Please come support Puddy Zwennis this Saturday the 24th of July 2010 for his Launch Party @ Hotbox Studio’s ! If you don’t know what the Skate for Change project is about it is that Puddy Zwennis will travel on the 31 of July 2010 on his skateboard from Joburg to Cape town to raise money for the SOS Children’s Villages SA.  He will have to do 25km a day to complete a distance of a 1800km in 3 months. So its for an amazing cause!!

There is going to be give-a ways and a Electric guitar Grand Prize for one lucky chap !

Please come help the Fight for charity by joining us for a night lined-up with Excitement and Rock hard Partying !

Party Details at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144173255597810

If you havent heard, Pro-X is going down in Cape Town.

On the 6th and 7th of March, riders from BMX, FMX, Wakeboarding, Skateboarding, Supercross and Trials will be flocking down to Cape Town to take part in the most Extreme event of the year!

To check out the event, click on the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=271333169355&ref=ts

Pro-X Live, hosted by Complete Events (the guys who bring you Rocking the Daisies) will be mashing it up on the Saturday and Sunday nights, as well as extreme entertainment, loads of prizes to be won, competitions, expo’s, best trick -undoubtedly keeping you entertained the whole weekend.
Join the Pro-X facebook group @ http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=11348935&op=1&o=global&view=global&subj=188539097750&id=736195112#!/group.php?gid=188539097750&ref=ts

Check out the Pro-X website to stay at the forefront http://www.pro-x.co.za

There is only one way out – FLAT OUT!

Go off in 2010 – signing out,

Kevin Du Toit

Ahoy Hillbombers!

I got this cool message from Lloyd and Massimo.  For those of you who are in Cape Town this weekend, be sure to get to Rafikis at 7pm on Friday for the SAGRA AGM where you can have your say about the future of longboarding in South Africa.

Join the facebook group to keep posted @ http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&tid=1089388330432#!/group.php?gid=89318043804

There is talk of a race in Cape Town in March or April, we’ll let you know as soon as it is confirmed but for now let us know who is keen, maybe we can turn it into a fat road trip?

We are currently in discussions with SAGRA about throwing a race at Schanskop in either August or September. Racing Krugers was an option but it has almost completely been decided against mainly because of the insanely bad smell and rider safety. We’re open to any suggestions you might have for the race so post your opinions on the wall. We obviously need as many riders as possible so we’re hoping to get a bus to bring the guys up from Cape Town, maybe even get it sponsored.

There are a few hill hunting adventure missions being investigated within the downhill family at the moment. Lesotho, Mpumalanga and even Angola are on the list. We might even do a long distance mission from Jo’burg to Durban later this year! Keep checking the group for updates. Join our sister group “Longboard Stellenbosch” and listen in on their crazy discussions too.

Whatever you do, just ride and share the stoke.

Always be awesome,
Lloyd and Massimo

KDT:  Hein Kotze’ can you tell us a little about yourself and your breakdown in the world of skateboarding?

HK:  I guess it’s quite a cliché by now, but one day I saw a few of the older guys in my primary school flipping this huge (back then it seemed huge) 2-stair gap.  I was super stoked, and used to sit there for hours even though nobody ever really landed it.  After that day a few guys and me picked up a “Wasp” setup from Makro.  This was the start of endless Fridays, running over into Saturdays, skating sessions.  Nobody had cars, so we used to walk…and I mean WALK.  Especially when Werner Lamprecht and me started skating together.  Our regular Friday-spot (and closest) was about 4km from where we stayed (seemed like 100km, after having to climb a mountain of a street, to the top of one hill on your way back).  Every single Friday we were in this guy’s yard skating the most perfect box and bank setup.  Even after he had moved we would jump the gate and chill there the entire afternoon.  Since then I couldn’t get over the feeling of landing a new trick, perfecting an old one, or getting excited over a new loading-bay filled with weeds that need cutting and surfaces in need of sweeping.

KDT:  So, how was your summer? What did you get up to?

HK:  It was EXCELLENT!

Had my first holiday for the entire year and caught up on some, really essential, habits; sleeping until 13h00, skating until 19h00, chilling with my girlfriend till 1 AM.  Now that’s the life…ha-ha.

Oh yeah! We went to Margate for a week as well…that was rad.

We got some mad pics, made some new friends and forgot about the reality that is; “the working life”

Now that’s a holiday in its true form.

KDT:  How do you manage to keep on top of your work when you spend so much time skating?

HK:  My work IS skating…or anything that was influenced by it – if I look at it like that I will pretty much enjoy anything I do.

I must admit that 2009 was a mad-scramble of a year.

February I heard that my application for a bursary was denied, and thus ended my student life in one sentence.  I had to find a job, had to start paying my own things etc.  Crazy.   I wanted to do photography.

I decided, as in skating, that it’s something you can pretty much learn by yourself (with some advice from others) - and thus started playing more with photography and design.  Up to the point where, after only one year (and no qualification behind my name), my own business card says; photographer/graphic designer.   And through it all skating has been one the main sources of new ideas/media/inspiration.

You’ll always find time to do what you like, as long as you on like what you do.

KDT:  What’s the best way to go about becoming a good skateboarder?

HK:  Depends on what your definition of “good” is I guess.  To me it’s doing something as simple as a bs-180 off a ramp, landing it 100 times…and then, finally, landing it perfect.  I’d like to think that a good skateboarder does it for himself.

KDT:  What’s the best experience you’ve had while skateboarding?

HK:  To many to count, to many stories to tell, to many great friends to mention all.

Recently: winning the game-of-skate at the Slip Skate Co launch event.  It was the first contest I’ve ever entered, and I was surprisingly nervous.  Me, Werner and two other guys were in the final.  The game went on and JJ and me were the only survivors.  That guy has got some mad style, and it was quite intimidating each time he made my tricks look effortless. We went on for, what seemed like, forever.  The crowd was cheering each time someone set a mad trick, and freaked out even more when the opponent managed to equally nail it.

It was INSANE.

At the end I managed to land the most perfect nollie-bigspin-flip (one of those tricks you “have landed before”, but only hope to land as a last resort). Again JJ got insanely close to actually landing a trick you can see he has probably never tried before…but to no success. I was finally declared winner, and received my first “brand-new” deck in probably a year’s time.  I was super stoked and equally brain-dead after planning what to do next every time JJ missed a set.

KDT:  Your photography is awesome, what advice do you have about capturing that right moment?

HK:  Again it’s about; if you’re doing what you love, it will come naturally.

Each moment is different, and each photo is opinion based. Werner and me will sometimes spend half an hour shooting a pic after finally agreeing on where we want it taken from, how the exposure must be etc. A very important thing is knowing your camera and lenses.  Each one is different, and each one makes an image look different.  In theory they must all work the same, but from my experience this is not the case at all.  My settings/focal length etc. can be identical to Werner or Reuben’s, but you’ll still end up with three images that look completely different.

Date:     Saturday, January 16, 2010

Time:     12:00am – 5:00pm

Location:     Cnr 9th & 11th Roads, Erand, Midrand

There are absolutely NO entry fees for any of the comps, and there will be prizes to be won in each of the comps.

They will also have all the new Slip Skate Co products available at the event to ensure that everybody can get their hands on our new product range, which you can see at http://www.slipskateco.com/products/decks.html.

This is truly going to be an awesome day filled with tons of good skating, and we look forward to seeing all of you there.

You can catch all the details of the event, inclduing directions on the event page here http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=239735100952&index=1

BLACK FLYS MO; We don’t follow market research, forecasts, or trends…we create them!

Since 1991, Black Flys is deep in So-Cal culture with a world influence. Now under new ownership Black Flys is back and stronger than ever.  With a new management team Black Flys is still on the cutting edge with unique designs, new colors and originality.  Going full throttle with no finish line in sight is the way we live, and with lots of new product and designs, Black Flys Sunglasses aims to satisfly.

BLACK FLYS is now in SOUTH AFRICA.

The Black Flys Sunglasses Headquarters are located in Weltevreden Park, just outside of Johannesburg.

Black Flys website:  http://www.black-flys.com

Contact Email:  contact@black-flys.com
facebook group:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=184223788963&ref=ts

Black Flys Inc., home of Black Flys and Flygirls Eyewear and Apparel, is where the magic begins. Black Flys remains one of the few independently owned sunglass manufacturers.  Pushing for the best products and back it up with excellent customer service and pride in everything they do.  Let’s face it, who wants to answer to someone else? NOT US…

In a world gone green, we’re staying black

Here is a cool event that is being sent by Lloyd Clark, this dude does some seriously downhill skating that I have to admire.  Here is the link to some of the Jo’Burg Longboarders Club and facebook group, please check out their videos as well.  Lloyd, keep it up man.

From Lloyd – Ahoy Boardriders,

Summer is here and with it plenty of skate sessions! Awe!

Just over 2 weeks to go until the Schanskop Mission of the Year so I hope you’ve all diarized the 21st of November. This really is going to be a massive session on a closed road (well, almost closed) so bring your mom.

The 15th of November (next Sunday) is Cycle Challenge Sunday which means closed roads!  Wahoo!  Skating will be happening with or without hangovers, we can’t let this opportunity slip. First we’ll be hitting Jan Smuts near the Johannesburg Zoo and once all the cyclists have passed we’ll move on to Kylami for the rest of the day. For those of you who don’t know, these roads are super steep, super smooth and dead straight. This is your once a year opportunity to ride them.

To keep it extreme until then, Mass and I will be bombing Sandton Drive at sunrise (5am) this Sunday and the Pretoria guys will be coming through for a session at The Winelands at 10 am.  Give us a shout if you’re keen for either of these.

Keep skating, be safe and always be awesome.
Posted by Lloyd Clark

PS keep checking the group for updates on our missions.
Here’s a map of the roads that will be closed on 15 November
http://www.facebook.com/l/59d3f;www.cyclechallenge.co.za/images/maproute.jpg

And here’s a link to the Schanskop Mission of the Year
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=155809537583&ref=mf