I got a publicity email from Current TV about featuring this video called “The State of Black Skate,” but I was going to feature it anyway since I found it when I had the Burnside clip on the same site. It’s a short piece on skaters of color (as long as that color is black) in NYC. It ends just as you’d think they were about to get started. It’s almost like an intro segment for a full length production. So, there’s not much meat to it, but there are some good skating sequences. See that guy in the shot above? He’s barefoot. Current ought to encourage longer, more in depth pieces, otherwise it’s just so much filler.

The powers that be in Oregon are hip to skateboarding. The official web page for the State of Oregon has a small thumbnail of a skateboarder enjoying some Oregon concrete on the main page for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. It appears to be just for illustration purposes and doesn’t link to any sort of information about skateboarding in Oregon. It should link to SkateOregon.com. (Thanks for the tip Sam!) Anyone care to hazard a guess as to identify the skater and the park?

Yeah, yeah, old guys still skate. We get it already. Here’s a quite lengthy article from the Columbia News Service about old guys that are still skating in different parts of the country. Somehow or other they missed out on interviewing Mark Conahan, who must have been booked on one of his many media appearances that day. They did interview full-faced helmeted Northwest icon Dan Hughes. The picture on the (top) right is from his web site. Who’s that funny looking old guy on the left? It’s Tommy Guerrero from a short interview in the San Francisco Chronicle, published earlier this year. UPDATE: Here’s another link to a story called “Chairmen of the Boards” (Guffaw! Never heard that one before!) from an Australian publication called The Age. It’s three more pages about old (Australian) guys skating, specifically a crew of guys at Frankston skatepark who routinely bring their own lights to make time to skate in their busy schedules. They have a base of about 60 people who regularly fill out these sessions with 20-30 skaters. Sounds kind of annoying, actually. I hope that’s a big park. That’s a lot of people and the guys in the picture (bottom right)…

Perfect for the Ryan Sheckler’s in your life: A Must For Teenage Skate Boarding Fanatics ! Is it a skate board…………. no it’s a Mirror ! For those who like the quirky side of life, try our skate board mirror… to be admired but definitely not to be ridden! It costs £110.00, and at today’s exchange rate, it can be yours for about $215.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer used this photo to illustrate an article about evidence storage by the Seattle Police. They hold on to evidence for 80 years, so get your grandchildren to schedule the police auction on their calendars if they want to make a killing on eBay.

Dropping In: The True Story of Don Wimmer. It’s about time. I’m so sick of all the lies and hype… Errr.. Wha? There’s a movie about a guy who ditched his career as a CPA to try and become a pro skater at age 42. No, it’s not Grover, but it does sound like an elaborate setup for a joke. Don is Concrete Wave’s 2008 “Speedboarder of the Year,” so I’m guessing he’s either good at downhill (er.. speedboarding) or is a fan favorite. You can watch the dmovie for free this weekend, after which you’ll have to pay for the DVD or wait till it hits Fuel TV or something. More info at Dropping In, or watch it here after the jump.

A good friend of mine once came to visit with a guy she was dating who turned out the be the Choir Boy Robber. After a quick change of clothes, he would make his getaway on a fancy track bike. The way they caught him was simple really. He had to ditch his bike once cause he got spooked. The bike was a tricked out custom job, not a Trek or Specialized that could be bought anywhere. The fuzz canvassed bike shops and one of them ID’ed him as Tom Justice. So he’s in jail now, gets out in about 4 more years I heard. He was kind of a dick to my friend. On the surface he was personable and interesting to talk to, but something about him always seemed suspect. We thought he was a dealer, actually. There were no bank robberies during his stay with us in Portland. Want to learn more about the Choir Boy Robber? There supposedly was an article written about him in Details magazine, and he’s got a page on Friendster. Holy cow, is Friendster still around? What’s the point of this? Oh yeah, some guys have been robbing banks and making getaways…

Gumby and his band are performing at a skateboard rally, but before he can get to it the Blockheads steal Gumby’s board (7 minutes). You can watch a short segment here. No blockheads but Yes that is Gumby throwing up the hang loose looping and playing his guitar at the same time. Prickle on Sax, Goo on keyboards and Pokey on skins. For $1.99 you can download Gumby Adventures episode 86 from Amazon and it will be yours to cherish. Provided you have a Windows XP SP2 or Vista PC or Tivo Series2 or 3 box or a Video-ready Playsforsure portable device registered with them.

There’s this thing called the Urban Circus that has “a contemporary look, it boasts dancing, swaggering, swinging, swaying and skateboarding.” The actual name is 7 Doigts (fingers), and it’s a French Canadian operation that is more or less a poor man’s Cirque De Soleil. Traces is the name of the particular show they are currently putting on. All the press keeps mentioning skateboarding, as if it’s an integral part of the show, but all the photos and various video clips out there suggest it might be more “skateboard-inspired.” But still, everytime something gets written about the show, basketball and skateboards get big billing. Well, I finally found some actual skateboarding. Looks like they are using them as little more than dance props. Extreme!™ I’d rather watch the guy who skates and dances on crutches, aka the Virtual Provocateur.

Girls get no respect skateboarding. Whether it’s some sleazy businessman making cheesy adverts, some sleazy web site editor reposting them, or Fuel TV running jiggle girls on top of the airing of the Skate Girl documentary. What happens when they end up on Mexican TV? Well, they get introduced by cast full of Cuchi Cuchi girls bouncing up and down in their seats like Charo. And of course, the closing set has the cast doing some lame sidewalk surfing in place. Chica Rider is a Mexican organization devoted to girls who skate. They were profiled on some sort of entertainment show on Mexican TV.