3 nice links.
1) Joe’s B Day
2) 4Q
and D) SUNDAY
__
cyril@alonelikeastone.com
yupppers
Fixed gear Bikes, ray ban wayfarer’s, fedora’s, slip on shoes, text messaging, blogging, neon, tight shirts, sisters pants, long boards, malls, starbucks, bukowski, iphones, girls in PJ’s, crocs, tattoo’s, Joe Cleary Five is playing SCENE !!!
Thanks Joe.
Sud and Randoms
This just in. Tonight! Burger and all those Kick yer Butt Record dudes are all playing some music.
The SUD shoe wall is very impressive. I bought some Lakai MC select EMB editions, the free DVD it comes with was worth the cash. I also got that Ed Templeton, nobody living can ever make me turn back book put out by Emerica... amazing.
Ran into Chris the other night…
TCB
Terry Worona was down, expect a big post from him soon right Terry? RIGHT!
Mike Todd never found his hat from his birthday.
Chunk, like Joe, is good with his organ.
I am so far behind on posts.
GRRR
My project this summer.
Scooter Rally is coming up!!!
Twilight Zone
Mike blew his personal high score away and had two death saves with one ball… but half an hour later Joe almost rolled the Twilight Zone Machine over… Sweet Jesus that is close to a billion points.
Chris O'toole B day
Look who showed up for Chris’ Birthday, I mean shit, get the fuck out.
His party didn’t look so much like Irene’s party, but both were fun times.
KD! and Brian.
JRB in Cincinnati.
Mike of the Mike Alliance.
New board.
I go to pick up my passport, and of all people I get 420… silly, I hate that shit.
Irene has nice things.
The Stereo Sound Link.
Here at Cyril HQ we updated the Wanderer list and added some new photo’s and code names to it. Also the link section has been updated… Ohhh and I have a few things for sale. email or call me if you want anything.Got back from New York, and first thing I became aware of is a nice little link from the agents over at STEREO.
aNYways, I will do a NYC post in a few days or so… lets just say my feet were sore and my ankles were swollen… but gotta thank the nice folks at DQM for a copy of the Epicly Later’d John Cardiel DVD!!!
Get me a buckett .
JP from Sunday sent some photos!!! Spring is here.
Sal, Nollie Flipper.
Paul, Foot Plater
Charles, Cannonballer!!!
Joe knows this guy here, his name is Mike, nice guy. But Joe wants to arm wrestle him.
Joe calls him Lou Ferrigno a few times and its on.
When Joe plays chess; he sits down against his opponent and growls at him… gets under their skin… mind over matter…
Mind over matter… mid way through, Joe takes a damn drink of his beer… mid arm wrestle sip of beer, epic!!!
And puts it down. It was great.
Wanderer Cory Wilson.
Ebay.
Car wash
Rinse.
Wyld Byll.
Devin Morrison still Wanders
I am going away for a week, so… for a break on the mini-views I sent Wanderer Code Devo a full length interview which is below!!! the small ones will start back up when I get back from my NYC trip. There are lots left… and they will all get up in time. Sorry, I have no photo credits… and I can’t find the damn Transworld Cover photo for the life of me… after the interview are 2 you tube clips, one he sent for alonelikeastone… its the “marc flip” one… exclusive shit.
Devin, how old are you now? And where are you?
I’m twenty-five which feels really weird, living in Calgary, AB.
We miss you back here, what, if anything do you miss about the Niagara area?
I really miss my friends. Most of them probably don’t even consider me a friend anymore because I’m so shitty at staying in touch. I think about you guys everyday and would not be a damn thing today without any of you. I’ll get back there one day soon and we will have a serious rager!So you have a family out in Calgary, tell us about them.
I have been married for five years now to my wife Tesia and we have a beautiful daughter named June. She will be four this year! Both of them are incredible and directly responsible for all that is good in my life. I don’t know what I would do without them. Being a dad is the best! The hardest thing about parenting is knowing when your not supposed to laugh like when my kid dropped the F bomb at the Grandparents diner table… Classic.
What do you like about Calgary?
I like the fact that there is a lot happening here. It has a really big and strong skate scene. The economy is booming and I have a great job when I’m not skating. The weather here is nuts though. Today it snowed almost 2 feet, no joke! Tomorrow it’s supposed to be plus 20. Random.Do you have a straight job, or do you just skateboard? Aren’t you involved with the shop out there to…umm the Source?
I work at a restaurant called Teatro. It is Calgary’s premiere fine dining restaurant. We just won best overall restaurant of 2007. I’m assistant manager and function co-coordinator. I have worked there for eight years now and love it. They are very flexible with my skating and traveling so I’m very great full. Peep it, I’m also the Team Manager for The Source Skate shop. That’s pretty mellow though I pretty much just decide on who gets on the team and make sure they live up to their end of the bargain. It’s sick though the owners are rad and they help me out when I need it.How do you manage to juggle a family, sk8ing, and a job? That always has impressed me, people that are able to keep up with so much at once.
It is not easy but definitely worth it. I really organize my priorities with lists and just try to keep crossing things off. Sometimes it catches up with me but if I stay on top of everything it’s all-good. Mind you I don’t sleep much anymore.
Favorite skateboard movie these days?
I watch “A Journey Through Sound” a lot. It’s Stereo’s latest promo vid with some banging skating. I like the new Habitat vid a lot too.Favorite of all time?
Video? Damn… got to be “Underachievers” Dan wolf runs shit.
Favorite meal?
Beef Tenderloin, some dope ass potatoes, spring veggies. Michelinas are good to though.Favorite number?
16What’s your favorite wine and why???
That is even tougher than the skate vid question. Depends on what I feel like but I would probably say 1988 Cannubi Reserve Barolo. That is probably one of the nicer bottles. That and a 1995 Chateau Angelus. Any classic Bordeaux is cool with me. Old world all the way.
How did you get into skateboarding???
My cousin Corey. Him and Scott Tasjian. Scotty got an Acme slick when we were a Glynn A. Green and skating quickly took over our lives. We used to share his then I got a beat Santa Cruz from Mark Difabio for $50. Best $50 I ever spent.Who do you go skateboarding with???
Whoever’s down. The scene is pretty big here so I usually roll with all the homies or hit up the ramp with my good friends Ian, Robbie T, B Tone or whoever else wants to shred.What’s the funniest thing your daughter has said???
Fuck
How excited where you about the TWS cover?
Total shocker.
Of all the coverage in mags, what are you most proud of?
Probably the “Marc Flip” sequence in SBC. When they called me and asked what to call the trick, I just said the “marc Flip” cause Transworld had a little video grab of MJ doing it on some wooden park hip. Tran world wrote that it was some new shit and dubbed it the Marc flip. I know I did it at that Denver ditch spot before MJ and then it shows up as one of his Enders in Fully Flared. I was bummed. I would’ve never told them to call it that if I knew he did it at the same spot. Everyone probably thinks I was biting his shit. Not the case people!!
What about video parts, what is the best one so far you have put out in your mind?
It doesn’t exist
What’s in the works skate wise for you?
Just working on my SBC interview. Trying to get that finished. Also filming for the new Stereo video. I’m really stoked on the opportunity they’ve given me. Just trying not to blow it.Favorite skaters these days?
There is way to many to open this door.
Favorite of all time?
Ah shit man…. I’m going to say Joe ClearyAny good Joe Cleary Stories?
The time he tried to give me shit for being so young and slanging weed. Then he ended up buying all of it! Fucking Joe! I miss hanging with you and Cyril man, you two put my skating in check and I would probably be jaded and over it if you guys didn’t show me what it is really about. Smiling with your bro’s.
Best sk8 city?
Probably Barcelona but I really enjoyed Denver. How about anywhere where there isn’t 2 feat of snow like Calgary right now! Fuck.Cyril is gone; do you think it is important where skaters spend their money?
Damn right it is! Who do you want to support? Some dick that has more money than sense? Or someone who shares the same passion for skating you do? Thats a no brainer kids.I think your sponsors suit you, and you suit them, what more can you ask for then that!!! I respect you and others like you for that… not just taking whatever gets thrown out there, but being patient instead…. so everyone knows, who is backing you?
I’m very lucky to have the support of some great companies. I ride for STEREO, DVS, Matix, Royal, Hi Fi wheels and The Source.
I always loved STEREO, the A Visual Sound video is my all time favorite. So when they came back I was so excited, those 7 7/8 and 8 inch decks they make are so perfect, nice and flat, and the graphics are fantastic, that’s all I have really rode since the return of Stereo. You ride for them now, how did that come about?
I got on through the Canadian Distributors and my footy made it to Chris Pastras. He said that him and Clint were stoked on it and put me on the international team. Chris is rad! I’m mostly syked because the first new board I bought was a Carl Shipman form SuD. It’s funny how some things come together.How is your body holding up? Are you sore?
I feel like a million bucks bra!Have you ever been inspired to skate by something totally un-skate related?
Everyday when I wake up to my family. Music does it pretty easy too.
What do you like to do off your board?
Watch movies with my girl, maybe draw a bit or take my kid to the park. I play a lot of poker too.What is your current guilty pleasure?
The same thing it’s always been…
Anything at all you want to mention?
I really do miss all my old friends. Sorry I don’t stay in touch more. I really want to come home soon and catch up with all of you. Hopefully one day that will happen. Everyday I think of skating the mini at SUD with Cyril, Joe, Stephenson, Doyle, Terryberry, Dustin, Philter, Dawson, Reid, Dixon, Scotty, Burger and Lee. A couple brews and the some homies. Fuck that sounds good. Mark my word that session will happen buds. Take care.Devin Morrison
Wanderer
That video above has the marc flip in it… below is a nice commercial for the source.
Matt Hensley
Legit billiards
No pockets, and the tables were heated.
Rob Hostetter and Matt Hensley.
Robert Bynre was there that night, Matt and Rob were excited to say the least to meet him.
Joe in awe of how good those 2 are at pool.
Jeff and Amy Hardy.
Mike Todd interview by Nathan Burger
- By cyril on
- Fri Apr 25, 07:03 PM
- Comment [15]
Mike Todd Interview: The legacy of Cyril By Nathan Burger.
Where and when did you meet skateboarding and what did it do for you? How did it affect your life at the time?
Sometime in grade 6 I saw a skateboard magazine at school and in it was a Powell Deck, a Steve Caballero, the one with the bats in the background. It visually blew me away. So I started taking notice of how many people had skateboards and paying attention to what was going on, it seemed like a whole other world, different from the world I was living in. Then when I got to see people actually skateboarding I just wanted to make those sounds that a board made, I love the sound of skateboarding. I was just drawn to the sound of a board rolling down the street and the clacking of tricks, then I noticed some people had obviously better styles on the board. I didn’t know what tricks were, just that the way some of the guys pushed and carved and turned was more impressive than a sketchy trick. That got me to thinking how all I ever did was play baseball. We all looked alike, silly uncomfortable uniforms, so many rules, so much pressure to win. I was a shy kid, very, very shy, so baseball was hell especially being up at bat. With skateboarding I noticed the clothing you wore suited your personality, unlike a uniform. Sk8ing also seemed to breed individuals, every one of them seemed different, not so normal or generic. Not into trends or the hottest girl or the trendy music… just into art and odd music and expressing them selves rather than following the heard. It was not some typical macho male nonsense that I felt on the ball field or in gym class. Skateboarding gave you room to breath, be your self… no rules, no way to even cheat, no coach and no time limit. That’s alot to think about in grade six, but I was an introvert, spent my days pondering and day dreaming about the world at a very young age. I remember disliking school in grade 1, and thinking the world was very unfair in grade 3. I was too young to have those thoughts. But the second I got my first board, I felt like I finally got to take a breath of real life. All my worries went away. I had found something to romanticize about rather than worry about. I was free, I was me and I was hooked.
What was it like skateboarding in the era you grew up in (cool/uncool)?
So uncool, back then we had what we called jocks, well, they ruled the school… but to be honest I was a nice guy, so I never started anything, I got along with everyone really. But at times you would actually get chased down buy people that hated on sk8ers, they would take your board, throw it in a tree or a ditch, pour pop on you, make fun of your Mom. Never mind the older generation, they seemed to think skateboarders were evil. And you know what, I loved it. No one understood it, and I got a kick out of it, I would rather get chased down with a good friend than be in gym glass seeing who could triple jump the longest in front of 30 other kids. I always felt different, or thought different than what was going on at school and what was popular… skateboarding became my outlet and kept me felling different, but yet apart of something. Some people in my shoes who feel like they are in left field, they like attention, so they dress weird or dye their hair or look outrageous to prove they are different. But again being shy, the last thing I wanted was attention. Skateboarding you could just be yourself, you didn’t need a mohawk to say “hi … I am different” ... it was more subtle, it was perfect.
What was your first set up?
A Valtera alley cat… my first real pro board was a Mike Vallely, indy trucks, slimeball wheels, and german bearings
What music pumped you to skate or what did you like in general, what was in the old boom box?
Hmm, skateboarding introduced me to music, real music, not the radio music I was used to, like when I started sk8ing I felt I had finally learned to breath, well with the music in our culture I felt I finally got to hear for the first time as well. The first time I was ever blown away by music was at Andrew Reids house, Andrew bought a Black Sabbath tape… we put it on and lost our minds, nothing has ever sounded so good since the first time I heard that Sabbath Paranoid album. For years, I mean years, that’s all I was into, Sabbath, then later, I got really into a band called Operation Ivy, so energetic, it sounded like the way we skated. Back then though, you didn’t just go to the mall and buy a punk rock tape, you went to Toronto, and crossed you fingers they had something. There was no punk rock section, or alternative section at the mall.
Who did you skateboard with when you were young? What pros or friends influenced the way you skated?
I skated with Andrew Ried and Ryan Huxley for the first few years, then Jeff Hardy for a few, than Ian Stewart for a whole lot and than Joe Cleary and Steve Dawson… than Joe and I kinda became super close and that’s about the only person I’ve skated with for the last 10 years. Unless it was with the Wanderers… I love skating with them…. Pros, I liked were mainly just Matt Hensley, Jason Jessee, Gonz and Julien Stranger.
Why did you Open Cyril? How did it affect your life? I opened Cyril to escape the real world. To escape having a career that had nothing to do with who I was except that I needed money to survive. I opened Cyril to create my own world. From the colour of the walls to how people were treated to the hours of the shop to the product and to the pricing … every single little and big thing that was apart of cyril I put thought into, everything had a story or a reason for it. Cyril allowed me to avoid growing up. Cyril gave me confidence; it was my art, my outlet and my love. It was freedom at its best.When did you decide that you were going to open Cyril? Why did you name it Cyril? Cyril had three locations what were they and what did you like and dislike about each one?
After High School all I wanted to do still was skate, I did not want to go to College, which I would not recommend, but I new I wanted to skate and travel so I got a job to support skating and have a car and live the life…. I was working at a Factory in Hamilton when I realized I needed a change, a big change, I was sad at that factory, and I worked so much I had no time to skate, I knew I needed sk8ing in my life… that was the point of the job in the first place… I always wanted to run a sk8 shop, so seriously, I just told my parents what I was thinking in the beginning of March 1998 and by the end of that same month I was in business. I remember hearing a Trooper song at work; it was “Raise a little hell” the lyrics were “If you don’t like, what you got why don’t you change it? If your world is all screwed up Rearrange it” Those lyrics lit a fire under my ass. So it happened fast, like in 3 days I went from not doing a damn thing for myself, to owning a shop. The name came from just being at city hall doing paper work and needing business name, I just wrote down “Cyril”. I almost wrote down “Blues”
What happened when Cyril closed the first time? (touch on your feeling at the time and why you went to Denver if that’s cool)?
Cyril was reaching its sixth year in business and I was struggling with the things that skateboarding had pushed aside for me, like dealing with being shy and disliking the world and taking every little thing very personal… owning a business is a full time gig, and it meant dealing with people again, rather than just dealing with sk8ers. For instance, a nice new SUV pulls up, the Dad and son get out, walk in, say hello, ask how business is… it was never good financially, never, but I stayed afloat, so I would say “oh I am surviving” they would say, “stick in there, it will pick up.” Meanwhile, the son has brand new shoes, skate brand jeans, and is well taken care of and the father would end up on his cell phone…. the son would pick out a deck, show his Pops, and Pops would ask what the deal of the day is, I can’t say no, so I give’em a deal. And think to myself “why ask how business is in the first place if you need a deal?” Now, the next day a old station wagon pulls up, the muffler is falling off, the tires are bald and the whole family is there, the kids shoes are full of holes from sk8ing and he has on levis. But they bring me coffee, say hi the shop cat and ask how I am doing, not how business is… we laugh, tell jokes, drink our coffee’s and they pick out a deck and hand over the full amount in cash with a smile… that was happening alot, and even as I type this I get frustrated. It makes no sense. Then on top of dealing with that, I mean letting that get me depressed and disliking the world again, and having no faith in people, Cyril gets broken into. Its funny, I was at home asleep and jumped out of bed knowing someone was in the shop… I am very intuitive in every aspect of my life and will act on a feeling no matter how illogical it may seem… so I drive to the shop and as I go in the front, they go out the back. I felt like someone broke into me. I questioned, in my head, everyone that stepped in the store for the next week, I thought to myself, was it you? Do you know who did this? I treated people bad in my own head, and closed up right away. The world I had created, the fair one, was compromised… I had to get away, so I went to New York for a few days, then Chicago for a few days, then to San Diego to stay with a dear friend who owned a shop out there… I stayed for a month sleeping on a surf board bag all full of wax. It was heaven. Then I went to San Francisco for a bit, than I went to visit a friend in Denver for a month, came home for a week, told my best friend Joe I was going back to Denver till I was broke, and we packed our stuff and drove back out there for 6 months. I had just spent my life’s savings in under a year running away from the very thing that helped me escape in the first place… I should have never left, never closed, never took all that so personal… I have never been the same person I once was pre when I noticed the way people could be and the robbery. Sure I re opened for a year, but the damage was done, customers found a new place to shop. My mind was fresh and Cyril meant more than ever the second time, but it was just too late. It only lasted 1 year or so.
What are the Wanderers and how did they come to be?
Most shops have teams… I just got sick of the word, it reminded me of baseball. So my favorite thing to do is Wander around, and that goes for alot of sk8ers, that’s what we do at 4 in the morning in any given city, we wander around looking for places to sk8. So I called our crew the Wanderers… you didn’t have to be that good either, personality was number one on the list. So if you are one, I think highly of you, I am vouging for you. You are part of a family, not a team.As you got older did skateboarding change its role in your life? Did Cyril change its role in your life?
Oh yes, in so many ways, mainly, I realized its not the be all and end all of who I am, it helped me become who I am, it brought out who Mike Todd was and is, rather then try to force it out and mold me. But, with age comes injuries, and with injuries comes time off the board. During those times I had to do something other than think of sk8ing.
Why did Cyril close and where does that leave you now?
I take full responsibility for Cyril closing, there are things that did not help, but I blame me and me only. It hurts. I should have done more, I should have got in other products, I should have had longer hours, I should have wanted it more then I did, I should have found a way to keep the dream alive. When you walked into Cyril, you walked into me, and with it gone, I feel I lost apart of myself, I sometimes don’t even know who I am without Cyril, I am like Linus with out his blanket. On a bad note it leaves me very scared, lonely, and lost. On a positive note, It is liberating and I have a clean plate at a buffet. Choosing what to eat is hell though.
Where do you think you would be without skateboarding?
This may sound harsh, but I may have ended up a complete loner to afraid to leave my house. On the other hand maybe I would have been more normal and able to accept that what I do all day long to make money is not a direct reflection of who I am.
Any thing else you want to say?
I never wanted to leave a legacy, just wanted to escape, wanted to have something that reflected me, didn’t want to waste my days away, I have never been proud of Cyril, pride is kinda weird. I just wanted to escape the outside world and create my own, so a legacy and things of that nature including money are so far down the list of importance.
I miss the shop every single day. I am ready to move on, but nothing will ever replace Cyril and those times. I used to think I was looking to replace it, but have realized that’s impossible, its like losing a pet, there is no replacement, you just get a new one and move on. I am ready to move on. But not having a day full of passion is making the choice of what to do all day long a hard one.