Motion Theory is a motion graphics studio that has done a lot of work you’ve probably seen, like the HP ad for Pharrell (hi res here) that also features skateboarding. They did a short ID piece for ESPN on Evolution, specifically the evolution of skateboarding. Apparently, it aired during the Superbowl, but which one? You can watch it and download it from the Motion Theory site. I wonder if they will notice a bandwith spike? As far as the animation goes, it’s fun to watch. As far as the evolution of skateboarding goes, it stops with what mainstream skaters consider the dodo birds of skateboarding, AKA the vert ramp riders – but I’m sure that’s what the client wanted. – Thanks (again) to Livmo for the tip. yeah, it’s going to be that kind of day.

Here’s a pretty cool animation by a cat named Kevin Elam who must have been at the Vancouver Film School when he made this. – Thanks to Livmo for the tip.

Sure, it’s an old joke and an easy target, but The Hardest Part of Rollerblading from MTV’s The Human Giant is well executed and without malice. Aziz Ansari’s performance makes the clip. Give that man some sort of award. I thought he looked familiar, he also appeared in an epsiode of Flight of the Conchords, which is the funniest show on TV right now, with the possible exception of The Venture Brothers.

This edition of Saturday Starrs features Skateboarders from Hell which is a spoof of one of those old biker exploitation movies, although stylistically this is half 1950’s and half early 70’s. I can’t actually tell when this was made. The fashion on some the extras could be late 70’s or early 80’s. It looks like it was shot on 8mm film, but the titles look like really clean digital work. Maybe they were added years later, or maybe it was shot on old stock. I feel like I should know who some of the “actors” are. It’s kind of hard to tell via YouTube, and it’s further complicated by the presence of an advert for Tail Devils tacked on the end. Hopefully Scott Starr will shed some light on Skateboarders from Hell.

Hi Skaters. When will you get sick of this? Before me or not? Earlier this year Howie and the boys had a little skate party. I went down with my video camera and caught some of the footage. If it looks like fun it’s because it was. U missed it. Party down Grover. [Update: Added Vimeo version of video, should look a lot better.]

This week’s installment of Saturday Starrs is a 1977 Today Show piece on the new and booming skatepark industry. The report was filed by Irving R. Levine, and is about as dry sounding as it gets. It’s funny to hear about the owners of Skatopia expecting to take in twice the cost of building the park ($300k) in the first year. It mentions the first skatepark in the world being built in Florida, but it doesn’t say what the name is. The guy who built it Charles Cromie, says a skatepark operator can expect to recoup a $175K investment and own the land in 18 months. Levine said 50 skateparks were built in the first year, and at the time there were 100 more planned or in construction. What he doesn’t mention is that 125 will be gone in two years. It’s full of excellent terminology like “radical” and “water surfing.” For now it’s an industry going full speed ahead, and not at all worried that it might be headed (wait for it..) for a financial tumble. Good stuff.

There’s a documentary on skateboard graphic in production called SK8FACE. The web site was down for a while, I think they got blown out from a mention on the Skateboard Mag. Sure, everyone’s favorite book on skateboard graphics, Disposable has already tackled the subject, but from the trailer it looks like SK8FACE might have more of a 20,000 foot view as opposed to Disposable’s more obsessive compulsive approach. It’s hard to say actually. After watching the first couple seconds of the trailer I was afraid it was just going to be A Wes Humpston tribute film, but there are plenty of other voices in there such as… well there are too many to mention. Notably absent so far are two of the figures who arguably had the biggest impact on skateboard graphics, Vernon Courtlandt Johnson (VCJ) and Jim Phillips. Let’s hope they can get those guys on board. I can’t find any information about who is actually behind this project, or when it’s scheduled to be released, so after you’ve watched the trailer you’ll know as much as me. Yes, they talk about eBay, and speaking of eBay and Disposable, Sean Cliver was supposedly working on a book about collectors…

This edition of Saturday Starrs is a 1978 California Free Former demo at something called Cal Jam II which was one of those outdoor mega concerts that purportedly had an attendance of 350,000 people. The skaters are legends Ty Page, Laura Thornhill and Brian Beardsley. Can someone be considered a legend if they aren’t well known? I’m certainly not up on all the 70’s pros, but who the heck is Brian Beardsley? (UPDATE: OK, Brian Beardsley) Right. There’s freestyle, highjump and halfpipe footage from one of the plexiglass Firestone Ramps. At least one of those Firestone ramps was still being carted across country for demos as late as 1988 or so.

Watch this brilliant video called Opus 11: A Real Fake Skateboard Video by Alexis Milant. After you watch the video, click through to read the rest of this post. Spoiler Alert! – Thanks to Eric Cherry for the tip.

If you love America, go blow something up! Or else watch the intro to Lakai’s Fully Flared for the 100th time.