Columbus Skateparks Edit

Day in Columbus, OH

Early morning trip to a couple amazing Columbus area skateparks. This was my first trip to the Delaware and Powell skateparks, you should check them out. Great day of skating with Andrew Martin from Galaxie Skateshop and Kokomo Joe and Gary Collins from Instrument Skateboards. Edit coming soon.

Machotaildrop!

This looks pretty crazy!

2003 Footage

Old footage someone sent me. I still wish I had these shorts.

Courtesy of Newschoolers.com

This Week in Cincinnati Skateboarding

New NYC Edit

A day of skating in New York City. Left the camera running the whole time, only stopped recording to change tapes. Just a glimpse at what my idea of a perfect day is.

Goal Visualization

Michigan. Home.

Friends in High Places.

Congratulations Monton! New Magistrate of Oceana County. Full article HERE and below.

Article from Oceana Journal:

Posted: 4-21-2010 Judge Drake expected to appoint 2nd generation Monton attorney to new magistrate post

A second generation of Monton legal minds is about to go to work in the Oceana courthouse. Seventy-eighth District Court Judge Kevin Drake said he will recommend Brian Monton be named to the attorney-magistrate position created by the county board of commissioners March 25. Brian Monton is the son of long-time 27th Circuit Court Judge Anthony Monton. The first year salary for the new position will be $56,500. The county board agenda for this Thursday, April 22 includes a request for the board to affirm an appointment to the position, but does not name an appointee. Drake said he asked Joe Bizon, local bar association officer, to advertise the position through the Oceana Bar Association. Drake said he received three responses, but would not name the other applicants. A fourth response came after the application deadline and was not considered, Drake said. All applicants were people Drake said he has known and dealt with through the court system. He said Brian Monton will be a good fit for the position and will get along well with the public and staff. Drake did not see any conflict of interest with Brian Monton arraigning people on felony criminal charges that might ultimately end up in Judge Monton’s court.

Backyard with a pool.

Any info on pools in the tri-state area please drop me a line maxwellwhite@hotmail.com

Cities.

A short film by mhw.

Boards for China Edit #1 from Maxwell White on Vimeo.

Boards for China: Edit #1 Launches!

Thanks to everyone for all of the feedback so far. I hosted the video on Vimeo which should make it easier to share and find. Click HERE to watch Edit#1 hosted at Vimeo.

Keep the questions and comments coming.

Below is the address to the edit on Vimeo:

http://www.vimeo.com/10963544

About: Boards for China

I have always felt that Travel and Skateboarding are similar in that the best part of each are the people and places you experience along the way.

The idea of bringing boards to China first occurred to me while on my first trip to China in late 2009.

While walking with my dad through an outdoor shopping mall I heard the unmistakable sound of skateboard wheels rolling over smooth marble.

I had been in China for two weeks, skating solo the entire time, needless to say I was eager to track down the source of the commotion. I was expecting to find a group of teenage skaters just like you would find in any American town, but when I rounded the corner I was surprised to see a boy who could not have been older than 8, rolling back and forth. I would later find out, through an intrepeter, that the boy's parents worked at a shop in the mall and he would tag along, skating outside the shop all day while they worked. With neither my dad or I able to speak Mandarin and the boy and his family not able to speak English, a language barrier existed to say the least.

After a brief, awkward moment I breached the issue by kneeling down, holding my board up to his eye level, and then flicking the wheel to spin it. He waited until the wheel stopped spinning and then did the same to his board, laughter broke out from both families and almost instantly a game of follow-the-leader ensued.

In the 20 minutes we skated nothing much was said, smiles replaced words as the primary method of communication. Towards the end of our laps around the perfect marble plaza one of the kid's wheels suddenly locked up and predictably he slingshotted off his board and slammed onto the polished stone floor. No tears, just a look of "shit happens all the time" came across his face. I looked on the ground but there were no rocks to be found. As it turned out the problem was the shoddy bearings in his wheels would unpredictably seize causing him to slam over and over.

The bearings are a perfect example of how China cheaply replicates any and every consumer good known to man, especially western-man. But like all cheap pieces of shit, you get what you pay for and none of it lasts. What really sucks is that kids there don't even have access to real boards and accessories, they can't order online and the closest shop is in Hong Kong, which is technically another country.

At that moment the sheer irony hit me: a huge percentage of major American skateboard companies' decks are actually manufactured only hours away from where we were skating in China, but they are all shipped back to the U.S. and Europe to be sold, leaving only generic garbage, similar to what you would find in a walmart, in China for the kids to skate.

The mission was clear and simple: Get this kid a real board and his friends too.

"Boards for China" is all self filmed footage from the trip that I just returned from.

Click HERE to watch the first trailer.

Best wishes and safe travels,

Max

Above and below: Photos from that day.

Special thanks to Andrew Martin at Galaxie Skateshop in Newport, KY, Ran Barnaclo, and Mormo Jehomo for helping me round up all the decks and parts for the setups.

New Spike Jonze Commercial.

Click HERE to watch the new Lakai commercial featuring Spike Jonze, Mike Carroll, and Rick Howard. Shit is awesome.

Watch this.

Entire video is only one shot, no editing. Amazing. Click here.

Harold Hunter

While skating today I couldn't help but think about someone. I first met Harold Hunter when the Zoo York team came to our shop for a demo, I must have been 13. Harold has always been one of my favorite skaters and from the first time I met him through the last time I saw him he has been a huge inspiration to me. The Zoo demos became an almost annual visit and I look back on those times fondly. No matter where I've lived on this planet, I have always carried the first board Harold gave me. Thanks Harold.

"Legends Never Die" - Harold Hunter 1974-2006

Boards for China Teaser

Click HERE to watch a short clip.

China Diaries: Entry 4

Location: Heshan and Fushan

China Diaries: Entry 3

Hong Kong

Ferry Terminal

Rough seas.

Heshan, China

Setups.

China Diaries: Entry 2

Written: April 1, 2010

Location: Heshan, China

Fuck Frommer’s

Just glanced at the 3^rd edition of Frommer’s “Guide to China.” Other than tips on public transit, currency exchange, and tourist-geared entertainment these books are useless. Using these “guides” to learn about the goings-on of an area is similar to staying at a club-med and expecting to experience local culture. I’m actually pissed at what I read and I’m glad I had a chance to experience China before I read a single page of this swill.

NYC

Perfect travel detox: Street skating with Hans for a couple days in NYC. Happy Easter!

China Diaries: Entry 1

Written: Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Location: Heshan, Guangdong, China

Second Great Wall of China

I’m unable to view any online social networking sites behind the Great Firewall of China. After countless variations of google searches “how to blog in china” “facebook in china” I am left with no solutions and a general online consensus of china pays top dollar to shut down free-thinking. After about an hour the web no longer allows me to even access google and my internet speed has grinded to almost a halt along with intermittent “Forbidden” web pages appearing, just another example of the Chinese government’s technological capabilities. To say this is reminiscent of Orwell’s 1984 is an understatement. Everyone at the office has duct tape over the webcam on their personal laptops, overly suspicious or pragmatic, I still can’t decide.

Back on the grid!

After nearly two weeks behind the Great Firewall of China, I am able to network socially once again. Currently staying in Hong Kong on my way back to the States.