I was having a chat with my good friend Ollie the other day about our favourite brands, brands that we're attached to. We know about me and Nintendo, but I also have fond memories for, amongst others, Pez, Fighting Fantasy books and Powell Peralta. Eh? Powell Peralta, what's that you may ask? Well, it was a skateboarding company in the 80s/early 90s (still around now but known just as Powell).
And it was amazing. A trend setter and manufacturer of some of the coolest boards, wheels, t-shirts, videos of the era (sorry for weird sizes, click on them to make bigger).
Skateboarding, in my humble opinion, is the most under-appreciated sport ever. Skill-wise it's hardcore - the fact you're riding a board that you're unattached to, usually on concrete. It's also attracted so so much creativity - like many things, the people who do it express themselves through their own styles, the art-work, the clothing, everything. I sadly stopped skating when I was 16ish. Nowadays though, I just love looking back at all the awesome graphics and logos from those good old days. This was the first pro board I owned, not a Powell Peralta actually, but a Santa Cruz Jeff Grosso:
It was undoubtedly one of my older brother Henry's hand-me-downs. Henry is 34 and still skates. He's actually set up a Facebook application called 'Retro Skateboard Stickers' which allows you to send various old skool stickers to your friends. Check it out here:
Henry's 'Retro Skateboard Stickers' Facebook application
Also, speaking of Ollie earlier, he's a good skater and all-round good egg (also a good fingerboarder, which is a whole different story). We actually went for a cruise together around Central Park a few weeks back which was great fun, although I admit I did eat some serious NYC slab at one point!
Ollie's skate video, 1.21 Gigawatts, from a few years back is also well worth a view. The intro is a beautiful thing:
Ollie's skate vid
Realise this post has jumped about a bit, but hey it's late, and well isn't that the nature of these things? Anyway, an interesting thing to end on is possibly the greatest Powell Peralta creation of all: Animal Chin. Say no more.
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