Category Archive: Media Watch
Tiny Dinosaur Jr.
Apparently J. Mascis is not over it, and has taken to skateboarding in a music video again. The Dinosaur Jr. video for “Tiny” looks like it was shot at the Northampton, MA skatepark. Aside from J. pushing around the park, there’s also a skateboarding dog and some roller derby action. It’s decent tune that will stick in your head, but the dog is not impressed at the end. – Thanks to Tom Tallboycan for the tip
Gonz, Stoned
Mark Gonzales is interviewed over on Rolling Stone. It’s technically an interview as he is asked some questions, and “answers” them in typical Gonz fashion. Among the hot topics, you can sort of learn his take on skateboarding in the Olympics. What’s he doing in Rolling Stone? I suspect it has something to do with Adidas reps reaching out. Check out a trailer for Away Days after the jump.
Amazon Kindles Skatepark Abuse
Amazon Kindle has contributed to the advertising phenomena in which people go to a skatepark to engage in activities that don’t involve skateboarding. Usually it’s a TV commercial involving some radio controlled vehicle, or the next yo-yo abstraction. This time it’s a print ad in Time Magazine with a cute little girl sitting on the deck of a skatepark (which one?) enjoying a good novel instead of skateboarding. It’s perfectly reasonable, as long as she is reading the Secret History of the Ollie. The all caps text highlighted on the warning sticker works as an unexpected shout out to a certain truck company. – Thanks to Tallboycan for the tip.
Two Things To Make You Mad, One to Make You Happy
It looks like the long, protracted war is finally over as Skateboarding will be proposed for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, so it’s pretty much a fait accompli. The International Skateboarding Federation is excited about it. Who is in that federation, some notables for sure. Also, the Telegraph definitely thinks I’m too old to skateboard. On a positive note, four Canadian skateboarders are being honored for stopping a sexual assault and helping to apprehend the culprit. (The image on the top left is from Mpora, who has a lot to say about the Olympic announcement but for some reason can’t bring themselves to actually link to it.)
Kei Kamara flying his longboard to Boston
Kei Kamara, former DP of Columbus Crew and recent high profile / scandalous signee to The New England Revolution taking his longboard with him on a flight to Boston. That’s right soccer/skateboarding fans…. more breaking MLS action here on Skate and Annoy. I never thought there would be another S&A crossover post that didn’t involve the best team in MLS, the mighty Portland Timbers, but here you have it. This is from Kei’s Twitter feed. You know, I actually felt a little bit sorry for Kei last year.
Rich Eisen falls off Tony Hawk’s skateboard
What’s a Rich Eisen? He’s a guy with a sports talk show who got a skateboarding lesson from a man who needs no introduction. Shortly after this clip was uploaded, an intern was fired for forgetting to turn on the deinterlace option.
Midwest Skateboard Terrorists from the 80’s
Here’s an excellent time capsule of skateboard harassment from a local Springfield Illinois news channel concerning a proposed ban on skateboarding downtown. Local business and civic leaders speak out against “skateboard terrorists” in advance of the ban, which ultimately passed. The video was digitized from a decrepit old VHS tape, so there are tracking issues and the sound doesn’t always sync right, but it’s still a good watch. One of the skateboarders makes a reasonable request for a public skatepark to serve the needs of the population, and they did get one after only 25 years. – Thanks to Nick Rudd for the tip.
Not in my backyard?
Northeast Bend, Oregon skaters are stoked to get a new skatepark in Rockridge park, but not too stoked on the proposed Evergreen design, described as a “lunar landscape.” Here’s the thing, they just want a regular skatepark, and not a throwback to some terrain not really seen since the 70’s. I remember similar pushback to the modern snake run that was supposed to happen in Gabriel Park. In the end the design changed on the fly during construction and we got the best of neither worlds. However, Gabriel Park is still a fun park with a lot to offer. The Rockridge park design is unique, and would probably be a lot of fun to ride, but it won’t offer the typical skatepark experience. Northwest skatepark building companies have traditionally been on the forefront of unique designs and features, but there will always be those that just prefer predictable reliability. How do we balance the risk? Will locals adapt and enjoy? We won’t know for sure until it gets built. Would I want this if it was the only skatepark in my area? It probably wouldn’t be my first choice. In addition to an existing skatepark this lunar landscape, Bend is…
Skater Sumo on Clarence
Clarence is one of my favorite shows on TV. That’s favorite shows, not just cartoons. I’ve been anticipating a skateboarding episode since the show premiered. In the second season it’s finally happened with episode 9 titled “Skater Sumo.” Ryan “Sumo” Sumozski is Clarence’s friend, not a Japanese wrestler. When some girls from school show up with new skateboards he flips out with envy. Sumo’s large family is cash strapped, so he has to make his own. Clarence has his own issues, and sticks to rollerblading. Will Sumo leave his best friend behind? This is the best portrayal of skateboarding in a cartoon that I’ve ever seen. It captures the pure joy of being young on a skateboard for the first time, and at the same time it’s aware of skateboarding culture in today’s world. You can catch a couple previews over at Cartoon Network. If you don’t get Cartoon Network you should resist to the urge to watch the bootleg clips on Youtube because none of them are complete and they will ruin the experience of watching the entire episode unfold organically. Try to find a way to watch this intact if you can. There’s bunch of stills after the…
The J is for Japanese
Michael J. Fox made some commercials in Japan for the Honda Integra in the late 80’s and early 90’s that were essentially designed to remind you that Fox was in Back to the Future without having to pay Robert Zemeckis and and Bob Gale. This is a print piece that looks like it was probably a magazine feature and not an advertisement. The Chris Miller deck dates to 1988 according to Art of Skateboarding, but the print piece appears to be from 1989. Because I first saw it on FB, it’s nearly impossible to trace to it’s original Internet source, but it might be this Michael J. Fox fan Tumblr. Unfortunately, there’s no real information about what it says or what it’s from. It’s likely related to the commercials because although none of the 5 versions I saw contain any skateboarding, a few contain scenes with the red guitar shown in this print piece. UPDATE: Added a vague translation.











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