3,000 skateboards

I’m not too strong on the internal workings of the local skateboard community, but I like the style and the attitude. I hope my young sons become skateboarders when they get a little older. They could do a lot worse.

So we were watching local news two Sundays ago and they ran a piece about this “spontaneous” skateboard event and how it just sort of appeared out of nowhere and the authorities were baffled.

But guess who knew about it in advance? Me! Because I had read about preparations for it at Vancouver Is Awesome, which is a great blog celebrating my home town.

This is the video made by someone who knew it was going to happen, so it’s miles better than the impromptu big media response. (The money crowd shot starts at 01:35.) I’m thinking the local big media were sent press releases, but nobody realized this many people would show up. (Wait, The Province had it, but it was a “travel” story. Say what?)

Maybe the organizers had a clue, but even so, 3,000 skateboarders in one place, then all going for a wild ride through downtown Vancouver? That is a wonderful thing. Also, compliments to the Vancouver Police who did their usual good job of reacting to this sort of event. Vancouver cops rarely bust heads on spontaneous mobs, thank god.

All this is done to treasure the memory and build a skateboard-park tribute to Lee Matasi, a young Vancouver artist and skateboarder who was shot and killed by a random punk out looking to pick a fight. By all accounts, Matasi was the kind of golden child all of us knew when we were young: smart, handsome, artistic, athletic, and just radiating confidence and cool.

And then some greaseball shot him for no reason.
Sponsored by and more pictures at Emerica and Time Bomb. The event, not this post.