The April 2008 cover of Seattle Metropolitan magazine features another skateboarding business dude used to illustrate the 14 hottest company to work for in Seattle. I quickly leafed through a copy at the airport, but I didn’t see anything else skateboard related in the article. Perhaps I missed it. I couldn’t bring myself to fork over $5 or $6 for this thing at the time and I forgot about it until I opened the cover image on my cluttered desktop. This issue isn’t on the newsstand anymore, so if by some odd chance anyone has a larger scan of the cover, please send it in.

Unbeatable Banzuke is a physical obstacle course Japanese game show (Kinniku Banzuke) that airs in reruns on the G4 network in the US. Apparently the original show was cancelled in 2002 after two contestants suffered serious spinal cord (OK, cervical vertebrae) injuries. The “Skeboarder” episode features a skateboard obstacle course that looks like Grover’s wet dream. An enterprising individual has captured some of it in the time honored fashion of pointing a video camera at the TV. Check it out after the jump. G4’s site has some footage but they don’t do anything to make it easy for you to find out when a particular episode will be on. “TV that’s plugged in?” Hardly. The course looks really fun, actually. One of the contestants has his occupation listed as “Skateboard Salesman.” I wonder if he goes door to door. – Thanks to Rich for the tip.

We mentioned Tom Fain in a piece about the defunct Skatepark Magazine since he was on the cover posing with his eight wheeled skateboard under the caption “Why every community could use a Tom Fain.” and I made the joke “Really? Every community could use a guy who is seemingly completely out of touch with skateboarding culture?” because he was on an 8 wheeler, and most kids can’t relate to a board that is wider than 8 inches, let alone an eight wheeler from the 70’s. Well Tom eventually saw the post and wrote to me. He’s got a good sense of humor and wasn’t annoyed by the post at all. He sent in a bunch of pictures of him not being out of touch with skateboarding culture, as well as some scans of the article about him in Skatepark magazine. Tom has a web site devoted to his ministry and skateboarding called SAP Skateboards if you are interested.

Coan Nichols and Rick Charnoski’s newest film Deathbowl to Downtown is a documentary on the history of skateboarding in the sprawling giant New York City. They are celebrating a screening of it with a photography (and art) show titled The Moving Image – A Photographic History of Skateboarding in New York at the Etnies Show Room (29 Greene St., NYC). The opening reception is invite only, but there is a public viewing on May 10th and 11th from 12-6pm and 12-5pm respectively. I don’t know if this means the film is has been released or not, but it must be getting close. If you’ve never seen their work, the word documentary doesn’t do them justice. May I suggest starting with Fruit of the Vine and then moving on to Northwest? It ought to be obvious to anyone that New York City has a rich history of skateboarding to draw from, so the NCP films treatment is essentially a guaranteed winner. And who knows, if you look real close in the credits you might see a certain web site mentioned. I contributed some commercials from the SnA archives that they had intended to use in painting the big picture. Of course it took me forever and a day to actually get it to them, and I haven’t seen the film so they might not have used anything. Regardless, head on over to the film’s official site for more photos, a trailer and some more clips. My favorite one features Steve Quentin.

CNN has a video piece on helmet safety and skateboarding. It’s the usual not very-in-depth filler complete with a couple who lost their son to a head injury to pull on your heartstrings. What’s not clear is what the kid was doing, from the limited amount of information they give. I think he was possibly just traveling from point A to B as his family walked behind him, but speculation is pointless and the tragedy is not diminished. However, the couple and CNN’s tone seem to be implying that video game characters and magazine pictures should all be wearing helmets too. I mean really? Is that how much baby sitting we need now as a society? Are seatbelts going to be mandatory in driving video games as well? What about games where you battle the undead or perform similar unrealistic maneuvers? It’s the same kind of asinine mentality that places those disclaimers on the bottom of TV commercials that say “Professional drivers on a closed circuit, do not attempt” or “Exaggerated driving conditions. Not a performance claim.” Really? I can’t drive up the side of building in my Geo Metro? I shouldn’t base jump off the Sears Tower in search of a radical tasting snack? I shouldn’t attempt to crooked grind down a 50 step stair set without a helmet? Yes, kids should wear helmets. Yes, people should take responsibility for their own actions. NO, they don’t need to be shielded from any stimulus where people are doing anything other than sitting in a padded room, safe from all risk. They even drag Tony Hawk into the fray. Is this a U.S. only phenomenon? Do other countries want to hold their citizen’s hands through life as well? Watch the video on CNN.

– Thanks to Brian Baade for the tip.

What’s wrong with this picture, besides the fact that you can’t figure out why it’s here?

I’ve been half heartedly trying to spark some interest in a skateboard print magazine based in the Northwest, something like For the Krew does out of Florida. It would be fun idea, lord knows we have the spots and the talent in this region. Nobody wants to bite on this idea, because print is a pain in ass, and it seems like Concussion is 2/3 Northwest coverage lately anyway. That being said, this week’s Shot of the Week was recently in Concussion as a half page advert for Merde Skateboards, a merdvertisment, if you will. It’s Chris Nukala in his back yard, shot by Michael Goetz of The Skateboard Archives. Way to go Nukala, you’re looking like a star! It’s been pretty amazing to see the local talent in Oregon and Washington come of age since the first good parks were built. Check out the Shot of the Week or see the Merde advert after the jump.

Here’s what the ad in the March Transworld Business says:

From the undisputed leader… The X Games™ creators of the most high profile action sports competition on the planet, has teamed up with NSS™ to introduce a line of footwear truly worthy of a podium sweep.

If the quality of the X Games skateboards are anything to judge by, you can be sure these shoes will be top notch. You can get a closer look at the 14, X-F1 and Allyoop after the jump. Push for gold!

Here’s an interesting short video about concrete skateparks as an art form, from the perspective of a concrete worker. It’s a podcast put together by Concrete Decor Magazine, and mainly features Michael Dahl talking about hte work he and others did/do with Airspeed Skateparks

[Source: Wall of Gray]

I tried to stoke House Of Neil to write this one, since it falls in his area of expertise, but he’s not typing another word until he gets eBay Watch stickers and T-shirts. In the late 80’s and early 90’s there was a group of tag team wrestlers called the Dynamic Dudes. The Dynamic Dudes wore a lot of neon, made the hang loose hand sign and carried skateboards as props. Progressive Boink voted them the 9th Gayest Tag Team in their top 20 Gayest. I don’t think PB was taking into account the Lucha Libra Exoticos. Of the two guys in the team, the only one anyone seems to care about anymore is Shane Douglas. We’ve got a few pics as well as an incredibly blurry video of the Dynamic Dudes picking out skateboards at a skateshop after the jump.

[Source: Relient K]