Skate and Annoy welcomes Mike Estes to our stable of performing web monkeys. Among other things, he’s the former editor of the defunct SkatePDXdaily. He’s figuring out the quirks of our “system” now. Here’s an excerpt from his profile: Currently I live in Hood River, OR- I’m a dad, I work in an office 14 hours a day, and when I get outside I make sure I enjoy every second of it by either skating, biking, shooting pictures of my super hot wife, I’m just a sales rep for the entire NW region (ORE, WA, ID, MT & AK) for a few action sports brands. I also talent scout for the next big name in any sport. I got good eyes, and I have a crystal ball that let’s me see your future. And the scarey part, I have eyes all over the world that flow constant information my way. I do it all without a myspace too, imagine that. To those of you “on staff” who didn’t get proper introductions, I’ve been away for a week and I barely made any posts, and this was a quick one. Vibe the new guy!

Not really, just for me. By the time I got done with all the family and holiday obligations I only had a couple of days to skate, and of course it rained on both of them. As I was loading up the car with luggage to head to the airport I snapped this frustrating shot of a boy and his dad walking with skateboards. Come on guys, it’s sunny! Start skating while you can. Helmets on a private drive? Yuck. Somehow I got through my whole childhood riding bikes and skateboards in the streets without a helmet.

Here we are stuck in the middle of winter, there’s just enough snow on the ground here in Hood River to keep our skatepark out of service. I do have some new resourceful places to expose that should “tame the skate voices” in my head about skating. I’m gazing at my skateboard as I post this- its peeking out at me from the closet where its been for a month now. Oh the torture. Skater: Chris Haslam Visiting Hood River last Oct for the “Grease Not Gas” Dakine West Cost Tour

This is a killer photo on the Cobb blog. Michael Cobb goes into detail about the skateboards in the photo and other he and his family had, above and beyond the plastic ones. Make sure you follow the link to see the full size version of the photo. Michael is/was the kid with the sly expression on the green board. Make sure you click the photo to enlarge because the preview cuts off one of the best parts, (shown here) the launcher for an Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle, obviously not one of the reissues. If you dig the 70’s x-mas, don’t forget to check out his 80’s x-mas post. It’s totally bitchin!

Twas the night before x-mas in Sarasota and all through the concrete, not a creature was ripping, not even in St Pete. Har har har. I wouldn’t know about Tampa or St. Pete, I was in Sarasota and there wasn’t a lot of action at the park today. I guess there was some sort of big event that people were possibly preparing for or something. Here’s a guy named Rob who was carving the hell out this joint on some sort of alternative long board. Every time he went over the top of a transition you could hear his board scrape bottom. Click to enlarge.

Merry X-treme-mas! Ho, ho, haaar! Here’s a wrap up of skateboard Christmas ornaments. Sorry Jews, Muslims, Mormans, Rastafarians, Pastafarians, Pan-Africans, etc… Nothing against you. Praise Jeebus and give thanks to Batman.

Skate and Annoy is sending me to Florida… Well at least I’m going there to visit the in-laws for the holidays. I’ll be in the Sarasota area December 21-26 looking to blow out skate your pools, ditches, and what not. Yeah, I know there is a park in Sarasota. I’ve been there in 04 and earlier this year too. I’ve even been to the nearby North Port park in 2002. Variety is the spice of life man! “But what about SPOT?” you say. I’m sure it’s nice, but if you think I’m going to fly from the opposite end of the (cold and wet) country to Florida to skate and indoor wooden park, you’re crazy. Unless it rains. The picture above is from Lake Mary Florida in 2002. There’s a larger version plus two more after the jump. Did I mention that I’m going to Florida?

So how many of you know Mark Conahan I mean really Know Mark Conahan! Well if you don’t Know him you will now. Here it is the interview that will set skateboarding on it s ear and make you think thrice, unedited unadulterated the naked Mark Conahan- friend or foe you decide.

Skateboarding, Apple Computers and Punk Rock. That’s the chronological order that I was introduced those items, and I’m still heavily hooked on all of them. I had an Apple II before Macs existed. That means I’m old and also excuses computers coming before punk. I did grow up in a midwest suburb you know… My worlds rarely collided in the past, but nowadays it seems to happen all the time, which is why I barely raised an eyebrow when Apple’s latest Get a Mac adverts featured a certain skateboard conglomeration’s stickers prominently on TV. I would have preferred a more clandestine skateboard brand than Girl/Chocolate. Something a little under the radar would have been more subversive, if that’s at all possible at this point. Actually, little kids wouldn’t know about underground brands, so a Wet Willy sticker might have been more appropriate. Embedded video, links and more after the jump.

It’s kind of a one-liner and it looks like it was filmed in one take, but Pimp My Skateboard mostly makes up for it in post production and the script. What is this, Ebert & Kilwag or just another YouTube link?