Help Susan T Get a New Heart

Hey everyone,

It's with a heavy heart that I make this post. A few days ago it came to my attention that my friend, former partner, and OG scooter rider/industry figure Steven Tongson, needed some help from the scooter community. His mother Susan, the woman who bought him his first scooter, who supported him his entire time involved with scootering, has been diagnosed with severe congestive heart failure. This condition has no cure, and the doctors have given her 2-5 years to live...devastating news to Steven and his brother, the sons she raised alone. The good new is that, with a full heart transplant, she can continue to be an amazing mom to her kids as well as a grandmother to Steven's three year old boy.

It's no question how much Steven has helped out the industry. From managing various teams, running a shop, all his work here at Inside, to just being a friend, Steven has given so much to so many people in this community. All while being extremely humble and not expecting anything in return. To help out his mom, he created a GoFundMe to take donations. What he's asking for is everyone to simply share the link, and to donate if it's financially possible for you. In his own words-

 "... I am coming to you, not looking for your financial help, because I know we all have our own financial situations. Simply sharing my GoFundMe Campaign on your social media sites would mean a lot. However, donations, if you are capable, would also be greatly appreciated. Our goal right now is to try and get my Mom on the list to get a new heart. She has been crippled by medical bills from the various hospital stays during the past two years. She has lost her house, and believe me when I say her three children, and her family, are all doing what we can to help her situation."

So now, I'm going to challenge you, the scooter community, to see how far we can spread this. A share on Facebook, a repost on Instagram, a link on Twitter, anything will help. If anyone deserves our help, it's Steven. Thanks to all who've read this through and contribute.

https://www.gofundme.com/cwspash8

When Good Edits, Go Bad.

So you’ve been riding for a while now, you’re getting pretty good, you got a pretty solid bag of tricks, so what do you do now? Make your first edit! This is a big step for any rider, because this edit is most likely going to be posted on Youtube and shown to other riders on forums and such.

 It’s usually at this point that it all starts to go wrong for most riders. This article is for riders who make “Sponsor Me” edits, and various other edits that supposedly took “Months” to film and edit. Unfortunately most of the time the finished product ends up looking like the countless amount of other videos you’ve seen. Repetitive, badly filmed, same trendy song, and the same trendy tricks. I really do wonder what it is about so many riders that think if they do this, they will be recognized as a “good rider” by any company or other group of riders.

I’ve been in the sport since 2001, and I’ve seen my fair share of edits. I’ve seen the good, and I’ve seen a lot of the bad..and I mean a lot. The worst part is that the things that make these edits so bad, aren’t secrets. Half the time I have to think the rider in the video knows he’s just filming trendy crap that everyone has seen a thousand times. Are riders afraid to break away from the mindless  group of sheep that only start doing tricks once other people start doing them too? For the love of god, don’t you all have brains? 

When you’re out filming, and you decide on a trick on any obstacle, or at any park, think about how many riders have already done that trick a bunch of times in that same spot. Then ask yourself (if you still want to do that trick) what can you do to make it better? To make it stand out a little bit more. You can do it in a line, or you can simply just try and go faster and bigger. But why would you want to do the trick the same exact way as everyone else? Do you really think that’s helping you land that super sick sponsorship, or get yourself noticed or respected? Oh, I’m sorry you might be one of those “Cool” kids, who.. “Doesn’t care what other riders think.” If that’s you, I’m sorry you continue to go and make your videos that you post on Youtube In hopes that no one sees them, cause you “don’t care” you little rebel you.

To all the “Street Riders” out there, please try and get an understanding of what riding street means before you go and make your “street edit” that you most likely only made to try and appear cool. As you sit back and bash on park riding with the only reason for doing so being that you see other riders do it too. Whatever you do, don’t depend on other street scooter edits to get your motivation, because the majority of them aren’t too good. Instead check out some skateboarding videos or bmx videos, and find the common factor in those videos. One of them being, Lines. Riders need to start doing more lines in their street videos. It shows creativity, and consistency. But if you’re going to do a line in your edit, please, don’t bother if you plan on moving at a snails pace. Almost ANY trick can look clean if it’s done with enough speed. So before you even start your line, get some serious pushes in there.

And mix it up! Seriously, a video gets really boring when the same tricks are being done over and over. Would you still watch The Walking Dead if the same thing happened every 10 minutes in each episode? I doubt it. So why would anyone want to watch an edit of the same tricks being done every other clip? Make it a point while you’re out filming to get different clips. Also try and remember that your video should have some bangers, or at least one solid banger. This is where it gets pretty vital. Tailwhipping Wallenberg was sick when Addison did it. But is it sick again when someone else does it, and uses it as their banger to their edit? Not really, just doesn’t have the same shock factor. That’s not to say it isn’t still a crazy trick. But it’s been done before, you know?. You want to use it as a banger? Double tailwhip it. The banger of your edit, is the last clip or clips that people are going to see before the video ends. That means, make it memorable! Make it something that riders are going to want to watch again, usually resulting in them watching your whole entire edit again if you threw down hard enough. So think, plan out your banger, and your most likely going to bleed a bit before landing it..so get over that.

A solid park edit is something that is really hard to find now a days. These days we see “Park Edits” that contain a bunch of air tricks, a bunch of hip tricks, maybe some spine tricks, and almost all of them being landed so low that all you get is that one clip before you’re on to the next one. For once it would be sick to see riders that know how to actually ride a quarter pipe, or hip, or spine. So that when they hit it and land a trick they actually landed high enough on the ramp to hit another ramp, and *gasp* do another trick!? Park edits have become all about hitting a quarter and throwing as many whips, spins, and combos into that one air before you hit the ground, yes the ground, not the transition. 

The worst part is, I know some of these riders can do better than that. I look at someone like Dan Holm who doesn’t get the respect he should because he isn’t throwing a million combos in one air. But you know what Dan can do? Ride his skatepark. He rides it as well as the bmx riders that ride it. That is something half of these kids that call themselves “park riders” can’t do. Because they are choosing not to. Yes Australia, I’m looking at you. You guys have an insane amount of skateparks all around you, and yet you don’t ride them. You ride one obstacle at them. Park riding doesn’t have the privilege of street riding where you can go and explore and find new obstacles whenever you want. You only have what park builders built in your skatepark. So from there it is up to you to find different lines, gaps, and transfers. Especially when you’re filming an edit. 

Overall, I just want riders to start understanding that filming a real edit in hopes of getting sponsored or having that edit be your “claim to fame” should take it a bit more seriously. Now I’m not talking about going out and having fun and filming a day edit with your friends or something. So don’t get this mistaken for me saying every time you pick up your camera you have to be filming seriously and getting solid clips. That’s not what I mean at all. I’m strictly referring to the Sponsor Me edits, and the Edits that supposedly took months for one rider to finish. /Endrant

Happy Birthday IS!

Three days ago (the 17th) was the 1 year anniversary of the first post on Inside Scooters! We've gone a long ways since then, getting bigger than I ever thought we would. So, I'd like thank you, the reader. None of this is possible without you, so thanks! Free cake on Steven!