Trash.

EARLY TIMES

AS BOMBS FELL ON BAGHDAD, THE NEW WORLD TM DROPPED a biggie on Chad Fernandez, booting him from the team. The axe swung wide, apparently, and photog Seu Trinh got chopped too. Good luck, dudes. After placing well in contests for the last few years, super kid Ryan Sheckler went pro. Board available soon. Let's hope no return of the dreaded Branaugh syndrome. In some uninteresting business news, World has been reigned back in under the Dwindle umbrella.

Zero posse's been holding heavy try-outs for new ams, with dudes you've never heard of breaking it off for Jamie's death lens. Will Osiris am James Brockman be the first to get the official nod onto the roster? In other Zero news, North County lensman Lee Dupont has left the skull to direct the new Circa video project. Nice one, Lee. Don't look for James Craig in the as-yet-unnamed vid, however. He got sacked. Tulsa terror Peter Ramondetta was, however, added to the line-up.

Following the decline (demise?) of Illenium, Midwest malcontent Greg "The" Lutzka took the bait from Mark "The Gonz" Gonzales to cruise for Krooked. Imagine the conversations in that tour van. No news on the status of the rest of the Illenium team. Those inquiring on the subject have been advised to get beat.

Semi-underground Maryland legend Rodney "Sweat Neck" Jones went pro for Powell. Also, there's no more Brigade skateboards anymore. It's all just Powell again. In related Jones news, middling shoe brand Aera finally bit the bag.

DNA bean pole Micah Hollinger threw himself into the history books this month by 180 nosegrinding the gigantic Staples Center ledge, formerly untouched by all but Geoff Rowley and some assorted bomb droppers. Get off, Micab! Mertz better be fishing out that check book!

OLD FAITHFUL

Kenny Anderson and family have relocated from the harsh desert of Riverside to the plush paradise of Rancho Palos Verde, a stone's throw from Pedro's 7th Street and the ever-expanding Pedro under-the-bridge project. Does this mean Roger Bagley's moving to the beach too?

After suffering another case of America overload, Finnish flame Arto Saari has once again moved to Barcelona where he can skate unhindered with fellow Flipper Bastien Salabanzi and the rest of the free world. In some other Flip news, Ali Boulala is back ripping in France. That is, if he's not in Australia Or Sweden.

Alter more than a year behind the Orange Curtain, Jason Adams called bullshit and moved back to his beloved San Jose. In an unrelated story, Adams' Revolution wheels has gone to that great urethane scrap heap in the sky.

In fashion news, Greco's look has evolved from retro-punk to something more in the realm of the band Poison and/or a very fancy pirate. Floppy felt hats over bandannas and plenty of sheer tattoo-showcasing materials round out the look, destined to come to a skatepark near you.

Alter the temporary team dude allegedly tried to make out with half the team, Hollywood pro Charlie Thomas was called in to manage the Hurley skate program. He likes the team, too--just not like that.

MY RULES

The post-modernist, post-mortem of Dogtown careens down the tube towards either artistic infamy or commercial unrespectability. When Hollywood director David Fincher passed on Mission Impossible 3 in favor of making Lords of Dogtown, the stage was set. Manic contortions on the part of aspiring collaborators to the highly touted director's production are becoming fast the comic relief du jour for Tinseltown. The now widely-quoted Stacy Peralta script is actively being "refined" by South Bay denizen Roger Avary who apparently has moved from the beach up into Fincher's own inland Dogtown compound. Many wonder how all of this Bones Brigade-Animal Chin- Se7en-Fight Club-Panic Room-The Gome-Pulp Fiction-Rules of Attraction morphing is going to turn out. Casting for the reportedly over 60-million-dollar budget film is oddly effective with legions of real people trying to portray the fictionalized versions of actual people. Examples being considered? Tony Trujillo as anyone. Jeff Ho Jr as Jeff Ho. Alexander Olson a s Jay Adams. Lance Mountain Jr as Alva, Jason Lee as the early CR Stecyk, Vince Vaughn as the post head-trauma CRS, and Kid Rock as Peralta. To keep it surreal, Fincher is continuing to build a life-size replica of the Pacific Ocean Park pier in Mexico, as well as a Zephyr shop repop in Pomona. Several-hundred custom surf and skateboards are also being commissioned. Other rumored scenarios see Skip Engblom as an actor/technical advisor, James Muir as a Mexico gang construction boss, Stecyk and Ancell as art boys, Steve Olson as trainer / stunt coordinator / skate wrangler, and the national cultural treasure of Tony Friedkin as film stillman. Meanwhile, lawyers such as "How E" Kornberg continue to negotiate certain key players' participation.

MY WORLD

The mass media's attraction to DT stuff festers anew. Blatant lifts of vintage Stecyk photos of Tony Alva and Paul Constantineau by Hollister company Abercrombie & Fitch are good examples of this ugly trend. Purportedly TA, PC and CRS were not asked nor informed prior to Hollister's release of the highly offensive product. And how down is this company? Hollister actually places pre-scuffed skateboards featuring their corporate logo around their stores as decorative elements. Very sad, very transparent, very shopping mall-esque. Color this phony. Watch for the lads to affection train the interlopers.

The Pink Motel was site of one more event for the ages. Jerome at Burning Tree Records talked Pink Motel owner Monty Thomulka into authorizing an all day bandfest-BBQ-beerfest and non-skate / non-demo. Bagel, Jesse Martinez, Aaron Murray, Munsky, Jer-E-Lewis and assorted other Venetian-types seemed probably due for credit when some unknowns hit up the freshly painted Pink pool with such graff as Koping Killer, DT, Z Cult and Fist of Fury glyphs. Murray's ability was so evident that a movie guy working with a Bruce Willis film, that had just been filming right near the motel, attempted to hire Aaron as a painter. Jesse then ran him off saying, "We don't do Hollywood." Also pushing up the level were: Brian Patch, Dave Duncan, Eddie Reategui, Jim Knight, Eric Grisham, Omar Hassan, Cris Dawson, Scott Starr, Ray Allen, Kim Peterson, Susanne Melani, Heidi Fitzgerald, Don Hamilton, Ruda Lopes, Andy MacDonald and Benji Galloway. The occurrence helped raise money for the Neil Heddings defense fund and also for a local youth center.

LATE NIGHT

The all who knew? Bam Margera's family reality TV show is upcoming on MTV. Despite Bam's emerging career as a video director a la the Finland band HIM, the immediate future will see more Margeras on the tube. Shotmaker Roger Bagley is also partially responsible for this, and after the Adio incident we should be forewarned.

The illustrious Doctor Ranger is rumored to be reconstructing Moses Itkonen's ACI ligament in his right knee. The world-wide known Canadian doctor has rebuilt a number of Olympic, professional athletes, as well as Danny Way. Moses will be back on the attack in three months, but he probably will avoid all future vacations. Why? Because he blew out his knee on the last day of a Waikiki trip.

OSCAR MYER 

"STACY PERALTA at 16 looks like the original Kid Rock: long sun-bleached hair, sunburnt nose and cheeks, squinty eyes; the quintessential California surf rat.

And NATHAN at 16 is a long haired, brainy nerd housed in a hip surfers body...

TONY ALVA, you know that this is one cocksure 16-year-old kid. Mexican-American, some might even say Mulatto, with long frizzy hair shooting off his head like sun streaked flames."--Lords of Dogtown, by Stacy Peralta

"This screenplay is a beautiful blueprint for success...they're perfectly humanized. We have the crazed daredevil in Jay and Sid as his tagalong best friend. Tony is the future superstar."--Jean-Francois Allaire, critic

"I do not have a life, and that certainly is not a story. I look more like Jason than he does, and Lee doesn't look like me at all, I suggested Gary Coleman to play my part, but they said he was too tall."--CR Stecyk

"Yeah, I know that's Luke's shit. I just don't want to dig through it"--Steve Cales

"Bombs away, just like the San Francisco way. Full bore to the core."--Steve Olson