According to Info Link, some sportos in Australia were bugged by the apparent loudness emanating from an adjacent skating facility in a sports complex.

The noise problem tackled by Pyrotek was caused not only by 100A durometer hard wheels dropping from a great height onto toughened floor and ramps but also by the loud music enjoyed by the young patrons using the 1000 square metre street course and several vertical ramps of international competition standard…

So what type of traditionally quiet sports were they impeding? Golf, tennis or maybe even billiards? Nope. Turns out they were annoying the soccer and volley ball players. Really? Too loud for soccer and volleyball? King Missle has a great song that applies to this situation.

This poor kid may never be able to get wood again. Watch a skateboarding version of the Holiday classic, The Nutcracker after the jump. While you’re at it you can watch another kid narrowly and repeatedly avoid cracking his skull while attempting to skateboard on ice covered ramps and asphalt.

So here is a little game I like to call Skate Race. I am the best. Here are the three reasons.

1) Because I thought of it.
2) I am undefeated.
3) You are afraid to challenge me.

“So go sell your ice cream on the other side of the street”. Out Grover.

Now this, this was a month. Lots of really cool decks came and went on eBay in November. Oh sure there was the usual array of Hawks and McGills etc, but I found some really good tack, some stuff that hardly ever comes up. Some months can feel like a real chore, but I’m excited to do it this month!

This month the column is brought to you by the sounds of the Hollywood Blondes and the refreshing taste of Bombardier ale. Good stuff. If you are ever in Chicago, stop by the Globe pub on Irving Park. Lots of great English beers and the food isn’t bad either.

Check out: eBay Watch for November 2007.

Ryan Hass hipped us to these shots, dude. They were taken in Rio at a pedestrian underpass south of the Flamingo Park. You can see full frame enalarged versions at Ramp Locals Only. Brasil – Brazil… Next thing you know we’ll have to start calling it Myanmar instead of Burma. I mean, George W doesn’t bother, why should we? (Warning! You have just experienced sarcasm.)

Our friend Tom Miller writes:

Just back from a work trip to Curitiba, Brasil. Conahan asked to shoot photos of anything interesting skate-related. Just when I was thinking I wasn’t going to see anything of note, we arrived at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum. The museum structure is novel, but skaters are going to be more interested in the walkway.

I couldn’t help but think if you call it “art” the dollars come running at you. If you call it “50 feet of mini ramp at Ed Benedict Park” suddenly the budget doesn’t allow for it until the mythological “phase 2.” We don’t need any more skateparks. We need public art that coincidentally accommodates skateboarding.

Nuff said.

I hope Biker got his royalty money advanced up front from Tech Deck when he signed off on Biker Sherlock’s Extreme Challenge. Do you remember back in 1999 when luge was all the rage on the Extreme!™ sports circuit? I think the “extreme challenge” in this toy was trying to justify the $35 purchase price. I don’t think they had many production runs of these.

This week’s Shot of the Week is a 1986 picture of Rob Washburn at the Cito ramp, taken by Doug Pennsinger. Check it out.

Good news for all you breeders and friends of breeders out there. Now your little tykes can learn to skate on miniature re-issues of Jason Jesse and Rob Roskopp Santa Cruz decks from the 80’s. These two boards come in at just 26 inches long and are designed for kids 7 and younger. Not scaled down, however, is the purchase price of $135 for a complete, which seems is steep. With the way re-issues (Jason Jesse, too) have been selling on eBay, I guess you could always look at it as an investment. Not shown on Little Rulers but rumored to be available, the Slasher model. Keith Meek’s slasher? I dunno. – Thanks to Judi Oyama for the tip.

Wow, that was fast. No sooner do I post about not finding any new skateboard-themed Christmas ornaments this year, then Paige sends me three links. There are nine ornaments after the jump, plus a ton from last year as well.