I caught this in passing the other day. I thought it was going to be lame, but it was actually fairly decent. It’s about as good as something like this could be from an unconnected third party like Disney. It’s part of a series on kids and sports… I think. I’ve never seen any of the other ones.

We’re now officially in the midst of an annoying trend in which toy commercials are promoting other activities besides skating at skateparks. There have been at least two or three, as well as a cheese commercial with RC cars. This one is for the Yo Be, something that looks like a cross between a frisbee and a yo-yo. Best part is, they shot all the action scenes in front of a green screen so there are lot’s of vertigo inducing physics scenarios where camera angles don’t match up.

How to Make it in America is an HBO series much like a grittier version of Entourage. Though no surprise as Mark Wahlberg is also an executive producer. The show is pretty decent. Two guys trying to “make it” in America. There is a an undercurrent of skateboarding in the series. Skaters are often seen as extras, including in the opening. The main characters have a room full of skateboard models for a local hero who has gone awol from public life. Right. There’s a lengthy video extra about skating in New York. Hey NYC readers, according to this month’s Thrasher, there are some billboards with skateboarding in town for an investment bank or something. I need a photo or two.

I caught this commercial last night. I was making a note to look for it back at home, but it turned out to be a Florida-only thing. The cause is Tobacco Free Florida. Hey, I’m on your side, but this sad sack staring at me almost makes me want to take up smoking. Florida locals, where is this park? I guess that’s naive of me, this probably wasn’t even shot in Florida. Or maybe it was, you know they have a Universal Studios theme park in Orlando…

A recent study published in the Journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science reports that the presence of an attractive woman elevates testosterone and physical risk taking in young men. According to Sage Journals Online: The authors report a field experiment with skateboarders that demonstrates that physical risk taking by young men increases in the presence of an attractive female. This increased risk taking leads to more successes but also more crash landings in front of a female observer. Mediational analyses suggest that this increase in risk taking is caused in part by elevated testosterone levels of men who performed in front of the attractive female. In addition, skateboarders’ risk taking was predicted by their performance on a reversal-learning task, reversal-learning performance was disrupted by the presence of the attractive female, and the female’s presence moderated the observed relationship between risk taking and reversal learning. These results suggest that men use physical risk taking as a sexual display strategy, and they provide suggestive evidence regarding possible hormonal and neural mechanisms. I used to have a graphic reserved for this. Where is it? Oh yeah, right here. The pinup girl above right was a sticker design found on eBay somewhere, I…

From the book How it Works: The Human Body, published in 1997, but that board is more like 1987. Enlarge-o-rama.

The audio interviews are flying. The “brain” behind Bacon Skateboards has a radio show on pdx.fm. He’s on the internet air live on Thursdays at 2pm Pacific time. He’s got five shows under his belt, most of the guests have something to do with skateboarding. He’s had George Cutright the current team manger from Adidas, and our own Mark Conahan. The interviews are only a half hour and are a good listen even if you have no idea who the person is. I’m working my way backwards through them. I made it to Jeremy Robert Johnson, which is a good one. I’m going to check out some of his books. The point is… GVK interviewed live today at 2pm. Still need your fix of skaters from Michigan? Check out the John Doe ZIne interview of Bill Tocco and Bill Danforth.

I’ve seen a lot of crappy skateboard renderings tacked on to products as an afterthought, but this one looks like the artist actually had an affinity for our favorite pastime. I can’t figure out what animal this is. I thought it was a monkey, but there’s no tail. There’s also no other skateboard related pictures inside. It’s kind of amusing that they call out the fact that it’s a shaped coloring book. They basically just punched out a regular coloring book. You can tell because a lot of the images are cut off. How’s that for investigative reporting?

It doesn’t get much purer than this. You have to build it before you can play. That’s your barrier to entry. Also worth mentioning, non-athletic shoes. VIntage Life magazine. – Thanks to Andy Wylie for the tip.

The Wall Street Journal Online has a story about skateboard art, or more aptly, art on skateboards. Gotta give them props for the title “Skateboards Now Hang in Galleries, But Are They Wheelie Art?” Are they wheelie art? Good one. Not so much on the subtitle: “Painters Give Old Toys New Tricks—Teen Angst, Nude Portraits, Broken Bones.” Check out the Wall Street Journal for the article and accompanying video. – Thanks to Brian Susk for the tip.