Day drinking, smoking, and skating flat in Tony Hawk's vert ramp | Simply Ranked
Plus: Jimmy and Shea go "Under, Over," Mike Munzenrider talks to Jimmy about switch-360-flips, Daniel Empey reviews life, save Projet 45, and more.
The definitive weekly ranking and analysis of all the skateboarding and other things online that I cannot stop consuming and how it makes me feel, personally.
Let go, take off, spin
Rank: 1
Mood: 🌀🌀
What is it like to fly? Not in the conventional way we humans have managed to figure out, cooped up in hulks of steel propelled by fuel pulled from the earth or by jumping off some peak with fabric wings in place of feathers, but as bipedal creatures simply taking off from the ground into the sky.
If anyone knows, it's probably vert skaters. To float a frontside air, crouched high above like an eagle waiting to strike, or bone out a backside grab and watch the future rush forward as you look back over your shoulder must be surreal. Unreal. For real, if I could, I would trade many things to have the ability to fly in the way that vert skaters do.
Okay, maybe vert skaters aren't flying flying. Perhaps intermittent soaring is more accurate. Whatever you call it, it's special, and the closest most of us will get to feeling that feeling is watching Jimmy Wilkins and Shea Donavan's Under, Over video part released by Thrasher on Monday. Donavan and Wilkins follow one another around Tony Hawk's ramp, weaving, as the title suggests, over and under one another in a doubles routine that is as physically impressive as it is visually arresting. Watch it, then watch it again. Keep watching until it feels like you, like them, can let go, take off, and spin.
Or if you want to stay a little closer to the earth...
I called Jimmy Wilkins to talk about skating flat ground
A special report by Mike Munzenrider
Under, Over, the new shared part from Jimmy Wilkins and Shea Donavan, is a one-two punch of skateboard creativity. The duo pushes the limits of follow-filming on Tony Hawk’s vert ramp, while Wilkins, perhaps the most exciting vert skater out, pushes limits in general, with tricks like a noseblunt nollie flip and the never-been-done-before frontside ollie 540, no grab. The latter, history-making move is the type of thing that prompts Thrasher EIC Michael Burnett to call Hawk to talk about its significance, but there’s another moment, at 1:28 in the video, that’s nearly as shocking: Jimmy Wilkins does an impeccable switch backside flip on flat.
It’s not without precedent for vert skaters to be able to flip their boards under horizontal conditions. Danny Way and Colin McKay doubled as street guys in the first couple Plan B flicks and Birdman can still frontside heelflip on flat. But it seems extraordinary, and perhaps a little unfair, that Wilkins, who can effectively fly, is also able to toss out legitimately good flat-ground tech in between runs.
He was not always this multifaceted. “Growing up, all I wanted to do was kickflips,” Wilkins says over the phone, explaining that his flat ground really developed during warmup games of S.K.A.T.E. against Donavan prior to vert sessions. “I think I took interest in certain tricks because I’d seen someone do it in a street video and it just stuck with me,” he says. “When Tyshawn [Jones] did the nollie flip over the trash can, I was like, ‘Dude, I have to nollie flip over something.’”
Right now, he’s really into switch heelflips. “It’s just a good-feeling trick when it works,” he says. Wilkins is apparently a ruthless competitor, saying that his coup de grâce in S.K.A.T.E. is “probably something corny like a nollie front foot flip.” When he’d mastered the Straight 8, he moved on to the 8 with 180s. He says he’s done all the inward heel variations except for fakie, has likely nollie hardflipped and definitely switch hardflipped, and could match Hawk’s frontside heelflip as needed. “Switch front heel is definitely easier,” he adds.
Other tricks can be more difficult. Wilkins typically skates the same board all the time – it’s 8.8 inches wide with 58-millimeter wheels and a 15-inch wheelbase. He says that wheelbase is what makes tricks like frontside flips and 360 flips more challenging. “Any trick where the board is spinning more than a shove-it is so hard.” So far, he says, switch 360 flips have eluded him, but he’s done the nollie version. And like so many skaters, Wilkins says he has his off days. “The flat ground game is a cruel mistress, it ebbs and flows.”
Skating flat ground can improve your vert skating. “It helps for certain things,” Wilkins says, “if you’re doing a straight switch flip [back to regular on vert] it’s somewhere between doing it on flat and on a trampoline.” He says another vert skater with sneaky off-ramp skills is Bucky Lasek. “Dude, Bucky’s got a mean flat ground game; he can do all the nollie flips … he’s got a lot of pop too, it’s funny.”
When it comes to the truly news-making trick in Under, Over, that frontside 540 ollie, Wilkins says it was a challenge to figure it out. “I could pick if I wanted it to stay on my feet or if I wanted to stay on top of it, and it took a long time to figure out how to do both.” He would over-rotate the spin and says he had to make peace with the landing being blind.
So far, that one frontside 540 ollie is the only one Wilkins has done. “I just really want to do it again, for sure cleaner would be cool, maybe a little higher would be nice. If I could do one chest-high I’d be pretty stoked.” As for his flat ground future, he’s working on nollie 360 kickflips, a Cab flip but nollie. “I don’t think it’s very pretty,” he says, “but it’s just another one to learn.”
Skateboarding, day drinking, and smoking online
Rank: 1
Mood: 🛹🍺🚬
While skateboarding and its related media efforts are, in most circumstances, a great joy — this newsletter would not exist without them — they are generally of a, shall we say, high octane. Stuck on "gnarly." Sometimes you don't want to hellride1, you know? But there aren't a lot of options out there that don't bang y'all over the head. So what if you, the viewer, want to watch something skateboarding-related that allows you room to think and space to consider? A thing to tune in to that you can tune out to. That is silly yet thoughtful, strangely philosophical, oddly beautiful, and that will even give you reviews of a tasty seasonal beer and a cigarette. Well, you're in luck.
Nanaimo, BC's Daniel Empey recently uploaded a pair of self-filmed and edited YouTube videos under the channel name Daniel James, which are aptly titled Skateboarding, day drinking & smoking in a mall parking lot and Skateboarding, day drinking & smoking in a public space - CHAPTER 2. To the series' credit, that is exactly what happens in them. But Empey invites us to experience much more than day drinking in public. We get a glimpse into his life, the local Nanaimo environs, and his thoughts on everything from switch-willy-grinds to White Spot.
Whether it's his easy candour or the small, charming moments throughout — in one, while Empey sits against a grey wall giving his thoughts on a pumpkin ale, you can see his eyes focusing on the distance. He stops, notes how beautiful an evening it is and says he should spin the camera around. We then cut to him sitting against the backdrop of a burning, stunning sky, and the review continues — there's something comforting about watching Empey enjoy himself so thoroughly in the parking lot of a local mall and on a flatbar in a crusty old skatepark. I'm not alone in that feeling.
Empey quips in the first video of the series that he hopes his "nine subscribers" enjoy the vlog. In the few weeks since its upload, his channel has ballooned to nearly 1,500 subscribers, and his recent videos have collectively received over 25,000 views. The majority of his previous uploads, mostly videos of his cat and rips of songs set to various landscapes, rarely cracked 100 views. The many, many comments on his "Skateboarding, day drinking & smoking in a..." series are resoundingly glowing.
So, what's going on here? Do we have a burgeoning new player in the skateboarding YouTuber space or just someone having fun outside? I emailed Daniel to ask him about his vlogs, the response to them, their future, and, of course, his favourite sips and cigs.
Simple Magic: Where did the idea for your “skateboarding, day drinking, and smoking in a...” YouTube videos come from?
Daniel Empey: Just cruising YouTube randomly, and this guy, jacobfuckingjones, had a video drinking and smoking in a park. I totally get the peace and grounding you can feel doing that. My friend Jordan Pletz was with me at the time and was like, “Why don’t you just go skate, drink beer, and smoke at a skate spot like we all love to do, and film it?” We had a good laugh, but eventually, I actually went out and tried it one day just out of curiosity.
I ended up having a great sesh, basically talking to myself but into the camera. I had no plan or even an idea what I was doing, and never expected to even post it — but yeah, definitely jacobfuckingjones and Jordan Pletz-inspired. Respect to those gentlemen. It’s definitely morphing into its own thing now, I feel like.
SM: So far, you’ve done two, which I think counts as a series. Do you have plans for more?
DE: I definitely have plans for more. We’ll see how much I can do currently, considering that “winter is coming” truly, and the darkness and rain are now about to set in in its haunting beauty. There are so many directions I can go, but all in all, it will follow the same kind of format — basically just being myself, having fun skating, and talking to myself, the camera, and now some lucky (or unlucky) viewers. I really enjoy the process of editing the footage into a mini-episode and, essentially, just putting the puzzle together the most.
SM: Both of your “skateboarding, day drinking, and smoking in a...” videos have over 12k views and have seen a really positive response online. Was that surprising at all?
DE: Yeah, it was definitely surprising. I almost didn’t post the first video, but then I thought, “Ahhh, what the hell — maybe a few randoms will have some laughs watching me be a weirdo.” It’s kind of crazy how it took off; one day, I woke up to so many comments that I was like, “What the heck? This is kind of intriguing and cool.”
I’m still a bit confused, but I think I understand more now why some people like it while others don’t. There is a lot of relatability with everything, even with the nostalgic music I’ve used from older skate videos. People have also expressed that it’s mellow and easy to chill and wind down to.
SM: Is there anything in particular that draws you to the medium of the YouTube video/vlog?
DE: I initially used YouTube to film some funny little videos and music over landscapes I filmed, basically just for myself to listen to. It’s the easiest and main platform to post on, so I thought I’d try something different and see how my personality would come through.
SM: Are there any YouTubers, filmmakers, or anyone else you take inspiration from for these videos?
DE: My friend Angus Borsos is 100% the biggest influence on how I view editing. I grew up watching him create and edit incredible skateboard videos, music videos, and short films.
It feels strange because my generation thought YouTuber skateboarding was super lame, and to be honest, most YouTubers seemed kind of dorky and poser-ish. I’m a dork too, but who gives a shit? YouTube is a wild place, and a handful of people, like Gifted Hater and Tom Asta, made it acceptable in my mind.
SM: From shoutouts to Syd Clark, Zach Barton, Mike Hastie, and Appleyard playing ambiently in the background, your videos feature a fair amount of CanCon. Is that by design or just a function of being a Canadian skateboarder in Canada?
DE: I think it’s just a function of growing up as a Canadian skateboarder. Naturally, I have connections to these skaters — whether it’s knowing them personally, skating the same spots, or inside jokes. There’s a connection there, and that’s why it’s fun for me to include them as funny references or shout-outs.
SM: Besides making videos, what are you up to in Nanaimo?
DE: Besides this, I’m running the skate shop Primary Skateboards, which is located in the core downtown of Nanaimo. I’m working on a few other video and editing projects while making these new little YouTube vids, and I’ve also been playing a little piano. All in all, I skate when I can and try to stay level, trying not to let the Canadian winter darkness take too much of my soul; it can creep up on you.
SM: Top-rated beer and/or ciders?
DE: I've been craving a Mythos 500ml Bottle from a [Greek] periptero (kiosk) in Athens, Greece, since 2020.
SM: Top-rated smokes?
DE: Greek Smokes — George Karalias is the best smoke of all time, in my opinion.
Tear down a skatepark to... build a skatepark?
Rank: 45
Mood: 🛟
In recent years, Montreal has shown itself to be one of the more progressive major city centres when it comes to supporting and incorporating skateboarding into its infrastructure and public spaces. Or just one that's willing to be convinced. That hasn't been easy, however. The fight to turn Peace Park into an approved, legal space for skating slogged on for years before the City was finally swayed, just as the back and forth with the Olympic stadium's landlord to save the Big-O required serious community effort to show them that skateboarding, its practitioners, and history, are worth preserving.
Credit to those entities for listening — for a while, at least. Now, Projet 45, a popular DIY skatepark built and maintained since 2010, is under threat. A month back, the local skate community learned of the City's plan to redevelop the area, which included demolishing Projet 45 to, well, replace it with another skatepark. While that may sound silly on its face, it's even sillier in detail, as the City would tell CBC Montreal after some community pushback, that they simply want to replace certain sections of the park that "aren't up to code," whatever that means in regards to skateable concrete structures that have been in use without issue for nearly 15 years.
As Simón Petit, who's part of the original group that built the park, told The Montreal Gazette:
DIY doesn’t equal unsafe, [Petit] added, noting many of the community builders work in construction and are experienced concrete pourers.
“One of the builders here, he has his own company. He’s building skateparks for cities,” Petit said. “He even supervised the construction of the big Vans bowl at the Olympic Stadium.”
A Change.org petition calling to "Save Projet 45 from destruction" was started on October 5 and has since amassed over 7,100 signatures out of their 7,500 signature goal. On October 19, the community held an event at the park called "Skate and Don't Destroy" to draw attention to the space's looming redevelopment and, as Petit would say, “show the community is alive.”
So far, their efforts seem to be working, per The Gazette:
The widespread public attention appears to have moved the needle: only weeks ago, the Projet 45 community believed Montreal’s demolition plans were a fait accompli, but the city seems to have softened its stance.
“I do not want to push for demolition. We are there — we really have a vision of openness, of accommodation, to respond to (the skating community’s) needs,” said Caroline Bourgeois, Montreal’s executive committee vice-president responsible for sports and activities, in an interview with The Gazette.
“The do-it-yourself principle is quite unique,” Bourgeois said. “I think we’re capable of finding common ground, and that’s why we’re working with the Montreal Skateboard Association, which is well known and respected in the skateboarding community, to really consult the public.
“I really have this idea to work with the groups and with the city, and see what we can do.”
Bourgeois hopes to speak with the petition writers in the coming weeks, and said any construction work is set to begin in 2026. She noted there are cracks in the concrete the city wants to repair, and they want to do the work with the skaters.
Whether or not the City keeps its word and works with the community to preserve Projet 45 remains to be seen, but these are promising signs and more proof that it's possible to convince the monied and powerful that public space and skateboarding mean something. Well, in Montreal, anyway.
Let's take a moment
Rank: 9
Mood: 💆
That can be hard to do, giving yourself time. The thing you only ever have less of. But it's important, on occasion, to just let it wash away, slip past and through you. It's in those moments when your guard is down that you might find yourself or something that confounds the self.
Say you accidentally smoke too much weed and are confined to the couch. Too anxious to do anything but sit, you open the internet and time dissolves. You scroll through YouTube. You watch things you wouldn't give a second thought before: the painful YouTube shorts of unknown comedians doing crowd work, thirty minutes of someone playing the Fallout: London mod, or hey, what's this? The Best Trick Jam from the Street League Skateboarding event held in Sydney, Australia, at the beginning of October? Why not. You haven't watched much SLS since they switched to their explicitly far-right broadcast partner Rumble, aka GroyperTube. But this is YouTube, and outside of that disappointment, SLS is usually a good time.
Cole Nowicki
And it still is. Felipe Gustavo, Chloe Covell, Alex Midler, Jhancarlos González — they all impress. It remains shocking to see such high-level skateboarding performed so consistently and with such ease. It makes you yell at the screen, slap your thighs, clap your hands. At SLS, you may even see something that removes your faculties entirely, awe all you have left.
Like Kairi Netsuke landing, to perfection, a backside-heelflip-late-shove-it down a large set of temporary stairs. What is this? How is it? This feat would have been seen as impossible a decade ago. Now, it doesn't even break through on social media. You have to get uncomfortably stoned and lost in an algorithm just to stumble across it.
What we should be asking after taking a moment to sit with something like this is what can't be accomplished if this is already our reality? Some may have other lingering questions about whether a trick like this should be done — those who consider it over the top, a tasteless excess. But I am here to defend it. As someone who would go on after the SLS Best Trick Jam to watch Deadpool & Wolverine, I can identify a tasteless excess. This is not that.
Netsuke does go over the top — off the top rope to smash our previous conceptions of what is possible on a skateboard. You can experience this, too, if you're lucky enough to find it online.
Some things to consider:
Nesrine Malik
"A Cartography of Genocide: Israel's Conduct in Gaza Since October 2023" from Forensic Architecture.
Good thing: Farran Golding just launched Skate Bylines, a very cool new outlet and resource that, in his words, "is a spot for skateboarding journalism."
He'll be publishing new stories and cataloguing those, past and present, from other outlets, similar to Longreads. Check it out!
Adam Burns
Another good thing:
Alan Moore
That's right, another thing that is good:
Li Charmaine Anne
A good podcast round-up:
Yes, yes, of course, another good thing:
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Supporting a fellow skater:
If you can, Vancouver-area skater Judy McLaren is accepting donations to their GoFundMe for their cancer treatment.
Until next week… if you find yourself confused as to why Tony Hawk would call a hurricane grind an "oop... back feeble," that's understandable. But remember, we all have different lived experiences, which leads us to have our own individual perspectives. These moments of misunderstanding are opportunities to show others grace. To hear them out. That doesn't mean they're right, obviously. I mean, c'mon, it's a fuckin' hurricane grind. Get outta here. Vert-ass vernacular.
1 Happy Halloween (yesterday).
Laser Quit Smoking Massage
NEWEST PRESS
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My new collection of essays is available now. I think you might like it. The Edmonton Journal thinks it's a "local book set to make a mark in 2024." The CBC called it "quirky yet insightful." lol.
Book cover by Hiller Goodspeed.
Right, Down + Circle
ECW PRESS
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I wrote a book about the history and cultural impact of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater that you can find at your local bookshop or order online now. I think you might like this one, too.
Here’s what Michael Christie, Giller Prize-nominated author of the novels Greenwood and If I Fall, If I Die, had to say about the thing.
“With incisive and heartfelt writing, Cole Nowicki unlocks the source code of the massively influential cultural phenomenon that is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and finds wonderful Easter-eggs of meaning within. Even non-skaters will be wowed by this examination of youth, community, risk, and authenticity and gain a new appreciation of skateboarding’s massive influence upon our larger culture. This is my new favorite book about skateboarding, which isn’t really about skateboarding — it’s about everything.”
Photo via The Palomino.
