This week the National Geographic Channel showed, The 80's: The Decade That Made Us. If you missed it, I suggest to view it online. As a child the of the 80's it was great to see the best decade of pop culture, greed, and way too much neon over the course of 6 hours. They even did a great segment on how the VHS was the defining technology of the decade. Stacey Peralta shot his own skate films on VHS that changed skateboarding forever. So check out his 2nd Bones Brigade film, Future Primitive from 1985. NYC was dirty, dangerous, and unforgiving. Just the right atmosphere that gave birth to street skating and such names at Lance Mountain, Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, Tommy Guerero, and Mike McGill. 
 
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Ever wish you could have a custom pair of Vans but lacked the art skills to make your own? Well now you can vote for your favorite custom pair here in Vans' Custom Culture contest. Vans has chosen 50 finalists from high school art programs across the country. This will be narrowed down to 5 finalists, and then the winner will be announced this summer at an event in NYC. So check out the unique designs and choose which pair you think should win. Full contest details and video can be found on the Vans website.
 
It was a weekend of firsts in MotoGP. It was the first MotoGP race at the Circuit of Americas in Austin, TX. Rookie racer Marc Marquez took his first win, and has now become the youngest rider to win a MotoGP race. Only 20 years old and Marquez has thrown down the gauntlet to fellow teammate Repsol Honda rider, Dani Pedrosa, who finished 2nd. Take a look at the two riders during testing earlier this week shown through mounted GoPro cameras.
 
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Being unemployed sucks. It happened to me when I was 23 and 30. In this economy the official number is around 7.8%, but the real unemployment number (people actively looking for work, the underemployed, AND discouraged workers who have given up searching) is more than double that number. Unfortunately, Balaram Stack can now be included in that number. We reported that Stack was cut by Quiksilver two months ago. Now Surfer Magazine has an interview with Stack here where he explains how it happened, and what his current plans are. Keep your head up Balaram, New Yorkers are tougher than anyone else out there. If any of our readers is hiring, check out his video resume below.
 
So when Kelly Slater isn't busy winning contests, or playing music, or singing back up vocals with Pennywise, he also stage dives pretty well. Here he is in Queensland, Australia showing off his fine skills. Skip to 4:30 to see the action begin.
 
Can things get any worse? Can Hollywood do something besides make remakes and sequels? Apparently not. Comingsoon.net is reporting that Ericson Core has been chosen to direct a remake of Point Break. That's right, not a sequel, a remake. They want to try and redo a great film that had nothing wrong with it and is barely over 20 years old. It had some of the most memorable lines from Patrick Swayze (RIP), Keanu Reeves, and of course Gary Busey. If I yell at someone, "Utah, get me two!" and they have no idea what I'm talking about, I unfriend them on facebook and never speak to them again. That's how influential Point Break is to me. This remake needs to be stopped at all costs.
 
Before Matt Hoffman became the Condor on the vert ramps, he rode for a little BMX company called Haro. Check out the flatland skills he had, back when every competition back then had a flatland and halfpipe component. 
 
Dominic Phipps has written, Haro Bikes: The Rise of BMX Freestyle. This should be one of the most complete and informative books on the creation of freestyle. Many people don't know that Bob Haro started it the sport and sponsored Dennis McCoy, Matt Hoffman, and Dave Mirra long before anyone knew who they were. The cover looks pretty sick too, check out those Skyway Mags! I can't wait for this to come out. Read the full description on Dominic's facebook page here.
 
Everything old is new again. After Oakley brought back their 1980's hit Frogskins sunglasses, they have been selling out of many limited edition colors. Now you can rock the 80's style all day with their new Frogskins shirt available here. Now if Oakley would just bring back the original Razor Blades (below), they'll have a real hit.
 
So what does Monster Energy do when Ken Block isn't filming Gymkhana videos? They get 4-time trophy truck champion B.J. Baldwin to drive his truck through the desert to pick up his date for a hot night in Vegas. This video has everything, romance, scenery, a sunset, a KILLER trophy truck, screaming Nissan GT-R, and a BMW M3. Oh, did I mention his date is model Janey Bolina? (link is borderline NSFW) So check out the video and be sure to crank the volume all the up! Best scenes are at 2:15 and 4:00 for those of you with limited attention spans.