I didn’t make any posts on Black Friday, but this works better for Cyber Monday since you might have a hard time finding this in an actual shop. So why not pick up this limited edition Skull and Candy Cane board that is not actually a Blind send up, but something the folks at Powell Peralta cooked up. Out of character? Perhaps. Santa Cruz and Powell appear to be engaged in some sort of protracted nostalgia trench warfare. Get yours at SoCal Skateshop and elsewhere, I’d imagine.

– Thanks to Eric Cherry for the tip.

Remember this shot of the week? The board that Jim Gray is riding in the picture, the Sidecut, has been reissued by G&S, but exactly who that entity is, that’s anyones guess. There appears to be an official web site, but the email contact gets bounced back. I’m pretty sure the G&S trademark has traded hands a few times, but I can’t get any confirmation. There are some online skateshops offering boards autographed by Steve Cathey, which according to SkateLegends.com is also coincidentally the guy who signed Jim Gray to G&S. I was curious why he would sign this board and not some others like his some retro-themed offerings with his picture on it. The answer turned up at Cal Streets. The sidecut was designed for Steve, but at the time Cathey felt he was a little overexposed commercially, so he declined to have his name put on it. Minutiae, minutiae, minutiae, but that’s why you’re here, right?

Sure, the “Wild Things” movie was the top gross at the box office last weekend, but MC was into it before Spike Jonze. My wife refused to have her face shown in this picture. Get your shirt from Antigravity Press. Noticeably absent from the soundtrack, X and Tone Loc.

My daughter snapped this shot while visiting friends at Oregon State University. Looks like if you cabled two of the rungs together your trucks and wheels might keep someone from removing the board. Is this really a skate rack? I wonder if the thing fills up with longboards during class hours.

I haven’t seen this many band boards since Punk Rock Skateboards. Remember Punk Rock Skateboards? I mean, the company? They burned bright, and then disappeared. But I digress. DC Jam, home to skate rock bands of legend and today has a new venture called Backstage Skateboards. Check out the lineup: Narcoleptic Youth, JFA, BYO Records Aggression Youth Brigrade, Dr. Strange Records, Teenage Bottle Rockets, Fishbone, Meat Puppets, T.S.O.L., 300 Pounds, Frontside Five, Goverment Issue, DC Jam Records and McRad.

Portland’s sports arena is now called the Dew Garden. Snorkels are an extra $5 at the door.

Unaware of what year it was, Dr. Brad and Grover wandered into the Dew Tour desperate for help. But the English language had deteriorated into a hybrid of hillbilly, valleygirl, inner-city slang and various grunts. Dr. Brad was able to understand them, but when he spoke in an ordinary voice he sounded pompous and faggy to them.

Skull Skates has actually been available in the US for at least five years, but you had to go to one shop, Cal Skates in Portland, Oregon to find them. Blitz Distribution just signed on to distribute Skull Skates on a wider basis in the US, with the none other than Bill Danforth heading up the effort. You won’t find Skull Skates at Zumiez, as Bill and company will be screening the potential vendors down to limited group of core shops. The shot of Bill up top is actually from a Life’s a Beach ad in the June 1989 issue of Homeboy Magazine. Remember that one? In any case, you’ve got to see the whole shot, it was sent in by a friend of Bill’s for the sole purpose of annoying him. Some friend! Here’s the press release.

Vision Street Wear (through Select Distribution) is pimping a limited release of the Vision “Tribute Series” including, for immediate delivery the “Gator Ramp (with his actual name on the boards)” I pressed the sales rep for information on who gets those royalties, and after a few elusive, vague responses I ultimately received the answer that Select somehow owned the Gator name from the get go, and so they don’t need to pay any royalties. I don’t know how that pans out for the boards “with his actual name on it.” My guess is Mark failed to trademark “Gator” and didn’t think about it since it was already his nickname. He probably figured he didn’t need to. Remember When He started going by a different name? Mark Gator Anthony or something… What does Mark “Gator” Rogowski have to say about the re-issues? He spoke up about it in Sean Cliver’s (great) new book, Disposable The Skateboard Bible.

One redeeming (and useful) gesture would be for companies that still sell decks with the old Gator graphics (with or without the name) to please direct what would have been royalties to organizations devoted to ending violence and promoting understanding. That could be really healing.

It’s on page 236.

Your reviews are coming. I’ve been working on a new back end to present our product reviews, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Back populating the the old reviews has been taking a lot longer than I thought, and it’s finally made me realize how much static HTML can suck, especially when it’s really old and poorly formatted! That’s Danimal above riding a Toy Machine Billy Marks Fiberprime deck. I’ve got Atomic Wheels, Tarantula Trucks, Dekline shoes, and a host of other, long, long overdue reviews.

Ahh… Facebook ads. Check out the selection of skateboard bearings at VBX.com, prices range from $5 a set to $320 a set if you buy the fully ceramic ones, and I mean fully ceramic, right down to the casing. Of course for slightly more than $350 you can get 100 sets of “ABEC 7” Bearings. Buyer beware. Rockin’ Ron, were are you?