He was the Z-Boy that had the smallest amount of screen time in the documentary, and he was also the youngest one, hence the name “Baby.” Paul Cullen passed away on the 23rd last week. Cause of death has not been officially made known, but there has been some obvious speculation due to a history of substance abuse. His memorial was open to the public this past Saturday. The image above is from Glen E. Friedman, who recommends you check out Paul’s section on the official Z-Boys page. Yo Venice has more recent pictures of Paul.

A note made from a piece of the old Animal Chin ramp that sits in the Team Pain office. Click to enlarge.

Matt Mahoney hooked us up with some pictures of a relic he owns, possibly the ultimate achievement in wackyboards. It’s either the Nash Jamm Sound Board or the Radio Active, depending on whether you believe the top or the bottom of the deck. In Matt’s own words “It’s perfect for listening to static while skating around town…” I remember seeing adds for this thing before, I can’t imagine they made more than one model. It’s too bad the Nash factory burned down, I’ll bet there was some cool stuff in storage.

While I was (supposed to be) in college, I lived in a house with a bunch of ne’er-do-wells, skateboarders and musicians. Actually, most of the guys ended up being do-wells after all. This particualr shot was the front yard of a house I lived in from 1987-1988. At least 14 people lived there. That’s my glorious 8 foot wide miniramp in the front yard. The platforms butted up against the front porch on one side and the sidewalk on the other. The chopper belongs to a roommate we called Mr. Grubby, who was otherwise known to the punk rock world as Doug “joe” Evans, the bass player for one of the top five most badass band to come out of Illinois, or the whole midwest for that matter, the Didjits. (OK, the rest of the list is Naked Raygun, Big Black, Cheap Trick, Husker Du…) Doug’s chopper had some sort of rebuilt BSA, or possibly Indian, engine on it. It wasn’t a Harley, I remember that much. He had the stereotypical, but awesome Iron Cross side view mirror. This thing was loud as fuck, a fact that did little to endear us to our rich, sorority girl neighbors, especially when Doug had to drive to work for his 6 am shift at a diner. He never spared the throttle. I got to drive it once, and it was impossible to steer. Not my scene all. I couldn’t pull it off, but Doug’s estranged father owned a pool hall in rural Illinois during the 50’s that was home base to a nefarious motorcycle club, so it fit him like a glove. Doug was also a skateboarder. What he lacked in skill, he made up for in enthusiasm. Eventually, he had to give it up due to an unrelated knee injury and all the touring he was doing. I just talked to him recently, he’s living in Texas and fronting a new band. He’s the guy in the back with the chrome plated German infantry helmet and the shark mouth tattoo covering his entire neck. I almost forgot, that’s House of Neil working the tranny in the background. Check out the Shot of the Week.

What to do if your favorite old board hasn’t been reissued yet? You could search it out on eBay, but then you might have to spend $255 to $1033 to relive your youth. If you are more of a sane individual with more time than money, you can grab your old album covers for reference and create your own out of a Moose blank. That’s what reader John Egertson did. It looks uncanny, compared to the original. Although I’d bet the original has a bigger wheelbase. There’s also the matter of the upturned nose, but you know, there’s a reason they don’t make them that way anymore. Actually, last time I checked, Factory 13 made a true, early to mid 80’s style single kick plank. Hang on, it looks like there may have been one iteration with an upturned nose.

Vision Street Wear (through Select Distribution) is pimping a limited release of the Vision “Tribute Series” including, for immediate delivery the “Gator Ramp (with his actual name on the boards)” I pressed the sales rep for information on who gets those royalties, and after a few elusive, vague responses I ultimately received the answer that Select somehow owned the Gator name from the get go, and so they don’t need to pay any royalties. I don’t know how that pans out for the boards “with his actual name on it.” My guess is Mark failed to trademark “Gator” and didn’t think about it since it was already his nickname. He probably figured he didn’t need to. Remember When He started going by a different name? Mark Gator Anthony or something… What does Mark “Gator” Rogowski have to say about the re-issues? He spoke up about it in Sean Cliver’s (great) new book, Disposable The Skateboard Bible.

One redeeming (and useful) gesture would be for companies that still sell decks with the old Gator graphics (with or without the name) to please direct what would have been royalties to organizations devoted to ending violence and promoting understanding. That could be really healing.

It’s on page 236.

Err…. Wha? I’ve never seen the “Highway Fox” brand, but there’s a Highway Fox “Dolphin” model on eBay that looks like a Jason Jesse Neptune “tribute.”Also amusing, the seller claims the board has “has great vintage 60’s 70’s graphics.” And now I’ve officially gone over the limit for using quotations in a post. Check it out.

– Thanks to Dennis Dreiling for the tip.

I want to start this month by thanking all of those who contributed to the raffle in my name held on skullandbones. Thanks to everybody who purchased “tickets”, and a big thanks to all who arranged it. I have spent the cash, and you will see the result of the raffle in the July BayWatch. I also want to thank all of the folks who email me with kind words about the column and also those who write in with tips and links to auctions of interest. Keep them coming because finding new and interesting stuff is a constant battle. Also, without the kind words of the folks that write in, I don’t know if I’d still be doing this!

A couple of reminders: you can click on the images to see the full size versions. If they don’t get bigger, don’t blame me: I grab the biggest image that is available on eBay, but sometimes the sellers don’t post large images, and in cases like that there isn’t much I can do. Also, remember to leave comments in the Feedback section, whether it is a simple comment or even a correction. If you won one of the auctions I mention, maybe tell us a little about the condition of the deck etc.

The action isn’t in the text this time. Check out the spectacular bail! This is the fifth installment of the Skateboard Action book, courtesy of Carl Warren who still does not live in Hood River. It almost looks like Rodney Mullen, but surely it can’t be? I don’t think his parents let him ride jump ramps.

I can’t recall the date exactly, but I’d say this was taken in 1990, or 91. There was a hipster nightclub in Chicago called Shelter. They would have all kinds of events and promotions, and since I was a partner in the silkscreen business that printed for them, I occasionally got to be involved behind the scenes in a minor way. For instance, I got to hang out with some the famous club kids from NYC, before they became famous murderers. Another event that I didn’t understand but certainly enjoyed, was the outdoor miniramp. Someone came up with the promotion to build a miniramp in the outdoor section of the club, whic was really large, if I recall correctly. The club was located in a sort of derelict industrial area, next to some railroad tracks, so noise wasn’t an issue. Originally I was actually supposed to build the damn thing, but somehow it got puled out from under me, and a guy named Sluggo took charge, which was kinfd of annoying as he was an employee of mine at the time. Sluggo? There are a few “Sluggos” in skateboarding scenes across the nation, this guy lives in Chicago. So they set up the ramp and had people skating it on nights when it was open. I don’t think anyone got paid to skate, out side of the opening night maybe, I think you just got in free. Basically, sweaty guys would skate and then drunk girls would watch them, or not. I brought some friends over to skate it a couple of times during the day when the club was closed. It was nothing special, except for the setting. I think maybe 12 ft wide and 5 feet tall, but that’s a guess. This shot is (Is NOT!) Chicago skate legend Steve “Dread” Snyder, the same guy from the famous Alva team ad, and more recently Uprise employee with his own Nike Blazer. The guy in the upper left hand corner is probably Jesse Neuhaus, and the Sessions sticker was for the short lived Chicago location of Sessions. Check out the Shot of the Week.