Apparently there was a phantastamagical Roll Rampant and Free skate art ramp installation as part of the 2005 Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh, and only one person seems to have documented it, artist Maya Hayuk. Not True. I just found some more. Artist Ali Calis did, and so did the curator, the Harry Krishna Groupe. Every city needs one of these. – Thanks to Sarib Singh Khalsa for the tip.

Everyone knows the story of skateboarding in Philadelphia’s Love Park. A group called Franklin’s Paine (web site is a nightmare to navigate, no explanation anywhere of the group’s origins) has been trying to raise money for a street park to serve as a replacement for the community that was displaced at Love. So which is the more noble fight, the battle to Free Love Park or the fight for a new park built specifically for skateboarders? An agency called Red Tettemer has gotten involved in the PR and has dubbed the marketing campaign From Love Comes Paine. They’ve built a moving (but headache inducing) web site that at times seems more like a masturbatory exercise in Flash than it does a useful resource, low bandwidth version included. The design of the park is skate plaza, but taken to a more pedestrian inclusive direction than Kettering. It’s more than just landscaping, and hopefully there won’t be a huge DC logo anywhere. It looks like they are making some progress, but with $1 million down and $5 million more needed to break ground, a 2008 dig seems unlikely given that fundraising started in 2003. Do you call it a “dig” or a…

I’m late and I’m proud. We missed Black History month, but this board is a good excuse to wrap up some loose links I was trying to figure out what to do with. It’s a limited edition skateboard collaboration between WRG Magazine and Series Skateboards. The crossword answers are all black skaters. I can say “black” because it’s not African American History month. Only 100 decks were produced, and some still appear to be available. You can try out the crossword online in a slick presentation with clickable video cheats. Nice touch. They are giving a board away with a raffle donation. Although the deadline has passed, the links are still active. I can’t seem to find a picture of the deck anywhere besides my original source, Josh Spear. I’ve been sitting on this Washington City Paper article about Darren Harper for a year. I couldn’t figure out what to say about it immediately so it got lost in the shuffle. I had forgotten about it until I got an email from his publicist saying “We are very interested in having Darren featured in your publication.” Err.. Ok. have you read our “publication?” Part of the press kit contained the…

Heidi Kenney is taking the now familiar padded skateboards (1, 2, 3) to new levels. This is a plush skateboard she made as part of an exhibit that has long since ended at a gallery that isn’t really open. Yes, it’s old news, and only vaguely interesting in this context, but I’m cleaning house, and we love the crafty skating ladies.

In case nobdy is paying attention, you can write “I am KILLING it!” on the bottom of your deck. This full size 7.75″ wide skateboard deck chalkboard comes with eraser, chalk and a wall hanging kit. It’s available from Mary & Matt for $65. Well, that’s not too bad, considering you can buy chalk and the eraser for about $2, and the paint will cost you anywhere from $5 to $15, depending on whether you get it in a spray can or a bucket. If you decide to DIY this chalkboard skateboard, you should at least say thanks. [Source: Doane]

This is not my beautiful web site. This is not commentary on the art of Mark Gonzales. This is not a love song. Darn it all if I did’t already include recycling in the title the first time I posted something about the Gonz’ performance art fencing getup. This time is was going to be in reference to the fact that I’m doing a lot of housecleaning on the old hard drives of Skate and Annoy, and as a result you’ll be seeing a lot of less than fresh news. Yes, these items will likely have appeared elsewhere first. For instance, I just had a URL for the image of this Mark Gonzales action figure from Caught in the Crossfire, forwarded to me from MC. Caught in the Crossfire has no search feature so I couldn’t get the info. Eventually I tracked it to this undated post. It looks like they originally got it from Skate Daily (big surprise) and they have no search feature either. This is a disturbing trend. So in keeping with the post-modernist theory that it didn’t happen unless it is archived on Skate and Annoy, I bring you this Mike Leavitt hand carved Mark Gonzales…

Who is up for being Skate and Annoy’s on the scene correspondent for this Skatepark of Baltimore fundraiser? We’re interested the skateable art part especially. There are no details on this March 15th event on the official SOB site, which looks like it hasn’t been updated since October of last year. Fortunately, Seth Levy sent us an email. What is it the third anniversary of? “Three years of not having anything built yet but maybe soon hopefully.” Stick with it! And we’re serious about wanting to get some coverage of the event if anyone is up for it.

OK, this is kind of a backhanded compliment, but you should go download issue number six of Bailgun becasue it’s got this awesome photo in an advertisement for a German company called Rebel Rockers. That’s one of those English names in foreign countries that sounds a lot cooler to the locals than it does to us Americans. Getting back to Bailgun #6, it’s 61 nicely laid out spreads (!) of skateboarding, art, civil disobedience, and more skateboarding. Check it out.

Conahan does a lot of artsy fartsy stuff, some say he even likes saxophones. He’s got a pretty cool shirt design at his home base, Antigravity Press, called the Pool Pirate. It’s analog baby. Since we (OK, I) also want to appeal to the two street skaters that might read this site, I’ve come up with a more digital version called the Curb Pirate. To be fair, I made it out stuff I had laying around, including a cannibalized a font called SkulCApz, whereas Mark actually, you know, drew his utilizing some sort of skill set.

When is an action figure not an action figure? When it’s life size, because then it’s a mannequin, or some sort of sex toy. Chalk this up to things I don’t understand, like sneaker fetishes. Coarse Toys makes some action figures, or collection figures? I don’t know what you are supposed to call them. Some of them are small (bottom row) but as you can see, some of them are life size. Creepy. See those shoes? Coarse “collaborates” with Vans. I’m not sure what that means, but I’m sure it involves some check writing. Check out Coarse Toys. – Thanks to Bobcat for the tip.