Tag: flip skateboards

As you may have already heard, Berlin’s Denny Pham got himself a spot in the Flip Skateboards pro ranks and none other than Tom Penny himself took the honor to break the news to a clueless Denny. An overwhelming and honest joy was in the room and, besides a few technical difficulties, it was quite the perfect surprise.

Next to Tom Penny, Denny’s closest family & friends came to the Nike SB Shelter for some Pho, drinks and a piece of Denny. By the way – while Tom Penny was giving Denny his first two designs, the DJ was playing THIS song (Notorious BIG feat. Puff Daddy & Mase – Mo Money Mo Problems).

You guys think it has a deeper meaning to it? The video that introduced him to the pro life will be released tomorrow. All Photos by Julius Krappe.

Here is a LINK to a video of Denny’s Pro Party by Skatedeluxe.

Since I got to know Denny almost ten yeas ago, he is on a constant rise. As he is the skate buddy who “made it”, I followed every step of his career and although I am all too aware of his qualities he still manages to surprise me whenever we meet causing me to speculate where all this might lead to one day. Well, only god knows! But let’s find out how Denny himself sees his near and far future.

Interview by Paul Röhrs
Photos: Benni Markstein

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Where will you be in…

…one second?

I will sit on the couch between my girlfriend Sara and our cats while watching the European Football Championship round of 16 game Switzerland versus Poland.

…one minute?

I will watch the first half of the extra time.

…one hour?

Probably drinking beer at the summer garden of the Nike SB Shelter while watching the next round of 16 game Wales versus Northern Ireland.

…one day?

Most likely hanging around at one of Berlin’s skate parks before I of course going to watch Germany against Slovakia at the summer garden.

…one week?

I am going to be in Munich to watch Street League there and hopefully meet some good friends that I haven’t seen for a while.

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…one month?

I am going to be on tour through Switzerland and Austria with the SkateDeluxe team.

…one year?

Since there will be neither European Football Championship nor World Cup, I am pretty sure you might find me skating the “Bänke” or “Polendenkmal”.

…five years?

Then I’ll be 31 and finally start learning how to skate transitions properly.

…ten years?

I will assist the extension of Berlin’s Dog Shit Spot, which in 2026 will continued to be built out of the ruins of the “Berghain” club.

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…15 years?

I will play the very last round of S.K.A.T.E. against archrival Yannick Schall at “Polendenkmal”. Winner is going to take it all.

…20 years?

After I lost all my belongings to Yannick and had to start from scratch I will invent the revolutionary “Phamski”, a multifunctional device that is going to make the heart of every do-it-yourselfer beat faster… or so…

…25 years?

After my loss against Yannick and the “Phamski” turned out to be a total flop, I of course will not surrender and finally will reinvent myself as a physiotherapist.
Due to the declining techno scene since the end of the “Berghain” club, I moved back with my family to the outskirts. Here we regularly throw nice garden parties so come by! Future looks bright!

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Over the years, Sami Harithi‘s name has come up in conversations multiple times – even before I moved to Germany I had heard about him. But I didn’t completely understand what that name meant, aside from legendary Powell video parts and stories people told about his skating. I was reintroduced to Sami’s skating through the “Propeller Island” video, where one trick especially sparked an interest: a frontside 360 ollie in a bank. The run-up was extremely short – it only allowed for one push – and I had an authentic WOW moment when he landed. Since then I’ve shook his hand, watched him skate, socialized with him and took his children to skate events. In all those situations he seemed so comfortable, both in the limelight and behind the scenes. A true natural, I knew he had a long run in skating but I had to dig in the PLACE archives to be able to grasp the full extent of what, where, and how Sami has made his way through skateboarding. And since life focuses on the here and now, I wanted to supplement his upcoming Spot On video part with these 10 facts that I found when I was roaming around the archives…

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Photo by: Phil Boyd

1. Sami started skateboarding in 1988.

2. One year later, he was sponsored by Powell-Peralta Skateboards.

3. He had a full part in Powell’s “Celebrity Tropical Fish” video from 1991. This part features tricks that are still inspiring today, e.g. an impossible lipslide body varial out!

4. In 1992 he won the European Championships in Münster, Germany.

5. That same year, Tony Hawk asked Sami to join his new company Birdhouse Projects; now known as Birdhouse skateboards. He filmed a part for their “Untitled” video which ends with him backside flipping the famous Brooklyn banks barrier.

6. In 1993 he went on his first trip to the United States of America to skate with Tony Hawk and Andrew Reynolds.

7. The following year, at 17 years of age, Sami was asked by Jeremy Fox and Geoff Rowley to join the newly-formed Flip Skateboards company. So Sami went to the States for the second time to pursue the skateboard dream. The footage of this time ended up in his “Cities” part. His ender at the Baustelle was a NBD at that time.

8. In 2002, Sami became a father for the first time, so skateboarding moved to the back as he focused on his family.

9. Nowadays you can find Sami skating at contests, events, or just on the street, often with his kids by his side.

10. Although Sami changed over time – as we all do – his unique style on a skateboard has remained unchanged. He has seen trends come and go and is now experiencing a second youth as a seasoned veteran.

by Roland Hoogwater

Denny Pham hat sich mit seinem Thrasher Part “It’s A Phamtastic World” ein Denkmal gesetzt und ist wohl endgültig auf dem internationalem Parkett angekommen. Verdientermaßen, denn diese vier Minuten zeigen technisches Skateboarding auf allerhöchstem Niveau. Denny, wir sind stolz auf dich – großes Kino, geschnitten von Gerrit Piechowski!

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Ali Boulala ist nach eigenen Angaben schon seit über einem Jahr trocken. Auf seinem Blog gibt es einen Bericht über sein neues Leben und einen sehr gewichtigen Text über den schrecklichen Unfall bei dem sein Freund, der australische Pro-Skater Shane Cross, ums Leben kam. Zusammenfassend kann man sagen, dass Ali sich ziemlich gefangen hat und einen neuen Lebensabschnitt genießen kann.

Today 25 July I’ve been sober and free from all and any mind altering substances for one year, and it is probably one of the best things I have done.
HOW? H.O.W, is how.
Honesty
Open-mindedness &
Willingness

No I didn’t come up with that. That is from a 12 step program that I’ve been following and for 1 year I’ve been going to meetings almost everyday.
I have “quit” or tried to quit before but never been able to “stay clean”. Or just quitting one thing and not EVERYTHING. That didn’t work because that just made me double the intake, or switch/replace the substance I still allowed my self to use.
I found all and every excuse so that I would still be able to use something/(anything).
I didn’t realize until after I didn’t take ANYTHING
, how badly I was fucking my self up.
I’ve thought many times : “Ok this is it I’m gonna quit!” Especially after something bad had happened. Like after getting arrested or a friend had overdosed. Or like losing Shane.
But I only used more and used those bad things as an excuse to use more, and convincing my self I HAD TO, I NEED to. “I feel like shit, I’m depressed, I need this, I want this”
After quitting all mind altering substances for almost 3 months (for me 74 days exactly) not until then did I feel and notice a difference.
That fucking time up until I could feel a difference, was absolutely NOT FUN at all for me. It was fucking HELL!!
But I stuck it out and didn’t use anything. I then realized why I had felt so bad, it was the FUCKING DRUGS!! The one thing that I thought I “needed” was the one thing that was fucking me up. 20 (ish) years of using is what made me feel so bad that death was the better option. Death or the only thing I hadn’t tried, which was quitting EVERYTHING that altered my mind. That was all I had left to try.
And I’ve “tried ” for one whole year now and will continue to do so. I need the program to do it because it’s an instruction manual to life for me.
That’s “how” I’ve been able to do it.
Thank you so much to all the people that has helped and continue to help me everyday. (You know who you are)
Much love
//Ali

Über seinen verstorbenen Freund Shane Cross:

Ok Someone requested that I write about Shane Cross. Or to be more blunt and specific they wrote; I should write about how I killed Shane.
I get these type of messages pretty often. So I’ll write about it.
Mars 6 2007. I was out skating and having a good time with my friend Shane and a group of our friends. I we were filming for the Flip video. After skating we went to Cherry Bar. (Much like most nights) that night they had a quiz night and I apologized to the girl that had organized it. I had behaved badly on one of the things she had organized earlier. I only know that this is the night of the 6th of Mars because someone told me this,( long after the accident. )
After that we all went to Amanda’s.
That’s is all I can remember.
I wanted to do something else, (but that’s for some other time)
Everything else from that night that I know is things that I’ve been told.
I my self don’t remember what exactly happened or how.
Not because I was to wasted but because I hit my head so hard that I almost died.
I know we were wasted because I read later ( and the police showed me) that I had a blood alcohol .15 and Shane .18
Ok now more about why I’m writing this;
I often get angry, negative and sometimes threatening messages/comments.
I don’t think the people that write these horrible things understand how horrible this whole thing has been and still is for me.
The worst thing about this accident has already happened and someone writing negative things will not change that.
All that it does is spread hate, anger and negatively.
The very opposite of what Shane and his whole life was about.
The people that knew him know this so well.
I understand that people are angry at me and that the whole thing happened.
I also understand that under anger lies sorrow.
I know this because I was and still am angry and hate my self for what happened.
But under that anger and hate, I am actually really really sad. So very sad that I have lost a very dear and loved friend.

Ali Boulala während den Dreharbeiten zu Flip Sorry in seiner damaligen Heimat Lyon:

Vom Flip Skateboards Kid zum ernstzunehmenden Pro Skater. Louie Lopez schaffte es den Kiddie Bonus abzuschütteln und reift zum absolut stilvollen Lieblingsskater heran. Wir in der Redaktion sind beeindruckt und schon lange Fan. So ein bisschen was von Kenny Anderson, oder? Louie zeigt seine Heimatspots und plaudert über sein derzeitiges Leben, gefilmt auf 8mm.

Flip Skateboards releasen mit “3” gleich drei Full Parts auf einmal – Louie Lopez, Curren Caples und Alec Majerus sind nicht mehr die kleinen Jungs, bei denen sich mancher gefragt haben mag, was Flip überhaupt mit ihnen will. Vorbei mit Kiddie Status – die Jungs beweisen mit ihren Parts, dass sie mittlerweile nicht nur in den Pro Rängen angekommen sind, sondern das auch durchaus verdienen. Richtig gut!

Leider hat Transworld die Embed Funktion mittlerweile ausgestellt, ihr müsst also auf das Bild klicken um weitergeleitet zu werden!

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ben nordberg

Flip Skateboards Ben Nordberg konnte nach dem Untergang von Gravis einen neuen Schuhsponsor finden. Tim Gavins Filament Brand wird den stilbewussten Engländer ab sofort mit Tretern beliefern. Man darf gespannt sein, welch anderen Namen der ehemalige Blind Pro und Gründer von DVS noch so ins Boot holen wird. Ein paar der Modelle gibt es hier zu sehen.

Die Hauptakteure der jüngsten Flip Tour nach Kanada sind Louie Lopez, Curren Caples, Matt Berger und Alec Majerus gewesen. Diese bewiesen im Land des Ahorns, dass sie ein echtes Team sind, während das Video Feature des Skateboard Mags vor guter Energie sprüht – egal ob Streetmission oder Demo. Die Mischung der verschiedenen Charaktere mit unterschiedlicher Trick- und Spotauswahl macht Flip Skateboards 2014 zu einer der besten Companies überhaupt. Arto Saari, der als Fotograf mit dabei gewesen ist, als auch Legende Lance Mountain wird es gefreut haben zu sehen, wie die Jungs das Holz gefällt haben. Cheech und Chong dürfen auf so einer Tour natürlich nicht fehlen.

Es gab viele Gerüchte um einen angeblichen, unveröffentlichten Part von Bastien Salabanzi. Nun hat das Rätselraten ein Ende, denn das Thrasher Magazine zeigt die Auflösung. 10 Jahre später sehen wir die Footage, welche damals weit vor ihrer Zeit gewesen wäre, und vielleicht jetzt erst reif ist. Ein Hauch von Skateboard Romantik weht durch den Raum.