1. Fill us in on what you have been up to since you declared your retirement from professional rollerblading in Daily Bread some years ago?

So, roughly, I was in a band, I went to college, and now I’m in graduate school getting a PhD in Philosophy. That’s the short story. The longer version: I think I was already taking classes at the Santa Rosa Junior College when I did that Daily Bread interview. When I decided to stop skating professionally I was already pretty excited about studying philosophy in college. I dropped out of high school to be able to travel as much as I needed to, but I was a decent student and I actually really liked studying itself. So when I was traveling a lot I read tons of books. I eventually became very interested in philosophy and decided that I would go to college to study it. I had become somewhat bored with the life of professional rollerblading (not with rollerblading itself), and I was getting to a point where I needed to find something else to do with my life. I thought seriously about starting a company under Peld, since it was practically already a brand, but I realized that I wasn’t a business person. My love for rollerblading couldn’t justify a venture into something I wasn’t very interested in (running a business). I realized I could go to college and just skate when I had the time and inclination, which I’ve been doing for a long time now. Just before I stopped skating professionally, and for the first few years of college, I was in a band with Andy Kiddoo called Mellow Minds. We wrote and recorded about a dozen songs. I eventually I moved to LA (where Andy lives) and we got a band together to play some of them live. But shortly thereafter I got into UC Berkeley and decided to move back up north to study philosophy there. That more-or-less marked the end of Mellow Minds, though it still exists in spirit. If Andy and I were ever to spend more than a couple days together (we’re both very busy and live on different coasts), I’m sure we’d pump out some tunes. By the time I graduated with my B.A., I still loved philosophy and wanted to study it more, so I applied to graduate school. I was fortunate enough to be able to chose among some very good PhD programs, and settled on New York University, where I’ve been for two years. Four more to go.

2. In rollerblading right now the concept of “Blading for Life” is being popularized (the 4^th Valo video is going to be called 4-Life).  On the one hand this idea seems completely correct, on the other, it does not make sense to me for someone to feel indebted to rollerblading in such a way that they should feel guilty for moving on from it. What are your thoughts on this?

My first impression is that it seems like an overly romantic idea of rollerblading. Rollerblading gives people a lot to care about, strive for, believe in, and so on, especially kids who feel oppressed by mainstream culture’s very rigid conception of the “good life’s path”. But honestly there’s more to life than rollerblading. Much more. So if “Blading for Life” means a radical devotion of one’s entire life to rollerblading, then I don’t really endorse it. If it just means that you should make rollerblading a meaningful part of your life, then it would be hypocritical of me to criticize it. I still see the entire city in terms of rollerblading. I haven’t skated in a year, but I notice spots all the time. They pop out at me. Some are pretty mushroomy, so not for everyone! Rollerblading doesn’t leave you, even if you leave it.

3. In the film “Seven Days” you said that trends are positive because blading progresses through trends.  Have your thoughts on this changed at all?  Could there be such as thing a trend that is not positive for rollerblading?

It is certainly possible for there to be trends that are bad for rollerblading. I mean, if everyone started blading in hot pink underwear and nothing else, then we’d all look pretty silly (to most eyes!). Remember in the ‘90s when everyone wore camouflage pants? That might not have been so great. But you’re not asking about trends in fashion; you’re asking about trends in skating tricks, or more specifically, norms that dictate what kind of blading is acceptable, which is what I was talking about in “Seven Days”. I think people were a little surprised to hear me say that because my own skating tended to be very far from the norm; it was hard to imagine my skating starting any trends. But the truth is, I always wanted to see more people skate the way I did, not for any selfish reasons, but because I thought, and still think, that there is tremendous potential for rollerblading in some of the things I was doing. Sometimes I felt like I was exploring uncharted land, and if others were to start exploring too, rollerblading would be better for it. We would know more about what is possible with rollerblades, and as a result, there would be more available ways to express oneself, more skate spots, and just more fun. (By the way, I’m very happy to see people making videos like “Mushroom Blading”!) Take wheelies for example. As far as I know, people still aren’t really taking those to the level I had envisioned. But why? They’re awesome and hard. Why aren’t people doing wheelies to grinds, or grinds to wheelies to grinds? Why aren’t people exploring ways to spin into wheelies, or to wheelie switch-ups? Seriously, there’s tons of stuff that no one explores and for no good reason. I don’t even think of wheelies as particularly “mushroomy” tricks. Manuals are a huge part of the skateboard repertoire. The trends that really hurt rollerblading are the ones that are so entrenched that they narrow minds – the ones that no one can flout without being marginalized or made to feel like what they’re doing is pointless. I think (and hope) that rollerblading is in a place where there are fewer and fewer of those trends.

4. In your Daily Bread interview you were still in community college, moving on from the study of Buddhist metaphysics into western philosophy.  How has your thought and topics of interest developed since then?  What drives you intellectually?  Is this drive in you akin to what drove you as a rollerblader?

Yeah, for a while I was very interested in Buddhist philosophy and my interest waned when I realized that I wasn’t as convinced by the philosophy as I was enamored of the practice. I really cherished the practice of meditation. At Berkeley, I spent a lot of time studying logic and the philosophy of language – very austere and exciting branches of contemporary philosophy. And when I applied to PhD programs in philosophy, I cited these areas as my primary interests. But I knew I would want to explore a lot as a graduate student. That’s partly what attracted me to New York University – it has a very accomplished and wide ranging philosophy faculty. Lately I have been writing about aesthetics. I recently finished a philosophical paper about street art and I’m finishing a long paper about beauty.

It is difficult to say exactly what drives me intellectually. I am very drawn to creative thought that contains an element of care for the difficulties and joys of life. In David Hume’s famous essay on taste (“Of the Standard of Taste”) he said his goal was “…to mingle some light of the understanding with the feelings of sentiment…”. As vague as it is, that’s more-or-less what I’m after. My inclination to think creatively and test artificial boundaries definitely runs through my skating and my philosophical writing.

I have had dreams before where I confuse philosophy and skating. Once I dreamt that Donald Davidson was a wise rollerblader who, although too old to do any tricks or even feel comfortable with skates on, was widely revered as an innovator. In my dream it was as though he could blade just by thinking. So in my dreams I would project my skating abilities onto those I actually revere for their philosophical abilities, and I would revere them for having skating abilities that I actually have, but which they manifest in thought alone, in a way unknown to mankind – the way that they actually manifest the philosophical abilities I admire them for having. I wonder: Do I want to be a philosopher, or do I want Davidson to be a rollerblader? I heard once that he liked to surf…

5. You were critical of the ‘heedlessness’ of the pro skaters of your time … It is safe to say that the professionals of now are generally more responsible.  At the same time, there are many who complain about the lack of ‘personality’ in rollerblading and revisit, for example, the F.P. bladers as exemplars of ‘personality’.  What are your thoughts on this?

The F.P. guys are exemplars of personality? That strikes me as very strange. If you want personality, go back to Arlo Eisenberg, Brooke Howard-Smith, B Love, Andy Kruse, Tom Hyser, AJ Jackson – original pros. They had powerful personalities and did everything they could to support and promote the rollerblading industry. They started Senate, for God’s sake. They managed skate teams and were TV personalities, among many other things. Being a personality doesn’t require being Dash Snow. I would hope that there is much more of interest in a rollerblader than their ability to trash a hotel room, degrade people, or do drugs.

6. What is the most shocking thing you ever saw / experienced on a rollerblading tour?

It’s hard to say. But I toured the world with some very talented and daring rollerbladers. Aaron Feinberg, for example, constantly amazed me with his creative, bold, and commanding skating. I’m not sure that’s the kind of “shock” you were asking about.

7. Since you retired from pro-skating have you ever had the inclination to film another section, to make a comeback to some degree?  Or even to start pushing yourself again on the blades? Is another Nick Riggle section out of the question and why?

I see good spots and think of tricks all the time; I still think about rolling a lot. I just don’t have the time to really pursue it. I should write these things down and give them to people who actually have the time and ability to do them. Maybe I am the a priori rollerblader I dream about! If someone prodded me enough I could probably put together a few tricks.

8.The San Francisco Bay Guardian published an article which said, “Skateboarding may have been born on the streets of Los Angeles, but the sport and/or lifestyle would’ve been destined to a future of irrelevancy—remember Rollerbladers?—Had it not been hijacked more than 25 years ago by the San Franciscan gangstas who run Thrasher magazine” (July 30, 2008).  What do you think of this statement about rollerblading. Is rollerblading irrelevant?

This is just another statement that reflects nearly everyone’s complete ignorance of rollerblading. Rollerblading has been developing and progressing since its inception. Sure, the industry has been very weak for a long time, but it’s a simple mistake to think that just because no one can make a living off of it no one is doing it. The fact that it is still going strong is a testament to its real cultural power and resiliency, especially considering the fact that everyone outside of rollerblading did everything they could to crush it. Seriously, I learned a lot about people and prejudice from being a rollerblader in the late ‘90s. Rollerblading is not irrelevant and it never will be. What’s irrelevant is the kind of hate and idiocy that goes into marginalizing others for no good reason.

9.You are both a philosopher and a rollerblader and have gone far in both.  Is there a connection, for you, between the two?  If so how do you understand it?  Is there a connection between philosophy and rollerblading that is more meaningful than say a connection one might find between rollerblading and golf or fly-fishing?

I suppose I’m most comfortable operating under definite constraints that allow creative freedom. So, my range of movements is definitely constrained by putting rollerblades on my feet. Yet, there are no rules that further constrain me, so the possibilities are great. Once I have them on my feet, I can do whatever I want within those limits. If you put a baseball glove in my hand and tell me to stand at third base, then you have severely and narrowly limited what I can do – not just what movements are appropriate, but the ways in which one can express oneself, which barely exists in the game of baseball. In a way, philosophy is an intellectual counterpart of rollerblading conceived in this way. My thoughts are constrained, ideally, by logic, a concern for truth, and a certain sentiment. But there is so much I can do while respecting those constraints. I imagine that some people think of rollerblading as more defined than I do, as more like baseball or golf, for example. But the way I think of rollerblading – the way I relate to it – bears some interesting resemblance to how I think of philosophy.

10. The WRS (World Rolling Series) is establishing a new competition circuit.  From someone who has a lot of experience skating ASA competitions, what advice do you have for this new organization (what didn’t work about ASA and what did)?  How important are these contests to our culture?

I’m excited about WRS. I think a competition circuit is really important for establishing a strong industry. And like most competition it helps push limits. The quality of skating at those contests is astonishing. ASA had problems. A lot of ASA street contests did not allow street skaters to express their unique talents. If a vert skater can wander over to the street course, do ten backflips and a frontside, and get third place, then something is wrong – with the course, with the judges, both.

dying to see new footage of Nick? Cross your fingers and wait for the Shock Video!!!

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 13th, 2009 at 8:10 am and is filed under Blade Ripping, Uncategorized, lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.