Whoah man, did you see that new Vans Finger Fracture skateboarding game for the iPhone? Well it’s not real. Vans has no official or unofficial involvement. It’s a concept only and there are no plans to develop it. One big tip off would be that the game screens are lifted from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Some of the gaming and gadget sites are all a buzz about it, but a quick email confirmed it’s just an entertaining idea now. Also entertaining, Borat must be writing the documentation that says “To make an Ollie…” There’s more concept pics after the jump.

Someone at my daughter’s school was trying to sell this flimsy p.o.s. and when there were no takers he gave it to her. She was appalled and brought it home before anyone could see her with it. Cummins Industrial Tools rechristened Tools now will sell you this deathtrap made in China to their high standards for $9.99. I’m guessing that means their standards when they were high on drugs. The shrinkwrap is probably adding significant strength to the deck. Those plastic baseplates are inspired by the old Tracker Ultralights. I am tempted to see which will last longer, the Cummins Bravo or $9.99 worth of beer.

Separated at birth: This photo of my old friend Jay taken circa ’85 in suburban Illinois, and this photo of Mike Blake at the North Vancouver Canadian Nationals in 1980. No, not the skaters or the action by any means, but the graffiti for sure. It even takes the hatred a little longer to filter out to the Midwest. Or at least it did before the Interwebs™! [Photo: Right – Calstreets]

Unlike some people, Max Schaaf is a professional athlete who isn’t afraid to admit to using certain performance enhancers, namely magnets. I’m calling for a full Congressional inquiry. There’s nothing more important going on, right?

[Source: DLXSF via Silverfish]

There’s a new trailer for Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park movie. Lots of skateboarding and local Portland shots. Not a bad trailer actually, kind of makes me want to see the movie, no matter what Grover says. I think his badmouthing of Elephant was the reason we were “out of the loop” when the movie was in production. I actually got a call for assistance from Van Sant’s assistant, who it turns out was related to a friend of the family. We talked and everything seemed fine until… nothing. I was puzzled until I realized Grover made fun of Elephant in a GVK that was current at the time. Who knows, they probably just didn’t need anything. – Thanks to G N for the tip.

I been to the edge, and there I stood and looked down. You know I lost a lot of friends there baby, I got no time to mess around. So if you want it got to bleed for it baby.

John Aguilar sent in this Jeremy Brown photo of his buddy John Veitch grabbing a frontside edger in the bowl at Bellingham Washington. That’s an edger, not an air. I like to toss the old backside edger into a session on a regular basis, but fronstide edgers are courting disaster and not disasters. This is the largest size file he had, so I can’t show you a close up of the wheel on the coping. Love the edger.

Some time in 2003 Steve Grover was skating by himself at the West Linn skatepark in the middle of the day. Steve Olson showed up out of the blue and took a few runs. Then he got out an old Polaroid camera and asked Steve Grover if he would snap a few shots. Grover said sure, but also suggested that he get to keep a couple. It was a win-win situation. Check out the Shot of the Week, plus a bonus alternate shot after the jump.

Sure, we had construction pictures of San Jose’s Lake Cunningham skatepark out the wazoo and then some, but nobody cares about that once the park is open. Especially when you have a photo session with Lance Mountain, Steve Cabellero, Salba, and Rick “Ask the Doctor” Blackhart. Head on over to Concrete Disciples for the always adept MRZ photos. The server has been hit or miss since for a while now, just try back later if it doesn’t load. – Thanks to JF for the tip.

Long time Portland community activist, skateshop owner and skateboarding supporter (duh!) Howard Weiner has dropped out of the race for Portland City Council. He is endorsing candidate Jim Middaugh who happens to be Chief of Staff for City Commissioner Erik Sten. This is disappointing for Portland’s public skatepark skate scene, and it raises two obvious questions. First, can I get my $5 back? And second, will this set a precedent of City Commissioner Chief of Staffs running for office – meaning when can we expect SPS board member and Sam Adams‘ Chief of Staff, Tom Miller to make a run for it?

[Source: Seattleskateparks.org – Really? We had to find out from Seattle?]

This really short kid goes to private school, has a girl-sh sounding name (Ailene, pronounced Ilene.) practices freestyle and pushes mongo. That’s enough to make him a punching bag at many schools, or at least quarantined for some sort of sociology experiment, but Ailene seems to be doing OK. I had this video as an aside for a link to an article titled “Teach Your Child How to Skateboard,” but it’s boring and Ailene’s “How to skateboard for beginners” is much more entertaining. He made it for a class project. He goes over some basics and then gets his non-skating friend
Bruce to bust his ass trying the moves. I was about to scrap the whole post until the video got past the standing on a board part and Ailene started busting out with the freestyle moves. One of the the trick tips is the casper. The casper? Where did this kid even see a casper? After a litany of freestyle how-to’s (which I’m sure is the order of how most kids learn to skate) Ailene finally shows a kickflip as an afterthought in the “extras” section. You know that move where you half step off the board and it ends up wrapped around your legs? Apparently, it’s called the flamingo. Who knew? Ailene did, I guess.