Travel Photography > Desert Southwest > Las Vegas, NV >
The Longboard Skateboard
My skateboard is what is nowadays called a longboard - literally, its longer than a traditional skateboard, and like the surfing longboards, it has less give. They are for cruising, not tricks and speed. They also have more grace, more room for the feet. Mine is made of that rare Hawaiian wood called koa - the wood normally reserved for pricey ukuleles and sculptures. The wood is untreated, and so the pure natural beauty of my board seems to attract a certain punker, curious by its elegance and simplicity.
I came upon three demented looking kids. Their t-shirts were black, and the slogans and artwork seemed to say, 'Look at me, I'm bad.'
They each wore blacks shirts. Each of these shirts had logos or pictures of skeletons§ that seemed to say, hey, look at me, I'm the bad one. But I was especially interested in how pale they were, and their faces pock-marked with zits. Little pale Noriega boys of the new west.
What happens to people who live in a place with only strip malls and wide open concrete streets?
I update Las Vegas notes as I continue to skateboard through the city over the years.
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