An excellent execution photographing Bart Simpson in the real world, skating a very real wall. As seen on the cover of the Portland Mercury a couple weeks ago. Embiggened after the jump.

I know nothing about Lux Trucks, except they seem to have materialized out of thin air from Epic Distribution. We’ve seen a lot of interesting, gimmicky packaging for bearings over the years, usually in the form of a toy, but this is the first time all that extra plastic might actually be useful. Luxe Bearings come with a free iPhone 5s case, which is pretty cool idea, even if the case itself is uninspired. It’s interesting what it says about the market share of (or public mind share) of smart phones: Suck it, Android and Windows Mobile!

The July, 1965 issue of Popular Mechanics features a five page spread on skateboarding. I had sort of assumed that in 1965, skateboarding was still an “all-American” sport, looked at by the general public as an amusing or cute attempt to imitate surfing. It was surprising to learn that a “prominent psychologist” said that “the skateboard is a symbol of defiance, young people showing their elders that they have scorn for all the things they have been taught about the preciousness of life and safety of limb.” Fortunately the tone of the piece is purely informational, almost instructional in some ways. Vita Pak gets a name check too. Popular Mechanics was (haven’t seen it lately) very DIY oriented, packed with projects and tips for hacking ordinary items for improved functionality. Make has nothing on this.

It’s been floating around eBay for a while, disappearing for a year or so and then reappearing with the same pictures if I’m not mistaken. It’s always at a price that would seem reasonable if it were in fact something that anybody knew anything about and was collectable. However, nobody seems to want to fork over $100 for something that seems to have absolutely no historical reference. It’s nature suggests that it might be a hand made one-off item, but then again, that strange metal plate doesn’t seem like it would be stock for anything I can recognize. Google it, and you’ll get pages of the auction description re-listed. On the Rat Rods Bikes forum someone linked to a patent from 1999, but I would have guessed this is older than that. I can’t even find anything on the Welin roller skate truck online. Is this skateboard-related? Maybe only marginally, but at least it’s not this. I’ve got an email into the National Roller Skating Museum to see if they know anything. As a side note, did you know Sure Grip International is still around?

UPDATE: In 2021 we learned this thing is called the Sit-Skate.

Ah.. so that’s what cavorting means. You’ll know too if you watch this old (2012) promo video for Suiteblanco with Irina Shayk and Adam Senn. Those guys are models, don’tcha know? Yes, it’s Friday T&A with a little beefcake too. Photos mostly from Fashion Rogue, but they were originally on Skategirlinternational.com. I think they changed their mind and decided that these weren’t the sort of photos that promoted women in action sports after all.

“Just for Kids” is a skateboarding storyline in Teenage Hotrodders, Volume 1, #14, published September of 1965. All the drag racers, sprint car drivers and motor sports enthusiasts have cool helmets that look appropriate for the era, or an A-Ha music video. There’s plenty of talk of “Nationals” and championship qualifiers. it seems to be aimed at boys old enough to drive though, because it contains an entire page of sage, but vague driving advice in space usually reserved for talk about characters and upcoming issues. The lettering is strange too. It almost appears like a monospaced handwritten computer font, but obviously isn’t. Still, it’s so badly spaced and placed in some of the sapeech bubbles that it looks mechanical. Just for Kids features a characters actually named Motors Mchorn and Shifty Gears, ao maybe Teenage Hotrodders is aimed at kids who are old enough to drive, but aren’t quite that bright, or maybe it was distributed by the Charlton Comics Group in states where the driving age is 14. Then again, there are other ads for being the life of the party, selling greeting cards for extra cash, and learning to play guitar the Chet Atkins way.

The Police Academy movie series started in 1984 and the last one came out in 1994, which puts this 1990 Police Academy comic book out around the time of Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, which came out in 1989. That’s right, they cranked out the first 6 movies in 6 years! Turns out they are reviving it once gain, with a new sequel scheduled to come out in 2014. If you expect the quality of this Marvel Comics title to show the same commitment to the craft that the movies do, you be entirely right. It’s pretty bad. In fact, the frame above is about the only thing interesting in the whole story, which only takes up part of Police Academy Volume 1, Number 6, published in February of 1990. I don’t think Lance Mountain is in this one.

I don’t know what to say about Onewheel that I haven’t already said about other one-wheeled, electric powered, self balancing skateboards before (echo, echo, echo…) It’s been 7 years since we first posted about these types of contraptions, and this one is still going to set you back $1200. They’ve almost doubled their $100,000 Kickstarter goal, so you might actually see some of these in the wild. More info at rideonewheel.com.

[Source: Engadget]

Google Translate kind if stumbles over this one, turning “Badeente Skateboarder Quietschentchen Gummiente Plastikente” into “Rubber duck rubber duck plastic duck skateboarders.” So i, uh, wonder if… this guy is related to Tony… Hawk. (Sorry!)

– Thanks to David ODK for the tip.

This is a little old, and a little odd. There are already a few social apps and web sites out there for sharing skate spots and footage, and a couple for playing S.K.A.T.E., But the Nike SB App rolls them all into one and then some, giving new meaning to the term “tech skater.” Nyuk nyuk nyuk… The tagline is “Connect. Progress. Respect.” The app lets you play the game of S.K.A.T.E. worldwide, connect with other users, and accept challenges:

Step up to new challenges issued by Nike SB and our pro team to help you keep progressing. Share your footage and have the chance to get noticed by Nike SB, our team, and many more!

Then there’s something called a “trick tree”

Lose yourself in skateboarding’s endless creative process with our extensive Trick Tree, further inspiring you to learn and expand your skills. Watch the pros demonstrate with new filming and viewing techniques, and help expand the Trick Tree with your own footage.

The whole thing sounds marginally acceptable until you get to the point where you get to earn virtual badges, which is a little bit too much in the Dora the Explorer vein for me. The video promo features a remix of a Cocteau Twins song, so I’m not sure who this is aimed at, but it’s slick. That’s for sure. If you’re on an iOS device you can download it free from the App store. Imagine showing some kid in the 70’s how one day, other kids would be skateboarding, watching videos and entering contests with their phones. Actually, I think they showed this in the claymation scene of Skateboard Madness…