We here at Weirdo are happier than a "dog with two of his favorite body parts" about the overall awesomeness of the Full Pipe Contest we held at the Lake Cunningham Regional Skate Park this summer. It was definitely a Summer in Hell Day in San Jo' and a goodly amount of our good for nothing friends were there!

There were no age divisions so as to keep it simple, just a good old fashioned local skatepark contest. Vert Masters Mitchell Mendez, Jeff "Ffej" Hedges, Gary Boodt, and Jason Richardson all entered, and totally tore it a new one, yikes!!! These guys have been on a COMPLETE TEAR this year, and for that, it's a special year for all of us. They did fine; keeping up with young whippersnappers like Shane Sullivan, Kevin Reynolds, Brad Barberi, Rowan Thunder, and the like. It's hopeful to see some youngsters taking an interest in the Big Vert, as it's definitely an acquired taste!

Weirdo Riders Thomas Beeson and Lance Ebert were also in the house, rocking it with their always unique approaches to skateboarding. Amongst other things...

CONTINUED...

Beeson climbed on top of the pipe and put up a Weirdo Banner, I was helping him near the railing, but he went up, and it was Hella Windy and Hairball Scairball indeed...(We here at Weirdo are apparently quite the intrepid and fearless marketers.) He also, some how, managed to pretty much avoid all cameras that day, FUCKER. Don't worry, we love him, he is very special to us... If that isn't enough star power for ya', San Jose National Treasure: Steve "Cab" Caballero stopped by to hang out and take some runs too, always a pleasure, huzzah, what chops.

Invite them (women), and the women will rage it; a great showing again by the "Ladies" (it's always creepy when a guy says "Ladies" [Dimitri Martin, although I'd love to take the credit]), we are stoked to have the Women's Division this year for the first time. We weren't sure if they'd come out when we put it on the bill, but they did, and they ripped, BRAVO and thanks, we look forward to seeing you again next year!

We were blessed to have Mike O from Skidmark Skate Mag and LCRSP's Josh Baylogh in the call pit, sonically helping to bring added life to the contest runs as well as keeping the whole thing flowing smoothly. While behind the scenes my main man Andrew "At The Helm" Helms, always had my back, and always was making sure the machinery was cranking.

And yup, the bands RIPPED; Five Fingers of Death, The Mengz, Black Mast, great to have all three back this year. Of course it must also be given up for new additions (welcome to our secret club, be careful what you wish for, etc.) The Pre-Legendary Dreamers, Who started it off rocking in the fabulous heat. The bands are always the unsung heroes of these events. While they're rocking their hearts out, everyone seems to be dutifully ignoring them and watching the skaters, however, these events are carried on their backs, and without them, there would be no party, and we can't thank them enough! I swear that soon I'm gonna get this budget shit REALLY squared away and you guys are all at least getting free beer and pizza.

When you run a skate company sometimes it's bound to get ugly...

Time to do some real blowing. Remember kids, it's not who you know, it's who you _ _ _ _ (you fill in the blank). Got to give a shout out to two lifelong friends who helped me sponsor some of the prizes, Craig Braswell - Owner of Mid Valley Protofab for the $50 spot for highest in Pipe, and Steve "Shruge" Ruge - Mastermind at ACE Trucks, who hooked us up with killer truck sets for all the finalists. Major props on top of that to Dave Freil & Jordan Tabayoyon at NHS Fun Factory who pitched in above and beyond the call of duty with some beautiful Creature Decks and some sweet Indy Trucks. Greg "Schmitty" Smith from Thrasher made for a magical product toss by wangling a bunch of clothing and stickers for the gig. Did I already say it was so hot out you couldn't stand it? The people from Vitamin Water were extremely kind, keeping the whole joint hydrated, and picking up the tab; bless their hearts.

Well, there goes. A lot of blowing, name dropping, and I sincerely hope we've offended everyone equally, and of course there's got to be some people we left out, but believe me it wasn't for lack of trying. For that, we apologize, we'll do our best to defame you next time.

Here are the contest results:

FULL PIPE MEN'S:
1. Shane Sullivan
2. Kevin Reynolds
3. Jeff "Ffej" Hedges

FULL PIPE WOMEN'S:
1. Evelyn May Abad
2. Beverly Flood
3. Megan Gomez

BEST TRICK - FULL PIPE:
1. Jeff "Ffej" Hedges

PASTE - HIGHEST IN PIPE
1. Jason Richardson