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January 08
This one’s for all the snark-haters (to whom I suggest that they direct their hate away from the “player” and toward the “game”).
Seen in Boulder today: An AFI-esque long, black-haired punk-goth riding a longboard in his platform boots.
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5 Responses to “When (sub)cultures collide”
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Clark,
These subcultures collided in numerous, incestuous ways in the ’80s. Most of the parties I attended in high school was a mix of punk, goth, and skaterat. Maybe you didn’t see soles that thick on boots, but certainly combat boot wearing, trenchcoat sporting goths on skateboards was a common occurrence.
Of course, it could be that this was a premature melding of subcultures precipitated by living in a conservative and backwards town. The freaks had to band together for self-preservation. But I think this was going on all over the place, not just suburban Columbus, Oh.
I will try to dig up some photographic evidence if you are not convinced.
i used to do a number of things in my boots. in addition to skating, i would walk, sleep, fuck, drink, stumble, puke (normally in that order), stand, sit, play basketball, run, among other things.
your putting out a “you gotta have your hair cut at a flat top with a slant, and parachute pants to hang with my crew” kinda additude here.
truth is they weren’t the best shoes in the world for skating, but i didnt have multiple pairs of shoes, so i didnt have the luxury of changing to my environment or activity. “these are my walking shoes, these are for moon walking, these are for sitting, and these are for girls night out when i just wanna feel sexy”
No need for photos, SR. I know what you’re talking about. I consider this one to be different.
The longboard “sub”-culture (if it can even be called that) is only related to skater culture by virtue of the fact that both sets of people ride boards with wheels mounted to trucks. Other than that, there’s almost no relationship. The longboarders are more akin to a crossover of granola nouveau-hippies and hemp necklace-inclined fratties… with the occasional confused Jay-Z-listening freshman tossed in for good measure. Longboarder culture has few ties to traditional skating — most of them only began skating at a relatively late age, they don’t know how to ollie, they don’t know who Caballero is, they think “Thrasher” is a type of bird, etc., etc.
I’ve now been working and studying on the Boulder campus for almost 5 years. I’ve seen a lot of odd-ball fashion mashups. Very few of them make me look twice, but this particular fellow was exceptional.
It’s also worth noting that I’ve only ever noticed one hairstyle on campus that is original in the strict sense that it seems to have little or no connection with hairstyles of the past or of other cultures. I cannot describe it. I’ve been hoping to secretly photograph this individual in her natural state, but I’m very nervous about doing things like that. I should remind myself that it’s “for posterity.” Her clothing is also fairly original. Picture “raver-wookie/ewok.”
Whoa, there Biscuit… I just came back from Geek Bowl and the word “ewok” has some new associations with it. Add a wookie and some glow sticks to that mental image and it’s rather disturbing….
Even with your elaborate explanation, I still don’t think what you saw was that odd. Too bad you don’t have a photo.
the booted boarder has more in common with the roots of skateboarding than most skateboarding today. check out any photo of 1970s skating and you’ll see why it was called “sidewalk surfing”. it was originally invented as a way for surfers to practice while on the street. innovations like the ollie, tails, big jeans, hiphop and skate shoes are pretty recent.
this freminds me of a Don’t I saw in Vice Magazine.. some kid skating along the beach boardwalk, wearing loafers, a blazer, khakis, and a fedora.. and playing a saxophone. The caption was to the effect that this is something only your aunt thinks is cool.