Monday, December 3, 2007

The Good Old Days






The 2003 surf documentary "Step Into Liquid" briefly focuses on surf legend Robert August from the movie "The Endless Summer". These days, he's still living the life in Costa Rica, surfing in his 50's with his old crew.

Here in Connecticut we don't have any waves. But we were blessed with a brand new concrete skatepark in the city of Stamford. The park has brought a lot of old heads out of the woodwork to enjoy carving, grinding and catching air. (Although the park is temporarily closed for the winter. That's probably why I finally had time to write about it.)

When we were younger, we had a musical revolution going on at the Anthrax in Norwalk. Tons of great bands from New York and CT came to play each weekend. For me it was a "right place, right time" kind of a thing. Definitely something that would never be re-created.

Flash-forward 20-some-odd years. The thrill of skating is still there for me although the skill level may not be. But we've got plenty of rippers pushing the limits in their 30's and 40's. Not to mention people are coming from all over the East Coast and beyond to skate. Hell, Ben came all the way from France!

I was talking with fellow skater PDA about the summer of '07 and Scalzi Park. Are we in the midst of another monumental CT revolution? For our small crew of skateboarders, I'd say yes. Life and responsibilities change everything as you get older, but it's great to know that some things still hold true, like a good backside grind.

Everyone has gotten so much better since when the park opened in July. Fortunately we have been able to capture a lot of great footage, both still and video. I'd like to put together a documentary based on the early years of the Scalzi Skatepark.

Hell, it ain't Costa Rica, it ain't California, it's Connecticut. It's all we got. But like the movie said, "the good old days" are right now.




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1 comment:

Stamford Talk said...

I love the documentary idea! Do it! It would be awesome to have a portrayal on Stamford on film...