This is hard drive cleaning time an illustration by Tim Root, for the Portland Mercury, that dates back a couple years. It might have been a cover, or t-shirt, or both. I can’t remember. Tim’s illustrations for Stumptown Coffee have appeared here before. Who is Tim Root?

My kid finished his dinner at Red Robin and showed me this plate with an Elephant jumping over… the visitor center at the Great Wall of China? I recognized it from some solicitation I received from a Chinese skateboard manufacturer. I assumed the Chinese company had made the graphic, but the skateboard is different from the one on the plate. Apparently, this is a thing.

Only in the 70’s (and 50’s, 60’s 80’s and 90’s) could you get away with a line like “Unfortunately, the chick is not included” coupled with a headline like “Your pad or mine?” The black and white photo is from product release news in the 1st issue (1977) of Skateboard Scene. It’s about a new line of safety gear from Syndicate (no relation to the US company) that was an offshoot of the Skuda brand. With a ? of a page product announcement, it’s no surprise that there were also ads for Skuda and Syndicate pads. The dapper fellow on the right is from the Skuda advert. Surprisingly, a 2008 post about a plastic Skuda was one of the first Skuda mentions on the interwebs, and was pretty popular here. It still gets the occasional odd comment. Can you tell I’ve updated the Vintage Skatemag Ad Gallery? I also added a cool, slightly goofy ad from a company called Roncastle, and Wharfdales Skateboard Centre. I never get tired of the centre spelled with “re” at the end. I only wish there was an ad for Ye Olde Skateboard Shoppe. (follow the individual links) After you read/see the product announcement for Skuda’s Syndicate branded knee pads after the jump, check out the new ads in the gallery (follow the individual links.)

There’s a giant skateboarder outside of the Body Expanded exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago. MSIC is one of a few museums in the world to have a permanent display from the creators of Body Worlds. I did not enter the exhibit to see if there was more skateboarding action. What was I thinking? I don’t know. The MSIC is so big, we didn’t get to everything in one day.

Jeff Longo rescued a newborn baby flying squirrel. The only reason you’re looking at on Skate and Annoy is because he eventually took a picture of it standing on a fingerboard.

[Source: Laughing Squid.]

This is the print campaign associated with the 1994 TV commercial and toy prize giveaway uncovered in the Mega-Nesquik post from last year. This one was found on Ebay Italy by “Cool Steve.”

Ay, Caramba is a red rye India Pale Ale brewed by Holy Roller in Tallinn, Estonia. Nicolas Bouvy sent this picture but declined to review it since he’s predisposed to dislike IPA’s. Me too, actually. Here in Oregon, if you go to the grocery store to buy any beer that isn’t Bud or Pabst, you’ll find a selection of about 20 IPA’s and only a handful of less hoppy choices. And yet, I still manage to cultivate a healthy beer gut. Which came first, the label or the beer name? Ay, Caramba is surely a tip of the hat to Bart Simpson, and all the labels show a heavy Jim Phillips inspiration.

Random guy standing next to me in line at the airport. I believe this is Mondo Gecko from TMNT, wearing a Ramones shirt. Radical!

International Olympic Committee Announced street and park skateboarding events to debut in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.  The IOC has some live video of the even with a horrible interface, but there’s an interesting bit where a reporter asks about the lawsuits in one of the so-called governing bodies of skateboarding, as well as anti-doping. The  Tokyo Skateboarding Commission sounds like a criminal investigation, but it is in fact, ” a partnership between the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports and the International Skateboarding Federation formed under the guidance of the International Olympic Committee. The TSC is in charge of all aspects of producing the Skateboard Street and Park Terrain events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.” 

Now that skateboarding is in the Olympics, maybe we’ll finally get some skateparks built… oh yeah. Well maybe our top athletes will be able to earn a living… oh yeah… It’s all moot now.

Two illustrations from Christoph Niemann’s illustrated children’s book titled Words. Christoph says “I am inviting kids (and readers of all ages) to intuit and puzzle out meaning, and to see language as a source of ideas and stories.”  Is that a bunch of hooey to justify a pet project? I don’t think so.  I have to admit, the juxtaposition of these two illustrations definitely had me pondering how a young child just learning to read might process this page spread.  There’s an extra layer of interest to me as a skateboarder, being able to recall my first skateboard and how very fond of it I was at a young age, separation anxiety and all.

[Source: Creative Review] – Thanks to MC for the tip.