Loosey Goosey

Oct 3,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Well, the title says it all. We were definitely gettin’ loose back in these days. The video starts at one of my birthday parties back when they were like 150-200 people getting wasted in the yard while we put on a ramp demo. Then it moves into Leeside Tunnel where it was time to get tech, and of course there’s some rocks and dirt spots in there too. You can figure out the Time Period by what stage Leeside was at, if you’re hardcore enough to be a part of that scene.

Some crazy tricks in this video, especially thrown down be myself and Jon Irvine, the master of Ridiculousness – blunt kickflip rock on the volcano in Leeside?? I think it’s safe to say no one else wants to do that one…

SLO – MO – JOE

Oct 2,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Another old Teaser Video made pretty much to play around editing. This one has the heart of the old Team Protest in it, myself Hippie Mike, Cisco Gooding, Jeff Cole, Brad Danyluk and Jon Irvine, along with some lines from my long time filmer Justin James, or “Numb-Nuts” as I call him. The only one missing from that era of Protest is Carrie Williams. I’d say this video was from around 2005 or 2006, close to the time when Never Give Up!! was released.

The entire video is in slow motion, even the tiny full pipe, which was soaking wet by the way and very slick.

Nothing too special in this Teaser, just a bunch of dudes having fun and doing weird tricks

Tizzy Tizzy Toe Toe

Sep 30,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

I used to have this thing about giving all my video tapes really weird names. I would copy skate videos 3 or 4 onto 1 VHS tape and write something totally strange on the front which would somehow relate to one or more of the videos on the tape. So a lot of my Teasers have strange names too. Take Tizzy Tizzy Toe Toe for example, what the hell is a Tizzy?? It basically stands for the fact that this video starts off with one of the drunkest moments ever at a Whistler Bowl Series and ends with Jeff Cole’s toes taking out the entire set of lights while we’re filming at a spot. From 15 tall cans and 100 Gravitrons in a row at Whistler, to tons of grass and dirt rides, Clint Proulx skating mini-ramp on a huge longboard, and finishing off with some tree ridin’ fun times, it’s worth a watch.

I’m guessing this video around 2007 sometime

Ledge Skatin’ Loser

Sep 27,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

I’m not much of a ledge skater, never really was, it’s not my thing. I have my share of ledge tricks I can do but none of them are that technical, I just stick to the very basics and ride weird obstacles trying to always land. This is a quick and funny video, but has some prime footage, me nose grinding the tailgate of my pickup truck, or landing off the fridge on my feet and forehead at the same time, and Cisco Gooding sticking a solid line for all the people on the bus in Cloverdale, one of my favourites. Sometimes the timing just works out that way.

Check it out

It’s the Cisco and Hippie Show

Sep 26,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

About 13 years ago I made friends with a little dude at Confederation Park that was always trying to impress me when I was there. His name was Cisco Gooding and he was only about 14 or 15 years old. I would always brush him off and tell him he was too young to hang with us, but one day after a lot of persistence I finally gave in. We started hanging out all the time and he would always push us older guys to skate harder, and we would always push him to learn more and more. Cisco was tiny at the time and eventually grew much taller than all of us. I helped him to grow into the man he is today. We drank a lot of Rum together, and we taught each other a lot about life. What I love most about Cisco is that he will skate anything with me. A true Protest Rider from day one, and a friend till the end, I’m proud to share this old teaser with you of me and Cisco rippin’ it up…

Hipster and the Clowns

Sep 25,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

This video was one of the Teasers I put together prior to the What the “F” Video so a lot of this footage got used in there. But there’s some older Leeside Clips from before it started getting built higher in there, and also a couple street spots that were really fun and don’t exist anymore. Definitely worth a peek.

It starts of with Clint Proulx shotgunning 5 Budweiser’s in a row on the ramp and then gets into the skating. Myself, Jeff Cole, Jon Irvine, Justin James, Carrie Williams, and a couple dudes who’s name I can’t remember – I’m gonna guess this one was 2008

check it

Hippie Mike’s Re-Sheet the Ramp Fundraiser

Sep 14,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

It was just like old times, the way we used to party in our yard, except there was a full on Ramp Contest happening. The weather was a little shafty so all the people that said they were coming who had never been to my house before must have thought it would be cancelled, when in reality, the whole point of the contest was to raise money for new masonite and another new tarp to keep us dry all winter. The beauty of my ramp is we float the tarps like a false roof and skate hard when it rains out here. So as soon as the drizzle started the tarp went up for the rest of the day.

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There was only about 50-60 people that showed up to party, some of the usuals, and some that even I hadn’t seen in a long time – Russia, LegenBarry, Homer and the Pimpin’ Kings to name a few, so I already knew it was gonna rock. We started warm up around noon, and threw the best trick early because that obstacle wasn’t covered from the potential rain. It was a normal Hippie Mike obstacle, just a straight up nasty tombstone built out of a fridge and a monster truck tire, no big deal…

This thing was tough to skate, maybe the toughest obstacle built in the yard so far. I tried filming on it on Friday and only hit 2 tricks, and they would be considered basic on anything else. Eve struggled for rock & rolls the whole time, Jigga Jay stuck down a couple for him. Cisco did a frontside rock but had to grab it in and Andy landed the most but still couldn’t get on top with trucks. Russia went hard at it the first attempt and actually shot himself over the whole fridge into the tree roots, but he came right back and kept givin’er. He was the only one who was getting’ trucks on this thing. Russia battled it out hard and finally won with a feeble stall. That’s how god damn hard this thing was to skate. Good efforts form everyone there, Russia took home a complete new outfit donated by legendary Moses Itkonen – DVS Shirt, Fallen Pants, Shoes and RDS Hat. Not bad for a guy that hadn’t stepped on a skateboard for about a year and a half.

We let the dudes warm it back up on the fresh masonite mini while the Pimpin’ Kings rocked out hard for almost an hour on my roof. I’ve had these guys play at so many of my contests and I always say the same thing afterward – “Best Small-Man Band I’ve heard”. And I’m not saying their midgets, they just only have 2 band members, Chris Burnstad on Drums and Chad Whittingham on Guitar, but they threw in a sick Bass player named Mike Currie to bring extra power and sounded awesome. Every time someone drove down my street they would stop and stick their head out of the window to get a good taste of the tunes. Sick set boys, glad I could reunite you for a banger show, everyone loved it.

The keg was getting emptier and the burgers were getting scarce so it was time to start the Ramp Contest. Only 9 entries, but they were all destroyers. I split it into 2 heats and each heat got 3 minute rounds for the guys to throw down as much as possible and try to make it into the finals. It made good cause for lots of snaking and barging from everybody to try and get more time in the ramp, especially in Round 3. There were a few times where I saw 3 people on one piece of coping at once, no mercy. 49 year old Barry Blatter was the Barge Master for sure never losing a battle that he dropped in for and even smashing his face fully off the flatbottom at one point and just getting up, licking off the blood dripping from his nose and dropping right in again for more. Andy Anderson was crowd favorite of course completely annihilating the entire ramp like he knows how with a zillion tricks. Jeff Cole was another one who throws down the tricks you’ve heard of before but never seen, and he was showing them to ya, Fighter did every Judo Blunt combination imaginable, Eve Feaver put his 40 year old bones on line with handplants, nosepicks and huge airs over the hip, and Giver even Gaver, hitting up the whole ramp fast and frontside and even bonelessing in off the side rails. It was insanity.

The judges, Jay White and Brad Milburn did not want to be judges anymore, but I fed them more 311 Lager and we went over by the wood shed to discuss who was making finals.

Cisco Gooding did a lot of switch and techy tricks but didn’t pull through to Finals. Allen Handley threw down a bunch of dirty manoeuvres that others do not understand, but didn’t make the Finals. And Fighter did not make the Finals…

That left the infamous 5 – Andy Anderson, Jay Mykyte, Eve Feaver, Jeff Cole and Giver (Michael James), plus Barry who got the buy in for being the most hardcore without a doubt. It was a 20 minute, straight up, Battle – for $200. Shit went down, chaos everywhere. Jeff, Giver and Eve were all missionning hard throwing every trick they knew how with pure old school styles and skills, and Andy was in his usual “I can land anything I try” mode, but the eyes were on the Jigga, Jay Mykyte. Big Flip tricks, fast grinds and solid tech tricks left right and centre. Every one of them was touch every square inch of the ramp, the hip, the inner kink the decks, the rails, everything. And the more time that ran down the more snaking that went on. Finally right near the end of time, Jay climbed up onto the top railing behind the platform and tried to Tail Ollie over the deck into the ramp. Like true skaters, everyone kept skating but giving him the opportunity to try again and he stuck it down 4^th try. Contest over. Jigga wins the cash!!

It was an insane event, and it wasn’t over yet. Nothing ends retardedness like a Barefoot Best Trick Contest. Only Cisco, Fighter, Allen and Ryan Barron wanted in. Cisco had it right from the start with a frontside 50-50 around the inner kink to nollie 270 in, only to have it stolen from him by Allen at during the final minute with a tailstall fingerflip disaster. Took home a pair of Fallen Shoes, some funky Shorts, and a Protest Deck. If we had known Cisco had already drank 12 beers at that point we might have let him have that win, damn.

Thanks to all that came out, we raised lots of funds and had a great time. Thanks to my Chef Bogdan, my Bartender Deena Z, to everyone that came out and supported, and of course DJ Cuzo. Until next year, that’s the Jam…

Results:

Jay Mykyte – $200
Eve Feaver – $40
Andy Anderson – $20

A Day on the Island with Protest Skateboards

Sep 8,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Back in August we a few of us from the Team packed into the truck and headed over to the Island to skate the Victoria Parks with the Posse from Tsawwassen. Jaden Easton-Ellett, Cisco Gooding, Andy Anderson, myself and Fighter (Brad Muscat) loaded up early and got to the Ferry just in time to miss it. A little skating went down at the Terminal while we waited and of course, Brad rolled his ankle 180ing some gap. Good start to the day, right? We got across an hour later than the other boys and drove right past them as they were shredding the Sydney Skate Park, hooking up at Gordon Head Skate Park. This park is lots of fun, especially if you were around during the era that it was considered to be amazing. Lots of sick tricks went down there, tons of kids were stoked, and of course some random lady from the local paper showed up and was bugging Mike for photos, I don’t mind, it’s always a Hippie Mike Show. We hooked up every kid there with a free Protest T-shirt, held a Best Trick Contest for a Protest Deck, and then headed over to Esquimalt – Vic West Skate Park.

Andy just started annihilating the place, while the rest of us just basically skated the one hip. The place was packed and all people there were having fun, lots of dudes commenting on Andy’s styles. We got shut down early because of this insane thunderstorm that swept over us and poured so hard that the raindrops were bouncing knee high off the ground. Posse out, we went back to the place where the Tsawwassen Crew were staying, had a quick BBQ and headed back to the Ferry for the 9:00 Boat. A good day. Shadd Trepp, Graeme Betts, Michael Ray, Andrew Classon, Tyler Burke and some other rippers all hung out for the rest of the week hitting up some sweet Island Skate Parks. Wish we could’ve stayed, next time, we’ll try to stay longer.

Check both vids

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Mackin Park Session in Coquitlam

Aug 29,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

A few of us Chuck Bailey Locs went to peep out the new Skate Park in Coquitlam, Mackin Park last Friday. Luckily there weren’t too many kids there because it’s tiny and you can see in the video how much they get in the way. I had my back brace on so I could skate, and everyone had a good time. I found a lot of the obstacles hard to get speed for, and others tough to go slow enough. I’m not the most excited about these small back and forth parks when they come out but I’m sure I will give it a shred every now and then. It was me, Cisco Gooding, Jordan Strong, Fighter and a few friends, Calvin killed it…

Tsawwassen Sun Festival Contest Results 2012

Aug 7,2012 / By Hippie Mike / No Comment

Another gorgeous day in “The Land of the Sun”, Tsawwassen. August 5, 2012 was the date of the Tsawwassen Sun Festival and included in the promotions was the annual Skateboard Contest presented by Michael Ray and MC’d by Shadd Trepp. A lot of familiar faces who have localized the Tsawwassen Skate Park over the years – myself Hippie Mike, Cisco Gooding, Justin James, Graeme Betts, Andrew Classon, Cole Thodus, Luke Thodus, and many more…

All categories were filled with lots of talent including Beginner. Chuck Bailey local Adam Lewis took the cake in Beginner with a close Parker Sherwin in 2^nd. Both these kids have fat bags of tricks, so you know it was tight for the judges.

The Intermediate Category was pretty sick. Team Protest showed up during first runs in Intermediate and it was awesome how people were asking if this was Advanced. That’s how crazy the talent level is in Tsawwassen. You know little 10 year old Luke Thodus was trying his hardest to win 2 years in a row, and I’m sure his big brother Cole Thodus did not want to let that happen. These 2 can really battle for their ages, and they both probably would have done well in Advanced too. Luke came through with another victory!!

Advanced was packed with competitors of all ages, including myself as the oldest at 33 years of age. Gilbert Turenne was first to go laying down some sick ledge tricks and 3flipping over the 3 block like butter. Fighter was hot, and hitting some nasty tricks down the biggies, crooks and smiths on the red rail, and even a benihana over the 3 block in his second run. Cisco did his usual switch, nollie and combination tricks all over the park, staying low but keeping it tech, and even Jaden competed grinding all the ledges and flying over the cans. Protest always represents wherever we go but this was a tough one to win, Andrew Classon came out in his first run with complete control and determination to win. I’ve hung out with this kid since he was about 8 years old and he’s always been super creative and super solid. He actually rode for Protest Skateboards when he was 10-11 years old. I love the way Andrew gets annoyed about how long the runs are too. He usually lands enough tricks in the first 30 seconds to win, so why should he continue?? Mick Bey was another young dude I was super proud of out there. I met Mick when he was 10 years old working an afterschool drop in program at his school. He was a super talented sporty kid that had a lot of confidence. He moved out to Tsawwassen a few years ago and grew about a foot and a half taller which really helped him with learning all these ledge and rail tricks he has on lock. It’s sick to watch these kids grow up from so young, and then actually compete against them. Mick was close to Top 3 but didn’t quite make it, but the other really tall dude from Tsawwassen did, Aleka Lang. And John Purcell was definitely representing his skills. This kid likes the rails and has a lot of switch skills. Visiting from Nova Scotia he has taken the opportunity to get his name out there since he’s been here, placing in Top 3 in a few contests and winning the Element Make it Count Qualifier at Chuck Bailey a few weeks ago. Good luck on the next stage of that one buddy, hope you do well. And I hope we hear more about this up-and-comer in the future.

So many people to congratulate and compliment from this contest, but I have to throw mad props out to Shadd Trepp on the mic for being the most enthusiastic MC off all time. Such a fun guy to be around. Shadd gets just as excited about a powerslide as he does about a 3flip lipslide. So awesome buddy!!

And best I saw all day was Graeme Betts nosebluntslide and switch lipslide a table out of the smallest bank in the park, both like butter. Graeme didn’t compete, but he doesn’t need to. True Blood Park Local forever brother.

That was Tsawwassen for this year, here’s the results

Beginner: