Of course we’re recycling it at as well, but the

It’s already been established that Jack in the Box usually has crappy kids meal prizes. This time the bag the meal came in had a skateboarder on it, as well as a few fun facts and a jumble. The other half of the bag had nothing to do with skateboards, and the toy was a small flying disk made to look like the old electronic Simon game. What, is it 2008 or 1978 again?

The New York Times web site has a feature about skateboarders capitalizing on the mortgage crisis by finding, draining, and skating pools of houses that are in foreclosure. Skate and Annoy even gets mentioned due to our heads up on Billy Runaway’s photos of said pools. It seems like whenever we get quoted by the legitimate press, (Hard to believe, but it happens) they provide a link to web site, but never the article in question, so here is the original post for all our newfound friends from the New York Times. I wasn’t aware that we were a site “where skaters trade tips about how to find and drain abandoned pools.” Maybe they are rerring to Kent’s old article on how to drain a pool using existing plumbing in the DIY section. Aside from SnA being highlighted, it’s also intersting that the mainstream press picked up on this. There has to be a skateboarder on staff. -Thanks to Maureen, Pribble and Hass for tip.

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)

Post-holiday depression? Here’s a video of Santa bombing some hills. I know it’s a day late, but it’s still funny that it comes from CNN via their iReport site. I like the concept for getting eyewitness news up faster, but lately CNN is getting more and more like AM talk radio. Seriously, who cares what some hothead in Iowa thinks about the mortgage crisis. If I wanted to watch amateur news I’d turn on Fox.

Not only are many big name skateboards manufactured in China, now they are going to start making our extreme sports genre films there too. CounterCulture Independent Filmmakers’ Resource, has the following oportunity listed: Wanted Screenplays with a Skateboard Theme to shoot in China Budget is 1.5 million. Investor is a skateboard champion and wants to produce a feature in Shanghai with a skateboard theme. Big question, who is the “skateboard champion?” I accidentally caught a Chinese action film on cable that has big chase scene that takes place on mountain boards. I forget the name of it, but it’s probably at least three years old. – Thanks to Tito Porrata for the tip.

Yakima, Washington has new skatepark built by Grindline, and a problem with the locals getting stuck in the bowls during the winter. There’s video over at KEPRTV.com. Yakima, Washington folks should be used to snow, right? We rarely get snow in Portland, yet we never get stuck in the bowls when they are full of snow. To be fair, kids sometimes get stuck in Pier Park’s deep bowl even when it’s dry. Somewhere MC has a comic or two about that. That rope isn’t for hanging rollerbladers, it’s to help kids crawl out of the bowls. The fire department has been called out three times in 24 hours to rescue trapped kids. – Thanks to Tito for the tip.

I’m beginning to feel like there might be enough to make a skateboard-only Christmas tree. One time the missus and I decorated a tree entirely with plastic bugs and rubber snakes that we bought in bulk and used a fishing line and a sewing needle to make the loops. You have to heat the needle tip over a lighter to make it go through the bugs without destroying your thumb. It occurred to me that I’m always making these type of posts too close to the actual date that they pertain to. Believe me when I tell you that someone will contact me in six months, asking where they can buy one of these things. Listen up. We don’t sell them, and if they don’t show up on the links I’ve provided, then I can’t help you out any further. Bah, Humbug! – Thanks to Daddy Yo for the tip.

First up, Mark Gonzales in a Nissan commercial. Funny thing is, when I saw this commercial the very first time I kept expecting a skateboard, but it never materialized. Something about the commercial exuded a skateboarding vibe, or a similar sense of fun. I didn’t recognize the Gonz the first time because he was completely out of context, and quite frankly I didn’t pay attention to it after the first viewing. That thirty second commercial skip button is great. Watch the spot after the jump. – Thanks to Seth Berg for the tip. Next up, not one, but two Stacy Peralta items. Did you know he was the one who made the Burger King commercial titled “Whopper Virgins?” Well, neither did I, but Fuel TV did. They implied that the skateboarding community might have something to say about it, Im not sure why though, because he was a filmmaker hired to do a job, not a guy appearing as a skateboarder in a commercial for say… a video game.

Digital print on demand services don’t really count as mass produced items, but there are a bunch of skateboard Christmas ornaments available at Cafe Press that like most of the fare found there, ranges from well done illustrations (in rare cases) to what is essentially clip art, with a catch phrase if you are lucky! There should be some sort of fine for any meathead who uploads clip art to Cafe Press. I’m going to strike it rich honey! They’re just giving away these drawings! I know, add a “No Fear” to it! As Dr Brad is fond of saying lately, just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. Even the nice illustrations look cheesy on the mockups. maybe they are better looking in real life. – Thanks to… (Drumroll please) Daddy Yo for the tip! Part two coming later.