SKATE OR DIE

[byzerodivide]

ok so here's the deal. i haven't updated in approximately forever, so i'm going to make up for it with the mother of all updates. we're talking potential record length. i'm psyched. so what's happening is, i'm going to post the entirety of a 25+ page paper that i wrote this past semester. the subject of the paper is, in broad terms, skateboarding

Comments

[bonhamstarr]

peter you fuckin rule man im so fuckin inspired by your Perfect professionally written ...essay?....Report?.....anyways whatever it is i appreciate every goddamn part off it...its skateboarding explained to the common man from all aspects of the game ...and i love you for it......perter lets skate sometime....

[byzerodivide]

thanks a lot dude. its good to know that the ideas work and make sense to people that actually skate. one of the biggest missing pieces in the paper is the voice of individuals who are actually out there, skating the cities, and dealing with these issues every day of their lives-- so it's good to hear that i haven't misrepresented anyone. was there anything that didn't really make sense to you?

skate or die man.

[melonandorange]

hey kid,
I told myself that I would put some time aside to read your paper, and I finally did (even after the subjection of skate videos in slow motion and countless skate magazine. ha. I'm kidding. it was good times) anyway, i really enjoyed your paper, and this is coming from a kid that doesn't skateboard. I'm sorry I can't tell you what to improve on, it was written well, and I don't know enough of the topic to tell you what you're missing, but I thought you did a great job and i wanted to tell you that, so you should be proud of yourself.

[byzerodivide]

well thank you so much for reading it... i had to do a presentation on this paper in class and i totally made the whole class watch skate videos. i thought it was awesome but i bet they hated it as much as you did haha. thank you though, i really appreciate you taking the time to read this beast... if you think of anything that could be better just let me know haha. later.

[x______________]

It’s very interesting to me how both skateboarding and punk have been around for roughly two and a half decades. both of these things are very connected, yet until the ‘80s or so, skateboarders didn’t want to be associated with punks and punks didn’t want to be associated with skateboarders. Really though, both things often end up being very political and unorthodox (with or without the intention of becoming so)Both seem to be about “fun and progression” ... people are doing these things because they want to skateboard or make music because it’s fun ... and in the process, progress is often a result. Whether it be progression of a style or technique or of a subculture and really, the culture in general. And community and a sense of belonging have always been very important in both cases. So ... it’s interesting that the two things took so long to unite

[byzerodivide]

thank you so much for the input... i think you bring up a subject that could fill another 25 pages-- the relationship between punk rock and skateboarding and what each has meant to other. the way i see it, skateboarding and punk rock met at around the same point in time that hardcore was evolving, and i tend to see a closer relationship at that time between skateboarding and hardcore, rather than what was passing for punk rock. arguably the 2 greatest icons of hardcore, ian mackaye and henry rollins, used to skate together in their DC neighborhood. of course, mackaye has hit the nail right on the head in that quote you gave. ask any person who has skated for more than a little while, and they will tell you that they notice all kinds of details and particulars about the world around them that others simply don't catch. i know that i see skate spots EVERYWHERE. i see things i would like to skate on TV and in movies. i imagine what it would be like to skate in the tiniest and hugest spaces... things like skating the transitions in the

[x______________]

the relationship between skateboarding and punk could fill up another 25 pages easily. and probably has.

hmm, mackaye and rollins? i don't know man, i think jello biafra is damn important as well. heh, but yeah. nonetheless, i agree with all that you have to say about hardcore/skateboarding. and really think you're on the right track with your essay. i think if the people that interest you are the ones pushing boundries, you should continue to write about them and it will all be cool.

by the way ... how do you like emerson? i'm thinking of transferring and i'm really interested in emerson. my school's far too white-upper-middle-class-christian-alcoholic-dave-matthews-loving for me. plus the majors offered are pretty limited and not in any areas that interest me all that much.

melissa

[x______________]

boundaries*