Category Archive: Skate
Ocean Bowl Ocean City Maryland 1976
When heros rescue history from the trash! Check out these photo of the Ocean Bowl from 1976 shown here by permission of Marc Emond:
The photos on this post were pulled from a dumpster behind The Beachcomber weekly newspaper in the early 80s. The box they were in contained piles of surf and skate photos. Whoever found them gave them to Jack Crosby at BB Bombers surf shop. Jack gave me the skate park photos. Pure fate that they ended up in my hands…
If you’re in the mood for more vintage Ocean City, check out this Rolling Surf action.
100% Recycled Plastic Open Source Skateboard Decks
Sustainability in skateboard manufacturing has to be tackled by the skateboard industry at some point. Bamboo, hemp, whatever… There’s a Kickstarter campaign running right now for a process to make skateboards out of 100% recycled plastic. It’s a little different than most kickstarters, this entire project is open source, and the campaign is essentially just trying to raise money to prepare proper documentation to release in the public domain, allowing anybody the chance to replicate what Jason Knight has done.
Ellen O’Neal – R.I.P.
It’s being reported that iconic 70’s skateboarder Ellen O’Neal Deason has passed away. I can’ find any first hand sources but is being repeated by reputable people who would know, like Jim Goodrich, the guy behind the lens in both of these photos. She had reputation as a phenomenal freestyler, and yes, one of the earliest well-know female skateboarders, in the company of Patti McGee and Peggy Oki. Ellen was inducted into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame in 2014.
Editor’s Note: The absence of any mention of the death of Jeff Grosso earlier the year was not intentional, and was due to the fact that Skate and Annoy was more-or-less offline this Spring.
The Old School Crew
Oh man, I’m old. This is how and when I first started skating. Hanging around with a crew of grade school kids cursing around on plastic boards with loose bearings. Good times. Nobody worried about whether they were doing a trick correctly or if they had bad style. Besides, how much style does a tic-tack take? I found these 70’s photos in some clickbait article. The mentioned that the photographer Anthony Catalano had passed, but they didn’t link to the original source so I’m not going to bother to credit them. There are a ton of photos taken in Brooklyn in the mid to late 70’s, and only a few of them feature skateboarders but they are a great glimpse into the past.
Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Disorder has an interview with Joe Buffalo a skateboarder and actor from Maskwacis, Alberta and the Samson Cree Nation. The interview is from April of this year, and his pro model for Colonialism Skateboards has already sold out. You should also check out this more recent CBC radio interview with Joe.
– Thanks to Heidi Randall for the tip.
Spits VI
The Spits are back after almost years. 10 years? How can it possibly be 10 years since their last release? Any given Spits release probably has a robot or a skateboard on the cover, sometimes both. Their 6th full length (ish) release has a Valterra Rad-Active board. There aren’t many pictures of this particular Valtera on the web right now outside of The Art of Skateboarding, and you need an account to view it. I’ve been trying to reset my password for a few years now to no avail. The Spits VI drops on October 30. More album artworks and a teaser track after the jump. Up all night is a boss track…
Source: Brooklyn Vegan
Nash Soundboard: Part 2
Sure, it’s been 11 years since we posted a Nash Sound Board, but there have been new archeological developments thanks to reader Vivi Kristensen. This version of the Sound Board has moved the radio compartment from the tail to just behind the front trucks, and all mention of the Nash brand on the board graphic has been removed. However, the radio compartment still bears the Nash logo mark. This radio was no doubt perfect for listening to The Rest of the Story with Paul Harvey during a heated vert session. It’s unclear how on earth you’re supposed to tune this radio. Looks like a set it and forget it situation. All so quaint compared to modern day implementations even if it did take 30 years to improve on it.
MLS in St. Louis
Another new MLS franchise, this time in St Louis. St Louis City FC will start playing soccer in 2023. For some reason the press pic on the MLS post highlights a local skatepark (which skatepark?) with the flag of St. Louis painted on the side wall. When I think of St Louis I recall those contests and demos under the arch.
Whatsup With This Skateable Dragon?
I think this web site is called WHATSUP. (WHATSUP???) Follow this link for pictures of a crazy concrete dragon built for skating in an art exhibit they may have something to do with Vans.
Q: Why do skate tools suck?
A: Because they come from China and wholesale for less than $1 a piece.
Seriously, would it kill them to make the seats a little deeper so that the tool doesn’t become useless if you’ve got really soft bushings or want to tighten things down for a mega ramp session? I get unsolicited emails from Chinese companies all the time, trying to sell me plastic skateboards, cheap decks, trucks, wheels, and even authentic (?) “Bones” bearings, all on the cheap. “Swiss” bearings imported from china, including packaging. Thanks Dwindle.











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