How to skateboard, Japanese grocery store checkout style. Learn how to do a “running push,” nose slide and “elevator drop,” which is actually dropping in. Again, thanks to… Danimal? Possibly Colin? My attachments folder says 2009, even though the cover illustration says 1976.

An excellent execution photographing Bart Simpson in the real world, skating a very real wall. As seen on the cover of the Portland Mercury a couple weeks ago. Embiggened after the jump.

I know nothing about Lux Trucks, except they seem to have materialized out of thin air from Epic Distribution. We’ve seen a lot of interesting, gimmicky packaging for bearings over the years, usually in the form of a toy, but this is the first time all that extra plastic might actually be useful. Luxe Bearings come with a free iPhone 5s case, which is pretty cool idea, even if the case itself is uninspired. It’s interesting what it says about the market share of (or public mind share) of smart phones: Suck it, Android and Windows Mobile!

The July, 1965 issue of Popular Mechanics features a five page spread on skateboarding. I had sort of assumed that in 1965, skateboarding was still an “all-American” sport, looked at by the general public as an amusing or cute attempt to imitate surfing. It was surprising to learn that a “prominent psychologist” said that “the skateboard is a symbol of defiance, young people showing their elders that they have scorn for all the things they have been taught about the preciousness of life and safety of limb.” Fortunately the tone of the piece is purely informational, almost instructional in some ways. Vita Pak gets a name check too. Popular Mechanics was (haven’t seen it lately) very DIY oriented, packed with projects and tips for hacking ordinary items for improved functionality. Make has nothing on this.

Ah.. so that’s what cavorting means. You’ll know too if you watch this old (2012) promo video for Suiteblanco with Irina Shayk and Adam Senn. Those guys are models, don’tcha know? Yes, it’s Friday T&A with a little beefcake too. Photos mostly from Fashion Rogue, but they were originally on Skategirlinternational.com. I think they changed their mind and decided that these weren’t the sort of photos that promoted women in action sports after all.

“Just for Kids” is a skateboarding storyline in Teenage Hotrodders, Volume 1, #14, published September of 1965. All the drag racers, sprint car drivers and motor sports enthusiasts have cool helmets that look appropriate for the era, or an A-Ha music video. There’s plenty of talk of “Nationals” and championship qualifiers. it seems to be aimed at boys old enough to drive though, because it contains an entire page of sage, but vague driving advice in space usually reserved for talk about characters and upcoming issues. The lettering is strange too. It almost appears like a monospaced handwritten computer font, but obviously isn’t. Still, it’s so badly spaced and placed in some of the sapeech bubbles that it looks mechanical. Just for Kids features a characters actually named Motors Mchorn and Shifty Gears, ao maybe Teenage Hotrodders is aimed at kids who are old enough to drive, but aren’t quite that bright, or maybe it was distributed by the Charlton Comics Group in states where the driving age is 14. Then again, there are other ads for being the life of the party, selling greeting cards for extra cash, and learning to play guitar the Chet Atkins way.

The Police Academy movie series started in 1984 and the last one came out in 1994, which puts this 1990 Police Academy comic book out around the time of Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, which came out in 1989. That’s right, they cranked out the first 6 movies in 6 years! Turns out they are reviving it once gain, with a new sequel scheduled to come out in 2014. If you expect the quality of this Marvel Comics title to show the same commitment to the craft that the movies do, you be entirely right. It’s pretty bad. In fact, the frame above is about the only thing interesting in the whole story, which only takes up part of Police Academy Volume 1, Number 6, published in February of 1990. I don’t think Lance Mountain is in this one.

This incredible Lego set (71006 – The Simpsons House) comes out in Februrary. Sure, it’s got Bart Simpson on a skateboard and a quarter pipe, but really this is just an excuse to post about Lego again. I just picked up the Everstorm robotic set, err.. for my kids. Haven’t had time to start it up yet. This Simpsons set looks pretty damned cool though, although Bart has droopy eyes for some reason. As expensive as it is ($199), I’m glad this isn’t some crappy Kre-o set. Those bricks are substandard grade ABS plastic with lousy manufacturing tolerances. Lego bricks “stick” for years while you’re lucky if a Kre-o bricks stays in place after a week. More photos at Gizmodo or on the Lego Facebook page. As of this time, there’s no mention of it on Lego.com. I can’t believe they don’t have a “news” section on their web site. I’m starting the timer now… one of the promo photos features Bart skitching behind the family car, and all that without a helmet too. Cue public outrage… now.

Zac Efron skateboarding in a grocery store because he is just that desperate for more media attention. From the looks of his footwear, he must be on break from shooting a mummy movie. That’s a repro of a vintage skateboard that could probably be identified by one very bored S&A reader. US Weekly photo by Splash News. – Thanks to Mrs. Kilwag for the tip.

5 years ago I found a weird looking board on Ebay. The wacky truck configuration and the fact that it was a promotional board for an auto parts manufacturer made me save the pictures. I just recently found an ad for Hooker Headers in the May, 1976 issue of Hot Rod that had a order form for the Hooker Headers skateboard, and amazingly enough, I was able to find those old pictures among the flotsam on my hard drive. It’s got a metal plate between the trucks, similar to the Flex-trol, but it also adds the ability to change your wheelbase on the fly. Hooker was positioning this as the “ultimate suspension system” for skateboards. Was it a way to build brand loyalty for kids to young to drive yet? I can’t imagine they had a longterm business model that involved skateboarding. Still, it was too expensive of a setup (manufacturing wise) to be purely promotional, especially considering that they offered three boards in two colors as well as the suspension system in two different configurations. Maybe someone at Hooker had a kid who skated. The brand is still around but it looks like it has been absorbed by Holley.…