What's In a Name?

Welcome back, all.

First order of business: broken ankle.
Yep, stepped out of  a backside 50-50 going entirely too fast last Wednesday, shattered and dislocated my left ankle. Got out of surgery today, and the prognosis was standard enough, though it may be another six months or so before I feel well enough to skate.

Yup, my foot was wrenched 90 degrees counter-clockwise. Never underestimate the speed of new metal coping...


Now then, enough about me, on to business.

It's  no secret, except maybe among snowboarders and kids who grew up with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, that grabs in skateboarding have different names depending on the direction in which they're rotate, and are therefore different maneuvers. In fact, this is such common knowledge that, you, the reader, are probably wondering why I'm wasting your all-to-precious time for the sake of telling you what ought to be a cardinal truth among skateboarders. Indeed, at this rate I'd be better off to say "Class Dismissed", pack up early, and let my pain meds sing me a chemically-induced lullaby.
Or would I?

I feel that the nomenclature of aerials is a very worthy topic, for a couple of reasons:

1) While I had mentioned earlier in this post that the proper nomenclature of grab tricks in skateboarding is, more or less, common knowledge among skateboarders, this is, sadly, not the case. That being said I feel obliged to rifle off the proper names of every grab maneuver, depending on whether or not it's performed spinning frontside or backside. Odds are you know the name of at least one of the two variations, and if not, feel free to leave a comment in which I'll specify the details of it.

• Frontside Air/Indy Air
• Benihanna/Benibongo
• Lein/Backside
• Lein to Tail/Body Jar
•  Lein Judo/ Judo
• Lein Method/Method
• Madonna/Frigid (not to tail), Sean Penn (to tail)
• Slob/Mute
• Slob Japan/Japan
• Stalefish/Backside Stalefish
• Tailgrab/ Backside Tailgrab

 This list happens to lead me to the reason I was inspired to write this article in the first place.

2)There is no proper name for certain aerial maneuvers. The two main perpetrators of this are, as mentioned on the above list, Backside Stalefish and Bakcside Tailgrab. Both of these tricks have been done frequently enough to warrant being given their own names separate from their frontside counterparts.

....Okay, so maybe Holmes doesn't need another trick named after himself....

Alright, I am willing to concede that there would be no sense in calling a Backside Tailgrab anything but. however I firmly stand by my claim that the Backside Stale needs a name all its own, and I've even gone to the trouble of choosing one.
This, oh loyal reader whom I am amazed is still reading this, brings me to the very reason I felt compelled to write this whole post in the first place.

This is Pedro Barros, one of, if not the hottest new vertical rider coming up. He's performing a Backside Stalefish. He does this trick at every contest I've seen him skate, and he makes it look ridiculously stylish. Anyone who has ever tried a stalefish will tell you that it's an awkward trick frontside, and yet here is young Mr. Barros performing the probably triply awkward backside variation consistently, and with the kind of ease that most people wish they had just pushing down the street....

.....Barr Air, anyone? I think the kid's earned it.

Yearning for More Curvaceous Pastures

It would seem that, as of late, Europe has been popping up in my day-to-day conversations more frequently; my girlfriend is soon to be returning to Canada from a two-week vacation in Rome, the recent Royal Wedding of the former Kate Middleton and the formerly fawned-over William "Who Thought I'd Grow Into My Dad's Goulish Looks" Windsor, a co-worker talking to me about a recent trip to see his daughter in Belgium, and so forth.

Half of me is envious of all the pieces of history mentioned in these day-to-day conversations that I have yet to see for myself. Indeed, my Bachelor of History self goes a little green with the talk of The Flavium Amphitheatre, Trajan's Market, Westminster Abbey, and the formerly Hapsburg-ruled home of delicious, delicious chocolate.....

Now, of course, like any good skateboarder, my thoughts of Europe are also often accompanied with visions of the bevy of amazing things to skate across the pond. Mind you, while most skaters would fantasize about the sets, ledges, and manual pads that seem to litter Barcelona, I find my personal European skate destiation would likely be throughout France.

"Brandon," you, the reader may ask "why France? I heard the people are arrogant and smell like open sewage." Well, suprisingly interactive reader, I will grant you that I have heard accounts from people who have done the London/Paris two week vacation, only to wish they'd spent both weeks in jolly ol' England... However, these people were not concerned with what terrain was available to skate. Therefore, on this note, herewith are some of my must-skate structures if ever i should find myself backpacking throughout the land of wine and cheese

The Lyon Mushrooms

The Marseilles Bowl

Le Cradle de 13e, Paris



The holy grail, the Eiffel Tower Basin Bowl

Notice a pattern?

I prefer transitions, in case it wasn't painfully obvious at this point, and naturally-occurring trannys in the GTA are rare as diamonds. The unfortunate thing is that France is a long way, and a good chunk of change. That being said, I suppose at this point I'll have to save up a little and settle for the next best thing...

Big O, Montreal.

...What is it with the French and curvy architecture, anyway?