santa cruz

Ben Raemers. Crailslide. Photo: Jai Tanju

Grandpa’s DIY – La Selva Beach – California

My son Thomas called me at home and told me there was a spot that he thought we could build on. It turns out it’s this neighbor kid Lucas’s house. I really didn’t like this kid much. It seemed to me that they were always fighting, but I rode my bike down there anyway to see what was up. It turns out it was a piece of property that his Grandpa gave him.

Australians (and Kiwis) in California – roadtrip

I planned a quick roadtrip to central California with my mate Scott Standley. He got a hold of some of his homies to see who was in. Kieran Reilly was down to get out of So Cal. I borrowed my sisters SUV plus some camping gear, grabbed a couple kiwi dudes along the way and headed north.

Jeff Hedges – smithvert, Weirdo Bowl, Hayward, CA

Behind the Lens: Dan Sparagna

In this second edition of Confusion magazine’s online exclusive skate photographer check out “Behind the Lens” we check in with Dan Sparagna, a skate photographer from San Diego, California who started shooting skate photos in the 70s and early 80s, and after a 25 year break – he’s back!

Zarosh throwing down a crail into the shallow end. Photo: J. Hay

Any Given Friday: Buena Vista Pool

Any given friday, a session like this could be going down at the Buena Vista square pool south of Santa Cruz, one of the longest running “backyard” pools in history. This pool has been skated by generations of legendary skateboarders. Most sessions these days include not only the old school pool shredders and underground legends, but also unknown new school pool riders that fearlessly roll in to the deep end and attack the “lip” as if they’ve been skating pools their entire lives, which quite probably they have. This pool is definitely harder to skate than it looks. Hopefully it will remain empty for another 30 years for following generations of pool skaters to shred without too much fear of the cops showing up and busting it, or without it being filled in with dirt like it has numerous times over the last 30 years.

Kaleb Stevens. Ollie. El Mutante. Costa Rica. Photo: Tony Roberts

Hot Shit: Kaleb Stevens

I first knew of Tony Roberts though his ground breaking surf/skate videos like “Mental Surfing”, “Progression Sessions”, Speed Wheels Santa Cruz “Risk It!” and many more in the early 90s. His films were the best, maybe because there was a lot of cross over between surfing and skating or because he started focusing on the radical aerial surfing of the Santa Cruz locals and was the one who got photos of guys like Ratboy, Flea, and Barney in the surfing magazines which led to their almost instant success and world wide fame and notoriety. I would see TR on the other side of the lens, skating at Derby or hanging out at the spots that we love the most. If anyone was my “hero” growing up in Santa Cruz as a surfer-skater videographer and photographer it was Tony Roberts.

Cradle Rock Bowl Contest – Bordeaux, France

For the 5th time, Transfert skateshop, was organizing the CRADLE ROCK CONTEST at the skatepark in downtown Bordeaux. It’s been famous for the laid back and relaxed atmosphere and its punk attitude.

Jason Jessee: “I skateboard but I’m an artist.” Automodown warehouse. Watsonville, California. (2004-2005)

Jason Jessee is a legend. He is also a living enigma, which is defined as a “riddle generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that requires ingenuity and careful thinking to discover its solution.” He is a natural born actor, who plays himself in every role he’s ever been in. He is probably best known for his frontside ollie, which many agree was the best skateboarding has ever seen.

Photo Contest #5 of 5

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