From the ashes of Concussion, former co-editor Jonathan Hay is embarking on a new project called Confusion magaZINE. Confusion Magazine is an international underground skate, music, art and surf magaZINE. Rising from the death of Concussion Magazine, Confusion continues where Concussion left off, or rather BEGAN 13 years ago. Taking it back to the roots, Confusion represents the underground, anti-corporate, DIY culture; the under represented, not the over promoted. While Confusion’s focus is on DIY skater built bowls, contraptions, found pools and ditches, Confusion isn’t only a skate zine but will also feature artists, bands and some surfing. A non-glossy print zine will be available in limited runs in select cities in USA, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, Japan, Australia, UK, etc. but for those who cannot find a print zine, there is at least the online presence: www.confusionmagazine.com

Chris Nieratko has a pretty interesting article on ESPN about how economic woes are affecting the skateboard industry. He talks to pros, business owners and former pros turned industry honchos. It’s a quick read sprinkled with a healthy dose of gratuitous skate shots, so so check it out. – Thanks to Michael Brooke for the tip.

I know nothing about Machotaildrop. At first I thought I was watching a parody of an indy film mashup by Michel Gondry, Wes Anderson and Spike Jonze. If your going to be influenced by someone, that’s a good crowd to choose from, although it could all go horribly wrong. Then it started looking expensive, so I thought it might be real. The project exists on IMDB, so I’m inclined to believe it is real. There’s an official web site, Machotaildrop.com, but it appears to be broken or at best, poorly thought out. Check out the trailer. This could be the first movie with skateboarding as a major plot device that isn’t unintentionally funny. Check the trailer after the jump. Keep your eyes peeled for pro skaters and unless I’m mistaken, an homage to a famous scene in Thrashin’. UPDATE: Just found and added a sneak peak of the film. UPDATE 2: Added link to another interview with the writer/director team and a behind the scenes video. – Thanks to JF for the tip.

I’m sorry that this is a couple of weeks late everybody. I could make excuses about how busy the Christmas season is and other shit that’s going on in my life, but truth be told there wasn’t much that went off in December on eBay that got me fired up. When I have lots of exciting stuff to cover I get fired up and this shit types itself. But when it’s an average month with tons of the same old same old to sort through, it gets difficult to get motivated to look for the unusual and type for hours on end. So it was in December. There was some interesting stuff, but very little that got me really excited. Now, looking forward to January I already have some good stuff stored, so that is looking a lot more promising! Anyway, that being said I hope you enjoy this months edition because I worked really hard on it, and tried not to give you the same old Hawks and Gators etc.

This 1978 Pepsi commercial has everything; street skating (well, sidewalks), a dog on a longboard, hockey helmets, gorilla gips, flyouts, freestyle, soft volleyball kneepads, skateparks and more. Watch the video, courtesy of skate and surf film historian Scott Starr, after the jump.

Who knew Skateboarder had so many subscriptions? I always forget they are still publishing. What’s that? Right. This post title is from the latest Transworld Skateboarding sales pitch. If you’re selling a product, they want your advertising dollars. Key selling points: We know that there are a lot of options out there, most of which are new to the game yet claim to be everything skateboarding, but skateboarding is much more than footage filmed in a warehouse, or focus on the so-called core or elitist scene. Skateboarding has moved way beyond those walls, and TWS covers the gamut.

Man what a sensitive group. All I did was poke fun at the fact that these toy miniature skateboards were somewhat absurdly priced. I’m sure it’s expensive to have tiny trucks cast in small quantities, and if that’s your thing than go for it. However, don’t come over here and expect me to publish comments like “suck a bag of…” or “F all you haters!” I was reading an article by one of the lead developers of WordPress titled 6 steps to kill your community. What’s step number one? Don’t Moderate: Don’t Moderate. Allow anybody to post anything regardless of whether it contributes to the conversation or not. Stupidity, libel, hate, curse words are all okay because in the comments you have plausible deniability. Make sure people know that whatever they post will live forever, and anything goes. The few smart people you did have in your comments will enjoy responding to these folks. Advertisers love being next to a good fight, too. So yeah, I’m over trying to get people to play nice. A difference of opinion is fine, even welcome, as long as you aren’t just out to insult anyone/everyone. I’m not going to waste time trying to…

The box says “Skate Pocket” but the cookie and the graphics say snowboard. Someone forgot to tell the art director about the wheels. Head on over to Sa ka roulé for larger pics and a bonus shot of some other choco mix drink that isn’t this one.