Well it’s here. The hoverboard park of the future, as well as details about the board and the park. It’s both amazing and quite a letdown at the same time. What you can do with this Lexus built hoverboard is pretty amazing. In some ways it’s the promise of Back to the Future delivered… with one huge exception: You are limited to riding on a predefined track. In spite of all the talk of innovation and and achieving the impossible, it’s basically a maglev train that you push with your foot, with a few oversized Hot Wheels style jumps thrown in. Is it anything new? Not really. Is it freaking cool? Yes. Lexus spent over a year and who knows how much money developing this concept. Is it better than the Hendo hoverboard? That’s a tough call. The Lexus version is more fully realized, from a demonstration point of view, and the nature of the fixed track means you aren’t going to slide out constantly like a snowboard on ice with no rails. In that respect, the Lexus version is more like a skateboard, however the Hendo’s ability to pick an infinite number of paths (as long as it’s on a special surface) definitely appeals to skateboarding. It doesn’t require power, except that to make liquid nitrogen to keep the thing floating. In addition to flat ground riding, there’s also transition and attempted rail slides. The park has been painted to simulate concrete, but most of the transition elements built for the hoverboard appear to have a wood covering. I swear this is real, if not, it’s the most elaborate and well done viral hoax I’ve ever seen. Loads of video and pictures after the jump.

– Thanks to Concretins Nick for the tip.

In Stan Lee Presents – The Condor, Tony Valdez loses his parents and the use of his legs. Then, with the help of robotic legs and nanobots from the family business, he turns from professional skateboarder into the skateboarding crimefighter known as the Condor. The reviews for this straight to DVD release are not good. It already aired on Cartoon Network at least once, but you can watch it for free on Hulu while it lasts or rent it from YouTube. It’s horrible, unintentionally funny, and the main character is almost totally unlikeable. 10 minutes into the plot, the publisher of the “biggest extreme sports magazine” invites Tony to spend the night so she can make him a superstar. There’s quite a bit of PG-13 sexual innuendo, micro short skirts and heaving cleavage, but the overall quality of the animation, story and voice acting is so poor that it’s only going to appeal to a much younger, somewhat confused audience.

This video almost got relegated to Broken Kingpins but there’s some excellent dork session and bad joke telling in it. Enjoy some good stuff from Skidmark Magazine

Check out this design for a simple DIY skateboard rack from Instructables. It’s super clean looking and pretty easy to make, I just wonder how sturdy it would be. I’m imagining my kids cracking it after a month or so. It’s pretty clever though.

– Thanks to Kathleen Conahan for the tip.

UPDATE: Well Crud. Posted the same concept 2 years ago.

Like the Turf before it, a section of the previously thought to be decimated Del Mer Skate Ranch was briefly uncovered and skated earlier this month. I’m actually surprised that this didn’t make bigger rounds on the Interwebs, even if it was a hoax, and I don’t think it was. You never can tell with Tony and his hoverboard videos. The photo below is of another legendary spot that gets dug up every 5-10 years and skated, despite each “last time” being the final demise. The spot shall remain unnamed because, you know, it’s a big secret. Which of you have skated the bottom spot? Leave a comment if you have.

A short video from Urban Skate Project about what inspires Clayton Graul. Motivational/inspirational videos about DIY are not in short supply, but this one is worth watching if only for the wealth of spots it shows.

Changing times ahead for Burnside with new construction within spitting distance. It will interesting to see if the locals can make it work with their new neighbors, who are undoubtedly going to be used to a less Burnsidey atmosphere. The property taxes are definitely going to give the owners some clout with city hall. In the meantime, Burnside needs lights, and they’ve got quite a ways to go to reach their target, so consider donating.

Thank you, private property owner, for greatly overestimating my skills, and indeed the skills of most of the skateboarding population, when it came time for you to decide whether or not this ledge needed to be skate-stoppered. That’s very kind of you, I couldn’t possibly. You’re too kind.

I don’t know what’s been like in your neck of the woods, but it’s been an unseasonably hot summer here in Portland. Time to cool off. Check out these fishing lures made out of recycled skateboards from Maxximus Skateboards. Their main product is actually skateboards, pressed and hand screened (as they should be…) in Savannah, Georgia. I found out about them through an article on independent board manufacturers on the Ride Channel.

Update: Seeing all the Confederate battle flag bullshit on that Facebook page makes me want to pull this post. I spent half my childhood life, and indeed my earliest memories are of living in Georgia. I will always have fond memories and a special place in my heart for Georgia and the south. But there’s no excuse for pride in a racist heritage or ignorance of the true meaning of the Confederate Battle flag. I guess you can be enlightened on some fronts and still be backwards and ignorant in others. And for the record, I think the General Lee car from the Dukes of Hazard should be left intact.

Let’s see… cleaning out the old inbox here. What’s this? The Sturgeon Bay Skatepark Initiative has met their finding goal and hopes to break ground on a new Grindline park in June. I wonder how that’s coming along… It’s finished? That was fast. Wait, what’s the date on that email? 2014. OK , well, that makes sense. Hold on, now they’re saying it was built by Dreamland. Maybe Wisconsin has the same wacky law that Washington has. Whatever, looks fun. Did you know Wisconsin ranks 6th out of all the states in beer consumption? I would have thought that the state with The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous would have ranked higher than Vermont. Sturgeon are kind of gnarly.