California Community Colleges Satellite Network (CCCSAT ) has some sort of series called Grant Britain Skateboarding Photographer that you can watch on satellite TV or view via webcast for free, provided you are a student of California Community Colleges. Education without boundaries, my ass! It aired already, but it airs again on 1/29 at 10:29am, 1/31 at 8:30pm, on 2/2 at 4:30pm, and on 2/3 at 8:32pm. See if you can figure it out. The CCCSAT web site is confusing as all heck. Supposedly this is Episode #124 – Typography. I find it hard to believe that Grant’s had 123 other episodes. Someone figure out how to watch this, then record it and post it on YouTube for the rest of us. Maybe Grant has more info in his blog over at the Skateboard Mag, which is where I poached that picture from, and where you’ll find recurring great shots he pulls from his extensive body of work.

Hold on to your mustaches, it’s a skateboard safety film from the 70’s. There have been a couple of educational films made over the years that deal with the subject of skateboard safety. I’ve seen bits and pieces of some before, but the full versions have always eluded me. Thanks to the folks at I-Mockery, not only can I watch it, but I don’t even have to go through the trouble of making fun of it. Actually, this kid just appears to have narcolepsy, because that’s the only explanation I can come up with for his randomly falling backwards like that. But who knows… maybe you have narcolepsy too and don’t know it! Are you really willing to take that chance!? The 70’s rule. You can soak up the bad fashions, groovy soundtrack and stylin’ moves after the jump.

Old Man Army is at it again, this time interviewing 70’s skate legend Russ Howell. I know what you’re thinking. By the end of the 70’s nobody much cared about Russ (in the skateboarding world) so why bother now? Well, it’s an interesting read nonetheless, especially for Howell’s take on the Dogtown documentary. He’s got a bone to pick with Stacy. The guy he should have a beef with is Richy Carrasco. See, Howell set a 360 record in 1977 (35 spins) but claims a personal best of 163. Meanwhile, Carrasco beat his record in 1978 with 35.5 spins and then again in 2000 with 142 spins. I don’t know how Russ lets a guy get away with calling himself the 360 King when Howell’s best is 21 over the Guinness Record. Did you know Russ Howell currently has a signature model? Learn this and more in the interview at Old Man Army. Don’t forget to check out the official web site of Russ Howell which stays true to his old school roots by maintaining a look that is circa 1996 web design.

I want to start off this December Baywatch by thanking a faithful reader who goes by the excellent handle “she was killed by space junk”. Thanks for the stickers, much appreciated. You rule. Now back to business. December was another down month, with some great bargains to be had. I know. I got one. But more of that later. December also saw the sell off of a bunch of 60s decks, and what appears to be some of Mike McGill’s personal collection. Of course, that’s just conjecture on my part, but what isn’t? Check it out.

At the urging of Old Man Army, Recent Skate and Annoy conscript Elder Skelter (long first time reader, first time caller) sent us this newspaper article scanned from the November 12, 1987 issue of the Valley Times. Things must have been pretty uptight in Geauga county Ohio for the authorities to get that bent out of shape over some innocuous graffiti. Talk about out of the loop! Reminds me of the scene in Rock ‘n’ Roll High School where Mr McGee asks “Who are these Ram Ones?” You can read the very funny (in a sad way) article and see the half-hearted correction they printed the next issue after the jump.

As most of you know I work for DuFFS shoes, and recently I came across this little ditty on the web. I do remember laughing at the ads when they came out, and nothing has changed that vision. Even words like Ads are Sexist, Violent and imply an endorsement of Pedophiles! really don’t bother me when is comes to skateboarding. I mean its not like I’m skating with Michael Jackson at his house or inviting kids over to my house to play Tony Hawk Pro Skater for free shoes. Geez, where’s the humor in skateboarding gone? DuFFS is all about sarcasm and poking fun. Sorry to ‘Ms Media Lady’ who always misses the point of a well-thought out advertising campaign. If you ask me, the first ads they did were genius, it took a wierd turn in the late 90’s, but now its back on point. Go see for yourself on the site.

Subtitle: Agressiveness and spunk. I was cracking up about Billy Ruff’s 5th place gift certificate prize (for a PRO contest!) in the 1981 Del Mar freestyle contest. I began to speculate about what might have happened had Bruce Logan fallen an extra time. Maybe Billy Ruff would have gone on to become Rodney Mullen, and eventually been a major influence in the skateboarding industry. Instead, all we have is the reissue of one of the crappiest graphics of the era. I went back to the October 1981 issue of Thrasher to further investigate. Check out those results! That’s Billy in the top left pic, wining the bowl event. Ruff’s 5th place freestyle pushed him to the top of the overall standings, beating Caballero and Duane Peters. Duane entered the freestyle too. There’s a picture (see above: bottom right) with an excellent caption that reads “Duane did something.” The only thing that beats that? When you say Billy Ruff, you say ‘Fly like an eagle, and leap like a panther’. Agressiveness and spunk. For his agressive spunk and overall 1st place finish, Billy won $300 and a gift certificate for an undisclosed amount to an undisclosed location. These old Thrasher’s are…

After being pretty lax about it, Thrasher has finally gotten around to posting the last of the first 12 issues of Thrasher Magazine. I suggest you get on over there and get them all before they disappear. They are kind of hidden as it is. If you are going to download them, go with the Hi-res pdf versions instead of the jpeg slide shows. You can really blow them up big and read all the tiny captions. These old issues are great to flip through. They are full of lots of photos of skate celebrities looking like little kids, wearing goofy fashions, etc. Take a look at the kinds of coverage and editorial slant. These early Thrashers are more like Concrete Wave with an attitude than the Thrasher of today. There’s even a product review of a freestyle board where the uncredited author wonders why more hardcore-types aren’t into freestyle. It’s also interesting to watch the magazine become a little more polished with each issue. Check out the early heaviest advertisers, it’s not who you might guess. It’s fun on every page. Mofo chronicles a Big Boys tour over multiple issues, old spots, strange product ads, contest results, Fascinating stuff.…

Blazing Wheels and Barking Trucks was my introduction to so-called Skate Rock. I say so-called because it’s not a very cohesive term, more of what can’t be defined as opposed to a specific genre. At the time it came out, it wasn’t important that the musical styles weren’t conventional matches. It was as if having the nerve to listen to such a mess of disparate tunes was enough declare yourself a weirdo, well that and your skateboard. Seems unfathomable now though. Why must I babble on when Last Days of Man on Earth is much more succinct. You used to be able to buy a shoebox full of old Skate Rock cassettes from Thrasher. They should do a proper rerelease of the early stuff on CD. Until then you have get yours from Last Days of Man on Earth. Anyone heard the most recent Skate Rock?

Seems like I’ve heard of this Stacy Peralta character before… Skip Engblom never gave Stacy a model on Zephyr, so 31 years later Santa Monica Airlines released a limited edition of 100 Stacy Peralta signature boards, numbered and signed by Stacy and Skip. Each deck comes with a certificate of authenticity, a display case and a price tag of $775! That’s no typo. Check it out at SMA.