This is advert for Vibe, an iOS app that Adobe can’t seem to decide whether or not to promote it as theirs or not. What does it do? It makes short videos with semi-automated cuts between selected stills and videos from your library, and adds a soundtrack to it. Then you can share it. Super. It’s a free app, and the sharing is meant to happen on the usual social media platforms, so you have to wonder what Adobe gets out of this.

Restless Years is pale ale from Evanston Illinois’ Temperance brewery. Aside from skateboards on a beer can, they have bragging rights as Evanston’s first and oldest brewery, dating “way back” to 2013. – Thanks to Neil “I’d obviously rather be drinking than writing Ebay Watch” for the pics.

Soloshot is a great piece of technology for those who can make use of it. It’s a camera mount that will track a radio tag for up to 2000 meters. Basically you wear it and your camera mount will pan and swivel to follow you. You can get one that is just a base that you add your own camera to, or they sell one integrated that also allows for automatic zooming. You can program camera moves into it. This sounds like a paid product placement, but it isn’t. Cool technology for sure, but not so useful for skate footage. If it works well and you need this kind of thing, excellent. As far as using it for skateboarding? I suppose if your friends are tired of shooting you… but as you know, good skate footage usually requires more intimate angles. That might be why the skateboarding part of the promo video only lasts about a second. I still want this, but have no idea what I would use it for.

These Extreme Sports Valentines brought to you by the Dollar Store and printing facilities somewhere in Indonesia feature the holy triumvirate of skateboarding, freestyle motocross and… rock climbing. It’s a pretty weak showing for Valentines Day, but don’t be dismayed because this year they’re still making those “You’re Cool” Snoopy chocolate-filled hearts.

The inside of this freebie Chipmunks themed activity book unfolds to show a poster of said chipmunks getting radical on skateboards. Target stores gave these away in 1990. This is the only appearance of skateboards in the publication. [Source: Cult Oddities]

The February 2016 issue of AARP Magazine has a print piece that augments the Sisters of Shred video. 50 Reasons to love Being 50. [Via – Claudia Hoag on FB]

Vogue Magazine asks the question “How the Thrasher Tee Became Every Cool Model’s Off-Duty Staple,” pointing out various models who have appropriated skateboard culture, and even those like Natalie Westling that actually skateboard. Everyone knows that Steve Olson is the original skateboarding model. [Vogue Photos from top left: Jerome Chrome – Vans – Phil Oh ]

Graava is a camera/app combo that is supposed to make it easier for you to actually do something with all the footage you acquire. Basically, you dock the camera and the open the app, decide how long you want the the end result to be and then let the app make a video for you after it analyzes the footage for… what I’m not sure. A skateboarder is used in their marketing video, and apparently he works in an office where it’s cool to come in late and edit skate videos… hold on, his video is edited for him while he works so he doesn’t have to worry about getting fired. Obviously, this wouldn’t work for any sort of “real” skate video, but it seems to do the trick if you’re just pointing a selfie stick at yourself while you cruise on the bike trail. The question is, why build and sell a separate camera instead of just making an app that takes video from any source? If only someone could invent an app that automatically compiles and writes an Ebay Watch.

Two different Claus Grabke boards featured in unrelated fashion shoots. I’m still trying to track the source of the one on the left,  doubtfully commissioned by the gelato company. The one on the right has an Underwear Expert watermark, which is a good place to go get your dong on.

I saw this add for the online freelance market Upwork.com on Facebook while I was neglecting my own freelance duties. Also, I’m not sure if I’m using the semicolon properly in this post title, so maybe copy proofing is not the job for me. Apparently this guy’s “highly specialized project” was shooting some sort of hybrid freestyle skateboarding/rap video. Unless that’s supposed to be a phone and not money. Freestyle selfies?