Jan and Dean’s 1964 song Sidewalk Surfin’ is pretty much the first skatesploitation song. I haven’t actually researched that, Doc Skaterock probably knows for sure. It’s easily the most famous one. As a young lad I remember buying a cutout Jan & Dean greatest hits compilation on cassette tape just because of this song. Before we were exposed to the larger world of punk rock and skate rock, we actually used to derive a bit of stoke from this cheesy tune, and later on would bust it out for a laugh and some nostalgia.

Apparently J. Mascis is not over it, and has taken to skateboarding in a music video again. The Dinosaur Jr. video for “Tiny” looks like it was shot at the Northampton, MA skatepark. Aside from J. pushing around the park, there’s also a skateboarding dog and some roller derby action. It’s decent tune that will stick in your head, but the dog is not impressed at the end. – Thanks to Tom Tallboycan for the tip

Mark Gonzales is interviewed over on Rolling Stone. It’s technically an interview as he is asked some questions, and “answers” them in typical Gonz fashion. Among the hot topics, you can sort of learn his take on skateboarding in the Olympics. What’s he doing in Rolling Stone? I suspect it has something to do with Adidas reps reaching out. Check out a trailer for Away Days after the jump.

Amazon Kindle has contributed to the advertising phenomena in which people go to a skatepark to engage in activities that don’t involve skateboarding. Usually it’s a TV commercial involving some radio controlled vehicle, or the next yo-yo abstraction. This time it’s a print ad in Time Magazine with a cute little girl sitting on the deck of a skatepark (which one?) enjoying a good novel instead of skateboarding. It’s perfectly reasonable, as long as she is reading the Secret History of the Ollie. The all caps text highlighted on the warning sticker works as an unexpected shout out to a certain truck company. – Thanks to Tallboycan for the tip.

It looks like the long, protracted war is finally over as Skateboarding will be proposed for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, so it’s pretty much a fait accompli. The International Skateboarding Federation is excited about it. Who is in that federation, some notables for sure. Also, the Telegraph definitely thinks I’m too old to skateboard. On a positive note, four Canadian skateboarders are being honored for stopping a sexual assault and helping to apprehend the culprit. (The image on the top left is from Mpora, who has a lot to say about the Olympic announcement but for some reason can’t bring themselves to actually link to it.)

A spare cordless drill and a few parts from the hardware store is all you need to make your own electric skateboard. Start with a round wire brush, right angle bit holder, flexible bit extension, and some nuts and bolts. Just ad a skateboard with large size wheels and you’re good to go. I’m curious how long a charge on drill would last. This seems more like a fun project to do with kids than a viable transportation solution. Much nicer than this one. [Source: BoingBoing] – Thanks to MC for the tip.

70’s vs 80’s, hippies vs preppies.

Kei Kamara, former DP of Columbus Crew and recent high profile / scandalous signee to The New England Revolution taking his longboard with him on a flight to Boston. That’s right soccer/skateboarding fans…. more breaking MLS action here on Skate and Annoy. I never thought there would be another S&A crossover post that didn’t involve the best team in MLS, the mighty Portland Timbers, but here you have it. This is from Kei’s Twitter feed. You know, I actually felt a little bit sorry for Kei last year.

What’s a Rich Eisen? He’s a guy with a sports talk show who got a skateboarding lesson from a man who needs no introduction. Shortly after this clip was uploaded, an intern was fired for forgetting to turn on the deinterlace option.

The Video Toaster was an Amiga computer-based video effects editing system. A hardware and software combo, it was pretty much the first consumer desktop computer system available for video editing. The first one came out in 1987. I can vividly remember going to a computer store to watch the demo tape and gape at the the computer on several occasions, convinced I would do great things if I could afford one. The stills above are from the Video Toaster 4000 which came out around 1993, and features Tonyy Hawk in some recycled Bones Brigade video footage. Of course this predates Tony’s appearances for Apple Computer on behalf of Final Cut Pro. The demo reel is cheesy as hell, and therefore well worth watching. I assumed that the Video Toaster products were purely a 90’s phenomenon, but they were actually being marketed until 2010. – Thanks to Stephen B for the tip.