I was on the fence about a short post on this reality show on TLC called L.A. Ink where a hot gal runs her own tattoo parlor. She’s got a (nonfunctional) skateboard ramp in her shop and a boyfriend that skates, or something like that. Now that Mike Vallely has shown up on an episode the skateboarding link is less tenuous. There’s a split second of skate footage and band footage. Mike looks like a crazy old biker. Highlights include Mive V’s quote: There’s all these people who talk about ‘keeping it real.’ Keeping it real is joke! Keeping it real is keeping it real mediocre. Also interesting to nobody but me is the the fact that I went to high school with one of the tattoo artists on the show, Hannah Aitchison, who, if she remembers me at all, will likely think of me as the annoying kid who thought he was punk rock. She dropped out a year early to go be an adult, something I’ve only just gotten around to doing. There are other tattoo parlors with skateboard ramps. Portland’s own Urban Soul had a ramp and a skateshop, but soon found that all the annoying groms…

Yeah that’s the legendary Natas Kaupas hawking those incredibly crappy looking plastic sunglasses. Head on over to the Skateboard Archives and check out the, uh, print media archives. It’s a very loose collection of old skateboard magazine covers and assorted pages within those magazines. The real treasure is the funky old advertisements for long defunct or soon to be huge companies. There are lots of shots of pro skaters in questionable poses, a ton of vert riding with pads and helmets, obscure hard goods manufacturers (Rannalli Trucks anyone?) and all kinds of good stuff mostly centered on the 80’s and early 90’s. Also interesting are all the mail order shops with completes going for $99 and up. On the downside, the archives are not well organized or very consistent. The detail pages are not quite big enough to read everything, but it’s still a fascinating trip in the Way Back machine. Right, Sherman? Check out The Skateboard Archives.

One of the best WTF marketing crossovers, Zenetti, a company that makes tacky fancy rims for shallow people obsessed with automobiles and the bling lifestyle, now has a skateboarding team. Zenetti the automotive leader in wheel design has teamed up with Dominic DeLuca of the world famous skate shop & streetwear boutique; Brooklyn Projects; to form the wheel industries first ever official skate team. This is not your typical sponsorship scenario, where a company just giving a skateboarder a set of wheels, poses for a picture and you never hear about them again. This is an official skate team with a complete partnership, including magazine features, show appearances and advertising campaign. We have some of the top skate professionals in the world representing our brand and feel that our partnership will help elevate the industry and spark a new trend. These athletes were hand picked by Dominic and Zenetti for their trendsetting style as well as the fact that they embody what Zenetti stands for as a brand; superior performance, cutting edge style, and class. They hope the team will “help elevate the industry and spark a new trend.” Which industry? Who knows? Is the new trend to use demographic…

Earth Patrol Media shows us what happens when second (and third) string skateboard company moguls get in to the Dew Tour. Unfortunately, they were unable to abscond with the effigy of Ryan Sheckler, or burn it. Can you believe they want to sell you Dew Tour skateboards for $80? These are not completes mind you, just the deck. It’s ironic that the graphic on the deck is a bunch of robots. Maybe they’ll make one with lemmings next time. Check it out.

This skateboarding cow is from a series of advertisements for McDonald’s in China that features exercising cows. A few advertising blogs have spotlighted it, but they don’t appear to know anything about it (other than who made it) and never seem to point back to the source of the image. It took me a few days to find someone who reproduced it larger. Check it out after the jump.

If you are going to have a crappy job, it might as well be at a skateboard magazine. Actually, I’m just assuming it will be a crappy job, but historically, photogs in second string magazines are not the best paid. No ding on Slap, I actually haven’t seen an issue in years, but it’s obvious that Thrasher is the flagship of that publisher. Submit your photos and you could win a six month paid position with real photo assignments. It will likely be low paying, but it’s temporary and it would be invaluable experience if you actually wanted to take a crack at doing it for a living. For some reason they are also accepting video submissions for a photo job, which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. They are looking for young photographers with technical knowhow, so I’m out on both counts. Hey kids! Now’s your chance.

This website says she’s a self-proclaimed skatepunk. This is from a fashion supplement to Wired Magazine. Does she really have an empty pool in her backyard? I take all the scorn back, can I come over April?

I just got home from the Dew Tour and I turn on the TV to this, I want to send out my deepest sympathy to the family of Joseph Madison. By KATU Web Staff VANCOUVER, Wash. – A 16-year-old Vancouver boy was killed Sunday after falling from his skateboard while hanging onto a moving vehicle, police said. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office identified the teen as Joseph Stefano Madison of Vancouver, Wash. According to the sheriff’s office, Madison was being pulled by a vehicle driven by another 16-year-old when the incident happened about 4 p.m. at the intersection of Northeast 29th Avenue and Northeast 139th Street – just down the street from Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital. The sheriff’s office said Madison was holding the rear driver’s side window and was being pulled down a road when the vehicle suddenly hit a dip in the street and Madison lost his grip on the window. The teen then fell to the ground and hit his head on the pavement. Madison was declared dead at the scene. Authorities did not say how fast they believe the car was traveling when the teen fell. No one else was injured. There were two other 16-year-old…

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction? Sort of. It turns out they all aren’t wife-beating child-haters. Portland has had at least one Police officer firmly entrenched in helping skateboarders move forward with the now completed plan to revamp Pier Park. (Name MC?) There’s also an officer in the Cayman Islands who lets kids skate on his backyard mini ramp, and there is also an outreach program in Lee-On-The-Solent or Hampshire ( I know! It’s a UK town or district, I can’t tell with all the wacky names they have) where Bobbies attend skate clinics with kids at local skateparks to reinforce positive interaction with police and kids. [Photo: Left and bottom – Solent News Photo. Top – Brent Fuller for the Cayman Compass ]

…and the Skate and Annoy servers are being braced for an onslaught of teenage girls posting “why all the hating? UR just jealous!” comments. Ryan Sheckler has a show on MTV called Life of Ryan. And now, my life is complete. The programming geniuses nay, wizards at MTV are really on a roll here, recycling yet another another skateboarder reality show, this time even managing to rip off Monty Python in the process. Head on over to the web site for lots of Tiger Beat style pinup photos of Ryan and his cast of friends and family, which apparently involve 55 gallon drums of hair product. How can we say he has an out of control ego? [Source: Skate Daily via Skateboarding Sucks]