Lowdi has a brief animation with a little bit of a skateboard character in it. I came across it while reading up on some web design trends. What is a Lowdi? A bluetooth battery powered speaker for your phone/iPod. I like the animation and I am digging the messed up bass line in the soundtrack. No this is not sponsor luv. A brief animation? How about an animation featuring the Briefs? I got nothing, except a great idea for a video of the song “killed by Ants” in case you guys come out of retirement and want to, well, you know, make a video for a song you released nine years ago. Think about it. It could put you over the top…

It’s a Spongebob Squarepants coloring book. That is all.

– Thanks to John Aguilar for the photo.

So yeah… a little late to be promo-ing this event, but I just found out about it. (Come on JP, help me, help you!) PDX Downhill is hosting this one in Salem OR, at “55th and Eola.” This is a slide jam, not a competition. These are stills from the teaser for last year’s event. Details on Facebook, video after the jump.

The kids band called the Not-Its! has a song called “Let’s Skateboard” on their album Kidquake. It’s hard to argue with the simplicity of that message. Normally I’d reference a parenting issue with a Naked Raygun quote, but in this case, the message is right on so I have to demur to some hippy shit. Let’s Skateboard video after the jump. Remember potential music critics, this song is meant for little kids.

– Thanks to Craig Smith for the tip. WARNING: Don’t cross him or he’ll spend countless hours photoshopping your face on to scooter and rollerblade photos. I speak from experience.

Recent coupons for Wahoo’s Fish Tacos featuring Jim Gray. Wait, that name sounds familiar… didn’t he used to write here or something?

Skateboard as illustration for an article about collectors in the April issue of Art & Antiques (For Collectors of the Fine and Decorative Arts). “eclectic collectors are everywhere, but what distinguishes a so-called serious collector from a mere gatherer with unusual tastes?” Hmm. I must fall somewhere in the middle. I would collect everything skateboard related were it not for the limited capacities of my bank account, storage space, and patience that my wife possess. I can’t figure out hot write that last sentence properly. Let me break it down for you. I don’t have enough money or space to collect everything I want, and even if I did, my better half already thinks I have a problem. Is being a completist mutually exclusive with being a curator? I’m just trying to compile the Encyclopedia Galactica of annoying skateboarding memorabilia.

Another Bizarro strip from Dan Piraro. Notice the skateboard action in the upper right corner. You might remember the Gettysburg Tweet? Bizarro is one of the few funny comic strips in syndication anymore. This is a Piraro/Bizarro take on the classic kid’s magazine exercise of finding something wrong with an illustration. Dan, if you’re reading this, send your skateboard comics this way.

– Thanks to Jazz Pickle MC for the tip.

Evergreen Skateparks recently broke ground on a 4500 square foot skatepark in Happy Valley, Oregon. I can’t find a design for this anywhere, and most of the pictures that turn up in a Google Image search are old concepts attributed to Newline that appeared here on S&A back in 2009. Newline still has revised plans on their website. What happened is anyone’s guess, but Oregonians are happy to keep it local.

Eazy E shot by Mike Miller back in 1992, holding a 101 Natas Kaupas deck. There’s another photo of Natas holding a print of this photo floating around Facebook, credited to Miller, but I can’t find it on his web site.

Captain America and the Falcon, Volume 1 #196 dates to 1976. In issue 195 the Captain somehow lost his shield and now must enter in the Kill-Derby in order to win it back. Marvel Comics has posted some digital versions of old comics online. They require a subscription fee to read beyond a few pages. I thought this issue was in there, but it isn’t. You can view the skateboard related excerpts here on S&A – he said, until Mickey mouse’s lawyers crushed him… I was going to the refrain from Captain Sensible’s Wot as the title, but I’m pretty sure I’ve already used that joke at least once. Instead, the title comes from one of the panels in the story.