I want to start off this December Baywatch by thanking a faithful reader who goes by the excellent handle “she was killed by space junk”. Thanks for the stickers, much appreciated. You rule. Now back to business. December was another down month, with some great bargains to be had. I know. I got one. But more of that later. December also saw the sell off of a bunch of 60s decks, and what appears to be some of Mike McGill’s personal collection. Of course, that’s just conjecture on my part, but what isn’t? Check it out.

At the urging of Old Man Army, Recent Skate and Annoy conscript Elder Skelter (long first time reader, first time caller) sent us this newspaper article scanned from the November 12, 1987 issue of the Valley Times. Things must have been pretty uptight in Geauga county Ohio for the authorities to get that bent out of shape over some innocuous graffiti. Talk about out of the loop! Reminds me of the scene in Rock ‘n’ Roll High School where Mr McGee asks “Who are these Ram Ones?” You can read the very funny (in a sad way) article and see the half-hearted correction they printed the next issue after the jump.

Way Out East! from Stereo Sound Agency, circa 2004. This is a three week long tour video of London, New York and Paris with a little west coast action thrown in for good measure. I really like this video for its smooth style, and it always seems like they are having a blast. Isn’t that what skateboarding is all about? To answer my own question… Yes, yes it is. The entire video is shot in either 8mm or 16mm film.

I didn’t even know that Stereo was still a company, but I guess Jason Lee seems to have run into some money with his TV shows and Movies.

Stereo was originally founded in 1992 by Jason Lee and Chris Pastras. After Jason left the company to pursue his acting career, Chris kept the company running, until 2000 when it closed its doors. In 2003 Chris and Jason relaunched the company under the Giant Distribution company. By 2006 they were able to distribute independently which was probably their main goal in the first place.

Featured Skaters: Jason Lee, Chris Pastras, Clint Peterson, Benny Fairfax, Keegan Sauder, Olly Todd, Brian Brown, Rick McCrank, Mike McDermott, Soy Panday, and Snowy

run time: 27 min 19 sec – Check it Out

As most of you know I work for DuFFS shoes, and recently I came across this little ditty on the web. I do remember laughing at the ads when they came out, and nothing has changed that vision. Even words like

Ads are Sexist, Violent and imply an endorsement of Pedophiles!

really don’t bother me when is comes to skateboarding. I mean its not like I’m skating with Michael Jackson at his house or inviting kids over to my house to play Tony Hawk Pro Skater for free shoes. Geez, where’s the humor in skateboarding gone?

DuFFS is all about sarcasm and poking fun. Sorry to ‘Ms Media Lady’ who always misses the point of a well-thought out advertising campaign. If you ask me, the first ads they did were genius, it took a wierd turn in the late 90’s, but now its back on point. Go see for yourself on the site.

Subtitle: Agressiveness and spunk. I was cracking up about Billy Ruff’s 5th place gift certificate prize (for a PRO contest!) in the 1981 Del Mar freestyle contest. I began to speculate about what might have happened had Bruce Logan fallen an extra time. Maybe Billy Ruff would have gone on to become Rodney Mullen, and eventually been a major influence in the skateboarding industry. Instead, all we have is the reissue of one of the crappiest graphics of the era. I went back to the October 1981 issue of Thrasher to further investigate. Check out those results! That’s Billy in the top left pic, wining the bowl event. Ruff’s 5th place freestyle pushed him to the top of the overall standings, beating Caballero and Duane Peters. Duane entered the freestyle too. There’s a picture (see above: bottom right) with an excellent caption that reads “Duane did something.” The only thing that beats that?

When you say Billy Ruff, you say ‘Fly like an eagle, and leap like a panther’. Agressiveness and spunk.

For his agressive spunk and overall 1st place finish, Billy won $300 and a gift certificate for an undisclosed amount to an undisclosed location. These old Thrasher’s are priceless, but $129 can get you a fully set up Bruce Logan Earth Ski reissue from Gravity. That’s a reissue I can get behind.

This Stereo Sound Agency video is reportedly a promo for an MTV show that fell through. That’s too bad, cause this is about a million times better than Rob and Big, and I can confidently say that without ever having watched the latter. I get peeved when companies and skate celebrities decide to resurrect their old brands. It betrays a certain lack of commitment and something else I can’t quiet put my finger on. If you just want to cash in, just do limited series of re-issues, don’t pretend that you’re in it for the long haul again. However much I grouse, I can’t harbor any ill will towards Jason Lee. I like Stereo’s aesthetic, they’ve released a few cool shapes, and Lee’s too damn funny. Catch the vid after the jump

Small Time Skates of Hammond, Louisiana has a short tutorial on a clean, easy way to hang a skateboard on your wall like you would a picture. Sure, it’s not rocket science, but it’s as good of an excuse as any to post links to some pictures of Dreamland’s skate park in Hammond Louisiana. The locals sound like they are stoked on it. The park shot above is from SkateMS.com. It’s not all bowls. There’s a street section too.

After being pretty lax about it, Thrasher has finally gotten around to posting the last of the first 12 issues of Thrasher Magazine. I suggest you get on over there and get them all before they disappear. They are kind of hidden as it is. If you are going to download them, go with the Hi-res pdf versions instead of the jpeg slide shows. You can really blow them up big and read all the tiny captions. These old issues are great to flip through. They are full of lots of photos of skate celebrities looking like little kids, wearing goofy fashions, etc. Take a look at the kinds of coverage and editorial slant. These early Thrashers are more like Concrete Wave with an attitude than the Thrasher of today. There’s even a product review of a freestyle board where the uncredited author wonders why more hardcore-types aren’t into freestyle. It’s also interesting to watch the magazine become a little more polished with each issue. Check out the early heaviest advertisers, it’s not who you might guess. It’s fun on every page. Mofo chronicles a Big Boys tour over multiple issues, old spots, strange product ads, contest results, Fascinating stuff. I was kind of surprised they did this in the first place, but now that they’ve started, why stop? I’d like to see the first 5 years up there, at least. It won’t cost them anything. All it takes is an intern with a scanner. Someone start a petition. Heck, I’d even re-up my subscription if that’s what it takes.

Skateboarding adults are funny. Lulu Maude gives it the old Onion try in her post titled Harriet Miers Quits White House, Wants to Spend More Time Skateboarding Check it out here. Lulu’s profile says she is a “a retired schoolmarm.” What’s a schoolmarm anyway? Did she retire in the 1920’s? Just in case Take Your Medicine folds, we’ve got it here too.

Sure, you’re extreme, but are you Extreme!™? When you’re ready to get really amped to the max, you can kick it up a notch with the Limited Edition Travis Pastrana Skateboard. Or perhaps you’re just looking to update your eBay investment portfolio? Supercrossking.com says it’s collectable.

Skateboarding seems like about the only Gold Medal Travis Pastrana hasn’t won in the Summer X Games. However, now is your chance to own a Limited Edition Pastrana skate deck. Made by one of the top skateboard manufacture’s using 7 ply natural maple with custom heat transfer graphics this board is sure to become a collectors item as did our Limited Edition McGrath skateboard last year. The deck measures 9″x 33″. Wheels and trucks are not included.