From Dennis the Menace, August 7th. I guess I should have tipped off MC. Although I’m not sure this is the type of skate comic he’s interested in. Dennis’s unnamed friend must be sporting clear grip tape.

The LA Times reports that skaters and BMX riders alike are not too happy with ESPN’s Superpark course built by a BMX crew. The main complaints are “too small” and “tight transitions,” although you’d be hard pressed to tell by some of the photos. The Flying Tomato reminds us that this is the first year for the event, and next years will likely be better. Shaun White may be right, or he may just be more interested in making bad miniseries for HP computers. I seem to recall hearing that some of the early vert ramps in the X Games were kind of crappy too, but they eventually go that right. With more money on the line now, they’ll probably get right on that. Although the general public seems to only be interested in the Mega Ramp. [Photo: Los Angeles Times] - Thanks to Mac for the tip.

This is kind of an old item already, but for some reason the New York Times has picked up on the release of Jay Adams from prison. I had wondered whether he was officially done with his time or whether he was on some sort of probation. The Times says he’s at a halfway house serving out the remaining months of his four year sentence. I’ve often wondered how that whole prison release thing works, fortunately I don’t know the details. Looks like he’s working for Hurley maintaining their private skate facility. Check out the pic above right. Apparently Hurley is exploring a marketing image that wants to intimidate the hell out of prospective clothes buyers. You can get the full effect at the NYT article by enlarging it. I wonder if Jay knew that the prison he was serving time in was only about 15 minutes away from the world class Aumsville, Oregon skatepark? I thought I read that he took a cab to a bus station in Portland. With Hurley’s parent company Nike so close in Beaverton, Oregon you’d think someone could have picked him up. I can’t find that bit of info anymore, so I might have imagined the cab ride. I know at least one soul who would have jumped at the chance to provide the hour long lift. No, it’s not me, but I mean, if I was already on my way back from Aumsville, sure I’d stop for him. Jay’s caught a couple of breaks lately, here’s to hoping he can stay free. Although, you’ve got to bet that Hosoi wishes he had Adam’s lawyer, considering he seemingly had a harder time getting released for lessor offense and comparatively nominal criminal history. Insert derisive Steve Olson comment on skate bloggers here. - Thanks to TK, Mac and about a 20 other people for the tip.

The State Games of Oregon have been organizing “amateur Olympic-style competitions for all ages and skill levels” since 1986. They claim 38 sports and 16,000 athletes, so it’s quite an affair. Skateboarding (in the form of Slalom) has been part of the agenda for the last three years. There were three days of slalom events this weekend, including something intriguing called “slalom cross” which looks like it’s head to head on the same set of cones. Sounds like fun to enter or watch. The Statesman Journal has an article and photo gallery. Come on, don’t be so uptight. Slalom can be fun. - Thanks to Judy Oyama for the tip.

Yeah, yeah, old guys still skate. We get it already. Here’s a quite lengthy article from the Columbia News Service about old guys that are still skating in different parts of the country. Somehow or other they missed out on interviewing Mark Conahan, who must have been booked on one of his many media appearances that day. They did interview full-faced helmeted Northwest icon Dan Hughes. The picture on the (top) right is from his web site. Who’s that funny looking old guy on the left? It’s Tommy Guerrero from a short interview in the San Francisco Chronicle, published earlier this year. UPDATE: Here’s another link to a story called “Chairmen of the Boards” (Guffaw! Never heard that one before!) from an Australian publication called The Age. It’s three more pages about old (Australian) guys skating, specifically a crew of guys at Frankston skatepark who routinely bring their own lights to make time to skate in their busy schedules. They have a base of about 60 people who regularly fill out these sessions with 20-30 skaters. Sounds kind of annoying, actually. I hope that’s a big park. That’s a lot of people and the guys in the picture (bottom right) look oversized to begin with.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer used this photo to illustrate an article about evidence storage by the Seattle Police. They hold on to evidence for 80 years, so get your grandchildren to schedule the police auction on their calendars if they want to make a killing on eBay.

Gotta love infotainment graphics. This one is from the Denver Post article on William Spencer. Reminds me of several things. I think a good fake job for a character in a book or movie would be dental animation specialist - or someone who makes a living modeling 3d computer graphics of mouths and teeth for toothpaste and mouthwash commercials. We’ve covered this guy before, but now there’s newer footage. Supposedly, Spencer stunt doubled Orlando Bloom in a Japanese hair care commercial.

(more…)

More useless odds and ends. These guys in Massachusetts do touchy-feely performance art called “Zend” on skateboards inspired by stained glass. And speaking of hippies, the Seattle Times wants you to believe that longboarders have a higher calling. Ryan Sheckler gets nominated for a world wide sportmanship award in the action sports category, but loses to Shaun White. I guess there was no category for crying. An interesting note, a guy with the actual name of “Dick Pound” won the “Spirit of Sport” award for his work with the World Anti-Doping Agency. Sounds like spirit alright. According to the North County Times, Andy Macdonald is not a rebel, and he does have a cause. Do you need money? Why not fake getting hit by a car on your skateboard so your buddies can steal a purse while the driver makes sure you are OK? These kids in Vancouver, Washington did. What’s the next Xtreme!™ sport raging in Orange County? Racing Dodge Chargers on electric skateboards. The article “Not Just Any Old Token” does not refer to Dave Chappelle’s race, even if he is the only non-honky in the photo. Some skateboarders in Queens, New York found some humane remains and called 911, further laying to rest the teenage satanic skateboard worshipers theory. Some people don’t need to read a study to know that hurting yourself skateboarding can cost a lot of money, but some do.

There. I’ve wasted enough of my time, so go waste some of yours.

[Assorted tips - Mark Ward, Mike Estes, Poor Richard]

A friend mentioned a Chance Meeting personal ad in the Portland newspaper the Willamette Week Someone was trying to hook up with a Handsome Skater Dad. Since the new issue had already come out, I missed my chance but the website had a couple of similar items. So it’s not all Shecky , the mature skater-man is also in demand.

You’re the one for me, fatty? The Baltimore Sun reports that Extreme™ kids are less likely to be lard asses, in so many words. Actually, the article titled Ramped-up exercise states a Hopkins study finds that kids who skateboard or rollerblade stay fit longer than those who play organized sports. You don’t see too many gargantuan pro skaters, whereas in football and even baseball it’s not uncommon to see massive guts. Actually, there are some large beer guts in our crew, but we’re not pros. The study also says you need to engage the the activities at least four times a week, which explains it more. Further empirical evidence is provided in these screen captures from a Rob & Big episode where Rob puts on a fat suit.

- Thanks to Stephanie Murdock for the tip.