Vert Attack 6

Vert Attack 6 takes place this weekend in Malmö. Duane Peters is supposed to show up, but I have my doubts...
Last year I watched the webcast because the venue was really crowded and my friends didn't wanna go. We'll see what happens this weekend.

More info and full schedule on skatemalmo.se

Ultra Bowl III

Skateboarding is so much fun to watch. My local skatepark Stapelbädden is hosting Ultra Bowl III this weekend. The local kids are skating side by side with the stars and the atmosphere is really relaxed and fun.

And these days there are quite a few skatergirls with worn sneakers, scrapes and badass attitudes. I hope some of them will be competing and kickin' ass in a few years time.

Took a bunch of photos with my phone because I didn't wanna drag my nikon camera around the malmö festival. When are they gonna make a kickass system camera that I can fit in my handbag?

Pro Quarterfinals

Checking out the deep end.

Pro Quarterfinals

Vert Attack 5

Tomorrow it's time for Vert Attack 5 with Steve Caballero, Christian Hosoi, Neal Hendrix and some other great skateboarders. Be there or be square!
More info on Bryggeriets website.

Pomade, Cars and Boards

Mamma Mia, what a weekend I've had. I've done so much over the past three days that I have a hard time remebering what I did on Friday. My brain feels like it's on sensory overload, but in a good way.

Friday: Patric from Kustom Kutting and Rebecka from Fritzi's Hair Parlour were at Saint 21, cutting classic men's hairstyles. Micke Levin of Levin's Pomade dropped by with the pomade he has created for Kustom Kutting. More on that at the Saint 21 blog.

Micke Levin (Levin's Pomade), Robert Göthe (HepCat Store), Rebecka Nord (Fritzi's Hair Parlour) and Patric Fjellman (Kustom Kutting) wth the brand new pomade.

We rounded off the day with drinks and good conversation at Mediterranean.

Saturday: The day of Cardinals Junkyard Jamboree. The '28 Ford was ready to go, and... everybody else was running late. Tony finally showed up and then we were just waiting for Micke Levin and his '64 Pontiac. He must have gotten confused by all this open space we have down south, because he took the wrong exit somewhere and was on his way to Gothenburg for a while.

Oldest first. Behind us was Tony in his '52 Chevy and Levin in his '64 Pontiac.

But we made it to Hammarlunda Bilskrot (Hammarlunda Junkyard) without any further incidents. Other than a small detour to get more gas. Old cars are thirsty.

Looking for a place to park.

The Cardinals' third Jamboree was a good one, and the rain stayed away. Lots of cars, beers at the Junk Bar, burgers at the Junk Food stand and good music on the Junk Stage. (Am I the only one who can see a theme here? Hmm...)
Kick Em Jenny, Pat C Miller and the Astrolites played live and DJ Martin Kubista was stoked to be playing rock 'n roll in an actual garage.
- If this isn't garage rock I don't know what is, he said with a smile.

Kubista in his garage.

I met a lot of friends, drank cider and ate veggie burgers. And unlike most photographers at car shows and rockabilly events I prefer to take photos of people. Sure, the cars are nice to look at and fun to ride around in, but living things are far more interesting.

Junk Bar. Lincoln-Mange behind the counter.

Astrolites.

I wasn't in bed until 4 am, but it was worth it. Summer nights are for hanging out with friends and living in the moment.
You can see more photos from the Junkyard Jamboree on flickr.

Sunday: Crawled out of bed and looked like something from Resident Evil. Sadly not Milla Jovovich. The plan was to head to Stapelbäddsparken in Malmö and check out skate competition Ultra Bowl II.

Cell phone photo. Ultra Bowl II, pro semifinals.

The weather wasn't looking too good but we hoped for the best. Sadly, it just wouldn't stop raining and we spent more time hiding from the rain than watching the competition. The boys picked up some merch and Levin splashed out on a new skateboard.

Levin's hat proved to be rather unreliable when it got soaked by the rain and left a large black stain on his forehead. He didn't get a permanent mark from the weekend though, some soap and water got rid of most of it.

And then I spent the evening editing photos and uploading them to flickr until my hands hurt and I lost the ability to spell basic words or tell one Cardinal from another. Having fun is hard work.

Longboard

Working with me can have unforeseen consequences. Just ask my former intern/current colleague Petter. I lent him my copy of Dogtown and Z-boys and the first thing he bought when he got his paycheck was a new longboard.

Cell phone pictures.

We tried it out in the office and it was a lot of fun. I even managed to get on it and ride around without falling on my ass or breaking anything. Quite an achievement, considering it's been more than 15 years since I last stood on a skateboard.

If you haven't seen the documentary Dogtown and Z-boys, check it out!
Director Stacey Peralta, one of the original z-boys, turned the z-boys story into feature film Lords of Dogtown a few years after the documentary was released.

Skate or Die

One thing I wish I'd learned properly when I was younger is how to skateboard. I love the fact that it's so free, looks cool and you can do it almost anywhere.

If I tried to skate a ramp today I might fall on my face and break something.