Once again proving that a government publication is more fun with a picture of a skateboard, the headline on this Russian poster loosely translates to They did everything for us. Are we doing anything for them? “They” meaning Russian World War 2 veterans, and “Us” meaning the current young generations in Russia. Basically, the poster wants Russians to take care of their war veterans. There are no other details available, my guess is this was made during the 80’s. You can view the whole poster after the jump. [Source: Flickr]

Looks like it’s a video post kind of day. This is probably the best car-as-skateboard, ahem, in-car-nation I’ve ever seen. Check out this spot for the Nissan Qashqai. “WTF is a Qashqai?” you ask? Well its a Turkic-speaking tribal confederation of clans in Iran. I guess that explains why they don’t sell it in the United Sates… And here I thought it was Icelandic. This post is labeled “Part 2” but I’ve skipped a car commercial or two. There’s another commercial with some sort of creature using a car as a skateboard but I can’t recall what for. I think I might even have it taped somewhere. The best part of this commercial? The wall ride! Watch it after the jump.

The skateboarding section at Powell’s City of Books in Portland, Oregon. I was in there to pick up a copy of The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself by Rodney Mullen – which is a good read by the way – and I was impressed by how many skate titles they had.

Denver’s Channel 7 News reports that a skateboarder was attacked by a Coyote.

Two different residents said a boy was attacked by a coyote while riding his skateboard. They said he was able to fend off the coyote with the skateboard.

A certain Wile. E. is being sought as an animal of interest. Apparently, Wile E. has a history of violence against small birds and skateboards as well.

Hey everybody. Well it appears that we are in the yearly eBay slump. Seriously. I’ve never seen so many auctions go off where the decks didn’t meet reserve. There are some great bargains out there on decks that don’t have a reserve: I will list a couple, but go on there and do some digging. You might be surprised. I’ve also got a couple of funny auctions at the end. A couple of them should have the seller name “Hopeful Bastard”.

This month, this column is fueled by Heinz baked beans, the sounds of Ignite, and is 100% created on a 20” G5 iMac at 1 pm on a Friday afternoon. One of the benefits of being a consultant I guess.
Check it out.

ABC News has a crush on Vans Shoes. They have a two page spread on the 40th anniversary of Vans Shoes titled Skateboard Style Hits Middle Age. It’s a fluff piece obviously, but it’s got a brief history of the shoe and a gallery of some old ads that are worth checking out for comedy nostalgia, plus they have a Jeff Spicoli reference in the first paragraph. I’ve pulled out the highlights after the jump.

Paul Smith is a UK designer. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t skate. His web site offers a really expensive limited edition skateboard that seems to be identical in every way to the non limited edition model except it costs an extra $300. Paul Smith isn’t the first designer, or the first Paul to get into limited edition skateboards.

I am not making this up. A new study by the nonprofit Rand Corporation finds that girls who live near parks with active facilities like jogging paths, basketball courts, and playgrounds are more likely to be physically active. (Duh!) Sounds good right? Except, Skateboard areas and special-use parks were negatively associated with physical activity in adolescent girls.

Doing business in communist China is easier than in Santa Cruz, said a local surfboard, snowboard and skateboard maker.

Coupled with the first sentence of “Local skateboard maker toys with leaving S.C.,” you’d be left with the impression that Novak is contemplating moving (all) Santa Cruz Skateboards production to China. After all, the over regulation and complaints from gentrifying neighbors are some of the same alleged reasons that Clark Foam, the world’s largest manufacturer of surfboard blanks shut down. However, according to the interviews, Novak is only considering moving to an adjacent town. Do you believe him?

Lots of injured skateboarders making the news, mostly by the hands (or wheels) of others. Also, some unfortunate deaths. There’s a web site called MyDeathSpace that seems to just be a repository of obituaries. It might be in too poor of taste for even us.