The 5th Annual Beasley BBQ

Today, members of the Hamilton Skateboard Assembly attended the official signing of the Beasley Neighbourhood Charter, a document designed to represent the interests of the various groups and people who "live, work and play" in Beasley. The event was one of the highlights of the 5th annual Beasley Neighbourhood picnic, which included breakdancers, a steel drum band, a Town Crier dressed up like the historic John Simcoe, information tents for various groups, and, perhaps most importantly, free hot dogs. These were not just the el-cheapo no-name brand dogs, either, but sizeable and delicious meat sticks donated by Maple Leaf Foods for the event.

The Hamilton Skateboard Assembly had a table which kids could bring their boards to and have their bearings cleaned, their grip tape topped up, or they could even trade in a set of worn down old wheels or trucks for one of the sets of the used but still ridable equipment that Oldschool and Popeye had rounded up. There was also a brand new deck, courtesy of Flatspot skate shop, to be given away at the end of the day to the kid with the most beat-up and unridable deck. Popeye secured the free deck and brought his tools. Oldschool brought his tent and his Charter-signing arm. A group of skaters showed up as well, and were ripping up the park all afternoon while the picnic went on.



I'm pretty sure this is the first year that the HSA has been expressly invited to the BBQ event, and everything seemed to go well. The neighbourhood association was happy to have us there, and one of the members made a point of highlighting what an important part of the neighbourhood culture the skateboarders and skate park play. Peter and the other guys at the table were literally swarmed by eager kids with requests to fix their boards. Even if the kids' bearings didn't really need oiling, I think that having an older skateboarder pay attention to them generated a lot of excitement and appreciation. At the end of the day, when Peter gave the free deck to one of the local youths who diligently skate the park on destroyed equipment, there was a lot of cheering and enthusiasm.

During the Mayor's speech, Bob Bratina mentioned that the abandoned Cotton Mills building flanking the skatepark had been bought and might be turned to residential use. Our worry is that the development plans could conflict with Beasley skatepark, which is one of Canada's oldest such spots, and a landmark of Hamilton skateboard culture. By joining the Neighbourhood Charter, the HSA hopes to protect the interests of downtown skateboarders by giving them some form of official recognition. Our joining the Charter doesn't guarantee the future of Beasley Skate Park, but it is one of the things that can help.


For a long time, Beasley park's location at the heart of one of Hamilton and Ontario's poorest neighbourhoods has kept it off the official radar. Skateboarders have enjoyed the the spot for over twenty years, from the time it was a kid's wading pool that skaters had to bail the water out of each evening, to its current form where a grass roots effort to renovate the facility has lead to a number of additions and improvements to the skatepark. In a similar DYI spirit, the new Neighbourhood Charter is an attempt to collectively address the needs and responsibilities of the various stakeholders in the area. As Beasley neighbourhood struggles to redefine its public profile, the several generations of skateboarders who have grown up skating Beasley Park need to represent themselves to the larger city in a way that highlights the importance of the Bease as a cultural and social landmark.



Skateboarders are more used to being kicked off streets and properties than signing neighbourhood charters at ceremonies with the Mayor in attendance, but I think this was a positive step towards securing Beasley Skate Park as a site that skaters will continue to enjoy in years to come.

The Gonz II

I've been bothering Trevor at the local skate shop to wrangle up an oldschool deck for me, and today he came through big time with this re-issue Mark Gonzalez. From the looks of it, the shape harkens back from some time in the early nineties: big kicktail, beefy nose, a nice, wide deck for my large feets. The wheel base is even longer than my old Gonz, which followers of the blog (if they exist) will remember was already quite large, by today's standards. But I took it out for a spin, found a newly paved side road, and tried to get used to it. A couple older guys passed on the sidewalk and said "that's about your size," -- or at least that's what I thought they said. Yesterday I purchased a knee support divice, and it actually seemed to help reduce the ache under my front kneecap. I'm wondering if Rodney Mullen wears one on each knee, and that is why his pants are always drenched in sweat over the knee caps. I used to tell myself that the day I need to wear knee braces or other prosthetics, was the day I'd trade in my board for a frisby or croquet set or something. But here I am, keeping myself together with high density elastic. If I could get a complete body suit made of that stuff, I'd feel (and probably look) just like spiderman. But the new board rides nice: it sails over curbs with no-complies, and the nose is good for the oldschool no-comply shove-its. Still, after twenty minutes of skating I was done for. Sweating and trembling, I dragged myself to the nearest corner store and purchased some Gator ade. The owner gave me a bag for two sour-key candies. I was trying not to look like a drug addict with shaking hands, but the stress of skateboarding has that effect on me. I can swim for an hour straight, but twenty minutes of skating reduces me to a shambling mound of bones and flesh. I sat down on the curb and tried to look dignified, but it was more than I could muster: a nearly forty year old man with receding hairline and greying temples, sweating like a fiend and trying to consume candy and Gatorade on the curb outside a convenience store, purple retro skateboard beside him. More and more it feels like time is a swiftly flowing river, and I'm clinging to a little rock in the middle of the stream, trying not to get swept into adulthood, hoping that old age will somehow pass me by. But it's interesting to cling to a little bit of youth with all one's might, because it reveals things about who we think we are, and what we do to feel that way. I'd give up my skateboard habit if there seemed to be something to move towards, but I'm worried that if I were to let it go, then the best days of my existence would be behind me.

Skate Spots of Yor

Back in 1989 (or thereabouts) my friends and I were in Toronto, just about the time when people were starting to skate handrails in a big way. In my hometown there may have been a couple good rails, but for learning, a short, steep rail like the one outside of this bank in downtown Toronto is just about perfect. So my friend Jordan decided to try it out...he was by far the bravest skater of our group. He took a few runs and got onto the rail, but didn't land it. Myself and two other guys were standing by the curb, watching. On what was to be Jordan's last attempt, he again didn't quite land properly. He fell on his ass as his board went shooting out towards the curb where we were standing. However, due to some kind of collective stupor, nobody managed to catch his board, and it flew out into traffic where a car ran over it. I'm not sure if Jordan ever managed to land a handrail after that. I suspect he probably did.

The property owner have thoughfully installed anti-skate devices to ensure that no more skateboarders break their stick on these handrails.

It Only Hurts When I Walk

There comes a point in a skateboarder's life when walking around becomes more painful than skating around. Perhaps the non-isomorphic nature of skateboarding--the fact that you tend to use one side of your body consistently differently than the other side (even if you do half of your tricks switch like some young punk)--has an effect, over many years, of conditioning the body to a certain way of moving around that makes ordinary walking more and more difficult. For instance, my right knee aches more than my left, but my left ankle hurts more than my right. Some days, the pain in my lower spine is on the right side and sometimes it is on the left (rarely does it rest in the middle). And my front or right wrist is completely wrecked from falling on it so many times, while my other hand has little clue of what a sorry state its brother is in. Getting down the stairs in the morning is a real chore, and I wonder how difficult it would be to install one of those mechanical lift chairs to save myself the trouble. But then, getting in and out of chairs poses its own discomforts. The strange thing is, when I get on the skateboard I tend to feel much better. Sure my knees still ache and my modest beer belly flaps in the wind, but rolling around makes the joints feel better. Until I fall off, and have to recite the zen proverb "fall down seven times, get up eight". Or, in my case, "wipe out 7 439 times, drag yourself off the pavement 7 440." I've been thinking of taking up some more balanced activity, like roller skating (4 wheels good, 8 wheels better?). But I'm worried that the erosion to my joints has occurred in such a way that the even, back and forth motion of roller skates would be too much for my body to handle. I'd probably take off the left skate and start pushing myself around on one skate, just to feel better. And then what would I do with the extra left skate? It would be a complete waste.