This time Ask Rad Rat, we're talking
about the history of waxing curbs and
also spoiling video parts on Instagram.
Let's get into it.
[Music]
Welcome back to Rad Rat Video, the
channel where you can can learn something new about
skateboarding three times a week. I talk
about all different kinds of
skateboarding culture topics, from
learning tricks on the Shred school to
learning about skateboarding video games.
All different kinds of stuff. Today we're
doing my series Ask Rad Rat, where I answer
your questions about skateboarding
topics. First one is from MattDavies47
who asks about the history of grinding
and the use of wax. I can't tell you too
much about the first-ever grind done.
It's kind of tough to find info on that.
I'm sure it was probably co-invented by
a lot of different people, but I can
tell you where the names came from. So
the 50/50 grind sounds kind of weird. Why
is it called that? Why isn't it called like
an axle grind or something like that?
It's because you were halfway on the
deck and halfway in the transition in
the pool. So you're 50/50. You're right
about here as you grind. 5-0 was half
of a 50-50, and so that's it. 50-50,
5-0. So that's where that came from. It
does make more sense that would be like
'pivot grind.' Some people still call it
that, but anyway, that's where that came
from. I don't know too much else, but I
can tell you about the use of wax. So
there is a Mike Carroll weekend buzz
video where they asked him about how
things were back at Embarcadero back in
the day, and using wax. Wax was
completely forbidden by the other
skaters. You came in with a block of wax
and they would not let you use it. They
would just tell you to go faster. And
it's kind of interesting, because I never
really noticed this. I've seen this spot
in a million videos, and you don't see
any of the ledges blackened like you see
today, and it was kind of weird that I
had never really noticed that before.
And he said that the only thing you were
allowed to do, you couldn't bring wax, but
if he brought a Slurpee cup, there's a
very thin wax film around it, and you
could rub the Slurpee cup on the ledge
and you get a tiny bit of wax out of it
that way. And that was okay, probably
because you're not bringing wax. It's
something you already had. I don't know
why that was a loophole, but it was and
you could very slightly wax a
ledge like that, which was kind of
interesting. And they also
talked about how waxing got to be more
popular throughout the 90s, and it might
have come from inline or something.
Because, you know, the inliners used a
lot of wax.
Maybe it was just the same time.
Skateboarding was doing the same thing,
or we actually borrowed it from inline
which is kind of weird. So -- but that's
kind of interesting. I didn't know that
people weren't waxing stuff back in the
day. You know, it makes things so much
easier. I don't know why you wouldn't, but
that's how it was. The next question is
from Egannotvegan who said, "in the past,
a lot of hype for videos came from
learning what the Enders were. Revealing
the ender was like spoiling the plot of
a movie. You just don't do it. These days,
it's more common to see the ender
posted on social media as a way to
promote the part. What are your thoughts
on this trend?" So I definitely see what
you're talking about,
although I don't think that's all that
common. There was that recent Shane
O'Neill Nike SB video and there are a
couple things different from the way
things are done now from back in the day.
Like, that part in particular. I knew that
it was coming a couple of days before it
came out, but there wasn't this huge
build-up, at least that I knew about.
There weren't ads that were coming out
months in advance telling you that it's
going to come out on this day, and "we're
filming" and pictures and all
that kind of stuff. So if it was spoiled,
and it was completely spoiled, it
wouldn't have been that big of a deal
because you just found out that it
happened. But the way that they did
promote it was actually pretty cool. So
I'm not gonna be able to show clips of
this one because it's very recent, so I think
there's gonna be some copyright issues
if I do, but what they did is, they would
show on Instagram, like, a super slow
motion clip of, like, him catching a flip
and being about to land in a grind, and
then it would cut, and you get an idea of
what the trick was, but you didn't really
see it. You knew that he you might have
been able to figure out by the way he
caught it what it was on paper, but you
didn't actually see the way that it
flowed, and if he did something out of it
at the end or something like that. So it
wasn't spoiled. That was a really good
way to tease it. But even if they did
straight-up spoil it, it would've been as
big of a deal. One of the big differences,
I think, is the fact that there aren't as
many high watermark spots like there used
to be. I'm talking like Carlsbad.
You know, if someone did a kickflip down
Carlsbad, someone did a frontside flip,
and then Jeremy Wray comes and frontside
360s it. If you heard about that before
seeing it, that would kind of suck
because that would have blown your mind
if you didn't know that it was coming,
but if you heard about it from your
friends, they would kind of spoil the
ending. There's another good example was
Ryan Sheckler with the backside flip down el
Toro. If you remember that, that was
another good example of spoiling because
when they were filming the plan B video,
everyone knew that he had done it. People
said that he saw it happen, that they
were there and they saw him backside
flip it, and it was going to be in his
his video part. And then the part came
out, and he didn't do it. Which was kind
of interesting, because everyone was
expecting this, and they knew he had done
this crazy trick, and it wasn't there. And
it was ruined. It was like, 'oh, so he just..
he just did that? Okay,' and whatever. And
it wasn't as impressive as what they had
been built up to think. And even if he
did do it, everyone already knew that he
did it, and it wouldn't have been as big of
a deal. So there is something to be said
for that for sure, but I think it only
really applies to those kind of spots:
those big famous spots that you can step
up and do the biggest thing ever done
down it compared to the guy before you.
So something like that Carlsbad, El Toro,
whatever, those kinds of spots. If that's
the Ender, and that was spoiled, that really
sucks. But if it's like an eight stair
rail that people skate all the time,
there's just a really cool trick, it
doesn't really ruin the part to hear
about it in advance. So I don't know, let
me know what you think about that below.
The way that skate videos are these days
is really changing. The way that they're
marketing it is gonna be coming and
going a little bit as we figure out the
right way to do it all. So let me know
what you think about that. Let me know
how you think they should promote these
video parts. I want to hear about that.
But until next time, that was it for now.
Ask me all of your questions below,
either on Twitter Instagram. I put links to
those below. Send me your questions there.
If you sent them last month, I probably
didn't get them. Sorry about that. Just
try to send them again and I'll get to
them as soon as I can. That's it for now.
Watch some of these other videos I did
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