March 2009. OK ok, I know I’m weeks late with this. Shit, I could be doing the April one! But hey stuff happens; sometimes you just don’t feel like sitting down in front of a computer for 6 hours on a weekend. I had contemplated not doing this anymore, but I do enjoy it, and it seems from some of the comments I’ve gotten, you guys like it too. Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement, by the way. I’m always open to complements and to bribes too if need be, so send your old decks along! And I know that you all want me to make these longer, but realistically I have to shorten them. They started off with about 15 decks, but every month they get longer and longer. This month is the longest yet, clocking in at 62 items and over 5,600 words. These are starting to feel like college term papers! So I might settle on about 40 items in the future. That should allow them to come out in a more timely fashion too.

The second installment (See part one) in the trifecta series. This was a great contest. Skateboarding is not a sport but this was real competition. This was also the best run of the series. It has become a regular thing we all look forward to during the dog days of summer. Hope to see yall there. We will leave the light on and keep the damn raccoon out my truck. Out Grover.

Tarantula Trucks. Errrr… A solution in search of a problem or pure genius? Better make up you mind before you buy, because these babies will set you back $115 a set. On the off chance these guys aren’t around in a year, I’ve archived some images after the jump. I’d actually like to try these things out, just, you know, not in front of anyone. I salute you Tarantula Trucks, for the sheer audacity of conceiving and actually producing this product.

JF Fullum sent me some pics of the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a while, outside of the hole in Mark’s back yard. It’s a giant chocolate skateboard that his mother gave him for Easter, and mind you, he’s a grown man now, but I’m just jealous. It came from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. so I guess I can cut my mom some slack.

Ho, ho, ho… Stop it, my sides are splitting and I’m about to pee my pants… OK then. Emily Stefano is a mechanical engineering student at Clarkson University, and she’s working on a thesis called, wait for it… MegaRamp Thesis. To what end? Emily needs money to travel to a Megaramp site and attach a bunch of gadgets to some skaters to gather data and determine how to make it better. Not so ridiculous considering the original construction of the megaramp was designed on the “let’s wing it” principal. She’s already conducted interviews with some mega ramp riders and apparently talked to some suits at the X-Games who want her to sign a non-disclosure agreement before it goes any further. Emily’s is hoping for some extra traffic to her site to help generate some buzz. The blog is kind of vague if you want details on the actual thesis, so I’ve asked her to distill everything after the jump. What’s the official term anyway, MegaRamp or Mega Ramp?

In honor of May Day, I thought I ‘d post some sweet granite benches in Moscow. CLick through to get a a wider view of this Russian street skating spot.

The Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is one of those programs that you either love or hate. Always low budget, it’s like one of those cable network comedy sketch shows, only it’s actually really funny, and at times very surreal. It’s on Adult Swim, so that ought to give you a good idea of what to expect. This video is an excerpt from a parody of MTV style “youth programming” called the “Jim and Derrick Show,” and it’s shot at a skatepark. Hit the ramps! – Thanks to Daniel Evans for the tip.

Insert Van Halen reference here.

Skater: Mirlo
Trick: Rock to fakie on a street barrier
Where: Panama, Central America.
Photo: Jerzick Oliveros

Thanks to Milorad Vardic for sending it in. You can see the full frame shot plus a bonus street sequence after the jump.

This week’s Shot of the Week is from Jim Gray, pictured at Skate City in Whittier, CA. This shot was used for his first advert ever, which was in Action Now magazine, circa 1980 or so. He can’t remember who took it, and I can’t seem to find it in the couple of Action Now’s that I have access to. So maybe our readers can help. I’m working on putting together an interview with Jim, so if anyone has any questions they’d like me to consider, go ahead and email them to me.

Check out the Shot of the Week.

I found this Mexican comic book, Los Super Juniors over at Weirdo Toys. And speaking of Mexican skateboarding, check out this video from Steven Bailey found at the Mercava Skateboards. It’s got spots from different states in Mexico, including the one where tipster John Aguilar learned to skate tranny when he was a Super Junior. It’s a super rough looking the banked ditch/half pipe thing in Mexico city behind the Corona beer brewery. Look for it at about 2:38 into the vid.

2023 Update: Follow me down a rabbit hole while I try to track down Mexican comic books.