The first skateboard I ever rode came from Sears. My dad bought it for my mom at a Sears catalog outlet store. At the time, Midland Michigan wasn’t big enough for an actual Sears store. Instead, we had a small shop with a few displays of smaller objects you could buy on spot, and a counter that you would go to to look at the Sears catalog, pay for what you wanted, and pick it up when it arrived. One saturday the family made a trip there and my mom became infatuated with a stand of Roller Derby brand banana boards. They looked just like board “B” above, only yellow. My father, being infatuated with my mother, decided to buy it for her. I think it was $14.99.

That pool shot looks real. Quick, what’s wrong with these pictures? Check out this hardcore documentary after the jump. Skateboarding was never the same again.

It’s over folks. we have skateboarding in PE classes and now high school skateboarding teams that travel and compete against each other. Read all about in a Thousand Oaks Acorn article titled High school skateboarding teams gearing up for inaugural season or this identical article with different title (High schools set to battle for skateboarding supremacy) and pictures. The real question is, will they have cheerleaders? Awesome! Update: The Acorn just doesn’t quit! Here’s the same article again, with a different title. Local skateboarders finally have a league to call their own. Rosie O’Donnell should be proud.

The Santa Cruz Skateboards Veterans Division video titled V-Day is making the premier rounds at skate shops cross country. Next up is Portland’s Shrunken Head sponsored event on Thursday April 5th at the Mission Theater. Also on the bill is a 10 year anniversary screening of the Portland classic Using It. You can watch the V-Day trailer after the jump.

Variflex used to be a honest to goodness real skateboard company with a real team. BroadbandSports.com has a SocalSkateparks.com video of a Variflex reunion of sorts at Ione skatepark. Featured riders are Lance Mountain, Tim Metz, Curtis Franklin, Dan Colburn, Freddie Desota, Mike Hirsch and Steve Hirsch. What, no Eddie Elguera, Eric Grisham, or Allen Losi? That’s like seeing Van Halen without David Lee Roth. The footage is nothing amazing but has some solid skating for all you bowl trolls (myself included) out there. If you need more Variflex action, check out this Juice interview with Lance Mountain where he talks a little about his Variflex days.

Yes. You have probably seen this video of Martin Sweeney one before, but in my eyes it doesn’t really exist unless it shows up on Skate and Annoy. This video segment is from the BBC show Record Breakers. The video was shot in 1991, and the host is Roy Castle who died in 1994. The source of the video comes from UKSSA, the United Kingdon Slalom Skateboard Association. The UKSSA site has a history of the UK slalom scene, a how-to, and other information pertinent to UK slalomers including a higher quality video than what you can see after the jump. It must have been fun to skate on that road racing course. Nice Shoes Martin!

Looks like the World Without Pros web site has been removed. I’m calling doublespeak on their reasoning. If it created a healthy dialog and the point was still valid, why not leave it up? My guess is they were not happy with the amount of ridicule and bad press it was generating.

Here’s a couple pictures of Dave Campbell skating Modern Skate Park in Grand Rapids Michigan. If that name rings a bell, it’s because Dave had a brief but memorable spot in the Santa Cruz video Troops of Tomorrow. Since Chompy hasn’t posted that one yet, you can watch some Swedish guys on Flask TV, possibly making fun of it., I don’t know. I don’t speak Swedish, but they seem to be impressed with the pogo-to-drop-in on the vert ramp. Enlarged pics and more after the jump.

These are prepaid debit cards, meaning you can only spend as much as you have in your account. You can still order junk from the Interwebs™ without worrying about going over your limit. Parents, teach your kids fiscal responsibility with corporate identity. Take a look at your choice of logos and personalities. It’s not surprising in the least. You can even get cards with cool punk bands like Clay Aiken and Good Charlotte. [Source: Sublimited] More after the jump.

It’s pretty incestuous Portland skate-media scene here. Of course, there are recent additions to the area that I haven’t seen yet, but for the most part, a lot of us skate the same spots together. Case in point. Seeing a recent photo of Steve McBride on EPM reminded me a shot I took of the same person, spot and motion from a slightly different vantage point, circa 2001. And so here it is, and there it is. Wow. I had a real camera with negatives and developing and everything back then. I sold that lens 16mm lens to this guy. Hey Bryce, let’s get our respective crews together for a session!