by The Editors on June 15, 2009
The celebrity blogs are all over a reported rough night out with Rob Dyrdek and John Mayer (which is funny in and of itself). Access Hollywood said:
After partying too hard at LA’s MyHouse, the friends ended up in hospital, where Rob had his stomach pumped. “In triage at Cedars with @robdyrdek. When the contents of his stomach hit that silicon bag and we all saw it, we just broke into appluse,” John Tweeted
The truth maybe else where. Now, PopEater.com says the whole thing was a prank according to People Magazine. Rob certainly knows how to do work.
[Link: Access Hollywood, TMZ, Popeater, and People]
by The Editors on June 14, 2009
For $65 a hour Jennifer Willis and her younger brother David will teach anyone in Manhattan (and New Jersey, too) to skateboard. In fact, David claims he can teach a 40 year old to ollie inside an hour with their Uptown Skate School.
In an instructional video he shows students, David explains: “What you’re going to do is you’re going to bend your knees, kick down on the tail with your back foot, and slide your front up simultaneously as you jump. … When you come down, you bend your knees, so that way you have more balance so you can ride it out.” . . The siblings offer lessons covering the basics of riding to perfecting complicated tricks, and give half-day skateboard tours for $200.
In their first year of business the duo reportedly made $7,500. Sounds like they’re going to have to franchise.
[Link: NY Daily News]
by The Editors on June 12, 2009
If you weren’t at the Transworld Skateboarding Awards tonight at The Avalon in Hollywod you missed Wicked Pictures contract superstars Alektra Blue and Mikayla Mendez, according to a story on Adult Industry News.
With this in mind, it’s all the more fitting that these brunette beauties are kicking off their upcoming Erotica L.A. 2009 appearances by presenting trophies tomorrow evening at the 11th Annual Transworld Skateboarding Awards at the Avalon in Hollywood. 2009 AVN nominated director Van Styles – whose longtime association with the skateboarding community led to the company’s involvement – will be in attendance as well.
Pornstars are cool, but we all know that if Morrissey had been the trophy boy there would have been a lot more skaters fainting in the isles.
[Link: Adult Industry News]
by The Editors on June 12, 2009

Rob Dyrdek’s movie Street Dreams opens today and the LA Times kicks down the back story that we’ve heard before, plus something we didn’t know: that the film was anti-inspired by one of the Baldwin brothers.
“One of my good friends told me that one of the Baldwin brothers had just sold a movie about skateboarding,” Dyrdek says. “I’m like, ‘This is ridiculous. How can someone make a movie about skateboarding who knows nothing about it?'”
Good point. From what we’ve heard Street Dreams is actually pretty good. For the complete list of theaters click the link.
[Link: Street Dreams via LA Times]
by The Editors on June 11, 2009

Watch live as Transworld Skateboarding hands out their 11th Annual TWS Awards to skateboarding’s finest. The action begins at 6 PM Friday June 12, 2009. Trust it, you’ll get a lot less beer spilled on you by checking it out online.
[Link: Skateboarding.com]
by The Editors on June 11, 2009

Sometimes it’s good for all of us to be reminded of how much we all love skater/artist/ human Ed Templeton. ESPN (with help from Micah Abrams) has been kind enough to give us this reminder in both text and video form all on one page. Check it out.
[Link: ESPN/Action]
by The Editors on June 10, 2009

Okay, we’re kidding. No real news here, other than it’s official. Eric Koston is getting paid by Nike SB. Nice work, Kevin.
[Link: Nike SB via @liamgriffin]
by The Editors on June 10, 2009
Skateistan, the organization that is using skateboarding to help teach peace and personal empowerment to the children of Afghanistan, is now building out a skatepark/classroom facility that will include “rooms for launguage and music classes,” according to a story in The Toronto Star.
The organization in October asked the Canadian government for $5,000 and was given $15,000. The German embassy has invested $140,000 and Denmark has contributed $125,000. Percovich has raised enough to build a 1,750-square-metre indoor skate park, a $200,000 steel-roofed building that will be completed this August. He hopes to attract hundreds of children and teenagers.
But it’s not all happiness. Some see the school as teaching a “western indulgence” and one girl has been reportedly beaten by her brothers for skateboarding.
[Link: The Toronto Star]
by The Editors on June 8, 2009
The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC will be hosting an exhibit on skateboarding in the Native American culture titled Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America, according to a story on Native Times.
Ramp it Up celebrates the vibrancy, creativity, and controversy of American Indian skate culture. Skateboarding combines demanding physical exertion with design, graphic art, filmmaking, and music to produce a unique and dynamic culture. One of the most popular sports on Indian reservations, skateboarding has inspired American Indian and Native Hawaiian communities to host skateboard competitions and build skate parks to encourage their youth.
San Diego’s Pala Band, home of the Pala Skate Park, will be a co-sponsor of the opening on July 2, 2009.
Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America, June 12, 2009–September 13, 2009, NMAI on the National Mall, Washington, DC
[Link: Native Times]
by The Editors on June 7, 2009

Any who grew up skating in late 70s had visions of Dogtown in their heads. While we may have drawn the Dogtown cross on a few walls in our parent’s suburban home we never took the idea as far as this crew from Idaho, according to a story in the Idaho Statesman.
In 1976, a group of Boise teens were reading the Dogtown Articles and were drawn to the energy featured in the photographs. Among them were Mike Neal, Mitch York, Mike Fortin, Ian Smith, Brian Schroeder and Bob Harper (pictured above). . . .These teens formed a team sponsored by Budget Tapes and Records and radio station KWZ. “We tagged ourselves the Budget/Z Boiz,” said Harper, now 47, who lives in the southeastern Idaho town of Preston and still has a passion for skateboarding. “We read Skateboarder Magazine and we were influenced by what was going on,” he said.
Its a nice reminder that the geography may be different, but in skateboarding the story is usually the same. For the rest from these skateboarding spudmen follow the link.
[Link: Idaho Statesman]