SkaterTrainers are actually a decent idea if you’re into the whole “training” aspect of skateboarding instead of just going out there and doing it. If that’s your mentality (no judgement) then these might be for you. There are plenty of training devices out there for other sports like tennis and baseball, why not skateboarding? One thing setting these apart form other ollie trainers, you can actually sort of roll on these, as seen in one of the videos. So they have the ability to bridge the gap between stationary and moving. Still, $25 bucks seems pricey for four pieces of simple extruded rubber, but they have to pay for all the forms right? Shipping is free right now if you’re curious. I was really ready to lay into these guys when I first saw this a couple weeks ago, but I sat on the post too long and they’ve since removed some absurdly ridiculous content that used to be there. How about a page titled “Your bearings are dangerous” that offered to remedy the situation by selling you the absolute best bearings for a beginner. I think they were ABEC 3 or something. They had a couple other product pages like that with advice on the best wheels for beginners, which they were ready to sell to you. It was shameless, selling generic skateboard components under the guise of safety and performance. It was so over the top, I almost felt they were intentionally trying to be funny. They must have had a change of heart because all those pages are gone now. Not only are the links gone, but I had one page bookmarked and it’s not there anymore… I’m glad they repented, but it’s hard to for them to be credible after that. In the many video “product reviews” it’s amusing to hear “I got my first set of skater trainers” because it sounds like a potty training device. Product shots and videos after the jump.

– Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.

Well, not exactly the source. Smurfs are from Belgium, but these came from the Netherlands, although, maybe they were made in Belgium, at least the ceramic mug was made in Europe. I can’t imagine a PVC Smurf figure for even a European McDonalds would be made anywhere other than China. I got these both as separate purchases from the same seller, who was kind enough to put the figure in the mug and refund the extra shipping charge. $5 is a surfing excellent deal for shipping both of these from the Netherlands.

Way back in 2008 I predicted that the appearance of a gold plated skateboard was inevitable, and I was right, although it took a while. Well, it’s finally here, and available for sale at SHUT for a cool $15,000. Maybe Lil Wayne is in the market. (Shit! Rad Collector already used that joke!) At first glance, this might seem to be just another bit of marketing excess gone too far, and it sure is, but the story behind it is a little more pure.

Hobie Alter of Hobie Skateboards (surfboards, sailboats, etc..) passed away last Saturday at age 80. The image above right is from a recent Surfer Magazine interview with Hobie concerning his recently published biography.

I just spent another week in a town with a perpetually flat ocean and yet every third retail store serving the tourist trade has a few mint condition surfboards on the walls, ceiling, or in the window. Must be a city ordinance. I’ve been coming here for almost 10 years during different times of the year and I’d venture to guess that every day in Oregon would beat the surf conditions here on any day, water temperature excluded. In any case, I’m back from vacation. Regular transmissions from Skate and Annoy will resume shortly, although there will be no travel documentary as I’m approaching the half point in a recent tendon tear recovery via DOS Trusty Bowl. Didn’t even pack the (skate)board.

This is clearly a Kevin Staab bootleg. More than one company seems to have copied the ‘Mad Chemist’ graphic in the past. We had some here and I have seen some other fake Staabs around.  The original deck was designed by John Lucero in 1986 for Sims. Also, this fake one is made by Saturn, the same company that produced the fake Monty Nolder from December. It was also the same seller who sold this deck on eBay. This one went for £10.73 after 5 bids.

Thanks to John William Davies for the tip and Chandra Ruegg for the pictures.

This is a commercial with skateboarding in it that I can get behind. Death Wish Coffee presents The Late Riser.

– Thanks to Mezmer for the tip.

Pause magazine wants to redefine men’s fashion:

The skater boy is the contemporaries new man and fashion wants him for their own.
AW or SS it doesn’t matter….THIS IS THE FUTURE.

This guy so surreal looking I can’t even laugh at this. A one point the video is like Charlie Sexton in a Devo video. Sometimes he looks like a computer animation. The model is one angular mofo. The video runs from skateboarding to motocross to a quasi bullfighter look. I keep expecting Ali G or Bruno to pop up. And the title, so hopelessly out of touch/fashion. That was popular in 2002! I don’t know why, but this whole thing fascinates me. It makes me want to stand in the corner of a skatepark and do the fake make out thing with my hands around my back. Yes, I know there are no corners in a skatepark. “Bonus” Avril Lavign video after the fashion disaster.

[Source: Caught in the Crossfire]

Sewa Kroetkov for Lenovo computers is the focus of a commercial in Lenovo’s campaign awkwardly titled “Make your DO come true.” On the the DP’s list of things to do, maybe reshoot the 2/3 of the action that resulted in butt shots. I had to look up Sewa Kroetkov because I am an old man whole lives in a cabin in the woods, but he’s a real guy from the Netherlands and not a construct of a creative director’s imagination. The example of Sewa giving up life as an accountant to skateboard for a living seems at odds with Lenovo’s target audience. They’re saying he’s a “doer” and people who “do” use Lenovo notebooks. The unintended message is “Screw a straight job, go skateboarding!”

– Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.

Mark Ruffalo (the Hulk in the Avengers) is mad about skateboarding, as in he looks like he’s a little crazy in this photo from the Daily Mail. He’s rockin’ a Penny Skateboard (logo visible on the front truck) and some kind of crazy digital camera with a gold lens.

– Thanks to Mrs Kilwag for the tip