Astro SPoT Demo July 2009
Posted
on
on Tuesday, July 21, 2009
by Stalker
The SPoT Team went and did a demo at Astro in Tarpon Springs.
Words, Pictures, and Captions by Stalker Steve Ayers
I was bothering Clements to send me on a trip to shoot some photos the other day. He told me to talk to Porpe and see about getting out with the posse. "Steve, we have a demo at Astro Skate on Tuesday the 14th if you're down to shoot it. Let me know," read the email from Porpe.
It's not hard to figure out what happened next. So here we are navigating through Tampa traffic, whipping out to Tarpon Springs to skate the sole safe haven of comfortable climate skateboarding in the 1,000 degrees with 2,000% humidity summer days we suffer in Florida. Astro is air conditioned. It's fantastic. You can skate for more than 10 minutes without getting heat stroke. Thanks Astro.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Mike Atwood, Yonis Molina, and some other members of the Westside Skateshop crew pulling up as we were. They ended up getting out and skating for a bit with us. Frosty charged around and Gonzo cruised in a casual, relaxed manner, as is his style. RayRay went for several really impressive tricks that ended up not panning out, which is unfortunate. Jacob blasted over the quarter-pipe and slid some lipslides on the box. Porpe sat it out. Pat Stiener took his unique approach to skating the streets to a roller rink with some wooden ramps. Jereme skated the whole time and landed 80% of all of his tricks, which is standard for him.
After the demo we took the good times to the Tarpon Springs Winghouse. Pretty standard dinner deal, no biggie...that is, until Porpe started to drive off with me hanging off the tailgate of the Clem-350 and Jeff Lako walking through the parking lot. As a kid I always humored the idea of what I would do in a situation like that. It turns out I'd hold on for dear life. Glad I have that instinct. Thanks Porpe for allowing me to learn that about myself.
All in all it was a fun trip out to a part of central Florida skateboarding that's been going for like 20 years. Thanks for having us out, Astro.
 We actually got two demos on Tuesday. This is Porpe giving a demo on how to pick up your new cell phone on the run |
 Al Bow hiding from the camera. This was right after making fun of a ridiculously slant-eyed Asian kid in a Benz behind us by screaming, "You know Bawrack Risah?!?! Me make-ah Moat Dunk! So crool!" |
 Jeremy Knibbs, backside lipslide |
 Frosty frontside rocked the launcher-quarter-pipe |
 Jacob was happy to whip out a straight-forward air on it though. Does this count as a wallie if it's on a quarter-pipe? Or is this a plain old fly-out? Fly-out |
 Gonzo frontside lips the box |
 Pat Stiener, wallride to feeble |
 Yonis Molina made a demo cameo on this fs tailslide |
 New Shaqueefa recruit Manny Rodriguez jumped in the demo with a front board |
 Jereme Knibbs wallie fs 180'd the most fun ramp in Astro |
 Frosty, frontside boardslide |
 How much fun would it be to have to wear this uniform five days a week? I bet Kanye West would love to work here |
 Frosty was on a roll at the demo. Frontside smith |
 Pat representing |
It's not hard to figure out what happened next. So here we are navigating through Tampa traffic, whipping out to Tarpon Springs to skate the sole safe haven of comfortable climate skateboarding in the 1,000 degrees with 2,000% humidity summer days we suffer in Florida. Astro is air conditioned. It's fantastic. You can skate for more than 10 minutes without getting heat stroke. Thanks Astro.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Mike Atwood, Yonis Molina, and some other members of the Westside Skateshop crew pulling up as we were. They ended up getting out and skating for a bit with us. Frosty charged around and Gonzo cruised in a casual, relaxed manner, as is his style. RayRay went for several really impressive tricks that ended up not panning out, which is unfortunate. Jacob blasted over the quarter-pipe and slid some lipslides on the box. Porpe sat it out. Pat Stiener took his unique approach to skating the streets to a roller rink with some wooden ramps. Jereme skated the whole time and landed 80% of all of his tricks, which is standard for him.
After the demo we took the good times to the Tarpon Springs Winghouse. Pretty standard dinner deal, no biggie...that is, until Porpe started to drive off with me hanging off the tailgate of the Clem-350 and Jeff Lako walking through the parking lot. As a kid I always humored the idea of what I would do in a situation like that. It turns out I'd hold on for dear life. Glad I have that instinct. Thanks Porpe for allowing me to learn that about myself.
All in all it was a fun trip out to a part of central Florida skateboarding that's been going for like 20 years. Thanks for having us out, Astro.
