Aside from it being summer time, the season of titties and toes, another past time is among us. Contest season. No, I don't mean Maloof or by no means am I mentioning Street League, I'm talking about the time of year where bloggers (or whatever the fuck you want to call me) dig deep into our pathetic pockets, scowling for our last penny to find another way to entice viewers to come to our site.

Truth be told, I've been planning something like this for quite sometime, I just never got around too it, i.e. never got a pair of shoes I couldn't review myself. The good people at Habitat have hooked up a pair of Habitat Lark skate shoes. Fortunately for you, they're free but I thought I'd make it interesting. The only stipulation to get these is a small 2-3 minute video review. I thought about this after receiving emails sometime ago about how I'm "reviewing shoes all wrong" and how "I suck". This all may very well be true but I hate myself too much to care. Just kidding. I care, I love you all.......Gay.

The contest unfortunately is only for New Yorkers and I will soon be doing a California edition once I get out there. Eventually, I'll try to make this world-wide but thinking very small has gotten me this far so let's keep doing it this way. (for now)

The shoes are a 9.5, brand new in box and have never been skated. Upon meeting up, we'll film together at your spots and you'll rip these fucking shoes up. It sounds like a good time, you down?

Leave your comments, your youtube footage links and whatever else you think I may find interesting below so you can have these shoes. In the case where no one responds at all, I will fill these shoes with dog poo and put them in a brown paper bag on a door step and then I will light it on fire. It will all be documented and look something like this. 

"Tell em about it hoe" - Tha Realest.

You may remember an article that we had not to long ago, it was called "Lil Chris will fuck you up" featuring one of my closest friends, Chris Pierre-Jacques. I never realized it but I've been fortunate enough to be surrounded by many talented friends that rip shit up, on and off the board. This new segment called "Brotha from another Motha" hosts to my talented friends, who I feel, deserve it all.

Sal Puglisi is the nicest and probably the most naturally gifted person I know. I know from seeing him skate in person but digging a little deeper I found out, from speaking to his parents privately, that at a young age Sal's parents wanted him to be able to jump "high as fuck". For no particular reason, they just knew it would come in handy. So, at an early age, Sal's parents would refuse to let him go to school in order to pursue this dream of jumping......"high as fuck". Took him out a school, made him lift weights and when it came time, they released the beast from his cage and into society with his skateboard in hand.

I stated that he is the "nicest" guy I know, I don't mean "YO SON, you NICE". I mean this motherfucker will "help a old lady cross the street and shit" nice, but granted he still does gain the praise of all of the ghetto spots we go to where they echo "YO SON, you NICE". In this day in age, talented skateboarders are a stones throw away from acting like elitist super models. It's like an unwritten rule, if you're better than most kids in your community, you automatically deserve the right to be a dick and still gain praise from all of those kids that are "beneath" you. Not to blab, but it makes sense. 

Think about it, what does it take to be a "talented" skater?

• Confidence - You must be sure of yourself at all times in order to pull off whatever scary shit you're trying.
• Strong willed - You must be determined to/try whatever it takes to get that trick.
• Concentrated - You must have the action and power of focusing on your effort.

That's not all that you need to become the "perfect" skater but in most cases the above 3 create the classic formula of an "asshole & spectacular skater" or the acronym "A.S.S."

Sal has all of the mentioned above but isn't by any means an "A.S.S.". He's the working man's skater. I don't normally appreciate a man's figure but the dude is "brolic". This is from working like a man with his pops and I imagine from getting it in with his baby moms. When he's not tapping that ass, he's skating with precision and just as hard as everyone else. The crazy shit is that he skates this hard after work or before work, without thinking about being tired or fatigued and still holds a smile on his face. I really couldn't go into detail about how good he is but he has one hell of a frontside flip. Be that as it may, that won't be his claim to fame when that day comes. His claim to fame will be from his character, individuality and personality. Sal is your favorite skater's skater, or at least soon will be after they put him on their team. If I could go into detail about Sal's skating, I probably sound like this when I'm most hyped.

To this day, Sal still jumps "high as fuck" and on a more informal note he get's....."High as fuck." Check out TornRetina for some of Sal's footy and be on the look out for him, he's good.

For all 5 of you that view this site, wait.....sorry....6, we pulled a "Berrics"in an attempt to take down the biggest skateboarding site in the world.


No we didn't...

If I'm honest, I'll tell you that I forgot to renew the domain name but if I'm from New York, I'll tell you to go "mind ya fuckin' business". Luckily, this act of being careless and poor came just in time for me to give you your update of what to expect.

This review should've been done so long ago, if not by me then atleast another shoe review site. I mention this because the Vans TNT 5 is a shoe that's been constantly requested everywhere; forums, facebook and from word of mouth. I'm not giving in to the "power of the internet" but I've actually found time to do it myself. During the C1RCA review and the insole review war that took place, I was trying to schedule my friend to do this review but unfortunately different schedules and miles came in between having this review done sooner.

Why the fuck do I always tell you these things?
 You must have grown on me but anyways heres your first glance at the Vans TNT 5.

I actually came by some down time in between reviews not to long ago and got the chance to skate some Vans Old Skools, which inspired me to get this review done. Vans often gets shit for the similarities in all of their skate shoes, rightfully so, but they do have an untested and unquestioned formula for making great skate shoes. Simplicity......it's simplicity, nothing else. The TNT 5, like most Vans shoes, has everything where it needs be. By tomorrow I should be at a week of skating and I'm really excited to put out this review. (below are preliminary photos before skating)

Here are some "FYI" facts, from my point of view, incase you are impatient enough to wait for the full review and want them NOW! Don't blame you.....bro.

• Right away the shoes feel really comfortable. They have a nice fit and they were true to size. Upon skating, the comfort was still there but the first couple of ollies happen to shifty over on me. I found that this happened because of the early "bulky" feeling I got from these new shoes. It only happens because the shoe doesn't yet have a damaged or scratched surface for the shape of your board to follow. This happens to be common among most shoes when breaking in so don't be scared or be a pussy or whatever. Into the 2nd hour of skating the shoe was fully broken in and I had an awesome slappy session as I became more and more comfortable with the shoe.
• Despite looking slim, the shoe feels somewhat heavy but is a good sign of protection. The shoe has padding in the heel, throughout the tongue and this "stock" insole is incredible. I haven't weight it yet so don't even bother asking, hoe.

More details to come as the Vans TNT 5 review wraps up this month.
By the way, this band should be zillionaires, seriously.

It's not very often that I re-post something that's already featured everywhere on the internet. For such a rare occasion to happen, the material, whether it be video or written, must be re-post worthy and something that I don't want to go away so fast. As we all know, the lifetime of internet material is average 1-2 days. This interview with Ian Reid has some great stories to vicariously live through if you weren't fortunate enough to live in a NYC hood. Jenkem Magazine has some amazing articles and even a "Best of Jereme Rogers twitter" article. It's one of the best finds that I've found in a while.

To coincide with his interview, it's only right that I bring some hood shit into this post. Summer is around the corner and music is shittier than ever. Obviously, the radio isn't what it use to be and so I've compiled sources and direct links where to find music for your mood this summer. I've personally taken the route of going with the good ole' oldies but I'll try to cover all your needs.

When I want the latest mixtapes, I don't go to Datpiff but Mixtape torrents because of the lack of spam and it's categorized really well. Lately though, I can't stand current rap and hip-hop so I've gone with taking a time machine back into 1997 and 98'. Also, check out Dante Ross blog for random music gold. Like this one.

Because of the heat, I understand that rap and hip-hop can be a bit overwhelming at times so if you're looking for some chill music to just lounge out to, I'd suggest going to Unfound Sounds. Unfound Sounds is a blog I found and use to get my latest indie trip going. Use it to it's full potential and snoop around and try to find the next original song to use for your "worthy" montage.

If you have any sources for finding new music, don't be a bitch and share. Post it in the comments below. Stay cool ya'll!

Nigga Flip, found this thanks to this kid,
He's the truth.