Photos: Dan Sparagna

While I was at the Van Doren Invitational last week I got some info on the sly that this issue of Pacific San Diego Magazine with Amelia Brodka on the cover was coming out soon and I couldn't wait to see it. For me, knowing that a female skater is getting a cover or a pictorial in a magazine is like Christmas, as these things are to far and few in between.

I have to say it didn't dissapoint. Photographer Dan  Sparagna, who has been shooting with Amelia a lot over the past year, really killed it with these images.  Congrats to both Amelia & Dan!

 Photo: Ian Logan

This is one of my favorite photos from the DC trip. Skating with my pal Laura Thornhill at 1:30 AM we came across this...  Perfectly said. 

  Make-up line Bobbi Brown x The Cools Skate Lesson  /   Via Harpers Bazaar

Bobbi Brown came out with a new make-up book that talks about inspiring confidence and being "who you are". This PR event unfortunately misses that mark and sends a mixed message in my opinion....

This is the kind of thing I find good yet bad. Good because I'd love to see very girl out there learning to skate. Bad because there are so many pro skater girls they could have chosen to teach the fashion blogger girls "how to skate".  No offense to pro skater Eli Reed, but really??

I thought Bobbi Brown Cosmetics was more about female empowerment than this...

Love the new Dusters California ads with the Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word board. It's always summer in California...

 Surf x Skate x Friends, with a little business mixed in. Agenda Trade Show didn't disappoint. Great to see all the new clothing and hard goods - it's going to be a good season!

A little Saturday morning "thank you" to everyone who supports girls skateboarding in so many ways. As you may know, a portion of the proceeds from the sales of the Cindy Whitehead x Dusters California GN4LW board go to GRO (Girl Riders Organization) an organization that helps educate, encourage, and inspire girls in action sports. Thank you for all your support!

This Hoopla video of Hunter Long is on repeat on my office computer right now. LOVE IT. Great job Hunter, Amelia, Brian and Hoopla!

If you are in the Los Angles area here's your chance to see UNDEREXPOSED at the Santa Monica Library on Saturday night. I've been lucky enough to see it and I can tell you that it's amazing & inspiring!  If you are a skater, or just love skateboarding and the girls who rip, you won't want to miss it.

 Photos Ian Logan and Cindy Whitehead

The girls were going off yesterday at the Van Doren Invitational at the US Open in Huntington Beach, Great crowd, amazing skating and lots of fun. Nice to see where women's skating is headed in 2013, and believe me it's looking GOOD. Congrats to all the girls for being out there, competing, and having a great time.

Note:  There are a couple videos from event  on instagram @sportsstylist

Results:

1. Lizzie Armanto
2. Julz Lynn
3. Nora Vasconcellos
4. Hunter Long
5. Allysha Bergado
6. Amelia Brodka

Thanks to Van's for everything you do,  Mimi Knoop & The Alliance for your kindness and being such a force behind women's skateboarding, and all the girls for getting out there and tearing it up. xx

 black & white photos by Ian Logan /   Skater: Mightye

Super fun night meeting Robby Krieger, guitarist from the legendary band The Doors at the Dusters California launch party.

You can see the Doors x Dusters California collab board HERE

If you haven't already made plans to do so, get your butt down to the Van Doren Invitational and cheer on all your favorite female skaters who will be competing for $13,000 prize purse this Wednesday, July 24 from 1-3 PM in Huntington Beach. It's going to be an awesome day.

Thanks to The Alliance, CA Productions and Van's for making this event happen.

 Photos Ian Logan

My rad friend Lauren turned me onto these cool SK8DICE. Roll the dice and see what trick you have to do next. Pretty cool way to push you and your friends. Blue dice are for ledges and rails, Green are for manuals and the red is the original set.

You can get all 3 sets HERE.

 All photos by Joanne Barratt Photography

Poppy Starr Olsen and Jordyn Barratt, both fiercely competitive, top notch vert skaters, met at a contest in Bondi two years ago and became fast friends. So much so, that they convinced their moms to let Poppy come to Southern California this summer to stay with Jordyn. The lucky teens have been hitting up parks up and down the coast, going off to Woodward together for training camp, surfing locally, and now they both will be competing in the Van Doren Invitational this Wednesday at the US Open of Surfing. Sounds like a pretty rad summer already.

All I can say is skater friends are friends for life. I met one of my best friends, Judi Oyama when I was 16 and competing at Winchester Skatepark, we kept in touch back then via "snail mail" since we lived at opposite sends of the state, and we are still close today as adults. Laura Thornhill and Robin Logan grew up skating together daily in the early 70's  and still have a tight bond. So many women in the early years of skateboarding have created lasting friendships - there is just something about this sport that brings us together and an understanding we have of each other. I am stoked to see the younger girls in our sport doing the same thing.

Make sure you catch  Jordyn & Poppy tearing it up at the Van Doren Invitational on Wednesday, July 24 from 1-3 PM at the Vans US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach.

Poppy is sponsored by Perfect Moment, TSG, Vans Australia, Iskate Australia, & Decent Hardware.

Jordyn's sponsors include, Olley for her boards, Boardstix, and her local Hawaii Vans rep flows her shoes.

Many thanks to Joanne Barratt for taking these photos & thanks to Jordyn and Poppy for being part of this post - you girls RULE!

Beats by Dr. Dre Pills are pretty cool - lightweight, flashy colors, good sound quality, they sync wirelessly via bluetooth so you can also make calls through them if you have a group of people who want to talk/hear at once, and most importantly they are small and easy to throw in a backpack or purse. Awesome sound for the skatepark or even at home.

But now they have the "Pretty Sweet" edition in two colors, and I may just have to break down and get one ASAP.

The "Pretty Sweet" model has sold out fast - but we found it HERE for you guys.

 

photos by: Z Studio, Brandon Wong, MRZ, Mirror Box, Ray Rae, Ken Hada


Julz Lynn. Where do I start? Bronze medalist at the Barcelona X-Games, Silly Girl team rider with a killer signature model, rad skater, amazing style (I need to post some fashion shots of her because her style blows me away!), and the girl is badass in the pool and out. She stands up for what she believes in and isn't afraid to speak her mind, nicely but firmly - check out this recent article on ESPN.com. I was lucky to run into Julz one day when I was at Pink Widow and all I can say is she is someone I absolutely love and admire.

 If you want to read more about Julz jump on over to ISTIA and read a really great  interview that my good friend Xavier did with her.

Catch Julz in person competing on Wednesday, July 24 at the Van Doren Invitational from 1-3 PM at the Vans US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach.

                                 images via Thomas Kimmerlin/ Mighty Productions

 If you haven't seen a movie by well known semi-undergound film maker Larry Clark, it should definitely be on your "to do" list. But fair warning, they are intense, gritty and not PG. His films that are based on skaters include "Kids", "Ken Park", &"Wassup Rockers". My favorite is "Wassup Rockers", which is all about a bunch of skaters who live & skate in South Central Los Angeles. Having met all the guys in that film & hung out briefly where they live, I know the story is pretty damn true to who they are and the lifestyle they have. Larry's movies seem to be part documentary, part fiction, but the lines are blurred so well you can't decipher what is real and what is "created", and that makes for some pretty riveting story telling.

That brings me to his new film, which is also about skaters, "The Smell of Us'.  Filmed in Paris, this one is about a bunch of  self destructive teens who happen to skateboard. Notice I did not say "self destructive skateboarders".  In my mind there is a huge difference in the wording. I'm interested in  seeing the film and where he is going with this...

Thomas Kimmerlin has released a web documentary about the film. The first episode aired yesterday and one will air each week through August. The only issue is it's all in French, so while it's visually beautiful, I have no idea what the actors are saying about the movie...

If you want to check it out anyway, or care to translate for the rest of us, it can be viewed HERE

 images via espn

She may have not have won the ESPY for "best female athlete" tonight, although she did win for "best female college athlete", but I think Brittney Griner is the top pick in any category.

She's 6'8, can dunk like nobody's business, was the #1 overall pick in the 2013 WNBA draft, she's been skateboarding since she was a kid, she got tongue tied meeting Tony Hawk for the first time and had a skate session recently with Erik Kosten in Los Angeles.

Her team, the Phoenix Mercury even wrote it into her contract that she can continue to skate (albeit in a controlled environment - no bombing hills), which in major league sports is a huge deal.

She also has it written into her Nike contract that she can choose to wear the men's line of apparel, which she says she feels more comfortable in.  The girl has clout and can definitely stick to her guns on who she wants to be and not let sponsors push her into something she is not comfortable with. The girl is badass. Gotta love that...

Of course with that type of popularity come the ridiculous haters - so what does Brittney have to say to those who choose to cyber bully her?  " Reading what people say makes me want to be myself even more"

Words to live by. 

Silly Girl Skateboards & Pink Widow Distribution had a rad "Punks in Paradise" art show Saturday night and I was lucky enough to be there and see some amazing art, watch all the girls shred the mini ramp, vsiit with old friends, and scarf down some decadent cupcakes.

16 year old Sarah Thompson put a lot of effort into throwing this event and did a damn fine job!  I was stoked to see that all the girls in skateboarding really pitched in to help out, created some awesome art to be auctioned off, and made sure everyone had a great time. The proceeds that were raised go towards their "Silly Girls in the City" NYC skate tour later this year.

Congrats to Sarah and all the girls who spent so much time & effort making this happen!! And a huge shout out to Matt & Hailey who are always making sure these girls have the support they need to do rad stuff like this!  xx

Endless Roads (Trailer) from Juan Rayos on Vimeo.

Teaser video of my new obsession - the videos from the Longboard Girls Crew.  Shot by Juan Rayos these videos are nothing short of beautiful, inspiring, and badass. All I want to to do is pack my bags, hop a flight and skate with these rad girls. LOVE.

Check out all the Endless Roads videos HERE,  but don't say I didn't warn you - they are addicting!

 all images via skate & annoy. Huge thanks to Betsy Gordon for this gem!

Once upon a time, skater girls were a huge part of a weekly comic book series called JINTY which was published in Britain from 1974-1981. I love some of the cover lines like "Rebel on a Skateboard", but look closely as sometimes the writers had a little fun getting snarky with comments like "stick it - they can count me out!"

But my favorite cover line is the one that says "Skateboarding IS for GIRLS. Our smashing story proved it".

Yep, all skater girls are super heroes and don't you forget it.