:: 2 HAWKS YOUNG - SWITCH BLUNT SLIDE. ::

: JOSH ANDERSON - OLLIE UP TO LIPSLIDE IN. :: PHOTO BY MARSHAL REID.

:: BRAYDON TAYLOR - GAP TO LIPSLIDE ::

: :: MIKEY BURTON VARIAL HEEL FLIP. ::
:: JOSH HAWKINS. FAKIE THRUSTER :: PHOTO : DEVILLE

:: IT TAKES SOME EXTRA EFFORT TO CROOKED GRIND THIS MASSIVE SHIP CLEAT. JOSH ANDERSON

Seattle
OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES SEATTLE HAS BECOME KNOWN FOR THE SPACE NEEDLE, NIRVANA, JUNKIES, RAIN, FLANNELS, MICROSOFT NERDS AND SUICIDE.

Eight months of rain and gloomy weather has created the highest suicide rate in the country. When it’s raining you can either skate the indoor park or a parking garage. We also have really good weed that might help you stay productive. Unfortunately it just may lead you to Heinekens, a huge bag of salt and vinegar chips, EA Skate, and Halo. You basically have to stay concentrated on some sort of project in the winter if you want to make it through. Another popular option for some is the “girlfriend”, especially if the parents have money.

Four months out of the year Seattle is the best place on earth. After enduring eight months of rain the weather begins to change, as does everyone’s mood. Girls start wearing less clothes, and all those decent looking chicks that were all bundled up in the winter are now way too hot too even talk to you. The skate spots come back to life and people stop committing suicide. Downtown at Westlake plaza the marble dries out and pops and the ledge becomes buttery in the sun. Red square at the University of Washington is a go again. The bricks are perfect and you can run faster from the pigs when it’s warmer there. Summer in Seattle brings your flip tricks back proper and every one is “feeling it”. People from around the country come to skate and hangout. Westlake Plaza is where it all goes down. You never know what you will see at Westlake.

Marshall “Stacks” Reid goes back a few years and recalls some shit that went down.
Back in ‘89, we had been skating downtown Seattle all night, having one of the best sessions of our lives. We wound up at Westlake Center when this guy came up to us wearing nothing but a black plastic bag. Before we even knew what his deal was, he starts jacking off and chasing us around the park yelling, “It’s not what you think, I just got released from jail for indecent exposure.” We didn’t really care what this loony was trying to say, but he wouldn’t quit chasing us around while jacking off at the same time. So we’re running around tripping out on this guy when one of my friends pulls the lid off a garbage can and realizes it’s full of moldy muffins. Suddenly, we started pelting the guy with tons of moldy muffins. It was funny as hell and all he kept doing was jackin’ it and telling us that it’s not what we think. Eventually he laid down on a bench in his plastic bag to pleasure himself. As soon as he did that my buddy Trevor took the garbage can and said “Have a little bit of garbage with your bag Sir!” and he dumped the entire can of trash on the guy. It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen! He just kept beating off while the pile of garbage was shaking around on top of him. We wanted to give him his alone time so we broke out. A lot of people from the Northwest are bird watchers, but for those of us who skate downtown Seattle, we’ve got our own thing going on, weirdo watching.

Regardless, People with talent always will posses that talent. Whether its skateboarding, music, art, or anything else they decide to do, they will have it because they are raw individuals. Seattle is the home, and has been the home, to raw individuals throughout history. Its about to be summer here and it’s on again.