It may have been pen for months already, but the Ed Benedict grand opening celebration is this Saturday, May 30th.

1. 1:15 PM Ceremony: Commissioner Saltzman, Commissioner Fish, PP&R Director Zari Santner
2. 1:30 PM Adidas/Tribute Skateboards Skate Jam
3. 2:00 PM Best Trick Competition
4. 2:30 PM PP&R Skate Jam Invitational (grades K-8 and 9-12)

Sure, it gets a little mean spirited (and long) in the middle, hard to watch, but it’s still damn funny juxtaposition.

[Source: LOLFactory]

Not to be confused with the People’s Poet… So I’m wondering what, you the readers, want from Skate and Annoy. What kind of features and coverage do you want to see more of. Does the web really need another discussion forum? What do you want? Enquiring minds want to know, or at least I do. I may not enact all the ideas, but I will give them to my imaginary intern to read. What’s up with that graphic? I made some sweatshirts for my session buddies back in 2002. Ta-da!

We’ve added two new non profits to our public service ad rotation, as seen on the lower right column of the site. First up, the Benton County Skateboard Alliance should be familiar to our readers. They have a 10 year plan to raise funds and advocate for the expansion and creation of free public concrete skateboarding and supporting facilities within Benton County, Oregon. Also new to the official spot is Complete Skate, a school-based program that keeps kids connected to school through skateboarding.

Say hello to Cutbird Skateboards, a company out of Billings Montana owned by Ted Riehl. They sell their boards primarily on the web and in skate shops throughout Montana. In Ted’s own words:

We are the new kids on the block without the lame songs; but we still rock jean jackets.

That’s Cutbird rider Larry Kucsulain in the photo above. Click to enlarge. I know we’ve got some readers out in Montana, maybe someone can fill us in as to what a “cutbird” is.

I don’t know what the deal is with this Black Label Chris Troy ad in the April 09 issue of Transworld. Estes spotted it and sent in a blurry photo. I’m not sure how to respond to this. Surely someone in the marketing department should have googled “Skate and Annoy.” We’ve been mentioned in Thrasher as recently as the March 2009 issue, as early as 1988, and even made it into the 25 Year anniversary book. We’re certainly not famous, but come on… See the whole advert after the jump.

Rolling out some love for new SnA sponsors. If you are paying attention, Weirdo Skateboards, a Norcal based independent skateboard company will be joining the ranks of our banner advertisers soon. Here’s a shot of the company owner Tom Augusta at the San Jose skatepark. I believe BK is the photog? (UPDATE: Yes, he is.) Bonus shot that was just “too weird” for me, after the jump.

Of course we’re recycling it at as well, but the New York Times story on skaters hitting the pools of houses in foreclosure is being recycled. John Aguilar sent in this scan from the Tacoma News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington. I expect it showed up elsewhere too. We (SnA) got another plug, or rather the same plug, since it’s the same story credited to the New York Times. We should expect to see some new versions of this story. believe it or not, CNN and a Fox News channel contacted the humble offices of Skate and Annoy, as if we had the inside scoop. Look, Clarence. I don’t know those kinds of people, and more importantly, they don’t know me!

UPDATE: added a Fox News video link, courtesy of ADDIKT.

Well, we gave it the old college try. I thought we could rise above, or maybe DaddyYo could learn to to coexist with the readers of Skate and Annoy, but I continue to get almost daily requests from completely different people asking me to ban DaddyYo. His positive contributions are dwarfed by the sheer volume of his combative comments and his general antagonistic and disruptive nature. Some people are having fun dueling with him, but for the vast majority he’s an annoying distraction.

WINNER: DaddyYo! You’ve been banned.

The New York Times web site has a feature about skateboarders capitalizing on the mortgage crisis by finding, draining, and skating pools of houses that are in foreclosure. Skate and Annoy even gets mentioned due to our heads up on Billy Runaway’s photos of said pools. It seems like whenever we get quoted by the legitimate press, (Hard to believe, but it happens) they provide a link to web site, but never the article in question, so here is the original post for all our newfound friends from the New York Times. I wasn’t aware that we were a site “where skaters trade tips about how to find and drain abandoned pools.” Maybe they are rerring to Kent’s old article on how to drain a pool using existing plumbing in the DIY section. Aside from SnA being highlighted, it’s also intersting that the mainstream press picked up on this. There has to be a skateboarder on staff.

-Thanks to Maureen, Pribble and Hass for tip.