Sorry for the unannounced blackout this week, but I decided to do some major overhauling in the back end of the site so I could make some improvements down the road. If you’re pissed, just remember, it was in the Terms of Service agreement that everyone had to mail me with a dollar when you agreed to look at Skate and Annoy. Features (eBay Watch and GVK) as well as Reviews are still down, but it won’t be that long. And the good news is Neil is working on another Ebay Watch. In the mean time: Expect a few bugs and some broken links here and there. No need to let me know about it yet, I’m still working in the background. UPDATE: Features (eBay Watch and GVK) are back up. Reviews still down. The graphic for this post is from 2010 when we switched designs. Nostalgia. I think it’s time for a new look here again.

The first half of the 1960s were the hey-days for Surf Music with a high percentage of bands being from California. Many of those bands also wrote songs about Skateboarding or what then was known as “Sidewalk Surfing” (I counted about 30 releases so far from that era, including bands from other genres). But there were also bands from such “exotic” places like Texas.

In this edition of bootleg boards we have a Schmitt Stix that doesn’t look like fake at first sight. Although the graphics are pretty damn accurate, the shape is completely different. The original “Flower Picker” was designed by Jay Henry and came out in 1988. This deck even has the name of the artist near the back truck, just like the original one. Sold on eBay for $50 with Venture trucks and ? wheels. Why do most people write ‘Midgette’ while this one is ‘Midgett’? I’ve seen one Airbourne LSD that says ‘Midgette’ too. Anyone knows? (That’s his name, not to be confused with Allen Midgette – K.ed)

Little girls intimidating grown men, as seen in a TV commercial for Norms Restaurants in California. The rider is Annika Vrklan. [Source: Hoopla Skateboards]

MC says the quick ones ride skateboards.

Dan Dengler makes skateboards from cross sections of trees, among other things. We’ve seen it before, but not at this scale. They are gigantic, and immense, hence Gimmense.

Steve Olson baffles paparazzi who can only identify him as an old man who carries a skateboard. The Daily Mail reports: He looks old enough to be her father, is so badly turned out he could be accused of not owning a mirror, and carries a skateboard to perhaps retain a sense of his youth. They don’t identify him by name once! He’s just a random old man with a Peter Pan complex. So… excellent. Olson was apparently dating an actress named Paz de la Huerta, who had a brief and really annoying series of appearances on Boardwalk Empire. I guess she’s going to be on again, which I am not looking forward to, because her character is the worst. Just like I love the movie Sid & Nancy, but I can’t separate Chloe Webb from the character she plaid in it, she was just too good at it. UPADTE: OLD STORY! I was cracking up so hard I didn’t even look at the date! That’s a relief I don’t have to watch her on BE again, no offense Steve. – Thanks to Kyle Duvall for the tip.

Antonio Gaspar is a physiotherapist. I’m not sure how that differs from a physical therapist, but maybe that’s the difference that allowed him to “develop” the Fizio, which is a skateboard made by Powa bungie corded to an equally futuristic looking stand. The purpose? To make physical therapy more fun. I guess you are supposed to wiggle around on that thing while it’s in the stand. Once you’re healed enough you can ditch the stand and go skateboarding. I’ll bet you can buy a Wii fit and a skateboard for the price of this thing. Powa makes a lot of stealth bomber looking skateboards. [ Source: Longboardism ] – Thanks to Matthijs for the tip

Hermes style wings fir your shoes. Shoe + wings = shwings. These aren’t intentionally marketed at skateboarders per se, more like marketed with skateboarding. – Thanks to Josh Burt for the photo.

Special 40th Anniversary Santa Cruz Skateboards wine made by Joseph George Wines, and available for about the same price as a reissue board. NHS has really taken the quality of their corporate labeled schwag up a notch. – Thanks to Berlin Dave for the tip.