Neil Gaiman’s Books of Magic:

Timothy Hunter could be the most powerful magician in the world, but does he really want to be? Guided through the magical world starting at the begining of time by a group of DC Universe magicians, often refered to as the Trenchcoat Brigade (John Constantine, Phantom Stranger, Mister E, and Doctor Occult), they attempt to aid Timothy in his decision whether or not to embrace his gift. However, by the time Timothy makes a choice, it may have already been made for him.

– Thanks to MC for the photo

I was trying to track down a better picture of some Hanna Barbera saftey cards from 1965 because one of them has the hapless Magilla Gorilla pulling a classic wilson. In the process I found Magilla skating in an uncredited image that looks like a still from a cartoon. Casting the net wider turned up a coloring book with Huckleberry Hound and Quickdraw McGraw doubling up on a longboard.

Phone companies love skateboarding. Might even be a real action photo and not a posed shot. What’s up with that claw hand? Somewhere in L.A.. – Thanks to Kilwag’s mom for the pic.

Qool, by Joan Cornella. – Thanks to MC for the tip.

Sector 9’s new Schlepp Tote kinda sorta did something cool with the wheels. It almost looks like a real skateboard wheel, but not quite. It’s hard to tell in the photo, but the lathing looks weird and the axle nut is funky. They should have just used a standard wheel and an axle with the same lock nut used on a truck. Yeah, yeah, expenses…

This is a cool old tracker shirt. Producing halftones was a mechanical process back in the day. It took skill and training to be able to do it correctly. Not sure if this is 70’s or 80’s era. Probably early 80’s at the latest.

Insta-Ledge is a system of portable, skateable ledges in modular lengths of 4 feet. Sure, you could go skate somewhere else, but Instaledge definitely has some potential benefits. Suppose there’s a great spot you’d like to skate without actually destroying some artfully built ledge. Say it was covered with ceramic tiles, (or skate stoppers) you could still skate it, potentially without drawing the wrath of security. OK, most likely not. It could still help you in situations where skate stoppers were just too burly to overcome. Some might argue that it’s a bit like using copers, or Z-roller trucks. What’s the point if you can’t skate the actual terrain? I don’t really have an argument to counter that. Insta-Ledge is at the very least, a very smart solution to a problem that might not exist. Why do organizations use skate stoppers? In the promo video there’s a spot where the ledge has had uniform notches gauged into it at regular intervals, clearly after the fact, and designed to do what? Keep skateboarders from ruining the look of the steps? Too late. Is it for insurance liability reasons or to prevent damage to architecture? Just to keep people from having fun. Insta-Ledge is supposed to be up on Kickstarter soon. No word on pricing. UPDATE: Project is live on Kickstarter Looks like it starts at $100 for a 4 foot section.

– Thanks to Boy for the tip.

I have no idea what this pin is supposed to mean. It’s an 80’s era pin, possibly early 90’s. Maybe the 40 down the drain is for your dead homies? All I know for sure is that the first thing I thought of when I saw the weird face on the skateboarder was the movie They Live. Sigh… R.I.P. Rowdy Roddy Piper.

It’s weird 1920’s swimsuit evil landlord villain surfing on a skateboard. He first made an appearance on the packaging for Trickray wheels. This time it’s a fiberglass Mark IV skateboard deck, large enough to make out the artist’s signature – Pfister. I’m not sure if this Mark IV is another Trickray product or if this illustration was just passed around. I seem to recall posting another instance of it but I can’t find it.

This is the cover of the 2015-2016 CharmTV sponsorship brochure. CharmTV is a local channel all about Baltimore, which explains why I found out about this via that Skatepark of Baltimore advocate Stephanie Murdock. And here I thought Simon Woodstock was living on the west coast.