This is a couple of weeks old. I had decided to ignore it, but I was exploring the French-Canadian Versus Skatezine which has a heavy Don’t Do It Army presence. I decided to see what Birdo was up to, and it turns out the Don’t Do It campaign has branched out into the whole action sports industry. One of the first things I clicked on ended up targeting Nike’s entry into the snowboarding boot market, which in turn reminded me of the Winter Dew Tour commercials on TV that have an action sequence of Shaun White skateboarding and morphing into snowboarding. The Dew Tour has a new logo, perhaps coinciding with the creation of the Action Sports Alliance. Make no mistake about it, despite a name that sounds like an operation for activism, outreach, or a rider’s union, it’s a company jointly owned by NBC Sports and MTV.

Alli is a global business that joins the former Action Sports Tour properties (AST) with Maloof Money Cup, AMA Motocross Championship and King of Wake series to create the most diverse and robust action-sports offering in the world. The new umbrella brand, which will continue to be co-owned by NBC Sports and MTV, will offer a schedule of seven national and international action sports tours and events, multimedia content and production, a digital hub and consumer-facing lifestyle brand.

Check out the press release. No word on the official position of the Don’t Do It Army.

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

Of course we’re recycling it at as well, but the New York Times story on skaters hitting the pools of houses in foreclosure is being recycled. John Aguilar sent in this scan from the Tacoma News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington. I expect it showed up elsewhere too. We (SnA) got another plug, or rather the same plug, since it’s the same story credited to the New York Times. We should expect to see some new versions of this story. believe it or not, CNN and a Fox News channel contacted the humble offices of Skate and Annoy, as if we had the inside scoop. Look, Clarence. I don’t know those kinds of people, and more importantly, they don’t know me!

UPDATE: added a Fox News video link, courtesy of ADDIKT.

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.