All right, lets get this taken care of. I’ve got some poll software installed and now it’s time to vote for the winner of the GVK Photo Kontest. The prize package includes a skateboard of our choice and a bunch of random stuff. I thought we’d see more entries than we got, maybe we should have made a bigger deal about the prize. I’ve learned a few things from this contest, and I’ve already got an idea for the next one. Voting ends at Midnight, Pacific time, on June 22nd.

Luciano Peixoto and Gustavo Tesch sent in some coverage of the 30th anniversary party at Swell Skate Park in Brazil. Vans sponsored an event called Old is Cool and kicked it off with a contest in the brand new bowl at the park. Check it out

Man, we are killing it with the lifestyle shots. There’s this thing called the Zumiez Couch Tour that came through town about a week ago. There was a contest for the locals and a pro demo. I contemplated checking it out. I figured I might get a couple good photos of some pros at our humble skatepark. But then it was raining on and off, overcast, and Zumiez, after all, so I blew it off. I actually went and skated that crappy covered pool that everyone thinks is lame. Grover was going to check it out for GVK fodder. I told him there’s no way they’d do it in the rain. He reminded me that the marketing power (and wallets) of Zumiez was behind it, and it would go off rain or shine. I said I could see the autographs happening but not much else. Well I guess the contest and demo did go off. I heard locals were sliding out all over the place. Right, and there were live bands playing too. As a side note, I heard there was some sort of ramp demo put on by Capri Sun last weekend at the Rose Festival.

Yeah it’s a tired Clash reference, but at least I didn’t title it London Calling. Our Czech ex-pat Marek Litinski went back to the fatherland (motherland?) for a week and got stuck in London for an extra week becasue his “papers weren’t in order,” or so he claims to his wife… While he was there he happened on the Quiksilver Bowlriders contest in Cantelowes, a Dreamland park that we posted about earlier. Some of the eurpean skate sites have video from that contest up. Now Marek supposedly finished 4th, but must have done somehting to piss off the locals because every time he comes on camera the cut to a different guy. I begged Marek to bring a camera with him so we could get a little European skate coverage that wasn’t hand me down, and he obliged. When I spoke to him on his return, he said the thing that made the biggest impression on him was the fact that adults were allowed to openly drink beer in the presence of minors without the Aumsville Police U.K. equivalent of the National Guard being called out. Ironically, he was also present when Lodoners had near riot conditions during an all nigh binge drinking protest in the tubes. It seems the mayor banned drinking on subway trains and the drunks people got upset. So what did Marek bring me? A bunch of “lifestyle” shots. Ah, those Europeans. You can take the drunk out of Czechoslovakia, but you can’t take the Czech out of the, errr… what? Pics and video after the jump.

– Thanks to Jeremy Donaldson for the tip.

The end is near! The GVK Photo Manipulation Kontest ends Sunday at Midnight! Get those images done this weekend if you want a chance to win a free skateboard and some assorted schwag. This entry comes courtesy of Seth Berg. Of course if you just want a chance to win a skateboard without having to spend any creative energy, check out this contest over at Sacrifice Skateboards.

Dean Tyrell writes:

A friend of mine who was patricpating in a Skate contest here in Palma (Spain) last weekend, broke a finger in practice. He went to hospital, got it fixed up in a plaster cast and came back halfway through his heat, (loaded on painkillers hence carefree expression in the foto) and still competed, probabaly with a semi-wet cast. Nice air too. Andres Moral. A very hot skater around these parts.  

the foto says it all; the cast, the smile and the air… skateboarding.

See the whole shot after the jump. Update: Photo by Albert Crespi

Come on people. We still need your GVK Photo Kontest entries. This shot above is not an entry, just a composite to get you stoked. Mummified Grover is an out take from an old print issue cover shoot. There will be one deck from an undecided manufacturer in the prize package. I’ve compiled some of the entries so far after the jump. It ends June 8th, so lets get going!

The M.E.S.S. guys will tell you backyard contests are (were) what it’s all about. Are there any vert contests beside the televised marketing vehicles of the X-Games and the AST Dew Tour? Well, in the U.K. there is the, uhm, U.K. Independent Vert Series, that looks like it’s just an excuse for vert riders to get together and skate with other vert riders in different areas. There’s a point ranking and a paltry purse at the end of the year. The editor of Europeskate (Jonathan Young) says there’s a small but dedicated scene of vert riders, although he didn’t say whether or not they still make fun of freestylers. There’s some video from something called the Blackpool Seaside Session contest which was at some undisclosed date in 2008. Watch Sean Goff take some hard slams after the jump.

[Source: Europeskate]

Cause he gets fan mail, and he really, really reads it.
Fan mail, and he really really needs it.
I sent you my letter now I want a reply.
You don’t know any better so you won’t take your time
with my fan mail

Name that slightly altered tune for a valued Noprize. (Everyone I know is disqualified.) This picture of Grover was sent in by an adoring fan, and he’s got more than one. Hell, since I’m wasting one of the precious few posts we have left before we hit 2000 (!) – We might as well have a GVK photo contest. The best Grover collage submitted will win an actual prize, maybe a skateboards or some wheels or some miscellaneous (and useful) items we have laying around. Oh, and of course, a signed glossy publicity photo of the Doctor himself. Complete rules and a source file of Grover you can grab after the jump. (– Thanks to Kevin Kotrell for this one.)

UPDATE: CONTEST HAS ENDED – VOTE HERE

Here at Skate and Annoy we hate to reinforce stereotypes, like say, I don’t know, picking one at random, Australia is not a backwards country where the skateparks are made out of stone (literally) and you have to watch out for marauding fruit bats, kangaroos and other, uh, nightlife. Oh wait…

But seriously folks, tip your cocktail waitresses… Negative Ion has a massive photo essay and travel journal of a trip Australia. Aside from the naturally occurring rock skateparks, there is also the more commercial fare of Wold Cup contest at Bondi Beach with lots of names you’ll recognize. As with the rest of the Negative Ion site, the journey is half the fun of getting there. Pay attention to your scroll bars and be prepared to do more than a little exploring. It can be easy to get lost in there. If you come to the end of the line tweak those scroll bars a little, there might be something hiding nearby. Give yourself at least 45 minutes. Now go there.