Tony Hawk makes an appearance in this commercial for Guitar Hero World Tour. It has been suggested that this should be embarrassing for him, let’s see if we can dissect that theory. It could be embarrassing because Rock Band is obviously the better fake musical instrument game. Or maybe because Tony is the only sports celebrity in the commercial who has to drag along the trappings of the sport that made him famous. You don’t see Kobe with a basketball, Michael Phelps in speedo, or that other dude with whatever makes him famous, but for some reason Tony appears on a skateboard and in helmet, no less. It could be embarrassing because of the homoerotic implementations of four dudes dancing around together in their underwear. I’m sure he’s embarassed all the way to the bank though… Watch the commercial after the jump. – Thanks to… crud, can’t find the email, but thanks.

My kids have already been to two outdoor animated light shows this year, which means I went too. I’ve idly wondered how much some of these setups costs. Thanks to Mac’s daughter Caroline for finding Santa’s elves riding a half pipe, or as they say in the industry “Animated Skateboarding Elf Half Ramp.” Apparently there are two different size versions of this thing, coming in at an unbelievable $26,638.65 for the 38″ long model and a slightly less ridiculous $6,565.00 for the 25 foot long version. If that’s too steep for you, there’s a plain old five foot long skateboard for $375. No word on the availability of Menorahs on a skateboard for those celebrating Hanukkah.

November 2008. The economy is even worse if that’s possible, but by the look of eBay in November there are still collectors with deep pockets out there. These shitty economic times have dropped some prices, but the truly rare and desirable decks are still going for big money. Where do some of these guys get their cash? Good question. Another good question is why do so many big money collectors come from Australia and New Zealand? Maybe the recession hasn’t hit down there yet. Maybe in 6 months time there’ll be a massive sell of from down there. Who knows? So to underline the trying times I have a new section this month: Bargains of the Month. Take a look and kick yourself. Maybe I’ll do it again, maybe not. Check out eBay Watch: November 2008

Only a skater can wander around in southeast Portland, and understand the significance of a Sharpie marker- drawn little bird with “Luda Crooks” written underneath.  The graffiti art of Chet Childress shows up in the places where one would expect it to show up the most: dive bar bathrooms, bus stops, skate-spots, etc.  The above picture is an example taken from his myspace page.  Oh, did I mention that Chet Childress rips? Childress will have a showing of his art from 7-10 pm on Thursday, December 18th at the Department of Skateboarding, located at 15 NE Hancock Portland, OR 97212.

The Department is hosting what is supposed to be Portland’s biggest contest this year, AKA the Holiday Havoc which is on December 19th. And Windells would like everyone to know that they are now open for public sessions as well as doing the whole skate camp thing. Flyers after the jump.

Nice painted deck from Aaron Draplin. Dude is a design hero of sorts for this.

I should have made this post on Tuseday. On this date in 1982, (December 9th) Code Of Honor released their debut single, “What Are We Gonna Do?” It was backed by “What Price Would You Pay? Neither track appeared on an album. The San Francisco hardcore punk band released a split album with Sick Pleasure and then one album of their own before disbanding in 1984. The band was formed by Michael D Fox who was a co-founder of Subterranean Records. What are we going to do? From the looks of the cover art, I’d say mostly handplants.

We mentioned this limited edition Jenna Jameson board by Zoo York before, but the board wasn’t actually out yet. It appears to have been released, which is a good excuse to mention that I walked into a Portland area Macy’s a week ago and was surprised to see a large portion of the floor had been allocated to a big display of Zoo York clothing which I found odd, but then didn’t considering it’s much more acceptable in hip hop culture to infiltrate higher end retail shops, as opposed to Shaun White having his own line in Target. While I appreciated the original Zoo York movement detailed in the Deathbowl to Downtown documentary, those roots seem far removed from the current incarnation, as if related in name and location only. In any case, everyone should print out copy of the deck and run down to the nearest Macy’s and ask them when they are going to get the Jenna Jameson board. [Photo: Sakteboard – miniroom549 on Flickr]

Well, I just don’t know what more one could possibly say about that headline. Ha! They even botched the second headline (term anyone?) “MEANING A PUBLIC SKA8BOARD PARK IS FINALLY COMING TO MIAMI.” I hope somebody has a hard copy of this. The Biscayne Times has an article on a public skatepark for Miami that is in the conception stages. Familiar name Tito from Team Pain has the dubious honor of being quoted. I hope the suits in Miami making the decisions are little more in touch than the guy who wrote this article. So there you have it.

Officer Salvatore Rivieri, one of Baltimore’s finest, is in the news again. The results of Baltimore’s internal investigation have yet to be released. The family of the scrawny teenage skateboarder he abused sued Officer Salvatore Rivieri for assault, battery and violation of rights. There was a legal question about the statute of limitations, a paltry 180 days. The family sued after 10 months, but a judge ruled that statute didn’t apply to minors for some reason, and now the $6 million suit can proceed. I’m all for sticking it to this guy, especially since he has a history of being a dick, but $6 million is an absurd amount. Flame on! – Thanks to Stephanie Murdoch and Derek Krasauskas for the tip. [Source: Baltimore Sun]