Enjoi Yerself!

Notes from Glasgow:

Uncle John gig at the Glasgow Art School tonight. They've got groupies these days.

Full Uncle John and Whitelock tour from Saturday. Check gfmproductions.com for full listings.

Enjoi 'Bag Of Suck' DVD premier in the shop on Saturday in Focus West aka Glasgow at 7pm. Be there, it'll be a jolly one.

Edinburgh hijack!! And for the east coasters Sunday at 6pm for the Enjoi premiere in Focus East aka Edinburgh.

Come vist Chin and have a chin wag then a smoke free pint in Mono... chin chin.

Get yer cash oot!

Here's a quality picture of two sweaty reprobates from Dundee on Sunday at The War of the Thistles comp. We had a sesh at the new outdoor park before hitting up the Factory, look out for a Big Mark wallride of death photo in Doco soon. The concrete park is amazing, massive respect to all involved, all it needs now is to get rid of the chav mountain bike kids dragging mud everywhere, wee sh***s! Div took the £50 best trick prize from Dumbarton with a caveman 50:50 down the massive rail. Big Mark went home with a pocket full of cash, huge mute grabs
over the big driveway, wall footplant over the spine to name a couple from Dundee and Divoid got £20 for a mental 360 flip to disaster transfer over on the spine, he could have had it to primo, next time! The Death boys made a masive effort to come up (well done Nick) and stars of the weekend had to be Lee Blackwell and new signing Carl Wilson, they both killed it! Check out www.skateboardscotland.com for the full report.

War of the Thistles footage courtesy of Perry T. Dumbarton and Dundee edits. 15MB and requires Quicktime 7 yo!

Yes Boss!

Friday was flying in the shop. We got all the product mentioned last post and the BEST point of sale I've ever had. A Creature Coffin! Amazing, thanks French.
The Traffic decks are amazing and only £45 and the Consolidated are £40. Sick price, thanks Nick Death- you are not fired, your the Boss.
Also all the way from 'The Windae City' Chicago came Derrick Carter, the longtime DJ. He bought two pairs of Zoom tre's. Playing at the Sub Club tonight with the lightest shoes on the dance floor. Next week the cast from Still Game will be in for a signing and a pair of Bon Jovi's. Be there!
Have a good weekend and pay us a visit to see the completed Chin and a bleether....

Ripping.

Notes from Glasgow....
Tomorrow we get small selections from Landscape, Consolidated, Creature, Anti Hero and the most exciting, Traffic. Ricky Oyola is a freeking legend. Check out trafficskateboards.com for the trailer. Well worth checking.

enjoi video premieres in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Saturday 1st of April in Glasgow 7pm. Edinburgh Sunday 2nd April 6pm.

New Nikes on the shelves. The Bon Jovi window display has done wonders for a curious looking shoe. The Zoom Tre has also worked it's wondrous webbing
onto many feet. Tre flips, every time, ask Robo. Finally we have a lovely Dunk lo in sandy canvas. We've coined it Desert Storm and rate it.

As well as Document, documenting, Kingpin had a full A.I Scotland article and Sidewalk has Ferg. What a beast.

Other picture is Julien Stranger, another beast. Backside lipslide, skypager. Check tobinyelland.com

Girdy, pay us a visit soon.

One more mail day before you lose out on the GFM biscuits opportunity. Good biscuits, I'm on flow.

Can you guess what it is yet?

The Glasgow store is currently receiving a mighty mural from the brush of Mr. Raydale Dower, giving the chocolate back wall a brightening of white. Any guesses as to what it is? Send them in and you could win a free musical biscuit freshly baked from the good bakers at GFM productions. Send answers on a postcard to MR BISCUITS c/o Focus, Unit 7 Kings Court, 99 King Street, Glasgow, G1 5BR.

Documented Scotsmen

Check out the new Document mag instore now. It was a wee while ago now but at last the Adio tour of Gran Canaria gets published. Div had folded his "guid" ankle a week before but couldn't let Big Mark Burrows and co have a peaceful trip so packed his PE kit and off he went. Spoke to him today about his photo's, i'll say no more other than who goes on a skate holiday and takes two pairs of socks? The Big Yin has a rad sequence, this man can kill any spot. All that practice at Livi paid off with the Madonna to tail picture. There is a big John Rattray interview and tons of healthy photos from master lensman Alex Irvine. There's sequences from A'deen's Denburn banks and Paisley town centre get's a serious doing. Anyway go buy it for the collection.

War of the Thistles

Skateboard Scotland are proud to announce the first ever all-weekend Scottish pro/am skate jam to be split across two of the country’s finest indoor skate parks. Anyone who experienced last year’s War of the Roses event in Bolton and Leeds should know what to expect – two days of solid skating, prize money and product, only this time with a distinctly Scottish twist.The dates are:

Saturday 25th of March at Unit23, Dumbarton.
Sunday 26th of March at The Factory Skatepark, Dundee

There are cash prizes for the sponsored riders and skate products aplenty for the amateurs at both events. The rest of you can form an orderly mosh pit for the biggest product toss you’re likely to see in Scotland this year...

Go to www.skateboardscotland.com for more details.

A Harmonious Collaboration

Scotlands abundance of skateparks (obviously not the capitals) and spots is luring The Harmony team up on April 13th -20th. To quote team manager and artist Dave aka Dist One it promises to be a loose goose affair. Based in Edinburgh the boys will be setting sail everyday to wherever the mood takes them, that could mean a spot near you. Vagrants in attendance will be Paul Silvester,Jak Pietryga, Tom Harrison, Eddie Belvedere, Danny Jack, Veran Tull, Bigfoot Todorvic and Joe Gavin. There will be a couple of spare seats in the van each day so expect guest apperances from the fOCus team.

www.theharmony.co.uk

Down, but not out!

So the West has been internetted down this last week. Thanks and goodnight Demon. We'll be live and direct again very soon. If anyone has sent us emails, sorry for no reply.
Todays image is from the amazing H'min Bam, if you know the DVD you'll know who's on it. The majority are on the amazing Focus team. We are in the early planning stages of making a follow up to Salt n' Sauce which is going to take a wee while to film so be patient folks, but do get excited, it'll be braw.
Glasgow happenings include customer coffee, available thanks to Where The Monkey Sleeps on West Regent Street. Thanks Yates. We all went and skated some good hills the other night which was barry fun....flying SF style.
We've got some new stock in from Fenchurch and a dribble of Vans Low Cabs as well. I tried on a pair of those the other day, very good shoes. Also, a re stock of the Nike SB Jordunk, which was a'body and their dogs favourite dunk. Check Chet Childress' feet in the new Kingpin for the Jordunk. Good photies Alex.
Skated Kelly G the other day, it's alright on a quiet day. Remember folks there are S**t loads of amazing street spots out there to get you shralp on. New spots every time we go out.
Hey, thanks to everybody that showed for the East premier, it made Mackey's day.
On a serious note...please respect the other shop keepers in Kings Court. Take your rubbish away and don't out stay your welcome.(which is about 10 minutes!) Thanks.
Keep posted for all the info you need to get through the day.
Cheerio.

Thanks for the memories Ronnie!

Alas today was the day that we all said farewell to the comedy legend that was Ronnie Barker. To show our love for the man like Ronnie we've made a hundred pin badges to honour the great man and if you'd like to own one just e-mail your postal address to ronniebarker@focuspocus.co.uk and we'll send one to you free of charge so you can spread the word. Rest in peace Ronnie.

Over the Ocean.

We now have dates for the forthcoming Russ Pope art show which will take place in our Edinburgh and Glasgow stores.






Edinburgh: Friday 10th March until Friday 24th March.

Glasgow: Monday 27th March until Monday 10th April.

All the pieces will be available to buy and we hope you can make it along. Thanks to Cubic and Russ for making this happen.

Bristo Boxing

Since the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill came in last year, all the undesireables eg jakeys, neds and tramps have been moved from the tourist areas and have descended on Bristo Square. After constant battles throughout the summer the problem continues. Here's poor Keiron after a food fight went wrong and two jakey brutes couldn't help but get involved.

East meets Focus West

Thanks to everyone who turned up for the East premiere on Sunday night in Glasgow, a good show indeed. Saw some of Woody's footage of Div and Paul Sylvester bombing hills earlier that day. Div meeting some traffic cones at high speed, hilarious! Technical hitches with the projector led to an impromptu sesh on the mono banks across from the shop. Ferg was teasing blunt fakies until the police showed up, but things were rollin inside on a massive screen. The DVD Vapors was superb, super tech lines with some nails thrown in and a fine selection of new spots. Mackey's section rocked with the best intro slam and Ferg kept the Saltire flying high. Isn't it quality when the local spots get the biggest cheers! It was the last day of the Vapors tour and the East boys headed back south of the border. Job done!

Back to the top again!!

Don't forget peeps, the Scottish Premiere of the new East Skateboards movie is being shown on Sunday 26th February at 5pm in our Glasgow store. It's already being hailed as one of the must see UK videos of 2006 and it's only February! Not only that but the East team will be lurking around the streets of Glasgow for the weekend, hitting up your spots and hanging oot at the shop. Phone Mark, Jam or Sean on 0141 548 8777 or click here for directions to the store. Nice one Mackey.

www.eastskateboards.co.uk

Too much TV

So I've put up a picture of myself on the blog. Bit self freeking conscious in these days of lock down on our freedom. 'Freedom of choice, it's what you've got..'...not for long buddy. Freedom of choice to be wearing a bright red J-kit, YES.
So, see ma eyes, that's what you get if you watch to much TV in one sitting. I left our TV flat in Manchester to have a pint with 'new Ali Low' - French, but got roped into watching the new East video. My eyes were over and out by then. Kind of look quite scary, some may say, reptilian.
So to the point here, Mackey, the guy I'm pure grinning at, is the man that is going to show you the new East video this Sunday in Focus Glasgow. I would also point out that the East team will be about SKATEBOARDING on Saturday and Sunday. Keep a good eye out for them. Lovely bunch of schralpers.
Mackey is also Liverpudlian, a massive bonus. And the boards behind him, we'll have some of those too.
I ended up at a 'Mature' Soltex party after the flick. Got pretty pished using the science of mine sweeping.
'Mature?' I hear you ask, ' Ain't that some sort of cheese?'.
Yes.
Roll on next trade shows.
Build a mini ramp.

Dedicated to Bingo!

Hey Bingo, here's the update you were after....
Glasgow is ripping this week with Robo's wedding out the way we can all think about some dry skateboarding. The new spot of the week are the Bath Street Banks redux. Completely skatestopped but worth the battle.
East are in Scotland this weekend with the show of the new DVD Vapors. I saw Mackeys bit and it's really freeking good. I'm sure the rest will be the same. Go Ferg.
Dundee is in everyone's minds at the minute. Go there now!
We've got our Glasgow Focus shirts in. Come and get some.
Just back from the Soultreck Trade Show in Manchester. Saw some good Lakai's, ordered them. Saw some terrible shoe's, didnae order them. We're safe.
More updates all this week, promise Bingo.

Back to the top!!

Don't forget peeps, the Scottish Premiere of the new East Skateboards movie is being shown on Sunday 26th February at 5pm in our Glasgow store. It's already being hailed as one of the must see UK videos of 2006 and it's only February! Not only that but the East team will be lurking around the streets of Glasgow for the weekend, hitting up your spots and hanging oot at the shop. Phone Mark, Jam or Sean on 0141 548 8777 or click here for directions to the store. Nice one Mackey.

www.eastskateboards.co.uk

Russ Pope Art Show.

Our good friend and skate legend Cubic has hooked us up with something a bit special. In the very near future we'll be exhibiting a number of pieces by American artist Russ Pope. If you're not familiar with Mr Pope's name you'll definitely have seen his work on the bottom of many a skate deck. Having ran legendary skate company SMA, created Creature and Scarecrow, and worked for Black Label and now Duffs, Russ has a long and distinguished history within skateboarding. The exhibiton will be winging it's way across the pond very soon and we'll be showing his work in Edinburgh then Glasgow.

Dates to follow and we hope you can make it along......

Check out www.russpope.com

Rattray files.

Spoke to John yesterday. He and Philipa are settled in the States and is looking forward to getting his first Focus package. It may include one of our very popular hoodies, a sticker and one of the all new Focus t-shirts which will be available soon. Our Yahtzee champ Nate has been hitting the late night screen printing missions. Keep tuned for them.
Back to John...so I popped into Borders and has a wee swadgee at the new Transworld. I would have scanned the photo but I didn't buy it. So, shut your eyes and imagine a vertical wall about 9 foot or higher with a slightly angled bank at the bottom which may be about 9 foot long too. Basically a vertical drop in to a reservoir style bank. Comprendee? If you don't then buy the magazine from Focus, not Borders.
Total nails.
Next time he'll have a focus tshirt on, promise.

West is nae the Best...

If your thinking of skating At Dynamic Earth then think again. It's currently getting a makeover at the bottom so the blocks are out of action. The triple set at the bottom is still skateable as are the blocks at the top, skate at your own peril though, as a beardy weirdy security guard has been sighted going in the huff if you make him come all the way out of his little office to chase you away. The dude looks like he works in Games Workshop or something.
It looks as though there might be even more things to skate when the construction is finished, don't know when that will be but hopefully it will be in time for Spring.
Photo G.Tait

Dancing Shoes

It's nearly the weekend, time to put on your dancing shoes and like jazzy B said-'Now dance'. So go on treat yourself to a night on the town tonight at the world famous Manga. It's at the art school in Glasgow (yes that's Glasgow, Sibs. I know it's almost sold out, but Tickets Scotland have a full book left. Red shoes, dancing shoes available at focus west and east...plug plug! enjoy.

Moving down to get up.

Check out Glasgae resident Morgan Campbell back in Oz. Is that Guy Mariano and Brandon Bawsack next to him? It's certainly a step up from the last time I saw him, he was sat beside a jakey on wan side and me on the other. Hey Morgan looking forward to having you back. Summer is going to be barry. G.B banks for life. Monkey Say what?

Moving to Glasgow?

Ahoy, just following up on our recent comment asking: Will anyone else be tempted to move to Glasgow this year? Well in case any of you are, here's a little extra information about the economy, house prices and all the rest.
What it doesn't tell you is that there are loads of very good skateboarding spots and lots of parks nearby. Any further info, contact myself or Jamie at glasgow@focuspocus.co.uk. So far the weather has been bang on, just like Toby Paterson.

Kennedy is on fire!

Just back from a Blueprint filming trip in Malaga, Focus team rider Colin Kennedy let slip he was getting a wheel on Spitfire, well here's the proof. Colin now ranks 4th on the Scottish export list under whisky, shortbread and Irn Bru.

The Elph exhibits.

If you're in the Edinburgh area between now and February 11th, I would highly recommend, no insist! that you go and visit our good friends at Analogue Books in the Grassmarket area of the city and have a gander at the quite superb show by the legendary Elph. Supported by Dist One, the show utilises the whole space to amazing effect and the attention to detail is amazing. Anyway don't take my word for it, go see.

Darkness gives way to light, but only very slowly mind!

As the old saying goes "It's grim up North". A fairly apt description of the Scottish winter, but as the month of January fades into obscurity, there is hope brothers and sisters, there is hope. The days are slowly getting lighter and the concrete a little drier. So with this new found optimism lets have a quick rundown of what's happening out of store in 2006.

At long last the new website will be launched by Spring with all new video footage, improved store and much more. After a non starter on the second Focus movie last year, our newly assembled team of Videographers are beginning the year long task of assembling the as yet untitled sequel. Our newest team rider John Rattray is going to be sending some zeros and ones across the Atlantic once he gets located. We're planning a Focus skatepark tour in the early Spring/Summer more details as and when. Anyone fancy a game of S.K.A.T.E? Check back soon for details on a Bi-Coastal contest happening soon. We've been promised some more visiting skate teams this year in Scotland with the East boys being first to visit, check the post below for more details on that visit and the premiere of their new movie Vapors. The young guns of the team Alex, Blair, Mark, Jamie and Gavin should all be sorted out this year with their respective shoe and board flows courtesy of Nike, Cliche, Blueprint etc. And for all the Glasgow heads we're on the lookout for some West Coast hook ups. Keep at it!!

Anyways that's all for just now. More news to follow soon. Over and oot.

Come doon the noo.

Just like all the other visitors to Scotland, French said he wanted to move here straight away. Here he is feeling the Bru after a guid night on the Bucky. He did make more of a effort than most on this trip. Still coming for a night in Carluke with the Dirt Swan and Napalm Jeff? Promises, promises Richard.....

Another Alex wins.

Alex Craig, the man behind H'min Bam, recently made a loosely skate related film with a collective of film makers for Fuel TV. Although us skaters don't like the word competition, this was a competition against eight other films entered. Well folks, the news on the street is that Alex and chums won! This is great news as they have been given a rather large amount of Canadian dollars to make another. Reaction from Alex was, 'Shit, we've won.' Maybe we'll be able to let you see it soon. Keep tuned or watch Fuel TV square eyes.

East release vapors in the West?

East skateboards powerhouse Mackey is bringing the east to the west with the premier of the new production Vapors. The plan is for the whole team to be in Glasgow for the whole weekend(25th & 26th Febuary) skating around Glasgow's finest spots, including Kelvingrove, with the premier instore at Focus Glasgow at 5pm on Sunday 26th Feb.
Try and hook up with them skating and come and check out the film. Support skater owned! Check out east skateboards for more info.

Quarter of a century old.......and counting.

Last year was the 25th anniversary of Livingston skatepark and to celebrate this momentous occasion we knocked up some t-shirts which are still available to buy. Scottish photographers Andy Shaw and Alex Irvine supplied the images and Chris Young designed the sleeve print featured in the photo to the right. There are only 100 of each designed produced and each t has a 25th Anniversary sticker.
For every T sold £5 goes to fund the annual Livi Skate Party and over £700 has been raised so far.

Want to buy one? Click here to purchase.

See you in June.