The Brain Injury Association of America wants you to wear a helmet while skateboarding. Who knew there was such an association? Do you have to have a brain injury to join, or do they give you one when sign up? Maybe someone with brain damage chose the name, because it sounds like an organization in favor of brain injuries. It’s obvious that the art director who chose this skateboarding butt shot had a brain injury. “Mom, Dad, I’m going to be on a poster!” – Thanks to Danimal for the photo.

So… you can get t-shirts printed up and then compressed into the shape of a skateboard, among other things, and then covered with a promotional graphic and encased in shrink wrap. In other words: Get air with a skate theme that targets the teen scene. Errr.. right. Three models available, all of them not quite right.

Be careful what you sign. You may think you are just going to appear in a local paper, but you may end up plastered all over the packaging for consumer goods. It happened to Benji Galloway, and he ended up on the box of Vizio TV’s.

As promised, more skateboard hygiene products. I first came across this on the old Grand Royale site, the magazine and record label that used to be run by the Beastie Boys. This was back in 2000 or so, and the fact that this skateboard shaped container existed out there somewhere had been in the back of mind since then. They didn’t have any explanation, just the picture, so I downloaded it. Earlier this year I was doing some “research” for Skate and Annoy and I stumbled on one for sale. Turns out it was from Avon, and contains bubble bath. I picked this one up for about 7$. Totally worth it.

Ryan Sheckler is a doll, and I mean literally, or at least virtually. Check out the Ryan Sheckler dress up doll at Stardoll. Sorry about the knee pads, couldn’t resist. Sheckler is the only other skater available, but they do have Dennis Rodman. I still love Dennis Rodman. Yes, I want to gay-marry him. You can even make your own dolls. I tried to make a GVK dress up doll, but all them ended up looking like a very crazy looking girl. – Thanks to Ben Roberts for the tip.

I have a vague recollection of this style of Levis commercial. This one dates back to 1977 and briefly features some kids and possibly even a gorilla on a skateboard. It’s hard to tell compressed and small, plus the psychedelic nature of the animation doesn’t help any. – Thanks to Eric Shea for the tip.

The Half Moon Bay Review reports that their police will enforce helmet regs but that pad use is discouraged. Unless you’re skitching, then no pads or helmet. Huh?

As you recall from last summer, the Independent team did their 30th anninversary tour.  When they came through, I was at Glenhaven for a session, and Tosh Townend, Brian Anderson, and others were ripping it up.  Lance Mountain, David Gravette, Chet Childress, etc. were casual observers of the session, sitting in the shade on a hot day.  Afterwards, the team went to Pier Park, where they met other members of this online community for a session. You will be happy to know that Independent has the footage for viewing on their website.  You can view the video footage of the above session that Kilwag was shooting.  If I’m not mistaken, you can see MC on deck while Grosso grinds through the corner.  By the way, the Dwarves are rad.

“Ramp it Up” will be exhibited at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian ( On the National Mall, Washington, DC) from June 12, 2009–September 13, 2009 Ramp it Up celebrates the vibrancy, creativity, and controversy of American Indian skate culture. Skateboarding combines demanding physical exertion with design, graphic art, filmmaking, and music to produce a unique and dynamic culture. One of the most popular sports on Indian reservations, skateboarding has inspired American Indian and Native Hawaiian communities to host skateboard competitions and build skate parks to encourage their youth. Native entrepreneurs own skateboard companies and sponsor community-based skate teams. Native artists and filmmakers, inspired by their skating experiences, credit the sport with teaching them a successful work ethic. The exhibition features rare and archival photographs and film of Native skaters as well as skatedecks from Native companies and contemporary artists. This is actually the first ever Smithsonian exhibiton on skateboarding. Apparently they are just now recognizong the cultural significance of Back to the Future. You can read the entire press release here. UPDATE: added new poster images for the show.

Hoverboards, the mythical flying car of the future for the skateboarding crowd. Let’s run down the hoverboard links first: A fan makes his own adequate replicas Auction of one of the original props Photoshopping hoverboards into existing photos What else is there? Well there’sa guy in the UK who will sell you a, uhm, realistic looking prop for the paltry fee of $290 USD. Hoverboard.org.uk has some fancy replicas with only sublte finishing differences that are only visible when you compare them side by side with the original. They even sell replicas of Griff’s baseball bat for people who are clearly over-obsessed with Back to the Future. Lastly, check out the Hoverboard graphic from Boston’s Proletariat, pictured above right. It’s one of those “Why didn’t I think of it? ” ideas. Proletariat’s decks are really well executed, and clearly the winner because they are only $49 and you can actually skate them. – Thanks to Aaron Shims and Mike for the tips