This is a commercial with skateboarding in it that I can get behind. Death Wish Coffee presents The Late Riser. – Thanks to Mezmer for the tip.

Pause magazine wants to redefine men’s fashion: The skater boy is the contemporaries new man and fashion wants him for their own.AW or SS it doesn’t matter….THIS IS THE FUTURE. This guy so surreal looking I can’t even laugh at this. A one point the video is like Charlie Sexton in a Devo video. Sometimes he looks like a computer animation. The model is one angular mofo. The video runs from skateboarding to motocross to a quasi bullfighter look. I keep expecting Ali G or Bruno to pop up. And the title, so hopelessly out of touch/fashion. That was popular in 2002! I don’t know why, but this whole thing fascinates me. It makes me want to stand in the corner of a skatepark and do the fake make out thing with my hands around my back. Yes, I know there are no corners in a skatepark. “Bonus” Avril Lavign video after the fashion disaster. [Source: Caught in the Crossfire]

Sewa Kroetkov for Lenovo computers is the focus of a commercial in Lenovo’s campaign awkwardly titled “Make your DO come true.” On the the DP’s list of things to do, maybe reshoot the 2/3 of the action that resulted in butt shots. I had to look up Sewa Kroetkov because I am an old man whole lives in a cabin in the woods, but he’s a real guy from the Netherlands and not a construct of a creative director’s imagination. The example of Sewa giving up life as an accountant to skateboard for a living seems at odds with Lenovo’s target audience. They’re saying he’s a “doer” and people who “do” use Lenovo notebooks. The unintended message is “Screw a straight job, go skateboarding!” – Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.

Mark Ruffalo (the Hulk in the Avengers) is mad about skateboarding, as in he looks like he’s a little crazy in this photo from the Daily Mail. He’s rockin’ a Penny Skateboard (logo visible on the front truck) and some kind of crazy digital camera with a gold lens. – Thanks to Mrs Kilwag for the tip

The two works are Unknown Pleasures and Closer. And that’s it. Everything else, is merchandising. Merchandising of memory. Chances are, if you see anything with the name Joy Division on it that isn’t music, a book or a movie, it’s a bootleg. The quote above is from the 2007 documentary Joy Division which you can (and should) watch for free on Hulu, at least for now. The quote appears in the last few minutes of the film and the speaker is off camera so I’m not sure who it is. The image of a Joy Division inspired skateboard is superimposed over a famous band photo for a few brief seconds during the quote, which I thought was an unusual choice. It could have been used as commentary on Joy Division’s cultural appeal spanning the decades from the 70’s to the new millennium, implying the music is still modern. They might have chosen a skateboard because it looked more interesting than a bootleg t-shirt. Then again, maybe the skateboard in question was designed by an astronomy fan. REVISION: The Hacienda sells licensed Joy Division coffee cups. Err… right.

Concord Foods Banana Pops kit featuring a monkey on a skateboard, and why not? It’s got cocoa in the ingredients, but it’s still only “chocolate flavored” for some reason. Well, what do you expect for $1.28?

Bob Burnquist and crew (including Jeff King) built a classy looking floating miniramp as part of a PR campaign to (Warren) bolster California tourism. Visit California, where all your dreams can come true. This commercial speaks directly to 1984 Kilwag. I remember my first time in California, actually visiting some of the places I’d read about and seen in Thrasher like venice Beach, the Nude Bowl, and random grade schools with banks. It was like making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Dream Big was filmed in 2013, but I didn’t see it until recently. It looks super fun, kind of small, almost anticlimactic in the context. Maybe their budget didn’t allow them to dream bigger. Still, it’s great that things like this are being built. Don’t forget to visit California.

Tony Hawk has some inside association with talks to bring skateboarding to the 2020 summer Olympics. He thinks’s it’s going to happen. Meanwhile, poor Larry… It’s painful to watch Larry King try to be funny and hip with Tony Hawk on his show “Larry King Now” on Ora.tv. It looks like his new “network” is online only. You can watch the olympics specific bit as an outtake on Youtube. The entire 28 minute interview is online via Hulu, which means it could disappear at any minute. And speaking of Tony Hawk, I just saw part of a schlocky Billy Crystal movie that featured Tony Hawk wiping out in the middle of a vert run because a small child was peeing off the deck onto the transition during an X-Games practice. I am not making this up! It’s called Parental Guidance.

Instructions on how to build a pretty weak interpretation of a skateboard, as seen in Lego Club Jr magazine, March/April 2014 edition.

I can’t believe the amount of people who still think the Huvrtech hoverboard is real, despite the obvious clues. I’m still getting emails asking about it! It’s fake people, what more evidence do you need? If you absolutely need to buy a hoverboard, head on over to GoldenArmoor.com, where they sell kits to make your own replica of the Mattel version, as well as every other one used by Griff’s hoverboard gang, including the Pit Bull, Rising Sun, No Tech, and Odd Man Out. Notice how the parts look identical to the ones found on the HuvrTech model? Click through to look at more pics and video, including Mattel’s collectable overboard release.