Now class, lets start where we left off yesterday. Can someone please tell me where the Kiwifruit comes from and what was it originally called in the West? Yes Bobby, that’s right. It was imported from China to New Zealand in 1906 and colloquially called the Chinese Gooseberry. It was briefly called the mellonette before being changed to Kiwiwfruit in the 1950’s. No Suzie, commercial cultivation didn’t start in the United States unit the 60’s. What’s that Grover? You are correct, from the looks of this hang tag, the first time a Kiwifruit got “radical” must have been some time in the 80’s near Arizona, or possibly the Moon. – Thanks to Andy Wylie for bring this in to Show-and-Tell.

Joni’s Kids, I’ve got Wheels, as found on BizarreRecords.com. From the back cover: If you ride a skateboard or pedal a bike or push a scooter, you already have a lot in common with people in wheelchairs — wheels! Joni Eareckson Tada (pronounced Johnny) dove into some shallow water without realizing it, and was paralyzed as a result. She had some issue with God, and well, ended up founding a ministry over it. I was going to look into picking up this LP on the off chance she talked about skateboards, but all I could find was a CD reissue for $17 and a cassette tape for $30! Aside from the ministry, she also does wheelchair outreach. JoniAndFriends.org. Oh yeah, there’s a green plastic skateboard on the cover. Whee!

Art Clokey passed away on Friday. His early work was pretty surreal at times. What good hearted person doesn’t love Gumby? There were at least two Gumby episodes that revolved around skateboarding. The first one was a 1967 episode of the Gumby Show, titled Dog Catchers. I believe that is the first skateboarding dog, unless you count this one. The second was a 1988 creation titled Skateboard Rally, in which the Blockheads rip his stick. There’s a dramatic car chase, Skate Rock on a half pipe – performed while skating, no less, a contest with loop action and some heavy eigties guitar riffs. I think David Dink got ripped off by the judges though. Check em out after the jump. – Thanks to ehdubya for the tip.

Webcomic Penny Arcade did a strip about Tony Hawk Ride. It’s not about skateboarding though, it’s about buying and reviewing video games. Post-modern self-reference is so last decade. The guy did, in fact, hate it. I couldn’t really tell from the strip.

Another newspaper story, this one from The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the shocking fact that people over 30 years-old are regularly riding skateboards. There are some interesting details about how they organized and paid for their indoor facility and I did enjoy reading: “Skating doesn’t make you a skateboarder,” he says, quoting Lance Mountain, a skateboard legend in the ’80s. “Not being able to stop skating, that makes you a skateboarder.”

I like to thank people who send in tips, and include a link for them if they have one. I curse Stephen Slappe for sending me this tip. I’ll never get back all the time I wasted researching this. The clip that’s making the rounds is from Everything is Terrible, a web site that is like watching Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job, only with real footage. Colby the Computer googlizes into a thousand references to Colby’s Clubhouse, a Christian children’s show with a talking, evangelizing computer. However, episode guides omits this gem of a clip. In fact, the only time “skateboard” shows up is in another episode called “Helping the Missionaries,” where a kid wants people send him money so he can buy a skateboard. Colby’s Playhouse ran from 1995 to 2000, but this rapping freestyle-filled episode is definitely 80’s, and has an entirely different production value than every Colby’s Clubhouse. Everything is Terrible is all about the video without explanation or insight. Terribly entertaining, but frustrating if you want the back story. It was maddening trying to find this episode, but eventually the explanation turned up on totalschwarr! This is an episode of Colby’s Place, titled Skateboard…

The crack of 2010, and lo and behold, old dudes in St Louis like to skateboard. That’s crazy talk, I can’t believe it. In the words of MC, “Old guys skateboarding? Well, now I’ve heard everything.” Check out Recapturing thrills, spills from St. Louis Today. Still awake? head on over to An Ethnographic Study of the Skateboarding Culture, which is where the title of this post came from. Unbelievably, the data for this scholarly paper was obtained by watching the DVD Planes, Trains and Skateboards, focusing on X Games X in Los Angeles, CA. Are you kidding me? A scientific analysis based on on someone’s video editing bias? I mean, why not choose the movie Thrashin’ instead? Seems just about as valid. – Thanks to Bob Mechtly and Daddy Yo for the tips.

The BBC has a slideshow of some images from the Uganda Skateboard Union. People have been donating boards to the cause. The Tony Hawk Foundation has made some sizable material donations. Someone else even went to the trouble of donating a Mountain Dew shirt so the locals could get extreme! At this point in the post I’d like to point out that Uganda Skateboard Union first came to the attention of S&A back in 2007! If you’re in the mood for a good natured giggle, check out their awesome video, Boardmaster, from 2008. – Thanks to Paul Fujita for the tip.

A couple more music vids with skateboarding. No, it’s not Rob Dydrek launching a rap career. He’s just making a guest appearance in the Mayer Hawthorne video for Maybe So Maybe No. Hey Stones Throw, hook us up. Second up is “Young Forever” by Jay-Z with a guest appearance by Mr Hudson. – Thanks to Brian Baade for the tip.

A giant photo of MC appeared briefly in Times Square, New York, courtesy of the Vans billboard and an excellent camera work by Bryce Kanights. You can see the photo and more from the session over at Antigravity Press.