So Normine and Garric aren’t exactly the most stable dudes and decided months ago that they wanted to go on vacation. Naturally they chose Egypt. Sounds about right.

That’s not Vegas. That’s one of the ACTUAL pyramids. Seven wonders of the world.

Garric fell through a ceiling one time. What could possibly go wrong putting him on a camel?

Camels are real. How many people in the US get to encounter a real camel in their lives?

The consensus around The Dept. was that this little excursion had international incident written all over it. Normine in Cairo during Ramadan? It’s sick when people go outside their comfort zone and do stuff like this. Thanks for the photos Garric.

Bledsoe’s Leaking.

Garric and Lance should be back by now from their Egyptian adventure. We’ll throw some photos up soon.

Gilbert? Seriously?

errr Matt,
Is this talking about you?

There definitely seems to be a lot more shirtlessness in skateboarding nowadays. Blame Shecks, right?
Pretty suspect.

Check out last weeks Wednesdays with Reda over at The Berrics. We’re not just putting this up because of Beach’s appearance in it. We’re actually kind of stoked on Mike D’s cameo behind Biebel near the end.

Biebel and MikeMo cruised by SkateCamp last week to say what’s up to everyone. These dudes are amazing. Talk about injecting some great vibes into a week of camp. Since Fully Flared came out these guys have been going non stop and are on top of the skateboard world but still made time to come by and skate. Here’s some photos:

MikeMo rules. No “Cool Guy” act coming from this guy.

Same with Biebel. It’s sick to meet dudes that can hang out with literally whoever they’re around whether you’re 10 years old or 50. Biebel is one of the friendliest people you’re going to meet.

Which explains why he tops the lists of “Most Wanted Photo With…” in skateboarding.

Compton had the ridiculous notion that he could take Mo is a game of skate.

You shouldn’t have done that…

In Compton’s defense, he held his own pretty well. I think Mo is a real contender in any game going down any time on the planet.

The campers always have questions. Actually, the coaches always have questions too.

These guys make you want to fan out. It can’t be helped.

Everyone was stoked. The Dept. really want to thank Beebs and Mo as well as Anne and Kelly @ Lakai for the great time. Feel free to come back by any time…

“>

“How come I never get photos on the website?!!”

Your wish is granted.
Look for the best of Bobby Bemis coming soon to Skate Paparazzi.

Kurty sent up some photos from last weekend’s Maloof Money Cup contest. Crazy money for a skate contest. Here’s a look:

Here’s what the course looked like if your a properly credentialed industry insider who can trade out Nikes for favors.

Here’s what the vert setup looked like if your a properly credentialed industry insider who has all access to the world’s greatest Mega Ramp skaters but still has to look out for your street cred so you chill up in the stands with the common people.

Here’s what you get if you can 360 flip a 50ft gap without grabbing while being filmed by a properly credentialed industry insider who, once again, has a penchant for wheeling and dealing.

We know, wow, Paul won. Like he really needs another $100K. This guy rips. The Dept. is definitely down for Paul and appreciate the time he makes for us at skatecamp every year. Quit hating. Thanks for the photos Kurt.

There’s a saying, “Being a jackass means sometimes having to say you’re sorry.” I’m pretty sure somebody important and famous said it originally. Anyway, meeting the criteria so well I now find myself in that position. So here goes. For any of you that participated in the Go Skateboarding Day Video Challenge v.3.0 you may have noticed that one of the ridiculous challenges this year was to go to Daddie’s Board Shop and film a team member asking some strangers a goofy question. When I first had the idea for that challenge it sounded like a funny and harmless enough thing to do. I didn’t however think about what chaos it was going to cause their store when 30 goofs show up with video cameras while they’re trying to run a business. Suffice it to say, my poor judgement caused them some serious headaches and hurt feelings which weren’t intended but unfortunately resulted. I won’t go into the details but being the much bigger person (which isn’t saying much for me since she’s very petite) Melanie chose to overlook my stupidity and forgive me so now this is my apology.
To Melanie and everyone at Daddie’s that had to put up with that stuff that day, I sincerely apologize. In no way was I trying to piss you off or hurt feelings or an any way damage your business. It was all about being stupid and doing stupid stuff on a day that is intended to recognize the fun of skateboarding and everything about it. Please accept my apology. If you’d like to retaliate against me in any way I give you complete permission and will even help brainstorm ideas and ways to get even. I promise nothing like this will ever happen again. Once again, sorry for my poor judgement and lapse of reasoning ability.

-Kyle Reynolds
Total Goof

We Only Tag…Kinda?

You kind of have to give it to him. Always running his mouth about how fast his cruiser is and he backed it up with his 2nd place finish in the SkateRace on Go Skateboarding Day. If you are unaware of the SkateRace, the last 2 years on Go Skateboarding Day we’ve had a little race from the top of Mt. Tabor, through downtown, up to the Zoo Bomb and ending at Washington Park. Here’s the breakdown of the top 12 finishers from this year:
1.Robin McGuirk (back to back firsts)
2.Compton
3.McCloud
4.Joe D.
5.Aidian Oleyne
6.Mitch Byers
7.Dane Brady
8.Kris Eng
9.Corbin Hindery
10.Jake Proffit
11.Jackson Marsh
12.Rory Greiling

Robin McGuirk from Eastside Longboards came up with the repeat win. These guys really know how to haul and the speed standard has kind of been set. There was only about 4-5 seconds between Robin and McCloud so the gap is closing. It might seem impossible for Compton’s ego to get any more inflated, so it’s probably better to not tell him that people were talking.
We’ll see how next year goes. Congratulations Robin.

Go Skateboarding Day is tommorrow. You don’t have to start the “Beefcake All Day” challenge until then.

…imagine him in a hotel room with 7 other dudes for 4 days.

Sometimes you got to make things interesting when you’re trying to make your trick. “I’ll bet you a burger.” “I’ll bet you a slurpee that I make the next one.” “If I don’t make this, I’ll wear a Tupac bandana all day long at work.” Sometimes you gotta stop while you’re ahead. TSpence paid up all day on Saturday.

If you didn’t then they’ll probably get the picture when they see this.

Tyboe’s runnin’ new shoes now. Their squad over there at etnies is shaping up pretty nicely.

I saw this at the airport. Was it really him?

Mike D is Doing..