Dropping in and landing it

My kid friend loves to "drop in" with moves like this caveman, which he landed, on Sunday afternoon on Commercial Drive in Vancouver

The kid in this picture has a big cast on his arm, but this doesn’t stop him from doing risky things. We met at Leeside Park, near Hastings and Cassiar, in an underpass and had seen him around at other parks.

I drove Toby down to Leeside to meet up with his friends and they were definitely the youngest there. I was what I called their “adult chaperone” and when I arrived there were two police cars parked outside.

I went up to one cop and asked: “How’s it going here?” and he told me the property next door had called them to check out the event. Organizers brought in fencing on a rented flatbed and a generator for powering the sound system that played death metal. But aside from a little drinking in public, it was safe, and the cop asked me to call if anything got out of hand.

His request made me feel like such a responsible mom! haha

The event was hosted by Deer Man of Dark Woods of the Barrier Kult, a.k.a the BA.KU. movement. I learned about it from our friend Max, 12, who was thrilled to win a limited edition Deer Man of Dark Woods board by SKULL SKATES at the skate comp.

“Vancouver is a place of ritual and awe,” Deer Man told the VancouverIsAwesome blog on Halloween.

The boys were definitely in awe and I’m thankful to the organizers (including PD of SKULL SKATES, who I said hi to and thanked). They put a lot of work into the event and were really supportive towards the younger kids like my son and his friends.

Deer Man told my son he could get a t-shirt “if he tried anything” on the barrier. So he gave it a go, amongst all the bigger guys, and won his t-shirt, which he was so pleased with. He also got another one for his friend, along with a big handfull of stickers (now on my car).

I made this video below using the camera on my MacBook, so it’s pretty rough, but I put it on YouTube to show the mood of the event. I wish it captured the swoosh of skateboard wheels and the growling voice of the death metal singer on the recorded music powered by a generator.