Vol.12 No.2, FALL 2013 KARMA, POLICE AND CONNECTIONS IN VANCOUVER Adam Yates (left) and Kyle Wein make the drop above Van- couver, British Columbia, a city attempting to balance longboarding's potential with its occasional perils. Photo: Jacob Lambert VANCOUVER COMMUNITY AND CONNECTIONS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND BEYOND By MICHAEL BROOKE aithful readers of Concrete Wave will know years, these accidents happened within just three The question that I found myself asking is how Fthat we’ve explored some pretty unusual topics weeks, and they prompted a huge media and com- best to communicate the concept of unity within in the magazine: Spirituality. Serendipity. munity focus on longboarding. Many newspaper the world community. When longboarders use Authority. In this issue, I wanted to give readers reports appeared, and many people posted com- their connections, it helps to build a stronger com- an opportunity to understand how much of our ments and opinions at various new sites. munity and it keeps things progressing. I felt the skate community is connected. But as you will soon Longboarding even wound up on The National — best way to illustrate this concept was to bring see, it goes deeper than a sense of connection. It’s Canada’s major newscast watched by millions. you a feature that connects many different people. where those connections take us. Longboarders worldwide follow what hap- Usually I try to keep myself out of the stories Over the course of several months, the Van- pens in other communities with a cautious eye. in CW. But as fate, or karma, would have it, this couver longboarding community found itself in the We’re all connected. When a longboarder suf- time I am part of the story. So, let me take you on media spotlight after three very serious longboard fers a serious injury or the media decides to a journey. It winds through a number of people, incidents happened in rapid succession. While shine a spotlight on “the crazy longboarders,” places and ideas, but all are connected to the there had been other such incidents in previous it impacts all of us. power of skateboarding, karma and community. 78 CONCRETE WAVE FALL 2013 CONCRETEWAVEMAGAZINE.COM MANY PATHS, ONE WAVE connections. You probably wouldn’t be Back in the mid-1990s, I was a struggling photo- reading this magazine had it not been for copier salesman. I won’t bore you with the details, his support with the book. but my life was vastly different than it is today. I My book was originally going to be was trying to sell photocopiers to book publishers, called The Endless Wave. That was soon and it wasn’t working. In truth, I just couldn’t get changed to The Concrete Wave. It was excited about machines that put black marks on released in the spring of 1999 and eventu- white paper. I was the worst salesperson on the ally sold more than 42,000 copies. It also team, and I was filled with a sense of dread at turned into a 52-part TV series, and, of work — and dread is putting it mildly. course, the magazine you now hold in your But I kept at it, trying to get something to hands — all the result of one small state- happen. Eventually, I wound up getting a meeting ment uttered by a book publisher and the with Nick Pitt, the co-owner of a place called War- amazing support of a fellow freestyler. As I wick Publishing. It was not easy to get the write these words, I am reminded of the meeting, but I must have worn the poor guy down. “butterfly effect,” the idea that sometimes At our meeting, we politely bantered back and the smallest actions can have huge, unpre- forth, and I explained the newest technology that dictable consequences. my company had developed. But I soon realized Over the years I’ve maintained a pretty that things were going pretty much nowhere and close friendship with Kevin. We sometimes I would have zero chance of selling anything to joke that the magazine he publishes, Con- Nick. But then I casually mentioned that I had a Todd would later go on to create Skatelab — crete, will merge with mine to create Concrete website. Back then, having your own website was the world’s greatest skate museum. At the time, Concrete Wave. still a pretty unusual thing. however, it was the ads for longboards in Skate But the story doesn’t end here. Not by a “What’s it about, this website of yours?” asked Nick. Trader that grabbed my attention. I did manage long shot. I recall being fairly guarded in my answer. to find a longboard at a shop called Full Tilt. This “Ah, it’s about skateboarding,” I said. “But let was back in 1995. While I enjoyed the Foundation me tell you more about what we can do for you 48”, I knew in my heart that I wanted more. MORE THAN COWBOYS with respect to your website.” I contacted a few Canadian distributors to try AT THE RODEO The truth was that my $5-a-month “Skategeezer to find out more information about longboarding. For the past two years, the Cloverdale Rodeo, Homepage” wasn’t much. It was a collection of Both S&J Sales and Ultimate Distributors were held in a small town southeast of Vancouver, has people’s experiences with skateboarding. But it very gracious with my requests. For a brief hosted a major freestyle contest. Since Concrete existed, and it was at that moment that Nick said moment, I even dabbled in trying to sell long- Wave is the only magazine that covers freestyle, the words that would change my life. boards through a mail-order site called “Art of we’ve played a small part promoting the event. “That’s interesting,” he said. “We’re thinking the Carve.” Full disclosure: I sold ONE complete. But the truth is that Kevin Harris has been a about doing a book on skateboarding. Why don’t But as I started to do research for the book, I key force in getting things rolling. Working tire- you put together an outline?” realized that I needed help. I got back in touch lessly next to him is the show’s producer, Monty Now that was something I could get excited with the two distributors. S&J Sales were very Little, but we’ll save his story for another issue. about. I felt energized, and I immediately got to helpful in giving me some much-needed updates The Rodeo has showcased some fine freestylers, work. My plan was to write the first book on the on the current state of skate, and Norm Mac- but it also created what can only be described as history of skateboarding. Nick accepted the out- Donald of Ultimate suggested that I meet up another amazing connection. line, and within a few weeks I had a contract in with his boss, Kevin Harris, who had started the my hands. It was a surreal feeling. I had never company in 1984. Concrete Wave: So how did you wind up written a book before — and yet I had somehow But Kevin was much more than a skateboard befriending a Mountie with a tattoo of your leaped over the hundreds of people trying to get distributor; he was a skate legend. Kevin was a graphic on his arm? published (commonly known as the “slush pile”). professional freestyler for Powell-Peralta, and his Kevin Harris: I had seen this tattoo of my board At this point you are probably thinking, “OK, board graphic was truly inspiring — especially to graphic a few months before. Someone had sent that’s cool. He ran a little website, happened to Canadians. Back in the ’80s, I’d been a freestyle me an Instagram photo. I had no idea who the meet the right guy at the right time and found his fanatic. I think I went through at least five of guy was, but it was a great version. Jordan, one bliss.” But the truth is a little more complicated. Kevin’s decks, and for my 22nd birthday, a friend of the folks that works here at Ultimate, also The Skategeezer Homepage started up in created a hand-painted Kevin Harris sweater. found out about the tattoo and said, “Hey, we 1995 through the efforts of my brother, who had So it was something of a surreal feeling should do something for this guy.” taught himself how to do HTML. This was before driving up to meet Kevin at his Peterborough, Google and Facebook and spam. Connecting with Ontario, office. We immediately got into things, Have other folks sent you photos of their fellow skaters via the flourishing Internet back and I fired a huge number of questions at him. Mountie tattoos? then was truly magical. He took it all in stride and graciously answered I have gotten photos over the last number of There was one particular guy I had met online all my questions. It was apparent that doors to years. I looked at it and thought it was awe- who ran something called SkateTrader. It was a the skate industry that had previously been some. Everyone has their own little bit of spin fanzine, and it was published by Todd Huber. tightly shut were going to be opened through his with the logo. FALL 2013 CONCRETE WAVE 79 Did you have any other information about the tattoo? We had no idea who the guy was or where he lived.