Justin Schwanke just sent through this new edit with some outdoor cruising in and around Edmonton, AB with some street jibs and park riding. The gap to manual at 3:08 shot was really cool. You can also go back and read the BMX and Academia piece he wrote for us last month.
Cory Rathy contacted us to let us know about a big jam he is throwing in Saskatoon, SK coming up on Sunday, June 29th. The summer is all about jams and events to bring the community out, so if you’re in Saskatoon don’t miss this one. Check out all the information on the flyer and mark it on your calendar.
This coming Saturday, June 14th at Dufferin Grove Park in Toronto, Chris Silva will be premiering the 5th in the series of Inner City Circle videos. Come out when the lights in the park go off around 11:00 and Chris will have his pirate premiere set up and airing his video in the open for everyone. Copies will be available, along with limited ICC merchandise. This is a public park, so please no bozo behaviour if you want events and places like this to continue to happen.
With a new video coming out, and an ICC archive website launched, I thought I’d ask Chris a little bit about this project, ICC history, and more. Read what he had to say below, and we’ll see you at the park on Saturday.
Here’s a random photo from my archives of Brent Smith’s silhouette in front of the dilapidating half pipe at FDR in Philadelphia, PA one morning when we were doing shows in nearby Allentown, during the summer of 2008.
Currently Greg Flag is living in the Republic of Estonia with his girlfriend while she is in an artist residency. I found myself revisiting these MacNeil videos of him from 2013. During second half of last year Greg was dealing with some injuries that put him out of the spotlight for a bit, but he did manage to put out these two great web videos, made by our own Zach Rampen. More and more I find that they very accurately encapsulate Greg as a rider and a person. Seldom very serious, and performing interesting riding on difficult setups. Whether it’s a barrier, public sculpture, rail, or doing a stovepipe out of something, Greg makes it look good when he rides it. While he has been posting Estonian spots he comes across on Facebook, and drinking with the local riders of Tallinn, I know he’ll be back on Canadian soil eventually and we’ll get to see more of this brand of riding, but in the meantime watch these videos.
Photo by Justin Schwanke.
Like many people in their late teens and early 20’s, Justin Schwanke is also a university student. While the world of academia is full of possibilities, you wouldn’t typically associate it with the realm of BMX, but he did just that. Justin took his love of riding and received an athletics scholarship, to help offset the cost of his education. I asked him to share some more information about it, so take some time to read his story below. If you’re a post-secondary student also take a detailed read through your school’s administrative literature, because you might be able to find a similar opportunity for yourself.
Trip on this. Chilling Spree brings us this casual cruising edit in 3D, or as they put it, “a visual exploration of a group of chillers delving into the third dimension”. Dig out your 3D glasses and jump in. Riders include Greg Flag, Orlando, Riley McMaster, and Brad Hill.
As outsiders looking in, Winnipeg’s BMX scene is booming lately. The riders, parks, and shops are a huge reason for this, but also in part to Philippe Bellefeuille documenting the scene. He’s been making a somewhat-regular Youtube show called Da Peg Show for two years documenting what the Winnipeg scene has been up to in his own style, and we wanted to know a bit more. Check out a quick interview we did with him below.
Also be sure to check out Da Peg Show at all their links:
DaPegShow.com
Youtube.com/DaPegShow
Facebook – Da Peg Show
Instagram – Da Peg Show
Twitter – Da Peg Show
Matt Perrin recently published his first issue of Scene Zine, a zine dedicated to the BMX scene in and around Winnipeg, MB. It’s a great 32 page, black and white publication with a mix of interviews and photos that gives some insight in to what makes up their community. The Manitoba scene always appears to be a tight knit group, and this zine is evidence of that. Matt covers not only riders living in the core of Winnipeg, but also the surrounding smaller towns such as Morden, Brandon, Komenda, and more. You can find photos and interviews with Ian Peters, Shawn Hildebrandt, Colin Thiessen, Shawn Franz, and the crew behind Da Peg Show. People that know me know that I believe that printed matter matters, and it’s great to see people continue to put time and energy towards making tangible projects like this to share with their friends.
Matt hooked us up with a bunch of copies so we’re going to pass them on to you. The first five people to email us at northernembassy@gmail.com with their FULL mailing address will get a copy. This is only open to residents of Canada, and one copy per person. Check out some more photos of the zine’s contents below, and try to be one of the first five people to send us an email!