I’m sure Tony was flattered to be asked to represent the state of California in a commercial promoting tourism. There’s nothing more quintessentially California than skateboarding, right? I’m sure the joy left him as soon as he read another script asking him to talk about “pop.”

click to see full image Must be weird to show up for a session at the local skatepark if you are Tony Hawk. This is from JGB’s blog at The Skateboard Mag. He says he took this the last week in January. Classic trick executed as well as anybody could. Great shot.

ChildSeek Network Name: SYDNEY ROCHELLE Abduction Type: Endangered Runaway That’s right. A girl went to a party one weekend and never came home. After a week, police received a tip off and located the missing teen at Tony Hawk’s house. Is this Gator all over again?

In a ceremony in Massachusetts… Actually, that’s not true. Iggy Pop didn’t marry or enter into a domestic partnership with Bam. He didn’t even perform the ceremony, he just performed at the ceremony. When I got married, all I could afford was an Elvis impersonator. The Stooges have a new album coming out. Word is that Mike Watt is filling in on bass. I wonder if Iggy has a Blue Hawaiian package. Also present at the wedding was Tony Hawk, although I’m not sure if he performed anything. Still intertested in Bam’s wedding? He’s so classy he had it videotaped for another reality TV show on MTV. There are links after the jump.

It’s always amusing when an article in the mainstream business press uses the word “dude” in a skateboard-related feature, right? Well, predictable, yes. This is an old piece of news, but I’m cleaning house. This New York Times article titled The business of board sports: It takes hardcore credibility, dude isn’t solely about Jaime Thomas, but he is the focus. It talks about how marketing and brand recognition are different animals for “board sports” companies, and how Nike and others have found it hard to crack. It’s an OK read, but not much your average Skate and Annoy reader doesn’t already know. The dollar figures are pretty impressive though, and there’s a not-so-gratuitous gratuitous Tony Hawk appearance. Because Tony’s quotes are in reference to selling the Hawk brand to Quicksilver, it actually make sense, unlike Rob Dyrdek’s appearance in Forbes. Read It takes hardcore credibility, dude at International Herald Tribune. Look how I got all artsy on that title graphic.

If you are already figuratively sick of Tony Hawk, this summer you can be literally sick of him on Tony Hawk’s Big Spin. At first I thought this picture of Tony inverted in the rendering above was just for illustration purposes, but when you watch the virtual ride through you’ll see there really is a giant rotating cutout of Tony Hawk

That’s right. If you can’t make it out to one of his skatepark opening appearances you can still get his chicken scratch on a 8×10″ photo from Target.com. If you have even more money burning a hole in your pocket you can get a 16×20″ version too.

Siriusly (har har) I can’t tell if this is a commercial for Jeep or Sirius Satellite Radio. The gist of it is if you buy some kind of Jeep they throw in the Sirius service for free. It’s a mildly amusing commercial. If anyone still needs it, it’s proof that skateboarding has been assimilated into popular culture. Watch the video and see it dissected after the jump.

Apparently there is an activity that adults enjoy but most people think of as a toy, fad, or a phase to grow out of. Sound familiar? Although they both spin and have axles, I’m talking about yo-yos, not skateboards. Who knew there was a crossover? (Wait, isn’t that a yo-yo trick too?) Yo-Yo Nation is offering these limited edition skateboard and t-shirt combos featuring artwork “..based around a trick invented or pushed to the next level by the artist himself.” More pics and an amazing Hail Mary Gratuitous Tony Hawk Appearance after the jump.

Seriously. I had a hard enough time with Defender, so when Defender Stargate came out it was just too overwhelming. That’s how I feel with the video games these days. Too many button combinations to remember to be able to freaking enjoy playing. That’s why simple games like Guitar Hero are the best. Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam is available fro two platforms, Nintendo DS and more importantly in this case, The Nintendo Wii. Why? Because with the gyroscope motion sensitive controller you can use the involuntary muscle spasms and body movement to your advantage when pretending to skateboard. There’s a video showing how it works here. It’s actually kind of cool. That one guy might be related to Weird Al.