There’s an article being recycled by different newspapers about how a rap act know as The Pack is helping the worlds of skateboarding and hip hop come together, as if that is something new. The research department only went back a couple of years because completely absent from the article are such bands as the Beastie Boys, Urban Dance Squad and oh, I don’t know, who else but Skatemaster Tate, a guy who based his whole schtick on it back in the late 80’s. That’s Tate above hosting Nickelodeon’s SK8 TV with Mathew Lillard. Bottom right is a shot from a video shoot for The Pack’s new EP Skateboards 2 Scrapers. Early skate-rap connections, video links, a Skatemaster Tate roundup and more after the jump.

If you are tired of discussing the merits of found pools versus skatepark replicas, you can move on to arguing about when is a grind a grind? Enter this so-called World’s Longest Grind video. Watch the video and we’ll break it down for you after the jump.

Blazing Wheels and Barking Trucks was my introduction to so-called Skate Rock. I say so-called because it’s not a very cohesive term, more of what can’t be defined as opposed to a specific genre. At the time it came out, it wasn’t important that the musical styles weren’t conventional matches. It was as if having the nerve to listen to such a mess of disparate tunes was enough declare yourself a weirdo, well that and your skateboard. Seems unfathomable now though. Why must I babble on when Last Days of Man on Earth is much more succinct. You used to be able to buy a shoebox full of old Skate Rock cassettes from Thrasher. They should do a proper rerelease of the early stuff on CD. Until then you have get yours from Last Days of Man on Earth. Anyone heard the most recent Skate Rock?

Thankfully, there are nerds out there who troll patent news sites, freeing such nerds as myself to troll the sites that summarize them. Sony has patented a Segway without a handle, resulting in a motorized skateboard comparison. I don’t know about you, but the few times I’ve driven by someone on a Segway, I’ve had to try hard to suppress a giggle. Personally, I can’t wait to see people falling off these things as soon as possible. Links and more after the jump.

Some day a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets. Sent in from EPM – How to clean a turd out of your skatepark: 1. Wall anomaly detected 2. Recon of bogey and turd confirmed 3. Tactical unit activated 4. Precision targeting 5. Enemy neutralized 6. Extraction unit mobilized Your full pipe is now turd free! MC, the Turd Commando also has pics on his site. Me? I would have left it up until Grover showed up with a video camera.

Before I could congratulate MC on his 100th comic, he up and posted number 101. Who wants to see a hundred H.O.M.O.S.? Come on, it’s OK. You can admit it. We won’t judge you. What started out as a mere whim has become an obsession. Looking back at some of the early comics is like looking at the old Peanuts cartoons where all the characters are distorted looking. Oh wait, that’s because he has on occasion taken artistic liberties with a certain Charles E. Brown. Check it out.

Here’s a few pics from a short May of 2006 session at Donald Oregon’s bowl that some say is the best fake pool built for skateboarding out there. Skaters names, clickable thumbs and a bonus stencil art shot after the jump.

ESPN gathered a panel of experts to rate the difficulty of 60 sports based on 10 criteria. Skateboarding came in at 37, sandwiched between difficult distance swimming and sprints in track and field. Some noticeable more difficult sports include badminton and team handball while the easier sports include calf roping, golf and table tennis. Settling the argument once and for all, skateboarding ranked 16 sports harder than rollerskating (and presumably rollerblading), which tied with cheerleading. Gentlemen, start your pom pom jokes! Check it out: ESPN [ via About.com ] Bonus: A link to the artist that painted the center picture you’ve probably seen all over the web but assumed it was Photoshopped and not a painting.

Seems like I’ve heard of this Stacy Peralta character before… Skip Engblom never gave Stacy a model on Zephyr, so 31 years later Santa Monica Airlines released a limited edition of 100 Stacy Peralta signature boards, numbered and signed by Stacy and Skip. Each deck comes with a certificate of authenticity, a display case and a price tag of $775! That’s no typo. Check it out at SMA.

Kanoa Flyaway helmets back in production. After seeing a couple of concussions happen while wearing old Flyaway helmets, I came to the conclusion that I didn’t think these were very useful for much besides satisfying a park’s helmet requirement. Someone left a comment that they were being made again, but it sounded like they weren’t being mass produced, and there were no pictures on the web. Well now there is, and no matter what I said about wanting to ditch my old one before, I think I want a new one now. Looks like you can get the OG airbrush action on these. I’m not too crazy about that, or the super wide stripes, but they are a custom option so modifying shouldn’t be a problem. Check it out. The Kanoa Flyaway helmet are now back in production, and co-sponsors the SMA team. These helmets are crafted from hand-laid surboard fiberglass with custom colored gel coat, custom paint, custom foam, D -rings and German vinyl. Most colors and stripe combinations including “aribrush “can be custom made to order. Currrently, they are only available at Rip City in Santa Monica. Three helmets will be in stock there most times. Specific colors…