Ay, Caramba is a red rye India Pale Ale brewed by Holy Roller in Tallinn, Estonia. Nicolas Bouvy sent this picture but declined to review it since he’s predisposed to dislike IPA’s. Me too, actually. Here in Oregon, if you go to the grocery store to buy any beer that isn’t Bud or Pabst, you’ll find a selection of about 20 IPA’s and only a handful of less hoppy choices. And yet, I still manage to cultivate a healthy beer gut. Which came first, the label or the beer name? Ay, Caramba is surely a tip of the hat to Bart Simpson, and all the labels show a heavy Jim Phillips inspiration.

Random guy standing next to me in line at the airport. I believe this is Mondo Gecko from TMNT, wearing a Ramones shirt. Radical!

International Olympic Committee Announced street and park skateboarding events to debut in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.  The IOC has some live video of the even with a horrible interface, but there’s an interesting bit where a reporter asks about the lawsuits in one of the so-called governing bodies of skateboarding, as well as anti-doping. The  Tokyo Skateboarding Commission sounds like a criminal investigation, but it is in fact, ” a partnership between the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports and the International Skateboarding Federation formed under the guidance of the International Olympic Committee. The TSC is in charge of all aspects of producing the Skateboard Street and Park Terrain events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.”  Now that skateboarding is in the Olympics, maybe we’ll finally get some skateparks built… oh yeah. Well maybe our top athletes will be able to earn a living… oh yeah… It’s all moot now.

Two illustrations from Christoph Niemann’s illustrated children’s book titled Words. Christoph says “I am inviting kids (and readers of all ages) to intuit and puzzle out meaning, and to see language as a source of ideas and stories.”  Is that a bunch of hooey to justify a pet project? I don’t think so.  I have to admit, the juxtaposition of these two illustrations definitely had me pondering how a young child just learning to read might process this page spread.  There’s an extra layer of interest to me as a skateboarder, being able to recall my first skateboard and how very fond of it I was at a young age, separation anxiety and all. [Source: Creative Review] – Thanks to MC for the tip. 

This promotional plastic lunchbox or pencil box was made for Bryan Foods. The seller can’t confirm the date, but the style of the skateboard in the illustration and the “Just Say No” paraphernalia would suggest late 80’s. “Hot doggin'” was a popular 60’s and 70’s slang for showing off on a skateboard (or surfboard, or skis, or anything else…) so maybe they were trying to get Corn Doggin’ to catch on. It’s not clear whether or not the “Corn Dog Kid” was used for anything other than this lunchbox. A web search doesn’t turn up any other occurrences. The The company (Whirley) that made the box is still in business too.

This Sunny Street cartoon dates back to 2012, and I may have posted it here before, but I can’t find it. For future reference: This is a post about an injured horse riding a skateboard.

StayTrueToYou.org is part of a public service campaign trying to convince teenagers in Oregon not to smoke pot. It’s likely funded by some of taxes imposed since the recent legalization of marijuana in Oregon. The trouble with running a campaign like that on social media is that allows all kinds of predictable commentary from the peanut gallery. This radical stock image posted on Instagram states “Pot can make it harder to learn new tricks,” but it prompted a response from an ever helpful young adult that said “Not really, I learned how to skate while being high :)” Earache my eye. This banner was spotted at the mall, surrounded by mall-grabbers. You know what else can make it harder to learn tricks? A bunch of girls with their feet hanging over the coping.

Fresko Shoes is a company that sells shoes and beachy-stuff to tourist traps next to oceans. They’re out of Florida, but I found this plastic skateboard in Pacific City, Oregon. It’s actually a pretty cool design. If someone had thought of this in the 70’s they would have sold the crap out of (another round of ) plastic skateboards. Remember, for those kids not near sizable hills and skateparks, a plastic skateboard with a good set of open bearings was a perfectly serviceable skateboard. I rode one for years, and.. uh, look how I turned out?

This wraps up any uncertainty about the authenticity of the Hobble Wobble, which seemed like it might have been artificially created to look like it was vintage. The name of the inventor made it easy to look up the patent this time. Harold Katz filed his patent in October of 1958 and finally received his patent in March of 1960. This short highlight article on the Wibbler must have been published sometime shortly after, making my original guess ( After the hula hoop in 1958 and before skateboard fad in 1964 ) pretty accurate. Somebody should pay me for this research. Hello Betsy? This is not skateboard related, you may cry, but I will endeavor to prove a direct connection in the following presentation. Can someone dim the lights please? [Photo: Ebay seller Catzuzan ]

Thanks to Jim Thompson for these photos of Wee Willie Winkies. That’s “winkles” not “Winkles” as in Wee Willi Winkels. These disgusting looking, sickly pale, pink, fleshy appendages come from Scotland. Sausage skateboards probably require pizza grip to deal with all that extra grease.