Alright, we’ve got special behind the scenes access to Skateboard, the movie, courtesy of this July, 1977 edition of Wild World of Skateboarding magazine. The article seems hastily written, and does not really offer much behind the scenes action outside of some photos from the set. However, it’s got lots of poorly written press release action. It also offers an interesting glimpse of the state of skateboarding at the time, such as the lack of “established rules of Downhill in organized competition due to the infancy of skateboarding as a spectator sport.” Apparently, all the competitions in the film were staged. I haven’t seen it in a very long time, but I recall as a kid I thought this was a sort of hybrid of documentary and drama. The tone of the article is amusing in retrospect, as it treats the movie as, well, a film and not the kitsch time capsule it turned out to be. Pics and full article text after the jump.
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Why yes, that is Jack Barmby of the mighty Portland Timbers rockin’ a Nike SB hat for some reason. It’s not the flopping that soccer critics hate, it’s the posing. This is Portland Timbers related post #6 for those keeping score at home.
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John Aguilar sent in some photos of a recently completed (OK, February of 2016) Debra Barto Memorial Skatepark, located on the Tulalip Reservation, near Everett, Washington. It is named in honor of the woman in the tribe who pushed hard for building it. John said this Grindline park is a good time as long as it’s not being overrun by scooter and BMX kids. Yes, that bottom feature is supposed to look like a canoe.
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This is an animated gif promo for Johnny Sampson’s Total Fuck Up comic book. It has been reported that if you buy it, it will be the least worst thing you do today.
Jan and Dean’s 1964 song Sidewalk Surfin’ is pretty much the first skatesploitation song. I haven’t actually researched that, Doc Skaterock probably knows for sure. It’s easily the most famous one. As a young lad I remember buying a cutout Jan & Dean greatest hits compilation on cassette tape just because of this song. Before we were exposed to the larger world of punk rock and skate rock, we actually used to derive a bit of stoke from this cheesy tune, and later on would bust it out for a laugh and some nostalgia.
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So the technology is interesting. A video camera posted at a reflective dome essentially captures your complete surrounding. When you add image processing software, you can manipulate the image to fix the perspective and crop the visible area. Then click and drag around to get a 360° panorama. This technology has been around for stills for over a decade I think. I’m not sure when they applied to video, but someone did, and now there’s a skate video for you to watch. From a novelty standpoint it’s interesting for a little while. From a skate video standpoint it can be cumbersome. If you change your viewpoint once then you’re going to find yourself missing the action as there’s no way to reset to the default view. I played around with it for awhile and it was fun, but more gimmicky than useful for this type of video. What I really enjoyed was watching the raw video in an unsupported browser. The still on the bottom of the picture above shows you what that looks like. It was snapped more or less at the same time as the VR view in the top. As you can see, during times where there’s no skateboarding action, they like to stagger guys in a circle around the camera so there’s something to look at if you’re looking in another direction. You can allegedly watch this on an iOS device, but for some strange reason it doesn’t work in Safari. Be warned, this video is Xtreme!™
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Apparently J. Mascis is not over it, and has taken to skateboarding in a music video again. The Dinosaur Jr. video for “Tiny” looks like it was shot at the Northampton, MA skatepark. Aside from J. pushing around the park, there’s also a skateboarding dog and some roller derby action. It’s decent tune that will stick in your head, but the dog is not impressed at the end.
– Thanks to Tom Tallboycan for the tip
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Mark Gonzales is interviewed over on Rolling Stone. It’s technically an interview as he is asked some questions, and “answers” them in typical Gonz fashion. Among the hot topics, you can sort of learn his take on skateboarding in the Olympics. What’s he doing in Rolling Stone? I suspect it has something to do with Adidas reps reaching out. Check out a trailer for Away Days after the jump.
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Check out these fundraising stickers made in the style of vintage steel-wheeled skateboard decks. These stickers benefit the Troutdale skatepark efforts, and you can get yours in person at Cal Skate or by via Paypal to tylerjaycole at gmail.com. Please provide your mailing address and verify which sticker(s) you’re ordering and how many when making payment using Paypal… Small stickers are $2.00 each, Large stickers are $4.00 each. Here’s atop, use the “Friends and Family” option so there’s no service fee for Tyler, and all the funds can go towards the skatepark.
