Time was, when there was a big contest coming up you’d learn about it in advance from Thrasher, then have to wait one or two months after the event to read the coverage in the magazines, then another 3-8 months before you could rent the video from from your local skate shop. Remember when skate shops would rent videos? Does anyone do that anymore? The price of skate videos has gone down, for the most part. In 1989 you would have paid $29.99 for Public Domain. . You can get the Thrasher videos for a really reasonable price. Don’t you agree that all skate videos should be $15 or less? Getting back to the point, in my day we had to skate uphill both ways in the rain, on clay wheels that were missing 35% of the open bearings… Nowadays you can just get on the Interwebs™ and watch the contest live, through a series of tubes, as is the case with the Tampa Pro contest at SPOT. Tune in to Fuel TV on Sunday, March 22nd from 12-6pm EST.

This image comes from the home page for the distance learning portion of the Portland Community College web site. Actually, now they are calling it “Distance Education.” No word on if this is an actual student or a stock photo, as well as whether it’s a boy or a girl.

– Thanks to Mrs GVK for the tip.

The first comic I submitted to Thrasher appeared in the February 1982 issue. That must have been my birthday present. I turned 21 that month. Thrasher Magazine has posted all of the issues from their second year on their website.

I always thought Xeni Jardin seemed cool with that spiky while hair. Turns out she’s actually a punk rock survivor. She does an interview with Glen Friedman on Boing Boing TV. Looks like Glen Friedman had a show at Shepard Fairey’s gallery in LA. Fairey’s interview last week was pretty great too. I was wondering about the skate photos in the background.

You tube version embedded after the jump.

Here’s a short webvert with a skateboard theme for an unlikely business. I don’t wan to spoil the surprise, so check it out after the jump.

I’ve recently gotten two emails promoting different skate spot maps on the web. The idea is that you sign up and add spots in your area, and if you are traveling you can find spots on the way. I suppose the idea is useful for the casual skate tourist. Say you’re in a town on business or with family. If you got a break you could use these services to see if there is anything nearby. Of course you’re limited to what are probably the most blown out spots in the area, but it’s better than nothing if your are without a guide and don’t have a lot of time to explore. One service is a very slick one called New Breeders that’s pretty fancy, but has a some interface problems once you dig down. Also, it’s not limited to skate spots. The promo vid show surfing and bmx, so who knows what else is in there. Oh wait, I do. It’s got everything extreme!™. The second is from a web site called SubPublic, and it’s got much less eye candy, but it’s strictly skateboard related. SupPublic doesn’t require a login, but New Breeders does. What do you get for logging in? A lot more spots than SubPublic, even if you filter out the Parkour discipline. New Breeders has listings for hotels and nightlife as well. I’m not sure how they are funding this site, but they have “partnerships,” API’s and what not, so they must be trying to make money at some point. On the other hand, SubPublic lets you embed the map on your own web site with only the tiniest bit of branding. Of course it’s Google’s technology, so anyone could do it, but these guys have a head start. Check out SubPublic and New Breeders.

The ASPCA blog has a video of a skateboard being mobbed by a bunch of puppies. Kind of reminds me of the street section at the skatepark. Awwww ♥♥♥!!!

Trish McMillan, ASPCA Director of Animal Behavior, took this footage while conducting a training session with the pups. She says she uses it with every new litter of pups they get in. “It gets them used to novelty, skateboard sounds and moving surfaces.”

View the clip after the turn.

Michael Goetz of The Skateboard Archives shot Chris Nukala at a renegade project and it showed up as Thrasher stoke of the day.

A couple of recent news items. this Gloucester, England news item about someone burning a skatepark. Was it the kids, or something more sinister?

How about this editorial from the Alamagordo Daily News about skateboarders desecrating a war memorial. I want my tombstone to have transition and coping.

(Remember the Tony Hawk Vietnam Vet memorial fiasco? – k.ed)

Jeff Greenwood is the guy who started Concrete Disciples as a print zine from the Northwest, no less, and brought it online way back in 1997. Concrete Disciples is one of the biggest independent forums in the online skateboarding world. Sure, the big forums have a rep as a haven for bunch of whiny babies and armchair skateboarders, but as long time SnA readers can recently attest, you can’t control who decides to visit your site. I met Jeff a few years back and he was a very down to earth guy. He was enjoying the hell out of some Oregon skateparks at the time. I think it’s been a while since he’s been out here. Running one of these sites can be a thankless job. Jeff had some serious health issues for a while, and he’s got some partners now, but he’s always been the driving force behind Concrete Disciples. Blah blah blah. Go read the interview over at Europe Skate.

– Thanks to Rene Morales for the tip.