Category Archive: Media Watch
Absolute vs relative point of view
Lakai commercial featuring Mike Carroll’s Hangover Flip. I’m intrigued as to how they filmed this. Either a camera on some sort of mount that could be rotated fast and smoothly enough to keep up with the rotating board, or maybe a super high resolution camera with the footage cropped and rotated so the edges don’t show. My guess it the latter. I can’t imagine how you could flip the camera and zoom that precisely at the same time. – Thanks to Mike Buckley for the tip
Adobe wants you to shoot skate videos
Or more accurately, they want skaters to buy Adobe Premiere Elements 8 to edit their skate videos. Looks like a posed shot. Bummer. Enlarge-o-rama. – Thanks to Gene Sato for the tip
Arrested developments
Hold on… I’m channeling People Magazine, or maybe US Weekly… Richie Jackson arrested at gunpoint for tresspassing, and resisting arrest I suppose, although I don’t know how the laws work in Australia. He was busted inside a locked school yard, and tried to evade the police. he said he was looking for a place to sleep. Nice try Richie. I suppose the cops thought the skateboard was a pillow? What he lacks in creative excuses, he makes up in creative skating. What else? Mike V was arrested in a brawl at a Ducks hockey game, fighting over a hockey stick that a player handed into the stands. He claimed it was supposed to go to his daughter, but then so did another fan. Great example for your kids Mike. Video and story at Radar online. Richie Jackson story at ESPN.com. – Thanks to Mike Estes and House of Neil for the tip.
Stephen Colbert gets r-r-radical!
Last Tuesday’s episode of the Colbert Report (November 17th) featured the segment Better Know a District, with California’s 12th which encompasses San Francisco and the headquarters of You Tube. At the end of the segment he asks Representative Jackie Speier to make a You Tube video, consisting of some skateboarding through the halls of the office building. I didn’t catch this on TV, so I can’t tell if there’s a stunt double or not, but my immediate judgement tells me Stephen has spent some time on the old stuntwood. Like I said, I didn’t get a chance to record this, but the forward thinking people at Colbert Nation have saved me the trouble of getting kicked off You Tube again by posting copyrighted material. Wathc the licensed vid after the jump, and brace yourself for an onslaught from Daddy Yo. it is San Francisco, the hotbed of left wing commie, pinko, gay… Thrashers. Lets see who can stay on topic the longest. (Tone of voice: Like a parent to his kids saying “Let’s play a game and see who can stay quiet the longest!”) Sadly, the video wasn’t actually posted on You Tube. Stephen, how long have you been skateboarding?…
The Economists perpetuates the stereotype
The Economists has an article talking about the greed and selfishness of today’s youth, and their lack of involvement in public service sector. I’m not sure about the public service record, but I’m pretty sure the previous generation’s greed is a huge part of the reason we’re in this mess. What’s the point? The illustrator used a skateboard to portray the folly of youth. You could be upset if you cared, but if you think about it, skateboard media itself does a good job of perpetuating the stereotype. Not all of it, but a sizable portion. I was talking with an industry insider this summer who expressed some regret over that, while fully copping to perpetuating negative stereotypes in skateboarding through his own product and actions. Ah… What are you going to do? Do as I say, not as I do? Skate and Destroy or Skate and Create? Does anyone care? – Thanks to Seth Levy for the tip.
Hard Ticket to Hawaii
Wow. I can’t believe this one flew under my radar for so long, but it was released a mere year after Thrashin’. I’m not sure what this movie is about, but it’s got two Playboy Playmates and a skateboarding goon (Hey! that’s Russ Howell?1) who meets a spectacular untimely demise. Is it because he’s doing handstands down the middle of a highway, or because he’s spinning 360’s with an inflatable doll? Both valid reasons, to be sure, but not there are other extenuating circumstances. Playmates are well known for their acting chops, so you know this clip is… not going to feature them. – Thanks to Skate D for the tip.
RealPlayer ad execs not real current
What they lack in market share, RealPlayer is willing to make up for in nostalgia by being on top of what was popular on the internet about two years ago. They’re still doing skateboarding dogs.
Huckle’s Opposites
As a kid I always loved Richard Scarry’s books. Something about those chunky little anthropomorphized animals with their stubby arms really appealed to me. It might have been the detailed surroundings of Busytown or the inherent sense of humor in the illustrations. Now I dig reading these to my kids. This panel here is from a board book called “Huckle’s Opposites,” and it features one of my favorite characters, good old Lowly Worm. He’s only got one shoe, yet he still manages to ride a skateboard. He may push mongo, but his skateboard is stylish. Hang on, how does he push at all? Is that a Chuck Taylor? You can investigate the answers yourself by picking up your own copy from the dollar bins at Target.
Digg Tony Hawk
Tony Hawk interviewed on another skateboarding web site? Nope. Try Digg.com’s Digg Dialogues. He’s still famous. Tony is interviewed with questions from the Digg community by the site’s founder. Conahan once suggested that I forego “Gratuitous Tony Hawk” references for Sheckler, but Tony’s in the media more, still. Watch it after the jump.
Neighbors
The “skateboard” key word channel on my DVR picked up a show on Current TV. I was a bit confused because to get to it I had to FF through 10 minutes of a segment titled “Why we shave down there,” with a bunch of women talking about, well, you know. There was indeed some skateboarding, a fun little street sequence featuring skateboarder and artist Mark Warren Jacques. Turns out he lives in Portland is a partner in a gallery that is about 10 blocks away from where I live, yet I’ve never been in there. I guess I’ll have to remedy that. Catch the clip by Joe Lumbroso and info about some upcoming exhibits after the jump.











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