I’ve always found this cover image… appealing. I had assumed it was actually a surfing rag when I first saw it, but later found out it was the precursor to Concrete Wave. I tried to pay the four bucks to download a hi-res pdf but found the whole process convoluted and unsatisfying. (Update: It was a stray link that was supposed to be removed. free now!) You can see a larger version of the cover after the jump. What’s with the handstand shot? It’s just filler I found here while looking for a big version of the cover.

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Danimal picked up the latest Transworld skateboarding and and saw MC’s book in print. First question is, what is Danimal doing reading Transworld Skateboarding? Dude, you’ve just been outed.

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Here’s two, one from the 80’s and one that would have been at home in the 80’s but just came out. On the left is a new Concrete Wave patch with Jim Phillips artwork that originally appeared on a Pocket Pistols deck, but has also recently appeared as a poster and cover of Concrete Wave magazine, not to mention a magnet as well. On the right is a patch from Monster Skateboard Magazine of Germany, from back in the late 80’s. I originally go this from a skateboarding friendof mine (Ray Johnson) who was in the Air Force who got stationed in West Germany. Yes, by all means, we are accepting scans of skate patches for a future gallery.

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After last week’s post on saucy skateboard ads from the ’70s (UK vs US), the editor of Vintage Skateboard Magazines was kind enough to send in some scans he hadn’t gotten around to publishing yet.

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We mentioned Tom Fain in a piece about the defunct Skatepark Magazine since he was on the cover posing with his eight wheeled skateboard under the caption “Why every community could use a Tom Fain.” and I made the joke “Really? Every community could use a guy who is seemingly completely out of touch with skateboarding culture?” because he was on an 8 wheeler, and most kids can’t relate to a board that is wider than 8 inches, let alone an eight wheeler from the 70’s. Well Tom eventually saw the post and wrote to me. He’s got a good sense of humor and wasn’t annoyed by the post at all. He sent in a bunch of pictures of him not being out of touch with skateboarding culture, as well as some scans of the article about him in Skatepark magazine. Tom has a web site devoted to his ministry and skateboarding called SAP Skateboards if you are interested.

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I’ve been half heartedly trying to spark some interest in a skateboard print magazine based in the Northwest, something like For the Krew does out of Florida. It would be fun idea, lord knows we have the spots and the talent in this region. Nobody wants to bite on this idea, because print is a pain in ass, and it seems like Concussion is 2/3 Northwest coverage lately anyway. That being said, this week’s Shot of the Week was recently in Concussion as a half page advert for Merde Skateboards, a merdvertisment, if you will. It’s Chris Nukala in his back yard, shot by Michael Goetz of The Skateboard Archives. Way to go Nukala, you’re looking like a star! It’s been pretty amazing to see the local talent in Oregon and Washington come of age since the first good parks were built. Check out the Shot of the Week or see the Merde advert after the jump.

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Flipping through the first few pages of Concussion #37 makes it clear that Concussion is new Concrete Wave. Page 13 - Full page advert for Foundation re-issues, no big deal. Page 23 - full page Art and Steve Godoy advert for Bones Wheels. I don’t know what’s more shocking, the Godoys on a Powell brand or the Godoys in any advert. Where was the hype back when I needed it? Actually, I think they’ve always been on good terms, but they didn’t fit the squeaky clean image of Powell back in the day. Those are Factory 13 boards they are sporting. Then on page 26 there’s a full page Circle-A advert. Oh yeah, Full page OJ’s and and a full page Lester Kasai ad for S One Helmets too.

And I’m just kidding about that Concrete Wave comparison Davoud. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Green skateboards and now green skateparks? In Portland there are two new skateparks breaking ground in 2008. Both proposals mentioned a need to minimize the environmental impact, mostly concentrating on water runoff. Seems like a minor part of the project to me, as none of these parks are located near waterways. But what do I know? I’m not one of those science doohickeys. Coincidentally, Airspeed Skateparks has the contract for one of those new parks and they are also featured in the newest issue of Concrete Wave Magazine. The article titled The New Cooldown - Skate Green: Design and Build Smart is available as a PDF download. There’s more to this green skatepark than you might imagine. Aside from skateparks the article also talks about sustainability in skateboards, clothing and shoes.

- Thanks to Don Whitaker for the tip.

Skater and Annoy got mentioned in an issue of the German action sports magazine Slack. My German vocabulary is limited to what I picked up from playing the original 2D version of Castle Wolfenstein on my Apple II back in 1982. See post title for demonstration.

Dieses News-Portal ist aus einem Skate-Zine aus den 80er-Jahren hervorgegangen, was an manchen Stellen deutlich zu spüren ist. Die exklusiv gestalteten Comics und zum Teil bissigen Kommentare über die Darstellung von Skateboarding in den US-amerikanischen Medien lässt den schnoddrigen DIY-Charakter durchscheinen. „Skate and Annoy“ hat seine Wurzeln in Portland/Oregon und fühlt sich in erster Linie dem Transition Skating verpflichtet. Ihr denkt, ihr seid old school? Dann zieht euch erst mal rein, wie die Jungs aus dem Betonpark-Mekka die weichgespülte Skate-Welt sehen…

Let’s see… we’ve got the 80’s, comics, some DIY stuff and Portland Oregon. It also mentions “old school” so that means they think we are a bunch of Barneys. How did they find us? Must be all the Claus Grabke coverage.

I hesitated to post this because I didn’t want it to come off like we were pushing something off that was paid advertising in reality. (Hey check out Active’s dope new ad, it’s effing insert latest slang here!) Of course, if you are listening Acitve Mail Order, there’s room for you in our banner ad rotation if you you want to buy it.

OK, so Active had an open call to show up for an ad shoot for Erik Ellington. His fans showed up, they shot the ad and documented the process as well. I don’t know jack about Erik Ellington, but he comes off well in the short video, even taking the time to shake every extra’s hand and thank them personally. I imagine if you were a fan of his and got to meet him informally and be in one of his adverts you’d be age appropriately stoked. The ad is slick, but the reality is mundane. If you’ve ever wondered how these things go, spend a few minutes behind the scenes.

Note to Active: You have a dead link to the casting call. All those social networking links are nice, but it would have been a lot nicer if you’d let others embed the video directly.