I have mixed feelings about Rodney Mullen. While I admire his skills, creativity, influence, and longevity immensely, I can’t reconcile that with his stance that you can’t make a high quality competitively priced skateboard in the USA, or hell, North America for that matter. What is TED? An organization that seems to exist only to get interesting people to talk about interesting ideas. What do skateboarding and innovation have in common? More than you might think. A successful entrepreneur and innovator, Rodney Mullen is widely considered the most influential street skater in history, inventing most of the tricks used today. By the time he was 23, Mullen had already set new milestones for skateboarding winning 35 out of 36 freestyle competitions. He studied engineering at the University of Florida before co-founding World Industries, the largest skate company of the 90’s, which was acquired for more than $20m. He continues to skate, innovate, and design some 30 years after he won his first world championship at the age of 11. Mullen spends his spare time thinking about open source communities, hacking the urban terrain, and transforming the mundane into something new. He’ll be featured in the upcoming documentary, “The Bones Brigade:…

From the Phineas and Ferb Facebook page. I swear I’ve seen every episode. They play one every other hour on assorted Disney Channels. Never seen this episode though. A platypus on a rocket powered skateboard. – Thanks to Colin for the tip.

I made it through 46 seconds. I don’t think this is a joke. I mean, it’s a joke alright, but not intentionally. Enjoy “i’m a Skater” by Mac Jar & Monikape. – Thanks to Matthijs for the tip. UPDATE: Comments closed do to too much repetition. Way to offer a different opinion through, uh, mindless repetition. Don’t hate, REPLICATE.

It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as John Henry, but the song that was the Peach Orchard met it’s demise courtesy of the Norfolk Southern railway, the property owners. It was railway adjacent, and essentially nothing to them, but they tore it down because the lawyers said they should. Nola.com has the scoop. What did the New Orleans locals get for their trouble? Some leftover ramps from a Red Bull demo and a D.I.Y. hangover. Faster than you can say “hair of the dog,” a new spot is born. Pleasureside is it’s name, and unless I’m mistaken, it’s essentially right next door to the old spot. Even John Henry’s balls weren’t that big! – Thanks to Joey O’Mahoney for the tip.

No, it’s not an ad for safety equipment. It’s Don Draper’s worst nightmare, Stayfree Maxi-pads tackles the skateboard set. What a break for this young stuntwoman. The skateboard says 70’s but the fashions are looking a little early 80’s. The seller of this item probably could have gotten a lot more for if they had instead listed the Farah Fawcett Shampoo advert that was on the back. Since Farrah’s Faberge shampoo was launched in 1978, this advert couldn’t have been much later than that.

I didn’t read the article because I was so annoyed with the image. You got your classic “guy in the sky” shot on the second page too. Slightly altered NYTimes online image above. Original screenshot after the turn.

I can’t believe we haven’t featured a Bazooka Joe comic before, surely there has got to be other skateboarding Bazooka Joe adventures besides this recent one? Thanks to Kevin Cann for sending this in. It was last year I think, but spring cleaning finally paid off in the Kilwag household.

Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America opened in San Diego on April 28th at the Museum of Man. The show runs through September 9, 2012. It’s on tour for two years, maybe coming to a town near you. If not, there are open slots available. Hassle a museum or gallery in your neighborhood to bring it home. The Smithsonian Channel will air a program called Skateboard Nation starting on May 5th: Explore the underground movement that’s helping Native American youth throughout the U.S. soar above life’s challenges, one half-pipe at a time. Skateboarding is increasingly popular on Indian reservations, cultivating athletes, artists, entrepreneurs and mentors. From the streets of Albuquerque to New York City, from Washington, D.C. to Pine Ridge, SD, the sport is fueling a new form of self-expression and pride. – Hey Betsy!

That’s right S&A readers. I’m taking this opportunity to bravely throw off the shackles of oppression and let everyone know that I… Well, how do I put this? I like Ellen Degeneres. OK, her TV show doesn’t appeal to me but as a stand up performer and showbiz personality, I’m a fan of her. Ellen had Tom Schaar (no relation to Max Schaaf) on her TV show shortly after landing his 1080. Ellen’s is a bit out of her element, and it’s not a very interesting segment, but at least Tom got a few minutes of fame. Whoever came up with the idea of a mini-mega ramp for a live TV segment should be demoted. There’s nothing that makes for more exciting TV than watching a kid trudge up a ladder a minute for each second he actually spends on his skateboard. Fortunately, Ellen pulls shouts out a bunch of random skate terminology while this is happening. UPDATE: Tom landed a 1080 X Games Asia in Shanghai, China, beats Burnquist. Video after the jump. [Source: CA Rampworks]

last Monday we had a rude awakening with Off!. So it is in that tradition that I present this cartoon and apologize for greeting you with part of a Buthole Surfer’s album title. I guess that really wasn’t a way to make it any more palatable. The cartoon was found on an image aggregating site with no credits or source. It looks like it came from an adult magazine. Perhaps it was scanned by someone who lures less skillful players into competing against them at a gambling game. I thought I might have posted it already, since I remember seeing it quite a while back, but I couldn’t find it here on S&A. So the gag is, old people acting like teenagers! Hilarious.