Episode 1 of “Create It and Skate it with Hippie Mike”, starring Big Rip Kaelen Faux, AJ Zabell and Hippie Mike. Watch the boys create and skate a wooden Wallie Bank Grind Ledge and have fun together as they test it out at a secret spot.
Music by Ryan “Tweak” Clark
Artist: Pur Pale
Composer: Ryan “Tweak” Clark
Album: From Shadows To Silhouettes (Volume 2 – Instrumentals)
Year of Release: 2017
My friend Darren Anderson and I had been talking for years about filming something cool in the Scrapyard at Amix where he worked as a Foreman but we never actually got around to it. One weekend, probably around 2010/2011 we decided it was time, so I packed a launchramp and some plywood in the truck and we headed down there with absolutely no plan on what I was going to skate. We wandered around the yard waiting for something exciting to pop out at us, and all of a sudden Darren mentioned there happened to be a train car in the yard which had just delivered a large guillotine a couple days earlier and would be leaving again right after the weekend. As soon as I saw it I knew what to do, Other than the ground being completely covered in dirt and shards of metal, this was as good as it was gonna get. Darren grabbed the Liebherr and we went to pick out a good car with a big hood. He held it in mid-air as I tested it out and we were ready to go. The plan was to do a trick onto the hood and ride off into the dirt while he floated the car for me, then once I ride away he would smash the car with the claw. With all the rusty metal shards to fall on, and the fact that I had to ride away on dirt, I chose to keep it simple and just pop an ollie. We only got 1 chance to make it happen and luckily it all worked out. Being that the clip was filmed on my brand new HD camera, when they first started coming out, I didn’t have the proper equipment to edit it at the time and the clip just got buried in a pile of other stuff. When we were working on the Authentic Board Supply Video I remembered I had it and we threw it in there for the final trick of my part.
This was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I’ll always remember, big thanks to Darren Anderson for being awesome and making it happen, and to Cisco Gooding for filming in a cloud of dust!
8 years after filming this funny incident with my hair getting caught in a thorn bush I finally submitted the clip to AFV in 2012 and received a call back the next day saying they wanted to use it on the show. Have a watch as Tom Bergeron tells it like it is.
The same clip was used again in an audience member participation game in 2018/2019 with Alfonso Ribeiro as the host which was also hilarious
Sometimes I feel like I’ve been on a comeback since forever, I started skateboarding in 1986 and went through a lot of good times and bad times over the past 34 years, but the comeback was always one of the things that kept me alive. Every time I got hurt it was a mission to get strong again and go relearn the things I knew so well. As you get older, it only gets harder, but the feeling you get when you ride away clean is enough to keep anyone going. This video was released in 2012 during one of my many returns to the world I love – Skateboarding….
One of my all time favorite “Just for Fun” videos, filmed by Laine Siebert in 2013, it was just about a day skating 2 of my favorite skate parks while dressed up in my Pimp Suit Halloween costume. It wasn’t anywhere close to being Halloween which made it that much better. There’s nothing easy about skateboarding with a cane in your hand, especially when your vision is being blocked by your fuzzy brim pimp hat and pink boa, Haha
Released in 2010, and filmed for over 3 years before that, “Evolution Revolution – What the “F” were We Thinking?” was a very unique skateboard video put out by Hippie Mike and Protest Skateboards. Inspired by hearing people complain that too many spots around Vancouver have been shut down and there’s nothing to skate anymore, the Protest Team decided they were going to make their own spots, and skate other spots that were not necessarily “Made for Skateboarding”. Rocks, Grass, Dirt, Logs, Fridges, Cars, and any obstacles that just needed some plywood to become skateable, watching this video should change your perspective on what can be skated, and if it can be skated these guys are ready to go…
Filmed and Edited by: Justin James and Hippie Mike
Starring: Jon Irvine, Cisco Gooding, Nathan Lintunen, Jeff Cole, and Hippie Mike
In tribute to my Dad who passed away on this day 8 years ago (April 29th, 2012) I have released the Original Protest Skateboards Video – Never Give Up – on YouTube. My Dad always taught me to believe in myself in everything you do and that I could accomplish anything I put my mind to, as long as I was committed to never giving up. I’ve lived with this mentality for as long as I can remember and can definitely think of some awesome success stories that came from it. That’s probably why I’m over 40 years old and still skateboarding.
Filmed for between 2003 and 2005, The Original Protest Skateboards Full Length Video – “Never Give Up!” contains Street Footage, Park Footage, and YES, riding on 2×4’s. This video stars some of the original Protest Skateboards Team Riders such as Cisco Gooding, Jon Irvine, Jeff Cole, Carrie Williams, and myself Hippie Mike, as well as a full part from Brad Danyluk and the original Hippie Mike 2×4 Part. Previously unavailable online, check out the roots of Protest Skateboards, and why we will Never Give Up… Edited by Hippie Mike – 2006
Here is the full length video released on YouTube for the first time
Filmed by: Justin James & Hippie Mike
Starring: Cisco Gooding, Jon Irvine, Jeff Cole, Brad Danyluk, Carrie Williams, Hippie Mike, and more…
Protest Skateboards full length video “Diversity” was filmed in over the year of 2017, and edited while I was unable to skateboard. I filmed my own part about 6 weeks before going under the knife for ACL replacement and High Tibial Osteomety in which I didn’t skateboard again until June of 2018. We premiered the video at SBC (Smiling Buddha Cafe) in downtown Vancouver in January of 2018 during a Protest Best Trick Contest on the ramp, the place was packed and everyone had a blast. The video was made to showcase the newest team of Protest Riders, how diverse they all are from one another yet still so similar in what they love – skateboarding. With an age range of 7 years old up to 45 years old, this video is what skateboarding is all about, being yourself, doing what you love, and sharing your passion with others. Each rider (except for young Kaelen) only had 1 day to film their part…
Starring: Big Rip Kaelen Faux, Ryan Brynelson, Jay Mykyte, Eve Feaver, and Hippie Mike
Filmed and Edited by: Hippie Mike
In this time where our Freedom to venture out into our usual atmosphere has been taken away from us, it seems like everyone around is starting to build their own stuff to skate. Well since 2016 when we moved from Surrey to Sunshine Valley, we’ve been doing that anyways.
In the first episode of this New series “SkatePark Styles” we set up a few of our obstacles on the street for some Home Park Fun. Check out 10 year old Big Rip Kaelen Faux as he goes fast, goes big, and gets tech on the quarterpipe, and Hippie Mike tests out the old knee again after a long recovery.
Stay tuned for more SkatePark Styles episodes coming soon, and hopefully from skating real skateparks again…
The times are always changin’ and it gets tough to keep up sometimes, but one thing that’s always kept me goin’ is my skateboard. After many years of living life as a skater I’ve always been able to adjust with the changes. As I get older, I get wiser, but I also seem to get bigger and slower. And it makes it tough to be who you were back when you were just growing up annihilating the streets and livin’ life in your Glory Daze. But I always find my way home.
Surrey is the place I call home, and I’m very proud of what I have helped to create in this city for the skateboard community to enjoy. But as the population of skateboarders seemed to be constantly growing here in Surrey, the population of Skate Shops was diminishing. And now there is only 1 true “Skater Owned and Operated” Skateboard Shop left in this city.
So I went on a search to find that little shop hidden away in the heart of Cloverdale, venturing through the streets and skate parks of surrey until I finally got there. It was calling my name to come home.
I found my destination, took off my jacket and prepared to stay a while.
