Questionable is 30 Years Old - What Do You Remember When You 1st Saw It?

[Tear Up a Trick]

I hope it's okay to copy and paste Jacob Rosenberg's post today on the exact anniversary of Questionable:


Exactly 30 years ago on April 26, 1992 “The Questionable Video” premiered for a packed audience at the La Paloma Theater in Encinitas.
Suffice to say that video impacted the lives of everyone involved and remains a cultural touchstone to those who were raised on it.

What is there to say?

I was blessed, I was lucky, I was fortunate and I had somehow earned the right to be there. I think now, I finally understand why, but it still blows my mind to have been an integral part of its creation. All praise to Michael “M.T.” Ternasky (rest in peace).

These past few years I have been feverishly working to find a variety of source elements to re-assemble and up convert to HD the defining versions of the original Plan B video trilogy.

It all started with The Questionable Video, so that’s first up. It is my personal intent to make sure these videos are presented back to the public on big screens with discussions and discourse. Stay tuned to more on that from me and from @planbofficial

In the meantime, click the link in my bio to watch/download the opening teaser in HD on as big of a screen as possible.

Shout out to @fotokem_la and CinnaFilm for their technical support in this endeavor, I will be sharing all the tools and processes I used to better help others who wish to up convert and preserve their work from this era.

In the comments, share a memory of the first time you saw Questionable.

Fun fact: For those that watched my Nine Club, “Clean Productions” was my production moniker, a nod to “Jake the Janitor.”

#thequestionablevideo30
#RIPMT
#MikeTernasky
#schlossbach

[ok boomer]

Rosenberg is awesome

[Robert Baratheon]

For obvious reasons, it’s just an H-Street video that cut the fat and had somewhat better production values.

For the 30-something crowd here, watching Mike Carrolls part was like seeing PJ Ladd’s WHL for the first time. You’d seen some stuff of his before but he was just another one of 50 H-Street pros. Until this dropped. Mike was far ahead.

Carroll, Duffy, Shef and Danny’s street parts are the ones I go back to.

[freddiethreepwood]

Sideline but Check Your Head came out 20 april 1992, how did Carroll get songs into his part?

[SatanicPanic]

I can’t remember- well after it was released. I’m in the minority here I know but I think Pat Duffy has the only part that’s worth repeat watching. The video is sooo long.

I like H Street Next Generation better- better parts and the filming is better though it’s got a ton of boring parts too. Video Days is a little earlier and I like that better as well. Sheffey’s Life part is also better than his Questionable part.

[Alan]

Sideline but Check Your Head came out 20 april 1992, how did Carroll get songs into his part?

The skating wasn't edited to fit the music. It was just slapped on. So it's plausible that the album came out, MC liked it, and asked Jacob to use it for his part. This is my uneducated guess. Would be cool if there was a more interesting backstory to this.

[Mike Oxwelling]

I can’t remember- well after it was released. I’m in the minority here I know but I think Pat Duffy has the only part that’s worth repeat watching. The video is sooo long.

I like H Street Next Generation better- better parts and the filming is better though it’s got a ton of boring parts too. Video Days is a little earlier and I like that better as well. Sheffey’s Life part is also better than his Questionable part.

I could be waaaaay off but I could have sworn Lance Dawes at Slap (that had just begun) had an advance promo copy.

[Allen.]

The answer is Spike

[Brad Wesley]

What is the story behind what Rocco is saying at the beginning?

I think he knew he had the most stacked team in skate history at that point and was sarcastically badmouthing it to be ironic.

[Allen.]

Speaking of which, what’s the other quote? Not Shef and rocks, not D Way and getting food after the rail, definitely not Carroll not having doubts that he sucked. The random gentleman of color

[ok boomer]

Expand Quote

Sideline but Check Your Head came out 20 april 1992, how did Carroll get songs into his part?

[close]

The skating wasn't edited to fit the music. It was just slapped on. So it's plausible that the album came out, MC liked it, and asked Jacob to use it for his part. This is my uneducated guess. Would be cool if there was a more interesting backstory to this.

Here you go:
In 2018, Girl Skateboards co-founder or whatever title their celebratory coin-flip determines, Mike Carroll detailed the pivotal moment to High Snobiety in 2018:

“I got an advanced copy of the album (Check Your Head 1992) from Lance Dawes at Slap Magazine. When it came time for the video (Plan B Questionable (1992) we used the music from that advanced copy – I didn’t think anything of it, because the album wasn’t even out yet. So yeah, we didn’t get the rights and the album didn’t even come out for two weeks after Questionable. It’s pretty fucked up. [laughs] We were recently on a Lakai trip in Japan and Tony Hawk actually asked us if we got permission to use those Beasties tracks. Years ago he was snowboarding with MCA and Tony asked him if Plan B had gotten permission. MCA told him we didn’t but said it didn’t matter because he thought the video was ‘sick,’ well… he used some other words, but getting that sign off was all that mattered.”

[The real veganshawn]

Great video, aged as so so, good skating, what was the question

[Alan]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Sideline but Check Your Head came out 20 april 1992, how did Carroll get songs into his part?

[close]

The skating wasn't edited to fit the music. It was just slapped on. So it's plausible that the album came out, MC liked it, and asked Jacob to use it for his part. This is my uneducated guess. Would be cool if there was a more interesting backstory to this.

[close]

Here you go:
In 2018, Girl Skateboards co-founder or whatever title their celebratory coin-flip determines, Mike Carroll detailed the pivotal moment to High Snobiety in 2018:

“I got an advanced copy of the album (Check Your Head 1992) from Lance Dawes at Slap Magazine. When it came time for the video (Plan B Questionable (1992) we used the music from that advanced copy – I didn’t think anything of it, because the album wasn’t even out yet. So yeah, we didn’t get the rights and the album didn’t even come out for two weeks after Questionable. It’s pretty fucked up. [laughs] We were recently on a Lakai trip in Japan and Tony Hawk actually asked us if we got permission to use those Beasties tracks. Years ago he was snowboarding with MCA and Tony asked him if Plan B had gotten permission. MCA told him we didn’t but said it didn’t matter because he thought the video was ‘sick,’ well… he used some other words, but getting that sign off was all that mattered.”

Ahaha, that's sick. Thanks.

[Chavo]

I still have the invite to the premiere from Pacific Drive (really just a flyer on a business card--all were invited), but did not attend because all my friends had quit skating. Skateboarding was dead. I can't imagine that there will ever be a time when the biggest skate company with the most anticipated video ever invites everyone and still not fill the venue.

[j....soy.....]

Maybe I watched it in the skate shop?  We didn’t have a premier here in Vancouver at least what I can recall.  I was surprised how much footage was from here……

[HaveFunSkateboarding]

Unless you were into skating when that video dropped and witnessed it, I honestly don’t think you could comprehend what it was like. It was like night and day. There was skating before, and then after Questionable. It was two completely different things. That video changed everything.

[Drain Bamage]

Saw it when it came out. I remember three things Duffy, Danny, and Colin. All of their stuff was so far ahead it is just not possible to understand today how out of left field it seemed. There was plenty of other good skating in the video but this was the beginning of what I call the “ledge button”. I just don’t give a fuck, then or now, about “street skaters” that are basically 90% ledge skaters. I want street skating that looks like Duffy, (or T-Funk today) not some slow ass EMB bullshit.

Danny Way and Duffy just fucking blew doors. It was unbelievable.

[Chavo]

Saw it when it came out. I remember three things Duffy, Danny, and Colin. All of their stuff was so far ahead it is just not possible to understand today how out of left field it seemed. There was plenty of other good skating in the video but this was the beginning of what I call the “ledge button”. I just don’t give a fuck, then or now, about “street skaters” that are basically 90% ledge skaters. I want street skating that looks like Duffy, (or T-Funk today) not some slow ass EMB bullshit.

Danny Way and Duffy just fucking blew doors. It was unbelievable.

You should check out this guy Josh Kasper.

[Brad Wesley]

Speaking of which, what’s the other quote? Not Shef and rocks, not D Way and getting food after the rail, definitely not Carroll not having doubts that he sucked. The random gentleman of color

Oh that guy in the intro montage right before Carroll does the back noseslide nollie heel out? My friends and I tried to figure this out and all we could come up with was: "Mack ter Alva acting". My best guess is the filmer asked him to say a line about Mike Carroll or something, but his accent is super thick.

[ok boomer]

Expand Quote

Speaking of which, what’s the other quote? Not Shef and rocks, not D Way and getting food after the rail, definitely not Carroll not having doubts that he sucked. The random gentleman of color

[close]

Oh that guy in the intro montage right before Carroll does the back noseslide nollie heel out? My friends and I tried to figure this out and all we could come up with was: "Mack ter Alva acting". My best guess is the filmer asked him to say a line about Mike Carroll or something, but his accent is super thick.

"Mike Carroll has no acne"