Lenox Industrial tools is running a contest of sorts similar to the Women of Worth award that Skate like a Girl co-director Nancy Chang was up for. It’s called the Lenox Extra Mile Hero. The winner gets 30k donated to the charity of his choice. Jim Murphy’s charity is the non-profit foundation Nibwaakaawin, whose goal is to bring the healthy and positive life lessons inherent in skateboarding to the entire Native American community. I can’t find a web link for that foundation, but it’s Jim freakin’ Murphy, you know? I actually just read a really good interview of Jef Hartsel that Murphy did. I know who Jef was, but I never really knew anything about him. He seemed like one of those guys in the 80’s whose name you read, but he didn’t really get a lot of coverage outside an occasional Alva ad, possibly. My memory is fuzzy about that, actually. In any case, it was a good interview. Pick up Juice Magazine #65 if you want to read it. Which brings me to the point of this post. Go to the Lenox Extra Mile Hero web site and vote for Jim Murphy. – Thanks to Burke for the…

The day after we posted Wally Inouye’s 50th birthday celebration, he ended up breaking his wrist while snowboarding on a 360 that went bad. Seriously Tom, aren’t you a little old to be playing with toys? I imagine you’ll be able to see him hanging around the shop a lot of the next few months. Here’s to a speedy recovery. [Photos clockwise: Carl Warren, Mike Estes, Warren]

Saturday Starrs are back! After he got the boot from YouTube due to the heavy hand of Dick Clark, Scott Starr is back again. I went through his backlog and only one of the previous seven videos has made it back, but we’re forging ahead anyway. The video is not spectacular in and of itself except that it is in fact the godfather of all skate videos. Skateboarding in the Eighties is a promo vid that Stacy Peralta made and sent out to some skate shops. The response was so overwhelming that he decided to make what would become the first Bones Brigade Video Show. Now, some 25 years later, he’s directing commercials for Burger King and Amp Energy Drink. It’s about eight minutes long and features the skateboarding talents of Steve Caballero, Rodney Mullen, Mike McGill and Tony Hawk. The soundtrack is kind of funny. It’s half new wave (Ultravox) and half prog rock. UPDATE: Well that was fast. The video has been pulled already, we have to assume by request of Powell, or even Ultravox? That would be funny. Maybe Midge Ure secretly reads Skate and Annoy.

Legendary skater Tom “Wally” Inouye just celebrated his 50th birthday, and he’s still going at it strong. Need proof? Check out the Shot of the Week with Tom at the Donald bowl that was captured just last summer. Tom is the owner of his own skate shop in Hood River, Oregon known as Inouye’s Pool Service. There’s an nterview with Tom in Juice that is recent, at least in terms of Juice! Scholastic News (for the kids, you know?) also has a short profile on Wally, Gelfand, and Larry Bertlemann. Leave it to his friends to post a video with a backhanded complement, “You rip hard for a 50 Year old.” I’d say he rips hard, regardless.

He’s been at it for 25 years an he’s got something to show for it. Bryce Kanights’ Renegades & Role Models show opens at The Department. on Friday, January 30th, from 7pm – 10pm. Nothing up on the D.O.S. site as of this posting, but you can view the flyer after the jump. See, I told you he was a local!

I don’t have a fondness or any sense of nostalgia for freestyle skateboarding, but I grudgingly watched one of these vids, and ended up enjoying them. People have posted some vids of Cristobal Bahamonde under the title “Rodney Mullen’s son?” something that Cristobal has countered by posting the same vid under the tittle “I’m not Rodney Mullen’s son.” Those freestyle contests of the 80’s might have been more entertaining if Cristobal had been around to give Rodney some competition. The web link in the video was dead when I posted this. I’m not sure what language that is, and I don’t know where Cristobal is from. The videos have some straight up freestyle and some hybrid street skating. I’ve never seen Mullen kickflip into a pogo like Bahamonde can. Maybe Rodney’s done it before though, like I said, I don’t follow his history. Regardless, Cristobal Bahamonde has some chops. Watch them after the jump. – Thanks to John Aguilar for the tip.

House of Neil sent me a couple pictures of him skating on the Wallasey (UK) seafront in the fall of 1984. The weather looks ominous. Are there tank traps on the other side of that wall? I love looking at grainy old skate photos. What board are you riding there Neil? Larger versions after the jump.

The OC Weekly has six (count ’em) pages on Skitch Hitchcock, past and present, which includes highlights of other members of the Salt Creek Beach crew which includes a lot of surprising names. In the shot above left are Dale Smith, Skitch, and his brother Garrison. Aside from the now customary gripes about the Dogtown film, there’s a lot of interesting stuff in there, assuming you are interested in the roots of skateboarding or surfing. Remember the recent Skitch Hitchcock model we profiled? Turns out Skitch is battling liver cancer, and proceeds from the sale go to help him out with his medical bills. Skitch did a lot more than invent the gorilla grip. He was the first guy to land a full loop, and he dealt acid straight from the labs of Timothy Leary. Interesting guy for sure, and a nice tip of the iceberg view of OC skateboarding history. Hey, I guess we are one of the top three carriers of the old school flame. I feel compelled to note that the article is lacking in the usual stereotypical bungling that most newspapers exhibit when covering skateboarding. So yes, check out the OC Weekly feature. [Source: Boardistan]

So we got mentioned on the SkateDaily Top 3. This time the list is for the top three web sites dedicated to old school. It’s a mixed blessing, because the publicity is great, but I hate being pigeonholed. I’ve been trying to expand our appeal since forever. Trouble is, old guys write about what they know, I guess. Check out who submitted it though, could that really be the Lonnie Toft? Speaking of old school, does the name Buddy Carr ring a bell? It’s a name that has been pretty much synonymous with Tracker Trucks since… yes, forever. Well Buddy has decided to join up with Bennett Truks in a move that would be earthshaking if it were say, 1979. I always wanted to try some Bennet Truks, but guys seriously, this brings up one of my pet peeves in the skateboarding industry: The logo should add “with a decade or two of abstinence” next to the “Established in 1975” tagline. I’m thinking of you too, Shut Skates. Regardless, you can read the press release on Silverfish or watch a somewhat recent video interview with Buddy Carr giving a tour of the Tracker factory, made by the (old school) German…

In the 70’s you could probably get away with wearing this shirt and being cool. You could get away with it now too, because it’s vintage, but you don’t really see the skateboarder on a t-shirt style these days, except for little kids. This shot came from Peter Diepes (Dietsches ?) OMSA blog that is primarily dedicated to pool skating.