Both of these are a joke, but one is actually serious. From Instructables, the Jet Powered and Folding skateboards. Yes, that’s a drag chute. Yes, he put rollerblade wheels on his trucks.

Matt Kline sent in a couple action shots of that DIY backyard bowl in southern Oregon that was under construction. Looks like someone is enjoying it! I showed these to my wife and she said (incredulously) “It takes up the whole back yard!” to which I could only reply, “Well, not the whole back yard. I’m sure it just looks that way.”

Just finished collecting the second hundred strips which you can order here

D.I.Y. concrete projects are being birthed everywhere these days. Unlike the D.I.Y. vert ramp heydays, these bowls will probably be around for a lot longer. This one attributed to Hermann is in the St Louis area, and it is getting close to being finished. It’s only a matter of time before the weather breaks for them out there. I mean it’s sunny in Oregon, fer chrissakes! Check out some more picks of this Midwest Gem.

This is a big weekend for Marginal Way benefits. May 10th is the date of the Seattle premiere of Dave Hupp’s excellent video “Why Wouldn’t You?” There’s additional footage since the Portland Premiere, and the video and sound have received the final master. DVD’s and T-shirts will be available as well. There is a $3 entry fee, all of which will go to the Marginal Way project. May 10th at 8pm – Capitol Hill Arts Center. 1621 12th Ave, Seattle Sunday May 11 the much-anticipated Thrasher Skate Rock Tour, final stop Marginal Way! Thrashers legendary Skate Rock collection is celebrating their 13th release with live music from bands such as Grindline the Band, Bad Shit, Shed, Pissboner, Kilgore, and many more local bands including Board Youth that will be opening up the show for the Seattle stop. Marginal Way advocates will be grilling up BBQ, selling Tee’s and making money to keep building Marginal! 2pm to dusk at the Marginal Way Skatepark. (Saturday is the Portland stop of the Skate Rock tour.) What the heck do they need the money for? Check out these Stakbot pics of some recent concrete pours (Scroll down to bottom)

I got a short email from a guy telling me how much he enjoyed Skate and Annoy. His signature included his own web site, DIY Skate. Was it just a cheap ploy to get me to feature his site here? I don’t know and I don’t care, because DIY Skate is pretty impressive. DIY Skate has a healthy amount of detailed ramp and obstacle plans, with more on the way. There are plans for making board presses and even board molds, with alternate methods. These plans are uniformly illustrated with the help of CAD-type renders. Terminology is explained and resources have been collected. Need glue, veneer, or a jack to build a board press? DIY Skate has the links and sometimes even knows what the minimum orders are. Projects feature a difficulty rating, average cost, materials list and tools list. Right now the resources of DIY Skate are concentrated on wooden skate terrain and skateboard construction. What’s missing is concrete terrain and some of the more artsy-fartsy stuff like screenprinting and zine making, but fortunately you can get some of that right here! The design of DIY Skate is no nonsense, and has minimal, non-intrusive advertising. Check out DIY Skate…

Some parents buy kits to assemble swing sets and sandboxes for their kids. Things in Oregon are a little different. I was at a BBQ this weekend where the dad had built a small mini ramp and a rock climbing wall on the outside of his wife’s studio almost entirely made from salvage lumber. This was a “Welcome Spring” BBQ in Oregon, so of course it rained, but dad had the possibility of bad weather covered. Alternate picture after the jump.

Sometimes when digging starts on a construction project, assorted archeological artifacts are uncovered that demand shutting down the site while experts in academia and tribal leaders argue it out to determine the historical significance and rightful “owners” of human remains. Archeologists in Oregon recently puzzled over a ceremonial structure uncovered while expanding community services at a city with a rich variety of taxonomy in skatepark terrain. At issue is what sort of tribe would find it necessary to erect a parallel ritualistic structures when existing structures were already culturally advanced. There are some, however, that hypothesize this as a burial place for the last website editor who blew out a spot. Scientists at the EPM Institute have documented the excavation.

A first glance at the web site for Penn State Industries makes it look like the company exists solely to supply a burgeoning cottage industry of making wooden pens. No, I’m not kidding! Hidden among the woodworking projects are two skateboard kits. Skateboard Project Kit. Here’s a chance for you to make “awesome” custom skateboards. Cut our formed, quality, 7 ply hardwood deck to shape, decorate and install a pair of trucks with wheels and they’re ready to skate. The deck comes with the truck holes pre-drilled, a laminated sandpaper top and a pattern to cut the form. Truck assemblies are made out of lightweight aluminum and include quality bearings and durable quality polyurethane wheels. Unlike some people, they have the decency to call griptape as it is. The “woodworking” aspects of this project seem pretty meager. Cut out the supplied outline and sand the edges. Must be a beginner project. Oh well, at least it’s not the Alan Parson’s Project. $50 for a complete (quality parts!) or $15 for just the deck at Penn State Industries. Why are we featuring this? This would have been highly unlikely ten years ago, and it’s pen-making supplies from a company based in…

Are you pressing your own skateboard blanks with a vacuum press? If you are looking for a little less labor intensive method of constructing a mold, Ted over at Thin Air Press, home of the Roarockit has posted a lengthy set of illustrated instructions on how to make your own custom mold out of foam insulation. While his choice of shape and mold style may not appeal to you, the basic technique is still valuable if you want to make the next step in DIY skateboard construction with vacuum pressed boards. Sure beats the other method if you are still experimenting with your geometry. Check it out. [Source: Ted on SnA comments]