 13 pages to tell this story with write ups from Troy Derrick, Kevin Harris, PD, Les Robertson, Bricin Lyons, Ryan Theobald, and Michael Brooke himself. Articles like this do not get written often, as they only happen when they write themselves.

This article is a must read for anyone who believes in their freedom to be who they are without being judged, and especially for anyone who has ever called themselves a Skater for Life

Read Karma, Police and Connections

As most of you have learned over the years I am definitely what you call a creator. And every creator comes up with tons of ideas, but needs a special thing called motivation to bring these creations to life. Another key is to collaborate with lots of people along the roads we travel who also like to create and have the same type of motivation. Partnership is a key to success in many situations, especially when creating events for an entire community. We bring you tons of awesome competitions and community events all the time, we provide things to do with your friends and families that are fun and safe, and we try our best to ensure that everyone is welcome to whatever we create. But every winter there always seems to be the same old issue that comes up, nowhere to go when it’s cold and wet. Even with these awesome skate parks Surrey is creating lately with covered areas in them it’s still not always sufficient. I personally will always look for more ways to bring the skateboard community together and will always provide the next generations with anything I can that helps them to learn and grow and be strong. Together, we can do anything.

There’s something in the works right now, a place to stay warm and dry, a place to learn from awesome people, and just a place to hang out and have fun being yourself.

I can’t tell you what’s happening yet, but I can tell you this – it’s happening soon…

Stay tuned