My grandfather had a finished basement with a bar that he built. Hell, he built the whole house, actually. The shelves behind the bar were packed with glassware, weird ice breakers, nut crackers, and various measuring and stirring devices. There was almost the same amount of space devoted to novelty bottles (shaped like monks and monkeys, oddly enough), the prerequisite hollow coconut, and assorted knickknacks, including several character sculptures made out of welded nuts and bolts. Pop’s metal people weren’t skateboarding however, they were doing things like golfing and standing around. I imagine them practicing their lines for an upcoming casting call in a “You want it when??!!” sign. This particular sculpture was spotted over at Troy Sliter’s house several years ago. I just found it while cleaning out the old hard drive. Time for a cocktail, maybe I’ll head out on the lanai and have a sweat on the davenport while I eat some filberts.

Scion brings you the worst ever Northwest skatepark tour, featuring Riley Hawk and something called a “Shep Dawg” crew. There’s something to be said for traveling off the beaten path, but given the wealth available terrain in the Northwest, the park selection is pretty weak. They actually go to a good spot (Windells) but it’s raining, so they stick to the indoor section. Let’s face it, nobody wants/needs to see a session at an indoor wooden skatepark unless it’s phenomenal. Then there’s a prolonged, implied commercial for Exit Real World that sticks out like a sore thumb. The contrast and tension between the spots, action and bad soundtrack (which you can download) makes the whole damned thing really awkward. But then here I am reposting it, so it works on some level. The screen capture above is the best part of the video, watch the rest at your peril. – Thanks to MC for the tip.

Check out this Ed Syder interview in Caught in the Crossfire about his self published book called Natas and Gonz. It’s not like those guys don’t get any respect, but this tribute to Natas and Gonz (and the Simpsons, apparently) is 52 pages of fun… at least I assume it is. I haven’t seen it yet, but it would be hard to imagine a book about these guys being anything less than fun. The first pressing sold out, but you can preorder the 2nd pressing for £10.00. Postage to the USA is £3.95… so that’s around $22 delivered. While you’re digging around his site, check out other items like the Skater’s Alphabet. [Source: Caught in the Crossfire]

At some point after I bought this Ben 10 action figure, opened it and left is sitting around the house, my kids decided the board needed to be colored in with a green marker. Fair enough I guess. I don’t think this show is on anymore, not even in reruns currently. Ben’s skateboard is actually a hoverboard. In the series, he rides it around occasionally, but in the tradition of making surfboard and hoverboard action toys, wheels have been added.

Skateboards are very big in the applesauce pouch battlefront of the food industry. This is the third brand to feature an apple riding a skateboard. First there was Tree Top and Go Go Squeeze. The brass at Safeway has decided they liked the name Go Go Squeeze, so when it came time to copy them, they just changed the order of the words to Squeeze & Go. In what must be a major food science breakthrough, they made them with real fruit too.

I didn’t catch these skateboard Valentines until late on Saturday night. There hasn’t been a lot of skateboard themed valentines in the past few years. You know, maybe skateboarding is losing it’s popularity. Head on over to your local Walgreens, these items ought to be massively on sale today.

Join the McDonalds skateboard club! The age of this shirt is unknown, but the style and fashion says 80’s to me. The seller claims this was sold in a Sears store, which seems highly unlikely, or at least unusual. I can’t ever remember seeing fast food branded clothing sold at a department store.

Another installment in the long history of Mad Magazine skateboard as comic vehicle. This is Spy vs Spy. Jr in Reversin’ Surfin’ from the 2007 compendium Spy vs. Spy 2: The Joke and Dagger Files. Yes “Hip” is the sound every skateboarder makes when ollieing. The onomatopoeia is not actually part of the gag, but it’s actually funnier than the gag by far. It could be a good premise for a video skit. Check out the full spread after the jump. – Thanks to MC for the photo.

This is a 1980 advertisement for Kodak photo paper featuring Michael Landon. This ad came out in the 101’st year of the company when they were probably at their peak. 30 years later they filed for bankruptcy mostly due to the fact that they couldn’t keep up with the world of digital photography, despite having invented it! Michael says you should order more fun for everyone. Sure, why not? It looks like the kid in the photo is wearing volleyball kneepads and a couple of rolls of paper towels around his elbows. I’m not sure about that skateboard either. The single conical wheels are pristine but I’ve seen issues of Thrasher thicker than that deck.

Issue #268 of Mad Magazine, on the newsstands in January of 1987. It’s the lighter side of evolution. Bonus punk rock lighter side of appearances after the jump.