I wish someone had posted this choking warning around the time I entered my first skateboard contest. Ouch! I found this after I followed MC’s link for the arts & craft skateboard. It’s the Razor Punk Ramp. It cracked me up that a launch ramp was a choking hazard. While searching for “punk ramp” images on Google, my story about the Punk Sucks Ramp showed up on page four.

While Bamboo skateboards might face a little bit of an uphill battle for your average gnar dog to accept, alternative wheel compounds might have an easier row to hoe. It’s a probable that most skaters don’t care what wheels are made out of as long as they work, whereas many skaters probably wouldn’t step on a bamboo board except to goof on it. Sector Nine has a line of wheels out called Biothane, which is made with some percentage of soy-based urethane. They don’t go into the specifics of the compound, but they do share a few statistics: The manufacturing process results in 36% smaller carbon footprint than traditional methods. In addition, their manufacturing process consumes 61% less non-renewable energy sources. Maybe they bake them in the sun. They seem to be in the same price range as the rest of their lineup. Sector Nine’s web site doesn’t appear to have anything on the wheels at the moment, but you can see the advert that ran in Transworld Business after the jump.

Ohio has a few renegade skateboard companies, including one called Sleezy Skates. In their own words: homemade spray painted planks from the heart of southern ohio. skatopia lurkers. doin it fer the kids in the sticks! These are a few of my favorites at the top. Although really crude, they have a large “body of work” that has definitely has an outsider art appeal. What more would you expect from the land of Skatopia and Devo? Check out Sleezy Skates.

It’s impossible for me to read read or type the words “Sick Boys” without instantly thinking of the Social Distortion tune. I’ve never actually seen the skate video titled “Sick Boys” but it was released in 1988, two years before the Social D. song was released, so who knows. The video Sick Boys was shot on Super 8mm film and released on VHS, and 20 years later it’s being rereleased on DVD. Watching the sequences of Natas will immediately bring to mind his Santa Cruz appearances, mostly because it’s at some of the same spots and the film quality is similar. There’s also that weird genre of Norcal acid rock music that you only hear in early Santa Cruz videos. It also features Tommy Guerrero, Mickey Reyes, Bryce Kanights, Mike Archimedes, Julien Stranger, Jim Thiebaud, Ron Allen, and Steve Caballero as well as shots of Christian Hosoi, Tony Magnusson, Eric Dressen, Danny Sargent, as well as other less famous names. It’s sounds like the skate video equivalent of unearthing King Tut’s tomb. That’s something I’d want to check into, or at the very least have sent to me for review. Opps. Did I say that out loud? It appears to…

After probably a 30 year gap, there’s another Skitch Hitichock model out. This model made by Skate Designs looks like a pretty nice cruiser, complete with wheel wells. I want to say that Skitch the guy who invented the gorrila grip, but I’m not sure. Proceeds from the model will help Skitch with some life threatening medical needs. Video and pics of vintage Skitch after the jump. – Thanks to Craig Snyder for the tip.

From the website: Subhead Grip was founded by Jesse Milden. These products were inspired by years of riding skateboards and making custom grip tape designs. Jesse grew up riding around the block in Los Angeles. He has continued riding in Oregon, New York, Boston and now Seattle. Subhead Grip is designed and manufactured in Seattle, WA. $12 a pack (12 skulls for example or 4 strips with whales) – why didn’t we think of that? The website says they do custom orders! Came across this on Boing Boing

In case you didn’t read the comments on the previous custom board graphics post, JF pointed out the Board Pusher website. They have a much better range of sizes and shapes and are skate-centric. I wonder how the quality compares.

Slob-Air form Skull and Bones Skateboarding forum has posted a ton of images from the ASR show. Looks like neon is going to be big again in 2009. I guess that only took 15 years or so to recycle. Speaking of recycle, there’s tons of pics of old boards, old pros and new reissues, plus art boards and of course, the booth babes. Maybe I should have said “Sea of ass.” Check it out.

Globe has teamed up with the band that brought you the first ever music video featuring skateboarding. Of course I’m talking about Devo’s Freedom of Choice. Prove me wrong if you can. Skater Dater doesn’t count, it’s a short film meant to showcase skating, not to provide visual accompaniment for an existing song. You might recall that Globe had the limited edition Clash shoe collaboration that I had a hard time wrapping my head around. It certainly makes more sense in the case of Devo, a band that always had a marketing and merchandising strategy. You used to be able to order the yellow hazmat suits and red energy domes from the inserts in the albums. What the heck does this have to do with skateboards? Globe’s collaboration goes beyond shoes to include, among everything else, a complete skateboard with a Devo branded wheel. Devo had an allegedly unlicensed skateboard before courtesy of the now defunct (?) Punk Rock Skateboards. Although that was Gerald talking, and perhaps it was a case of the right hand of Devo not communicating to the other right hand of Devo.

Our research department looked into the similarity between the skater sculpture in Naperville , Illinois and the one in Milton Freewater, Oregon. We found a few additional examples, but no catalog yet. Apparently sculptors are also over the handplant. L to R: Bronze Boy on a Skateboard by the people who brought you the Bronze Girl on a Skateboard previously mentioned on SnA, Ollie the laurels, Naperville, Illinois example, Skater Boi in Albuquerque, NM, Czech triumphal skateboarder, The Milton-Freewater skater.