Olympian and all around good guy Oskar Rozenberg hosted a contest in Sweden last weekend dubbed the Oski Blast. This new contest was filled with numerous “challenges” where a bunch of Oski’s closest homies skated in a jam style event for all the locals to come and check out. It’s a perfect cap off to a summer that hopefully will become an annual tradition.
Sneaking Into Roosevelt Island with Julian Lewis – JENKEM
When the Etnies team and their newest rider Julian Lewis, came to town, JENKEM figured why not test their luck and see if they can send them to Roosevelt Island (a random sliver of land known for high security) to get a clip or two. They came back with two NBDs and a little extra something for their troubles.
Surprising Ali Boulala with an RC Car – JENKEM
Ali Boulala briefly disclosed his love for RC toys in his Epicly Later’d episode, but other pros have also shared accounts of Ali swinging by a hobby shop before a skate sesh and picking up a toy car or plane to fling around at the spot all day. While JENKEM was hanging with him in Stockholm, they had to try to re-spark that same childlike joy by surprising Ali with a toy car and try to capture the moment on camera.
PREMIERE: Spud’s “SPUD” Part – JENKEM
In his self titled part Spud tries to prove that a city as blown out as Los Angeles still has some hidden spots if you look hard enough (and carry a rub brick around with you).
VICE’s Taji Ameen Revisits His Skate Past – JENKEM
Over the past few years, Taji’s work with VICE and the upper echelons of New York Media took him away from his skateboarding past a little bit. We wanted to have him reconnect with skating and reminisce on those early days, so JENKEM met up with him and his old friend Billy to skate, catch up, and freestyle a little bit.
Checking out the Historic Spots of Vienna, Austria – JENKEM
What do you know about Vienna? Probably not much. Compared to other Euro cities like London and Paris, you barely hear about skating in Austria’s capital. Paul Labadie, filmer for Vans Europe, was inspired by our video in Athens to show off the spots around downtown Vienna. Remember kids, just because it isn’t tagged on IG doesn’t mean it isn’t worth checking out. – JENKEM
PREMIERE: Yaje Popson’s “Belo Horizons” Part – JENKEM
We’ve always been fans of Yaje’s skating, so when he reached out to tell us he had finished a part filmed (mostly) in his family’s hometown of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, we were honored to be the first to check it out. As someone who is very in touch with his roots, it made sense for Yaje to switch things up and get away from New York to spend some time stacking in his homeland, connecting with local skaters and filmers to produce this project down in beautiful Brazil. – JENKEM
Transitioning from Pro Skating to Furniture Making with Rob Pluhowski – JENKEM
Rob Pluhowski discovered his love for woodworking and started making furniture with the help of a friend right as he was deciding to back out of the skate industry. Through his dedication to craftsmanship and meticulous attention to detail, he has attracted a strong clientele of designers who custom order his stunning (and expensive) work for the elite.
We took the drive over to Jersey City to check out his studio, see how he works, and hear a little more about why he decided to honorably bow out from skating in pursuit of another passion. – JENKEM
PREMIERE: Shogo Zama in “MAGENTAPES” by Magenta Skateboards – JENKEM
For the last couple of years Japanese skateboarding has been getting a good amount of shine. Magenta skateboards was ahead of the curve and has been a part of the skate scene there for nearly a decade. Meet their newest recruit, Shogo Zama – He’s fast, calculated, and his pants are just the right amount of baggy. What more could you want? – JENKEM
JENKEM – We Tried Foods from Iconic Skate Videos
It’s always amazing how the tiniest details from skate videos can get permanently fried into your brain. To this day, I sing “eat that shrimp” every single time I’m eating shrimp, and I can’t pour myself a glass of juice without swigging it around in the jug like Terry Kennedy in Baker 3. Little moments like this got us thinking about all the other unconventional food clips that have made it into skate videos over the years, and we were itching to try some of them for ourselves. – JENKEM
JENKEM PREMIERE: Myles Willard’s “Myles and The Machine” Part
Treat yourself to Myles’ tasteful skating, Ed Templeton’s artistic and comedic input, Don Luong’s video work, and clips from the rest of the Toy crew. By the looks of this video, it seems the fresh faces on Toy are injecting some new life into the brand. – JENKEM
JENKEM PREMIERE: Eli Williams & friends in “Overload”
“Overload” doesn’t follow any of the current trends you see in most videos, i.e. there is no dramatic slow-mo zoom-ins or 16mm B-roll here. Instead, the video relies on fast raw skating and an editing style filled with left turns to make the final product. Enjoy Eli Williams part from the entire 2 hour spastic behemoth. – JENKEM