After playing a little communication tag with Newbury Park, California's Mikey Taylor, I finally managed to catch up with him over the phone while he was getting ready for an early afternoon surf in nearby Ventura. As you well know, the 27 year-old is pro for Alien Workshop, Etnies, Thunder, and recently joined The Canteen's pro roster.

"The Berrics has mail order now, and I'm on the team. I've got a key to the skatepark, which is nice," he says.

Mikey was sweating this interview a little because he thought it would be a lot of Canadian trivia, rather than a combination of opinion-based inquiries along with a couple of mellow skill-testing questions.

"Before we even start, I just want to apologize because I know I'm going to be awful at answering any sort of trivia. Canada, I'm sorry [laughs]," he was quick to chime-in. And when I mentioned that Adam Alfaro has been the champ so far, Mikey responds with: "Really? That's rad. As long as I do better than Malto, dude."

So let's run a little CSOTB with Mikey Taylor, shall we? He definitely brought some unexpected hockey passion and a genuine love for Winnipeg to the table, and he became yet another American skater who expressed his admiration for the refreshing and intoxicating Iceberg beer topping.

Have you traveled to Canada much before?
I've been to Canada a bunch of times. I was probably 11 the first time I went, when I was on a traveling ice hockey team [laughs]. I wish I could remember the name of our team! That first trip was to the place with the huge mall – Edmonton. I remember we went to the water park and stuff. We went to some crazy hot springs out there, too.

In recent years, the trips up there have been to Winnipeg. We love Winnipeg, dude [laughs]. There's an awesome park there, but other than that it's just good people. We became friends with so many people there. It's a blast, so we have this little thing going on now – we go out there every summer and it's basically a reunion.

Who is the Prime Minister of Canada?
Oh, yeah. I'm gonna fail [laughs]. I have no clue. Not even the slightest. I couldn't even name a former one. Did Malto know that one?

Not sure I even asked him that. To you, what are the biggest differences between Canada and California?
The biggest difference for me is the people – they generally seem more kind. I grew up in California and nobody holds the door open for you, nobody lets you over in traffic, and a lot of the skate kids are so harsh out here, man [laughs]. They're so critical. Also, the skateparks in Canada are so massive, and you don't have to wear helmets. Down here they'll make the stupidest skatepark where nothing is over 2 feet tall, there's a big fence around it, and you have to wear full pads. It's so bad, man. If Canada was sunny and warm at all times, I'd live there.

Can you describe something you've learned specifically about Canada from your visits?
I don't know if this is what you're talking about, but why are the girls so hot up there? It's insane, man [laughs]. There's like 5 girls to every one dude and they're all so good looking! I guess that's my eye-opening Canadian experience. The girls down here have more of a fake look. You don't really see a lot of naturally pretty girls in California. It's more done-up.

To you, is a Canadian's accent substantially noticeable?
Right off the bat it's totally noticeable. It's not as strong with some people, but it's noticeable when people say certain words like "about". It depends on who it is, because when I'm talking to you I don't really hear it. When we're talking to girls up there, we'll just start laughing sometimes because the accent is so apparent and sounds funny to us. We're just not used to it.

Can you name 3 Canadian bands or musicians?
Oh, God. Does Drake count? He's your new all-star rapper up there. He played "Wheelchair" Jimmy on that show Degrassi: The Next Generation. I've never actually seen the show, but Wheelchair raps now and he's like the next big thing in the States. He just signed a huge record deal and he's on every radio station. He's unbelievable at rapping but I think he's catching a little bit of heat from being on Degrassi. I thinking I'm sticking with one pick for this question, unfortunately [laughs].

Can you name 3 Canadian sports teams?
Let's go with the Edmonton Oilers. The Calgary Flyers? No, that's not it...I know the Calgary logo, I'll get back to that one. There's the Toronto Maple Leafs, and...I'm not gonna fail this question; I should be so good at this one, dude! Hockey was my life as a kid, and my favourite player is Luc Robitaille. Alright, the Montreal Canadiens. That's it! And Calgary is the Flames, so there's a bonus.

What specific food or drink have you had here that you regard as exclusively Canadian?
Oh, Icebergs [draft beer with lemon slush on top]. I never even heard of it before I had one in Canada. Someone ordered it for me in Winnipeg and it was the best thing ever. Those things are so sick.

If you could bring a specific Canadian product home, what would it be?
It would definitely be the Iceberg. We've actually thought of how we could start that down here. Like, import the Iceberg [laughs]. We would just steal the idea, start a bar, and put slushie in every single beer. Or we could just bring Earls down here in its entirety – all the girls and everything.

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Related:
Etnies: Rollin' In The 'Peg
The Canadian Side Of The Brain with Sean Malto
The Canadian Side Of The Brain with Adam Alfaro