thebooted-blog

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Dustin Werbeski x The Booted

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Dustin Werbeski, Wallride to fish, Barcelona, Spain while filming for his part with The Booted which can be seen here - http://www.thebooted.com/video/dustin-werbeski/

Photo by Oliver Baker

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One year ago today Alex Broskow laced this soul to fishbrain outside Apothecaries Hall within the City of London. The full gallery of Alex's time in London is online at thebooted.com/exposed/alex-broskow-london/

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It gets cold in New York during the winter. And it gets cold in the mountains of North Carolina. So in an attempt to avoid the misery of February, I once again joined forces with my favorite Yankees and fled to somewhere warm.

Unlike the Puerto Rico tour of last winter, Justin Brasco anticipated a month of constant ridicule and resisted the urge to shave his entire body in preparation for the trip.

But for some reason his Long Island posse member, Alex Karayannis, could not fight that same temptation and all I heard across the aisle during the first of several 14 hour flights was Austin Paz yelling, complaining, and threatening each time a spikey and stubble-ridden arm brushed against him from the middle seat.

When we landed in Abu Dhabi, a man who spoke minimal English held out a paper sign with Austin’s name printed in all caps. This man quickly grabbed Austin’s luggage from his hands and left the rest of us to fend for ourselves.

This was especially difficult for me.

I received all new Rollerblade brand suitcases for the trip but after the first flight and the violent handling by airport personal, my checked bag was never to roll on two wheels again.

So I dragged my luggage on its one remaining wheel through the airport parking lot where we loaded up in a truck and were taken to Dubai. There, we were introduced to a man named Mr. Sam. (Sam to us, Mr. Sam to all the private drivers, groundskeepers, and hotel attendants that surrounded him.)

Sam had a mohawk and provided us with a house, food, mattresses, drivers, desert safaris, club access, beer, and Burj Khalifa tickets.

Obviously, our time in the UAE would have been drastically different if it wasn’t for Sam.

The next stop was Melbourne. And for me, Melbourne was a blur of hot days, capped ledges, and urban naps while Matthias Ogger continually suggested we stop blading and head over to a brothel he frequents know only as “The Korean Barbeque.”

From there we flew to Sydney with Gav Drumm who warned us all it would be necessary to remove the frames from our skates in order to carry them on the flight. I, riding flat rocker, declared I’d be goddamned before taking out all the wheels required to access my frame bolts and of course, did not make it through security.

We got to Sydney late in the night and met up with our drunk and drug fueled Air B&B host who slurred words and showed us around the penthouse suite we called home for the rest of the tour. While enthusiastically bragging about his speakers, this man dropped several bills from his pockets that were quickly confiscated and put to use throughout the week, hosting rooftop barbeques for the local bladers.

Sydney has a great crew. One of the best I’ve had the pleasure to blade with. Each member is essential, bringing something unique to the cohesion of the group. From Vonny with the jam box to Rian Arnold with the $600 shoes, varying personalities blend seamlessly creating interactions that consistently remind why we all continue to do this.

I had damn fun in Sydney. Grilling snags at Bondi skatepark, drinking beers while mobbing through the city at night, and staying up to see the sunrise on a 3 day camping trip to Jervis Bay are all my best memories of the tour.

Granted, Sydney also gave me a kangaroo attack, an arm slice on the sharp walls of a cave, and AM faceplants flipping around on the beach when I could barely stand.

But even so, when time came to leave, no one was truly ready. There was a half-assed attempt at calling the airline and extending the trip. But when Justin’s fast-talking, mortgage broking, manipulative Yankee speak could not procure amended tickets free of charge, everyone just gave up and accepted the inevitable 40 hours of travel back to the cold, back to the jobs, and back to reality.

Words by Thomas Martin. Photos by Adam Kola and Austin Paz.

Video filmed and edited by Austin Paz with additional footage from Dom West.

Lost Dingos stars Austin Paz, Thomas Martin, Justin Brasco, Alex Karayannis, Ivan Narez, Matthias Ogger, Gav Drumm, Tommy Scofield, Josh Butler, Dom West, CJ Wellsmore, Rian Arnold & Tien Nquyen.

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Victor Galicia, Backslide, Santa Ana, California, USA

Photo by Jonathan Labez

http://www.thebooted.com/exposed

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Exposed 013

Austin Paz, ledge roll to Fishbrain, Sydney, Australia.

For more photos of the trip Austin and his buddies took recently, follow the hashtag #lostdingostour15.

Photo by Adam Kola

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At the end of 2014 Grant had a load of footage from projects that had seemed to have fallen by the wayside. Grant compiled the footage and put it in the more than capable hands of Mike Torres. Having spoken about working together for a while we thought this would be the perfect way for Mike and The Booted to come together.

Filmed on location in Rochester/Syracuse, NY and Greenville, SC.

Filmed by Kurt Rose, Kris Troyer, Connor Kenrick, Tim Adams, Nate Hall and Mike Torres, edited by Mike Torres. Graphics by Chris Solada.

Music: Labi Siffre - I Got The...

Portrait by Chris Gerard.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more original content - http://www.youtube.com/user/thebootedones

http://www.thebooted.com/video/grant-hazelton-2015/

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Space Invader, a film by Sayer Danforth and starring Jeff Stockwell is released this Friday (6th March 2015).

For our exclusive interview with Jeff head over to The Booted - http://www.thebooted.com/exposed/jeff-stockwell-space-invader/

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"It's been a while since I've had a chance to work on a blade film so I wanted to bring something a little different to the table. So I decided to take a little journey with my camera and my friend Jeff. I first met Jeff when he was about 15 years old and he was just becoming a pro. Well he's 30 now, and he's still doing it. One of my favourite things about Jeff's style of skating is what he can do with a skatepark."

"We went to all of our favourite skateparks in Southern California, making sure to pay close attention to the detail in how Jeff see's these spaces and ultimately, with each one we go to, how Jeff invades it."

- Sayer Danforth

Buy or rent Space Invaders from 6th March 2015 from either http://www.vimeo.com/spaceinvader or selfy.com/d4pictures

Check out our exclusive interview with Sayer Danforth here - http://www.thebooted.com/exposed/sayer-danforth-space-invader/

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The flyer for the Space Invader VOD by Sayer Danforth starring Jeff Stockwell in his first video part since leaving Xsjado.

Read an exclusive interview with Sayer here - http://www.thebooted.com/exposed/sayer-danforth-space-invader/ and look out for the Space Invader trailer dropping 26th February on thebooted.com

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After dropping one of the most eagerly anticipated VOD's yet we thought we'd check in with Adam Johnson as he and the team prepare to launchVibralux Denim's first American Made collection.

Now online at http://www.thebooted.com/exposed/adam-johnson-american-made/

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Rian Arnold, Backslide in Ashfield, Sydney Australia while filming with Dom West.

Photo by Adam Kola.

Now online at thebooted.com/exposed/012/

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Chris Dafick, Tree stall, Manresa, Spain.

Photo by Brian Bina now online at http://www.thebooted.com/exposed

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"There is nothing quite like filming skaters dropping hammers. Either way for the filmer, it's a win win scenerio. If the skater lands the trick, or happens to takea slam/bail, a memory is captured of either broken bones, or conquered fears.

Leon hams this drop rail at The South Bank after falling over the drop side."

Text by Jon Lee.

Photo by Dom West.

Taken from Leon Humphries x The Booted edit first seen 6th February 2014, available to watch here - http://www.thebooted.com/video/leon-humphries-2014/

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Albert Hooi, backslide in Manchester, 2009. Photo by Adam Kola.

Taken from our recent interview/edit with Albert which can be seen at http://www.thebooted.com/exposed/albert-hooi-2014/

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Albert Hooi x The Booted 

http://www.thebooted.com/exposed/albert-hooi-2014/

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Albert Hooi x The Booted 2014 Teaser