Hey! It’s Max Schaaf week on Skate and Annoy. Max has a blog called 4Q Conditioning that is mostly One-percenter motorcycle lifestyle fetish, with healthy doses of retro pin up, surf and skate culture. You’ll find a ton of cool pictures without a lot of background detail, but that’s part of the appeal. It’s kind of like a distilled version of all the good parts of Juxtapoz. Check out the lion riding in that sidecar. That’s Max in that pool. The site takes a while to load because it’s all on one page. Wait for it, and then start from the bottom. This material would be perfect for sitting on the head. Max should make a zine. Great visual stimuli over at 4Q Conditioning.

Your invited to partake in an evening of skate art by the one and only Russ Pope. His quirky renderings of unique characters will instantly become a part of your family. He uses several mediums of canvas, wood, metal and fabric. His pallet of colors come from Lowes or Home Depot. He loves the “Sharpie” marker a little more than your average struggling artist. Russ Pope- Father of Scarecrow and Creature brands, gave CCS a customer service gameplan, worked on the Savier Footwear Marketing Team, as well as the struggling DuFFS program, he’s the guy who did wonders for Black Label by creating ad campaigns, softgoods & finding team riders. His most recent venture is Beloe Footwear and Myrtle. The show is located at Evo on 122 NW 36th St in Seattle WA- its a great excuse to go skate about 13 skateparks in the area. Indoor or Outdoor- rain or shine. Go! Its really close to the Ballard Bowl for a reference.

You may have heard that actor Heath Ledger died yesterday of an apparent sleeping pill overdose. Everyone loves to remember him as a gay cowboy, but his portrayal of Skip Engblom was pretty much the highlight of The Lords of Dogtown in the dramatic version of Peralta’s Dogtown documentary. Heath not only played a skater in the movies, but played with skateboards in real life too, as seen in the two shots at the bottom right from Hellomagazine.com. The other shots are production stills from Lords.

Whoah man, did you see that new Vans Finger Fracture skateboarding game for the iPhone? Well it’s not real. Vans has no official or unofficial involvement. It’s a concept only and there are no plans to develop it. One big tip off would be that the game screens are lifted from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Some of the gaming and gadget sites are all a buzz about it, but a quick email confirmed it’s just an entertaining idea now. Also entertaining, Borat must be writing the documentation that says “To make an Ollie…” There’s more concept pics after the jump.

Someone at my daughter’s school was trying to sell this flimsy p.o.s. and when there were no takers he gave it to her. She was appalled and brought it home before anyone could see her with it. Cummins Industrial Tools rechristened Tools now will sell you this deathtrap made in China to their high standards for $9.99. I’m guessing that means their standards when they were high on drugs. The shrinkwrap is probably adding significant strength to the deck. Those plastic baseplates are inspired by the old Tracker Ultralights. I am tempted to see which will last longer, the Cummins Bravo or $9.99 worth of beer.

Some people obsess over skateboards. Some people are obsessed with Smurfs. Sometimes there is a tiny bit of overlap, as is the case with the Blue Dudes and Hidden in the Woods. [Photos Clockwise: TBD, HITW, TBD]

Separated at birth: This photo of my old friend Jay taken circa ’85 in suburban Illinois, and this photo of Mike Blake at the North Vancouver Canadian Nationals in 1980. No, not the skaters or the action by any means, but the graffiti for sure. It even takes the hatred a little longer to filter out to the Midwest. Or at least it did before the Interwebs™! [Photo: Right – Calstreets]

Unlike some people, Max Schaaf is a professional athlete who isn’t afraid to admit to using certain performance enhancers, namely magnets. I’m calling for a full Congressional inquiry. There’s nothing more important going on, right? [Source: DLXSF via Silverfish]