Enjoy my stream of consciousness, started by watching a Black Ox skateboard animation.

Black OX on a skateboard.
Black Dicks (oops!)
Black OX action figure
His nemisis, Gigantor
Gigantor by the Dickies.
Dickies skateboard.

– Thanks to Janis for the tip.

I was checking out the source for that latest foldable skateboard concept. The site is called NG Boards, which near as I can tell from the esoteric ramblings in the “information” section stands for No Good boards. It’s a new site but it’s already full of wackyboards galore, both concept and actual product. I don’t what the deal is, it’s all over my head. You kids and your techmology. That’s two Ali G references in one day, in case you are counting. Wait I take it back, here’s something freaking cool, can’t tell if it’s legit or a rendering, but the NG DNA skateboard wheel looks like it’s made out of fossilized amber, complete with trapped bug.

Ideas are easy, but it takes balls to actually build your dreams.. Add this NYC designer Jin-Seok Hwang concept to the soon to be long list (1, 2, 3, 4) of foldable skateboards. While he was at it, he redesigned the truck and added a rail system for changing your wheelbase.

[Source: NG BOARDS Bordistan]

A cool illustration by Alex Trochut from Type Theory. They link to his site where you can buy some of his stuff but unfortunately not this. Hmm, I wonder if I could knock off a vert skating version?

Gigi Cifali has some great pictures of unskateable empty pools. You could hang these in your house and visitors would have to decode them to figure out that you are a skateboarder. Well except for that Zorlac shrine in the bedroom. Click on the Absence of Water link (second from the left. Link from the William Gibson blog.

I spotted this Bones parody shirt by Jeremy Fish at the Umbrella Market. Parodies of old skate logos are a dime a dozen, but I like this one. Bonus footage of a real life fish skateboard after the jump, thanks to a tip from reader Dylan.

…as in the case with this highly durable, yet somewhat overweight skateboard deck made by artist Herr Schulze, guaranteed not to delam. But seriously folks, Mr Schulze has a lot of skateboard art in the mix. If you need more conventional skateboards, he’s involved in some capacity with a company called Robotron. They have a cool, if somewhat familiar aesthetic.

This week’s Shot of the Week comes from Greg Baller, who was actually in a Shot of the Week last year. Greg was a partner in Burly Caps, a company that made… burly recaps for knee pads during the late 80’s and early 90’s. Burly Caps are back again, and the web site has a lot of pictures of vert riding in the Great White North from the same era. Burly Caps are made from UHMW plastic. What? Glad you asked: Ultra High Molecular Weight, much denser than you garden variety caps. Burly Caps, Right? This is Neil Blender in Vancouver BC, as shot by Greg. Neil Blender used to have a web site selling his art online, but he’s since moved his operation to an eBay store. There is still a few hours left to bid on his original painting (alternate version) for cover of the Best of Dinosaur Jr. See the full frame Shot of the Week.

Peter DiAntoni has a show opening tomorrow in Milwaukee (I assume) titled Salad Days: Turf 30th Anniversary. It’s all photos of Milwaukee’s Turf skatepark that also has an earlier run as Surf & Turf, before taking a brief rest while serving as a strip club. I guess they build wooden platforms covering the bowls. Sadly, it’s been permanently destroyed now. Pete D. was the proprietor of Clueless Zine, of which I have a couple issues, but haven’t yet added to the 80’s zine archives. Dang, I need to get on that. If you skated in the midwest in the 80’s you went to the Turf at least once. A lot of people travelled there from other parts of the country. It also appeared in some Santa Cruz and Gullwing videos, possibly others as well. For some it was a travel destination, for others it was more like a home. Mr. DiAntoni will be screening Turf shirts on site at the opening, and if you have your old park ID you can get one for 1/2 price. I wonder if that works via mail order? – Thanks to Matt Grasser for the tip.

April 10th 7-10pm
Vetter Denk Building 161 s. 1st (corner of 1st & Pittsburgh) Milwaukee, WI

[Source: WiSkate]

Aside from being the guy behind Conspiracy Skateboards, Lindsey Kuhn also runs a thing called Swamp. The Swamp name comes from his beginnings in slikscreening as a fundraiser for Mississippi’s Swamp ramp during the 80’s. He designs and screen prints rock posters, among other things. So it’s no surprise that quite a few of his posters feature skateboarding. You can still buy prints from most of these limited editions. I’ve had my eye on that Devo alien print for a long time. Check out Swampco.