The 3rd annual Mt Tabor Challenge is this Sunday in Portland, Oregon. Open class requires an “old school” tuck. There’s also classes for Masters, Groms, and bikes (no pedaling). Details on PDX Downhill. If you’re not familiar with Mt. Tabor, it’s a fairly mellow but fun closed route that isn’t very technically challenging, unless you start at the very top and have to dodge pedestrians and cars after threading the needle (gap between gate and pole) to pass through the parking lot at the top third of the course. Even if you start lower, you can still get going fast enough to get hurt though. Full flyer and illustration of the tuck after the jump, plus bonus footage of last year’s event courtesy of KC. Yes, there is a Major Media event happening the same day.

Inspired by this radness that I found on Skate Daily.

You’re looking at pictures of Caroline O’Donnell’s installation Party Wall, in the courtyard of MoMA PS1. It’s made with the leftover materials from skateboard blanks, after the shapes have been cut out. Rumor has it that she had to arm wrestle assorted jewelry makers and the Guild of Recycled Skateboard Material Crafters for access to the raw materials. Too bad it’s only a temporary installation, it looks like something I’d like to have in my town. I believe this is the first time we’ve seen the form factor of leftover skateboard materials used recognizable in the finished piece. [Source: Architectural Record] – Thanks to Thomas Roszkowski for the tip.

Vintage Troll doll on a skateboard. On sale now at Fab.com. price reduced (?) to $20!

Glamour, France thinks Jessica Alba is a fashion icon and a cool girl. I think she looks uncomfortable posing with that skateboard. Somehow they managed to make sex symbol look awkward in most of the photos. I wonder if it’s because she did pushups, a la Salba before the photo shoot. Update: Photo recycled in US Weekly a year later. [Source: Visual Optimism] – MC found it, but he’ll blame one of his daughters.

Back before everyone had a Facebook page or even and AOL account, I had a ‘zine called BODYSLAM. I pasted-up and photocopied five issues in the eighties. I made three issues in 2007 in a 2.5 x 4 inch micro format. Two were printed. Well I had 50 copies of that last 2007 issue and three new ones printed. If you want them, send me a self-addressed stamped envelope (two stamps for all four). Volumes 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3 are 32 pages. Volume 6.3 is 16 pages. Details here.

Web host issues. Ebay Watch and GVK are affected/unavailable in the mean time. Working to get this resolved. Hopefully back soon. UPDATE: Everything is as it should be. Please leave a comment here if you something isn’t working for you. Thanks for your patience.

I loved Ed Emberly’s drawing books as a kid, and I’m stoked that my kids enjoy them now too. MC must have been going through a box of childhood books, because he found this skateboarding thumbprint in an early pressing of Ed Emberly’s Great Thumbprint Drawing Book. he also has one called the Great Fingerprint Drawing book. I’m not sure if they are completely different or the Fingerprint version is an expanded version encompassing the the thumbprint version, but they are both still in print. The thumbprint version dates back as early as 1977, although I ‘d swear it was from the late 60’s. I had one of these as a kid too, it inspired me to make a comic strip of a thumbprint superhero. I was especially into his Drawing Book of Weirdos, as did MC if this comic is any indication.

In June there were (at least) 2 fake Brand-X decks for sale. The left one is a copy of a 1986 Sean Goff model that was designed by Steve Krajewski, it even says ‘Sean Goff model’ on the top right. The right one was based on the 1987 XEX-model by Bernie Tostenson. It’s actually the same like the one from last month, only in another colourway and I think it could have been made from another company  too, because the design looks slightly different.