Latest news with #skateboarding
Arab News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Skateboarding icon Tony Hawk takes in Esports World Cup in Riyadh
RIYADH: From skateboarding in drained swimming pools to becoming the global face of skateboarding, Tony Hawk has been at the center of an industry he has seen grow from a backyard hobby to featuring in the Olympic Games. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport And in a similar way, gaming and esports have rapidly grown into global phenomena, capturing the hearts and minds of millions worldwide. And while the world's most famous skateboarder has seen and been part of some incredible spectacles, he has been stunned by the scale of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh. 'This is my first time ever in Saudi Arabia and in Riyadh at the Esports World Cup. I think the most surprising thing is the size of it,' said Hawk. 'I thought it would be one arena and games coming in and out. It's multiple arenas, thousands of competitors, it kind of takes over the whole city and it's very impressive.' Arriving in Riyadh, Hawk took the opportunity to tick another country off his skating bucket list, breaking out his board to carve the streets of Saudi Arabia and check out the local skate scene. 'I think there's a lot of potential here, especially in skateboarding or action sports,' he said. 'I see a growing passion for skateboarding. They could really seize the opportunity and create a thriving skate scene very quickly.' Soaking in the atmosphere and touring the Esports World Cup Festival, Hawk has garnered huge attention from local fans eager to interact with an icon of the skateboarding world. 'I am surprised any time I get recognized, especially in foreign countries that are not very skate centric. It's always a shock because I never got into skateboarding to be famous; no one was famous in skateboarding, in fact it was the furthest thing from fame you could do when I started. 'All these interactions I just think are entertaining, because I get recognized but people don't expect me to have gotten older since they last saw me, which is usually from a video game, so they're like, 'it looks that guy, but he can't be that old.' And that's fine with me.' Having been at the forefront of an industry that accelerated from a niche activity to a global sport, Hawk has seen significant parallels between gaming and skateboarding. He believes esports will only get bigger, providing people around the world who have a passion for gaming with the opportunity to pursue impactful careers in the industry. 'I see a lot of parallels between skateboarding and gaming,' he said. 'Especially in the early days, you did it because you loved it. It was the furthest thing from cool, there was no future, there was no career,' Tony says. 'Mostly you were told you shouldn't be doing that. Especially by adults and especially when you become an adult. 'Gaming is the same. When playing games as a kid I'm sure parents thought you spent too much time doing it, [that] it's not productive, it's eating into your homework or your social life. Now it's a huge industry and you can become a professional, the same as skateboarding. 'I feel the people who were there in the earlier days understand it on a deeper level because they were chastised for it. These days if someone gets into skating or gaming, they know that they could make a living out of it, without question, and their parents might even encourage it. That's kind of wild to me. No parents were really encouraging skateboarding in my day.' With the gaming and esports industry thriving around the world alongside the growth of streaming and social media, pathways into the gaming and esports industry have been established, creating opportunities for young people to forge careers in the industry they love. What seemed impossible a few years ago is becoming a reality; the gaming industry continues to grow and with it comes the opportunity for those with the ability, dedication and creative spark to become professionals within the industry. 'My parents were the rare exception, that they were supportive of my skating, but they didn't think it was going to be a career either,' said Hawk. 'They wanted me to go to college. I was a professional skateboarder, I was buying a house in my senior year of high school, and they wanted me to enroll in college. So they didn't believe it was going to be my future either. 'Kids who aspire to game for a living have a chance now, and their parents may be supportive of that decision. I don't know if it's going to happen every time, but it's kind of like skateboarding in that way too. There are so many ways to do it. You can be a streamer, you can have your own niche, you can have your own brand or personality and with skateboarding it's the same. You don't have to compete. If you're making good content and you're putting it out there and you're innovative, you can still thrive at it.' On release the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series became one of the most popular video game franchises of all time, defining a generation and accelerating the growth of skateboarding and gaming culture across the world. More than 20 years later, the re-release of the original titles and updates to the franchise continue to capture the imaginations of gamers across the world, connecting them to the nostalgia of the originals, while updating them to engage with a new generation of gamers. 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 just came out, and it's a remake of our third and fourth games from over 20 years ago,' said Hawk. 'I think the reason that we even get to do those now is that there is a very deep nostalgia for these games. For people, I think it defines a time in their lives where they formed their taste in music, where they learned about something other than mainstream sports, skateboarding specifically, but also other fringe sports and alternative, action sports. I hear a lot of people say that it was their best days playing that game, or it's the reason I failed college, and either one I take as a compliment.' He added: 'I think what set Tony Hawk's Pro Skater apart in the early days was that it was authentic. It represented skateboarding in all its forms, the culture, the music, the fashion, the skaters, the tricks and the renegade attitude, hopping fences and everything. To bring it [back in] 2025 we had to update it in all respects. I wanted to reflect how skateboarding is now, how much more inclusive it is, how much more international it is, and I think we did that well. We chose some new skaters, brought back most of the iconic legends, and we even brought in three new levels, so I do feel we've entered a new era.'
Malay Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
DIY community raises over RM9,000 for Palestine through art, music, and solidarity
KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — The basement of Semua House KL was buzzing with energy last weekend as around 160 people turned up for the 'Turun Bawah Volume 3: A Push Toward Freedom' charity event. Organised by local non-profit solidarity project Hiphop Against Genocide together with Burrow Skateshop, the benefit show aimed to raise funds and awareness for Palestine, more specifically, the Palestinian skateboarding community, through a full-day celebration of resistance, camaraderie and solidarity. The event featured a slew of activities, including a curated photo exhibition of the Palestine skateboarding scene, a flea market selling merchandise, vinyls, CDs and cassette tapes, live silkscreen printing, a mini skateboarding competition, a graffiti session, and a benefit show by local underground acts. Why the focus on skateboarding, you might ask? According to the group, despite being under military occupation and facing restricted mobility, the Palestinian skateboarding community is thriving. Skateboarding is not seen as just a sport but rather, a form of freedom and resistance. The spirit of Palestinian youth, who continue to carve out space for joy, resilience, and community, was showcased through the 'A Push Toward Freedom' photo exhibition, which will run until July 31. The photo exhibition is free to attend and all 40 photos on display are for sale at RM300 each. The benefit show comes with a RM25 donation tag. Hiphop Against Genocide is also collaborating with UK-based NGO Skatepal, which is actively building skateparks and providing equipment, workshops and support for Palestinian skaters in Palestine. Local skaters from all ages turned up for the 'Turun Bawah Volume 3: A Push Toward Freedom' charity event. — Picture by Firdaus Latif Local underground rapper Yarobin Yashar, who is also the founding member of Hiphop Against Genocide and one of the brains behind the charity event, said that for the first phase collection, they have amassed a total of RM9,770 through ticket donations, photo sales, t-shirt printing and merchandise sales. All of the proceedings will be fully donated to Skatepal. This is not the final figure as the second phase collection will be announced next week after the photo exhibition wraps up. Voices of solidarity and resistance One of the highlights of last weekend's event was the benefit show that took place at the Union Skate Club, an indoor skatepark just one floor beneath Burrow Skateshop – where most activities took place, except for the photo exhibition. The skatepark also had a little makeover, filled with thought-provoking banners and posters showing solidarity with the cause. The benefit show, which took place in the concrete bowl of the skatepark, featured four local underground acts: rappers Yarobin and Altrbng, who were joined by DJ Killah Z on the decks, along with local shoegaze band Commemorate and Shah Alam-based screamo band Piri Reis. The Shah Alam-based screamo band Piri Reis had the audience going during their set. — Picture by Firdaus Latif Yarobin opened the show with a powerful call for solidarity, before diving into his setlist with hunger and purpose – spitting bars that resonated deeply, including several compelling lines that highlighted his message of resistance. Altrbng brought the same matching energy to his set, pausing midway to call for solidarity not only with the Palestinians but also with other displaced communities, including the Rohingyas and Ethiopians. 'Every human being deserves to live,' Altrbng said. The show continued with mesmerising riffs and melodies from Commemorate, who also called for solidarity, emphasising that it transcends faith and religion. 'Just a few days ago, the only Catholic church in Gaza was bombed as well. Obviously this is not about which religion you are in, this is about being human and having empathy,' the band's vocalist, Sasha, said. The show wrapped up with an energetic performance by Piri Reis, which had the crowd hyped—forming mosh pits, crowd surfing, and shouting their solidarity throughout. A communal effort Aside from Hiphop Against Genocide and Burrow Skateshop, 'Turun Bawah Volume 3: A Push Toward Freedom' was also a collective effort from the do-it-yourself (DIY) community around Kuala Lumpur, which consists of skaters, music and visual art lovers. Some of the main faces behind 'Turun Bawah Volume 3: A Push Toward Freedom' charity event, from left to right: Dirty Donuts' Azmal, Burrow Skateshop's Munir Muhammad, rapper Yarobin Yashar, DJ Killah Z and operation manager Syafiq. — Picture by Firdaus Latif For example, the live silkscreen printing was done by Dirty Donuts, with one of their crew members, Azmal, preparing several designs in solidarity with Palestine. The crew also encouraged the public to bring their old t-shirts to be upcycled with their prints. Another highlight was the live graffiti session, which was done by local graffiti collective, Satu Table Crew. According to Burrow Skateshop's representative, Munir Muhammad, the 'Turun Bawah' series, which began in January this year, is part of the store's initiative to showcase the KL skateboarding scene to the public by combining skateboarding, music and arts into one event. For the third instalment of the series, they maintained the same vision, but with an added cause. 'I think what we have curated so far is very special to the community. 'When it comes to skateboarding events, usually it's just competitions but here, we are celebrating the community as a whole instead of just organising skate competitions. 'And to be able to do it while raising funds for a greater cause is just something special for us,' Munir said. Meanwhile, Yarobin, who has been organising similar fundraisers for Palestine in the past under his Hiphop Against Genocide project, admitted that this is by far the largest collection they have made. He extended his gratitude to everyone who was involved with the event. In 2024 alone, Yarobin collected a total of RM7,915 for Palestinian causes through events, exclusive merchandise sales, and album releases, including the Viva La Resistance EP featuring Palestinian poet and actress Dana Dajani. He added that all the proceeds from their latest event will go to Skatepal, sharing that Skatepal had helped build four skateparks in the West Bank, which are still actively in use today.
Malay Mail
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
KL's DIY community raises over RM9,000 for Palestine through art, music, and solidarity
KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — The basement of Semua House KL was buzzing with energy last weekend as around 160 people turned up for the 'Turun Bawah Volume 3: A Push Toward Freedom' charity event. Organised by local non-profit solidarity project Hiphop Against Genocide together with Burrow Skateshop, the benefit show aimed to raise funds and awareness for Palestine, more specifically, the Palestinian skateboarding community, through a full-day celebration of resistance, camaraderie and solidarity. The event featured a slew of activities, including a curated photo exhibition of the Palestine skateboarding scene, a flea market selling merchandise, vinyls, CDs and cassette tapes, live silkscreen printing, a mini skateboarding competition, a graffiti session, and a benefit show by local underground acts. Why the focus on skateboarding, you might ask? According to the group, despite being under military occupation and facing restricted mobility, the Palestinian skateboarding community is thriving. Skateboarding is not seen as just a sport but rather, a form of freedom and resistance. The spirit of Palestinian youth, who continue to carve out space for joy, resilience, and community, was showcased through the 'A Push Toward Freedom' photo exhibition, which will run until July 31. The photo exhibition is free to attend and all 40 photos on display are for sale at RM300 each. The benefit show comes with a RM25 donation tag. Hiphop Against Genocide is also collaborating with UK-based NGO Skatepal, which is actively building skateparks and providing equipment, workshops and support for Palestinian skaters in Palestine. Local skaters from all ages turned up for the 'Turun Bawah Volume 3: A Push Toward Freedom' charity event. — Picture by Firdaus Latif Local underground rapper Yarobin Yashar, who is also the founding member of Hiphop Against Genocide and one of the brains behind the charity event, said that for the first phase collection, they have amassed a total of RM9,770 through ticket donations, photo sales, t-shirt printing and merchandise sales. All of the proceedings will be fully donated to Skatepal. This is not the final figure as the second phase collection will be announced next week after the photo exhibition wraps up. Voices of solidarity and resistance One of the highlights of last weekend's event was the benefit show that took place at the Union Skate Club, an indoor skatepark just one floor beneath Burrow Skateshop – where most activities took place, except for the photo exhibition. The skatepark also had a little makeover, filled with thought-provoking banners and posters showing solidarity with the cause. The benefit show, which took place in the concrete bowl of the skatepark, featured four local underground acts: rappers Yarobin and Altrbng, who were joined by DJ Killah Z on the decks, along with local shoegaze band Commemorate and Shah Alam-based screamo band Piri Reis. The Shah Alam-based screamo band Piri Reis had the audience going during their set. — Picture by Firdaus Latif Yarobin opened the show with a powerful call for solidarity, before diving into his setlist with hunger and purpose – spitting bars that resonated deeply, including several compelling lines that highlighted his message of resistance. Altrbng brought the same matching energy to his set, pausing midway to call for solidarity not only with the Palestinians but also with other displaced communities, including the Rohingyas and Ethiopians. 'Every human being deserves to live,' Altrbng said. The show continued with mesmerising riffs and melodies from Commemorate, who also called for solidarity, emphasising that it transcends faith and religion. 'Just a few days ago, the only Catholic church in Gaza was bombed as well. Obviously this is not about which religion you are in, this is about being human and having empathy,' the band's vocalist, Sasha, said. The show wrapped up with an energetic performance by Piri Reis, which had the crowd hyped—forming mosh pits, crowd surfing, and shouting their solidarity throughout. A communal effort Aside from Hiphop Against Genocide and Burrow Skateshop, 'Turun Bawah Volume 3: A Push Toward Freedom' was also a collective effort from the do-it-yourself (DIY) community around Kuala Lumpur, which consists of skaters, music and visual art lovers. Some of the main faces behind 'Turun Bawah Volume 3: A Push Toward Freedom' charity event, from left to right: Dirty Donuts' Azmal, Burrow Skateshop's Munir Muhammad, rapper Yarobin Yashar, DJ Killah Z and operation manager Syafiq. — Picture by Firdaus Latif For example, the live silkscreen printing was done by Dirty Donuts, with one of their crew members, Azmal, preparing several designs in solidarity with Palestine. The crew also encouraged the public to bring their old t-shirts to be upcycled with their prints. Another highlight was the live graffiti session, which was done by local graffiti collective, Satu Table Crew. According to Burrow Skateshop's representative, Munir Muhammad, the 'Turun Bawah' series, which began in January this year, is part of the store's initiative to showcase the KL skateboarding scene to the public by combining skateboarding, music and arts into one event. For the third instalment of the series, they maintained the same vision, but with an added cause. 'I think what we have curated so far is very special to the community. 'When it comes to skateboarding events, usually it's just competitions but here, we are celebrating the community as a whole instead of just organising skate competitions. 'And to be able to do it while raising funds for a greater cause is just something special for us,' Munir said. Meanwhile, Yarobin, who has been organising similar fundraisers for Palestine in the past under his Hiphop Against Genocide project, admitted that this is by far the largest collection they have made. He extended his gratitude to everyone who was involved with the event. In 2024 alone, Yarobin collected a total of RM7,915 for Palestinian causes through events, exclusive merchandise sales, and album releases, including the Viva La Resistance EP featuring Palestinian poet and actress Dana Dajani. He added that all the proceeds from their latest event will go to Skatepal, sharing that Skatepal had helped build four skateparks in the West Bank, which are still actively in use today.
Daily Mail
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Paul Hogan reveals the REAL reason he was forced to use a wheelchair during his recent trip to Australia as the iconic actor gives shock health update
Paul Hogan has revealed the true reason he was forced to use a wheelchair when arriving in Australia for a month-long holiday in May. The 85-year-old actor told 7NEWS on Monday that he surprisingly suffered an injury in a skateboarding accident, which exacerbated his arthritis. 'They got me in the wheelchair,' the Crocodile Dundee star said with a laugh, adding that he is in good health. 'I have arthritis. And I have a knee, which, much to my embarrassment, I injured skateboarding,' he said. Hogan continued: 'I was an 80-plus skateboarder. I'm not proud, but I'll get in the wheelchair every time.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The iconic movie star added, joking, 'Well, I've always been a late starter'. Hogan looked much healthier and happier as he left Sydney at the start of July following a vacation Down Under. He entered Sydney Airport unaided by a wheelchair and appeared to have healed up from his skateboarding accident. It was a far cry from how Hogan had arrived in Sydney from the USA in May. At that time, he looked frail and exhausted, and was escorted from the terminal with the help of staff while sitting in a wheelchair. With multiple airport personnel assisting him, Hogan was ushered outside to waiting transport. Paul's return Down Under last month came amid reports he's moving home for good. Chatter has increased that the star is planning to relocate home to Australia permanently. Hogan has remained in the USA for decades, and has expressed that he stays stateside to care for his troubled son, Chance, 27. However, according to a new report, Hogan has finally decided to return home with his son's blessing. Chance reportedly saw how positive a trip Down Under was for his dad earlier this year. 'Paul felt healthier than he had in months, and even Chance agreed that Australia had been good for them both,' an alleged source told New Idea. 'Chance has long known he's the reason why Paul remains in the States,' they continued. 'But this recent trip was a wake-up call. He can see how important it is for his dad to spend his twilight years on home turf. He now believes it will extend his life.' Chance has been living with his father in LA since his parents' divorce in 2014 after 24 years of marriage. Hogan shares son Chance with second wife Linda Kozlowski, who was his Crocodile Dundee co-star. The actor made the move to settle with Linda in Los Angeles in the '90s. He also has several children with former wife Noelene Edwards - sons Brett, Clay, Scott, and daughter Lauren. Paul shot to fame in the '80s when he portrayed Mick 'Crocodile' Dundee in the classic outback adventure franchise which boasted three films. The star was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance.
Washington Post
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Tony Hawk is still making you see the world like a skater
After becoming the world's most recognizable athlete for his chosen sport, Anthony Frank 'Tony' Hawk is now a 57-year-old grandfather. It's a life that's vastly exceeded any expectations he ever had. Named at birth like a superhero, Tony Hawk became the face of skateboarding in no small part due to Activision's blockbuster 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater' series, which just released remakes of its third and fourth games, developed by Iron Galaxy. Hawk's amiable presence is felt across his fan interactions and interviews, proving it's still possible in 2025 to hold all that clout and still be down to earth. Hawk tells The Post in an interview that it's because nothing, including skateboarding becoming a respected, international sport, was ever expected. 'There's just no way I would've dreamt any of this,' Hawk says. 'You couldn't be rich or famous as a skateboarder when I first started. No one had been.' It's been a long road to respectability for the once-maligned sport, invented in the 1940s and '50s by bored Southern California surfers looking for more reasons to be on a board. Sidelined and dismissed for decades as idle activity for loitering teens and misfits, skateboarding has elevated to the Olympic Games. Hawk and some of his peer skating legends attribute much of that rise in acceptance to the 1999 game developed by the now-defunct Neversoft Entertainment, 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.' 'Tony is the revolution, he took us to a whole other level,' said Kareem Campbell, the Harlem-born 51-year-old often called the godfather of smooth street style and inventor of the 'Ghetto Bird' trick. 'The game helped pro skating be in the Olympics right now. He became a household name. Every skater on the game became a household name. It captures all the different elements of skateboarding.' The game became a top seller on Sony PlayStation in 1999, and its sequel next year was even bigger. It revolutionized the extreme sports genre in video games by wearing its video game inspirations on its sleeve. Scott Pease, former Neversoft studio development director, said the ragtag team of developers looked to the early pioneers of 3D video games to inspire their own groundbreaking work. 'The influences are definitely '[Super] Mario 64,' and even to a certain extent, 'Diddy Kong Racing,'' Pease said, giggling to himself. 'If you look at the structure of 'Tony Hawk 1' with the secret tapes and the goals, we kinda lifted a lot of that from 'Diddy Kong Racing,'' whose collectible balloons let players unlock more of the game. The game also mimicked racing games, propelling skaters forward automatically. Level designs used real-life skate spots like schools and abandoned warehouses, all littered with rails and ledges for grinding and ramps for vertical tricks. 'A lot of that comes from our lead programmer and technical director Mick West and him trying to understand how people interacted with their controller,' Pease said. Game designers were still figuring out how to make 3D gameplay feel natural. 'He understood innately that the camera and your responsiveness were completely connected, and how your view is completely determined by that 3D camera. Mick invented the camera movement where you jump off the vert ramp and the camera would swing around and look down to see where you were going to land. Without that, there's no game.' As a child of the coin-munching arcades of the 1980s, Hawk grew up on video games. He had played every skateboarding game ever made, but for years he was looking for the perfect formula. Hawk said he was shopping around various game publishers pitching a skating game, and Activision caught wind and invited him to Neversoft. In 1998, Neversoft made a game starring Bruce Willis called 'Apocalypse.' It didn't sell well, but the team used the same 3D technology to power a prototype of their hypothetical skating game. Sans a pro skater, they used Willis. 'The first build I ever saw of the game was seeing Bruce Willis on a skateboard,' Hawk said. 'I was able to control him, do kick-flips and do grabs and spins, and I thought, 'This is the coolest thing I've ever been able to play.'' 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater' became the rare video game experience that can alter one's perception of the world. Like 'Tetris' induced its players to perceive the world built with blocks of four tiles, 'THPS' made its players think like a skater, seeing 'lines' of opportunity across the framework of civilization. 'Especially in the first few years, people who never skated suddenly understood skate culture, skate language, and they would see landscapes as skateable places in the real world,' Hawk said. 'That's when I saw a big shift.' It was normalizing skating culture right at the turn of the millennium, as the video games industry expanded to new audiences with the introduction of PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox. Brazil-born Bob Burnquist, winner of 30 medals at the X Games, was in the first class of pro skaters of the series, handpicked by Hawk. Now 48, Burnquist grew up in Rio de Janeiro, far away from the skating hotbed of Southern California. He admired Hawk from afar as a teen. 'I got a glimpse of Tony for the first time on video. Friends would travel to the U.S. and come home with a VHS tape, and that's how we got what was happening. Right when I started, Tony in 1989 went down to Brazil. My dad couldn't take me, but it just put a mark on Brazil.' Burnquist saw the spread of anti-skateboarding legislation across various jurisdictions, including Brazil. It was important for him to see that it was growing in popularity despite these bans. The game was a piercing bullet through the consciousness of a new generation, millennials who grew into midlife today. 'After all these years, you have the city of Rio you can choose [in the game] with all these different characters, and seeing Brazil there? It's an accomplishment for Brazilian skateboarding,' Burnquist said. 'To be included as a Brazilian, it showed we are a part of the culture.' Skating culture was not immune to the changes brought upon by the internet. People of Hawk's generation discovered new tricks and athletes through the VHS tapes and magazines like Thrasher. Hawk said social media has changed the dynamics of discovery. 'When we first started this game, one of the only ways to be known as a skater was to compete, and if you weren't competing, you'd better be producing a lot of video, and you hoped to be featured in a skate video,' Hawk said. 'Nowadays you can be your own brand, producing content daily and sharing it whenever. Now the field is wider and more open, but you have to keep producing, have to keep getting better at it. You can't just rest on your accolades, that's the one thing that's been the same throughout the years.' Hawk takes credit for igniting the current remakes. He approached Activision to use the intellectual property for a concert series, and suggested the series be revived somehow for its 20th anniversary. For the first two games, Activision tapped an internal studio that eventually got absorbed into its sizable operation to create the titanic 'Call of Duty' series. For the remake 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4,' released July 11, Iron Galaxy was selected. Despite carrying the title of games from the early 2000s, the studio considers the latest release a new project, said game director Kurt Tillmanns. This includes new levels made just for this release. 'We were able to go in and make brand new levels and unlock our creativity, do some wacky things like pinball and make this skater's paradise of a shut-down water park,' Tillmanns said. The game also largely overhauls its soundtrack. Hawk takes credit for that decision, in the spirit of how the original game introduced players to new bands and music genres. (The 'Tony Hawk' and 'Grand Theft Auto' games are often credited with expanding the use of licensed popular music in the medium.) Besides, listening to old songs can be like putting too fine a mark on the past. The most iconic song from the games is Goldfinger's 'Superman,' with a chorus that yells 'Growing older all the time.' Hawk is now grandfather to Ronin Walker Cobain Hawk, as his son Riley (now featured in the updated games) married rock legend Kurt Cobain's daughter, Frances Bean. The birth announcement resulted in an explosion of memes suggesting the coolest human being might've been born. 'Being a grandparent is exactly all the fun that grandparents gush over, and the reason they get excited when they know their grandchild's coming. That's how my wife and I feel exactly,' Hawk said. 'The fact that Ronin has this legacy behind him, I don't want him to feel like he has to live up to anything in that respect. I just want him to find what he really enjoys, to follow his passion. I just want him to have fun, and I don't want him to feel like an outsider or that people are looking at him in a different way.' Hawk said the family has a group text chat of nothing but photos of the still-infant Ronin, and he had just received them and was looking at them before the interview. But is grandpa Hawk feeling older all the time? 'Oh my body feels it every time I wake up. I definitely have my go-to skill set, but it's a lot more work than it used to be, and a lot more recovery and progress.' For Tony Hawk's pro and personal adventures, it's been a life well lived. 'I'm living the dream, the idea that I still get to participate, and then I get to witness skating come to this level, and I can help guide or foster up-and-coming skaters,' Hawk said. 'It's between that and helping to develop public skate parks, that's the most important and most gratifying work I can do.'
