The Santa Monica Courthouse has seen countless celebrities trudge through its doors. It’s seen Hollywood marriages battle out divorce proceedings, Starlets face drunken driving charges, and the courthouse has even bared witness to Michael Jackson court spectacle. Who cares about all that celebrity hype? A.J. Burnett’s kickflip uses the courthouse for a way more interesting cause. Photo: Kimathi Smith.
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JEFF KING AND I GO WAY BACK. As a matter of fact Jeff was one of the creative forces behind this magazine in the early years. If you are a long time reader perhaps you remember the editorial gems, “Jeff Kings, Bathroom Pranks”, or the “What’s in Jeff’s beard contest” we had back in the day. In fact, Jeff’s tomfoolery nearly cost me my left eye. The emotional scars are there as well. One day out of the blue Jeff decided he was going to start calling me Boner Milker, for no reason, really, just because. To this day, I’ll be in a crowd and inevitably hear off in the distance, “BONER MILKER”! Fucking great! Some fool heard it like ten years ago and thinks he can take the liberty.
In 2003 Neil Heddings was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the death of his 2-year-old son Marty. The jury found his girlfriend, Christine “Pinky” Rams, guilty of second-degree murder. Neil got involuntary manslaughter because the jury felt he didn’t do enough to protect Marty from Christine. He served 4-years and is now out and a free man. I caught up with Neil and chatted with him a bit. I don’t know what happened the night that his son Marty died but the fact is Neil paid the ultimately price, the life of his son. Read More
Stewart Graham is from Livingston, Scotland. Aside from speaking funny, the residents of this gritty working class neighborhood can talk some serious shit. Below, Livingston’s favorite son, Stewart graham lets the shit fly in a very thick Scottish accent. (If you can’t read this with a Scottish accent we highly recommend that you find someone who can and have them read it to you.). Every issue we give one lucky head the chance to spew as much hate as they can muster from some randomly chosen topics and this is the shit talk that only Scotland can dish out.. Read More
I have an absolutely horrible memory. I seriously can’t remember a god damned thing–especially when it comes to practical things like memorizing my social security number or nailing down the time difference between California and New York. With that being said, some of my most precious adolescent sexual experiences would have been as good as a dubbed over porno–if it weren’t for my extremely potent and unexplainable visual association with the boards I rode during those years of experimentation. For some reason I can pinpoint every detail of my teen sex life, when recalling the board I was skating at the time. Read on as I flex a skill that has absolutely no relevance in this life whatsoever. Read More
The TM horror story below, by Chris “Bama” Bodiford, former Zero and Mystery TM, illustrates once again that young AMs and beer don’t mix well.
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We're a bit dismayed over here at Automatic. Even though we're seeing our circulation blow up, the money ain't quite rolling in as of yet. And we need to get paid. Shit, my monthly drug habit alone is bigger than the combined income of the entire Automatic staff. Maybe we just aren't cool enough. Sure, we try to be "different" than the typical skate mag, but who's to say that we aren't completely fooling ourselves, and "different" is just another word for "lame." Read More
Josh Hawkins is a talented skateboarder. What kind of questions do you ask a semi-professional skateboarder? Do you ask the same questions you might find on a teenybopper internet bulletin board? Or do you ask profound questions that the reader might not understand, or worse yet, that the skater wouldn’t know how to answer? There really is an art to putting your finger on the proverbial pulse of a skateboarder. I was at my local neighborhood watering hole, doodling on bar napkins, tossing around ideas regarding Josh Hawkins. I wasn’t talking to anyone else, just glimpsing occasionally at Sports Center, and watching the only hot chick through the mirror behind the bar. I had my third or fourth tall pint of Pabst Blue Ribbon in my left hand and a burning Camel Filter in my right hand. I have a quirk that if I’m settled in somewhere, there can’t be anything in my pockets. Read More
Traci Green Of the Office Skate Shop Portland Or. Just because you have a vagina doesn't mean you can't get a Shop Talent! Read More
