:::: skatelegs magazine incorporated two thousand and eleven ::::
2/21/11 T.F.M. IN PANAMA INTERVIEW
Recently I interviewed the one and only during his most recent trip to Panama where he tells us about his current movements in Latin America as well as the current state of D.I.Y. skate spots there, Panama beer prices, his favorite reggaeton, prositution, the Panama skate scene, and some overall insight into the feel for skateboarding in a different country from a perspective that could only be told by the man himself....
Ok, so for people that dont know what the does T.F.M.. stand for? does it have multiple meanings?
T.F.M. or in Espanol E.H.L.M…The Freeman Movement or El Hombre Libre Movemiento…. its a legacy, a flag of my lineage, its my family and all of our conquests... You can let it fly from mountains of peoples brains, from the vaginas of chicks in foreign countries, from the skate spots of Portland, Oregon… My dads given' up on his imperialistic nature... socially, psychically, and geographically... but I'm in panama planting various types of flags and my brother just relocated to pittsburgh to expand his territories… We are currently waiting for some Louisianna purchase type opportunities
I heard your living in panama right now. what are you doing down there? other than moving kilos...
I've been moving kilos of toxin laced sweat all over this city... yesterday... I was sweating out demons hard... My armpit is the ocean, my arm is a system of river tributaries, and yesterday I was on a crowded bus standing above a little old lady who was sitting and the top of her head became the big lake... I didn't realize I had been dripping sweat the whole bus ride... she never noticed... tree falling with nobody around....... as for the real answer to the question, skating with the homes…
What are the skate spots like en Panama?
Panama is full of good skate spots... One every block but most of them take some serious urban manipulation... good architecture but with bad materials, they put glass on walls and break it on the ground too, those spots are fun... American influence, Spanish influence, and lots of Panama style urban planning.... Clayton or what some people jokingly call Portland is killing it tho... its a piece of concrete in what we would call a jungle, the land was originally owned by the US because we had 5 km in all directions of the canal but now because it's in the hands of Panama, the property is in limbo... so my friends have been creating a transformation of the broken down materials from the buildings on the site and reconstructed in a manner fit for skating... Just skated there with Kenny Anderson, Rob G, and a good mix of pros, they were feeling it.…
Hows the beer down there??
The beer is perma pabst… same alcohol content, like 3.8 or something ... its 35 cents if you buy it at the right spots... so i drink like 75 a day...
So did your previous beer sponsor drop you then?
Yeah... I had to cut all ties with Genesee. I mean I kinda got tired of drinkin it becuase my friend Brando. He pretty much killed it for me. Everyday it was a trip to plaid pantry, scoop on three Geneese's and then off to the East Waterfront manuel pad. When it all comes down to it, I basically just had to stop supporting them becuase they simply just werent flowing me enough product down here... so any beer sponsors out theree looking for fresh new skateboarders to sponsor im open arms right now. I had to drop my black tanktop sponsor as well. That stuff kinda just insn't as fashionable as it used to be for males anymore.. But as far as Genesee is concerned...maybe Brando can send them some footage. I dont know...
I heard they have prostitutes that literally try to pull you into dark doorways from the shadows down there when your walking through alleyways at night... is that true?
i wish... you have to go to the casinos or fancy night clubs here... that's actually only in Peru… its cool tho because the working girls just party at the clubs and hang out all normal like and by the end of the night some old guy or a Canadian pays up...
Who is this Harold Tomlinson guy?
Harold is a big gay shattah rasta skate diva….He's the Marc Johnson of Panama… He's been a large foundational part of building up the skate industry here in Panama and him,his car Arturo, and his big pet bird Miguelon Freemanito are at the center of all the good skate sessions
How is your Spanglish down there?
Slang as fuck... words being birthed with every blunt... just coming up with the weirdest things to say and trying to pronounce them as crazed as possible and with Spanish that can get pretty crazed... Quuuuuueeeee Etiiiiiiilo… I've been coming down to Latin America for 4 winters now trying to learn Spanish and traveling around but now i don't want to learn Spanish… i wanna learn Panameno
I heard most of the skate homies interpret American culture through gangster rap music down there...how does that work?
People just like reggae and hip hop a lot down here and identify with it because it is about progression, change, suffering, weed, and the streets... Learning a language is hard but once you throw in the extreme levels of slang associated with hip hop and reggae all your left with is undefinable syllables... but Harold knows all of the syllables.
Tell me a little about your nickname you acquired the last time you were in panama?
I got a couple... my bad spanish creates a lot of potential for humor... I was a judge at a contest and they gave me a microphone... interesting decision... so, i talked about skating in retard spanish over a sound system for over 2 hours... and supposedly i said "unA truco mas…" which means one more trick BUT if you know a little bit about spanish... words end in O or A... trick is masculine so it should of been unO… Spanish is so about manipulation of the smallest details for different emphasis that in a way i was calling all the tricks girly and bitch made.... Harold does that in english alot... you dont really understand the microscope of language till you dive deep in a language exchange for 4 months... harold would be trying to say something in english about a hot chick but his timing and emphasis would be off so he more or less wouldn't be clear about the chick and he would more or less be saying he's gay and wants my body... oh yeah, and i got a self proclaimed nickname... Miguelon Freemanito, if i can get girls to start calling me that, I'm gonna be pretty happy...
Whats your favorite thing about panama this time around...
I'de half to say the homies and the diversity of everyday... Last year i put in close to 4 months and now... I know i feel at home in the city here… it's a perfect parallel to my life at home. Got a bunch of skate homies that are always down to skate… so we heat up a session or two and then cool down with cervezitas.. it's the same as my lifestyle at home but everything is Latin and entirely different here...
Any plans for a panama skate video with the crew you've been skating with?
We do some filming but as for a complete video i don't know... i know Harold eventually wants to get one done... they just did a 8 dude tour for 8 days... the 88 tour and made a pretty amazing 9 minute tour vid... We are gonna do some sort of big trip coming up in march so maybe we will throw together a video about that.
Whats your favorite thing about not living in America right now?
The cheeseburgers are dirtier down here... and that dirt is where the flavors at.... but realistically the scenery... everything my eye focuses on is new and different... trees, birds, buildings, butts, buses, skate spots...
Is there ever any harassment at skate spots in Panama??
Yeah, you get kicked out of spots like anywhere else... just like all cities, all the best spots are a huge bust...
Got any skate trips planned down there in the near future?
Either me and harold in colombia to find shakira and tricks or just a really long trip thru Panama with all the homies... whatever happens first...
For someone who doesn't know anything about panama, what would you say the overall skate scene, in general, is like there?
It's like traveling into the future where things are cool and the skate scene has already collapsed and is being rebuilt... the Panama skate scene is super tight knit... Everybody has a lot of respect for each other and everybody interacts a lot...
Harald Tomlinson and T.F.M. sharing some bromance on a nice day in Panama
Panama skate tour
Fuego
Any last words or people you want to reference from the Estados Unidos or North America??
On that note... Remember when you were talking about those prostitute holes in the wall in abandoned buildings... well Alex Moser of 1729 F street mount pleasant vancouver british colombia went exploring into those dark crevices a lot..... Queeeeee Etiiiiiiilo
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