jackassworld

“Have you and the Bones Brigade ever, you know, gayed off?”

This is a question we first asked Tony Hawk in his first Big Brother interview. I’ve asked Tony the question about a million times since and his answer is usually a variation on, “No, but I wish.” Or, “If anyone was gaying off, I wasn’t invited.”

But it’s turned into the type of question you can ask anybody. It’s that important. And I didn’t even ask Jim Thiebaud, but in his recent interview on theberrics.com, he took it upon himself to respond:

“Carnie, I never saw the Bones Brigade gay off, but TG and I did cuddle a few times. Does that count?”

I responded to Jim in an email.

Well, Tommy [Guerrero] was technically a member of the Bones Brigade wasn’t he? And while you were a pro on Powell, I’ve always been under the impression that the Brigade was some next level shit at Powell? Like they were the elite top gun crew*?

Actually doesn’t really matter because the question is, “Have you ever gayed off with the Bones Brigade?” You say you snuggled with a full on Brigade member? If that’s not gaying off, it’s very close. The problem here, of course, is: is two men snuggling gay? If it precedes gaying off (cocksucking, buttfucking, toe sucking, armpit licking, etc.) then, yes, that snuggling is gay and you gayed off with the Bones Brigade. But if it’s just snuggling and nothing more, then it could be construed as affection or brotherly love or simply trying to keep warm. As such, you didn’t gay off with the Bones Brigade. European men and Muslim men kiss each other on the cheek when greeting, for instance, but because it doesn’t graduate to full on throat diving, it is merely a queer way of saying hello. It is not gaying off.

I think I need a little more information in order to answer your question. Were clothes on or off? Were you crammed in the back of a tour van, or were you two on a four post bed with silk sheets? Was a bubble bath involved? Did the snuggling recur, or was it a one time event?

You guys are the ones that live in San Francisco and ultimately are better authorities on what’s gay and what’s not, but based on the little information you’ve provided, I’m going to say, no, you did not gay off with the Bones Brigade. I’m fairly certain there was a lot of gaying off going on in the Bones Brigade, but there has yet to be any solid evidence to prove it. You’re the first documented case to almost, you know, gay off with the Bones Brigade.

* So after I wrote this story, I decided I should ask Cliver, a former Powell employee, my question regarding the Bones Brigade status at Powell. “No,” he said, “everyone that rode for Powell was considered part of the Bones Brigade.” So then Thiebaud was part of the Bones Brigade? And if Thiebaud was, then that means ole Ray “Runder” Underhill was a Brigade member? Really? “Well,” he continued, “generally when someone now says Bones Brigade, they mean just those five guys.” What? So everyone is on the Bones Brigade, but the Bones Brigade is just those five guys. This really complicates this whole gaying off question.

(Santa Monica Airlines Jim Thiebaud pro model, circa 1989; photo by Sean Cliver, courtesy of Disposable: A History of Skateboard Art)