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Make America Skate Again with Side Project

By Elizabeth Dahl Nov 4, 2016 12:00 PM

Jake Eshelman, the creator of Side Project Skateboards, wants to Make America Skate Again. If that phrasing sounds a tad familiar there’s a reason– Eshelman launched the t-shirt campaign in direct response to the “…bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, and pitchfork diplomacy…” he feels exists in the US today.

The good news for us who may agree with the concept but don’t exactly have the balance and coordination to skateboard, just rocking the tee helps.

side project's make america skate again — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Eshelman came at making skateboards a little sideways: after getting a degree in Classical Literature, he followed his girl to Houston where he put his woodworking skills to use in his girlfriend’s father, Hugh’s, business. Hugh and Eshelman happen to share a love of skateboarding. Inspired after hearing Hugh’s tales of the 1960s when kids would masterfully convert rollerskates into skateboards, Eshelman began making his own vintage-inspired longboards. Each one is crafted with a variety of woods, creating gorgeous patterns. They run about $300-$400, which is pretty insane given each one is unique and handmade.

Make America Skate Again american made t-shirts — Image used with permission by copyright holder

But he didn’t stop at just reinventing classic skateboards. The Make America Skate Again campaign is offering a limited-run $25 t-shirt that’s all-American, baby: designed, made and printed, in the good ol’ US of A. Twenty percent of the proceeds go to the NGO, Skateistan, an ingenious nonprofit that seeks to improve the world via skateboarding. With schools in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and South Africa, Skateistan provides education and skateboarding lessons to empower youth, especially young girls.

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Eshelman explains his decision to benefit Skateistan: “I admire their work and felt that this initiative is a good, thematic way to support them. The project not only celebrates skateboarding as a positive player that can benefit the socio-political and economic climate around the world, but it also seeks to show American voters that you can accomplish just as much (if not more) with love and support than you can with hatred and small-minded rhetoric.”

The Make America Skate Again swag also includes an 11 x 17” poster, enamel lapel pins, and campaign stickers. You’d better hurry though– there are only a couple of tees left in medium and large and all other sizes have sold out. This is probably the first time in history that a t-shirt is selling out can offer some hope about a presidential election…

Elizabeth Dahl is a southern girl in the heart of Los Angeles who lived far too long before learning what an incredible food… Read Full Bio

Cigar Lounge Spotlight: The Flama Cabana in Key West, Florida

Ashtray, Person

Welcome to the inaugural Cigar Lounge Spotlight at The Manual, where every Friday I’ll aim to bring you some of the best cigar lounges in the country. Yours truly travels a lot for a living, and during that time, I’ve ensconced myself in local cigar lounges in the cities I visit when the opportunity arises. While many of my dispatches here will include cigar lounges I’ve visited during my time as a longtime sportswriter — and in my current capacity as a travel and lifestyle writer — this space will also feature lounges I’d love to visit one day, perhaps on my next trip.

Such is the case with The Flama Cabana at Havana Cabana Key West Hotel in Key West, Florida. There’s no better way to kick off this series than with a cigar lounge in the Southernmost Point of the United States, a mere 90 miles from cigar heaven, Cuba.

The guilty pleasure movie: Which ones you should watch without the guilt

Adult, Male, Man

There are great movies, and then there are movies you love. The two categories overlap, obviously. The Godfather is both. So is Jaws. But there are also great movies that you are “supposed” to like even though they bore the hell out of you. Or movies that you endure because they are the favorite of your wife or girlfriend.

But another class of movie may be even more important to our everyday entertainment: the guilty pleasure movie. You know the type. You’re flipping channels—or scrolling through whatever has replaced channel surfing—and suddenly discover that The Rock started 45 minutes ago. It doesn’t matter. You know what happened during those 45 minutes. You know what happens next. You know half the dialog.

You can now live like a true James Bond villain…minus the evil lair

Outdoors, Nature, Scenery

James Bond is a staple of pop culture. He is all over The Manual because of his impact on the style, spirits, and travel industries. That also means that there are suits he wears people emulate, there are cocktails he drinks people want to try, and there are destinations people want to experience. When I was in Monaco for the Formula 1 race, I was taken aback by how many people wanted to go to the “James Bond Casino,” where Brosnan’s Bond met Xenia Onatopp for the first time in Goldeneye.

Now, Bond is infiltrating the real estate market as the villa from the ending of Casino Royale is now somewhere you can live. When Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) returns home after the events of the film, he stands admiring the view of his (assumed) villa before getting a bullet in the knee. This is the moment when Craig’s Bond utters his famous line for the first time, “Bond, James Bond.” Now, the entire property on the Lake Como estate isn’t for sale, but you can buy an apartment with five rooms on the ground floor, with two bedrooms, a study, and two bathrooms spread across two levels. All you need is to contact Sotheby’s with a meager $1.5 million.