A week from now we celebrate Labor day, but today we can celebrate our labor of love by giving you the 3rd installment of the Strange Crew. Enjoy.

Please state your full name and the current city you reside in.
Paul Leroy Sewell and I live in El Cajon,CA. East County son!

I know that recently you have been working hard filming for the SHUFFL video, tell us a little bit about that.
Yeah man! I’m really excited about this project because it’s a dope crew and a solid line up. There will be full parts from John Lupfer, Ryan Harris, Dave Abair, David Cole, Austin Kanfoush, Walker Ryan and myself with Walker being the mastermind behind it. Walker is the illest and we need more people like him in the industry. The video has the potential to be amazing because everyone has their own flavor to add to it.

Some people might not know this but you are a college educated man, what and where did you study?
I studied finance at SDSU(San Diego State) and it was the hardest thing I ever had to do, mainly because I still wanted to keep skating, it was a tough balance. I did it though and it shows that anything is possible if you are not lazy. I’m backing education 100%.

You ride for what I consider to be the best shop in San Diego, Pacific Drive, wanna give any shout outs to some of the boys over there?
Hell yeah that’s my family! Gotta give love to Jim Ruonala(owner) for having my back all these years. The dude has had to put up with a lot over there, respect. Shouts to Larue, Poo, Jesse, Truck and the dudes who originally hooked me up: Cuong Lieng, Marshall Clark, Bill Thompson, and Pete Jimenez. Love you guys PD for life.

Some people including myself were confused about the term “Thuggy Smurf” can you give us a nice detailed description of what kind of person this is, and where we might find them skating.
Hahahaha, by the way I like to write out hahahaha instead of lol. Those abbreviated terms are ridiculous to me. Anyways, a thuggy smurf is a short skateboarder with big clothes and a thugged out skate style. You know what I mean, like a tough skate swagger. They usually have a gangster lingo as well. Thuggy smurfs are the illest!

Who’s your favorite Seinfeld character?
It would have to be George, but Newman is a close second. Some have come to compare me to Costanza which sucks, but is tight at the same time. Best show ever! “George is getting upset!”

Mine is Crazy Joe Davola, he’s a bit underrated, do you own all the episodes on dvd?
Davola is underrated, but what about Joe Mayo or Bob Sacamano? Yes I do my girl bought them for me for Christmas one year, thanks Lola Smith! I am a proud owner of every Seinfeld episode known to man, Hainault, Fitz, and I nerd out on that stuff all day.

Who are your favorite SD native sons?
Peter Hewitt, Danny Wallace, Shuriken Shannon, John Lupfer, Kellen James, J.T. Aultz, Cuong Lieng, Mike Fitz, Connelly, Zammit, Adrian Lopez, Marcelle Johnson, Jimmy Carlin, Peter Smolik, Surrey, Wes Kremer, Alex Horn, and the Ollie Essay! There are many more….SD baby! Don’t hate on the out of city hats, I just like the color!

Sheckler has a new Milk commercial, what do you think of it?
Hahaha, yeah that’s beyond me, but what are you gonna do? People are just never satisfied and always think they need more money when they have millions! If that’s what makes him happy more power to him, definitely isn’t the route I’d choose.

If there was a freestyle rap battle between Jereme Rogers a.ka. The White Whisper and Jimmy Carlin a.k.a Dj Dunce Cap, who do you think would win?
Carlin or Dj Dunce Cap by a long shot! He doesn’t care and does not take it seriously. So all kinds of lyrics would be flowing out of him naturally. The dude has flows for days, cant wait to hear the l.p. some time in the future. You rule Jimmy.

What can we expect to see from you in the coming year?
Hopefully lots of skating , finishing up this part for SHUFFL and onto bigger and better if companies are willing to give me the opportunity. Traveling a lot and just following my heart. Always do what makes you happy.

Just got an email for Stu about this past weekend’s contest in Norway.

3rd place again mate! 700 quid. Stoked man. Got a bunch a good footy as well. All in all great trip. tacky.no, that’s a Norweigen website has pics from the jam. It was sooooooo sick mate!! Try and find a copy of the new Kingpin. Ny interview is in there. Speak soon mate.

Stu

The Ezekiel site has Lee Yankou interview. Check it out!

How better to enjoy your Friday afternoon than watching Carlin, Shuriken, Berry, Duffel, and Everen in part two of the Strange Crew Tour.

Josh Betley is pretty dumb. Watch this video of him talking about his new bike for proof.

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Darryl Tocco has been hard at work handling the filming and editing of Ride BMX’s new video, Range of Motion. He’s not just hanging out behind the camera, though – check out the dope backwards barspin line in this video and the mayhem in the end.

BNQT put out this edit featuring a bunch of their best clips from the past year. Rob Darden has a bunch of really good clips, as do a bunch of other riders. Enjoy.

Corey Duffel, Caswell Berry, Shuriken Shannon, Jimmy Carlin, Everen Stallion and Alex Mizurov headed to Canada to meet up with our Canadian counter parts Lee Yankou, Gab Lalande, Dustin Monte, and Mitch Barrette for a little tour through the western part of Canada: The Strange Crew Tour. The adventure begins. Part 1 of 4.

Check out Lee Yankou in the trailer for Sus Monts. Lee has the last part and the video is out now.

Do yourself a favor and watch this Jimmy Carlin clip on the Mystery site.

The Made for Skate is now an iPhone application. For a couple bucks you can have the history of skate shoes in the palm of your hand with monthly updates of news shoes, news, and videos. Check out MedforSkate.com for more info.

Check out this week’s featured shoe: the South Bronx.

Photos by Jared Souney.

Leticia Bufoni made her way out to Woodward West this week for the Supergirl Pro-Am Jam and skate away with a win and a pocket full of money. Sharing the podium with Leticia were Amelia Brodka and Amy Caron. Next stop Venice Beach on September 6th.

Osiris riders Josh Betley, Miles Rogoish, and Tony Malouf along with our homies Josh Eilken and Jeff Wescott all have photos in the new RideUK BMX Mag’s Tattour story. The article is ten pages long and features eleven photos from the crew. The Tattour video is almost all wrapped up and will be available soon.

BMXunion posted an interview with Rob Darden. According to Rob, he introduced the country of Australia to Jack Daniels and loves to stay in shape. Read the interview.

CCS team rider Corey Duffel has been all over the place lately, having just locked up his part in Transworld’s Right Foot Forward video along with an interview in the mag. CCS caught up with Corey recently for a catalog cover shoot and got the lowdown on his fused wrist, new Osiris shoe, and the upcoming Foundation video. Check out the video on the CCS site.

Bsmitty has been taking photos of some time. Every time Eric Viccarone heads back to Ohio for a visit, Bsmitty is always on the scene with a camera glued to his face. If you are ever in the Cleveland area, I’m sure he would even be nice enough to shoot with you and take you to some spots. He even shoots weddings, so if you decided you want to be retarded, he can shoot your wedding for you as well or possibly just take some pictures of your hot girlfriend. He does it all, so what are you waiting for, check out Bsmitty.com.

Drop Zone Tahiti is running on Fuel TV and features Cheyne Mags. The first episode airs this Thursday at 8:00 PM and again at 11:00 PM. Show times and trailer below.

Thursday 08/20 – 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM
Saturday 08/22 – 10:00 AM
Sunday 09/06 – 2:30 PM
Sunday 09/13 – 12:30 AM
Saturday 09/19 – 12:00 AM

Josh Betley went to Albuquerque this past weekend for some BMX madness. Here’s a rundown of his trip:

I just got back from a weekend trip to Albuquerque for the Double Ditch Jam. This was my third time going to the jam and it gets crazier every year. The jam had a big turnout, as always, and I saw a ton of good riding. I apologize for scaring some of my friends with a mass text saying I might get shot. Albuquerque is crazy, to say the least. Meth. Here are my top five highlights of the trip:

-The hardest fall of the trip, which went to me and there wasn’t a close second. It wasn’t even riding, it was getting out of a car.
-Playing beer pong that was romantically lit by candlelight, bur somehow escalated to having two guns pulled.
-Telling some guy I was from Germany and I needed women. He walked into a restaurant to “get some bitches,” but then he got kicked out for good.
-Seeing a girl kick a dudes ass.
-Riding street in Flagstaff and riding the new park in New Mexico.

Come join us for one of the largest UFC’s ever on Saturday August 29th at 6:30 and watch our boy Randy Couture take on Nogueira, along with Keith Jardine and Thiago Silva live from Oregon! Enter to win tons of free stuff from Osiris, Triumph*United, Dark Dog energy drink and training session with World Champion Muay Thai fighter Melchor Menor!

Check out Mel in action!

Beachside Grill

215 N coast hwy
Oceanside 760-433-8850

performances by RAIZ MUZIK & GOOD U SHOOD

Take a look at our featured shoe of the week, the Duffel. For more colorways, check out the online store.

The 3rd stop of the Dew Tour took place this weekend in the city I love the most, Portland Oregon. Once again Pierre found himself to be the victor after making his dream run of some 720’s, halfcab crooks over the hump, and a slew of other tricks, and he did all of this in a really cool Osiris tee designed after my favorite band while I was in high school, The Dead Milkmen. This win also moves Pierre up in the standings to win the overall tour. 2 stops left.

SKATEBOARD VERT FINALS

1. 1. Pierre-Luc Gagnon
2. 2. Andy Macdonald
3. 3. Sandro Dias

How’s the Portland summer treating you?
Summer is so good this year. We’ve had some record heat waves, so I’m trying to ride as early as possible whenever I get the chance.

What have you been up to lately?
Being a dad, working, and riding as much as I can. I’m trying to finish my part for the Goods BMX DVD.

What exactly is your day job?
I do resets and remodels at grocery stores.

How much do you work?
I work everyday. It gets hard sometimes because I just want to ride so bad, but it’s gotta get done to support the family. I haven’t slept past 6am on weekdays and 7am on weekends in several months.

How often do you get to ride?
I get a session in pretty much everyday. Whether it’s a good one or not, I just try to be on my bike for a bit.

Tell us a little bit about being a dad…
It’s a lot better than not being one! It’s really put my life and everything I do in perspective. I don’t find myself wasting much time anymore.

When are we going to see Levi on a bike?
He’s already been on a bike, but still has some work to do. Maybe I’ll send him to Woodward to train! Haha.

How does your lady deal with parenting a child with a guy that pretty much has two full time jobs?
She’s doing good. It gets hard sometimes for both of us. We both have things going on besides normal jobs. Amy has a fashion line, so we usually have to remind each other that we have stuff to do and to give each other breaks so we can get it done.

What’s your favorite shoe and what do you like about it?
I really like the South Bronx. I don’t worry about bruising my heels or anything. Great color-ways, look good, and not too bulky with plenty of support.

What is DollarBillParty and what happened to it?
It was DollarBillParty.com, then DollarBillParty.net, and now it’s DollarBillParty.nothing. It was fun running a functional blog for a minute, but I’ve got too much time on my hands right now to focus on anything other than family, work, and BMX.

What’s the best strip club in Portland and why?
I think Sassy’s is everyone’s favorite and I don’t have to spend money there.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?
Figure out my plans for the rest of the year, haha! Get my passport, go to a couple of contests, finish my section for the Goods video, and keep on pedaling.

Anything you’d like to add?
Thanks to my whole family and everyone at Haro Bikes for all of the support on and off my bike and for keeping me motivated to be more than a bum.

Josh Betley and a few friends from Phoenix are headed to Albuquerque for the 2009 Double Ditch Jam this weekend.

When I asked Ronnie Napolitan about riding dirt at the Dew Tour, this is what he said:

Thursday was the beginning of the Wendy’s Invitational, the second stop on the Dew Tour in Portland. The skatepark prelims kicked off on Thursday with Chad Bartie squeezing his way into the finals. Tomorrow the finals go live on NBC at 4pm. Here’s the top twelve advancing to the finals.

1. 1. Chaz Ortiz
2. 2. Paul Rodriguez
3. 3. Rodolfo Ramos
4. 4. Greg Lutzka
5. 5. Dave Bachinsky
6. 6. Carlos De Andrade
7. 7. Kurtis Colamonico
8. 8. Milton Martinez
9. 9. Fabrizio Santos
10. 10. Timmy Knuth
11. 11. Jordan Hoffart
12. 12. Chad Bartie

Unpublished photos from Thrasher’s Saints & Sinners article (September issue), including Taylor Bingaman’s back smith.

Basel, Switzerland: Arnost Ceral takes Best Trick at the European Skateboard Championships, landing a perfect switch backside tailslide on the rail from a double set of stairs.

Below is some footage of the finals highlights. For more videos and photos, check out SkateRock and BoardMag.

Josh Betley, crank arm grind mid-Tattour for Felt Bikes.

Corey shares some classic anecdotes over lunch.

Vincent Perraud shot this photo of Sean Burns jumping a wild channel gap in France. That’s Stew Johnson behind the video camera, which means this clip may end up in Anthem 2. Burns and the rest of the Metal Bikes crew are headed to Toronto next week. Why so serious?

Corey Duffel chatted live with Transworld filmmakers Jon Holland and Chris Ray and editor Blair Alley at the online premiere of Corey’s part in Right Foot Forward. We can’t show you the video part but we do have the interview. Check out the Teaser for Right Foot Forward, which is due out soon.