Chris Nieratko has a pretty interesting article on ESPN about how economic woes are affecting the skateboard industry. He talks to pros, business owners and former pros turned industry honchos. It’s a quick read sprinkled with a healthy dose of gratuitous skate shots, so so check it out. – Thanks to Michael Brooke for the tip.

Who knew Skateboarder had so many subscriptions? I always forget they are still publishing. What’s that? Right. This post title is from the latest Transworld Skateboarding sales pitch. If you’re selling a product, they want your advertising dollars. Key selling points: We know that there are a lot of options out there, most of which are new to the game yet claim to be everything skateboarding, but skateboarding is much more than footage filmed in a warehouse, or focus on the so-called core or elitist scene. Skateboarding has moved way beyond those walls, and TWS covers the gamut.

Surf Expo has a Sean Obrien interview With Reggie Barnes, former Wlaker freestyle pro and the man behind Eastern Skateboard Supply, whose indoor skate facility we covered a while back. The interview focuses on the business and not his skateboarding career. – Thanks to Michael Brooke for the tip.

Cafe Press style technology is not exactly new in skateboards, there’s Board Pusher and Zazzle, plus more on the way. Still, I envision a time when you go to a skate shop and pick out a blank that matches your specs, then browse through an assortment of pro graphics, pick one and wait a few minutes while the board is loaded onto an oversized inkjet printer and the graphic is applied. The process at the Board Factory in Downtown Disney is similar, except you design the board yourself (hello clip art!) and the print out is applied via heat transfer. From the price of the completes, it looks like they are using some cheap wood. Still, it’s an interesting concept that we have not heard the last of. Downtown Disney? Orange County? I don’t know if it’s in Florida or California, but I imagine they have the same thing in both places. [Source: Orange County Register] – Thanks to Tito for the tip.

Lakai commercial featuring Mike Carroll’s Hangover Flip. I’m intrigued as to how they filmed this. Either a camera on some sort of mount that could be rotated fast and smoothly enough to keep up with the rotating board, or maybe a super high resolution camera with the footage cropped and rotated so the edges don’t show. My guess it the latter. I can’t imagine how you could flip the camera and zoom that precisely at the same time. – Thanks to Mike Buckley for the tip

You know how we hate controversy at Skate and Annoy. That’s why I am reinstating Daddy Yo… Just kidding! (maybe not…) Steve Berra launched an online directory of skateshops. He’s got a video about explaining how it’s just core shops, etc… He neglects to mention you have to pay to be on the listing, something like 5k a year. I guess the controversy is in the fact that the site is pitched as an independent and unbiased resource when in fact it’s nothing more than paid advertising, like the Yellow Pages. There has been some bickering back and forth on Twitter and the Slap boards, it’s real Interwebs skateboarding drama that brings to mind this picture, as seen at the Gay Ocean. You can get a more detailed accounting over at Haveaboard.com. They’ve got all the pertinent links too. Need more bitchy gossip? Ryan Scheckler’s business manager reportedly embezzled 365 grand. Perez Hilton has the skinny. – Thanks to Bobcat for the tip.

I can’t remember which one I saw first, the Trendependent t-shirt (I don’t skate, I’m just a kook.) or the Conscience Sakteboards parody of the World Industries Rocco/ Winnie the Pooh board. Wish I could find a picture of that now. It may not seem like much now, but at the time it was pretty topical. Think back to the beginnings of the industry shift to Chinese manufacturing facilities. I almost bought one of those boards. I came close to pulling the trigger on one of those Trendependent shirts too, but never followed through when they actually became available. I think it was one of those things on Concrete Disciples where he took vague pre-orders. “Hey, who wants one of these when I print them up?” And when they were available I was broke. Both of these parodies were the brainchild of Jesse Geboy. I guess Jesse eventually ran afoul of Independent’s lawyers. Check out a profile of Jesse done by Dave Carnie over at King Shit. Hey Jesse, how’s it going? I thnk it’s been about five years since we conversed. Midwest Uber Alles! – Thanks to Luke Leonard for the tip.

Did you know there was an organization called the Action Sports Environmental Coalition (ASEC)? Me either, until Brian Baade (…that name sounds familiar) told me they were on hand at the X-Games, watching over such green initiatives as fact that all the concession utensils, cups and plates are compostable. What the purpose of ASEC? It’s damn near impossible to find it on their website, since it’s set up more like a social networking site than something informative. OK, I did find it. It’s on the front page past all the videos and user photos: ASEC works to inspire the action sports industry and its participants to value and take action toward social and environmental responsibility. That’s an excellent idea. Their first task ought to be convincing the X-Games (and Maloof brothers) not to build disposable semi-recyclable concrete over wood skateparks. Spend the money and carbon credits on a permanent skate structure that gets donated to the community. I know there will be logistical hurdles in providing the spectacle for spectators, but figure it out instead of just paying lip service towards supporting skateboarding and a green environment. Put that in your Birkenstocks and smoke it. It’s hard to tell what…

Remember, this ramp is modular and portable. Looks fun as hell, especially when you skate as well as the guys in the video coverage from SoCal Skateparks. Check out those results too. There were some big names in there, but none of them made the top three. Kowalski power! The old Chuck Taylors’s used to be staple because they were cheap, but they were pretty useless in the long run. The best thing they had going was the price. They used to cost about $20 in the 80’s, which seemed about right. Somehow they cost $55 or more now! However… Converse Skateboarding has some shoes that look like they might be worth checking out – beefed up versions with styling reminiscent of the old CT’s, plus a cool looking mid-top too. What’s the point? Oh yeah, watch the video.

This Rick Howard commercial for Lakai is pretty effing great. I had a hard time picking a still frame because I didn’t want to spoil it for you. Yeah, that’s quite a build up. I’d like to think that skateboard commercials would be this creative. It’s weird enough that there are actual skateboard commercials on TV, even if they are only on MTV, ESPN, or Fuel. And yes, I realize this isn’t actually a commercial for skateboards, rather skateboard shoes. Close enough. [Source: Boardistan]