Author Archives: Hippie Mike

Hippie Mike Hippie Mike's Messed Up Mind The Man I Am

The Man I Am Introduction Poem

The Man I Am

The Man I Am

Kind and gentle,

Simple and sweet,

But stubborn and serious,

To not show defeat,

I’ve grown up strong,

And left my mean side behind,

I give love to others

Who recognize me as kind,

I struggled to get here

Through my teenage years,

Went through my share

Of liquor and beer,

And other things too,

Which were bad for my life,

But all part of learning,

I would starve without strife,

I am who I am

Because of all I’ve been through,

I am who I am,

And you are just you,

My entire life,

The world pushed me down,

But I won every battle,

I’d never stay down,

I’d fight every fight,

My weapons – my beliefs,

The bullshit they threw at me

Would cause me no grief,

You cannot stop me,

I will still change the world,

And bring even more freedom

To all boys and girls,

Just try and stop me there,

Uncle Sam,

And I will let you see

The man that I am,

I’ve lived a tough life,

And I’ve always overcome,

Went through my rough times,

But redemption would come,

Everything in life

Happens for a reason,

You never know what

 to expect the next season,

but no matter the issue,

no matter the pain,

just push it aside

to the back of your brain,

Be who you are,

Whether people like you or not,

Stop caring how others judge you,

Go on, give it a shot,

And maybe you’ll end up

Right here where I am,

As happy as possible,

The man that I am,

For I am a man

Who has altered the Earth,

Changed minds of all people

From being prejudiced jerks,

From judging on appearance,

Not knowing me one bit,

To respecting all I’ve done,

And praising me for it,

You don’t know me at all,

You don’t know who I am,

You don’t know where I came from,

Or why I hate “The Man”,

You don’t know why I’m angry,

You don’t know if I cry,

But you can be damn certain

That I don’t ever lie,

I’m straight to the point,

As true as it comes,

And I fight for what I believe in,

Till the battle is won,

I help out the innocent,

And knock the guilty ones down,

I have changed the world

Starting right here in this town,

And made it more acceptable

For everyone around,

To be who they are,

And to not be pushed down,

Believe it when I say it,

This isn’t a scam,

‘Cause this is all me –

The man I am

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Extreme Sports Hippie Mike Jaden Easton-Ellett Protest Skateboards Skateboarding Team Riders

Jaden Easton-Ellett – Protest Partnership

Jaden EastonEllett

A new partnership with Protest Skateboards

A long time coming, and a lot of interesting times we’ve had. I first met Jaden when he came to one of my Skateboard Camps at the tender age of 9 years old. I could tell right from the first day that this kid was different – he was very creative, and very smart, and had a lot of hidden talents. He wasn’t like the other kids that wanted to be the next big thing, he just loved to come out and skateboard and learn any new tricks. What was funny was I would teach Jaden all the crazy whacked out tricks that I liked to do and he would elaborate on them…

9 years later, and now 18 years old, Jaden has proven himself a man to me many times. He has grown up to be responsible and always has goals to accomplish in his future visions. He has definitely turned out to be a talented skater, and with hangin’ with the Protest Team more often he’s been taking it to the street level, hard. The skill is there, the tricks are outrageous, and the style will soon come.

It is one of my proudest moments to welcome Jaden to the Protest Skateboards family – not just as a Team Rider, but as my official Partner in Crime. Together we will make history, and change the world of skateboarding as you know it…

Give him some Props!!

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Hippie Mike Life and Death - And all the Emotions that come in between Protest Skateboards The Man I Am

The Man I Loved The Most

Raymond James Faux

Sept 18th, 1947 – April 29th, 2012

To The man who adopted me, loved me and taught me how to be a man myself – a humungous part of me dies with you, but the rest of me lives on for both of us…

The Man I Loved The Most

By Mike Faux

The day I’ve feared forever
finally arrived,
The day The Man I loved the Most
Had to die,
I knew it would happen
My entire life,
I expected it at any time
My entire life,
He struggled through so much
Sickness and disease,
But he always wore a smile
And he always seemed pleased,
He taught me not to give up
On whatever I believe,
I’ll wear a heart forever
To represent him on my sleeve,
His suffering is over
Now our pain begins,
We will miss him forever
In our hearts within,
To The Man I loved the Most
My regrets I send –
My Dad, my Father,
My Friend till the End…

We love you!

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Cap'n Old Balls Extreme Sports Skateboarding Video Reviews

Review: Cap’n Old Ballz Episode 1

Yeeeaaaaaah! D.L.! Dave Levington!

Straight outta Langley!

Dave called me the other day and told me about a couple of videos he’s been putting on Youtube of some of his older footage, and what looks like some newer stuff. It’s tough to be any type of athlete as you get older, especially a skateboarder. All the things you used to do so easily become difficult due to less strength, more weight and mental arguments inside your head. But some people are truly “skaters for life” and D.L. is definitely one of those people, just like me.

Check out Episode 1 of Cap’n Old Ballz and recognize the skills of a true skateboarder. The tricks might not be the most bangin’ for the insane standard of today’s generation, but the style says it all. Keep it up Dave.

Keep an eye out for more episodes of Cap’n Old Ballz coming up featuring other skateboarders of the past who can still rip it up…

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Extreme Sports Jay Mykyte Protest Skateboards Skateboarding

Jay Mykyte Skates The Secret Bridge

I was walking through a certain park a couple of weeks ago to meet up with Carrie and Kaelen over by the Duck Pond and out of the corner of my eye I saw this bridge… Not just any bridge, but a beautiful full pavement pathway and arch bridge just begging for flip tricks. My first thought was, “Damn, I’m gonna bring Jay Mykyte here just so he can 3flip it.” We showed up on Saturday, and there was definitely a skateboard demonstration at the park – Check it!

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Andy Anderson Extreme Sports Protest Skateboards Skateboarding

Andy Anderson Gets Ready For Summer

[youtube id=”-dJqWhbMMOA” width=”620″ height=”360″]

We took Andy out skating last Saturday to 3 of the North Van/West Van bowls – GriffinHoreshoe Bay andParkgate. I know Andy has been to Griffin before, since he was King of the Bowl Series last year, I’m not sure if he’d been to Horseshoe Bay or not, and I knew he had never even seen Parkgate. We skated each park for 1 hour. Like usual, it was the Andy Anderson Demo at each one.

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Extreme Sports Skateboarding

Review: Mosaic Skateboards Park Video

Oh Ryaaaaaaaa!!

Or as the rest of the world knows him as – Ryan McKellar, sent me a link to check out the new Mosaic Park Video. So I did.

I’d have to say that Ryan likes to support the rest of the team as much as possible and at least the boys can rip stuff up – especially Lanny DeBoer. I do love seeing any new footage of this kid. Lots of good local parks that we’ve all ridden, and some solid tricks that I know I wouldn’t want to try any more. It’s nice to see the next generation of skateboarders enjoying the spoiled lives of having sooooooo many free skate parks that us old guys fought to create. It’s worth a watch.

Mosaic Skateboards might be an unknown company to most, but they have been a solid sponsor to theHippie Mike’s Tour de Surrey circuit for years. It’s tough to make it out there as a small business skateboard company, so support your locals and check out the video…

If you like what you see and you’re interested in checking out what else Mosaic has to offer you, take a free ride to the website www.mosaicskateboards.com

If you have a video that you want reviewed by Hippie Mike, put it on Youtube send the link my way reviews@protestskateboards.com

Who knows, maybe I’ll like it

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Extreme Sports Protest Skateboards Skateboarding

Danny Way – Waiting for Lightning DC Shoes Demo – Chuck Bailey

So Friday, April the 13th, 2012 was the day the Danny Way and some of the DC team came to Chuck Bailey Skate Park in Surrey, British Columbia. Hosted by myself, Hippie Mike, along with Coastal Riders skate shop, it was going to be an easy event to run, provided that the weather agreed with us, which it totally did. There was about 250 people there, lots of talented skaters, waiting patiently for the group to arrive. Traffic on all routes was a mess, but they showed up around 5pm ready to rip it. Danny had decided earlier that he wasn’t going to be skating, so he just hung out and watched everyone else showing their skills, and would sign whatever autographs that were requested. Danny’s a great guy, super mellow, and always appreciative of his fans. For being someone who has changed the face of skateboarding in so many ways, he’s just stoked to see everyone having a good time together.

Josh KalisMatt MillerWes KremerSascha DaleyChad Dickson and Mickey Papa – that was your demo. Tons of tricks got laid down all over the park , but I’d have to say the spotlight was on Wes Kremer. This guy can rip it, and skates everything. He was inventing some very funky lines in and out of the bowl, dropped some tech rail tricks down the 3 block, and annihilated the fireplace channel quarter pipe. Everybody skated really solidly, and I know that the audience had a great time. Thanks for coming out toSurrey.

Saturday night finally arrived, and the Granville Cinema had a phat line outside. They all wanted to see whatDanny Way was about to reveal – Waiting for Lightning. It was an amazing showcase of the life of a man who has changed the world in many ways. It taught the audience about his tough upbringing, and the sorrows that not everyone would have known about him. And it showed the definition of the word “Battle”. My two favorite things about Danny Way have always been – #1. That he takes wild, unthinkable dreams and visions from inside his head and brings them out to reality, something I am all about. All of a sudden one day, you get an idea, and from that point on, you do whatever it takes to make that idea happen. And #2, nothing can stop him… he will not give up. This is a major trait I have always possessed myself. You want it, you go get it. As long as you can walk, or at least stand on your board, then you’re still trying to land it. Danny Wayhas defined the word “Man” on television a few times. Go back to X-Games when he hung up on the mega quarter pipe and flipped into the flat bottom. No one else in their right mind was going to go back to the drop in and take another run, but Danny could walk on his own, so it was inevitable. It was also one of the most insane runs anyone ever did on the mega ramp set up still to the day. Nothing will hold this guy down, and that is what I have always loved about him.

The video was eye opening for many of the younger generation skaters, who weren’t around in the 80’s and early 90’s when Danny was on a mission to be the man, and maybe didn’t know about all the crazy things he had done through those years for the sport of skateboarding. I always watched him. Danny WayChristian Hosoi and Tony Hawk – the 3 destroyers. They all invented so much for skateboarding. I personally had seen almost all of the footage in the documentary  during the eras that they were filmed. I have the entireBones Brigade collectionThe Santa Cruz Box SetShackle Me NotThe original 4 Plan B videos, and more stuff after that. Danny’s been around for a long time, and I’ve been watching him since I started skateboarding in 1986, which was around the time his face started popping up in the vids. He’s not much older than I am, and I understand how messed up his body must be. He’s been through a lot. The documentary focused mainly on the big jump over the Great Wall of China. The original thought of this jump was breaking many boundaries. Anyone who knows anything about Communism would be nervous about even bringing this idea to the table. But for some strange reason, the Chinese Government allowed it to happen. This was huge!!

What I liked about the video was how there was this massive crew of workers building this gigantic death trap of a ramp, but I don’t think that any one of them actually realized what it was for until Danny showed up. I’m sure that at least half of them shit their pants when they saw a guy start climbing up the stairs holding nothing but a skateboard. Reality must have really sunk in. But I think it sunk in even more when they saw what happened when he didn’t make it…

Once again, Danny Way got a taste of his own reality. When you force dreams to come true, they don’t always end the same way you planned it when you were asleep. This was definitely one of the worst bails in skateboard history, and with only a few days left before the scheduled jump date, Danny had to somehow get over the pain, get over the fact that this was a life or death situation, and prepare himself mentally to go out there and land it. 69 feet, over the Great Wall of China, with a busted ankle. There’s no warm up for this. You climb the stairs, look straight down at your destiny, and drop in.

I loved the part where after he lands it, the media is in his face. And at that point, the adrenaline of a lifetime of historic skateboarding memories that possess this man’s soul took over. He had jumped the Great Wall of China. He had set a world record for the longest jump on a skateboard, and the highest air over a quarter pipe. But he had not satisfied himself enough to go home without climbing back up those stairs and dropping in again for the world’s biggest 360 air. He didn’t do it to show off, he didn’t do it to impress the people, he didn’t do it to be the best, he did it to fulfil his passion, and to turn his dream into reality…

Danny Way lives amongst a rare group of the Best Sports Hero’s of all time. Tony Hawk, Matt Hoffman, Travis Pastrana, Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods; all legends of their own sports, not just for their talents, but for their creativity, and for their ambition to never give up…

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Extreme Sports Protest Skateboards Skateboarding Stu Benoit Team Riders

Stu Benoit Joins The Protest Team

After many years of ripping together, I finally asked Stu if he wanted to represent for Protest. Straight outtaSurrey, Stu’s always been hardcore, and was always one of my favorite people to skate with. Stu has some serious Big Tranny skills and rips up any bowl, ramp or barricade you put in his path. Stoked to have him on the Team and looking forward to all the footage we’re gonna see. We stopped in to skate with Stu at Leeside the other night and had a blast. Check it out.

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Andy Anderson Extreme Sports Protest Skateboards Skateboarding

Andy Anderson Gets Crowned “King of the Bowls 2011” [Bowl Series #17]

Bushman finally presented Andy Anderson with his Crown after earning the title of “2011 King of the Bowls” last August. At age 15, Andy shredded at every Bowl Series competition last year and the title was well deserved. Andy continues to progress every day and will definitely be one of the highlights to watch at many more Bowl Series contests to come.

2011 King of the Bowls – Pretty Good
Taking the 2011 King of Surrey trophy the same year – Amazing

But to top all that, the highlight of Andy’s day was learning who Alex Chalmers is.

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