Wearing flags as capes: the DVS European trespass.

WHEN WE WENT TO EUROPE this year it was an unexpected treat to be there during the World Cup, Now, a lot of in the United States don't follow soccer, but in the rest of the world it's huge. It was held in Germany this time around and we were there for a week. When there was a game, the streets would be packed with all sorts of people rooting for their country. They had flags as capes and makeup on like war paint, and all other kinds of crazy hats and flair. It was great. It was also great being in France with French dudes and betting against France. Same would for England, too. I'm not a big soccer fan, and to tell you the truth that's the most soccer I've ever watched in my life. I just like watching everyone get their panties in a knot. When the Euro dudes would hate on the US for being eliminated, I'd just say it was a victory even being there. Also, they've been playing soccer for hundreds of years--we've been playing for about three days. Anyway, I'm happy to say that Italy won, and being an Italian American it was a win all around for me. Forza Italia! And good job USA for even being there! Yeah, cool!

MARK BAINES, FRONTSIDE FLIP SWITCH MANNY 

Mark is experienced in the world of tour. What he wasn't very experienced in was getting picked on. One day I singled out Baines. I don't know why, but I just did. In case you're wondering, the answer is yes--I'm the dick. One night, Mark wanted us to bring him back some food. So I thought the best idea would be pickled cocktail gherkins (small pickles), a tube of cheese, and chocolate milk drink. The words "milk drink" caught my attention, 'cause milk drink ain't milk. He was not happy with my food choices. Maybe next time you'll roll your own ass to the store. This is the cutthroat world of tour.

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JEREME ROGERS, SWITCH HEEL

Jereme was in and out of this trip pretty quickly. He flew in, handled some demos, did some skating, and split. I like his style when it comes to that; he has a very focused, firm outlook on life, knows what he wants and how to get it. One of the best things about Jereme is how hilarious he can be. In Germany, one of the dudes that was driving us around was on the phone. We're all in the van, trying to leave, and he's talking away. Jereme's got the door open, screaming at the top of his lungs for Olie to hang up the phone. Remember the days when you didn't have a cell phone? Maybe you had a beeper. You tell your boy to beep you, and.... Wait. What am I talking about right now? This is what happens when you go on tour and don't write your article. You start talking about nothing.

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TOREY PUDWILL, NOLLIE FLIP

Torey really likes to skate with his iPod on and, surprisingly, it's loaded with great music. Gabe, the team manager, was scrolling through it and commenting on how amazing the music set list was. He looked over at Torey and said, "There's no way that you listen to all this good music." Torey said his friend had just loaded it up for him. Gabe said, "Okay, that makes sense because if you put all this music on yourself, then I would have been real impressed." Anyway, at this stairs/rail spot Torey was sitting in a chair with his shirt off, listening to his iPod and noticing that the arms of the chair were pushing into the backs of his arms, making him look kind of buff. Torey sat there looking back and forth at his arms and his chest, realizing that he's no longer a tube and is turning into a man. But what he didn't notice was all of us staring right at him as he was doing this and calling out his name the enitire time. He couldn't hear us because he had his iPod on. I can only imagine what was going through his head at that moment: A really good song is on, he's looking down at himself, saying, "Damn! I look good, no one is gonna make fun of me anymore!" Then he looks up and we're all laughing at him. He was a good sport about it all, though. As long as he keeps nollie flipping like this, he can stare at himself as long as he wants.

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TOREY PUDWILL, KICKFLIP BACKSIDE NOSEBLUNT

We got some girls to make out with Torey on the train. I'm psyched we hooked him up. I'll get him weight gainer and a gym membership. Maybe even a trainer ... well, maybe not. Just a mirror, that's all.

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ZERED BASSET, FRONTSIDE NOSEGRIND

On this trip, Zered developed a fascination with Torey. I think it was because when Zered was a kid on tour he was doing the complete opposite of what Torey did. Zered used to be the equivalent of the Tasmanian Devil--just going totally berserk wherever he went. He was like a tiny tornado.

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TOREY PUDWILL, FEEBLE BACK TAIL

When we gathered up the troops and decided to hit Europe for three days, we decided to take Torey. Taking someone as young as Torey can go either way. Sometimes bringing the inexperienced out of town can be dangerous. They get their hands on some bad drugs, go crazy, and wind up in jail, or worse. Sometimes they're so inexperienced and young that they're used to their mommies doing everything for them. Gotta wake them up, gotta feed them, gotta wipe their asses. It's annoying. Not my man Torey, though. No, not him. He was good to go. Well, we did usually have to wake him up and we also had to make sure that he ate. But he wiped his own ass! He did! We actually had to teach him not to ball up the paper, but to fold it instead. This prevents clogging the toilets.

Take a good long look at this feeble back tail. There's no end on the bar, and if you go too far you bang into some weird cement German block. Torey did one of these perfectly before the one you're looking at--he jumped off his board and said he wanted to do it better. Jereme got pissed at him, and said, "Why the fuck did you jump off? That was perfect." The next go Torey did this one; it's way better, way longer way ... everything. I figure, fuck it--if he can do this trick this good, he can sit at every spot checking himself out. I'll even buy him a mirror.

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KRISTIAN BOHMHOLT, NOSEPICK

You can look into almost anyone's eyes and get a feeling for who they are. You know what I mean? That one dude in your neighborhood who you look at and just know he's gonna tear someone's heart out and eat it. The second I met Kristian, I knew that he'd destroy anything in his path. After talking to him about fights and stuff like that, he was telling us stories about blood coming out of people's ears, getting chased by cops, all that fun stuff that certain people take for granted. I knew he wasn't kidding, either; I've known too many psychos in my days back in Brooklyn. When you see Kristian skate, it's the same thing.

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ZERED BASSET, BACKSIDE FLIP

This spot is in Germany. We went there, started skating and Zered told me he wanted to frontside flip it. By the time. I got all set up he was done, so he added this buttery backside flip as well. I think the person who had the most fun on this hip was Gabe, the TM. He would roll over the bump doing different grabs. His face was so focused on what he was doing. It was pretty awesome to see. Keep it real, Gabe. Sorry for the short caption on this one. Who wants to read, though? Look at this buttery photo of Zered, remember how fresh it is, and when you go buy another board, buy his.

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