D*Face gets busy by the pool

So now you know who to call when you want a paint job on your pool. D*Face and the boys are ready and primed with spraycan loaded boards complete with remote valve releases. The result is ... well I suppose it's art. Team art.

ZUkie Loves Japan: tee of hope

If you remember the Zukie post the other day you might remember the Zukie Loves Japan t-shirt that the skate label was going to release to help raise money for the disaster relief fund.

Well here it is. Available now from Switch skates. Get it quick, they're selling out fast.

Zukie: a little bit of a monster

If you ever watched eighties cartoon shows as a kid you would know that Zukie is Godzilla's diminutive offspring with the big eyes who was always wandering off and getting himself into trouble.

Quite an apt name for a skate label which draws on a bit of punk-edged Japanese manga for its designs.

And just like its cartoon namesake the only way this brand is going to grow is up. The present range features tees with matching skateboard designs, sweatshirts, snap-back caps, a women's line and a kids' line, with plans for expanding the range into slick polo shirts and other pieces which would nod to the smarter side of skating.

"The kind of thing the Beastie Boys might have been seen in", as co-founder Bomber, part owner of Switch Skates in Leigh-on-Sea explained.

He has set up the label with Dougie Poynter of the pop band McFly and Jason Perry, formerly of rock band A and now a music producer. Thanks to the Dougie fanbase the tees have already been featured in a pap shot in Heat magazine, which any label owner knows is the kind of PR dreams are made of.

The brand has also just released a t-shirt to raise money for the Japanese tsunami disaster relief fund, with all profits going to the Japanese Red Cross.

All that, with scratch and sniff designs, free stickers with every tee, and a poo logo makes Zukie one of those brands that you just know is going to go down a storm in the skateparks, before it conquers the world like the b-movie monster legend that is Zukie's dad.

You can run, but you can't hide.

www.zukieclothing.com

Skate or die: Do one, fear the other

dylan. from No Holidays for a Hooker on Vimeo.

This little film had me transfixed for a bit, if only because not learning to skate properly has to be one of the things I will always regret in life.

What I like about this is the way these guys make it all look so damn easy, like the boards are an extension of their feet.

But I never grew up around skaters. They were the kids who did stuff under flyovers while we were smoking at the back of the football terrace.

It's too late now, of course. My fearlessness left me some time ago. If I got on a skateboard now I'd be forever looking out for that bus.

So I salute the skaters, and their antics, and their style. Because they have got style.

Via You Have Broken the Internet

Switch skates: On a roll

There's not many decent skate shops in south Essex, so I consider myself blessed that probably the best one is located just up the road from me.

Switch skates was set up by a bunch of skaters a couple of years ago, and stocks everything from the better-known Stussy and Carhartt to niche skate labels such as Enjoi and The Hundreds.

On top of that they have an entire room dedicated to the boards themselves, known as ... the Boardroom.

The shop is always putting on little events such a film screenings and is heavily involved with the local park.

It's also where you will find my Skyway for sale.

If you live a bit to far away to visit in person, like on another continent or something, they also have a website, www.switchskates.co.uk