Dave Richardson on the cover of Morris Eaddy’s ‘zine Just Skate circa 1986. Before PhotoShop we had to do special effects by manipulating the Xerox.

Lien Air at Chuck’s Ramp – Clearwater, FL. 10ft. transitions with 1 1/2ft vert. Yeah!

Orezona pointed this out in response to my post about the Hot Topperz plastic mohawk helmet decoration.

He says helmet flair is the new pink. I wonder what he means by that?

&Sane Helmet Spikes

When he’s not busy impregnating his wife or defending helpless kids at skateparks, Portland transplant Marek Liitnsky spends his time puking in old Czechoslovakian skate videos like this one, Stramplovy Strudl. I would have thought it was the loud shirt he was wearing that made him sick to his stomach, but the I’m guessing “alkohol” in screen crawl doesn’t roughly translate to a Shirley Temple.. I don’t know when this video was shot, but it looks like a couple years have passed. I can tell you it’s 37 minutes long. They even put 22 minutes of bonus material as a separate file. It starts off with the U.S. Bombs on the soundtrack, which took me by surprise. I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe Czech folk music or official Communist Party themes. Watch the vid after the jump. [Source: Cold War]

I’m not sure what the barometer is for art and skateboarding, but the difference between eccentricity and just plain crazy is often a matter of how rich the person in question is. Likewise, you can bet that if Dan Gesmer had put on this performance instead of Mark Gonzales, it wouldn’t have been as well received in the skateboarding world. Jason Schwartzman (the lead in the excellent movie “Rushmore”) has a solo record out and a video for the song West Coast which is made entirely from footage of Cheryl Dunn’s film documenting the Gonz’ 1999 art installation at the Abteiberg Museum in Germany. You can watch the video and read Paper Magazine’s original 1999 article covering the event after the jump.

I have been interested in drawing comics for a long time. But I have never been able to do a long-form piece like a comic book, My comics have always been more like newspaper comic strips or sunday funnies style one or two pagers. For me at least, the story has always been the challenge.

Victor Giannini commented on one of my comics and pointed us to his project. The web samples of Skatefast Dyephun originally seemed crude and juvenile to me. Kind of reminded me of this. The website had a couple of problems too but after I read through the sample pages I found the project crude and juvenile but in a really compelling way.

Dave Tobin sent this photo of Jay Meer painting a sign for Glenhaven. Jay is the artist responsible for the mural work at Burnside over the years. Five more days and the sucker is open!

Sean Mortimer wrote in to remind us about Ray Underhill’s situation. He was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor in 2006. He’s had about half of it removed and is undergoing radiation therapy. Removing the tumor caused damage to his vocal cords and throat, leaving him unable to talk, spit or swallow. He’s in the midst of physical therapy to recover those abilities. Because the tumor is a rare one, he’s had to seek treatment and lodging in California while his family lives on the opposite coast. Needless to say, the whole affair has been quite expensive, and the insurance companies are behaving like they usually do. His friends are organizing a massive eBay auction benefit. The gear offered up runs the gamut from free shoes for a year to artwork to signed boards, re-issues, new, and historical alike. Seriously, the list is getting large. One of the more unique items is an afternoon of photography lessons with J Grant Brittain as teacher and Tony Hawk as subject. And the icing on the cake? The package includes getting one of your pictures published in The Skateboard Mag. Very nice. It’s one thing for someone to pick something out of their closet and drop a signature on it for an auction, but getting two very busy and well known people to coordinate and donate their personal time is quite another. Check out the official Ray Underhill site for more info.

I am bumping this post back to the top to remind you. It’s a week from Saturday Click the register here link below to go to the site and sign up to help.

Maybe you can apply this toward your community service hours or at least your karmic debt.

April 28 is Earth Day and various organizations including SOLV (Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism) will observe the day by doing things like graffiti abatement.

Friends of Pier Park is coordinating the event. They want us to sign up at the SOLV website. They will be able to use anyone who shows up but SOLV will provide water and Clif bars based on how many people sign up at the website.

I will be leading two efforts, skatepark graffiti removal and litter pickup around the skatepark and along the road boundary behind the skatepark. You can sign up and then help with those specific tasks. Then show up at the covered picnic area and they will send you off with Mark Conahan. The event lasts from 9:00 to 1:00 and will be followed by a barbecue.

register here

It should be very satisfying to clean up the graffiti. Parks will provide the supplies we need although you might want to bring gloves. It would also be great for skaters to turn out in force for this effort. We’ll show those disc golfers a thing or two about public spirit. I will post about this again when it gets closer. Sign up now and put it on your calendar.