Category Archive: Media Watch
Backyard skate facilities of the rich and famous.
Dan Hughes tipped me off to Tony Hawk’s appearance on HGTV’s show called Sizzling Summer. This particular episode had to do with sizzling backyards, and Tony Hawk’s cement “skatepark” was one of the backyards featured. I tried get this recorded on my own but all I could seem to find were episodes on a bunch of arts and craft projects. Dan was kind enough to digitize it himself. One of the related links that came up with it is a Red Bull authored video on Ryan Sheckler’s backyard skate ramp. It looks like Red Bull must have built it for him because it’s got Red Bull’s color scheme and a cheesy little built in fridge stocked with Red Bull. Watch them both after the jump. Update: Added Bob Burnquist’s house after a reader request.
New skate park irks neighbors
the Home News Tribune (News that hits home in central Jersey!) reports that a new skate park irks neighbors. Noise complaints have neighbors starting a petition to remove the brand new $300,000 skatepark. HNT Staff photographer Jody Somers’ picture clearly shows that these noise complaints could have been avoided or severely curtailed had the city of Linden done a little research and gone with a concrete park instead of prefab. You can read the most compelling study statistics after the jump. Don’t worry, it’s a quick read.
Great skate animation.
I’ve never seen Kleeman and Mike before but the intro is awesome. The skating looks very realistic. Looks like they rotoscoped their own video footage (from Claremont I think) It helps that they skate with some rad dudes. The story has some funny bits too. Thanks to Colin for pointing this out.
Hawk gets annoyed at E3
A seemingly drunk or otherwise incapacitated Jamie Kennedy interviewed Tony Hawk and his game developer at E3, which is to video games what an eBay convention would be like for skateboard collectors. Jamie is clearly phoning in his performance and bombing, but it’s still pretty funny to watch him take the piss out of all the video game geeks. Also amusing is when Tony Hawk realizes he’s in a bullshit situation and turns it back on Jamie a little. Watch the vid (only if you are bored) after the jump. And while we’re doing video games and skateboarding, if you are truly bored, you can also see a picture of a board someone painstakingly painted with a character from the Legend of Zelda. [Source: Gametrailers.com via Best Week Ever]
Mass media sellouts
So yeah, now that we were on TV we are all too busy taking lunch meetings at Spago to update the site. All in all, our Attack of the Show profile went off about the best we could have expected, considering the show’s target audience. I’d say it was a fairly benign appearance and it didn’t make us look stupid. This has nothing to do with the fact that we did garner the top spot, after all. There were a few factual misrepresentations – I’m completely unaware of our supposed nationwide skatepark rating system. Maybe they were thinking of different site. Commentary, video clips of the entire segment, and the Skate and Annoy proflie with a special outtakes segement exclusive to SnA after the jump.
Skate and Annoy on TV? Uhmm.. Yes. Tonight.
Errr… I forgot to mention this. We’re going to be featured on a TV show called Attack of the Show on the G4 channel. I kind of forgot about it because we were supposed to be on earlier but got bumped for the iPhone. (The nerve!) Attack of the Show is described as a “daily show covering the hottest in film, TV, games, gear and music.” It’s like a TV version of Details Magazine for computer geeks, with a little bit of FHM thrown in via a sprinkle of titillating subject matter and a sassy female co-host. They have a blog coverage segment, and we’ve been chosen to appear. I have no control over what they say or show, but given the mainstream media’s quality history of skateboard culture coverage, I’m sure there is nothing to worry about. I’m crossing my fingers anyway. It airs tonight, Wednesday, July 18, at 7PM & 11PM ET/PT. Find it on your cable/satellite provider. Now if only there was some sort of forum to highlight such appearances…
Mistubishi and Pool Skating
The shows I watch must fall out of the targeted demographic because I’ve had people tell me about this commercial but I can’t seem to catch it on the air. Instead I have to resort to pulling it off the web. Misubishi, the company that brought you the Japanese Zero, now wants to help you go on a kamikaze pool mission by driving you there and blasting your MP3’s once you get to the secret spot. Thanks to John Aguilar and Paige for the tip off.
More PU Puehse Twins
Update: It turns out the press misrepresented the facts. Imagine that. Make sure you check out a reply from the twins father Michael after you are done reading my flippant remarks. From the Taipei Times (?) comes this article titled The Sky’s the Limit: A downward shift in the skateboarding demographic and the accessibility provided by the Internet has major labels seeking to endorse kids as young as seven. The article highlights the Puehse Twins success and rampant internet popularity: None of this would have been possible without the support of their father, Michael, a man with a vision, a video camera and a marketing plan. Nothing like a father with a “marketing plan” for his six your old kids. Yes, he started trying to market his kids at the age of six. I have nothing against the Puehse Twins. I think it would be fun to see them skate, and I wish them all the success in the world. It worked for Tiger Woods’ father, so why not Michael Puehse? Skateboards, safety gear, road trips, video camera and web site to market your skateboarding twins: $8000. The look on dad’s face when the twins reach adolescence and decide they…
ABC News still hearts skateboarding.
ABC News has a small gallery of pictures from the practice session for the Skateboard Downhill World Championship held on July 11, 2007. Don’t start to whining “That’s not skateboarding, that’s extreme kooks! Wah wah wah!” Yes, it is skateboarding, and before Thrasher Magazine used to make fun of street luge and professional downhill racing, they used to have recurring spotlights where they talked about it in very revered tones. The guy on left has good fashion sense. The guy on the right looks like he’s got the racing suit but without knee pads. Full face helmet? Sure. Downhill in the rain? Count me out. There are some good shots in the gallery if you hold your breath through a couple of unfortunate buttboarding and skeleton pictures. It looks like there are too many disciplines in downhill these days. I would say that’s not skateboarding but my two year old son would disagree. Getty Images photos from ABC News. After you are done looking at the pretty pictures, check out this ABC Wild World of Sports clip featuring the World Championship of Skateboarding from 1976 after the jump.











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