Age: 19

Home: Riverside, California

Sponsors: Popwar, Stüssy, Furnace skate shop

Now it’s Raymond Molinar. His mother is from El Salvador. He can speak Spanish pretty well, but he never does. I want him to speak it more ’cause I wanna learn more. He’s from California, obviously. (All skaters are, aren’t they? Or at least the ones who are in the magazines.) From someplace called the Inland Empire. The name "empire" suggests to me that there’s something interesting about the place–that it’s some fantastic medieval place with castles, princesses, damsels in distress, and court jesters. I think maybe it’s not that interesting, though. I’m not sure exactly where it is, but if it’s like other places in So Cal, then it probably has lots of schoolyards and mini malls to skate. And of course, the weather–a guaranteed sunny day, every day. Sounds like paradise to me. What’s more, I bet there’re skateparks close by.

Well, kids, save your money, buy a bus ticket, and go to California. It may be rough for a while, but people are friendly there. Skateboards fall off trees, and you can even get food stamps (like I did). Ray skates for Popwar, and he keeps bugging me to get him on Thunder and I Path. Also, he’s friendly and deserves everything he gets. Be nice to him, everybody, ’cause he’ll be nice back.–Kenny Reed