Upon his again return to Powell.. I am puzzled by this guy yet again. I've been a fan of his skating since way back (his thrasher cover in 86 was the first mag i ever owned). His skating slayed back then. Public Domain, Speed Freaks, Rubbish Heap, 1281, Suburban Diners, the vallely powell promo, etc etc. Although I admit i had hoped for more in Label Kills (was he injured during that one or something? I forget). Anyway... to my point...
... at what point did he fall off the mental wagon? I mean.. I'm a huge Black Flag/Rollins fan as well and I don't try to be him. Vallely's unhealthy obsession with Rollins freaks me out quite a bit. Poetry/ "Spoken word" tours/videos ...seriously? (Was he "Mike V" yet or still Vallely?). Naming his skate company after himself a la rollins band... no!
Was it when he became "Mike V"... which I believe was when he beat up 4 random "ocks" and made the Bam-fan-generation think he was so tough? Was it his "greatest hits"...(where, let's be real... he sort-of-fought a security guard, then ran away for muska, sort-of fought a security guard..i mean really Carroll did, got beat up by a real hockey player etc etc..i wouldn't have put this dvd out if these were my "best" fights... haha)....... was it Mike V & the Rats (now i see him and i piss myself... laughing), his black label society jacketesque Revolution Mother? his Trans Am?
anyways, nostalgia-wise I am happy to see him back on Powell, although I'm sure we all know the man just needs to feed his family. I still kind of wish Transit would have gotten a bit further than it did out of curiousity but thats some old news. I still like to watch him skate honestly but.... his personality (that we see at least) is weirding me out more than ever.
oh but p.s. i did enjoy him punching that guy at the Ducks game, i think he deserved that shit