Above Coping art show benefit at Commonwealth Skateboarding in Portland, OR on August 30th.

Above Coping is seeking skateboarding themed art for a benefit show at Commonwealth Skateboarding on August 30th. See the flyer for details. What is Above Coping? “Above Coping is a non-profit that brings skateboarding to youth with chronic health conditions and life threatening illnesses. AC has two major programs: “Skating Through It” art clinics where children paint their own blank skateboard deck, and “Getting Over It” skate clinics where children paint decks and we set up complete skateboards while teaching the basics of riding them. The programs are conducted in partnership with hospitals (Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Shriner’s Hospital for Children) and child serving non-profits in Portland, OR (Children’s Cancer Association, Children’s Healing Art Project, Hands and Voices, etc.).”

Captain Greenaway from an article in The Bold italic titled Know Your NIMBYs, a guide to San Francisco’s Loudest Citizens. This potent NIMBY opposes anything that isn’t green. That may be as simple as a lack of compost bins and/or organic food for her children at school, or the more complex issue of impinging on 420 rights. They can often be found joining forces with The Transportationazi to do things such as not allow a highway to go through residential areas and instead be routed down Van Ness Avenue. They will also change shade slightly and take on the light of The Vegan Avenger and/or The Community Gardenist to make sure that nature wins above all else. [Source: Team Print Shop]

A Push to Remember is a a skateboard ride across the USA by Jack Smith of the Skateboarder’s Journal. It’s about raising awareness for Alzheimer’s Disease, which is near to Jack’s heart as his father passed away from complications due to Alzheimer’s in 2011. If the cross-USA skateboard trek sounds familiar, you might recall that Jack made a similar journey that was covered in the pages of Thrasher circa 1984, but that wasn’t even the first time he did it, which was in 1976! His 1984 journey also made it as a question in Trivial Pursuit. Help him out with his fundraising efforts if you are inclined. Watch the video and see the card after the jump. – Thanks to MC for the tip. Yes, he meant to send it earlier, but he forgot.

The Kings Highway DIY project in St Louis is scheduled to be torn down within a year as the 76 year old bridge overhead is being demolished. KHVT (Kingshighway Vigilante Transitions 501c3) organizers are working with the city to fundraise and sanction the first public free skatepark in the city. To ensure that the skateboarders of St. Louis will still have a place to skate, KHVT must act quickly. We are working closely with St. Louis City’s Land Re-utilization Authority (LRA) to find small, unused city owned properties to be transformed into free, public “skate gardens.” As of now, KHVT is $33,000 short of the $50k they need to build this first spot. And that’s where the Kickstarter campaign comes in.

Tuesday night at Hopworks there’s a benefit for Powell Park Skate Spot, part of Portland’s 19 park plan. Hopworks is donating 20% of Tuesday night’s profits towards the park. Art for sale benefits the park as well. Donated product will be available for sale that evening after 6pm, with proceeds going to the park fund. In fact, all these proceeds benefit the park directly. There are no further fact finding surveys or “management” costs involved. The red tape has been cut, all that awaits is fundraising so the opening day ribbon can be cut. There’s a conceptual render floating around out there, but I don’t believe anything has been set in stone, other than the fact that Evergreen Skateparks will be building this one.

Maple XO is hosting a fashion show this Friday night in response to Jeremy Scott’s recent ripoff, as well as design ripoffs in general. Is there a difference between plagiarism and appropriation? I hope so. Maple XO is no stranger to having some of their own work copied wholesale. This kind of event screams for some GVK coverage. See you there?

  Randy has asked me to post stuff to Skate and Annoy for a while, and I’ve always been a big fan, so I figured it was about time we get started. So, he said why not start off with an introduction. Well, who the Fuck is Jim Gray? If you care, I’m a guy who was sitting on the deck watching when Tony Hawk and Christian Hosoi win contests and I got 29th and was stoked to get a good seat on the deck to watch the finals. I’m the guy who thought it would be really lame and confusing if skateboarding had 500 pro models instead of 50, and I think it is, maybe you think it’s awesome. I am  the kook who showed up in white plaid shorts and blue shoes to the black clothing only backyard pool party. I’m loved, I’m hated, I’m everything in between, but like you I have an opinion, and for some unknown reason, Randy thought it would be fun to have me rattle mine off now and then here on S&A. My daddy always told me opinions are like Assholes, everyone has one, some just stink more than others…… So, whether you  love…

From the Burnside Facebook page: Burnside Skatepark Aubre/AJ is approaching businesses in portland, “selling” advertising at the park, but he is keeping the money for his own use. the park does not sell advertising and he is committing fraud. he is ripping off businesses who think they are supporting the park, and making the park look bad in the process. UPDATE: Koin 6 has video.

Drink Water is trying to get people to skip the energy drinks and buzz cola in favor of drinking water instead. They don’t sell water, but they sell shirts, stickers and water bottles with the logo. 10% of the profits go towards water.org, an organization working towards getting clean drinking water for the almost 1 in 9 people in the world who don’t have access to clean water. Man, that seems really high. And for our purposes, they have a promo video with some skateboarding in it. This whole thing sounds like a bit in Portlandia. If we don’t drink energy drinks and soda, who will make TV commercials with skateboarding or sponsor the contest series that air on TV to show those commercials? – Thanks to Tom Bender for the tip.