This past year had some stellar video releases as far as skateboarding goes. Flip finally released the much anticipated Extremely Sorry,which was certainly the biggest release of 2009, but their were a slew of other videos that were dropped. My favorite cinematic experience of the year was Alien Workshop's Mind Field, Greg Hunt killed it as usual. For some reason I thought it was released in 2008, so it
didn't make my rough draft, but after further investigation I came to find it was indeed an 09er. Here's MORINfocus's Top 10 Skate Video Releases of 2009 (now you have something to spend all that X-Mas/Hanuka/Kwanzaa/etc. money on):

1. Alien Workshop's Mind Field
2. Flip's Extremely Sorry
3. Zero's Strange World
4. Tiltmode Army's Bonus Round
5. bLind's The bLind Video
6. Black Label's God Save the Label
7. Baker Boys Distribution's Baker Has A Death Wish Summer Tour
8. Girl and Anti-Hero's Beauty And The Beast 2
9. Thrasher's Under The Bridge
10. Zoo York's State Of Mind

Rick McCrank is a quiet guy. He's soft spoken, doesn't drink, doesn't eat meat, and he's Canadian to boot. No Moosehead brews and Canadian bacon for this North of the Border dweller. All that ends though as soon as he steps on a skateboard, he'll shred the hell out of anything you give him, and he'll do it with some of the best style in the business. Rick's been in the game for years, and has the complete package: street, park, transition you name it, he can skate it, and he'll be the last to tell you. Plus, he has the illustrious title of being "The Most Canadian Rider On Girl," which is a pretty, pretty, pretty big deal, especially since Girl has another Canadian team rider named Rick as in Howard.

Besides being one those pros lucky enough to have built up enough of a reputation to still be doing it, he's a little bit of an undercover businessmen. He co-owns Momentum wheels, and owns Anti-Social skate shop up there in Vancuover. Rick, being the supporter of the arts that he is, even has a gallery at the shop to give creators somewhere to hang their creations, and over on its site a cool, artsy little blog, you should check it out.

Anyway, he's a little video of the one and only Rick McCrank putting on a transition clinic courtesy of eS Films:

Just in case you didn't know today was World AIDS Day, and the nice folks over at Crailtap (Girl, Chocolate, Fourstar, Skate Mental, Royal) once again showed their support with a complete site takeover by (RED), a charity that helps the AIDS epidemic in Africa. The Girl skatepark also was taken over by (RED), and literally, seen in the photo above. If you want to learn more about this organization, and how you can help. I did a story on it a month or so ago here.

I started my Wold AIDS Day off where I usually do; Starbucks. And if you bought an Americano today (a drink made of espresso shots and water) Starbucks would donate 5 cents to the World AIDS Fund, so I bought two with my (Starbucks) RED card, which also donates 5 cents per purchase. That's 20 cents, every bit counts, and if all the Starbucks drones I see there every morning in whatever town I happen to be in did the same, it would've added up.

Anyway, not to sound like some righteous asshole, I just think what the Crail guys are doing over there is rad; it's shedding light on a problem, and getting people involved. I found out about it through them, and do my best to pass it on. They also announced today that the (RED) skater this year is going to be Anthony Pappalardo, and for the first time the limited edition pro-model decks are not going to be Girl, but Chocolate. So, stay tuned for that, and more from me about the goings on, on World AIDS Day.

Sounds like a party! And it's for a good cause. Last year, Andy Jenkins, the Art Director of Girl Skateboards, created two limited edition Eric Koston decks for (PRODUCT) Red. They were designed as a set, and when placed side by side made a complete work of world awareness art. It was such a success that Jenkins went back into the studio and came out with two more Girl x (Red) decks, this time pro models for the hairiest Girl around, Mike Carroll.

In case you don't know what project (RED) is, it's an organization that partners with companies like Girl to raise money for The Global Fund. In case you don't know what The Global Fund is, it's a program dedicated to to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. It was established in 2002 with the support of then UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and world leaders, to dramatically increase resources to fight three of the world's most devastating diseases.

All proceeds received by The Global Fund that were generated by (RED) will go to Africa. Once the money arrives at the Global Fund every cent of it will then be allocated to one of the Global Fund (RED) grants no overhead is taken out. Currently there are Global Fund (RED) grants in Ghana, Lesotho, Rwanda and Swaziland.

"We must all come together in supporting the global fund and the fight against AIDS. I applaud (RED) and it's partners for their vision and commitment," said former President of South Africa, and one of my all-time heroes, Nelson Mandela.

How many decks do you go through a year? Those wooden platforms of which we stand are the most replaced part of a skateboard. Especially, for old dudes like myself that are putting on some weight. I break a board more times than I get one for free, so I'm going to not be hypocrite and buy a set. You don't even have to skate, they are a work of art, hang a set in your house. Remember, these boards have a limited availability, so get them while you can. I've checked out a couple websites and the Carroll one is still out there for purchase, so go make a difference.

Along with Girl companies such as: Converse, Starbucks, Apple, American Express, Gap, Dell, Emporio Armani, Hallmark, Windows, Special Edition and (Red) Wire have collaborations with (Red). If any of these brands make something you use, why don't you support the fight? I already have the (RED) Starbucks card (which gets an insane amount of use), and a (RED) scarf from the Gap. Yeah that's right, the Gap, it's O.K. to buy something there if it's for a good cause.

I'll leave you with a quote from Dr. Patrick Okoth, Site Coordinator at Mbabane VCT/ART Clinic in Swaziland. "The act of buying the (Product) Red item, wherever you are buying it from, is saving lives, not just a life, but it's saving lives...You have made a whole difference and you have together worked to make the world a better place for us all. So keep doing that."

For more on (RED) click here, and here's a little video of Koston and Jenkins talking about the project.

Pat O'Dell just dropped the second to last installment of the Beauty And The Beast Epicly Later'd series. A few very important things were learned:

1. Rick McCrank is more Canadian than Rick Howard.
2. A night of wizard staffs does not make for a good demo the next day.
3. If you give a bunch of pro skateboarders rules for attending your party, you're in for one.
4. If you attend a party in your tiny hometown, on a tiny island in Canada, and tell a skate crew like the Anti Hero/Girl
collab that all the girls on the island are spoken for. You are definitely in for one.
5. If you have a giant blow up Coors beer can in your house, and you throw a party, keep an eye on the thing.

Click here to check it out.