Colin Bane over at Fuel TV has an argument against putting professional vert skating on life support. In his post titled Vert. Alive and thriving? Colin compiles some upcoming professional events and media exposure highlighting vert skating. I wouldn’t mention this, except I don’t want want to let anyone down, seeing as how we can’t shake the image that Skate and Annoy is for old men who like vert. Also, Colin has a shout out to Conahan and his H.O.M.O.S. comics. Hey, does MC know those guys over at Antigravity Press are ripping off his content and passing it off as their own? Image on top is from DC’s backside smith how-to video with Colin McKay.

Flipping through the first few pages of Concussion #37 makes it clear that Concussion is new Concrete Wave. Page 13 – Full page advert for Foundation re-issues, no big deal. Page 23 – full page Art and Steve Godoy advert for Bones Wheels. I don’t know what’s more shocking, the Godoys on a Powell brand or the Godoys in any advert. Where was the hype back when I needed it? Actually, I think they’ve always been on good terms, but they didn’t fit the squeaky clean image of Powell back in the day. Those are Factory 13 boards they are sporting. Then on page 26 there’s a full page Circle-A advert. Oh yeah, Full page OJ’s and and a full page Lester Kasai ad for S One Helmets too. And I’m just kidding about that Concrete Wave comparison Davoud. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Apparently this Choco Milk is actually made with bits of real panther. At least that’s what the packaging would have me believe. John Aguilar hipped me to this, but fortunately I didn’t have to go to Mexico to get it since they had an ample supply in the “Ethnic” section of my local grocery store.

Is this from a new TV show? Some sort of celebrity scandal? Is he the real father of Jamie Lynn Spears’ baby? Has he converted to Scientology? Are those pearl earrings he’s wearing? What new product is he shilling? Enquiring minds want to know, and you won’t be disappointed. [Source: auggiedawg on Sleestak]

Apparently the anguished cries of old men everywhere resonated in the halls of ESPN. EXPN.com reports: ESPN has decided to continue its 13-year tradition of vert competitions at this year’s X Games. Over the past month ESPN has engaged in many conversations with the X Games BMX and Skateboard vert athletes in an attempt to transition the Vert discipline into one featuring a skatepark course design. While many athletes were initially receptive to the idea, the majority of them have indicated to ESPN that they would prefer to compete on a halfpipe. So vert skating is back from the dead. Who could have predicted it? I think it’s funny that the athletes were the ones the brought it back. More telling is the fact that they plan to go forward with the Superpark concept in addition. I have a feeling that the vert riders who don’t decide to enter Superpark are going to lose ultimately. I see this as a temporary appeasement of the talent so they don’t have a mass boycott of riders. Sure, they’ll bring back vert for one or two more seasons while they quietly build up Superpark until ratings prove they don’t need vert anymore, because…

So yeah, doing the family vacation thing. Mother in-law brought us to an “incredible new restaurant” that turned out to be a newer chain of sports bars. I counted at least 33 flat screen TV’s with assorted sports programs on, one of them was playing Fuel, so that means I got to watch skateboarding in a sports bar. It was an episode of Driven, and there was hardly any skateboarding in it. For some reason there was a big production about a kid giving Vallely a bracelet of sorts. Not very manly behavior for a sports bar. I swear I heard some snickering. Maybe the kid had a terminal disease, it’s hard to tell because there was no sound. Looks like they gave him a Jeep, though. So yeah, manly sports bars and skateboarding. Alright.

A friend mentioned a Chance Meeting personal ad in the Portland newspaper the Willamette Week Someone was trying to hook up with a Handsome Skater Dad. Since the new issue had already come out, I missed my chance but the website had a couple of similar items. So it’s not all Shecky , the mature skater-man is also in demand.

Some amusing covers from skateboard-themed books at Amazon. I notice one of them in the upsell section below the thing I was looking at and followed the breadcrumbs to a veritable cornucopia of young adult print-based communications.

Skate Daily noticed that although Rick McCrank is active in Peta print ads and product giveaways, he’s still got a suede shoe model, unlike another Peta collaborator, Ed Templeton. Also in this month’s Print Magazine is a half a page on design variations in Nick Hornby’s book Slam, the one that features a protagonist that regularly converses with Tony Hawk in head, the same way Clarence Worley talks to Elvis, I mean “Mentor.”

A VH1 blog for the show Best Week Ever has a list of the top 10 professions that are one death away from extinction. Meaning if the most famous guy dies, nobody will take his place. Coming in at number one, Skateboarding and Tony Hawk. They are actually aware of other pro skaters, but their rationale is that… who cares. But, maybe they are on to something. Perhaps the almost dead profession should have been Vert Skater since I keep getting tips relating to vert skating and BMX being dropped from the X games. Also being dropped? the VH1 show Best Week Ever, unless they get picked up by ESPN. The rumors are flying, and the official word is that “changes are coming.” I doubt the loss of vert in the X-Games mean much of anything to skateboarders, besides the ones competing. It might have more of an impact on Madison Avenue than anywhere else. Commercials and cartoons will have lost their point of reference for portraying skateboarding. – Thanks to Concretins for the first tip.