Pretty cool overview of Oregon skateparks at SkateOregon with a photo of each one. Dang there are a bunch of them.

As seen in the May 2007 issue of People Magazine, this advert for the Chevy Cobalt features street skating prominently. Some publicist or team rider over at Powell ought to be getting a fat check for this product placement. Usually company logos are not so readily identifiable. As for the Devil Dogs lyrics to Brand New Chevy… Devil Dogs? Never heard of them, but according to Last.Fm “People who like The Devil Dogs also like New Bomb Turks, Radio Birdman, Supersuckers…” Really? OK, Sounds good, but going against their credibility is the fact that they released the song in 1989, which would not have been an especially noteworthy year in the annals of American car design. Is anyone in this day and age excited by new Chevrolets, Corvettes even? I doubt the Devil Dogs would find the Cobalt that inspiring, but I’m sure the publishing rights inspired their bank accounts. Enlarge the advert after the jump.

A copy of TokyoLOCO from 1999. I’ve seen other Japanese magazines and websites like this. Chock-full of shots of what people are wearing on the street. I think people over here do that too and call it cool-hunting but I think here, people use it as research to try to find something to market. They don’t just serve up the images. The New York Times had a column called Street Fashion that would point out a certain trend through a series of photos but I’ve never seen a whole American magazine like that.

No, the guy in the bottom left picture is not a rabid Adam Ant fan going through a Prince Charming phase, it’s Toronto skateboarder Ben Davis after he got hit by a car while skateboarding in the street. A security camera caught the whole thing on tape, and City News reported on it. The street is supposed to be one that gets a lot of foot, bicycle and skateboard traffic. It’s not a major artery, and some residents even want it closed to automobile traffic all together. It’s not shocking that Ben got hit by a car, after all, he was in the middle of the street going against traffic. The interesting bit here (aside from gawking at the carnage) is the fact that the car driver got off scott free and Ben is the one who got the ticket. Check it out.
[Source: Altered Skateboarding] Postscript: I had a hard time picking a Prince Charming link to reference, check out this alternative.

Pig is rumored to be unimpressed.

When it rains (Tony Hawk) it pours Tony Hawk. ABC’s “Fast Cars & Superstars: Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race.” premiered last night. I didn’t catch it and it’s not online at ABC.com yet, so I can’t say how much screen time Tony Hawk got, but he is one of the celebrities appearing in the show. Hopefully Tony drives better under the camera than Eddie Griffin. And speaking of Nascar promotions, Tony is also one of the celebrities designing Daytona 500 tickets that fans will ultimately decide whether or not to produce by voting in a poll. I’m guessing this is the last time they have a design contest, because Tony’s is actually one of the better ones. Some of these celebrities either had random small children do the design or spent a grand total of 30 seconds on the whole thing. It’s embarrassing for them, really. The artwork is being auctioned for charity and some of these guys didn’t put any effort into it. Anyway, the Speed Racer reference is just an excuse to post a picture of the new Mach 5 from the upcoming Speed Racer movie. I’ve been waiting for that car all my life. [Photos Clockwise: Tony Hawk from ABC, Tony Hawk’s ticket design for the 50th Daytona 500, and the Mach 5 from Warner Brothers Pictures.]

Old friend of Skate and Annoy Bob Mechtly sent in these pictures of a Tony Hawk demo at Six Flags. Bob didn’t send any details, but near as I can tell from the color cast of these pictures, the event was held in the late 70’s, probably underwater. But seriously folks! Take my wife, please! Maybe it was just an added attraction, or maybe he was promoting the new Tony Hawk’s Big Spin ride, which would be odd since these shots are from Missouri and the Big Spin is at a different Six Flags in Texas. I love the kid looking in the opposite direction as if to say “I wish I was riding on that roller coaster instead of sitting on my dad’s shoulders watching this carnival sideshow.” Check out the size of that screen. Jeebus, that’s huge!

Mike V. landed a gig blogging about hockey for Anaheim’s Mighty Ducks which isn’t a big deal except that in the May 28th entry he claims to have created skateboard hockey. I’ll bet there are a few Jaks who might care to contradict him. I seem to remember skateboard hockey in the mid eighties when mike V was just an amateur. Maybe he just meant that he created it on his own without knowing others were already doing it.

Stock imagery of skateboarding was stock in the 80’s until the last couple of years. Sure, the cheap and free online resources still have a lot of cheesy clip art believe me, I have collected a lot of it, but most stock imagery of skateboarding has gotten a lot more current. I think there was one photo session of an 80’s vert dog skater that was used forever. I recall in the 90’s and early 00’s he was on everything from watch packaging to toys and more. Here are two recent examples of stock houses advertising in consecutive issues of the design magazine Print. Hey Masterfile, that elbow pad probably hasn’t been available for sale in over 10 years.

Skate and Annoy is guilty of negligence. We ignored the story of the closing of a large percentage of skateparks in Nebraska last fall, due to the Nebraska Supreme Court’s decision that cities were not immune to personal injury lawsuits on public land. Basically, some lady twisted her ankle in a hole in a field at a public festival somewhere in Nebraska, and since we are the Jerry Springer nation, she decided to sue whatever public municipality held the event. Cities and the like are usually immune from frivolous lawsuits of the “I tripped on your sidewalk” variety, but this possible relative of Cleetus the Slack Jawed Yokel, had her day in court. Suddenly, Chicken Littles in cities and towns all over Nebraska decided they needed to close skateparks until the law changed. Curiously, as near as I can tell, no basketball courts or baseball fields were closed. The aptly named Omaha Sen. Mike Friend, stepped up to the plate (sorry, there’s no skateboard analogy for that. Should it be dropped in? ) and proposed a bill to change that. The bill has passed and the Governor intends to sign it. So please forgive us, last month’s 55 loyal readers in Nebraska, for ignoring your plight. Maybe if a few of you chipped in the occasional comment or two we’d remember you are there. I’ve driven through your great state more than once, there can’t be that much else to do! Video, audio, and more after the jump. [Photo: NebraskaSakteparks.com]