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| Q&A: Michael Brooke - Publisher, Concrete Wave Magazine (7141 Posts)
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Not again
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On 5/23/2006 Scott
wrote in from
Australia
(211.30.nnn.nnn)
Pretty hard to get freedom in a country thats ruled by a military dictator but I guess is worth a shot.
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Freedom Isn't Free
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On 5/23/2006
Bud
wrote in from
United States
(68.57.nnn.nnn)
I'm not sure who this joker is that thinks that we all hate freedom, but I'd like to point out something to this guy.
We're in Iraq, supposedly giving the ordinary Iraqi "freedom and democracy". It's not working. Why, you ask? Well, you tell me, oh Genius Of All Republicans- who gave Americans OUR freedom? Y'think the 'Ol Redcoats of the English Empire just came on over here, and fought FOR us, so that we could have Democracy free of Tyranny? Oh, right- they fought against us. We had to fight for our own damned freedoms, and prevail. Go read a history book and learn something.
The moral: When people want freedom and democracy, they'll find their own f*n ways of getting it for themselves. We're not the World Gawddamned Moral Police, buddy. If they want freedom, they're more than capable of fighting for it on their own. If they're perfectly happy with religious extremism and tyranny, well then, more power to 'em.
We're not there protecting anyone but ourselves, and our own asses, aka, "national interests". Stop kidding yourself with your misplaced we're-holier-than-everyone-else attitude. If we didn't have a direct national interest, then, why in good god would we be there? For s#@!s and giggles? Well, you tell me: What does the Nation of Iraq have of value to us? Sand? The Euphrates River? Oh, right- Oil. We're not fighting for their freedoms- we're fighting for their oil. Duh.
Y'think I'm wrong, buddy? Well, we'll wait and see how you react next time we're hit with an Energy Embargo. When it happens- and, mark my words, it will, someday-I'll bet you'll kill whoever it takes for you to get your next tank of Petrol mighty quick, then.
I know a guy that rebuilt his Volkswagen Rabbit to run on- get this- used vegetable oil from McDonald's. He gets it for free, and the kit for the conversion cost a whopping 500 bucks. Now, here's a guy that is truly free. If gas skyrocketed to 4, 5, 20, even 100 bucks a gallon tomorrow, he wouldn't give a damn. If Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, etc, all became hostile to us and our interests tomorrow- it wouldn't affect him in the least. Think about it: How do we REALLY defeat tyrannical middle-eastern governments? Stop buying their damned oil. What else are they gonna sell us to bankroll OBL's rogue army, nuclear weapon research, suicide bombers, and religious fanatacism? Are they gonna sell us bootleg Korans and slightly used rocket propelled grenade casings? Get real. Y'wanna solve a problem, then, hit them where it'll really do some damage: Their pocketbooks. But, then, you'll have to give up your unlimited use of your SUV. Hey- Freedom isn't Free, right? Until YOU have to give up something for a greater good, that is...
Freedom, then, costs one used Rabbit, and some Crisco. A little inventiveness, and some well-placed motivation. You're right- it's really too much of an inconvenience. I'm sorry I even mentioned it...
You want to fight for short-term, nearsighted goals that don't do a gawddamned thing to make us any more secure tomorrow than we were yesterday? Then, be my guest, buddy. Go pick up a f*n rifle, march your ass over to the middle east, and volunteer to go out on a IED search in a Hummer. Put your existence where your mouth is, jackass. Until then, keep your belittling "You're not patriotic enough for my tastes" bulls#@! to yourself.
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Atlanta article
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On 5/22/2006 Michael (Octane)
wrote in from
United Kingdom
(87.113.nnn.nnn)
Happenned across an article in the Atlanta Journal that someone posted on Oldmanarmy.com....interesting quote for Transworlds editor..
"Longboarding is definitely on fire right now," said Carleton Curtis, managing editor of TransWorld SKATEboarding magazine. "It is its own thriving subculture."
Good to know they recognise the fact.I think 'Thriving' is very apt. So....is it a 'subculture' ... I dont regard it as a subculure of skateboarding, because it IS skatboarding.
Its all good!
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FREEDOM
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On 5/22/2006
cad
wrote in from
United States
(206.135.nnn.nnn)
www.hatefreedom.com
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Don't Get Me Started.....oops To late
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On 5/22/2006
MC Hammer Head- Downhillbillies.org
wrote in from
United States
(166.82.nnn.nnn)
Normally I stay out of these type of discussions online but this one is something I have been thinking about a great deal lately. Because I am very active in the lives of my two daughters I am around their schools, their classmates, and their friends a great deal and for the last 10 to 15 years have been noticing an alarming trend.......What is this trend you ask? Is it the fact the more and more parents are basically NOT spending any time with their own children. I have heard the arguments that it now takes two incomes in order to live but in most places of the country that isn't necessarily true.
These same parents I am mentioning that don't spend time with their children, hire daycare to raise them to school age, then lets the school raise them, and the TV set/video game/computer to "baby sit" them while they work so they can have:
Expensive houses
Drive Expensive SUV's
Wear Expensive Designer clothes
Belong to Expensive Country Clubs/golf clubs/social clubs
Go on Expensive vacations (often without the children)
Etc.
Etc. (You get my point)
I know that all two income families are not like this but the majority of the ones moving to this part of North Carolina look exactly like this.
On top of all of this, when they actually DO spend time with their children they want to be there best friend...not their parent! This leads to indulgence, privilage, and reckless behavior. For example, just in the last year there have been several documented cases of parents allowing teenagers to have parties at their house where alcohol was served in abundance. Their rationale: "I would rather my child drink at home that go somewhere else and do it and then have to drive." Well, guess what? If that is what you think, then ONLY let your child drink at your house...not everyone else's teens!!!!
My point in this rambling is just this: We can complain about the "laziness" or inactiveness of children today but adults are the ones that have created the environment where that type of behavior not only thrives but is encouraged.
Being a parent means motivating your children, inspiring your children, being their for you children, loving your children, teaching your children, and disciplining your children. It also means, it is your responsibility, no, it is your privelage, as a parent to show them that there is more to life than what is on TV, the computer, on the video game, or the Ipod.
I grew up poor white trash from mill hill in Concord, North Carolina. Both of my parents were mill workers (called Lint Heads by the elite of the community). Both worked every work day hard and for little pay. But both, always took time to spend with me, my two brothers, and my three cousins, that they took in to raise, in a 6 room house that only had heat in two rooms and no A/C. Dad played ball with me. Showed me how to work on bicycles. Drove me to the skatepark in Charlotte when he could. Taught me how to save my money to buy what I wanted. Mom played games with us, Scrabble, cards, Monopoly. She taught us that a good book was better than any movie we could ever see. And she taught me to love God and people. My Grandmother lived with us too and she taught me how to tell stories, use my imagination, create things, organize other kids to have fun, and to also love God. I was blessed to grow up like that.
Today, what do we do as parents? We work. We give our kids money, clothes, cars, tvs, video games, etc etc etc. What we need to be doing is being a parent like my parents tried their best, even from their humble background, to be: Involved in their children's lives.
So go cut the computer game off. Open the door to the outside and drag your kid out there and show them how awesome the real world can be.....as long as you give some effort to see it!
Marion Karr
Skatesville, North Carolina
DHB WORLD HEADQUARTERS
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Freedom?
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On 5/22/2006
WT
wrote in from
United States
(64.12.nnn.nnn)
I love Freedom. I'm just smart enough to know there's nothing "free' about it. If freedom isn't paid for, then it gets repossessed
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Freedom
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On 5/22/2006
caddy
wrote in from
United States
(71.105.nnn.nnn)
You guys hate Freedom!
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war?
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On 5/22/2006 Cappy
wrote in from
Germany
(82.83.nnn.nnn)
If a leader of a state says its war, and no soldier goes there - would be a war happen?
Is not everything a (own) human decision?
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i am not sure it's video games...
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On 5/22/2006
Michael Brooke
wrote in from
Canada
(65.94.nnn.nnn)
I am not sure it's war toys...or fast food...or a generational thing...I am not too what it is...but my sense is that as long as we have debate and folks keep an open mind, everything will be fine.
At least, I hope so...
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good points
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On 5/22/2006 bara
wrote in from
United States
(204.78.nnn.nnn)
WT...youre right, but Bud hit it on the head....My son's 7....he loves his gameboy and all and i had no issues with it at first, till i took him to the Gamestop to pick up some new games....and i saw these kids on the demo games, snowboarding and playing sports and all....and i'm looking at these kids and listened to how they talked "strategy".....it friggin drove me nuts....I looked at my boy and said it nice and loud..."Nick, see these kids, they think they're doing something exciting, but they're not...this isnt life...getting out and doing it is life...10 to 1 says these two over here have never stepped on a real snowboard"....and a couple of them looked at me but never said a thing...because they couldnt control me with their game controllers...
As for the "has skateboarding lost its soul" thing...that's been debated time and again, but i can say one thing....My boy didnt have much interest in riding and i never forced him....and he's seen dozens of DVD's with street tricks, and races and such...it wasnt until he saw that oldschool vid that Chaput posted a couple months back, with the kids just riding down the street and having a good time, that he saw it as fun......and now he rides up and down the street every day after school....on a Bahne with turny trackers.....the kids skating the typical boards give him looks...i mean there's no kick tail on his board....but i have to admit, he's got some style....and he watches that video all the time. I set up a newschool board for him to...figured he should do what he wants and he may like that better, but he actually liked carving around more...his choice, not mine
what's that got to do with the government?....not a thing...i cant do anything about the government, outside of my own family...but when we go to those toy/game stores and he asks what sales tax is for, i remind him we're fueling Bush's war machine....and when he see's CNN with pics of soldiers across the globe and asks if we're in a war, i let him know we are and that war is making some people very wealthy....and the one time he asked why the president doesnt stop the war, i made sure he knows that just because he's the president doesnt mean he's honest, fair, just or intelligent...
It starts one child at a time
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kids
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On 5/21/2006
slim
wrote in from
(71.146.nnn.nnn)
I always find it hilarious when older generations diss the younger generations that they themselves created and have led down the wrong paths! It is not kids who decided they'd rather play video games than skateboard: it was the adults who decided they'd rather sell the kids video games than take them skateboarding or provide places for the kids to skateboard.
I don't know about middle america, but we here on the nor cal coast are just fine as far as soul goes, thank you very much.
I'm pretty stoked on the current generation of kids. Through my kids I've had the opportunity to observe kids aged 7 to 14. I've seen them start playing the video games before they could really skate and you know what, it actually made them want to skateboard. I think it was actually a positive influence. And now that the adults have gotten off our asses and built a great skatepark, the kids are all over it. They are way into it, in a positive way. They do their street skating thing, they carve the pools, all of it. They don't even complain much about having to wear helmets and pads. It's at least as pure of an experience for them as it was for me at their ages in the 70s/80s.
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Kids nowadays
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On 5/21/2006
Bud
wrote in from
United States
(68.57.nnn.nnn)
Hey, whatever we have to say about "kids nowadays", we have to remember one thing: Kids aren't at fault for these things. Adults are.
Without the greed and marketing savvy of adults, kids wouldn't end up worshipping this sort of s#@!.
Kids are impressionable. They will pretty much blindly follow whatever path we lay out for them. If we lay out a path to GameSlave or LameBoy video game hell, well then, that's where they're gonna end up.
Now, has skateboarding lost it's soul? Well, of course it has. Anyone with half a brain and one eye open can see that. Sure, the "soul" of skating exists in a handful of individuals that basically think the the "real world" is all just a bunch of bulls#@! (which, it is). But, insofar as skateboarding being a mass movement of kids thinking that it's all bulls#@!? No way. Kids today are force-fed bulls#@! from a very early age. So, bulls#@!'s accpetable to them. It's that simple. I'd go one step further, and make a case that all of humanity has pretty much lost it's soul- but, that's someone else's problem. Not mine.
The most that any of us could ever do is just try to live right, ourselves. I'm not gonna change the world, and I don't lose one damned wink of sleep over it. I learned long ago that that's better left for the world to sort out on it's own. It's their bulls#@!, I figure. So, they can live just fine with their own mess. Just don't splash on me, thanks.
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Kids Nowadays
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On 5/21/2006
WT
wrote in from
United States
(207.200.nnn.nnn)
Micheal,
I've said this on many occassions, but I'll repeat it here:
Let's face it, things started going to hell when kids decided they would rather stay inside, eat cheetos and get fat PLAYING A VIDEO GAME about riding a skateboard than getting off their dead ass and going outside and RIDING A SKATEBOARD.
I know it's all about money and I really respect earning an honest dollar. I have to say, though, that I lost a lot of respect for Tony Hawk when he sold his name to an exercise in "fake" skateboarding for fat kids too lazy to go outside and play. That's one instance where he should have said, "nah, I'd rather endorse a real skateboard with wheels and trucks. And maybe a helmet while I'm at it."
And, please, don't anyone try and convince me that sitting in front of a TV for four hours pretending you're skateboarding makes you a better skateboarder. The only thing that makes you a better skateboarder is riding a skateboard.
That's the root of the fall of Western Civilization: faking it instead of doing it.
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politics and skateboarding???
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On 5/21/2006
Michael Brooke
wrote in from
Canada
(70.49.nnn.nnn)
to me, they always seemed related...but then again, isn't everything political? Am I only the only one who wonders about the new generation of skaters...or am I just too sentimental.
back in the day (ah, "crap", I can hear you say, "here he goes again") it seemed to me that it was less about "lifestyle" and more about "life."
Perhaps old age has just jaded me...but I feel severely tested when I see....
1. a soon to be 1/4 billion dollar corporation like VoLcOm with a slogan "youth against establishment"
2. Nike just doing it...(they are the number one ranked firm in terms of getting their logo shown in all the mags-according to transworld biz)
3. the old big five being replaced by a new big five
I have no doubt it's the skateboard BUSINESS but my sense is that the drive to market the sh*t out of everything, skateboarding has lost a lot of political edge that it once had.
I know, I know, "times change"...but damn, something sure smells skunky...or am I crazy????
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Good thing to remember
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On 5/21/2006
Bud
wrote in from
United States
(68.57.nnn.nnn)
The idiots running these countries are only representing the idiots that voted them into office. Think about it.
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or...
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On 5/20/2006
sparky
wrote in from
United States
(70.129.nnn.nnn)
i guess i'm getting carried away with this posting, but wtf, why not. it's fun to bash an ass.
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but hey, i'm a fair guy.....
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On 5/20/2006
sparky
wrote in from
United States
(70.129.nnn.nnn)
the guy is kind of an assmunch isn't he?
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george bush, who couldn't love him?!
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War mongers
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On 5/20/2006 bara
wrote in from
United States
(69.14.nnn.nnn)
...many of us in the states are asking the same question about the guy running things over here...
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iran
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On 5/20/2006
Michael Brooke
wrote in from
Canada
(65.93.nnn.nnn)
it's not skateboarding related...it has nothing to do with celebrities but can someone please tell me what the F**K is up with that crazy bastard that runs Iran????
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Good vs evil
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On 5/19/2006
cad
wrote in from
United States
(206.135.nnn.nnn)
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stickers & celebs
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On 5/19/2006
sparky
wrote in from
United States
(70.129.nnn.nnn)
hmm, how about politicians, and really high ranking military persons? like one who has been in congress televised in the last few weeks? Would Mat Hoffman be out of the question? how about country music stars? i hate country, but i am stationed in Oklahoma City. hmm, the possibilities seem endless.
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Re: Food
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On 5/19/2006
Sumdumsurfer
wrote in from
United States
(71.107.nnn.nnn)
Renè posted:
"Sumdum -
you quoted Sparky by saying 'SHREDDED MEAT'?"
No, I quoted YOU as posting that. Hahahahaha! Sorry, amigo... couldn't resist. Thanks for always posting the good food and skate shots. Good stuff. Hope that everyone has a good weekend. I'm checkin' out a downhill race in Irvine tomorrow, which is a fundraiser for prosthetic patients. Then, on Sunday, a Skatopia '70s skateparks reunion at Chino skatepark.
Hope y'all have a great weekend. I'm off to go skate!
SK8/SURF 4 LIFE!
Sumdumsurfer
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celebrities?and famous magazine publishers (non-skateboarding)
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On 5/19/2006 cappy
wrote in from
Germany
(82.83.nnn.nnn)
if i find myself in the library with a pic skating back in the 80´s at a xxlarge newspaper does that count?
(my own copy is damaged after 2 movings :/)
Seriously, i hope to see some stickers with the size that you can put on your (truck) hangars!
And some in 32"x10" to put under your Board!
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celebrities
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On 5/19/2006
Michael Brooke
wrote in from
Canada
(65.94.nnn.nnn)
What counts:
music, film, tv
and famous magazine publishers (non-skateboarding)
what doesn't count:
marketing managers
wives of marketing managers
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