blade or die

Hells yeah, it’s summer up in this bitch!

It’s time for barbecues, brown bagging beers in the park after a sesh, the girls in their sundresses, and weeknight blading.

Well, except for a lot of people who saw snow in the last month. Y’all gotta wait a little longer. But that’s what you get for living in affordable places surrounded by nice people. Cold weather—especially the kind that’ll try and kill ya’—builds character. If there’s one thing living in California has taught me, sunshine attracts a whole bunch assholes.

But fuck them. For people with cabin fever or seasonal depression, it’s starting to feel like China Beach, but, you know, with less war…

This weekend is the Panhandle Powwow VII, the unofficial start to the summer contest season.

If you’re not a chump, you’ll be there. Me, I’m a fucking chump and should be publicly shamed and flogged for it. For those of you going, stop by the JSF booth and say hi to the family, whom will be representing hard by doing it properly and chilling at maximum levels. Talk to ESG for some of the best cessing and skitching advice and ask Kennan Scott about the White People Bucket. Yeah, out of context it sounds weird but the man has a point.

And he’s good on a mic…

Besides the Powwow, there are a ton of summer contests you can easily travel to, get together with the homies, and log some hours in the boots. From the Colorado Road Trip to the Iowa River Rumble and ending out the summer season with the Blading Cup in September, perfectly sandwiching  together what’s going to be yet another dope summer blading season.

Keep a tent in your trunk. You’re gonna need it.

(If there’s a contest you want people to know about, drop that shit in the comments.)

Here in the Bay, we’ve been able to throw out the p-rails at Sunday Streets. Thought it was going to be the last one we did, but fools like B. Free and Gene Steagall shredding hard for the crowd. Gene, however, was at a slight disadvantage because they probably didn’t understand that full cab tru miz on a p-rail in front of a few hundred people isn’t always the easiest thing.

They did, however, appreciate his unities, which may be switch…

The cool side note was re-meeting Nate Herse. He recently moved to the Bay and came to sesh. Through some fuzzy memory searching, we looked familiar to each other because we both were in the same two-week work study at Lake Owen in the summer of 1999. We took right on where we had left off.

To me, that proves that blading friendships never end.

The next event out here is B. Free and crew’s contest June 15th, like it says right there…

The park is run by one dude whose out painting flower pots for the community center while making sure all the area kids have a place close to home to skate instead of getting caught up in dumb shit. The spot is fucking legit.

B. Free and the boys are going to be fixing up the park for the event, so it’s going to be even that more dope, thanks to donations and support from the sponsors.

Fuck yeah, doing stuff for a good cause!

Fuck yeah, sponsors!

Make that blade money!

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the best parts of your life are the ones you do for free or with a personal cost. If you can give without expectation of return, then you can experience happiness. And no, I’m not talking about the collection plate at church.

Don’t get me wrong: the money in our game is important as there’s still not enough going around to support those putting in the work, whether in front of the camera or behind the scenes.

Just like real democracy, you vote with your dollar. That includes who survives and who thrives and what they’re doing with your money.

That’s why the support behind the Create Originals project gave me all the tingly feelings my beard would allow.

I’ll admit, I was a bit skeptical when I saw the total. As the number burst up quickly and topped off at over $37,000 I realized how big rollerblading is. We’re not big like seeing a blader you don’t know at your local skate park is a normal thing, but we’re still big. There are a lot of us all over the globe and when a company puts out a professional presentation, we put our money where our online comments are.

Look at that, 370 backers with $37,211 pledged. Now imagine what would have happened should those 5,607 people who gave it a Facebook Like would have chipped in the same $100 each.

Even UNICEF is getting tired of that shit…

Because, in this country, money buys freedom. The current structure we have is that we spend our entire lives fulfilling a function in a society where those with the most money are untouchable and a ruling class of smart, cutthroat motherfuckers have us locked in so hard they’ll shoot you in the head with a gas canister should you say anything against it.

Speaking of that, be careful where you plant that tent this summer. The punishment for illegal camping in this country is pretty severe.

So, when you’re voting with that buck, don’t forget to support your local skate shops. They’re the ones arranging sessions, sponsoring comps, keeping gear on your feet, and keeping a face on blading. So buy some shit from them.

If they’re not doing all that, boycott them until they do or find somebody better.

See you fuckers around this summer.

Blade or Die,

— Brian Krans

P.S. — If you could be so nice and support my other bad habit, you can buy the three books I’ve written from The Mick at Intuition or Justin “Terminator” Hertel at Aggressive Mall.