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Vice just published Full Bleed, a photo book portraying skateboarding and skate culture in New York City, and the book is the topic of the latest episode of Epicly Later’d. It’s a pretty awesome look back at skating in the late 80s to mid 90s, which seemed a bit like an golden era for the New York skate scene. And it’s also interesting to hear about the photos themselves, if you’re into that whole picture-taking thing.

In New York skate photos, the backdrop of the city often becomes as much of a focal point as the trick itself. And rightly so.

Anthony Pappalardo - photo via chromeballincident.com

Frank Natielle - photo via chromeballincident.com

Alex Olson - photo by Mike O’Meally

NYC spots, even ones that aren’t slathered in a history of graffiti, always look good. And it doesn’t hurt if you’ve got a hunk like young Olson kickflipping over them.

Brian Anderson - photo by Ben Colen

I saw this awesome shot of Brian Anderson (doing what I assume is a no comply 180 to tailslide) on The Tap earlier this week — and what timing! His much-delayed series on Epicly Later’d has finally debuted to cheers and blissful weeping by the general populace. Rightly so, considering BA is not only one of my all-time favorite skaters, but he also holds that title with everyone else who rides skateboards and has a brain.

So, do the math here… if you skate, and Brian Anderson isn’t one of your favorites, you pretty obviously don’t have a brain. In which case, you wouldn’t be able to do even the simplest of math anyway, so that’s why I just went ahead and spelled it out for you.

While I’m stealing Crailtap’s content, here’s another shot of BA from Ben Colen’s column. It’s funny, this photo has very little to do with “real” skateboarding, and yet to me, it says everything about what “real” skateboarding should be — fucking fun, and always seeking out new opportunities to answer those nagging “what ifs.”

Brian Anderson - photo by Ben Colen

Isn’t it the best when you smack your balls with your board and end up with a super positive outlook on skateboarding later that evening despite your very recent excruciatingly painful experience? It automatically makes anything involving skateboards that are not hitting you in the balls seem that much better. Do your worldview a favor — throw caution and scrotum to the wind, put your prized pearls in peril. That is… if you have the balls.

Max Schaaf - image via dlxsf.com

I plugged this series back when it started, but a new episode in the Max Schaaf miniseries on Epicly Later’d just went up today and holy hell is it awesome. These are easily some of the best episodes Patrick has ever produced — Max’s stories are so interesting, the vintage footage is super fun to watch… I mean, shit, on a rainy day this is as close to feeling like you’re actually skateboarding as you can get. 

If I had missed any of the signs of becoming an “old dude,” it’s definitely official now. Nostalgia for ramp skating is the number one indicator that you’ve passed on to “the other side.” Looks like I’ve got a long future of putting on weight and scaring kids at the skate park to get excited about.