New Deluxe Flex-o-thane Super Grip Sport Fun! I’m surprised they didn’t also work the word “surf” into the packaging. I will never tire of skateboard accessories mounted on the blister packs of yesteryear. It’s a replacement skateboard (excuse me, skate board) wheel with built in bearings. I’m not sure what you were supposed to do with the oversized bolts though. They are way too long to be used as kingpins and wouldn’t work as axles.

This is an old commercial for Sketchers Z Strap, but they still seem to run it every now and again. The 2D style animation is very low budget looking. I’m not sure if that’s an intentional nod to the Speed Racer era of japanimation or just a cost cutting measure. It’s most notable when the villain is in hot pursuit on his 6 wheeled monster skate. He looks al little bit like Oogie Boogie from the Nighmare Before Christmas, and he’s not really pushing, he’s just dragging that foot! In the climatic scene, our hero the ninja skateboarder shows off his vintage z-roller trucks.

Troy Sliter sent me this picture a long time ago. Very skate-able public art in Melbourne, Australia. I feel like I’ve seen this in a magazine since then. Hm.. Apparently “skateable” is not a word according to my built in spell check. Art is a word. A four letter word. I am just rambling.

Bustyourbuns has the most comprehensive photos of a Skatewing for sale that I’ve ever seen. There’s a reserve still to be met, and hefty $73 shipping charge for this Australian skateboard, even though it ships from California. I’ve got the cheap-o plastic version of this 80’s wacky board, but the wooden one must be a thing to behold. I’m not sure if t’s the same skatewing being passed around or if it was a systematic falling of the manufacturer, but every one I’ve seen pictures of seems to have the same stress fractures covering the entire board. Apparently, the wings were designed by an Australian yacht racer who designed the first winged keel, and so this was some sort of attempt to cash in on his fame beyond the yachting world. Two things I did not know about the skatewing; the wheels were called B52 Wing Commanda’s, and you could join the Commanda’s Club. I guess they weren’t worried about trademark infringement with Sims B52 wheels, but were somehow adverse to using the proper spelling of “commander.” (Update: Sold for $123.50 + $72.89 shipping)

– Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.

Here’s one from my YouTube channel I made way back in 2007 of the Pro finals at Pier skatepark, enjoy …

Inline skate wheels on a plastic board, and it’s even got built in handles! I’m not sure what the two circular holes are for, maybe dislocating a finger? You can buy this piece of radicalness for $100, or just give your neighbor $50 to punch you in the face and you’ll still come out ahead!

– Thanks to… I can’t remember. But thanks.

Part two of our series on crossover in the deathcare industry and skateboarding. You’re looking at the “Teen Skateboarder” theme from a company that provides web hosting for online obituaries that individual funeral homes subscribe to. The obituary is the generic text and photo used as filler for demo purposes. The portrait and text would change, but the stock skateboarder would remain. I guess enough teen skateboarders die that they think this would be popular. Imagine the poor sucker whose likeness they grabbed from a stock image library showing up on every teen skateboarder’s obituary page. Scratch that, imagine being the ghost of a dead teen skateboarder and having to come to grips with some stock photo wanker on your “eternal” obituary page. For all eternity, or at least until someone forgets to renew the domain name.

So what’s next? Jersey barrier tombstones? Tombstones with transition? Actual (grave-type) tombstones as a tombstone on a vert ramp?

– Thanks to Dan for the tip.

Jamie Thomas for Olloclip, the indispensable, yet disposable lens and adapter kits for smart phones. What do I mean by that? Olloclip allows you to quickly an conveniently expand the native photo and videography capabilities of your iPhone (or Samsung) by clipping a a high quality wide angle, macro, or telephoto lens. The lenses work great, actually, but they aren’t super cheap, and if you invest the $60-$100 in one their packages, you are shit out of luck when you switch to a new phone. That’s right, though your old lenses don’t become obsolete when you get a new phone, the bracket that mounts them onto your phone becomes totally useless, and they do not offer the ability to buy just the bracket. What are you supposed to do with your old one? Well according to a spokesperson you are “free to give them away or sell them on eBay.” So while I can’t argue against the quality of the product (Olloclips are massively useful, especially when photographing/videoing skateboarding, and they are well made), I can not help but be angry about planned obsolescence and unnecessary waste. After all, it’s not as if Apple doesn’t have a history of changing physical dimensions of a product. Buy an Olloclip if you want to increase the diversity and usability of as your smartphone for video and photography, just know that in a year or two when you upgrade your phone, your Olloclip investment (up to 20% of your phone’s purchase price) will be forfeit. Of course, none of this is Jamie Thomas’ fault. Check out the video after the jump. There’s even a cameo (paid or unpaid?) with Steve Caballero.

– Thanks to David ODK for the tip.

On it’s own, I might not post this guy, unless I already had him in my possession. But something about his amorphous presence is a little disturbing, like some alien sent down to take notes and gradually assimilate and absorb the skateboarding populace into his undulating mass, until he grew to the size of the Stay-Puff marshmallow man. Then there’s the trictionary on the back of the box, often completely wrong or not actually showing the trick it describes. His arm is a lever that opens his backpack for storing Bassett’s Jelly Babies. Very sinister. There’s no date on this, but judging by the board and the description of the item as “vintage” I’m guessing it’s late 90’s or early 00’s. Get yours here.

Here’s some photos I shot on our Memorial Day trip to Oregon in 2010, mostly Pier & Lincoln City, enjoy….

Memorial Day 2010 – Oregon.