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from the vaults of hawaii pools of yesteryear: the infamous lewers st. pool in waikiki 1977. this unique square pool with one wall that connected to a vert wall, so how high you could get was a staple. the second pic shows the wall of endless vert. ridden by the pool rats of the era including the owens brothers. check the backside attack unleashed. perfect style captured on a kodak pocket instamatic. * the top pic is the general gary in his youth and the bottom picture is chris owens - gary's older brother. RHPS: "Roots & Culture"
one of the best pics from 2010. period. at first glance it looks like a clean b-side air, look closer he is not only blasting from one wall to another - he has to rotate 90 degrees and suck it up for a new transition. i guarantee the park builders never anticipated this radical line. and that is why there is only one TNT. -rhpsthe future looks bright.
the one and only anthony alvaaka: mad dog, fritz coy, tony blue tile, t.a., 1977 world champ, skoundrelz band mate, o.g. dagger, etc. the one eyed pool pirate bandit rippin' the lip.
the next generation of the owens clan lives on. here is steven owens nephew of rhps general gary. steven has got the "spiderman wall climbing" tactics like the general. board rippin' genes flow in the family: uncle gary, uncle chris and steven's father - bobby (legendary pro surfer).
rhps
the next generation
our pal brian brannon singer of JFA. back side crack
JFA's finest mr.carter with a nice carve grind.
our buddies JFA checked in wit these radical shots of them live on stage (san clemente pool). the rain hit the plaster and boys rolled on.....
blatant localism, coke & snickers = JFA. "one the original skate rock bands!!!!!"
-rhps
skateboarding mid 80's in hawaii: pre free skateparks, pre mainstream acceptance, pre moke (big dumb locals) harassment, pre free gear (hand me downs), pre constraints. bottom line: we skated for ourselves - carefree. in 1983, i had the opportunity to skate for the first time with stacey gibo aka "the bear." the general had encountered him soon before. gibo had the reputation as being one tough guy. he never took shit from anyone (big samoans included), he dressed punk rock: trench coat & smeared eyeshadow (social d's mommy's little monster was big at the time) and he skated fearless with pure F.U. abandonment. Stacey was our duane peters, he was punk rock to the core and was in his own right a master of disaster. he rode a splintered dp red&black stripe deck with indy's (no other trucks allowed) and beat chuck taylors. my buddies scott and mark oblow took me to "off the walls" ditch in hawaii kai to skate with gibo. watching him rip that day was amazing and scary, tricks with power and slams paid in blood. his first words to me were "good deck ya got" - luckily i was riding a dp deck w/indy's too. he spoke few words and did all the talking with his skate. over the next few years we got hang and skate a lot together, his memories live on with a lot of hawaii's o.g. skaters. best of times. the highlight of the day was his notorious "bomb drop" from the fence top, i had heard about this crazy move for months. he swayed at the top wavering from the wind, once he caught his balance he put his front foot on and jumped - upon contact he pulled a wilson and slammed his back and head. he got up shook it off and climbed back up and proceeded to pull off the trick of all tricks at "off the walls." stacey was hands down the best at OTWs, jonee kopp came close but stacey was the king. stacey's pool ripping is another legendary post in itself. gibo lived in hawaii til 1990 and moved to s.f. to work at d.t.s and later thrasher mag for years. his reputation lives on in the city today as a "tough as nails" hard core skater. keep rippin' stacey from your brothers.photo: john silberstein-rhps "back in the day"
from the vaults of hawaii pools of yesteryear: the infamous lewers st. pool in waikiki 1977. this unique square pool with one wall that connected to a vert wall, so how high you could get was a staple. the second pic shows the wall of endless vert. ridden by the pool rats of the era including the owens brothers. check the backside attack unleashed. perfect style captured on a kodak pocket instamatic. 
