tips biar dilirik cewek menurut iklan TV

kalian dirumah atau kos punya TV kan? sebenernya TV tu ibarat orang adalah mbah dukun, dokter, atau barang elektronik itu sendiri. nah yang mo gw bahas di sini bukan masalah tu TV bener pa kagak, yang jelas gw mo kasih beberapa tips yang diambil dari filosofi iklan - iklan TV. kalian udah ga sabar kan?
ne dia tipsnya:
1. Parfum
pakailah parfum yang wangi dan menarik perhatian yang super dahsyat.
pakailah AXE, why?
Filosofiny:
kalian udah pernah liat iklan-iklan AXE di tV kn? nah betapa hebatnya cowo-cowo yang pake parfum AXE, cewe - cewe
pada kelabakan, bergairah kalo cium cowo pake tu parfum. nah kalian praktekin aja tu.

2. Pasta GIGI
kalian tau dong betapa hebatnya gigi kita ini. bayangkan kalo qt ga punya gigi betapa anehnya penampilan QT.
pakailah pasta gigi CLOSE UP.
Filosofi:
kalian pernah juga donk liat iklan-iklan pasta GIGI close Up di TV?
tau kan betapa hebatnya pasta GIGI ini? selain biar mulut QT ga Bau, ne pasta GIGI bisa ngusir anjing gila, ma
ngeluluhin hati si BONYOK cewe

3. Permen
LO???? kok pake permen segala sih mas??? lo... sabar ne emang jadi resep jitu biar dilirik cewe.
makan aja permen RELAXA
Filosofi:
menurut iklan yang da di TV. kalo qt makan RELAXA muulut qt jg wangi,,, segar,,, terus cewe2 pada nempel Gt

Sekian besok di lanjutin lagi yo!!!
wassalam

Fashion for passion

The habit of people continually changing the style of clothing worn, which is now worldwide, at least among urban populations, is generally held by historians to be a distinctively Western one. At other periods in Ancient Rome and other cultures changes in costume occurred, often at times of economic or social change, but then a long period without large changes followed. In 8th century Cordoba, Spain, Ziryab, a famous musician - a star in modern terms - is said to have introduced sophisticated clothing styles based on seasonal and daily timings from his native Baghdad and his own inspiration.

English caricature of Tippies of 1796

The beginnings of the habit in Europe of continual and increasingly rapid change in styles can be fairly clearly dated to the middle of the 14th century, to which historians including James Laver and Fernand Braudel date the start of Western fashion in clothing.^[2][3] The most dramatic manifestation was a sudden drastic shortening and tightening of the male over-garment, from calf-length to barely covering the buttocks, sometimes accompanied with stuffing on the chest to look bigger. This created the distinctive Western male outline of a tailored top worn over leggings or trousers which is still with us today.

The pace of change accelerated considerably in the following century, and women and men's fashion, especially in the dressing and adorning of the hair, became equally complex and changing. Art historians are therefore able to use fashion in dating images with increasing confidence and precision, often within five years in the case of 15th century images. Initially changes in fashion led to a fragmentation of what had previously been very similar styles of dressing across the upper classes of Europe, and the development of distinctive national styles, which remained very different until a counter-movement in the 17th to 18th centuries imposed similar styles once again, finally those from Ancien Régime in France.^[4] Though fashion was always led by the rich, the increasing affluence of early modern Europe led to the bourgeoisie and even peasants following trends at a distance sometimes uncomfortably close for the elites - a factor Braudel regards as one of the main motors of changing fashion.^[5]

The fashions of the West are generally unparalleled either in antiquity or in the other great civilizations of the world. Early Western travellers, whether to Persia, Turkey, Japan or China frequently remark on the absence of changes in fashion there, and observers from these other cultures comment on the unseemly pace of Western fashion, which many felt suggested an instability and lack of order in Western culture. The Japanese Shogun's secretary boasted (not completely accurately) to a Spanish visitor in 1609 that Japanese clothing had not changed in over a thousand years.^[6] However in Ming China, for example, there is considerable evidence for rapidly changing fashions in Chinese clothing,^[7]

Albrecht Dürer's drawing contrasts a well turned out bourgeoise from Nuremberg (left) with her counterpart from Venice, in. The Venetian lady's high chopines make her taller.

Ten 16th century portraits of German or Italian gentlemen may show ten entirely different hats, and at this period national differences were at their most pronounced, as Albrecht Dürer recorded in his actual or composite contrast of Nuremberg and Venetian fashions at the close of the 15th century (illustration, right). The "Spanish style" of the end of the century began the move back to synchronicity among upper-class Europeans, and after a struggle in the mid 17th century, French styles decisively took over leadership, a process completed in the 18th century.^[8]

Though colors and patterns of textiles changed from year to year,^[9] the cut of a gentleman's coat and the length of his waistcoat, or the pattern to which a lady's dress was cut changed more slowly. Men's fashions largely derived from military models, and changes in a European male silhouette are galvanized in theatres of European war, where gentleman officers had opportunities to make notes of foreign styles: an example is the "Steinkirk" cravat or necktie.

The pace of change picked up in the 1780s with the increased publication of French engravings that showed the latest Paris styles; though there had been distribution of dressed dolls from France as patterns since the 16th century, and Abraham Bosse had produced engravings of fashion from the 1620s. By 1800, all Western Europeans were dressing alike (or thought they were): local variation became first a sign of provincial culture, and then a badge of the conservative peasant.^[10]

Although tailors and dressmakers were no doubt responsible for many innovations before, and the textile industry certainly led many trends, the history of fashion design is normally taken to date from 1858, when the English-born Charles Frederick Worth opened the first true haute couture house in Paris. Since then the professional designer has become a progressively more dominant figure, despite the origins of many fashions in street fashion.

Modern Westerners have a wide choice available in the selection of their clothes. What a person chooses to wear can reflect that person's personality or likes. When people who have cultural status start to wear new or different clothes a fashion trend may start. People who like or respect them may start to wear clothes of a similar style.

Fashions may vary considerably within a society according to age, social class, generation, occupation sexual orientation, and geography as well as over time. If, for example, an older person dresses according to the fashion of young people, he or she may look ridiculous in the eyes of both young and older people. The terms "fashionista" or "fashion victim" refer to someone who slavishly follows the current fashions

Sejarah Distro (distributor outlet) clothing

Siapa sangka, dari sebuah skatepark kecil di salah satu sudut Taman Lalu Lintas Bandung (Taman Ade Irma Suyani), di awal tahun 1990-an, menjadi tempat bersejarah yang melatar belakangi perkembangan fashion anak muda Bandung dalam satu dekade terakhir ini. Skateboard kemudian menjadi benang merah yang menjadi ciri dan eksplorasi fashion dan lifestyle yang dielaborasi oleh para pelakunya dan membentuk gaya anak muda Bandung hingga saat ini.
Pertemuan di Taman Lalu Lintas membuat Didit atau dikenal dengan nama Dxxxt, Helvi dan Richard Mutter (mantan drumer Pas Band), kemudian bersepakat mengelola sebuah ruang bersama di Jalan Sukasenang Bandung. Ruang ini kemudian dikenal sebagai cikal bakal yang munculnya bisnis clothing lokal untuk anak muda di Bandung. “Cari nama dit, si helvi bilang gitu..waktu itu lagi ngomong-ngomong soal Cihampelas,” Dxxxt mengawali ceritanya ketika saya bertanya darimana nama Reverse berasal. “Kenapa ya, si Cihampelas itu ngga bikin produk-produk dengan merek-merek sendiri, kenapa mereka bikin mereknya reply lah, armani lah.. kenapa ga bikin sendiri, reverse misalnya.. trus Helvi bilang nama itu bagus. Ya udah akhirnya dipakai buat nama toko.” Tahun 1994, mereka membangun studio musik dan toko yang menjual CD, kaset poster, T-shirt, majalah, poster dan asesoris band yang diimport langsung dari luar negeri. Pilihan yang spesifik, membuat barang yang dijual di Reverse, tak bisa didapatkan di toko-toko lain di Bandung pada saat itu.
Reverse pada saat itu menjadi tempat berkumpulnya komunitas-komunitas dari scene yang berbeda. Punk, hardcore, pop, surf, bmx, skateboard, rock, grunge, semua bisa bertemu di tempat itu. PAS dan Puppen adalah beberapa band yang sempat dibesarkan oleh komunitas Reverse. Richard sendiri sempat membentuk record label independen 40.1.2.4 yang rilisan pertamanya berupa album kompilasi “Masaindahbangetsekalipisan”, pada tahun 1997. Band-band yang ikut dalam rilisan itu diantaranya Burger Kill, Puppen, Papi, Rotten To The Core, Full of Hate dan Waiting Room sebagai band satu-satunya dari Jakarta yang masuk dalam kompilasi ini.
Saat krisis ekonomi terjadi pada tahun 1998, bisnis yang dijalani Reverse, mengalami masa sulit sampai akhirnya tutup. Mereka tak mampu lagi membeli barang-barang dari luar negeri kerena nilai dolar terhadap rupiah melambung tinggi dan tak terjangkau. Namun kondisi sulit ini justru melahirkan fase baru dalam perkembangan industri clothing Bandung. Helvi vetaran Reverse, kemudian membangun clothing label bernama Airplane yang memulai usahanya pada tahun 1997. Bukan hanya itu, bersama Dxxxt dan Marin, Helvi membangun record label bernama Fast Foward pada tahun 1999.
Airplane yang didirikannya bersama dua rekannya yang lain: Fiki dan Colay, resmi berdiri pada tanggal 8 Februari 1998. “Awalnya sih kita udah ngga mampu lagi beli barang-barang impor karena mahal dan krisis moneter. Waktu itu kita mikir, kita bikin apa ya? Soalnya kalau beli, ngga ada yang cocok, pengen kaos yang kaya gini ngga ada.. yang gitu ngga ada.. awalnya dari situ, ya udah kita bikin sendiri deh yang pasti dengan background masing-masing. Semua dipengaruhi oleh kehidupan sehari-hari yang kita senangi aja.. biasanya dari skateboard, trus kita juga main musik, trus itu mempengaruhi ke grafis desain clothing itu sendiri. Jadi emang akhirnya macam-macam.” Jelas Helvi ketika saya temui di kantor Airplane di jalan Titiran Bandung.
Transformasi Reverse sebagai clothing company, dimotori oleh Dxxxt pada bulan Februari 2004. Didukung oleh Marin, Wendi Suherman dan Indra Gatot sebagai mitra usahanya. Reverse kemudian menjelma menjadi label yang memfokuskan dirinya pada fashion untuk pria. Urban culture yang menjadi keseharian tim kreatifnya, menjadi inspirasi dalam desain produk-produk Reverse.
Sementara kegemaran skateboard, bmx dan surfing yang ditekuni Dandhy dan teman-temannya, justru memotivasi mereka untuk membuat produk-produk yang mendukung hobi yang mereka cintai. Bukan hal yang mudah untuk menemukan fashion penunjang kegiatan surfing di Bandung pada saat itu. Maka tahun 1996, dari rumah di dago 347 Bandung, mereka mulai memproduksi barang-barang yang menunjang hobi mereka untuk digunakan sendiri. Ternyata apa yang mereka pakai, menarik perhatian teman-teman mereka. Seperti halnya Airplane, dengan modal patungan seadanya mereka mulai memproduksi barang-barang yang mereka desain untuk kebutuhan hobi mereka itu, untuk dijual di kalangan teman-teman mereka sendiri dengan label ‘347 boardrider co.’ Toko pertamanya dibuka pada tahun 1999 dan diberi nama ‘347 Shophouse’ di Jalan Trunojoyo Bandung. Demikian pula Ouval yang muncul di tahun 1998. Awalnya juga dibentuk dengan semangat untuk mengelaborasi hobi skateboard para pendirinya.
Hobi dan semangat kolektivisme terasa sangat kuat mewarnai kemunculan clothing label dan clothing store pada masa itu. Masih di tahun 1996, Dadan Ketu bersama delapan orang temannya yang lain membentuk sebuah kolektif yang diberi nama Riotic. Kesamaan minat akan ideologi punk, menyatukan ia dan teman-temannya. Riotic menjadi label kolektif yang memproduksi sendiri rilisan musik-musik yang dimainkan oleh komunitas mereka, menerbitkan zines, dan membuka sebuah toko kecil yang menjadi distribusi outlet produk kolektif yang mereka hasilkan. Riotic juga dikenal konsisten dalam mendukung pertunjukan-pertunjukan musik punk rock dan underground yang saat itu kerap diselenggarakan di Gelora Saparua Bandung.

Generasi Global

Saat saya menceritakan apa yang dilakukan anak-anak muda Bandung dengan industri clothingnya, pada teman saya, seorang penulis buku “Lubang Hitam Kebudayaan”_ sebuah buku yang mencermati perkembangan budaya massa di Indonesia sampai fase reformasi 1998_Hikmat Budiman, dia berkomentar “Anak Bandung itu jago menyerap desain ‘arsitektur’ global, dibanding dengan anak muda di kota lain. apa yang terjadi di tingkat global, bisa diterjemahkan dan disiasati oleh mereka dan dijadikan komoditas gaya hidup baru dan menjadi trend. Mereka mendefinisikan kembali coolness yang sesuai dengan konteks mereka. selain itu juga ada pasar yang menyerap komoditas baru itu.”
Jika dicermati lebih jauh, apa yang terjadi di bandung pada dekade 90an, memang tak bisa lepas dari kecenderungan global pada saat itu. Musik dan gaya hidup, sebagai dua hal yang tak terpisahkan, memberi pengaruh sangat besar dalam perkembangan fashion anak muda Bandung. Sejak generasi Aktuil di tahun 70’an, Bandung dikenal sangat adaptif pada perkembangan musik dunia. Ketika merunut aliran musik apa saja yang berkembang dalam dekade 90’an, kita bisa melihat bagaimana perkembangan musik itu mempengaruhi eksplorasi anak muda Bandung di bidang fashion. Grunge, yang dipengaruhi oleh punk, muncul di awal tahun 90’an. Sepatu Doc Martens, Converse high top sneaker dan kemeja flanel yang menjadi trend fashion sampai pertengahan tahun 90. Pada kenyataan flanel di gunakan para musisi beraliran grunge ini karena murah dan hangat. Saat grunge kemudian digantikan oleh musik alternatif di pertengahan 90’an dan Nu-Metal yang dimotori oleh Korn sampai menjelang akhir 1990, fashion ini masih terbawa. Hip hop yang banyak digemari para skateboarders dan mempengaruhi perkembangan musik R&B memberi warna lain pada dekade itu. Scene hardcore atau scenecore atau disebut juga emo dan gaya yang dibawa aliran musik pop punk yang dipengaruhi membawa trend fashion yang bersilangan diantara keduanya dan dipengaruhi oleh gelombang ketiga pop punk yang dipelopori oleh Green Day, Good Charlote, Simple Plan.
Extreme sport (diantaranya skateboarding dan surfing), mencapai popularitasnya di tahun 1995. ESPN sebagai saluran extreme sport dan hanya dapat ditonton melalui antena parabola, menjadi salah satu rujukan para skateboarder Bandung pada saat itu. Rujukan lain seperti majalah Thrasher, yang mencitrakan skateboarding sebagai olah raga yang didasari oleh semangat pemberontakan dan akrab dengan ideologi punk, sementara Transworld Skateboarding terasa lebih moderen, beragam dan menjaga citra para bintang skateboarding. Termasuk juga masuknya MTV ke Indonesia yang memperkenalkan lifestyle baru dengan jargon-jargonnya: ‘MTV beda’, ‘MTV Gue Banget’. Perbedaan menjadi komoditas yang dirayakan bersama-sama.
Ketika awal 90’an, fashion skateboarding dunia dipengaruhi oleh perkembangan street skateboarding yang sangat kental nuansa punk rocknya. Baggy dengan oversize denim dan t-shirt extra large menjadi trend pada saat itu. Sementara pertengahan sampai akhir tahun 1990an, trend fashion dalam dunia skateboarding berubah lebih ‘ramping’. Ukuran jeans dan T-shirt, menjadi lebih pas di badan. Bahkan beberapa skateboarder menggunakan jeans dan t-shirt ekstra ketat. Perubahan ini membuat gaya fashion dalam dunia skateboarding terbagi menjadi dua kategori: “punk” (ketat dan ngepas badan) dan “baggy” meski pada prakteknya pembagian itu menjadi sedikit lebih rumit. Celana shagging jeans atau baggy, sweater dari bahan katun atau poliester dengan pull over dan kantong kangguru di depannya atau disebut juga hoodie, baseball caps, dan sepatu vans. Gaya skate punk inilah yang kemudian banyak dieksplorasi dalam desain clothing anak-anak muda Bandung. Majalah katalog seperti Suave, yang terbit di Bandung dengan jelas memperlihatkan pengaruh itu. Pada akhir 90’an apa yang disebut “punk style clothing” menjadi tagline baru dalam perkembangan industri clothing global. Gaya punk kemudian menjadi sesuatu yang mainstream, mendunia dan menjadi mapan.
“Kita emang banyak dipengaruhi oleh musik yang kita sukai, dari label-label skateboard yang kita pakai dulunya, karena kita besarnya, growing upnya di situ. Karena musik ini kan sangat terkait dengan fashion,” Helvi yang juga creative director Airplane, mengakui hal itu.
Pendapat helvi diperkuat Arian tigabelas, mantan vokalis Puppen dan kini menjadi vokalis band Seringai “Ada fenomena yang menarik ceuk urang mah, dulu Bandung terkenal dengan band-band yang keren-keren tapi waktu berlalu dan rupanya band nggak terlalu menghasilkan/menghidupi, dan kini para pelaku band tersebut pindah ke clothing. Jadinya terus terang band Bandung yang punya nama ‘gede’ sekarang udah ngga signifikan. Tapi clothing jadi industri yang lebih jelas bisa menghidupi iya, karena main band ternyata tetap kere sementara realitanya musti punya modal hidup.”
Perkembangan teknologi informasi yang begitu pesat dalam dekade 90’an, menjadi faktor penting dalam proses yang disebut Hikmat Budiman sebagai penyerapan desain arsitektur global. Ketika tahun 1995 bisnis Internet Service Provider (ISP) mulai berkembang di Jakarta, menurut catatan Kompas, Bandung menjadi salah satu dari tiga kota pengguna jasa internet terbesar. Jika saat itu tercatat di ada sekitar 14 ribu pemakai internet di Indonesia, Bandung menjadi kota pengguna internet terbesar ketiga (1.000 pengguna), setelah Jakarta (10.000 pengguna) dan Surabaya (3.000 pengguna). Bagaimana kemudian perkembangan teknologi informasi ini diserap dalam waktu yang hampir bersamaan di Bandung. Belanja online yang dilakukan Reverse untuk memperoleh produk-produk import yang mereka jual kembali di Bandung. Juga yang dilakukan Anonim yang muncul tahun 1999, mengikuti jejak pendahulunya dengan menjual t-shirt import merchandise band yang dipesannya melalui internet.
Dalam perkembangannya, eksplorasi desain clothing anak-anak muda Bandung, banyak juga dipengaruhi oleh gaya street fashion Jepang yang terasa lebih eklektik dan eksperimental. Majalah Trolley (alm 2001-2003), sempat menerbitkan suplemen khusus mengenai gaya street fashion Jepang ini dalam salah satu edisinya.
Pergeseran kiblat kreatif global dari Amerika ke Inggris/Eropa dalam tiga tahun terakhir ini, juga terasa pengaruhnya. Perubahannya sangat jelas terasa dalam scene musik. Street culture Inggris dan Eropa kemudian menjadi sumber rujukan baru dalam mengelaborasi desain produk-produk clothing kemudian. Tahun 2006 ini, Fast Foward record, telah dua kali mendatangkan grup musik dari Eropa untuk pentas di Bandung_King of Convinience (Norwegia) dan Edson (Swedia).
Ketika masa kekuasaan Orde Baru berakhir, kehidupan sosial politik Indonesia mengalami banyak perubahan di era reformasi. Warga Bandung memperlihatkan pola relasi yang baru dengan ruang-ruang publik yang ada di kota Bandung. Beragam aktivitas dan perayaan dilakukan di jalan. Jalanan seperti Dago, menjadi catwalk publik yang mengundang siapa pun yang datang untuk menampilkan gaya dandanan mereka. Individu kemudian mendapat ruang untuk mengekspresikan diri. Saat itu, banyak pertunjukan-pertunjukan musik yang kemudian disponsori oleh clothing company yang mulai memiliki kemampuan ekonomi.
Selain karena minat pada musik yang mereka sponsori, acara-acara seperti itu kemudian menjadi salah satu strategi bersama untuk mempromosikan merek produk-produk clothing yang mereka buat. Monik, Celtic dan Popcycle management, dikenal secara berkala menyelenggarakan konser La Viola bekerjasama dengan pusat Kebudayaan perancis (CCF) bandung. Marin, selain menjadi salah satu pemilik Monik, Celtic, Fast Foward, Reverse clothing Company, juga memiliki TRL bar di Jalan Braga. dari bar kecil itu pula, eksplorasi musik elektronik yang banyak mewarnai perkembangan musik global beberapa tahun terakhir ini, banyak dilakukan. Salah satu pilihannya adalah sekolah Drum n Bass yang dimotori oleh DJ xonad, jenis electronic dance music ini berkembang di Inggris pada dekade 90’an dan semakin dikenal pada awal tahun 2000 serta berkembang di beberapa negara Eropa dalam dua tahun terakhir ini.
“Karena Bandung kotanya kecil, jadi mau ngapa-ngapain gampang… lagian orang-orangnya kekeluargaan, cair banget, babaturanlah, semua dianggap sama,” Ujar Dede anonim, seperti saya kutip dari tulisan Gustaff H. Iskandar, ‘Fuck You! We’re from Bandung. Kondisi inil, masih menurut Gustaff, membawa berkah istimewa bagi perkembangan musik dan juga street fashion di Bandung. Dan mendorong pertumbuhan clothing store (distro) di Bandung.

Sejumlah Persoalan

Di masa boom clothing store 2003 lalu, Kompas pernah menulis: “Adapun untuk membuka sebuah distro, hanya dibutuhkan modal “nekat”. cukup menyediakan sebuah ruangan kecil, misalnya mengambil salah satu sudut rumah seperti garasi. Lalu barang-barangnya bisa digunakan sistem jual titip, dengan menerima titipan barang dari berbagai clothing company. Bila barang-barang titipan itu laku terjual, barulah disisihkan keuntungan untuk si distro (clothing store).”
Namun pada prosesnya tidak sesederhana itu. Modal nekat saja tidak cukup. Bagaimanapun bisnis yang dilatari oleh hobi dan kesenangan pun mengandung bermacam resiko. Benturan kepentingan yang mempertentangkan antara bisnis dan idealisme, menyeruak sebagai sebuah konsekuensi yang harus dihadapi dan disiasati.
“Saya bukan orang bisnis tadinya, akhirnya saya harus belajar bisnis, kasihan guanya gitu..” Seloroh Dandhy dalam sebuah Gathering Komunitas Kreatif di Bandung, bulan April lalu. “Gua ngerasa banyak hambatan dalam kreativitas karena banyak kepentok,” meski ucapan Dandy itu bernada main-main, namun pada prakteknya, keseriusan dalam mengelola bisnis ini memang menjadi proses adaptasi yang berat. Beberapa Clothing yang sudah cukup kuat seperti Airplane dan 347/eat, sengaja menyewa konsultan manajemen dan bisnis untuk memberi masukan dalam pengembangkan usaha mereka. Fiki manajer bisnis sekaligus salah satu pendiri Airplane mengaku, saran-saran bisnis dari konsultan profesional tidak seluruhnya bisa di terapkan. “Tetap aja, kita harus nemuin cara yang paling sesuai dan enak buat kita jalani. Ngga bisa sepenuhnya berdasarkan teori manajemen.” Hal serupa juga dirasakan Dandhy. Konsultan bisnis yang mengawasi kinerja dirinya dan teman-temannya, malah membuat mereka bekerja dalam suasana yang tidak nyaman. Akhirnya Dandhy memilih mengembalikan suasana kerja yang nyaman, meskipun itu berarti tanpa konsultan bisnis.
Fiki, menjelaskan, untuk membesarkan bisnis yang semula dibangun berdasarkan hobi, butuh kedisiplinan tinggi dalam mengelolanya. “Gua ngejalanin Airplane ini bener-bener disiplin. Kita muterin duit yang ada dan disiplin untuk ngejalanin itu. Dan ngga pernah ada suntikan dana lagi sejak dana awal. Airplane bediri udah sejak tahun 1997, tapi bener-bener ngejalanin bisnisnya sejak buka toko, tahun 2001. Sejak September 2001, waktu itu kita mulai dengan uang kurang dari 10 juta untuk sewa tempat dan kita udah punya omset yang lumayan, tapi kalau ada lebihnya kita simpen dan dipake untuk produksi lagi, nambahin modal. Karena kita punya sedikit pengetahuan tentang administrasi juga, makanya bisa tertib administrasi dan itu kerasa banget gunanya.”
Namun tidak semua clothing company memiliki kemampuan untuk membayar konsultan bisnis atau melakukan pembagian kerja yang jelas. Bagi clothing company yang muncul belakangan, idealisme dan keterbatasan modal menjadi tantangan yang harus disiasati lebih keras lagi. Karena secara bisnis, mereka harus berhadapan dengan clothing teman-temannya yang muncul dan mapan lebih dulu.
Dari segi pengembangan desain, tidak banyak juga yang melakukan riset dan pengembangan desain secara serius. Akibat dari boom clothing di tahun 2003, follower yang muncul belakangan, banyak yang asal jiplak desain-desain yang sudah ada. Karena untuk membangun sebuah karakter desain yang kuat dibutuhkan waktu dan proses yang lama. Menanggapi kekawatiran desainnya dijiplak, baik Helvi maupun Dandhy, justru tidak merasa kawatir. Bagi Helvi, kondisi seperti itu, malah membuat ia lebih fokus lagi menemukan karakter desain Airplane. Begitu pula Dandhy, jika imagenya sudah kuat, tak perlu kawatir dengan para peniru. Keseriusan dalam soal desain dan visual inilah yang kemudian membedakan dan menjadi ciri antara clothing satu dengan yang lain.
United we stand
Waktu menunjukan hampir tengah hari. Cuaca begitu cerah. Ruang tengah Jalan Kyai Gede Utama 8 Bandung, terasa guyup, menggantikan kelengangan yang biasa terasa. Sekelompok anak muda duduk-duduk santai di bangku-bangku kayu, di taman terbuka. Wajah-wajah lama, generasi pertama clothing Bandung paska 1995, bercampur dengan wajah-wajah baru generasi pengikutnya. Bukan hal yang mudah, mengumpulkan mereka dalam satu waktu. Riuh suara canda dan tawa, bercampur kicauan burung-burung yang sejak lama menghuni pepohonan di sekitarnya. “Sekarang kita mau jadi seperti apa? Arahnya apakah asosiasi yang dijalankan dengan praktek mafia? Atau gimana? Apakah kita bikin asosiasi untuk bikin counter yang menjegal praktek kartel? Atau asosiasi ini hanya mengakomodasi kepentingan dan ideologi yang sama, dan menghancurkan lawan yang berbeda pandangan? Atau tujuannya sosial atau kemanusiaan.” Dandhy pemilik clothing 347/eat, melemparkan pertanyaan itu ke forum. Perdebatan panjang tiga puluh orang yang hadir disitu pun dimulai. Canda tawa, berubah serius. Masing-masing sibuk memikirkan jawaban dan saling beragumen sampai berjam-jam kemudian. Saya hadir disitu, mencatat waktu. Hari itu, Senin, 12 Juni 2006. Hari dimana asosiasi para pengusaha clothing yang dinamai ‘Forum Komunikasi Pengusaha Clothing Bandung’, di deklarasikan.
Bagi saya, ini memang sudah waktunya, ketika akhirnya para pengusaha muda clothing Bandung ini mau bersatu padu membuat Forum Komukasi. Hal ini bukannya tanpa sebab. Mereka yang selama ini tak terpetakan sebagai potensi ekonomi, tiba-tiba bukan hanya dilirik, tapi coba dirangkul pemerintah lewat program bantuan Industri Kecil dan Menengah, Disperindag. Mengutip apa yang diberitakan Harian Pikiran Rakyat tanggal 8 Juni 2006, Drs. H. Agus Gustiar, M.Si., selaku Kepala Dinas Perindustrian dan Perdagangan (Disperindag), “Bagaimanapun kekuatan kita ada pada IKM. Supaya lebih kuat, semua IKM harus bersatu untuk membuat terobosan baru yang bisa mengangkat Bandung khususnya.” …Agus yakin, industri distro Bandung memiliki ciri khas tersendiri yang diilhami dari kreativitas anak muda Bandung.” Jangan sampai ini hilang seperti beberapa merek Bandung yang sekarang mulai memudar, bahkan tidak dikenal orang. Padahal ini merupakan potensi Bandung yang harus ditonjolkan.”
Dalam kegiatan Gathering Komunitas Kreatif dan Online conference yang diselenggarakan selama bulan April-Mei 2006, yang diselenggarakan oleh Pusat Studi Urban Desain dan Common Room Networks Foundation, mengidentifikasi persoalan-persoalan eksternal yang dihadapi selama ini. Masalah-masalah itu muncul, ketika selama ini pemerintah sama sekali tidak mendukung aktivitas yang mereka lakukan. Tidak adanya regulasi pemerintah yang jelas dalam pengembangan industri berbasis kreatifitas seperti yang dilakukan Clothing company selama ini, juga strategi pengembangan industri berbasis kreatifitas sebagai salah satu pengembangan ekonomi kota yang berkelanjutan. Belum lagi pengelolaan pajak yang tak jelas timbal baliknya. Persoalan ketiadaan infrastruktur dan ketidak jelasan pengaturan tata guna lahan di Bandung untuk kawasan komersial, menyebabkan nilai ekonomi lahan semakin mahal dan tak terjangkau dalam mengembangkan usaha yang selama ini mereka jalankan. Pada akhirnya, dukungan yang digembar-gemborkan pemerintah untuk mendukung Industri Kecil Menengah dan membangun kecintaan akan produk dalam negeri, hanya menjadi jargon belaka.
Disadari atau tidak, clothing industry yang muncul dan berkembang di Bandung ini, justru memicu perkembangan industri-industri kecil baru yang juga berbasis kreatifitas. Secara organik, infrastruktur pendukungnya, bermunculan satu persatu. “Waktu itu lagi booming-boomingnya clothing, trus gue pikir, ngapain juga ikut-ikutan bikin clothing, mendingan gue bikin usaha lain yang bisa mendukung usaha mereka. Ada kesadaran itu di gue dan tiga orang teman gue yang lain, gue ngeliatnya orang-orang ini udah harus profesional lah, kalo mereka berbisnis ya harus berpromosi, mereka punya produk yang bagus, buat apa kalo ngga berpromosi,” ungkap Uchunk, salah satu pendiri Suave, Free Catalogue Magazine, ketika saya temui disebuah tempat nongkrong di Bandung. Suave awalnya dicetak sebanyak 3000 eks dengan modal sebuah komputer pribadi. Kini tirasnya mencapai 8000 eks dengan 90 halaman full color. Selain didesain dengan tampilan yang menurut Uchunk, terlihat mainstream, jauh dari kesan indie dan underground, Uchunk juga memberi halaman galeri bagi siapapun yang ingin memamerkan karya grafisnya di satu halaman Suave.
Menurut uchunk, saat ini banyak clothing company yang kemudian menggunakan jasa desainer grafis, fotografer dan biro iklan untuk menggarap materi promosi produk yang bersangkutan. Baginya kondisi ini sangat menggembirakan, karena bidang industri kreatif lainnya kemudian bermunculan. Helvi menambahkan, “Waktu kita bikin ini, ngga kepikiran kalau di depan ternyata akan berhubungan dengan segala macam. Fotografer, advertising, itu kan seru jadinya. Jadi kaya punya dunia sendiri, infrastrukturnya jadi kebentuk dan ini adalah wilayahnya anak muda.”
Wajar saja, jika kemudian tawaran yang datang tiba-tiba ini, disikapi dengan membentuk Forum Komunikasi yang bertujuan untuk memperkuat dan saling mendukung satu sama lain. Banyak persoalan baik internal maupun eksternal yang selama ini harus disiasati dan dipecahkan sendiri oleh mereka. Karena itu, tawaran pemerintah, seperti sesuatu yang to good to be true. Mereka bukannya resistan terhadap niat baik pemerintah, namun yang mereka harapkan adalah kejelasan dalam proses negosiasi dimana posisi tawar kedua belah pihak bisa berjalan dengan seimbang. Dalam hal ini mereka memperlihatkan, apa yang disebut Gustaff H. Iskandar dalam tulisan yang sama, sebagai kemandirian politik dan ekonomi.
Perspektif kemandirian, kemudian menjadi prinsip yang selalu dimaknai kembali oleh mereka. Ketika kemandirian berarti memulai impian besar dengan langkah-langkah kecil. Dengan patungan modal seadanya. Juga ketika usaha ini berkemban dan mendapatkan perhatian, kemandirian berarti membangun posisi tawar mereka ketika bertarung dengan banyak kepentingan-kepentingan lain. Pemerintah salah satunya.

***

Dan disaat, banyak orang kemudian mengeluh, bahwa produk clothing menjadi seragam, waktu yang akan membuktikan mana yang kemudian konsisten menjalani proses eksplorasi terus menerus untuk menemukan kematangan produk atau malah inovasi-inovasi baru dan mana yang kemudian hilang seperti merek-merek Bandung yang memudar dan tak dikenal orang seperti yang dikawatirkan Agus Gustiar.
Setidaknya sampai hari ini, setelah satu dekade yang panjang mereka berproses terus menerus, kekawatiran itu tidak terbukti. “Yang paling keren menurut gua adalah, dimana sekarang anak-anak muda ngga gengsi dan malu lagi pake produk lokal. Dan kita juga seneng, karya kita dihargai orang dari mulai yang naik angkot sampai mobil mewah, pake kaos lokal.” Helvi mengatakan itu dengan mata-mata berbinar-binar lega. Kelegaan yang saya rasakan bukan hanya miliknya, tapi juga komunitasnya, teman-teman sepermainannya, ketika kerja keras mereka, membuktikan sesuatu, bukan sekedar jargon belaka.

Friendster

Friendster is an Internet social network service. The Friendster site was founded in Mountain View, California, United States by Jonathan Abrams in March 2002^[1] and is privately owned. Friendster is based on the Circle of Friends and Web of Friends techniques for networking individuals in virtual communities and demonstrates the small world phenomenon. It currently has more than 70 million members worldwide^[2] and is mostly used in Asia ^[3][4]. Based on Alexa, Friendster ranked 2nd most visited website in the Philippines and third party friendster-layouts.com, 16th. ^[5] It is estimated that nearly 90 percent of internet users in the Philippines have Friendster accounts. ^[6] David Jones, vice president for global marketing of Friendster, said that "the biggest percentage of users is from the Philippines, clocking in with 39 percent of the site's traffic." ^[7]

History

Google offered $30 million to buy Friendster in 2003. Friendster, however, refused the offer.

Friendster was funded by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Benchmark Capital in October 2003 with a reported valuation of $53 million.

In April 2004, Abrams was removed as Chief Executive Officer and Tim Koogle took over as interim CEO. Koogle previously served as President and CEO at Yahoo!. Koogle was replaced by Scott Sassa in June 2004. left in May 2005 and was replaced by Taek Kwon. Taek Kwon was succeeded by Kent Lindstrom.

Patent

Based on a June 16, 2003 application, Friendster was awarded a patent in 2006 for a method and apparatus for calculating, displaying and acting upon relationships in a social network. Dubbed the Web of Friends because the method combines the Circle of Friends with the Web of Contacts, the system collects descriptive data about various individuals and allows those individuals to indicate other individuals with whom they have a personal relationship. The descriptive data and the relationship data are integrated and processed to reveal the series of social relationships connecting any two individuals within a social network. The pathways connecting any two individuals can be displayed. Further, the social network itself can be displayed to any number of degrees of separation. A user of the system can determine the optimal relationship path (i.e., contact pathway) to reach desired individuals. A communications tool allows individuals in the system to be introduced (or introduce themselves) and initiate direct communication.

Based on a June 27, 2008 application, Friendster, the 7th largest website in the world and top social network in Asia, announced that its users in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines will soon be able to subscribe to Friendster Text Alerts. When launched, Users are required to register the use of Friendster Text Alerts by entering their mobile number details and selecting which mobile text alerts they wish to receive on their Friendster settings page. Users will then be able to receive text message alerts for friend requests, new messages, comments, bulletins and more or when such activity takes place within their network of friends on Friendster, they will receive an SMS text message on their mobile phone. Users will also be able to respond, share and communicate on Friendster by sending a text message to Friendster to update content on their profile, send messages, and reply to friend requests. This service is not chargeable, but users are still subject to text messaging usage fees of their telephone and wireless service provider. Although no specific dates have been given yet to launch Friendster Text Alerts but it's understood it could happen in the coming weeks.

In other languages

Friendster's Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Malay, and Thai (beta) sites exist as part of its main. [1] A link in the site's upper right corner toggles between English to the other languages mentioned above.^[8]

liFEstyle

In sociology, a lifestyle is the way a person lives. A lifestyle is a characteristic bundle of behaviors that makes sense to both others and oneself in a given time and place, including social relations, consumption, entertainment, and dress. The behaviors and practices within lifestyles are a mixture of habits, conventional ways of doing things, and reasoned actions. A lifestyle typically also reflects an individual's attitudes, values or worldview. Therefore, a lifestyle is a means of forging a sense of self and to create cultural symbols that resonate with personal identity. Not all aspects of a lifestyle are entirely voluntaristic. Surrounding social and technical systems can constrain the lifestyle choices available to the individual and the symbols she/he is able to project to others and the self. ^[2]

The lines between personal identity and the everyday doings that signal a particular lifestyle become blurred in modern society ^[3]. For example, "green lifestyle" means holding beliefs and engaging in activities that consume fewer resources and produce less harmful waste (i.e. a smaller carbon footprint), and deriving a sense of self from holding these beliefs and engaging in these activities. Some commentators ^[4] argue that, in Modernity, the cornerstone of lifestyle construction is consumption behavior, which offers the possibility to create and further individualize the self with different products or services that signal different ways of life.

Street Punk

Street punk is a working class subgenre of punk rock which took shape in the early 1980s, partly as a rebellion against the increasingly artistic pretensions of the first wave of English punk.^[1]. Street punk emerged from the Oi! style typified by UK bands like Sham 69 and Cockney Rejects (whose song "Oi! Oi! Oi!" served as a namesake for the genre).^[2][3] However, street punk continued beyond the confines of the original Oi! form. Street punks generally have a much more outlandish appearance than the working class or skinhead image cultivated by Oi! groups.

Street punk music is characterized by two main musical aspects: single note guitar lines and short solos. Unlike similar genres such as hardcore punk, street punk bands often contain two guitarists, one of which plays guitar melodies while not singing. Street punk also makes frequent use of gang vocals and sing–along choruses, one of the many aspects the genre borrows from Oi!. The lyrics to most street punk songs often feature condemnation or praise of acts of violence, drinking and drug use, partying, inner-city turmoil, or personal politics.^[4] Street punk groups sometimes express political viewpoints, of either a left- or (less frequently) right-wing variety, though street punks often eschew politics altogether in favor of a more hedonistic, nihilistic outlook. The typical dress for a street punk usually follows the DIY ethic of self-made clothing, hand-sewn patches, studs and spikes, and otherwise altered clothing. Hairstyles often include unnatural coloration, liberty spikes, and mohawks.

History

1970s street punk was essentially synonymous with Oi! and entirely British, performed by bands such as Sham 69, the Angelic Upstarts and the Cockney Rejects. Street punk began to distinguish itself from Oi! with the development of the UK 82 sound of The Exploited, Discharge, Charged GBH and Anti-Nowhere League.^{[citation needed]} These bands were somewhat influenced by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal – particularly Motörhead. The D-beat style emerged from this scene.^{[citation needed]}

The California band Rancid became the most commercially successful street punk band, mixing in elements of ska punk, pop punk, hardcore punk and eventually dancehall and hip hop. Other prominent 1990s street punk groups included Anti-Flag, The Casualties, The Unseen, A Global Threat and Dropkick Murphys.

skATERS (sk8R)

Skateboarding is the act of both riding on and performing tricks using a skateboard. A person who skateboards is most often referred to as a skateboarder or a skater.

Skateboarding is a recreational activity, a job, or a method of transportation.Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report by American Sports Data found that there were 18.5 million skateboarders in the world. 85 percent of skateboarders polled who had used a board in the last year were under the age of 18, and 74 percent were male.

Skateboarding is relatively modern. A key skateboarding maneuver, the ollie, was developed in the late 1970s. In the early '80s freestyle skateboarder Rodney Mullen invented the ollie kickflip which originally was called a Magic Flip.

The 1940s-1960s

Skateboarding was probably born sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s when surfers in California, wanted something to surf when the waves were flat. No one knows who made the first board, rather, it seems that several people came up with similar ideas at around the same time. These first skateboarders started with wooden boxes or boards with roller skate wheels attached to the bottom. The boxes turned into planks, and eventually companies were producing decks of pressed layers of wood -- similar to the skateboard decks of today. During this time, skateboarding was seen as something to do for fun besides surfing, and was therefore often referred to as "Sidewalk Surfing".

A skateboarder in Nice, France.

The first manufactured skateboards were ordered by a Los Angeles, California surf shop, meant to be used by surfers in their downtime. The shop owner, Bill Richard, made a deal with the Chicago Roller Skate Company to produce sets of skate wheels, which they attached to square wooden boards. Accordingly, skateboarding was originally denoted "sidewalk surfing" and early skaters emulated surfing style and maneuvers. Crate scooters preceded skateboards, and were borne of a similar concept, with the exception of having a wooden crate attached to the nose (front of the board), which formed rudimentary handlebars.

A number of surfing manufacturers such as Makaha started building skateboards that resembled small surfboards, and assembling teams to promote their products. The popularity of skateboarding at this time spawned a national magazine, Skateboarder Magazine, and the 1965 international championships were broadcast on national television. The growth of the sport during this period can also be seen in sales figures for Makaha, which quoted $10 million worth of board sales between 1963 and 1965 (Weyland, 2002:28). Yet by 1966 the sales had dropped significantly (ibid) and Skateboarder Magazine had stopped publication. The popularity of skateboarding dropped and remained low until the early 1970s.

The 1970s

In the early 1970s, Frank Nasworthy started to develop a skateboard wheel made of polyurethane, calling it the 'Cadillac', as he hoped this would convey the fat ride it afforded the rider.^[4] The improvement in traction and performance was so immense that from the wheel's release in 1974 the popularity of skateboarding started to rise rapidly again, causing companies to invest more in product development. Many companies started to manufacture trucks (axles) especially designed for skateboarding, reached in 1976 by Tracker Trucks. As the equipment became more maneuverable, the decks started to get wider, reaching widths of 10 inches (250 mm) and over, thus giving the skateboarder even more control. Banana board is a term used to describe skateboards made of polypropylene that were skinny, flexible, with ribs on the underside for structural support and very popular during the mid-1970s. They were available in myriad colors, bright yellow probably being the most memorable, hence the name.

Manufacturers started to experiment with more exotic composites and metals, like fiberglass and aluminium, but the common skateboards were made of maple plywood. The skateboarders took advantage of the improved handling of their skateboards and started inventing new tricks. Skateboarders, most notably Ty Page, Bruce Logan, Bobby Piercy, Kevin Reed, and the Z-Boys (so-called because of their local Zephyr surf shop) started to skate the vertical walls of swimming pools that were left empty in the 1976 California drought. This started the vert trend in skateboarding. With increased control, vert skaters could skate faster and perform more dangerous tricks, such as slash grinds and frontside/backside airs. This caused liability concerns and increased insurance costs to skatepark owners, and the development (first by Norcon,then more successfully by Rector) of improved knee pads that had a hard sliding cap and strong strapping proved to be too-little-too-late. During this era, the "freestyle" movement in skateboarding began to splinter off and develop into a much more specialized discipline, characterized by the development of a wide assortment of high flat-ground tricks.

As a result of the "vert" skating movement most notably skated by vert baby brett swartz, skate parks had to contend with high-liability costs that led to many park closures. In response, vert skaters started making their own ramps, while freestyle skaters continued to evolve their flatland style. Thus by the beginning of the 1980s, skateboarding had once again fallen into obscurity.

Skateboarder Brandon Cardone does a cliff hanger pivot to fakie (a lip trick) at the former East Coast Terminal Skateboard Park in Johnson City, NY.

The 1980s

This period was fuelled by skateboard companies that were run by skateboarders. The focus was initially on vert ramp skateboarding. The invention of the no-hands aerial (later known as the ollie) by Alan Gelfand in Florida in 1976 and the almost parallel development of the grabbed aerial by George Orton and Tony Alva in California in had made it possible for skaters to perform airs on vertical ramps. While this wave of skateboarding was sparked by commercialized vert ramp skating, a majority of people who skateboarded during this period never rode vert ramps. Because most people couldn't afford to build vert ramps or didn't have access to nearby ramps, street skating gained popularity. Freestyle skating remained healthy throughout this period with pioneers such as Rodney Mullen inventing the many of the basic tricks of modern street skating such as the flat ground the kickflip, and the heelflip. The influence freestyle had on street skating became apparent during the mid-eighties, but street skating was still performed on wide vert boards with short noses, slide rails, and large soft wheels. Skateboarding, however, evolved quickly in the late 1980s to accommodate the street skater. Since few skateparks were available to skaters at this time, street skating pushed skaters to seek out shopping centres and public and private property as their "spot" to skate. Public opposition, and the threat of lawsuits, forced businesses and property owners to ban skateboarding on their property^{[citation needed]}. By 1992, only a small fraction of skateboarders remained as a highly technical version of street skating, combined with the decline of vert skating, produced a sport that lacked the mainstream appeal to attract new skaters.

The 1990s to Present

The current generation of skateboards is dominated by street skating. Most boards are about 7¼ to 8 inches wide and 30 to 32 inches long. The wheels are made of an extremely hard polyurethane, with hardness(durometer) approximately 99a. The wheel sizes are relatively small so that the boards are lighter, and the wheel's inertia is overcome quicker, thus making tricks more manageable. Board styles have changed dramatically since the 1970s but have remained mostly alike since the mid 1990s. The contemporary shape of the skateboard is derived from the freestyle boards of the 1980s with a largely symmetrical shape and relatively narrow width. This form had become standard by the mid '90s.

Go Skateboarding Day was created in 2004 by a group of skateboarding companies to promote skateboarding and help make it more noticeable to the world. It is celebrated every year on June 21st.

Trick skating

See Skateboarding trick for detailed descriptions of maneuvers

A skater performs a switch kickflip off a stairset.

With the evolution of skateparks and ramp riding, the skateboard began to change. Early skate tricks had consisted mainly of two-dimensional manoeuvres like riding on only two wheels ("wheelie" or "manual"), spinning only on the back wheels (a "pivot"), high jumping over a bar and landing on the board again, long jumping from one board to another (often over small barrels or fearless teenagers) or slalom.

In 1976, skateboarding was transformed by the invention of the ollie by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand, . It remained largely a unique Florida trick until the summer of 1978, when Gelfand made his first visit to California. Gelfand and his revolutionary manoeuvre caught the attention of the West Coast skaters and the media where it began to spread worldwide. The ollie was adapted to flat ground by Rodney Mullen in 1982. Mullen also invented the ollie kickflip, which, at the time of its invention, was dubbed the "magic flip." The flat ground ollie allowed skateboarders to perform tricks in mid-air without any more equipment than the skateboard itself, it forms the basis of many street skating tricks.

Culture

See also: Skate punk

See also: Punk fashion

Skateboarding was, at first, tied to the culture of surfing. As skateboarding spread across the United States to places unfamiliar with surfing or surfing culture, it developed an image of its own. For example, the classic film short Video Days (1991) portrayed skateboarders as reckless rebels.

The image of the skateboarder as a rebellious, non-conforming youth has faded in recent years^{[citation needed]}. The rift between the old image of skateboarding and a newer one is quite visible: magazines such as Thrasher portray skateboarding as dirty, rebellious, and still firmly tied to punk, while other publications, Transworld Skateboarding as an example, paint a more diverse, and controlled picture of skateboarding. Furthermore, as more professional skaters use hip hop music accompaniment in their videos, many urban youths and hip-hop fans are drawn to skateboarding, further diluting the sport's punk image.

Films such as Grind and Lords Of Dogtown, have helped improve the reputation of skateboarding youth^{[citation needed]}, depicting individuals of this subculture as having a positive outlook on life, prone to poking harmless fun at each other, and engaging in healthy sportsman's competition. According to the film, lack of respect, egotism and hostility towards fellow skateboarders is generally frowned upon, albeit each of the characters (and as such, proxies of the "stereotypical" skateboarder) have a firm disrespect for authority and for rules in general. Group spirit is supposed to heavily influence the members of this community. In presentations of this sort, showcasing of criminal tendencies is absent, and no attempt is made to tie extreme sports to any kind of illegal activity^{[citation needed]}.

Gleaming the Cube, a 1989 movie starring Christian Slater as a skateboarding teen investigating the death of his adopted Vietnamese brother was somewhat of an iconic landmark to the skateboarding genre of the era^{[citation needed]}. Many well-known skaters had cameos in the film, including Tony Hawk.

Skateboarding video games have also become very popular in skateboarding culture^{[citation needed]} and are supported by many systems such as the Xbox and Playstation. Some of the most popular are Tony Hawk's Underground, and Skate. for the Xbox 360

Skateboarding as a form of transportation

The use of skateboards solely as a form of transportation is often associated with the longboard^{[citation needed]}. Depending on local laws, using skateboards as a form of transportation outside residential areas may or may not be legal. Backers cite portability, exercise, and environmental friendliness as some of the benefits of skateboarding as an alternative to automobiles.

Skateboards, along with other small-wheeled transportation such as in-line skates and scooters, suffer a safety caveat where riders may easily be thrown from small cracks and outcroppings in pavement, especially where the cracks run perpendicular to the direction of travel. However, high average travel speeds help mitigate this; injuries are more likely to be minor^{[citation needed]}, although head injuries still pose a major health risk.

Miscellaneous

A member of Charlie Company 1st Battalion 5th Marines carries a skateboard during military exercise Urban Warrior '99

Skateboard ban in Norway

The use, ownership and sale of skateboards were forbidden in Norway, during the period between 1978 and 1989. The ban was said to be due to the perceived high number of injuries caused by boards. The ban led skateboarders to construct ramps in the forest and other secluded areas to avoid the police.

Military experimentation in the United States

The United States Marine Corps tested the usefulness of commercial off-the-shelf skateboards during urban combat military exercises in the late 1990s. Their special purpose was "for maneuvering inside buildings in order to detect tripwires and sniper fire".^[9][10]

Novice and amateur skate teams

Many novice and amateur skateboarding teams have emerged in the last ten years consisting of groups of talented skateboarders. Amateur skateboarding competitions such as the Free Flow tour among many others allows such teams to compete with each other even though they are not professionals.