Features

It's been waaaaaaay too long since we posted a new review for the TOA Book Club and I can't believe that we never did one for this amazing book, "Alien Agenda" by Jim Marrs. One of the best investigative journalists on topics outside of the mainstream realm, Marrs was the author of the book "Crossfire" which the Oliver Stone film "JFK" was based upon. And his overview of the UFO/Extraterrestrial phenomenon in this book is nothing short of amazing.

Transworld just let loose a beastly video part from the beast of Copenhagen, and Polar Skate Co pro Hjalte Halberg. We're huge fans of Hjalte at TOA and we urge you to head over and check out the video part immediately.

The Deep Dish video series has helped shed some much needed light on a very underground and little known skate scene. The midwest. And more specific, the amazing city of Chicago. We caught up with video maker Mark Dunning and little ripper Brett Weinstein to get the skinny of going deep.

We try our  best to see every independent video that comes out here at TOA and we'd have to argue that the new "Headcleaner" project is our favorite video of 2015 so far. With a rad and unique concept and an amazing line-up of underground talent, it's got just enough to leave you wanting more.

Work In Skateboarding recently sat down with Josh Stewart to find out more about TOA Distribution. They talk about how Theories of Atlantis evolved from a blog into a distribution company, the pros and cons of the skate industry, and what separates TOA from the other skate distro companies out there.

Waylon Bone takes us behind the scenes of Pontus Alv's, "Manhattan Days" a video featuring the Polar/CONS crew skating through NYC. It's been said enough about how hard it is to skate NYC, now just try to imagine what it would be like while lugging around a shopping cart with two diamond-plate metal grates and a pole jam.

Something Europeans love to do is to clown Americans on their cities and states that are named after European cities with the addition of the title "New" before it. The state of New Jersey is actually stolen from a little known island off the coast of England, but actually closer to France called "Jersey". And this is the home of the young artist/skateboarder dynamo known as Glen Fox....

Possibly the hardest trick to not look horrible while doing it, the "hard flip." We racked our brains at the TOA office to come up with a comprehensive list of the most incredible nollie and switch hard flips ever captured on video. So, now sit back and peruse our very official top 10 list below and then watch the piece of shit video we edited to demonstrate these great moments in hard-history.

There's something very unique about Jahmal's skateboarding and his offerings with Hopps that add a certain level of class to whatever venue showcases them. The guys at Bobshirt have a knack for picking deserving subjects to interview on their site and they have just added a very welcome new feature on their site this afternoon. A Jahmal Williams video interview. Let's all check it out.

That's right my friends, Static videos have finally moved to the new millennium and are all finally available as a digital download. After releasing Static IV last July we received a barrage of email an Instagram complaints from skaters around the world saying that they don't even own dvd players and had no way to watch the dvd if they bought it. So it left us scratching our heads on a good solution.

7 years ago we launched an experimental contest on the TOA site allowing readers to download all of the original VX and 16mm footage from Pat Stiener's Static III part and do their own re-edit. So when Transworld Skateboarding asked us about doing a similar contest with Aaron Herrington's Static IV part, of course we were down.

When I realized Joel Meinholz's birthday was coming up on Feb 2nd, I decided to start looking through my old hard drives to create a little birthday edit for the site. It seemed like the best way to honor 17 years of filming together would be to put together a little mash-up of raw footage that could help capture the true spirit of the chaotic viking that is Joel Meinholz.

We got the crew together and headed down south to dodge the harsh New York winter, and for many of us, to get back in touch with our roots in Florida.  This video is the result of 10 days of street skating, several demos, and some deep sea diving.  Featuring riders from all of our brands, we're very proud to present Escape From New York.

About a week and a half ago the TOA crew made a trip up to Boston for Pep Kim's Static 456 photo show at Orchard Skateshop, marking the second ever time his photos from the making of the video have been exhibited.  Besides going to show their support for the show, Dustin Eggeling, Aaron Herrington, Kevin Coakley and Brian Clarke came along to meet up and skate around Boston with the locals.

We're stoked to be checking in again with one of our favorite brands, Traffic Skateboards.  They just dropped a brand new edit tonight and chose to premiere it exclusively here at TOA. Featuring: Luke Malaney, Brendan Carroll, Kevin Coakley, and Yonnie Cruz, and with appearances by Mark Wetzel, George Hanuschak,  Pat Stiener, Hiroki Muraoka, Deshi, and Rich Adler. 

A couple of months ago we received a random piece of mail from London, post marked via the "Royal Mail". Intrigued, we peeled it open and discovered a rad little photo booklet by Polar Skate Co's Jerome Campbell. Not even aware that Jerome was a photographer, it was especially surprising to see such a rad piece put together so nicely with sick photography and a strong layout. So here's a little video short on Jerome Campbell's "Traveling to Return Home".
 

I finally got the chance to visit the Magenta HQ and the home of Leo Valls this summer when I flew into Bordeaux, France for the premiere of Static IV. We figured it was as good a time as any to shoot a SKATE Bordeaux episode for Ride Channel so we could capture all of these things together in one swoop. It was a rad time and I have to thank Leo and the skate scene of Bordeaux for their hospitality. Enjoy the show!

Kevin Tierney's part was the introduction to the surprise 'Static V' video at the world premiere in NYC on May 1st for good reason. Kevin was one of the earliest choices for the Static IV project because of his original style and his overall hilarious personality. And also, as a Queens native, Kevin's skating maintains a truly New York City vibe and flavor and added a lot of the overall feel of the video.

In this piece Nick Jensen takes us inside of his studio in London to give us a glimpse at the process behind the creation of several Isle graphics from conception to realization, and provides us with some insight into some of the symbolism and meaning behind the boards.  Nick's attention to detail and meticulousness behind the method he employs to create these images is remarkable and we're stoked to be able to provide you with this look into his work.