Beyond ABEC.

2008-08-23T12:15:00.001-07:00

This is an 11 storie parking structure that we can only visit past 1am, especially after dumb fucks started hanging out there to drink in multitudes. Riding the cigar chomper board was definately the best. This session was awesome, even Sean Grange (caveman) the drummer from Botron was there. I think he was here touring with the band. BTW: keep an eye out for their infamous 07 Famima show video, coming soon!!!

2008-04-26T00:27:00.001-07:00

Earlier this month, the "Lazer Crew" spent a week (Apri 1-6) in NYC showcasing the business during the Young Entrepreneur of The Year Gala, NFTE's biggest networking event. And of coarse NFTE's PR's worked their magic bringing the spotlight to their top guns with this FOX BUSINESS interview. to view the whole interview click here

A Christian Christian and A Second Chance For Us All

2008-02-02T15:37:00.000-08:00

Christ Air for a Christ's Child?

[photo courtesy of Lat34.com]

A recent article by Scott Serles on the Open Source Sports Website, BleacherReport.com talks about the lack of reliable role models in the world of sports and the inspiring story of Christian Hosoi--his drug abuse, prison time, and eventual discovery of God. Good piece, short read. Take a look.

"... Alot of my professional sports heroes (Michael Vick, Lenny Dykstra, etc) have really been letting me down lately and I began to look outside of the four major sports for someone, something uplifting to raise my spirits and inspire me again to write interesting pieces that people may enjoy.
That is when I stumbled across the story of Christian Hosoi. For those of you who are not familiar or too young to remember, Hosoi was an 80's skateboarding legend and main rival of today's face of the sports Tony Hawk. He was best known for his flamboyant style and "huge airs" that made vert-skating in the 80's so popular.
He was the epitome of California cool: stylish, laid back, famous, and popular with the ladies. In the 80's he reigned supreme in the world of skateboarding winning several competitions, with a plethora of sponsors and all the riches that came along with his success. He began experimenting with drugs at an early age, often just weed and alcohol, but this soon turned into harder drugs and an addiction to crystal meth..." [READ MORE]

Skateboarding is a lot different than Major-League Sports. Professional skaters aren't regulated by drug policies the way Football or Basketball players are, and the way skateboarding culture promotes narcotic tendencies (read: Ali Boulala), kids who look up to skaters are almost sure to get into things they'll have a hard time quitting. As long as the tricks get put on film and the sponsors get repped, nobody's really watching. Luckily, the amount of attention to detail and acute senses required to skate as a professional makes drug-use a difficult habit to maintain while staying at peak-ability. Still, to say drug and alcohol abuse are only a minor problem in the skateboarding world would be an huge understatement.

Hosoi's story--a run-down, middle-aged, meth addict, skateboarder turned born-again, makes me think the prison system might actually have something going for it, and maybe people really do deserve a second chance. But hey, God probably smiles a little bit brighter for a guy with a first name like that.

IdeaBlob.com and $10,000

2008-01-28T02:32:00.001-08:00

Renegade Workout / Youtube Heroes

2008-01-27T15:47:00.000-08:00

[photo courtesy of gymjones.com]

The Lazers here at Beyond ABEC have been busy at work filming for RenegadeCEOs.com, a teen entrepreneurship video-blog series. We'll be documenting our rises and falls through the business world, and the strategies we used to get there. We've also been goofing off a lot, so keep checking on our Youtube account for misadventures and rap videos. We'll post a feed on this site soon.

Renegade Lazers

Jesus, finally in action!

2007-12-30T06:46:00.001-08:00

"...rock-climbing Jesus, surfer Jesus, and peace-loving Army Soldier Jesus..."

For those of you wishing our Lord and savior could just be more hip and with the times, not always giving us the same old 'dying on the cross' routine, there comes a miniature miracle of epic proportions: Skateboarding Jesus.

Sounding like it came straight out of a Kevin Smith plot line, Fishermen Inc. (http://www.wearefishermen .com), the manufacturer of the action figures (including a rock-climbing Jesus, surfing Jesus, and peace-loving Army Soldier Jesus) gives children and hip adults the chance to see the Jesus they don't see too often--the youthful freedom-filled one who's not afraid to wear white after Labor Day. After the death of his father, Eric Dyson, CEO of Fishermen, claims to have seen the image of the Lord Jesus Christ cruising down the lonesome highway on his Harley. Apparently, The Lord spoke to him and told him to start a brand of hilarious Jesus-themed sports figurines to show his dedication to his faith. Hopefully coming soon to the Fishermen line: Gangsta Jesus (Blood and Crip versions), Pornstar Jesus, and Jesus: The Gun.

What is ABEC? and: The Origin of this Blog.

2007-11-30T05:11:00.000-08:00

"ABEC is a system of rating bearings―all bearings, not just skateboarding ones."

Skateboarding, in some way or form, has been around for almost 60 years now, and it's various incarnations have seen their fair share of novelty imaginings―skate-flashlights, ollie-helpers, the "Snake Board", etc. These products usually die because of misrepresentation by both the skate community ("this shizz is stupid, lol) and the company selling the product ("You'll LOVE it! ZOOMAZOOM!"). Because of this, and for good reason, outsiders' attempts to turn Skateboarding into a economy-turning machine have been for the most part unsuccessful (the past decade has shown us otherwise -- ie: Bam). Skateboarders have at least never been ones to fall victim to corporate disinformation and tricks. What then, is ABEC, and why is there so much confusion about it?

ABEC is a system of rating bearings―all bearings, not just skateboarding ones. More specifically, it's a system of specifying how close a bearing is to very tiny, specific dimensions and tolerances. The higher the number, the closer the bearing is to those measurements. The problem is, the majority of all bearings are made for machines with components that spin at RPMs in the tens-of-thousands. For a 54mm wheel to spin at that speed you would need to be going at around 160mph. This means that the difference between ABEC 1's and ABEC 11's on a skateboard mean VERY LITTLE. More importantly though, it means that ABEC ratings are misleading and should not be paid attention to...AT ALL. They do not tell you the quality of material used, the threshold for damage, the type of lubrication used, or the overall reliability of the bearing in any way.

This doesn't stop distributors from passing off High ABEC rated bearings as high quality bearings time and time again. Be wary of these companies, they care very little about the wellbeing of their customers or the quality of their product. It's skateboard madness.

So what's the deal with 'Beyond ABEC.'? Well, like few other bearing suppliers in the industry, Lazer Bearings DOES care deeply, very deeply, about the wellbeing of its customers and its product―so much so, that we would disregard this so-called end-all of bearing scales, and release a bearing with NO ABEC rating. We believe our high-end corrosion, rust, and damage resistant ceramic bearings will amaze you to such a degree that we've labeled them 'Beyond ABEC.'. Simply put, they're the best.

So you want some skateboard tips? Try these on for size.

Don't buy into the ABEC hype, buy ceramic.
Keep good care of your bearings, they will last longer.
Clean your bearings whenever you can, they can build up contaminants.
Never trust cops.

and most importantly,

Skate long, hard, and often.

-Lazer

Lazer Bearings, Web 2.0 Ready

2007-11-26T01:43:00.001-08:00

Thanks to the people at Google FeedBurner, Lazer can now be fed into RSS readers across the countryside.

Also check out our profile at Technorati, a blog relevance rating website. You could also just and be done with it.

Also, notice the Digg and del.icio.us links below this, and every other, post on Beyond ABEC. Web 2.0, allow me to introduce you to skateboarding. Skateboarding, this is Web 2.0. You two get along, now.

Rosebud AKA Post #1

2007-11-18T17:37:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! Welcome to BEYOND ABEC, one of those new-fangled Web 2.0 "WebLog" things. My name is John, AKA Lazer, AKA Web Designer and "Intronet Specialest *HIFIVE LUCKY*!" for Lazer Hybrid Ceramic Skateboard Bearing Company, otherwise known as Lazer Bearings! Whatever you call me, I'll be posting on this-here site and on most of the Internet locales that Lazer Bearings will be populating: Myspace, Facebook, lazerbearings.com, etc. This blog will be headquarters for my various internet findings, thoughts on skateboarding culture/trends, interesting stories, and general complaints about life.

As of this second, I have a cold, I have a hangover, and I have to write a 6-page paper on the physics of ball-bearings. But hey, who knows better than us here at Lazer? Here's a video of a guy jumping off a building until I return: