Some unusual skateboarding history from 1970’s South Africa. The Mother of all kicktails. Thanks to Mark Tulleken for the pics.

Longtime Skate and Annoy readers might remember Dallas Oberholzer from the 2005 interview we published on the South African skate scene. While we’re officially ambivalent about skateboarding in the Olympics, it’s our pleasure to see him going there. Dallas gets around. We first ran into him in 2004 at the Oregon Trifecta contest series. Source: 947 – Photo @dallasaffrica

Eden Village Bike & Bordercross track located in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Looks super fun, although I wonder whether chose asphalt instead of concrete. Price, most likely. Images and photos after the jump. [Source: Longboardism] – Via Michael Brooke

You’re looking at the cover of Skateboard Champion, #112 in Edward Packards Choose Your Own Adventure series. And most skateboarder do, choose their own adventures. The kid on the cover chose spandex shorts; a complete set of plastics – noes bone, rails, lapper; tie dye graphics; and counterfeit Nike shoes. The wistful expression on his face? I think the girl in the baseball jersey on the deck just broke up with him. It’s quite a backyard vert ramp though. It looks very 80’s but the book was actually published in 1991, which also looked very 80’s for a while. [Photo: Gamebooks.org]

Skate Hockey in the street has been going on since the 80’s but this might be the first documented occurrence of a Skateboard Air Hockey game, in the street… Spotted on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands by Doc Skate Rock. We need to coin a phrase for the practice of depicting unrelated sports on sporting equipment.

HuvrTech is some sort of viral marketing campaign in it’s early stages that has yet to reveal it’s true purpose. From the subject matter and Tony Hawk’s involvement, you could make an educated guess that it might have something to do with the Tony Hawk Foundation. Then again, it might be just for laughs. The gist of it is that hover boards are finally a reality. The web site mimics the feel of a tech startup, and shows a fake iPhone app as well as multiple product color choices. They somehow managed to wrangle Chrisopher Lloyd into appearing. He drives up in a Delorean and his byline says he’s from Back to the Future 2. I’m not sure if that was supposed to be intentionally funny or not. Other celebrity appearances include Moby, former NFL player Terrell Owens, and a befuddled looking Billy Zane. The production value is pretty cheap, and they don’t quite pull it off. Everyone floats a couple feet off the ground instead of at normal truck height, and there’s a lot of swaying around. The stunt rider’s foot doesn’t quite touch the ground on the one shot that shows any pushing. The main “production model” is…

It’s a weird, weird world we live in, where Mercedes Benz thinks it advantageous to make “a beautifully filmed video pitting man against machine these unlikely four-wheeled allies tango at high-speed on the majestic Franschhoek Pass in the Western Cape.” Are they targeting the desire of older rich males to be associated with speed, youth and danger? It was filmed for Mercedes Benz South Africa, which might explain why there’s no “Do not try this” warning at the bottom of the screen for dumb Americans. There is a “filmed under controlled conditions” message at the end. The rider is Decio Lourenco, and you can read more on Mercedes Benz Life. Because apparently owning a Mercedes Benz is a lifestyle, and not a sport. – Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.

Vintage Troll doll on a skateboard. On sale now at Fab.com. price reduced (?) to $20!

This week’s Shot of the Week is from Seth Levy’s travels in Morocco: Kid skating in front of the orphanage. He made up his own moves, including a strange pressure varial flip. Great story, but the real story is that graphic, which looks like new wave mimes in the closeup. Don’t walk. No rules!

The Maloof Money Cup is leaving permanent skate structures on each stop of their tour. This facility is scheduled to be built in South Africa by California Ramp Works. The mini mega ramp isn’t going to stay, but the vert ramp and street course will remain. Interestingly enough, I recently heard from a contract employee of the Maloof Money Cup that they let a bunch of people go due to an alleged… money shortage. True or not, this is some good news for the South African scene. Between skatepark donations and alternative construction methods, this is like the arms race of arena skatepark extravaganzas.