Since 1963… with a few blackouts here and there. This started out as just lame quickie because I wanted to post a picture of this wacky old plastic Makaha skateboard that I’ve always loved. In the beginning, just as with Nash, Makaha was a real company. Makaha was one of the first skateboard companies, and the first one to use clay wheels. Owner Larry Stevenson has an actual patent on the kicktail! Their web site claims to have made the first production longboard as well. Also like Nash, unfortunately, at some point in the 70’s Makaha started turning out plastic toys. After the jump there are some more examples of Makaha’s past and present.

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! I’ve been asking for this for months now. This is the holy grail of 70’s wacky commercial skateboard exploitation. They actually advertised these in Skateboarder. I’ve never seen one in person but I remember seeing them in ads. Even though they looked completely ridiculous, I always wanted one for their sheer absurd nature, just to prove they exist. Thanks to Thor for locating and scanning the advert. See the full ad in all it’s 70’s glory after the jump.

Riot Fest 2006 is over. Jake Burns from Stiff Little Fingers sang vocals on Raygun’s version of Suspect Device. How’s that for a special guest? Amazing. Long set, quite possibly their last ever. There are videos up from the Oct 19th show and the Holyy Lazarski Nahani show. Nothing from last night though. The Riot Fest video crew was in full effect taping for a DVD release, but I like free. One item I sorely wanted but didn’t manage to catch was a stupid little clacker in the shape of hands that said “Spank you very much – Naked Raygun.” Almost as good as the famous “Get a haircut” combs they gave out once. On the drive home after the show the local commercial alternative radio station played at least one of the songs recorded from that night’s show. Sounded pretty good. I think Neil is going to write up the event. I’ll post more pics from the Holyy Lazarski Nahani performance later in the week.

Hokey smokes Bullwinkle! Walking up to the Subterranean to see Naked Raygun’s not so secret show under the Ukrainian translation of their name and we see Seattle’s Briefs on the bill as well. With the Bomb also playing… What a stellar line up!

I’m outta here for the weekend. Back to Chicago to see not one but two shows by Chicago punk legends Naked Raygun. The first one being a formerly semi-secret but now blown out show under the assumed name of Holyy Lazarski Nahane which is Ukrainian for… Naked Raygun. That’s yours truly on the right, stinkbugging a frontside air on a Naked Raygun skateboard. Say what you will about the Haggerty-less lineup, I’m excited about this show. Day two is Riot Fest. Also looking forward to seeing Chicago’s Effigies as well. No idea what the lineup is. Some other two bit punk group will be playing…oh yeah, 7-Seconds! They have a pretty darn good recent release so I’m looking forward to that too.

This may be old news to you Social Distortion fans. I’m a fan but I don’t feel the urge to see them live anymore. Austin360.com reports: Last year, Ness’ better judgment went downhill in a hurry resulting in injury and a last-minute phone call to a fill-in guitarist to save the Social Distortion tour from being detoured. Which made me jump to the hasty and obvious conclusions: Did he have relapse or run in with the law? Turns out he was skateboarding with his son. “I was helping my son do an eighth-grade school project,” Ness says. “We went downhill skateboarding and I was filming him, and I just ate it going about 25 miles per hour. I broke my wrist in about four places.” Skateboarding under the influence of good intentions is better than wiping out on drugs, which is what Ness was doing early in his career. I wonder if he has any of the old Skull Skates Social Distortion boards laying around. Earlier in the article the author says that Ness laments having his tattoos. Oh well. Photo by Shigeo Kikuchi. Story by By David Glessner for Austin360.com. Read From punk riot to family man

I forget where I downloaded this photo, but it has been sitting on my computer at work for over 6 months now. I like the Gonz, and you should too.

I have to place this picture sometime between 1989 and 1991. This is Matt Swan in the capsule at The Turf in Milwaukee Wisconsin. In the late 70’s early 80’s this park was called Surf and Turf. Pocket Pistols made a deck with the old logo on it, although it’s unclear if they ever actually went into production. The Turf was Mark Hubbard’s favorite skate park. This guy worked there. I wonder if it’s the same Time Door as this old zine?

We’ve edited some footage from an interview we did with Warren a little over a year ago. In the interview he talks about skateboarding and about life and death. We’d like to give back to the skate community like he did for so many years. Here’s a link to a really good video interview of Warren Bolster put together by Pam Rittelmeyer and Mike Papadopoulos. It’s got interesting bits about the industry and a puts a human face on the name behind the classic photographs. He talks a little about his personal difficulties, and you really get a sense of how passionate he was about skateboarding and surfing. It was filmed right before the Concrete Wave collection of his photographs was published. Highly recommended. Thanks to Billy Runaway for the tip.

The email came to me in German, which I can’t read. We cover stuff from the U.K., so why not? Looks like there is a Claus Grabke retrospective in a traveling skateboarding art show. This one is in Stuttgart Germany, or I don’t know my geography. I like art. I like Claus Grabke. There was a really good interview with him in issue 57 of Juice magazine, including an interesting bit on his short stint with Powell, and how Peralta kept trying to mentor him, with Claus talking about how he already had a father and didn’t need another one.