Hip hop skateboarders? Now I’ve seen everything. No seriously, I think this guy does a better job than most singing about skateboarding without making it sound silly.

According to the The Post Tribune article Doctor: Skateboarding can be fatal: A taste for adventure can be fatal for skateboarders who practice their stunts without a helmet or hang onto the bumper of a car. In a study of skateboarding injuries, one out of every five kids who were hospitalized needed help with feeding after they were released. “Sometimes, these injuries can have long-lasting consequences. Not being able to feed yourself is not that cool,” said Dr. Kyran Quinlan at the University of Chicago. In response to these findings, one local research group has funded further research. Results after the jump.

Ralph Lloyd-Davis has a blog called Skateboarding Now and Then that is an amusing exercise in pointing out some of the differences in skateboard business and culture over the years. Typically it’s two images, a “now” and a “then” with a title. In the case above, the post is titled “Happy Couples” with Rob Dyrdek as the common element. The “thens” are usually from the 80’s or 90’s. Sometimes it’s just one image and a link to a video on YouTube or another feature on a different site. The format of Skateboarding Now and Then leaves a little to be desired. For instance, when external videos or pages are used as they should be embedded or screen captured instead of just linked. Jumping out of the web page to see the punchline of the joke kind of ruins the flow. The posts aren’t updated very frequently, but maybe a little extra web traffic will help stoke Ralph to kick it up a notch. He’s got a good thing going and I’d like to see it fleshed out a little more. I’m not sure what else Ralph Lloyd-Davis has going on, but his name does turn up as an author on…

Nobody has been able to successfully incorporate skateboarding into a fictional movie as a major plot device without making it corny. The 1978 movie Skateboard was probably the first attempt. It stars teen heartthrob Leif Garret in his pre coke binge and DUI days and also features Tony Alva as Tony Bluetile. Here’s a short clip of the archetypal sketchy outsider trying to hustle some teenage kids to form a skateboard team and make a quick buck. It’s very amusing, more so if you imagine our own Grover from GVK as the lead. The last time he tried to talk some teenagers into his van to go skateboarding he had to register his name with the neighborhood as an “offender.” Watch the clip after the jump.

In January we mentioned Grant Britain on some obscure educational network TV program. He’s back on the air again with “A lecture by renowned skateboarding photographer Grant Brittain about his life and work.” I’m not sure if this is the same thing as the last one, but I sure would like to see this. After all, he is our current SOTW. 1958 RCA Deluxe picture from Eric’s Vintage Television Sets

When Oregon Scientific decided they needed some on location shots of their helmet mounted waterproof action cam, the ATC2K, they chose Portland’s Pier Park instead of some other less family friendly locations. Not surprising since the company is based in Tualitin Oregon. Actually, it is surprising since Newberg would have been a heck of a lot closer. California parks show up in tv commercials and print ads all the time, so it’s interesting when a local Portland park is featured. Or not. This poor, unfortunate youth appears be using his helmet cam to avoid seeing footage of himself looking very stiff or possibly posing himself on a skateboard. The waterproof ATC2K is being hawked on Costco, and shows video footage of from a trip down a waterslide which makes me think they are missing out on a potentially more lucrative niche market, adult watersports. (Cue track six from the Surf Punks’ album Local’s Only.) Now to hit up these guys for a review model. Thanks to Roger Harrell of Skateboarder Magazine for the tip.

Great thread on Concrete Disciples about a guy who took his kids to Burnside and got vibed by the locals. His threats to start a petition to try to get Burnside closed ruffled a few feathers. Abuse is heaped, the terrorists win. Pretty funny that he ends up getting vibed on the website too! I’m going to go out on a limb and call the TimK SnA’s Douchebag of the Week. I’m guessing his next petition will try to close down the Indy500 because they wouldn’t let his kids ride their pedal cars on the track.

A tutorial on removing your bearings can be found at About.com which is a New York Times venture. About’s treatment of Skateboarding is squeaky clean. Marketers to youth and school teachers should find the site useful, making it easier for them to rap with the young people. Amazing that this Steve Cave character gets paid to rewrite the book of skateboarding making sure everything is spelled correctly. I’m waiting for the Time Life how-to series. Are there skateboarders out there who haven’t figured out how to use an axle to remove a bearing? I wonder if About.com can help? Which brings to mind an amazing skate repair tip I watched at Pier Park one day. A kid was looking for spare bearings because his were totally seized. Mike Swim took one of the kid’s non-rolling bearings and applied a little PBR. No shit, it freed up the previously frozen bearing. You can’t learn nothin’ in school they don’t teach you on the streets.

Some cool shots in Dave Hupp’s latest photo samples, like this one of Sage in the Pier Park pipe.

Boy, 14 injured at skate park – Coventry,UK Emergency medical technician Steve Mason said: “We were told that the lad had been trying an audacious stunt but unfortunately came off his skateboard. … Lads, if you must try those audacious stunts, you would do well to employ protective devices.