I saw a whole mess of Toyota marketing money that looked like it was trying to bite Jim Phillips’s style, but it’s probably legit.A quick search for Jim Phillips and Toyota reveals that he appears in a Toyota commercial that airs in Japan, so it’s highly believable that they also hired him to illustrate for the Extreme&trade:! sports market.

Portland based Above Coping was featured on Fuel TV’s web site. Where did you get that snazzy shirt MC? Mark did the logo and the board graphic for Michael Montgomery’s model, so it made sense to film a sequence at his bowl. The organization’s founder Heath Berg has written a few things here on S&A, and by golly, I think I’ve seen that Vice President in a few Santa Cruz videos from the golden age. I met Michael at the launch party. He seemed like he had a grip on things. Seeing him in this video makes it clear that he’s had to mature quickly. Vid after the jump.

Hey, we’re famous! Or at least we got mentioned in the Miami Dade Herald. Family members of relatives buried in the Miami City Cemetery are upset about the skatepark slated to be built next door, and it’s at this point that you can insert a noise violation joke about waking the dead. The article mentions Seth Levy’s post about the proposed park being under attack by local NIMBYs. The Miami Dade Herald article is not so subtly slanted against the skatepark. The photos all show mourning relatives in the cemetery and how historic it is, what with all the veterans (both sides) of the Civil War buried there. They feature quotes from people feel having a skatepark next door is somehow an affront to the people buried there. They make a point of how it’s easy to find (via the internet) incidents of trouble at skateparks around the country, including recent closures. Skate and Annoy is almost the positive voice in the article, and I have to say I’m suspicious that they only included it because of the negative connotations of the name. Read the article, but please remember you represent skateboarders. If you choose to comment on that site,…

July’s eBay Watch is a day later to post because Neil gave it to me on a Sunday, and there is too much good TV on Sunday night. Mad Men, Hung, and True Blood. This is Stephen Moyer, the actor who plays Vampire Bill. He got married to Sookie, I mean Anna Paquin over the weekend, and was spotted the next day on a skateboard. I would have thought he would have been too worn out, but that might explain his big grin. You know, because skateboarding makes you happy. New eBay Watch in about an hour. – Thanks to Mrs Kilwag for the tip. [Source: US Magazine]

Still some time to go in this charity auction of art boards. In case you are unfamiliar with Skateistan, it’s basically youth outreach and cultural exchange for some kids in one of the sketchiest part of the world. Peace through skateboarding.

I went last night and had a blast. There’s a live band but the cast doesn’t sing, so musical is a bit of a stretch. It’s a fast and loose production filled with a “special” effects bonanza, including the infamous scene where the Ramp Locals ramp gets burned down. The Corey Webster character is cherubic, if not down right portly, but it’s played to perfection. Also worth mentioning, the ladies are representing. Pretty much the only actual skating during the production is handled by an enthusiastic crew of female rippers. Highly recommended at Dantes, tonight.

You can watch the Oregon Trifecta live on the Go211 webcast, in theory at least. Every time I tried to watch yesterday it was down.

Kids everywhere know that JCPenney… wait, try this. Known for their extreme… errr, well. The JCPenney miniramp at the Dew Tour.

Not enough to put a raised ridge in the middle of the bank, they had to put a fence up too. Tennis courts next to Grant High School in Portland. The TMR crew wuz there.

This is actually almost two weeks old, but it’s still well worth mentioning. Hats off to the Tony Hawk Foundation, who has introduced a new requirement for skatepark grants; No more prefab wooden parks. Read the press release titled “If Not Concrete, Then Why?”