Protest Skateboards Represents on Day 1 [GALLERY]

May 18,2013 / By Hippie Mike / 1 Comment

Day 1 of the World Round Up Freestyle Skateboard Championships was a hit. The weather let up enough that lots of people showed up to the Cloverdale Rodeo which meant a good crowd would come in and out of the contest. The place was packed with some of the biggest names of skateboarding like Russ Howell, Jim Goodrich, Kilian Martin and Kevin Harris, but the real talent was displayed on the floor with the guys competing. A lot of new faces from last year’s Round Up but definitely people ho are not new to the skateboard scene. Freestylers Unite world wide for this event and it is amazing to see the love and excitement that fills the room. Consider the fact that there are only about 250 people in the world that consider themselves Freestyle Skateboarders and now think that I run events at Chuck Bailey Skate Park all the time where we get almost that many people out skateboarding on a weeknight. This community is so tight knit and they are all supportive of each other whether they win or lose, they’re just happy to see creative people doing what they do best.

Our Protest Riders Andy Anderson and Ryan Brynelson both represented hard in the Prelims with Andy placing 5^th so far and Ryan Brynelson dominating his way into 1^st. Can’t wait to see how these positions hold up. The Pro Competition is super steep this year and the judges have a lot of work to do. It’s gonna be tough.

Semi Finals are today and Finals on Sunday. Come on out and check the scene.

Here’s some photos from Day 1

World Round Up – The Competitors

May 15,2013 / By Hippie Mike / 1 Comment

With The World Round Up 2 days away some people still don’t know what it is. This is a Freestyle Skateboarding Competition for the best Freestylers in the world. 38 competitors coming from 9 different countries to compete to be the best in either Amateur or Pro categories. Put together by Kevin Harris & Monty Little, and welcoming amazing legends like Russ Howell, Jim Goodrich and Bill Robertson to be a part of the event, this will be the 2^nd annual, and it is held inside the Cloverdale Curling Rink for 4 days during the Cloverdale Rodeo.

Competitors include Adam Flood, AJ Kohn, Albert Kuncz, Alejandro Finy, Andy Anderson, Bert Mathieson, Brandon Pretty, Christian Heise, Dan Garb, Daniel Trujillo, Darren Nolan, Darryl Grogan, Erick Mattos, Felix Jonsson, Guenter Mokulys, Jacob Whitt, Jesse Whalen, Kaue Araujo, Lucas Fraga de Carvalho Gomes, Lucio Flavo Simas de Lima, Lynn Cooper, Masahiro Fujii, Mic Murayama, Mike Osterman, Per Canguru, Rene Shigueto, Ricky Rodriguez, Ryan Brynelson, Sam McKinlay, Seya Nakano, Stefan Akesson, Stefan Albert, Tai Tai, Takashi Suzuki, Thomas Nascimento, Tomo Koyano and Toshiaki Fujii.

Check the listings below to see what category they are entered in, what country they represent and if you click their names you can watch a teaser video of each person.

For more information on the event click here

http://www.theworldroundup.com/

May 17-20 see you there

Adam Flood	Amateur	Canada
AJ Kohn	Professional	USA
Albert Kuncz	Professional	Slovakia
Alejandro C Finy	Amateur	Costa Rica
Andy Anderson	Amateur	Canada
Bert Mathieson	Professional	USA
Brandon Pretty	Amateur	Canada
Christian Heise	Professional	Germany
Dan Garb	Professional	USA
Daniel Trujillo	Amateur	USA
Darran Nolan	Professional	United Kingdom
Darryl Grogan	Professional	USA
Erick Mattos	Amateur	USA
Felix “Fleppo” Jonsson	Amateur	Sweden
Guenter Mokulys	Professional	Germany
Jacob Whitt	Amateur	USA
Jesse Whalen	Professional	USA
Kaue Araujo	Amateur	Brazil
Kevin Harris	Demo	Canada
Lucas Fraga de Carvalho Gomes	Professional	Brazil
Lúcio Flávio Simas de Lima	Professional	Brazil
Lynn Cooper	Professional	USA
Masahiro Fujii	Professional	Japan
Mic Murayama	Amateur	Japan
Mike Osterman	Professional	USA
Per Canguru	Professional	Brazil
Rene Shigueto	Professional	Brazil
Ricky Rodriguez	Amateur	USA
Ryan Brynelson	Amateur	Canada
Sam McKinlay	Amateur	Canada
Seya Nakano	Professional	Japan
Stefan “Lillis” Åkesson	Professional	Sweden
Stefan Albert	Professional	Germany
Tai Tai	Professional	Brazil
Takashi Suzuki	Professional	Japan
Thomas Nascimento	Amateur	Brazil
Tomo Koyano	Professional	Japan
Toshiaki Fujii	Professional	Japan

B-Rad at the Lad

May 14,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Fighter (Brad Muscat) disappears to the mountains all winter every winter, but when he comes back to the skateboard world each Spring he has new confidence and ambition to go big. As you might have seen from that Benihana Photo we posted for his birthday last week.

Brad is a true “Fighter” and does not like to give up. This kid will lie on the ground for 10 minutes writhing in pain and then get up and try the trick again. I’ve seen him skate in full arm casts and even a full leg brace. He skates hard and has lots of skill, and he does a lot of tricks that others don’t do, and even a bunch that he created himself. Addicted to Judo Blunts, Crooks and Benihanas, Brad sets the bar high on scary obstacles. I love the fact that he does the most hated trick of all time in so many different places, not too many people can Benihana a 9 stair first try in their contest runs.

So Brad went to Ladner Skate Park a couple weeks ago on a broken board and couldn’t stop talking about it afterwards – “Gotta go back to Ladner and film. Gotta go back to Ladner Bowl…” So on Friday when I asked him what he wanted to do, it was obvious what his answer would be. We skated for about an hour and the Fighter threw down a bunch of tricks that most people wouldn’t even try, including a piece of history.

Have you ever seen someone Benihana Transfer straight over a spine before?? You have now…

AntiSkullCial??

May 9,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

The two best skateboard shops in Vancouver have come together to offer a small run of collaboration T-shirts. An eclectic mix of live artists with a background in skateboarding will be on hand to entertain. This free event takes place at Antisocial Skateboard Shop and features performances by Craig Williams, Sorcerers and The Rita. Early show, doors at 8pm. Please bring a can of food for the food bank.

Wallie Wood What!!

May 9,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Vans, Polar Skate Co. and AntiSocial Skate Shop bring you a special secret spot event called The Wallie World Cup and it’s happening this Saturday, May 11^th. It’s all about who can wallie the highest barricade so they will just keep adding 2×4’s to the top and see who the champ is. Take your guess at who it will be, there are way too many options out there, and who knows, maybe some random dude we never met before who just practices wallies all day long might show up and show us who’s boss….

It runs from 4-7pm, but don’t ask us where because it’s a secret.

And afterwards head back to AntiSocial for another stellar Art Show displaying pieces from Pontus Alv & Jacob Ovgren

What? Why? When? Who? Where? How?

May 7,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

I’m feeling pretty good right now, the weather has been amazing, our lives are about to change again for the better, and lots of positive things are in motion with Protest. But you know I’m always expecting negativity and am always preparing for the worst.

A lot of people suffer from depression and don’t know how to handle it, this comes from always expecting the best and never getting it. I learned a long time ago that getting excited about something before it happens is just a set up to be let down so instead I always consider what the best result will be and what the worst result could be when I’m expecting something new and then prepare for either.

This was a tough month that just passed, and finished off a solid year of depression, frustration and anger inside of me. I vowed that I would be happier after that year was over and so far it seems like I am. So now it is time to stop hanging my head and get back to being the old me, the Hippie Mike that everyone grew to love over these so many years, the happy, smiling, joking around all the time, partying fun guy that I am inside. I didn’t make it this far in life without friends, and I am blessed to have sooooooo many people that I call friends. We have been through a lot of amazing times together.

I take this month’s quote from Bob Marley’s song Why Should I?

“The old world is ended, the new world has just begun, and all the people that live therein shall live on and on…”

This song is a great positive influence for anyone who needs a new positive uplook on life. You gotta just put everything behind you at a point sometimes and say, today we start over. It’s like when you’re skating and you’re trying a trick you know you could do but you’re having a mental block and just can’t commit to it. You gotta take a step back and say, okay forget all those tries and just pretend this is first try again, and do it. In the song, Bob speaks about getting what you want, and working to get what you want, and what you need. These are the things that will make you happy. Set goals for certain time periods that you aim to accomplish them by and go for it. Make a list of all the things you would really want that would make you happy and then cut that list down to the 3 most important ones and go get them, whatever it takes. Anyone who knows me knows I work hard at everything I do, and they also know that I know what I need to do throughout the entire year in order to get everything done properly and easy. But in the middle of all that there has to be something that I desire, something I need to happen that will keep me smiling, and out of everything awesome that happens through that entire year, that might be the only thing that really matters.

So ask yourself –

Why am I happy?

Why am I not happy?

Should I cry about it?

Or should I get up and change it?

Poco gets demo’d by the Youth – especially Andy Anderson

May 6,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Wow! What a contest; what a weekend….

All 3 events were Youth and Child based and really displayed the intensity and insanity of the skater kids that are 18 or under in the Lower Mainland. Andy Anderson only went to Plaza and Railside which is a shame since he could’ve probably beat Dominic Devries at Chuck Bailey too and taken first place at all 3 events. But either way between Brad Muscat and Andy Anderson, Protest Skateboards was well represented at each one. There are many reasons these kids are on Team Protest, one being that Hippie Mike has mentored both of them for many years and taught them each a lot of what they know about skateboarding, but also because they are both fearless and amazing skateboarders. Today’s contest was a great display of how many kids around here are so good at skating. Even in the super-mini categories, it blows your mind even just what you see the kids try. We gotta thank New Line Skate Parks right now for playing such a huge role in changing the face of skateboarding, making skate parks a part of the demand of every city, and helping skateboarders and skateboarding become more accepted by society. And while all this progression is going on behind the scenes, the kids that skate these “Training Facilities” end up being the next Ryan Shecklers.

I don’t have too much to say about this Poco contest except it was really well done. Giver, or as he likes to be called – Michael James – put it all together with the City of Port Coquitlam and did a great job organizing it and running it. All the kids had fun, they all felt good even if they didn’t win, and there were no negative vibes. Rippers of the day were Lukasz Brodowicz, Parker Sherwin, Aiden Eastman and little Presley from Squamish who all destroyed it in the 9 & unders; Kyler, Jonathen and Mathew McCauley took the prizes in 10-13’s and the 14-18 category was untouchable. Fighter was killin’ it for Protest on his last day as an 18 year old, but also almost killed himself a couple times slamming straight to his side on flat from the top of the big handrail, but he still Benihana’d the 9 stair and the Double Set, Gap to Front Tail up the step up rail, and crooked the nasty rail down the big bank. But he didn’t place Top 3.

Travis put on a showcase of tech and creative trickery on the sets, the hips and the rails while Gabe Dinorscio showed why he is one of the next big up and comers from Vancouver area with kickflip grinds down the kinked ledge, solid tricks on all the ledges and hips, and a big 360 flip down the step up and over the bank, but no one could keep up with the AA Battery Andy Anderson. Andy reps for Protest and does it well. We are about doing what you want, being different and creative, and showing pure style on the course, and Andy easily takes care of that everywhere he goes. Airwalks down the 9 stair, feeble down the double kink rail, front foot impossible up the step up and a whole lotta ledge and rail tricks. I love how Andy effortlessly and undoubtedly won this competition and didn’t even touch the bowl.

Solid contest, solid weekend, Thanks to all who supported Youth Week

Now here are some photos

Vancouver Youth Week Jam

May 5,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Organized by Jeff Cole in cooperation with the Vancouver Skateboard Coalition, Michelle Pezel at Anti Social, Thunderbird Community Centre and some others, the Vancouver Youth Week Jam was a hit yesterday. It was sunny, very warm, and lots of kids showed up. Old School Langley’s Thom Prior showed up to MC and run the events, with classic comedy of course. Thom actually used to co-MC events in Surrey back in the day with Hippie Mike. There were tons of “Trick Comps” on many different obstacles throughout the afternoon and most of the kids there took home a prize or two. Protest riders Andy Anderson and Brad Muscat cleaned up pretty good but gave some of what they won away to the younger kids that need it more.

Nothing too standout at this one, just another fun event for all the spoiled skater kids of Vancouver and it’s surrounding areas.

Here are a few photos

Surrey Youth Week Jam 2013

May 4,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

It was definitely a day to shine, the sun sure was…

Hippie Mike hosted Surrey’s 9^th annual Youth Week Skate Jam, this one was at Chuck Bailey Skate Park, and it incorporated a BMX contest into it as well. The Surrey Fire Fighters donated some funds for food towards a free BBQ and members even showed up and cooked and served the hot dogs for over 2 hours. There was a ton of people who came out to participate in the event and also just to watch.

The BMX Contest ran as a Jam for about 40 minutes in between the qualifying runs and Finals for the skateboarding and most people were patient enough during that time, but the real deal was the skate comp. 4 Categories – 9 & under, 10-13, 14-18 and 19 & over, and all 4 of them were stacked. The 9 & unders all ripped as hard as they could, with Emmanuel N. Busting an ollie down the 3 block at 8 years old, and 7 year old Django Caseley putting on a knee boarding demo. The 10-13 yr old category was intense. JR Barron, Mathew McCauley and Adam Lewis all destroyed it – ledges, rails and tech tricks over every gap there. The 14-18’s was dominated by Fighter (Brad Muscat) and The Dominator himself – Dominic Devries. Gabe Dinorscio was there but had to leave before the finals, it would’ve been nice to see how he would have fit into the winner’s circle if he had been able to stick around. And then there was the 19 & over category. Francois LeBlanc was on his ledge game for sure, but so were Yuya Ishikawa and Calvin Dignard. Allen Handley and Eve Feaver also made finals for killin the tranny, but Nothing was stopping Calvin form winning that one.

So many tricks were stomped so solid in every category it was mind-blowing. If you missed it, you really missed out. But here are the results and some photos so you can at least pretend you were there…

Results:

9 & under – 1. Django Caseley; 2. Emmanuel N.; 3. Aiden Eastman; 4. Emmanuel G.; 5. Tienna Rivard

10-13 – 1. Mathew McCauley; 2. JR Barron; 3. Adam Lewis; 4. Theo Caseley; 5. Mark Melyukov; 6. Ethan Clark; 7. Josh Lewis; 8. Austin Bolm & Jacob Gilbert; 9. Jean-Claude N.; 10. Fish & Bachouch Michael; 11. Jayden ; 12. Damon Morgan & Dylan Reinheimer; 13. Matt Kipp; 14. Matthew Lalim

14-18 – 1. Dominic Devries; 2. Brad Muscat; 3. Jacob Drescher; 4. Tanner Hawthorne; 5. Noah Eastwood; 6. Henry McQuaid; 7. Gabe Dinorscio; 8. Riley Allen-Clerihue; 9. Brendan Spinelli & Nicko Garrido; 10. AJ Muhammed & Giet Rolin; 11. Jackson Wakabayashi; 12. Fredi Perez; 13. Zacc Lester; 14. Derrell Laughcane

19 & over – 1. Calvin Dignard; 2. Yuya Ishikawa; 3. Francois LeBlanc; 4. Allen Handley; 5. Eve Feaver; 6. Ty Koeller; 7. Trevor Greig & Kazuma; 8. Ryan Barron

Railside for the Yoots!

May 3,2013 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

It’s Youth Week and the weekend is always filled with skateboard competitions. Hippie Mike set up the Surrey Jam for today at Chuck Bailey (4-9pm) and Jeff Cole organized one at the Skate Plaza tomorrow (1-4pm).

And then there comes Sunday – Michael James, better known as Giver, has got this one ready to go. Starts at 11am on Sunday morning, so some of you might have to preach to the devil that day and miss church to go skateboarding, like it would be the first time….

The only difference for the Railside Contest is you actually have to be a Youth to compete, meaning no one over the age of 18 is permitted to compete but can still show up to watch and support the yoots in action. We have a strong feeling that The Dominator, Dominic Devries could take this one home if he decides to show up, but maybe we can convince our top Youth Riders Andy Anderson and Brad Muscat to show up and go for gold. It is Fighter’s last day being 18 years old that day.

Either way, get your skate on…

Category : Skateboarding