We’re starting a gallery of skateboard tattoos. Send in your pics if you want to be in it. Please include your name, the name of the tattoo artist (if you know it), the tattoo shop (if you know it), and approximately when the tattoo was new. Optionally, you can include a picture of yourself. I’m expecting to get a deluge of Independent and Thrasher tattoos, but don’t be afraid to send in the obscure, like this Natas panther Skate and Annoy hybrid. Skate and Annoy? WTF??? I found this buried an an email from 2005. House of Neil originally sent it to me, with the name “Friend of Wolfgang” attached to it. I’m pretty sure it’s just a coincidence. Friend of Wolfgang, care to chime in? On the right is a Bob Schmelzer graphic taken from his freestyle board. I’ll bet there aren’t to many Schmelzer tattoos out there.

With Sarah expecting, the birth of Tom’s daughter and two completed parks under our belts (my babies: St. John and Glen Haven) Skaters for Portland Skateparks is currently regrouping and trying to figure out the best way serve the Portland skateboarding community. We continue to advocate for Portland skateparks, keeping track of Portland Parks and Rec’s process on the new parks – getting the word out through various channels – and continuing to push the 19 skatepark system agenda. Citizens have continued to donate to the organization and we are banking that for an upcoming effort. A recent $700 donation recently came to us through the United Way (I’m guessing a workplace donation program).

So Donald has a new paint job and It looks real nice in photos but guess what? It’s slippery again. I think the artists who take it upon themselves to paint the place now and then should stick to canvas.

These skateboard art shows at galleries are now getting to be a dime a dozen. Nobody invites me to exhibit in these shows, but that won’t stop me from mentioning this one that opened today in Chicago at the EXPGallery. There are 40 artists featured in the show, and some money is being raised for Ray Underhill, although the details are slim. Artist reception is June 8th from 6-10. The exhibition runs from June 4th to June 30th, 2007.

I’m preempting another “over it” post. This clip is being passed around the web like what’s his name’s girl that is giving that stuff out to all them graffiti guys. Danimal reviewed the Girl Yeah Right! video (on VHS no less) and now the invisible skateboard sequence is all over the Interweb™ again, so you might as well watch it here too. You can catch the invisible section after the jump, or watch the whole dang video due to the magic of Interweb™ piracy and our friend Chompy.

Skaters in a mural in Portland. Mural also features homeless people.

Apparently we’re in a position to help other people out nowadays. That’s right, you can stop laughing, wipe the smirk off your face and stuff it! We had over 80 thousand page views last month. Not requests for individual files or other inflated BS, this is Interweb™! magic folks! Now that we’re done breaking our arm to pat ourselves on the back, there’s a new online skate, art, lifestyle publication called Mumble Magazine. In their own words: In plain english: we publish articles that have to do with influential artists, photographers, skateboarders, places, books, shit you can buy, music and whatever as well as some totally random shit that somehow fits into the picture. Headed up by the former editor of Crailtap.com, we’re dedicated to bringing real content back to the internet following the stranglehold that blogs have taken on it. We publish at least two new features every week. Former editor? Sounds like when I interviewed for a job and said I was laid off from my previous job. I checked it out, It’s got some good stuff there like this feature on J. Grant Brittain and this one on 25 Years of Transworld, plus a lot more for…

Portland designer Maple (not affiliated with Maple skateboards) makes earrings, bracelets, rings and purses from used skateboards. Sure, that’s been done before, but this is a slightly different take. It’s mostly geared towards gals, but I could see the bracelets going over well in some circles of skateboarding, like the Ipath crowd. The hexgaon shaped one looks cool. Is there a macho word for “bracelet?” Maple is at the mercy of finding used decks with dyed plies to make her craft more interesting. Extra bonus, part of the proceeds from some sales go to a skateboarding charity to be determined. Both owners of the SPS acronym ( 1 and 2 ) were being considered. Maybe Maple can fill in the blank. Check it out.

I’m not sure what the barometer is for art and skateboarding, but the difference between eccentricity and just plain crazy is often a matter of how rich the person in question is. Likewise, you can bet that if Dan Gesmer had put on this performance instead of Mark Gonzales, it wouldn’t have been as well received in the skateboarding world. Jason Schwartzman (the lead in the excellent movie “Rushmore”) has a solo record out and a video for the song West Coast which is made entirely from footage of Cheryl Dunn’s film documenting the Gonz’ 1999 art installation at the Abteiberg Museum in Germany. You can watch the video and read Paper Magazine’s original 1999 article covering the event after the jump.

Dave Tobin sent this photo of Jay Meer painting a sign for Glenhaven. Jay is the artist responsible for the mural work at Burnside over the years. Five more days and the sucker is open!