That’s right. Sperm donor’s wanted, Herby closing up the last chance we had of slipping through the content filters where you work. This is a benefit show for mounting medical bills accrued by Dreamlander and the Oregon skate fixture (affectionately?) known as Sperm. Not sure, but this may be a Shrunken Head production.

This is probably the best tutorial on how to build a mini-pipe that you will ever see. It’s a quick view, so check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Old Man Army is at it again, this time interviewing 70’s skate legend Russ Howell. I know what you’re thinking. By the end of the 70’s nobody much cared about Russ (in the skateboarding world) so why bother now? Well, it’s an interesting read nonetheless, especially for Howell’s take on the Dogtown documentary. He’s got a bone to pick with Stacy. The guy he should have a beef with is Richy Carrasco. See, Howell set a 360 record in 1977 (35 spins) but claims a personal best of 163. Meanwhile, Carrasco beat his record in 1978 with 35.5 spins and then again in 2000 with 142 spins. I don’t know how Russ lets a guy get away with calling himself the 360 King when Howell’s best is 21 over the Guinness Record. Did you know Russ Howell currently has a signature model? Learn this and more in the interview at Old Man Army. Don’t forget to check out the official web site of Russ Howell which stays true to his old school roots by maintaining a look that is circa 1996 web design.

You heard right. Want to revolutionize the skateboard industry? Then start bidding on the patent rights for this Easily Steered Skateboard, which near as I can tell, aside from already being in production elsewhere, is essentially a shopping cart wheel, or a rotating caster. Fug. This was supposed to be a quick and dirty post, but instead it turned into a dissertation on the variety of caster wheel type truck systems. There are more than you’d think. Catch patent details and the most shopping cart action with skateboards seen since CKY. Seriously. This sounds dumb but it’s worth reading.

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