Disco Balls

Disco Balls

The faster you go, the brighter these bad boys get. Here is a little clip on Dalleys Road at around 60 kph....

Fortune by Patrick Switzer

Decision time - to procure or not to procure? 

A virtual toss of the coin meant that the Rayne Fortune was destined to become a part of the quiver.

Clear grip job to enable the character of the graphic to remain in the public view, Paris 180's and the Orangatang In Heats for a smooth ride....pretty stoked.

Thanks Basement Skate in bloody Redfern.

Time for something new - RAYNE Time.

For years I have been debating whether or not to get the Patrick Switzer signature board, the Rayne Fortune.

It's done.

Now what will Robbo do as a Grip Job?

Looking forward to picking up this bad boy.

It's almost over

St Leonards is no longer a vibrant, healthy place. 

It is remarkably downbeat and droll.

The area is now lacking a heartbeat that was associated with lots of activity and lots of young people.

I'm trying to work out what the problem is and I shed a tear as I am forced to concede that my local skateboard shop is now gone. 

Chagrin.

Basement stripped of it's awesomeness

Make good underway

The mini ramp is closed...forever

Removing the dynabolts that held the place together

Basement Redfern*

Much to my chagrin, Basement Skate was out of place in St Leonards. The scene has changed and the walk in traffic and kids wanting longboards had passed.

Evolve or die. The evolution of Basement Skate is to go south to the spiritual home of street skating...Redfern.

The one thing I do like about the new location is is that a little bit of Naremburn ...you see those fence palings - they are from my place.

Robbo and Trav turned up a couple of years ago asking if I had some weathered fence palings. 

I had several that I wasn't using but they wanted more so we dismantled most of my side fence. Looks pretty good in Redfern as it happens.

They took all of their shit and deserted me*

One day the Basement Skate mob were 800m away and then they weren't. The doors closed on Sunday 21st June 2015 and that was it.....

Gutted.....

Leaping Shitburgers Batman...I'm on the ASRA board

The Australian Skateboard Racing Association has been spectacularly run by the evergreen custodians Haggie, Bugs and Robbo. Over the past couple of years they have also breathed life into the IDF (International Downhill Federation) which has exhausted their resolve a little.

They all expressed their desire to back off a little which saw a changing of the guard. 

The 2014/ 2015 board is as follows:

James Hopkin as President
Tony Street as VP
I'm the Secretary
Haggie the Treasurer
Jacko is a director
Bra Pete once again put his hand up as a director

We need to get the rubber to hit the road and get our goals and plans laid out. 

Long live ASRA

Auf Widersehen Chris Renz - wir lieben dich.

Today was an extremely tough day for you see, today we gathered at the Manly Village Church in West Promenade Manly to farewell a friend.

Chris Renz died in a tragic set of circumstances while skateboarding at Kangaroo Valley on the south coast of NSW. 

We all heard the news of Chris' death and were absolutely struck dumb as a result. As a fine tribute to the man, a skateboard race that was being held was renamed in Chris Renz honour. Riders came from near and far and and it was a wonderful testament to Chris with the way that the competition evolved.

Today, however, was when the reality hits and knocks you around. 

This was not a funeral, but a memorial. There were no celebrants or people to hold a service. This was for reflection and personal farewells. This was a way for people to come together and reflect on their times with Chris and to say auf widersehen.

At 12:50pm the coffin was opened for those who were up to it.

The whole day was so moving. There were tears, there were many tears. Chris had his closest and dearest friends in attendance and there was genuine grief stricken emotion. 

At one stage, the mighty Eusebio had Chris' family skyped in from Germany. This was very difficult for them and for everyone, particularly them. They were thankful for the support of all of Chris's friends in Australia. 

The moment came when Chris's mother asked to see him in the open casket. 'I want to see him'. I have heard this occur before, but many years ago when a guy I played soccer with was killed, but the grief, sadness, anger and despair in her weeping and in her words is something that is just not right. It touched everyone.

Would a good and just God, let this happen. The logical sequence of events would dictate that we bury our parents. Seriously man, this is not right that parents bury children. Shame on you....

I read a light eulogy and then we got on with the farewell.

The pallbearers, Aldo, Eusebio, Chrisso and Ali wheeled Chris out and we then followed the hearse out of the street.

Eusebio skitched a ride as a mark of respect but today was a truly sombre and sobering, yet real and emotional celebration of the life of Chris Renz.

Skate in Peace little dude.

Your parents may have lost you but they have gained a hundred more of your friends in Australia that will help comfort them through your loss.

Farewell Chris - skitchin'.

Farewell Chris Renz... Skate In Peace

RENZ'S RIOT Race -  Eulogy to Chris Renz....15th February 2015.

One thing that struck me about last Sundays Tribute race to the life of Chris Renz is that it did not seem like a gathering of Longboarders…no, it seemed like a gathering of family members. Enormous respect people.

I would like to pay my respects to the original owners of this hill, Rob and Maga McWhinnie and Mitch Thompson.

Every tribe has it’s elders and our tribe is no different. I've taken it upon myself as one of the elders to deliver a eulogy to celebrate the life of Chris Renz. We've come from many parts and gathered to race in memory of, and pay homage to a young guy who was a part of our tribe and who has left us so tragically….he has left a hole in the hearts of all of us.

Chris Renz would, under normal circumstances, have been here. But as we know, last Monday, circumstances conspired to change the course of his life and the lives of all who knew and loved him.

The shock of that tragic skateboard run is still being felt all over the world.

It would seem, that everyone in the Longboarding community feels like they have lost a valuable member of their family.

Words don’t help. There are no words that can offer solace or comfort. But it also does no good not to talk about it…. It also does no good not to talk about the cool and whacky shit that Chris did for this is a part of the grieving process.

It is true though that while we mourn a death, we must also fittingly celebrate a life, a life well lived and it would be totally disrespectful not to shine a little light on the life of Chris Renz.

We all have our own memories and stories of our time with Chris, but you cannot argue that this blonde, laid back, curly - mop haired German guy was someone we all called our friend.

Chris left Germany a handful of few years ago and was travelling the world with a backpack. He spent time in Morocco, Peru, Sri Lanka, Spain, France, Bali and then came to our doorstep. He had skateboarded in Germany back in the day and upon finding himself marooned with his shitty van, which by some strange coincidence, he managed to limp and park at the back of a skateshop. He quickly got himself the gear to get skating and did so whenever he could.

My first meeting with Chris was a couple of years ago, and as luck would have it, it was at Robbo’s skateshop. He had the aforementioned sketchy old van that was out of rego sitting down the back and he was looking for a job. He was a fitter and turner in the metal trade, and Robbo, being Robbo made some inquiries and hooked him up with a job locally. So Chris was employed locally making custom metal fittings for lights.

He loved Australia, he loved the beer, he loved the birds, the surf and the skating and settled really well into life at Manly. The beach culture suited him, the surf was at his doorstep and it was only a short ferry ride on Thursday nights to meet the crew at Central for the ritual that is the Sydney City Bomb Squad.

Chris loved coming to Bomb Squad, his mates were there.

If you have never been to BombSquad, please indulge me if you will. On our Bomb Squad  nights we would push from Maritime Museum to the Pyrmont water hole and often I’d be beside Chris as we pushed down Harris Street. We’d have a little chinwag along the way…talk a little shit, how was your day, you been OK, how’s work…that type of thing – a bit of, how is your daughter…Fuck Off Chris. We were doing just that one evening, just a bit behind the main grommy BombSquad pack and someone across the road yelled out “Hey, look at the old cunt on the skateboard!”. I said to Chris “Did you hear what he called you?” Chris replied “What an arsehole, let’s go get him….he can’t call me that”. He had my back….we laughed and we rode on.

I had only been at BombSquad for a short while and had not done many hits of the Opera House. Chris and I got separated from the pack. They were skating a carpark next to the Police and Justice Museum near the Quay and Chris said “Lets go to the Opera House”, “Cmon Bruiser, I know the way”. The observed process for the SCBS is to walk in through the carpark exit for about 150m then there is a doorway and a tunnel you need to walk through that leads to the down ramp. Well firstly we didn’t walk it, we skated down the ramp and nearly got collected by some dickhead in a BMW. We didn’t go through the aforementioned door, we went past it, but he knows the way, so we are all good. We then hit the beginning of the carpark and push like crazy to get some speed up. Chris in front and me right behind, both of us in tuck. The first thing that was odd was the direction of the arrows on the concrete floor of the carpark we were bombing. The arrows were facing the opposite direction to the way we were skating….a few seconds later the next thing that was wrong revealed itself. There were headlights coming towards us……Fuck, instead of going down the down ramp we were going down the up ramp….let me tell you something for free, adrenalin is brown…I know. Good job Chris knew where he was going. He gave a wry grin afterwards and said with a half smile “Shit, I fukt that up”…..

Chris had many mates from within the ‘Brotherhood’ of the Longboarding community and they were regularly heading out in search of hills to hone their skills. These mates now have a hole in their hearts that has been left open by a tragic turn of events…that hole will never heal, but it will, over time, get easier. In light of this it is incumbent for us all to close ranks and be there for those who have been rocked by this tragedy. This shit does rock you, make no mistake and one thing we do in our tribe is that we look after our own. You may not want to hear this but I need to say it. If you are having any difficulty dealing with this then for Christ’s sake “Soften the Fuck Up” and talk about it. There is no indignity in admitting that this is hard to handle. If necessary, Lifeline is only a phone call away.

Chris will be going back to his home town, Geislinger, in Germany. He won’t be going home the way that he had intended which is quite surreal and still unbelievable and it is with a very heavy heart that I am forced to face the reality that I won’t be seeing my little brother from another mother again.

Life is so fragile, we do need to acknowledge that but I charge you all with the responsibility, therefore, of keeping it safe. Do this for your parents…no parent should bury their child. I also charge the O.G’s, the elders in the tribe, to pass on the learning of our skate ancestors, to pass on the stories and to pass on the responsible and good habits to the young guns. Young guns….listen to the elders…that is not a guideline; that is a rule. You hear me now, that is not a suggestion, it is a RULE. Listen to and learn from your elders.

A minute’s silence or a minute’s rowdiness would normally be OK but what better way to celebrate a life than to have the community gather at an annual tribute race in honour of Chris Renz. To the organisers I tip my hat on a remarkable and touching show of support for a young man who has left us all too soon.

The brotherly love that you Skateboarders have so genuinely and unconditionally given has pulled the community together to try and heal. This tribute race and the outpouring from our community will surely be something Chris’s family in Germany will be able to reflect upon. Perhaps at a later time, when their grief has waned, they will appreciate that the love they had for their Chris was shared.

Dudes..riders, friend, members of my tribe…I wish wholeheartedly that your grief is short and your memory long…

Chris Renz, may you light up a fat one and may you forever Skate in Peace….

http://www.wheelbasemag.com/downhill-skater-dies-collision-truck-australia/

http://www.schwarzwaelder-bote.de/inhalt.geislingen-christopher-renz-stirbt-bei-unfall-in-australien.8e2f42c3-0bf5-4e62-a474-13da35ddd6f7.html#

Statuesque....

These are not my doing but are very cool...righteous and worthy...

Drop In Practice

Behold the skateboard

Perfect size to conceal the beavage

Confidence in dropping in is key