Harder Core Than Thou...

[Avi]

When I get stressed at work, I relax by grabbing one of my mini boards and shredding the desk top (or other flat surface within arm's reach). I kickflip over piles of mail, Smith Grind PC monitors, and railslide my co-workers' ink pens. These boards have taken a lot of abuse, so I decided to make a tribute page here for them. Take a look at these bad boys:









For those of you that don't understand the art of fingerboarding, take a few minutes of your time to watch this video. It is artfully produced and shows a professional fingerboarder throwing down like you wouldn't believe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnvyIfeevW4

Is it childish? Something for kids? Probably, but since my body no longer allows me to get on a real skateboard anymore (which was part of my everyday life from the mid eighties to the mid nineties), this is as close as it gets. Plus, it's portable and you can trick off of anything as soon as inspiration strikes.

[Daddyo]

Oh man I always wondered what those little boards were in the store. I never would have though you could control them anywhere near what that guy can do. Really well done video. Bet that drives teachers & coworkers insane. I could have used that in the military when there was nothing to repair on the flightline...sometimes for months on end.

I can still skate whattya talking about?! I never could do pools or banks, my crappy homemade board with wood skid probably couldn't handle it anyway. I can't stand the modern rock hard tiny wheels, it's gotta be urethane "film's" baby!

[Avi]

I can still push around on one in the Toys R Us when the employees aren't looking, but I'm not touching another launch ramp for as long as I live. That's why my knees and ankles are in the condition that they are in. No one told me years ago that it would catch me back later in life...but I probably wouldn't have listened anyway.

These fingerboards are the perfect thing to still experience that feeling in small doses. When you land a 180 heelflip over the bosses stapler when his back is turned, it boosts your morale in the workplace.

I have a few more fingerboards, but they aren't broken in like the ones in the pics. The 2 that I posted here compliment each other...the red Tony Hawk deck sits a little higher than the other, giving it more "pop" but sacrificing a little bit of control. It's more for leaping over higher gaps. The other one doesn't pop as high but you can flip it a little easier and land flat ground tricks over and over with it. What's funny is that I'll be at work and see two boxes or shelves and imagine doing some trick over the gap between them...then I'll decide which board is needed to make it as graceful as possible. Yeah, co-workers hate it but sometimes I'll catch them watching me out the corner of the eye...probably hoping to see me land some insane flip move over the cash register.

[TronFAQ]

Wow, I had no idea those finger skateboards existed. Pretty cool.

Are they expensive? Wait, don't tell me . . . the answer is yes. (Or is it? Hehe.)

I never got into skateboarding, but I had friends who were seriously into it.

[Avi]

The fingerboards in my pic are about 3 bucks each at places like Wal-Mart and Target. I have a custom deck being made for me at the moment which will run about 30 dollars (just for the wood itself...no wheels or anything). It will be 3 ply maple with my own graphics underneath (probably my band name or something like that. Maybe a Tron Squad deck? LET'S ALL DO IT! lol). Here's the site that I'm getting it from:

www.homewoodfb.com

Fingerboarding increases your hand/eye coordination and is a lot of fun...but it helps if you have knowledge of real life skating tricks so that you know what you have to get the board to do in order to land some impressive moves.

[Avi]

Forget about the fingerboards in this thread.

Here's the real deal:



It's a reissue of the first pro model deck I ever owned. Found it on ebay last weekend and just had it set up for street skating this evening. Went on a nice three mile trip through a wealthy neighborhood with my cousin (he's sponsored by the local skate shop) and we RIPPED it up! I didn't know this old man still had it him, but I came back feeling like I picked it up right where I left off. My son tagged along on his Razor scooter, and he kept saying "Dad, you're going to KILL yourself!", but I didn't hit the pavement one single time.

If any of you ever gave up something you loved doing as an adolescent and feel like they might be too old for it now...stop denying yourself! Do it!

[Daddyo]

I used to love eating slushie Tang while watching Saturday morning cartoons, now I know what to do with myself.

[Avi]

Do it! It's what your life has been missing this whole time!

[Avi]

Just wanted to show off my graffiti skills. This is the top of my skate deck. Spray paint, homemade stencils, tape, and razors.

The logos in order from top to bottom are:

Dead Kennedys
The Misfits
Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (or just D.R.I.)
Black Flag

[Daddyo]

You need to make a Tron hoverboard, like x's

[TronFAQ]

Nice! Looks fantastic.

[Avi]

I'm pleasantly surprised at how well the spray paint is holding up. I've been riding it this week, and I was worried that my size 14 shoe would rub all of the logos off like two giant pencil erasers. So far, so good.