Brands that can’t be stopped. Apparently Debbie Does Dallas, “a well known 1978 porn franchise playing off the sexploitation of the Dallas Cowboys football team cheerleaders” has been remade several times. The title phrase is so catchy even people who have never seen the film know the title. Give me alliteration or give me death. Likewise Shepard Fairey’s iconic use of the word Obey and the Powell Peralta Ripper graphic by V. Courtlandt Johnson are part of the popular consciousness. Not sure what the picture on the right has to do with the movie. but there they were together on the internet with that coopted skateboarding t-shirt design.

You can usually tell when I don’t have a lot of time to devote to updates. Old pics fron the 80’s should be the tip off. About once a year our family would visit my grandparents in Florida, usually around spring break time. These pics were taken in Clearwater in the mid to late 80’s, by my mother or possibly my sister. Enlarged with fashion commentary after the jump.

Some college kids may have invented it first, but Sony holds the patent, and I’m sure Segway might feel otherwise. That’s not stopping more people from making their own versions. The slickest by far seems to be the one wheeled version. Video, links and pics after the jump.

Irrigon’s grand opening is just a month away – April 14, 2007 – according to SkateOregon, where you can view images of some test rides by the crew.
Find more photos at the Skaters for Public Skateparks forum and at Dan’s Skate Pages.

photos:top left and right – SkateOregon; bottom left: copinggrinder1 from SPS; bottom right: Dan Hughes

It’s always a bummer when your rock and roll heroes start to look like your grandmother. That’s none other than J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr fame posing with one of the limited edition Dinosaur Jr skateboards from Alien Workshop at SPOT. The artwork is from their first release as Dinosaur before they had to change their name. It turns out there are also Dinosaur JR wheels. And I thought Naked Raygun skateboards were a niche market. I saw Dinosaur (JR) in a small club in Champaign Illinois circa ’87 or so. Loudest damn show I’ve ever been too. Unfortunately, also one of the most boring. I think I left in the middle. Those darn kids and their rambunctious rock and roll! I think they are back together again with a mostly original lineup. You can see enlargements of the product after the jump. You’re skating all over me. [Source: JMascis.com]

There are lot’s of large skateboards, but only one title holder. Tod Swank has his work cut out for him running all that is Tumyeto without having to worry about people trying to take away his record for the world’s biggest skateboard. First there was that cheater (Update: Not a cheater) in Australia, Now there are a bunch of eggheads at Bay College who are building a 31 foot large skateboard as part of a project in a Computer Aided Design class. A student named Tim Timler (Seriously?) is the project lead. Tim, you suck. Tod didn’t need no stinking computers. The college president who is admittedly not a “balance person” is going to be one of the riders in the documentation attempt. Fantastic! [Source: Daily Press, Escanaba, MI]

Ten guys working out there this morning plus a couple of inspectors – I had to shoot through the fence. Notice all the bricks are done. Click the picture for a larger view. Beautiful day here, I heard they have another pour today.

Rich from EPM sent over this shot of Mike Swim from you know where. I’ve been screwing with the site layout, so things may look wacky around here for a whle. Chances are if you reload the page in 10 seconds it will go back to normal. So no, we’re not suffering from web site eplipsy. Click to enlarge.