I’m not sure what the barometer is for art and skateboarding, but the difference between eccentricity and just plain crazy is often a matter of how rich the person in question is. Likewise, you can bet that if Dan Gesmer had put on this performance instead of Mark Gonzales, it wouldn’t have been as well received in the skateboarding world. Jason Schwartzman (the lead in the excellent movie “Rushmore”) has a solo record out and a video for the song West Coast which is made entirely from footage of Cheryl Dunn’s film documenting the Gonz’ 1999 art installation at the Abteiberg Museum in Germany. You can watch the video and read Paper Magazine’s original 1999 article covering the event after the jump.

PR Inside reports: Hip-hop producer PHARRELL WILLIAMS has hit back at his critics in the skateboarding world, accusing them of being ungrateful for the publicity he has given the extreme sport.

I bumped this back up to the top to remind you. The show should be good. Smay from Rebel Skates is running a raffle to benefit SPS. We’re going to get something covered to skate if it kills us. Buy a raffle ticket. He’ll have a board or two, hats, shirts, and some stuff from Thrasher. Check out the band’s website You can hear some of their music here.

Actually those guys aren’t actually trying to spread any musical gospel, I’ve just been dying for an excuse to use the STFU acronym in a post title. Pierre Luc Gagnon Says “Skate Culture Isn’t Just About Punk Rock Anymore” in an article in Chart Attack (Your Canadian Music Source, eh?) and Tony Hawk is narrating a feature documentary on the 90’s punk scene.

It’s always a bummer when your rock and roll heroes start to look like your grandmother. That’s none other than J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr fame posing with one of the limited edition Dinosaur Jr skateboards from Alien Workshop at SPOT. The artwork is from their first release as Dinosaur before they had to change their name. It turns out there are also Dinosaur JR wheels. And I thought Naked Raygun skateboards were a niche market. I saw Dinosaur (JR) in a small club in Champaign Illinois circa ’87 or so. Loudest damn show I’ve ever been too. Unfortunately, also one of the most boring. I think I left in the middle. Those darn kids and their rambunctious rock and roll! I think they are back together again with a mostly original lineup. You can see enlargements of the product after the jump. You’re skating all over me. [Source: JMascis.com]

Fu Manchu and Valient Thorr came into town this weekend to play at the Hawthorne Theatre. I had only heard of Valient Thorr in passing and was looking forward to hearing them live. To say the least, I was blown away by the energy of these guys! More about Valient Thorr after the jump.

In a ceremony in Massachusetts… Actually, that’s not true. Iggy Pop didn’t marry or enter into a domestic partnership with Bam. He didn’t even perform the ceremony, he just performed at the ceremony. When I got married, all I could afford was an Elvis impersonator. The Stooges have a new album coming out. Word is that Mike Watt is filling in on bass. I wonder if Iggy has a Blue Hawaiian package. Also present at the wedding was Tony Hawk, although I’m not sure if he performed anything. Still intertested in Bam’s wedding? He’s so classy he had it videotaped for another reality TV show on MTV. There are links after the jump.

In an article titled Granny’s donation fuels funding for skate park, The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that Jean Berlin has donated $200,000 to an Englewood Florida skate park fundraising effort, helping to fulfill a long time dream she shared with her late husband. No only is she Oyster Creek Skate Park’s largest benefactor, she’s also topped the previous record private donation (that we know of), which was a mere $161,000 in stock. As well it should, the donation has made her a local celebrity with skaters, earning her a spot as a judge in a contest. She mentioned she wasn’t really qualified, but it didn’t matter since nobody landed on their feet anyway. Sounds like kickflip syndrome to me! She also stopped the contest to chastise an entrant for dropping the F-Bomb. Speaking of grandmothers, Have you seen the AARP commercial with a Buzzcocks soundtrack?

To the people who love all additionally punk rock, skateboard, and “Bring Out Original Zouls” I found this band from Japan called Chaniwa by accident. The live video sounds like standard punk rock with a little Rancid influence, albeit in Japanese. OK, but the one song working on their Myspace page sounds like a different (and lame) band. They use some skateboard imagery and seem to have appeared on some Japanese skate rock compilations (again, as near as I can tell…) Japanese punk rock? Hell yeah. Let’s hear it from the Blue Hearts fans! Anyone? Come on! Surely you’ve heard of the Japanese Clash? I don’t know what the story is with these Chaniwa guys. Danimal, you are our Japanese proxy corespondent, get your wife on this. Watch the Chaniwa video and see some cool Blue Hearts pics after the jump.

There’s an article being recycled by different newspapers about how a rap act know as The Pack is helping the worlds of skateboarding and hip hop come together, as if that is something new. The research department only went back a couple of years because completely absent from the article are such bands as the Beastie Boys, Urban Dance Squad and oh, I don’t know, who else but Skatemaster Tate, a guy who based his whole schtick on it back in the late 80’s. That’s Tate above hosting Nickelodeon’s SK8 TV with Mathew Lillard. Bottom right is a shot from a video shoot for The Pack’s new EP Skateboards 2 Scrapers. Early skate-rap connections, video links, a Skatemaster Tate roundup and more after the jump.