by The Editors on January 22, 2009
We mentioned ASG parent corporation Source Interlink Cos. a couple weeks ago when their owner Ron Burkle bought an 8.5 percent share of Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Now, the company has announced that beginning February 1, 2009 they are joining Anderson News in charging a 7-cent fee per issue of magazines delivered to the newsstand regardless of the sell through, according to a story in the NY Post.
The remaining big distributors – Jimmy Pattison’s News Group, based in Atlanta and Vancouver, British Columbia, and New York-based Hudson News – have not sought a fee hike.. . . But if all magazine distributors follow suit, publishers worry it could sock them with an additional $1 billion a year in expenses at a time when they are contending with plunging advertising revenue and sagging newsstand sales.
Of course, magazines could easily cover these increased costs by simply cutting a few more editorial positions. . . and maybe the ASG titles will get a synergistic freeride.
[Link: NY Post and Folio Mag]
by The Editors on January 21, 2009
Anyone who questioned the validity of The Crossroads Skateboarding Trade Show, got a quick slap of reality today. The turnout reminded everyone that collectively the skateboard industry really can do whatever it wants.
At 10:15 AM it was difficult to find a parking spot anywhere near Jamie Thomas’ Black Box Distribution headquarters on the outskirts of Carlsbad. And by 11:30 AM when the free burgers began rolling off the grills the booths were packed with retailers, distributors, and Industry friends.
Kr3w’s Steve Clare doing double line shows with Pharmacy’s Patrick Kudrle and Asylum’s Pablo Aponte.
(Follow the jump for the rest of the story and all the photos.)
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on January 21, 2009
Honest exit interviews in action sports industry are rare. But apparently Dave Appel is one of those rare honest guys. Last October, Dave was cut when Burton moved The Program back to home base in Burlington. And now, in an interview on YoBeat.com, he lays it down so straight it gives us the chills. Here is a slice:
“For the record”…I don’t think I was a product of the economic downturn at all. I was a product of piss-poor management. When I started at Forum, snowboards made up less than 50% of the hardgoods department and when I left, it made up 67%, not too mention my category had the highest grossing margin at The Program. Also, for the first time in Forum’s history, they won 4 Goodwood awards, 2 years in a row while I was there. In regards to the way the boards ride and hold up, I was a one-man show. The graphics of course were done by the artists we all know and love. So, “They” “downsized” and relocated my department from one person (me) to a team of 8 people. It was complete and utter bullshit.
For the rest of one of the best industry interviews we’ve read all year, click the link.
[Link: YoBeat.com]
by The Editors on January 21, 2009
Difficult to believe this is a news story out on the wires, but because it is, were on it. Jason Lee has decided to take it easy on the skateboard these days. Here’s what he says:
My son is five now and he’s skateboarding. On the weekends we cruise around together but we don’t do anything hard because I don’t want to get injured. But I still cruise around on the old skateboard, yeah.”
NIce to know we’re in good company when we’re not doing “anything hard” on a skateboard.
[Link: Press Association]
by The Editors on January 21, 2009
The reviews coming in from the video gaming world kind of make us want to break out the console and pick up a copy of Skate 2.
Brian Rowe at Planet Xbox 360 gives Skate 2 a score of 9.1 out of 10, claiming that the title succeeds in areas that the Tony Hawk series never explored. “Once again, Skate 2 isn’t EA’s response to the stagnant Tony Hawk series,” he begins. “It’s the Tony Hawk destroyer, so long as you believe in working for your reward instead of button-mashing for instant gratification.” . . . Skate 2’s complex control scheme provides depth that other franchises lack. “Every board trick is mapped to a movement of the analog stick, with the shoulder buttons managing the myriad of grabs,” Rowe explains. “Forget about spinning ollies and blind grinds, because precision and flow are everything. A simple line like a heelflip-to-tailslide on a rail can quickly become an hour-long session of fumbling fingers and horrifying bails that’ll execute your manhood.”
Yeah, we’re in.
[Link: Gamasutra.com]
by The Editors on January 21, 2009
ESPN announced today that they have extended their deal with The Aspen Skiing Company until 2012, according to a story in the Aspen Times. And why not? Aspen is the perfect place for the over-the-top theatrics of televised snowboarding.
“Aspen has been a terrific partner,” said Rick Alessandri, the managing director of ESPN’s Global X Franchise. “They’ve always been enthusiastic. They’ve always been supportive of our desire to keep growing our event.” . . . “There’s something special here,” he said. “There’s kind of this idyllic setting with the community and the mountains and this being a resort destination. It seemed to be the perfect fit. We always try to provide the athletes with the best facilities and the best experience. We have that here.”
Looks like Aspen is going to become the Branson, Missouri of extreme sports. We can hardly wait to see the Stephen Fisher dinner show in The ESPN Superpipe Theater.
[Link: Aspen Times]
by The Editors on January 21, 2009
First we thought it was a online snowboard community. Then the manufacturer of puffy jackets made in American. Now, turns out MTNOPS is a snowboard company that builds snowboards in remembrance of the 20th Anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
The Burden is a directional freeride rocket that pays tribute to the men and wildlife devastated more than 20 years ago and impacted to this day.
What the hell? A snowboard paying tribute to an ecological disaster? Now we’re stuck wondering: what is Mark Sullivan’s next product going to be? Long underwear in tribute to the Northridge Earthquake?
by The Editors on January 21, 2009
Woody Harrelson tries to teach The New York Times “Carpetbagger” blogger a.k.a. David Carr how to snowboard using a Lib Tech Skate Banana. It does not go well.
Click the link for the whole boring video and try to figure out why Mr. Carr even gets paid.
[Link: The New York Times]
by The Editors on January 21, 2009
Thanks to a government sand pumping operation gone wrong the “once epic” waves at Australia’s Kirra have “dwindled and a “nearby marine reef has been destroyed.” That’s why Mick Fanning, Stephanie Gilmore, Joel Parkinson, and Mark Occhilupo will be joining hundreds of other activists on Australia Day in a paddle out to protest the destruction, according to a story on HearldSun.
More recently, the beach itself has been dubbed the “Great Southern Desert”. Sand build-up means visitors have to walk 400 metres across hot sand to get to the water, a prospect that has cut tourism and weakened local business, event organisers say. . . . Coastal Alliance’s Phil Arnott said the cost to the local community was in the millions each year. . . . “Kirra, may it rest in peace, was once one of the most epic waves on the planet,” he said. . . “Now the beach is getting wider, there’s no surf, it’s just a barren, desolate island. Kirra is dead and we need to get it back.”
[Link: News.com.au]
by The Editors on January 21, 2009
