A reader named Ollie (no really) sent in a few shots of his project which goes by the name Candy Ramp because of the piñata used in the christening ceremony. It’s two feet tall with a three foot tall section that goest to vert. Then there’s a six and a half foot tall tombstone made out of a coffee table. Hey, the whole thing was built in under a week, what do you expect? I expect to get hurt when I go over there to ride this thing, but I also expect to have fun. Pics after the jump.

The Benton County Skateboard Association has some updates they wanted pass on. I’ve paired them with some photos from a gentleman who falls within the BCSA jurisdiction. You all know him (and love him) as ColinWalshRules.

I didn’t make any posts on Black Friday, but this works better for Cyber Monday since you might have a hard time finding this in an actual shop. So why not pick up this limited edition Skull and Candy Cane board that is not actually a Blind send up, but something the folks at Powell Peralta cooked up. Out of character? Perhaps. Santa Cruz and Powell appear to be engaged in some sort of protracted nostalgia trench warfare. Get yours at SoCal Skateshop and elsewhere, I’d imagine.

– Thanks to Eric Cherry for the tip.

All hail the return of Saturday Starrs, as well you should. Scott Starr is the ultimate skateboard film historian. He covers the surfing world too, but that’s not for me to judge. Here’s another piece of history that would most likely had been lost to the ages were it not for Scott’s diligence. It’s the opening sequence from a 1977 East Coast skateboarding and surfing film titled Hard Waves, Soft Wheels. Scott’s YouTube channels keep getting shut down, and so a lot of the embedded videos stop working. I’ve gone back and re-populated the ones that he’s uploaded again, in case you are in the mood. It’s like the third or fourth time that I’ve had to do this. We’ll see how long it lasts again. Awesome period piece music in this sequence.

UPDATE: I had the wrong video embedded, but it’s fixed now. If you are jonesing for that Captain Kangaroo appearance, it’s over here.

Remember this shot of the week? The board that Jim Gray is riding in the picture, the Sidecut, has been reissued by G&S, but exactly who that entity is, that’s anyones guess. There appears to be an official web site, but the email contact gets bounced back. I’m pretty sure the G&S trademark has traded hands a few times, but I can’t get any confirmation. There are some online skateshops offering boards autographed by Steve Cathey, which according to SkateLegends.com is also coincidentally the guy who signed Jim Gray to G&S. I was curious why he would sign this board and not some others like his some retro-themed offerings with his picture on it. The answer turned up at Cal Streets. The sidecut was designed for Steve, but at the time Cathey felt he was a little overexposed commercially, so he declined to have his name put on it. Minutiae, minutiae, minutiae, but that’s why you’re here, right?

So we did skulls in a bowl, which was ridiculous, and that’s probably what prompted Jeff Haynes to send me a link to this video called Octopus. It’s a facelift for a bowl in the skatepark of Lugano, which is in Switzerland. The artist(s) this time is called Nevercrew.

Hold on… I’m channeling People Magazine, or maybe US Weekly… Richie Jackson arrested at gunpoint for tresspassing, and resisting arrest I suppose, although I don’t know how the laws work in Australia. He was busted inside a locked school yard, and tried to evade the police. he said he was looking for a place to sleep. Nice try Richie. I suppose the cops thought the skateboard was a pillow? What he lacks in creative excuses, he makes up in creative skating. What else? Mike V was arrested in a brawl at a Ducks hockey game, fighting over a hockey stick that a player handed into the stands. He claimed it was supposed to go to his daughter, but then so did another fan. Great example for your kids Mike. Video and story at Radar online. Richie Jackson story at ESPN.com.

– Thanks to Mike Estes and House of Neil for the tip.

Last Tuesday’s episode of the Colbert Report (November 17th) featured the segment Better Know a District, with California’s 12th which encompasses San Francisco and the headquarters of You Tube. At the end of the segment he asks Representative Jackie Speier to make a You Tube video, consisting of some skateboarding through the halls of the office building. I didn’t catch this on TV, so I can’t tell if there’s a stunt double or not, but my immediate judgement tells me Stephen has spent some time on the old stuntwood. Like I said, I didn’t get a chance to record this, but the forward thinking people at Colbert Nation have saved me the trouble of getting kicked off You Tube again by posting copyrighted material. Wathc the licensed vid after the jump, and brace yourself for an onslaught from Daddy Yo. it is San Francisco, the hotbed of left wing commie, pinko, gay… Thrashers. Lets see who can stay on topic the longest. (Tone of voice: Like a parent to his kids saying “Let’s play a game and see who can stay quiet the longest!”) Sadly, the video wasn’t actually posted on You Tube. Stephen, how long have you been skateboarding? Deign to answer us and we’ll.. I don’t know, name something after you. (and promise not to upload your EXTREME™! Mayonnaise commercial that features skateboarding.)

– Thanks to Sarib Khalsa (and his girlfriend) for the tip.

So October 2009 was a big one. If this was anything to go by, then we can say that the downtown is over, at least in regards to the pocketbooks of serious skate collectors! Lots of stuff went for over $1000, and some went far higher than that. What do some of our big spenders do for a living I wonder? And are they even skaters? Or do we have art collectors out there who are starting to expand into old skateboards? Or do we have famous/rich folk who used to skate and who know want to recapture a piece of their youth and they don’t care what it costs to reclaim it? And just who the fuck has $5,000 discretionary income burning a hole in their pocket these days anyway? Just some interesting thoughts to ponder.

Check out eBay Watch: October 2009

I was in high school when a friend turned me onto JFA. He had a sarcastic sense of humor and found JFA’s “Beach Blanket Bongout” to be the most brilliant thing ever. The Valley of the Yakes EP had skatefish on skateboasrds all over it, so that was an instant turn on. Then there the subtleties of “We Know You Suck.” In college I bought the Mad Garden EP just for the Peanuts theme song, and wore that record out. JFA could come off as seemingly inane, but at the same time often brilliant when it comes to distilling an emotion into a couple minutes of barraging vocals and guitars. The end results were greater than the sum of the parts. Some 25 plus years later, JFA is still out there. They’ve got a new live album on DC Jam Records titled “To all our friends.” This is the Brian Brannon interview on Skate and Annoy.

[Photo: Pat McGinnis]