In an article titled Granny’s donation fuels funding for skate park, The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that Jean Berlin has donated $200,000 to an Englewood Florida skate park fundraising effort, helping to fulfill a long time dream she shared with her late husband. No only is she Oyster Creek Skate Park’s largest benefactor, she’s also topped the previous record private donation (that we know of), which was a mere $161,000 in stock. As well it should, the donation has made her a local celebrity with skaters, earning her a spot as a judge in a contest. She mentioned she wasn’t really qualified, but it didn’t matter since nobody landed on their feet anyway. Sounds like kickflip syndrome to me! She also stopped the contest to chastise an entrant for dropping the F-Bomb. Speaking of grandmothers, Have you seen the AARP commercial with a Buzzcocks soundtrack?

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission would like to offer you some advice in the form of Publication #93. Several factors, including risky stunts and irregular riding surfaces like steps, ramps and railings, are often involved in skateboarding related injuries. Skateboard riding requires good balance and body control, yet many young skateboarders have not developed the necessary balance and do not react quickly enough to prevent injury.

… street skating is based on the stylings of Daniel Gesmer!

One of the stories being recycled on CNN (TV) today is footage of some guys at the winter X-Games doing back flips on Snowmobiles. Whatever. Get back to me when you do it in a pickup truck. In the mean time, in a case of life catching up to skateboarding, a 14 year old kid named Aaron Fotheringham has completed a backflip on his wheelchair. What do I mean by life catching up to skateboarding? I’m talking about the character known as Leeder O. Men from the 80’s skate zine known as Naughty Nomads. Although fictional, Leeder was the first guy to ride vert on a wheelchair. There have been admirable, but mostly tame videos on the web of guys in wheelchairs at skateparks. Aaron seems to be taking it to another level. A where-are-they-now for Leeder O. Men, Naughty Nomads and more on Aaron Fotheringham, including the video after the jump. [Source: News of Doom ]

Time Warner sold off 18 of it’s magazine titles, including the group that was responsible for Transworld Skateboarding. Swedish company The Bonnier Group was the winning bidder. Expect increased Per Welinder and Tony Magnuson coverage in the near future. Yes, this is going in my photoshop resume… Links to some actual legitimate news sources after the jump.

Tyson the Skateboarding Bulldog and the Puehse Twins. Yes, both are amazing and talented, and over exposed on the web. If you’re not sick of them yet, you will be when you’re done reading this… Oh, did I forget? Bam Margera!

News flash! Skateboarding: A Popular Sport for Today’s Teens! Jessica Mousseau wrote this article. You can view her tiny, saucy picture here, or see Einstein writing your words on a chalkboard here.

If you don’t take control of your culture, those who only care about the gold and platinum will.

That’s the message of this video series called Instant Def, which is a Snickers viral marketing web site. The story line focuses on hip hop being taken over by money-hungry industry types. Ironically, they cast the Black Eyed Peas, a group that will whore itself out to anything from TV commercials to supermarket grand openings. The production design is sharp, but the story, music and most of the performances are weak. On the plus side, Bootsy Collins shows up in episode 2 and again in episode 5. Speaking of taking control of your culture, they use a dog on a flying skateboard and a couple evil midgets little persons, one of them on a skateboard too. Ahh, the delicious irony. Delicious? I love Snickers, but they sure wasted a bunch of money for something lame. I’m not sure about their connection with the hip hop community, but I’m sure the Peas massive street cred will help. Skip ahead to the finale, which has the skateboard action and is also the most entertaining. More screen caps after the jump. [Source: Media Mindfulness]

The last time I had to swing a skateboard in self-defense, it wasn’t against a rapist, murderer, pedophile and escaped convict like Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell. It was against a group of asshole jocks that jumped me and a friend once while skating down a street. It was 6 on 2, and they ended up letting us be. I was in high school at the time. This young man looks like he’s junior high age at best. He clocks T-Bag pretty hard in the side of the head, but T-Bag is like pit bull, he just keeps coming. You have to kill him to stop him. Seriously, he’s not that big, and he’s had his hand cut off, sewn back on by a vet with no anesthesia, and then had to pull it off by hand again, all in the space of a couple of weeks. He should be dead or dying from gangrene by now. I don’t know, maybe my judgement is clouded since I should have better things to do than digitizing a 5 second clips of a guy getting hit on the head with a skateboard on the TV show Prison Break. Watch the video and and follow an assortment of skateboard assault links including another pedophile, a Jesus abduction and fat Canadians in the news after the jump.

You knew it was out there. I didn’t even have to look very hard. Well now I know why those weird ledges are there. To prop up your ass while watching your friends just take that manual pad apart!

Now let me take a moment to reminisce about the old girl.

I was at a gymnastics meet with my kids near the ramp one weekend. Those gymnastics meets can last four hours and you are usually spectating from crappy surplus folding chairs or some sadistic bleachers that some dad in the booster club cobbled together by adapting plans for tiered feed sack shelving. Your kid actually performs for maybe three and a half minutes total. I have two kids doing gymnastics at different levels sometimes we are there for two sessions. Naturally I ducked out for a quick few runs on the handy vert ramp. Watch the video and read more after the jump.