Riyadh - Saudi Road Skating
You might think that growing up in a country that didn't get around to outlawing slavery until the 60s and where even thinking about getting into a girl's abaya will land you a round of public lashings (and her death) would temper a young man's wild streak. However, as this new Saudi fad attests, when you let a whole nation's worth of pent-up testosterone bake in the hot Arab sun it leads to forms of teen rebellion that make Western kids look like they're still hocking buckeyes at the town farmer's prize milkin'-cow. Even their national aggro-driving has got a leg-up on ours.
holy shit. i wonder how fast they are going...as if it matters.
Posted by: blah blah blah | 05/12/2006 at 02:34
fucking jesus! i jumped out of a taxi once, but holy fucking shit!
Posted by: | 05/12/2006 at 02:49
FAKE as hell.
none of it makes sense.
how are the skating on sandles and not embeding their teeth into the pavement?
dumbest thing I've ever seen.
Posted by: ok | 05/12/2006 at 05:13
1, their center of gravity looks way off,
2, cars would not try to pass or come anywhere near these idiots,
3. we would have seen plenty of videos before on this phenomenon, 90% of them ending tragically.
4. Their robes are barely flapping in the wind.
5. their sandles would have disintegrated long ago.
6. they're keeping the car doors open with ease, no wind resistence
7. they cross over the white lines which are raised reflecting paint strips, and there is no turbulence
Posted by: what | 05/12/2006 at 05:38
Yeah, makes sense, they must have just CGI'd their three arab buddies into a clip of a car driving erratically in Riyadh they somehow had.
Posted by: huh? | 05/12/2006 at 06:16
"3. we would have seen plenty of videos before on this phenomenon, 90% of them ending tragically."
I like the idea that kids would have endured a long period of trial-and-error attempts before finally getting this down, like one of those montages of all the early flying machines crashing. Boy was not meant to skate on pavement I tell you.
Posted by: aamco | 05/12/2006 at 06:25
1. looks off for an activity you've never seen and have no reference point for?
2. you've apparently never taken a taxi ride anywhere in the arab world.
3. unless the phenomenon was new.
4. not sure how billowy you think a thobe generally is, but they appear to be flapping pretty strongly whenever they're not blocked by the doors.
5. unless they or the road were somehow made slick, which would explain how they are skating in the first place.
6. the back door is staying open because the front one is blocking it--watch what happens when the front kid lets it start to close.
7. the lane markings on the Ring Road are just dots of white paint unless that's changed since I was there in August
Posted by: refute much? | 05/12/2006 at 06:45
is it always bedtime in saudi?
Posted by: pete | 05/12/2006 at 08:46
those kids are kerazy.
Posted by: JESUS CHRIST! i mean, ALLAH AHKBAR! | 05/12/2006 at 10:22
Next olympic event?!
Posted by: Richard | 05/12/2006 at 10:24
If you wanted a textbook example of 'KIDS! DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME', I think you've found it...
Posted by: beat | 05/12/2006 at 15:06
"1. looks off for an activity you've never seen and have no reference point for?"
It just looks weird, we've seen plenty of similar activities like water skiing and they always lean back.
This seems impossible to do with with rollerblades or a skateboard let alone sandals.
Posted by: what | 05/12/2006 at 15:23
fuck the doubters, you're all just jealous. I also can't think why anyone would want to waste time thinking up and then faking this in CGI, when in the Mid East and Med countries kids have spent years developing mad sandal skills. This is but one example of that.
Posted by: dfs | 05/12/2006 at 16:08
I am in Qatar now, it is fuckin mad max beyond thunder dome time out here. If you hit the dunes at night time its totally mental, buggies everywhere, quad bikes are the order of the day and stunts abound. Its all there is to do really....
Posted by: agreed | 05/12/2006 at 16:33
Man, I bet those stunts totally get them mad pus- oh, wait, never mind.
Man, I bet those stunts totally get them mad high-fives.
Posted by: Waterface | 05/12/2006 at 17:06
if a saudi kid wants to get out of the car and glide around the highway on his sandals, a saudi kid gets out of the fucking car and glides around the fucking highway on his fucking sandals. things are different over there i'm telling you.
Posted by: jihad | 05/12/2006 at 17:15
How sad is it that we're basically at war with these people, and they're bringing great stuff like this to youtube, and the best we Americans can do is this joker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj4L7G_5Seg
Posted by: i'm lonely | 06/12/2006 at 05:26
I dunno, man, but I looked at the rest of those contestants, and while I don't think any of them deserve to be on American Idol, umm, Christine ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyWgYQ_GYDA ) deserves to be in the DOs & DONTs section, as a DO!!
Posted by: appa | 06/12/2006 at 07:04
That shit ain't fake, I've skitched (the proper term) many a time, though admittedly never on a highway and usually only in wet conditions. It's really not very hard but I don't recommend doing it in sandals.
Posted by: sucka paunch | 06/12/2006 at 17:22
if they fuck up they are definitely fucked...
Posted by: ups | 06/12/2006 at 21:30
Pretty crazy I must admit but I have a friend who can match this. He will climb out of a car window and happily surf on the top of the car, and has done it going about 60 (that's miles an hour you metrically advanced futurists out there). I should be seein him over Christmas so maybe we'll get video evidence.....
Posted by: Hamoosh the Fantastic | 07/12/2006 at 22:03
shadows and reflections too good to be faked.
Posted by: bugs | 08/12/2006 at 21:07
simply horrific to watch, makes me want to cry.
Posted by: cola | 08/12/2006 at 21:30
ghost ride the whip bitch
Posted by: | 09/12/2006 at 04:07
Looks real to me. Ever see the motorcycle guys do that by hanging off the back of their bike? - I have.
Posted by: Francis | 09/12/2006 at 15:37