Tag: alex olson

Why would a website about skateboarding go deep on politics and, on top of that, write about a situation in a country that is so far away from their office? The news about Donald Trump becoming the 45th president of the United States got to me on the morning of the 8th of November. Actually, the first thing I did that morning was pick up my phone, surf to a news website all while walking to the bathroom. My legs immediately started to shiver when I was reading who won the election. I do not know why exactly I reacted like that but it is probably because I was scared that a person like Donald Trump will be in a position that holds that much power and control.

A few hours went by and after I went through all the websites reading the news of the day I actually had to go to Wikipedia, just to see how it felt, reading that “He” really made it. And there it was, in writing, just underneath Donald Duck it said Donald Trump president of the United States.

Duck

But, why is this touching us so badly and what are the consequences going to look like for the people in Europe? It is not like it would have been paradise again if Hillary Clinton would have won the election. The newspapers and political magazines where throwing more and more wood into the fire with cover stories like “The End of the World” or “World War 3” and I was wondering what kind off thoughts a ten-year-old girl would have about those headlines.

Cw-uElFWEAAoud6
Cover of Spiegel magazine Germany. (“The End Of The World”)

We thought it would be time to ask some people’s opinions, people that are actually affected first-hand by the election and well known in our skateboard world and to say the least, there is definitely a tendency in our community because we actually could not find a single Trump supporter amidst our ranks.

Nestor Judkins, dual citizenship Spain and U.S. Living in New York City:

HOPELESSNESS. Today I returned to the USA after one week of feeling stunned and horrified. Beyond the racist and sexist rhetoric, the social and economic inequality he represents, I fear for the future of our environment at this most crucial point in human and environmental history. The denial of climate change and the promise of reversing all initiatives to slow down global warming and return full force to the methods that led us here will have an irreversibly disastrous effect on all of the humanity. I weep for this beautiful and fragile world where we have been able to enjoy our brief time in the sun. We’ve evolved into impossibly intelligent beings only to be trumped by the ignorance of many and the hubris and greed of the few.

gallery-1471294833-gallery-1439844171-esq0804covtx-trump-donald
Esquire Magazine; August 2004.

Mark Nickels, U.S. citizen living in Berlin/Germany:

With the election, there are times you hope to wake up and find out it is a bad dream. Unfortunately, I found out while on a flight to Frankfurt that this is quite real and f*ckin’ mental. I thought things got bad with the Brexit vote, but people are even more bat sh*t crazy in the US than in the UK. America has to be #1 in everything, always I guess… And because I have a dual national, this is another thing to apologize for. I see myself buying a lot of ‘I’m Sorry’ beers in the near future.

I am in LA right now on a trip and it really feels like someone just died here. No one can make sense of what just happened, nor can I. One thing we all need to remember is, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. In a sane world, she would be President. That is how it is supposed to work, right? Trump said he would fight if this happened to him and not concede. He also said the people’s voice should be respected, but his tone has changed quickly since the roles are reversed… how presidential of him. As for Obama’s work over the last 8 years, he spent a lot of time rebuilding the tarnished image of this country, all that just flew out the window in one evening.

Living outside the US, I am much more political because I see first hand how the rest of the world views us. To be honest, I am scared for Trump to be the leader of the free world, which is justified because of the way he spoke on the campaign trail. Real things happen when you have a leader that makes outrageous claims like he has and it can be dangerous on so many levels. You are now seeing a ‘Carte Blanche’ situation, certain people feel it is okay to be openly racist after the votes have been counted because they won in the polls. Racism is never ever ever ever okay unless you are just a f*cking sh*tty human being who sucks at life. I still can’t believe that is a lesson that has to be taught in 2016.

I am extremely fearful of what my country can become if people like myself become complacent and sit still doing nothing after these election results. In order to fight back, I plan to donate money regularly to organizations like the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and other causes I believe in, in order to help and protect the social progress made under President Obama. I also will support media outlets like ‘The Guardian’ who actually do the type of investigative journalism needed during these times. Outlets like these help expose the abuse of power/ privilege we all know will happen. I will also talk to friends to make sure they are not part of the 50% of the population who didn’t vote & help them register to be a part of the next election in 2018. The best thing I can really do is, to push forward and live my life to the fullest. I will not be paralyzed by their fear mongering/ hate and will stand up for myself; not only as an American or a Brit but as a citizen of the world.

At least there is a silver lining for me in this, I am lucky to be an immigrant in such an amazing country as Germany. Who would ever think you would hear an American say that?!?! Now let’s make sure this doesn’t happen in Germany next year with the AFD. We can’t let hate and fear rule over us, anywhere.

Bildschirmfoto 2016-11-16 um 19.48.30
Henry Jones.

Dennis Busenitz, dual Citizenship Germany and U.S. Living in San Francisco:

First off, I would like to apologize to the world because America couldn’t come through and NOT have Trump as our president! It is embarrassing for me to have to travel internationally right after that. I think it is just a big shit sandwich! I don’t know that much about politics but I have a lot of respect for Obama, Obama was not in favor of Trump and so were a lot of other people who know a lot of things, to me it seemed like anybody who had any political experience said he was unfit to be president but the American people decided to give them the finger and voted him in there anyway. So I guess…. Hopefully, they get what they deserve without blowing up the whole world in the process or getting global warming to a point where it is beyond repair. Global warming to me is a real threat and both Trump and America do not seem to think it is a problem that needs to be addressed, which is insane!

BILDER_muenchen_november_2016_lowres-22
Photo by Danny Sommerfeld, Munich Nov.’16.

Patrick O’Dell, Living in Los Angeles:

In the last week, I have heard every take on the presidential election that can be had. Its hard to add anything other than I am filled with dread about what Donald Trump will do to our country and our freedom. Usually the ‘Right’ act as if they have a monopoly on freedom (it is been 8 years and Obama still hasn’t taken your guns away by the way). I am worried about the freedoms of women, gays, faiths including Judaism, Islam and also the right to Atheism. I happen to be a Catholic and am filled with pride that even our Pope has denounced Trump. What Christian mocks women for their looks, calls them pigs, brags about ‘grabbing pussies,’ mocks the handicapped, says Prisoners of War are not hero’s, claims a Mexican-American judge can’t do his job because of his ethnicity? What Christian is against helping people in need and showing sympathy for those less fortunate?

And the people Trump have tapped for his administration only make me more worried. Giuliani was the architect of the unconstitutional ‘Stop and frisk,’ obviously an abridgment of the 4th Amendment which should protect us from unlawful search and seizure. Trump’s running mate Mike Pence wants to limit women’s rights, gay marriage and once supported torturing homosexuals with conversion therapy. Steve Bannon is a known anti-Semite… Trump got elected on a campaign of fear. The only thing that gives me hope is that Trump’s message is so awful and has hurt so many people, that hopefully, a strong resistance will emerge. Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, immigrants, women, non-Christians, LGBT, can all unite as a unified force. I fall into none of these categories as white straight Christian male but I will be traveling to Washington for the inauguration, not to protest the results of the election (I accept them) but to peacefully show that I do not support Donald Trump.

natives003
Vice Magazine; Photo by Patrick O’Dell.

Alex Olson, Living in New York City:

I think Trump is a good thing… but not for what or who he is, his election has brought a whole new motivation to this country… new ideas are being brought to the table. If Hilary would have won nothing big would have changed. Trump brings change but in an indirect way for both good and bad, creative ideas will emerge from this situation, and the coming four years will be an interesting time. People in California are even thinking of becoming independent! Which I think could be very interesting… but who knows, what kind of good things could come from people’s passion and rage.

Bildschirmfoto 2016-11-16 um 18.05.57
Photo by Conny Mirbach; Manhattan Aug.’16

Words by Daniel Pannemann.

Photo on top by Jonathan Mehring, NYC Nov.’16

Back in the old days and still relevant today, the handshake is a synonym for an agreement, which is not official until both hands are parted. In this issue, we shake hands with people behind five brands from all over the world that are, in our eyes, totally different from each other and all pretty much rookies in the game. To transport the vibe of each brand we needed to get real insights. So were spending time with the founders, their cliques, and social environments, which, once again, makes the work we do and thus our product very personal.

LO-RES BILDER_amsterdam_pop-trading-company_august_2016_highres-223
Bastiaan van Zadelhoff – BS 360 No Comply – Photo: Danny Sommerfeld

Pop – Low Country Aesthetics
“Now, if you hang out with this crew you might start believing that Pop is an acronym for People Owning Personality. Why? Because everybody has a strong personality and when they get together, everything gets amplified. It brought out the best in all of us and everyday was full of laughter mixed with “real talk” type of conversations…”

LoResNEWYORK_lurk-nyc_highres-88
Photo: Danny Sommerfeld

Hotel Blue – A Chat with Nick von Werssowetz
“Sometimes, a few missed connections can still lead where you need to be. The story behind this interview started when I got a text from a friend who was out in Montreal at the time. He sent me a photo of him together with Ayo (Alex O’Donahoel), who unfortunately happened to leave Montreal right before we got there. But as it turned out, Ayo sent a DM letting me know he would be in NYC for the next few days. So we connected when we got to the Big Apple…”

Alex_Olson_ (2)_LORes
Photo: Conny Mirbach

Alex Olson – Leave a Message
“That is what I heard when I tried to call (917) 692-2706, which we all know is the full phone number behind Alex Olson’s enigmatic board brand. I didn’t leave a message but I wanted to. Just to see if anybody would listen to what I had to say and maybe “they” would even call back…”

Low-res2016-Europe-Laura_Kaczmarek-055
Photo: Laura Kaczmarek

Europe Co. – A Ruhr Valley Continent
“The urban areas all have this rather modern architectural character with high-rise buildings, strict geometrical forms, and lots of concrete, steel, and glass. The cityscape tends to change at every street corner from snug to rough, from rich to poor, from vibrant green to gloomy grey. As I learned on my visit, this is exactly the environment the Europe Co. is rooted in.”

Maxime_Verret_Rémy_Taveira_Francfort_024
Remy Taveira – Fs Wallride – Photo: Maxime Verret

Öctagon – Die Maschine
Following the Öctagon members on a visual adventure through the greatest machinery of humankind, the city.

The brand new PLACE issue 58 “The Handshake” will be available through skateshops, selected retailers and newsstands – some of the shops got the issue already, just ask!

A great day for Brian who now doesn’t have to hide anymore. At the same time, it saddens us to hear some of the reasons why he felt he needed to keep his sexual preference a secret for so long. Let’s hope that openly being yourself at all times will become accepted sooner rather than later.

Photo by Marcel Veldman

We posted the two Quartersnacks Copenhagen offcuts now here is the final result. Filmed by the prolific Johnny Wilson with skating by Ishod Wair, Alex Olson, Bobby Worrest, Hjalte Hallberg, Oski, Andrew Wilson, Cyrus Bennett, Ville Wester, Hugo Boserup, Max Palmer and Ryan Bobier.

Photo by Zach Malfa-Kowalski

For those of you that are lucky enough to live near some mountains, you might have heard some of your snowboarding homies talk about Antix headwear. Some of you might feel that sometimes when skateboarding and snowboarding come together it did not always have the right result but remember Rick Mccrank, John Cardiel and more recently a great snowboarder/skater by the name of Jed Anderson landed himself a spot on Alex Olson’s Call me 917, so it is possible. Antix seems to be heading in the right direction as well, the Sony VX1000 hat is something that we could envision GX1000 doing as well and it doesn’t get rawer than those hill bombing freaks.

“Skate New York With the City’s Coolest Crew for Vogue”

Is the official title of this video and it is enough to divide people into different camps. The skating is obviously great and the music isn’t bad at all maybe it is the name Vogue that bothers people, we don’t know!
To us, the real shock is that more and more girls seem to openly show love for nerdy activities! I don’t know about you guys but when we were growing up playing Pokemon, kicking a hackeysack around or even skateboarding did not exactly seem to be that cool to the girls we were hanging out with. In recent times the script has been flipped and the beauty in that is what Alex Olson probably wants us to see.

It has been quite a while since Alex Olson took a seat on the infamous Crail Couch. But now he finally is back and bluntly answers any question he is given, whether it is about being his own boss or just his sexual orientation. Alex is definitely a great guy and one of our favorites!

Once again somebody took the time to create a little Supreme style compilation clips. There is something to it though scrolling through Strobeck’s feed and collection little snippets here and there. You get Fat Bill’s style of filming with the music style of the creator (or not), but in the end something new is created. Remixing or collaging is, was and will remain one of todays most important movements in and out of skateboarding.

I can’t clearly remember the moment I first heard of the Quartersnacks website and crew, but it must have been on the Slap forum. I don’t even know if I liked what I saw… Ten years ago I was 18 years old and my vision of what skateboarding was differed completely from my current day taste. Skateboarding nowadays seems to have split into a couple of different directions: from professional film makers that push skateboarding visually to the art side of skateboarding to a more Homeie type of feel. Me as a 18 year old would have disliked what I like today. I hated most older videos, I wanted to see tricks and clean styles and felt like older videos where often poorly filmed and the skating was either sketchy or it wasn’t pushing the envelope.

Off course I didn’t know shit then, but I was eating and sleeping skateboarding. I started making videos with my friends and we tried to emulate Transworld & Girl videos, which is normal when you start creating your own things… I missed the point when the Quartersnacks crew started to push their own agenda and created their own lane. When I started to frequently visit their website, the focus of the skateboard world shifted once again from the west to the east coast, skateboarding in NYC looked cool and the terrain was different from the sun filled schoolyards (cliché alert!) in Cali.

The Quartersnacks crew was a combination of “cool” pros like Spanky, Alex Olson and Zered Basset, but most of the crew consisted of more humanly skilled skateboarders skating the same terrain together. It gave me a behind the scene’s type of feeling that I really didn’t see before. I naively thought pros only skated with pros, the thought that pros have their own clique with high school friends never dawned until I started following the Quartersnacks website. Even back then QS brought out Christmas edits etc. which slowly but surely started to influence my music taste away from Bob Dylan towards Young Jeezy, Rich Homie Quan and more recently Future.

As my taste changed together with the ever changing skateboard bussiness Quartersnacks seemed to grow, they started to make clothing and did collabos with Nike (they played an important role in bringing back the Dunk), QS rose to the top… The best thing about this 10 years of Quartersnacks edit is to see that their growth lead them into Skate pop culture! I am excited what comes next. Happy Birthday!

Dass Skater sich gerne mal ein zweites Standbein als Model aufbauen, ist seit Alex Olson, Austyn Gillette oder Lucien Clarke weitgehend bekannt, auch deutsche Skater wie Jeremy Reinhard oder Kaio Hillebrand standen schon für die Modeindustrie vor der Kamera. In der neuen Spring/Summer Kollektion von DKNY wird Ben Nordberg zu sehen sein, der somit in die Fußstapfen von Dylan Rieder tritt: Der nämlich war in der letzten Kampagne des New Yorker Labels zusammen mit Cara Delivigne zu sehen. Willkommen in der Fashionwelt!

via