This Rick Howard commercial for Lakai is pretty effing great. I had a hard time picking a still frame because I didn’t want to spoil it for you. Yeah, that’s quite a build up. I’d like to think that skateboard commercials would be this creative. It’s weird enough that there are actual skateboard commercials on TV, even if they are only on MTV, ESPN, or Fuel. And yes, I realize this isn’t actually a commercial for skateboards, rather skateboard shoes. Close enough. [Source: Boardistan]

Or the same one, I can’t speak Japanese. Actually, probably a different one than MVP’s Louie. He doesn’t use the cheater binding made out of a shoe. – Thanks to Stephanie Murdock for the tip.

He’s Bobcat! (Cue theme song.) Master of Sleestak, unicorn-lover, Seattle scenester and magick DJ. He’s being interviewed byJohn Doe Zine tomorrow at 5pm Pacific tomorrow (7-22-09), and you can call in to listen live. Get the details over here. John Doe zine has been doing a lot of these call-in phone interviews. It’s intriguing, and with Bobcat on the line, I’m going to check it out. If you want more I’ve got a stream of consciousness history of Seattle skateboarding coming up soon.

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 can’t recall the date exactly, but I’d say this was taken in 1990, or 91. There was a hipster nightclub in Chicago called Shelter. They would have all kinds of events and promotions, and since I was a partner in the silkscreen business that printed for them, I occasionally got to be involved behind the scenes in a minor way. For instance, I got to hang out with some the famous club kids from NYC, before they became famous murderers. Another event that I didn’t understand but certainly enjoyed, was the outdoor miniramp. Someone came up with the promotion to build a miniramp in the outdoor section of the club, whic was really large, if I recall correctly. The club was located in a sort of derelict industrial area, next to some railroad tracks, so noise wasn’t an issue. Originally I was actually supposed to build the damn thing, but somehow it got puled out from under me, and a guy named Sluggo took charge, which was kinfd of annoying as he was an employee of mine at the time. Sluggo? There are a few “Sluggos” in skateboarding scenes across the nation, this guy lives in Chicago. So they…

Poweredge Magazine is hitting the streets again. The first new issue is scheduled to come out in August. It’s a gutsy move when other mags are getting thinner or moving to online-only presences. Hopefully there is room for another. I was a fan of Poweredge back in the day, even when I considered Thrasher the best, it was nice to have a different voices out there. Check out the covers, the last one from 1991 above left, and the new 2009 one is on the right. It would have been cool if they had Todd Congelliere reprise his cover shot for the new volume. Check out Tod in the Santa Cruz vid Risk it! after the jump. UPDATE: I guess that’s not Todd on the old cover. I assumed it was because his interview has the biggest headline. The guy on the new cover? Dayne Brummet.

The time lapse movie of Conahan’s bowl pour was a big hit, and if you like that, you’ll love this secret, behind the scenes video of one of the world’s most famous skatepark crews in action, obtained by covert actions at Skate and Annoy. Sure, we’re going to really piss some people off, and we may be alienating ourselves from the entire Northwest, if not U.S. D.I.Y. skate community, but we feel it’s worth it to bring the truth to our readers. Explore the myth vs. reality, fact vs. fiction, as we blow the lid off “the great” skatepark builders of the Northwest and this secret project. Sit back and enjoy. – Thanks to Sarib Khalsa for the tip.

Portable FIlm Festival is showcasing some Buddy Nichols & Rick Charnoski shorts. Six Stair is going to be the new name for what used to be known as NCP FIlms, but what the heck is Portable Film Festival? The Portable Film Festival is a daily online film channel. We profile one great new release each day, every day of the year, plus hunt, tag and collect random great web-based films spotted by Portable Film Festival curators. This is the Portable Film Festival’s serious commitment to international screen culture and to broadcasting and distribution models outside of traditional old media channels. Through our site, quality international releases will find audiences online, every day, all year round. So.. It’s a web site with films. Check out the Six Stair showcase from the reigning kings of capturing skateboarding on film, the 18 frame per second kind. If you are in Australia, you can catch the premier of Deathbowl to Downtown at the Melbourne Film Festival in August.

A lot of people are excited about this book. Disposable was reprinted in several editions with additions. The Disposable Skateboard Bible (Or Disposable II, depending on where you look) is available from Gingko Press. I’ve got conflicting information on cover art and page counts, but I’ll find out soon enough when my copy arrives in the mail. (Update: The Gingko site has prerelease information and graphics, as they are in the middle of a site re-design.) The scope of the book is supposed to be broader. I asked Sean Cliver if the new book encompassed the first one, and here’s what he had to say: …it’s an all-new book. a complement to the first, really. 1) Includes 60s/70s stuff; 2) Includes a lot more 80s stuff that didn’t fit the first book; 3) Includes new artist/rider stories from like VCJ, Greg Evans, Art/Steve Godoy, Gator, etc.; 4) much more of a “collector” bias in its opening words. on that note, it’s also far less wordier than the first book with more pages devoted to board images (a total of like 2500 i think?). Can’t wait to see it. He’s been working on this for a few years now, and with…

If you thought this was beautiful, wait to you feast your eyes on the best commercial in the entire world, ever. Yeah, that’s right, the results are in, and this commercial for the skate bike has won hands down. Check it out after the jump, with a bonus advert for the product as printed in a couple of 1984 issues of Thrasher. While you were out… Thrasher has brought the complete back issues online up to 1985. I wish they would go back to the old method of making it a single pdf download. For one thing, the image size was bigger and even the tiny print was legible. I guess they get more page views that way. – Thanks to Matt Beasley and Ben for the tips.