First off, it’s better off that a skateboard competition circuit be owned and operated by skateboarders. However, this whole business of signing contracts to compete exclusively in one circuit and not another, although it may make sense from a business standpoint, reeks of, of something, well, something very stinky, like say, GVK’s knee pads. Which is appropriate because it is a “street league” to the exclusion of any sort of vert or bowl riding. (You know Grover never washes his pads. he says that would dilute the trick juice.) I’m not a big fan of the logo either. Aside from scrimping on the graphic designer’s fee, It looks vaguely like something NBA or MLB related. If skaters are going to claim skateboarding from the media for themselves, it would be smarter not to emulate the worst aspects of organized sports. Still, I wish Rob Dyrdek luck with Street League Skateboarding, despite the bad name choice. The million dollar purse would seemingly best the Maloof Money Cup (even worse name), but then again Maloof isn’t spread over three events. Why not wrestle all the skaters away from the X-Games and the like? Was it lack of interest in vert/bowl by Dyrdek,…

From the ashes of Concussion, former co-editor Jonathan Hay is embarking on a new project called Confusion magaZINE. Confusion Magazine is an international underground skate, music, art and surf magaZINE. Rising from the death of Concussion Magazine, Confusion continues where Concussion left off, or rather BEGAN 13 years ago. Taking it back to the roots, Confusion represents the underground, anti-corporate, DIY culture; the under represented, not the over promoted. While Confusion’s focus is on DIY skater built bowls, contraptions, found pools and ditches, Confusion isn’t only a skate zine but will also feature artists, bands and some surfing. A non-glossy print zine will be available in limited runs in select cities in USA, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, Japan, Australia, UK, etc. but for those who cannot find a print zine, there is at least the online presence: www.confusionmagazine.com

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…