Netflix, TiVo be damned. You will sit through commercials, and fuck it, you will like them. What does it say about a culture when commercials become a primary form of entertainment? I don’t know, or rather, I don’t feel like flexing my occasionally useful Communications and Media Studies degree at the moment.

More importantly, I’m concerned for the skateboarding subculture. There was a time when it was more insulated from the horrors of money. Of course, that’s ancient history, and now we are witness to an industry where amid a constant deluge of generic clips, a handful of 20 second sneaker commercials seem like some of the most valuable viewing material. Then again, maybe that’s just the strange voodoo of Keith Hufnagel. I always figured there were some kind of dark arts to blame for that legendary pop.

The shoes are reportedly being made with actual skating in mind, not just looking like you’ve got skating in mind, which is a big plus in a sneaker culture supersaturated with people trying to get a slice of the authenticity pie. Which isn’t to say HUF isn’t authentic himself, but it would have been an easy cash grab to market to kids whose sole experience of skateboarding is mall-grabbing, Diamond t-shirts, and video games. Is there room for another skate/lifestyle sneaker brand? Well, probably not, but if anybody could finally do it right, it’s Keith Hufnagel.

And yeah… I apologize for posting up more commercials this week. There is a part of me inside that is dying, right now, as I press the post button. I’ll be fine — try not to lose any sleep over it. But damn, can you imagine how much work a blog must have been before YouTube?

Sadly, I also recently had to dispose of my long-time friends, the TNT 4s. They served me well on the great battlefields of the streets. Easily my favorite skate shoe in recent years. Pretty lightweight, and the suede ones I had were incredibly comfortable with great board feel — low on padding though, so if you’re a baby, I guess take that into consideration. Best of all, they were super durable, with some kind of thin space age rubber reinforcement underneath the ollie area. I hadn’t even worn through it before I went straight through the sole to the footbed. Shit was about to be touchin’ socks. Unfortunately, their successors, the Rowley Shambles, are not filling the old shoes’… uh… shoes.

A Geoff Rowley vs. Tony Trujillo smash up would be this years’ true Clash of the Titans… although, when it comes to transition, there is no contest.

Dude just released the Kraken all over Burnside’s shit.

The Kraken in Clash of the Titans (1981)

The shoe I based my drawing off of is my favorite Vans model of late — for skating, not just for looking like a really cool guy at the bar — the TNT 4. …Although they still would look pretty cool at a bar. They just wouldn’t smell too alluring, you might say. Well, mine don’t anyway.

Tony Trujillo - photo by Joe Hammeke

Like the man himself, the shoes can take quite a bit of punishment, and that adds up to big savings for you, the barely-employed man-child skate-rat.

Wow. Hyphens… so hot right now.

On the other hand, this commercial for LA Lights’ first iteration is incredible.

Psst.… come here. Sup kid, first pair of lights are a freebie, whaddaya say?

I was forced by my mother into being a loser when I was a child, so I wasn’t allowed to have these. Fortunately, that dissuaded me from becoming a basketball protege and instead, turn to a life of crime, where not having sneakers that advertise my every move ended up being pretty fortuitous. Thanks Mom!