Just in time for the Trifecta… coincidence? I think not. Skate Rock night at Plan B in Portland ( 1305 S.E. 8th Ave) on Saturday Night. That must be Marginal Way, the band. Flyer after the jump.

I saw this album cover over at the exotic blog of Kahuna Kawentzmann. According to Hodad Heaven, it’s a re-issue that dates back to the 80’s. The original release was credited to the Good Guys. The Good Guys release has a different track listing from the Challengers. You can download MP3’s for a price from Amazon, or free from other places… (Hodad, Ahem.) For some reason the 80’s rerelease is collectable, New copies ago from $49 – $112, and remember this is a CD rerelease! The original LP was up as a vinyl rip for a time, but it’s been archived. You can pick up a copy of the Good Guys version on vinyl via eBay. Right now there is one listed at $25. Check out the cover! You gotta love the original Roller Derby board used as an exclamation point. The back has what may be the first ever monkey on a skateboard too.

Check out the video for “I’m Over It” by Dinosaur Jr. Old Jay is engaged in some street skating in the vid, most likely with the help of a stunt double or two. Most music videos with skateboarding don’t go through the trouble of showing the band actually skating, even if they are posing tricks. He brought along one of his Alien Workshop Dinosaur Jr skateboards and a posse of BMX riders for the shoot. I like the vid, especially if it is posed. – Thanks to Peter Brown for the tip. [Source: The Village Voice]

I was digging around for more skateboard guitars and someone mentioned the Ben Harper video for Ground on Down, which led me to the SK8 lap guitar from Cole Clark Guitars on some sort of loosely affiliated Ben Harper web site that isn’t the official one. That lap guitar has the good sense to have Indy trucks coupled with a poor choice of World Industries wheels. And then there’s the Ben Harper longboard, with artwork created by someone you’d never guess… Winston Smith, the man behind the Dead Kennedy’s logo and accompanying photo collage artwork.

When they aren’t busy trying to get me to advertise, the folks at Punk Radio Cast have teamed up with extreme sports friends Jones Soda to release some limited edition labels in a variety pack. They “collaborated” with five artists, including the Bad Brains, and four other bands you don’t care about. Considering the potential, it’s a weak execution.

Taking a little time off to mourn the loss of a friend of mine who died in his sleep over the weekend, Jay Bennett. If the name is familiar, Jay might be most famously known as a member of the band Wilco. He appeared on every album up to and including Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, after which he quit and/or was fired, depending on who you ask. Before that he was a member of Steve Pride and His Blood Kin, and before that he was in a band called Titanic Love Affair, or TLA for short. This was an early promo I shot of TLA in the late 80’s before they appeared on MTV and in Rolling Stone. Jay is pictured in the center. That’s a Thrasher Freedom sticker sideways on the brim of his hat, actually.

Enjoy my stream of consciousness, started by watching a Black Ox skateboard animation. Black OX on a skateboard. Black Dicks (oops!) Black OX action figure His nemisis, Gigantor Gigantor by the Dickies. Dickies skateboard. – Thanks to Janis for the tip.

See kids, I’m hip, I swear. Issue #12 of Levil Uniform is out, featuring the art of Chris Edmondson and Travis Thompson from Jackalope Tattoo, musical guests Dr. Mastermind and Red Fang, and a skateboarding feature interview with genuine NW ripper Kevin Kowalski, with whom they would like you to believe you can win a date. He’s so dreamy…

An unnamed Domino Records band wants to shoot a music video in an empty pool in the L.A. area. They say it will take a good day of shooting, so it sounds like it will need to be a permission pool. I told the rep that it sounded like a lazy scam to find an empty pool to skate, but he assured me it was legit. They need skaters too, and there will be some sort of compensation involved. You can contact Robert Nell if you want to hook him up. In the mean time, let’s revisit a brief (incomplete) history of skateboarding in pool like structures in music videos. In the top row there are two shots from the current running band AFS (Arthritic Foot Soldiers) that has a video shot in a wooden bowl for the song “Chicks, Beer, Fame & Money” off the album Immature Nobodies. Check out the longboard guitar. It’s an interesting application, but not nearly as well done as the one featured on the cover of the Surf Punks first album My Beach. Then of course there is the grandaddy of all bowl riding skate videos, any of Agent Orange’s segments from SkateVisions. Another…

Aside from being the guy behind Conspiracy Skateboards, Lindsey Kuhn also runs a thing called Swamp. The Swamp name comes from his beginnings in slikscreening as a fundraiser for Mississippi’s Swamp ramp during the 80’s. He designs and screen prints rock posters, among other things. So it’s no surprise that quite a few of his posters feature skateboarding. You can still buy prints from most of these limited editions. I’ve had my eye on that Devo alien print for a long time. Check out Swampco.