The live stream from the Vans BOWL-A-RAMA™ in Wellington, NZ starts Feb. 16 at 3 p.m. PST and goes to 9 p.m. PST. There’s an embed of the live stream after the jump. I’m sure there will be commercials and whatnot, but hopefully it works. I heard last year’s was pretty good.

Skate and Annoy was mentioned in last month’s issue of Sidewalk Mag via Jim Thompson’s Scene Zine column. Thanks for the love from the UK. Some older Scene Zine are archived online if you are looking for more ways to avoid work or school. If Mark and Neil ever find out they don’t need me, I’m sunk.

Sick of documentaries about skateboarding and/or punk? I don’t care. You must watch this feature on the legendary Big Boys. Don’t worry, it’s only 10 minutes and 33 seconds long. Some early Big Boys records are being rereleased on vinyl this year, and Conspiracy is going to do a limited run of a Big Boys deck. The first true Skate Rock band? Let’s argue about it.

A recent study in Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability suggests that skateboarders in Chicago perform in and transform urban spaces by exploring different terrains and developing unforeseen uses. Waxing ledges is a widespread practice among skateboarders that smoothens ledges allowing for speed and exhilaration, communicating to other skateboarders that ‘here is a cool space’.

Yet far from damaging the environment, this timely article concludes that skateboarders have a different ethic of environmental care: an ‘alternative sustainability’. Focusing on the Chicago skateboarding scene in both sanctioned skate parks and illicit skate spots, it highlights the intersections of skateboarding and the sustainability agenda in the city of Chicago.

‘Waxing ledges: built environments, alternative sustainability, and the Chicago skateboarding scene’ features in a recent Special Issue of Local Environment on Children, young people and sustainability.

That’s from the press release for the Journal. A press release that ironically states “Any views expressed in this Press Release are not those of the Taylor & Francis Group.” So the publisher hires a publicist to promote their work, but doesn’t want to be held accountable for the contents of the press release. Excellent. I’m not sure what’s more boring, over intellectualizing skateboard culture, or what passes as a “skate plaza” in Chicago. Is it just me, or does that look like a tennis court and a couple of prefab turds? This sort of scholarly dissection of skateboarding and skateboarders, although tedious and somewhat ridiculous, still benefits the skateboarding population at large. Every academic endorsement that comes our way makes it easier for the next skatepark to be funded, or absurd law to be repealed.

– Thanks to Darrin Hill for the tip.

Who does this guy Adam Miller think he is, William Spencer? Backflip off seven stairs, sort of hippy jump style. Circus trick? Yes. Crazy hard terrifying? Yes. Watch the cringe inducing slam video to get an idea of the dues this kid paid for his 15 minutes of fame.

– Thanks to John Aguilar for the tip.

These are skateboards allegedly benefiting the Strummerville foundtation. I say “allegedly” because I can find no mention of them on the official Strummerville site, and the site for Australian-based Blank Skateboards shows the art on flat prints, not skateboards. I actually approached Strummerville about 5 years ago in hopes of releasing a graphic with the royalties going to the foundation, but they never got back to me, and I didn’t follow up.

[Source – The Clash Blog]

Underexposed is a film by Amelia Brodka focusing on the plight of women in the professional skateboarding arena.

At a time when women’s skateboarding seems bigger than ever, there seem to be fewer opportunities for girls to pursue the sport. How can this be changed?

Underexposed explores the past, present and future of women’s skateboarding. It focuses on the current uprise of female skaters by featuring footage of girls ripping all over the world.

The film couples skate footage with interviews from the top marketing and media professionals of the skateboarding industry. Interviews include the heads of: Thrasher, TransWorld, Etnies, Toy Machine, SkateOne and Hoopla.

By exploring the business side of skateboarding, Underexposed seeks to figure out how to generate more opportunities for women in skateboarding.

The first pubic screening of Underexposed is February 14th, 9:00PM at the Fry St Theater (1210 W. Hickory) in Denton, Texas as part of the Thin Line Film Festival

I spent most of yesterday in a hospital yesterday. Turns out my wife has a blood clot in her leg but she’s going to be alright. There’s a boatload of new construction at Legacy Emanuel, including art in the courtyards, as seen here. The dark part on the right is grass and the other end is a mirror image.

Yes, intentionally misspelled. Nova Scotia has draconian skateboard helmet laws affecting riders of all ages. Fines start at $140 and count as traffic violations that auto insurance companies can, and have used to drop coverage for people. Go sign a petition.

[Source: Slap] – Thanks to Josh Burt for the tip

On this edition of counterfeit board of the month we have a Jim Thiebaud bootleg that surfaced in Portugal on the local equivalent of Craigslist or Ebay, or something, Custo Justo. ON the left is an actual Jim Thiebaud model from SMA, circa 1989. On the right is cheap knockoff.

– Thanks to Samuel Silva for the tip.