Back In The Day – Page 39 – Skate and Annoy

SOTW 5-25-09: Parking garage pricks

I almost forgot to do a Shot of the Week, so I pulled this one out. This is street skating circa 1989, and part of that scene was being a dick to pedestrians and cars… This shot involved the fake ollies (layback ollies?) where you skate up to something and put your hand on it […]

Trippy Levis commercial from 1977

I have a vague recollection of this style of Levis commercial. This one dates back to 1977 and briefly features some kids and possibly even a gorilla on a skateboard. It’s hard to tell compressed and small, plus the psychedelic nature of the animation doesn’t help any. – Thanks to Eric Shea for the tip.

Jay Bennett R.I.P.

Taking a little time off to mourn the loss of a friend of mine who died in his sleep over the weekend, Jay Bennett. If the name is familiar, Jay might be most famously known as a member of the band Wilco. He appeared on every album up to and including Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, after […]

eBay Watch: April 2009

First off this month I want to thank all of the folks who email in to tell me how much they enjoy the column, whether it be to the email address here or on skullandbones. I’m glad that so many people all around the world seem to enjoy my pontificating and nonsense. Also for those […]

Local color

I’m going to freely cop to filling space with this post. This here’s the tale of a nefarious character whose name is/was Martin. His ego was legendary, and he’d be the first to tell you. He was always looming/lurking on the skate scene in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois back in the 80’s. A self-styled king of the […]

Greatest stuntman ever

More skateboarding vid caps sent in from Joesf Heffner. This time the flick is called Hooper, starring (duh!) Burt Reynolds. There’s also a bonus shot of some terrain that ought to be familiar to anyone whose seen the Bones Brigade Video Show. There’s an actual skate shot of Neil Blender hitting it in an old […]

Nostalgia Dementia

Someone went through the trouble to bring back the Gull Wing Trucks brand, but neglected to include the design that made them famous. Regardless of whether you are a fan of the original Gull Wings or not, it seems like a no-brainer to make them at least somewhat resemble the old trucks, even though you’re […]

Indy Roller Skate Trucks

Yes, they did make trucks (baseplates) for rollerskates too. There’s a vintage set up on eBay right now, currently up to $400, with a buy it now of $500. Hell, you can still buy Powell Roller Bones wheels at your local rollerskating rink. – Thanks to Colin for the tip.

Turf re-birth?

Word is that the lease is up on the tenant that currently resides in the building that houses Milwaukee’s famed Turf Skatepark. I erroneously reported that the concrete had been demoed, but I guess the truth lies closer to some missing coping and a lot of landfill. I here to report on the rumor that […]