Actually, infected is a better description. I think I’ve removed the affected files, but if you are still getting a malware or virus alert, please leave a comment. It would also be helpful to know what browser and if you are on a MAc or a PC. Please check the time of the last comment made, if it’s only been 10 minutes, chances are I’m still working on it.

Skateboarding has spawned some interesting cottage industries. I just found a guy making fingerboard skate obstacles under the name Stone Tech Ramps. The halfpipe, bowls and street obstacles are made out of some sort of resin that must be lightweight. You can see a kid above lifting up one of the massive bowls without a problem. The scale of the ramps vs. the Tech Decks have tipped further towards gigantic. There’s a wide variety of obstacles, and you can easily spot his earlier work where he didn’t quite have the casting method down. The stairs and would-be sharp edges have the appearance of rock left under a waterfall for 50 years. Prices are pretty high. That half pipe will run you $95 and one custom bowl has a buy it now of $165! Smaller obstacles start around $16. These are hand crafted, one of a kind toys, but still, that’s a lot of coin. Check out a hilarious “review” by a nonpartisan source. It’s a kid whose “friend’s uncle” makes these things. Stick with the whole thing, it’s great how he bashes the Tech Deck gear, using sounds as a benchmark. he’s a regular Billy Mays in training.

If you can believe it, this adult film uses skateboarding to sell itself, yet according to one review, if you blink you’ll miss the brief instance a skateboard actually shows up, and they make no mention of in the dialogue. It’s almost as if, (gasp!) the plot is entirely unimportant to the movie.

When they aren’t busy trying to get me to advertise, the folks at Punk Radio Cast have teamed up with extreme sports friends Jones Soda to release some limited edition labels in a variety pack. They “collaborated” with five artists, including the Bad Brains, and four other bands you don’t care about. Considering the potential, it’s a weak execution.

Here’s the answer to everyone who’s been clamoring for t-shirts, well at least that one guy… Skate and Annoy merchandise booth is now open. These aren’t phantom t-shirts either. They actually exist in a big box in my living room.

Price: $15 for the first one. $10 each additional.
Shipping: $5 flat fee for up to 3. (Canada $7 USD)

Buy a shirt and help me make my mortgage payment this month. Failing that, how about giving me a job? I’ve sunk low.

Buy and Destroy!

NOTE: To the guy who sent in the gushing fan mail for the GVK stickers a long time ago,we had something special planned for you, but I lost the envelope with your name/address. Send me an email with a brief recap of you letter, so I’ll know it’s actually you.

So… you can get t-shirts printed up and then compressed into the shape of a skateboard, among other things, and then covered with a promotional graphic and encased in shrink wrap. In other words:

Get air with a skate theme that targets the teen scene.

Errr.. right. Three models available, all of them not quite right.

Goofy has a history of appearing on skateboards. In Extremely Goofy Movie, Goofy’s son goes to college and enters the “College X Games.” It doesn’t seem that absurd now, actually. Goofy misses his son so much that he goes to college too, and ends up skating for the evil frat boy team against his son. There’s also a toy Goofy figure on a skateboard that was made a few years ago. The shot above is a toy that may date as far back as 1977. It’s from an expired eBay auction, but becasue I love you, and have a problem, you can look at more shots after the jump.

Be careful what you sign. You may think you are just going to appear in a local paper, but you may end up plastered all over the packaging for consumer goods. It happened to Benji Galloway, and he ended up on the box of Vizio TV’s.

As promised, more skateboard hygiene products. I first came across this on the old Grand Royale site, the magazine and record label that used to be run by the Beastie Boys. This was back in 2000 or so, and the fact that this skateboard shaped container existed out there somewhere had been in the back of mind since then. They didn’t have any explanation, just the picture, so I downloaded it. Earlier this year I was doing some “research” for Skate and Annoy and I stumbled on one for sale. Turns out it was from Avon, and contains bubble bath. I picked this one up for about 7$. Totally worth it.

Microsoft demoed a motion capture camera controller today at E3. Basically a camera that sits under your tv and watches how you are moving. It’s up to the XBox to turn that movement into meaningful game play. Included in the demo was a skateboarding game “replete with a young man ‘air’ ollie-ing,” which I am interpreting to mean that it kind of negates the the need for the expensive board controller used in Tony Hawk Ride, the theory (and marketing slogan) being that you can “use your own gear.” Still, that’s going to have to be some sophisticated hardware to be able to deal with the subtleties of a skateboarding footwork and hand grab variations. What if you could combine the two? Well , then you’d just have, you know, actual skateboarding. In any case, Microsoft’s Project Natal won’t be shipping in 2009, so Tony’s crew still has a good year or so head start, more so if you take into account Microsoft’s infamous sliding launch dates. This will go over well with parents, I ‘m sure. I’m already yelling at my kids for all the time for skateboarding in the house, and they aren’t even hooked up to a video game yet.

[Source: Engadget via JustSkate.me]