Photo: John Krisik

I've known OG girl Judi Oyama since we competed against each other in women's vert at the Gold Cup Series back in the day. I drove up to Winchester Skate park to compete, met Judi, and a life long friendship was born. She's a gnarly skater, a talented artist, and an most of all, an amazing friend.

Did I mention she has a pretty rad career too? Yeah, her company, Maximum Impact Design  creates & designs a lot of those cool ads you see in the Action Sports world and beyond. When she's not creating ads and producing shoots, Judi's skating her local park,  is the vice president of the non profit Board Rescue,  & still finds time to fit in a few slalom races with the boys. 

Total RESPECT.  xx

  images via Indoek

Picture it - surfing San O' all day with your girlfriends, camping at night on the beach, falling asleep to the sound of the waves in your own teepee so you're ready for another session in the morning before the crowds even wake up.

Yep, the collapsible 6 ft tall (when assembled) bamboo, aluminum, canvas and leather teepee is so compact that you can throw it into the car and then have it up and ready to chill in within 15 minutes.

And who said the nomad life wasn't one worth living?

Available for $295 through Indoek

 Photos: Ken Hada, Ray Rae, MRZ, OC Register

I've seen Arianna ripping it up at contests for a few years now. In fact I was at a contest recently where she had to compete against the boys in both pool and vert ramp, and she was the only girl. There was never any hesitation. At all. She skated lines that the boys weren't even trying - hitting the hip, using the entire set of ramps, varying her tricks on each run and wall to wall. All with quiet determination. Did I mentioned she got 1st in pool and second in the vert ramp? Yeah. The girl is a force to be reckoned with and definitely one to watch.

Who's Rad:    Arianna Carmona

Age:    15

Home:  Buena Park


How Long Have You Been Skating?    About 4 years

Favorite place you've ever skated?    Woodward West and Lake Cunningham

Favorite Trick:    Frontside airs and Rock n' rolls

Sponsors:  Identity Boardshop, Brokinbonz Clothing, S-one Helmets, Logan Earthski Skateboards, flow from Spitfire, flow from Filmbot Griptape

Three Things You Don't Know About Me:

1.  I'm good at climbing

2.  I used to be a dancer

3. I dress girly at school, like wear make-up and stuff like that


Make sure you follow  Arianna on instagram  @flying_arianna     

Stoked to see the Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word board profiled on The Surf Channel today!  Click over and read about the board, how it benefits female skaters, and more HERE.

Thanks to Dusters California, & Longboarding for Peace for making this collaboration happen!

Lyn-z Adams Hawkins Pastrana easily clearing the 35 foot gap on the DC Mega Ramp a few years back.

Anyone know how many girls have attempted it since?

Time to pay tribute to the girls in skateboarding who came before you and helped pave the way.

Robin Logan was jumping higher than the most of the boys during those days and doing it with style & grace.

Respect.

 

all art/images via Poppy Starr Olsen

What do some of the skater girls you admire do when they are not blasting airs out of the pool?  In Poppy Starr Olsen's case the answer would be amazing art!  If you were lucky enough to be at the Silly Girl Art Show a while back you had a chance to see Poppy's large works of art on the walls - they were awe inspiring to say the least.

You can now order card size versions of Poppy's designs HERE on her site. Greeting cards, holiday cards, and more, all done by Poppy.  Pretty cool to say the least... 

Roger Folsom Photography

Photos: Dan Sparagna, MRZ, Julian Bleeker, Roger Folsom & Ricoy Photo

You may remember Hunter Long from this rad video that I posted awhile back. To say that I have this video of her on my office computer on "repeat" is an understatement. One it's badass, and two, I never get tired of watching Hunter skate, she's super smooth and makes it look all so damn easy...


Who's Rad:   Hunter Long

Age:   18

Home:  Honolulu, Hawaii

How Long Have You Been Skating?   7 years

Favorite place you've ever skated?    Potero in SF

Favorite Trick:  Front Blunt

Sponsors:   Triple 8, 187 Pads, Hoopla Skateboards,  Dakine

Three Things You Don't Know About Me:

1.   I'm ambidextrous

2.   I like sushi

3.  I'm a ninja at ping pong


Make sure you follow Hunter on instagram @huntahlong and here on facebook

** Just got some news that Hunter broke her ankle while skating the Chili Bowl contest this past weekend and had to have surgery so please send healing vibes her way and drop her a note via her instagram and FB page if you can. We love you Hunter - heal quick!!

 images via MTV Style  

original artwork by Jim & Jimbo Phllips  / fashion reproductions Jeremy Scott

The artwork done by Jim & Jimbo Phillips for NHS Inc / Santa Cruz Skateboards is iconic in skateboard circles. So much so that when fashion designer Jeremy Scott started showing apparel & accessories on the runway at NY Fashion week with what seemed to be some of that exact artwork, skaters went into full force using social media to bring the faux pas (or rip off) to the attention of NHS Inc.

Today Jeremy Scott has backed down and agreed to destroy the items bearing the likeness of the iconic artwork and issued a public statement admitting the "similarities".

This is a great lesson for all of us to learn - artwork is protected by the copyright law. In simple terms, that means if you draw something or take a photo it belongs to YOU.  If it is published, sold, or copied without your permission that person has violated the copyright and can be held accountable.  Yes, even if the person who created the art or photograph is deceased.

The moral is - do your own thing and don't steal!

Photos by Morizen Foche

  Julz Lynn ruling the Chili Bowl - right into 1st place. Congrats Julz!!

 via Longboard Girls Crew  / Photos Gador Salis

I keep getting these rad updates and photos from the Longboard Girls Crew in my inbox and I am so envious! In case you haven't heard, the girls are in Israel skating their asses off while filming another video for all of us to be inspired by. 

If you want to be in on the behind the scenes "sneak peeks" they are doing,  jump over to their website and give a little donation - any amount is greatly appreciated and I promise you'll love the email updates they send out. And be insanely envious like I am!

Let's all lend some support to these girls so they can keep on inspiring all of us!  xx

Takes me back to the good old days. Local shop skateboard tryouts are happening again here in Hermosa Beach this weekend! If you live in the South Bay come down and try out!

If you are a female skater you have most likely caught Amelia Brodka's awesome documentary  UNDEREXPOSED which shed a light about women in skateboarding, their lack of exposure & sponsorships, and what they could do to change that.

Now it's time to watch BRANDED a new documentary playing now on ESPN presented by espnW's Nine for IV films.  (see short clip above)

Hear what US Olympic & Pro athletes like US Women's team soccer player Brandi Chastain, tennis champion Chris Everett, Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton and more have to say about the disproportionate amount of money they make compared to men for playing the same sport, why they are told to not "make waves", how the endorsement deals that help them make the bulk of their living come with beauty not ranking, and what track & field star Lolo Jones decided to do via Twitter to help change her financial situation.

I personally love that they talked about a women we all owe a lot to in sports - female pro tennis player Billie Jean King. She took a stance, put her ass on the line for us women and claimed a victory fair & square in a very public & televised match against pro tennis player Bobby Riggs to show the world that the women were just as good (or better in this case), as the men in tennis and therefore deserved the same amount of dollars.

There are so many women in various sports that came before us that we owe a lot to. The next time you see one of them, say "thanks" and remember that you girls out there today are helping shape and pave the way in women's sports for the next generation.  Thank YOU.

 Poppy Starr Olsen making headlines in The Daily Telegraph in an article about "Getting Outdoors".  Love that skateboarding was the highlighted sport here and that they chose Poppy to be the feature!

Photo: Darnell Scott

Photo: Albert Miller

Photo: Andrew Jeffers

Photo: Ken Hada

AT Imagery

I met Natalie for the first time a few years back at the Skateboard Hall of Fame. Right away I noticed her fun spirit, her love of adventure, and of course her rad skating. Besides being a kick ass skater, wakeboarder, & soccer player, one of my fav things about Natalie is that she cares enough to be involved with organizations like Falling Whistles.  Now that's pretty rad.

Who's Rad: Natalie Krishna Das

Age: 31

Home: Phoenix, AZ I like it HOTTTTTTT! Correction... I like it SCORRRCHING!!!! :}

How Long Have You Been Skating? 15 years

Favorite place you've ever skated: Big Surf, AZ- waterpark when it's empty! ;) Must be very very sneaky to get in. Shhhh! You didn't hear it from me!

Favorite Trick: frontside air to tail OR backside flip... They tie in my book.

Sponsors: NIXON, BOOM Electronics, Silly Girl Skateboards, Falling Whistles, Navigator Trucks, Deville Wheels, ZOX Straps, State Bicycle Co., Unrulee

Three Things You Don't Know About Me:

1. I used to compete in Sailing Regattas. I sailed in regattas in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi before I picked up skateboarding.

2. I was captain of my soccer team in high school.

3. I am a whistle blower for peace.

Make sure you follow Natalie on: Facebook Twitter Instagram & Google +

Rocking it old school style this morning with the unveiling of the new skater girl tank top that we have added to the Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word tee shirt line.  Classic skate shot from the late 70's of Cindy skating the 1/2 pipe at Skateboard World in California with her signature headphones on back in the day.

Tank top is super soft and comfy, low cut sides so you can show a hint of lacy bra or just layer it with a fitted tank underneath. Slightly cropped length and looser fit. One size fits most

You can get yours HERE  or via Pink Widow Distribution

If you download any movie this month from itunes make sure it's this one. "Lakey Peterson Zero to 100" is a visually stunning movie that follows 2012 US Open Champion Lakey Peterson around the globe and chronicles the highs and lows of her surfing career. It's a great reminder that success doesn't come overnight, or without a lot of hard work and determination.  Something we all need to be reminded of from time to time.

Julz Lynn

Bryce Wettstein

Sarah Thompson

Julz Lynn

Sarah Thompson

all photos via Silly Girl

Some of my favorite Silly Girls ripping it up in San Jose this weekend at the Tim Brauch Memorial Contest!  Congrats to Julz for getting 1st in the pro women's division, Sarah Thompson for scoring 3rd and Bryce for taking 3rd in the amateur girls division. 

Tropical Bowl

Pink Motel - at one point in time

Marnix Bowl

DFace

Octopus Bowl

Penn Skate

Lastplak x Marnix  Bowl

Skull Pool - DFace  Photo: MRZ

Some pools are just legendary. Not just for the degree of difficulty, but for the insane artwork. The Pink Motel has held this status for many years in skateboarding circles. You utter the name and everyone wants to know if you've skated it.

Here are some more pools that also have some amazing artwork and get props worldwide..

Awesome video of little ripper Annika Vrklan announcing & interviewing her peers at stop #1 of the  TopGrom Contest series. I have loved watching her grow up in the skateboard world - she is a force to be reckoned with.  Full of bubbly personality, she not only shreds at skateboarding, can sing you all the lyrics to the Queen song "We Will Rock You" (complete with body movements) and is now announcing during a contest for her peers. You go Annika!

You see more of what Annika is up to by following her on her Facebook page HERE