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.

Remember the Texas Skatepunk Scrapbook? Bill Daniel has been on the road touring with his many artistic endeavors. He had a show with the same base of material under the title Texas Punx Pix. Check out the link for coverage as well as a chance to buy some prints (old school darkroom, not digital!) for the very reasonable price of $25. That’s my kind of art! The show pics are different form the ones we host on Skate and Annoy. I think Bill said he has something like 10,000 negatives to chose from, so it’s a different show all the time. He basically photographed every band, local or touring, that came through his part of Texas in the early 80’s. What do you shoot when there are no shows to go to? The skate scene! Photos Clockwise – Top left: Pfluerville ditch, Misfits, Back Flag.

There is Xerox on the Insides of Your Eyelids is the title of the skate art show happening this month at Needles & Pens gallery in San Francisco. An art exhibition exploring the realm of 1980s Skate Zines & Xerox Art featuring the zines and art of the original makers with work from : Garry S. Davis (skate fate), Tod Swank (swank zine), Thomas Campbell (joke), Chris Johanson (karma boarder), Andy Jenkins (bend), Bernie McGinn (tiki), Kevin Wilkens (7 zine), John Dettman-Lytle (naughty nomads), Mark Waters (408), Rich Jacobs (skate-edge), Jocko Weyland (elk, revenge against boredom, author of: the answer is never), Dennis Remsing (rem zine), Dan Esabrook (contort), Tim Kerr (Big Boys), Chris Shary (burly obsession zine-uk), Ron Cameron (dope zine- a blockhead mag, and skate slate), Mofo (thrasher mag photographer ), Rodger Bridges (grim ripper, powerhouse, dancing skeleton zines) Dang, I have a bunch of those zines and know some of those cats… Still something is missing… oh yeah Kilwag and Skate and Annoy! Fine! Be that way. I’m going to take my toys and go home. – Thanks to GSD for the tip.

Man, when I don’t make a timely post you guys get all over me. I was saving this for a rainy day, but I keep getting tips on it, so here it is. Modern Design Classics remastered with skateboards. This is a collection called Skate Study House now showing at a gallery in France called Colette. They’ve got one of those web sites that is expertly made and fun to look at, but is a pain in the ass to actually use. To get to the pictures you have to click on the jumping News robot and then look for the dancing Gallery robot. It’s all in Flash and there’s no direct link. Skate House Study is supposed to be an homage to the Case Study House project, which was an expirement where major architects were commissioned to design inexpensive modern homes during the 40’s up until 1966. I’m not sure how they are an homage other than the style of furniture (sans skateboards) would have fit well in those houses, except for the inexpensive part. The collection was made by Pierre-André Senizergues and Gil Le Bon de Lapointe. Who are those guys? You may recognize PAS as the man…

The Arizona Daily Star has an article and short interview with the two principals of the Underskatement film festival, which is at Volume 4, and damn it, we promoted this and I didn’t even go see it. I wish I’d read the interview first, but it was published after the Portland showing. I guess I would have had to travel forward in time to read it so I could have known I would have liked to see it. If I’m time traveling I guess I could just go back in time and watch it. What’s the point? Oh yeah, if the publicity shot from the paper on the left looks familiar, it might be because you heard about a Beaverton man involved in an assault there.

Your invited to partake in an evening of skate art by the one and only Russ Pope. His quirky renderings of unique characters will instantly become a part of your family. He uses several mediums of canvas, wood, metal and fabric. His pallet of colors come from Lowes or Home Depot. He loves the “Sharpie” marker a little more than your average struggling artist. Russ Pope- Father of Scarecrow and Creature brands, gave CCS a customer service gameplan, worked on the Savier Footwear Marketing Team, as well as the struggling DuFFS program, he’s the guy who did wonders for Black Label by creating ad campaigns, softgoods & finding team riders. His most recent venture is Beloe Footwear and Myrtle. The show is located at Evo on 122 NW 36th St in Seattle WA- its a great excuse to go skate about 13 skateparks in the area. Indoor or Outdoor- rain or shine. Go! Its really close to the Ballard Bowl for a reference.

Kevin Connolly was born without legs. While you’re staring at Kevin Connolly, rolling down the street on his skateboard, he may be staring back at you through the lens of his camera. He’s got a body of photos called The Rolling Exhibition that consist of the photos he’s taken in 15 countries while rolling around on a skateboard, all shot from his low point of vantage. He’s been at it for a while, obviously. I’m late with this post because I couldn’t decide whether or not it was skateboard-related enough. Now I’m feeling negligent because the story is popping up all over, so here it is. Kevin’s photos are mostly about people staring at him, a legless man on a skateboard: Everyone tries to create a story in their heads to explain the things that baffle them. For the same reason we want to know how a magic trick works, or how mystery novel ends, we want to know how someone different, strange, or disfigured came to be as they are. Everyone does it. It’s natural. It’s curiosity… …But before any of us can ponder or speculate – we react. We stare. Whether it is a glance or a neck…

I’m not a fan of the photo sequence in skateboarding. I prefer Henri Cartier-Bresson’s decisive moment approach, which means I miss a lot of shots. I was following Gizmodo with some interest for news of a new camera from Casio called the EXILIM Pro EX-F1. It’s a high resolution (six megapixel) camera that has a burst rate of 60 frames per second at full resolution. In case you don’t know your megapixels, 6mp is good enough for any skate magazines cover without a crop. Basically, it’s got a buffer for 60 frames, you can cram them all into a one second burst of 60fps or spread them out as far as 12 seconds, or 5 frames per second. You’ve probably seen the strobe light flashes of a still photographer in real life or at the very least in skate video. I believe those huys are usually shooting around 8fps, or maybe a few more. Here’s another interesting thing about this camera, it’s got a feature called pre-record that buffers a few frames before you even hit the shutter button, just in case you are still a little slow predicting the action. Ever seen a video grab printed in a magazine?…

Censorship is Weak as F##k: A Skateboard Art Retrospective: Censorship is Weak as F##k is a collaborative retrospective featuring over 40 skateboard graphics designed by Marc McKee and Sean Cliver. The show features work the two have done for World Industries and its subsidiary brands from the formation of the company in the late 1980s to its mid-90s rise to industry dominance. The collection of original skateboards demonstrates, literally in graphic detail, how World Industries set itself apart from its competitors by using a totally uncensored approach in its graphic program, relentlessly featuring one controversial subject after another, covering issues such as religion, pornography, gun control, sex, profanity, racism, drug use and violation of copyright law, all on the bottoms of its skateboards. Trying to pass off that entire period of World Industries as a battle against censorship is a bit of a stretch, but they certainly were infamous, and they certainly did shake up the industry. Besides, with the way these things sell on eBay, this may be your only chance to see some of these decks in person. I’ll tell you what’s weak as F##k… There’s nothing like having to register and log into a bullshit corporate site…

Dave Tobin sent me a picture to tie in with the Israeli energy bar commercial that has skateboarding in it. It’s some very skateable architecture by David Resnick designed as a memorial for John F. Kennedy outside of Jerusalem, Israel. I had a hard time finding pictures of the “Jerusalem Kennedy Memorial” online, but if you type in “Yad Kennedy” you get better results. Must be hebrew. Still, there’s not a whole lot of information available on this site. The monument was built in 1966 with funds donated by Jewish communities in the USA. Would this be called street skating even though it has tranny?