Sometimes you skate a pile of crap, not because you have to, but because it’s fun. OK, only about enough fun for five minutes.

The first skateboard I ever rode came from Sears. My dad bought it for my mom at a Sears catalog outlet store. At the time, Midland Michigan wasn’t big enough for an actual Sears store. Instead, we had a small shop with a few displays of smaller objects you could buy on spot, and a counter that you would go to to look at the Sears catalog, pay for what you wanted, and pick it up when it arrived. One saturday the family made a trip there and my mom became infatuated with a stand of Roller Derby brand banana boards. They looked just like board “B” above, only yellow. My father, being infatuated with my mother, decided to buy it for her. I think it was $14.99.

A few details at Skaters for Portland Skateparks.

Troy Sliter sent these shots from California, Santa Cruz pipe edge, and Pacifica bowls. Road trip anyone?

The Santa Cruz Skateboards Veterans Division video titled V-Day is making the premier rounds at skate shops cross country. Next up is Portland’s Shrunken Head sponsored event on Thursday April 5th at the Mission Theater. Also on the bill is a 10 year anniversary screening of the Portland classic Using It. You can watch the V-Day trailer after the jump.

Variflex used to be a honest to goodness real skateboard company with a real team. BroadbandSports.com has a SocalSkateparks.com video of a Variflex reunion of sorts at Ione skatepark. Featured riders are Lance Mountain, Tim Metz, Curtis Franklin, Dan Colburn, Freddie Desota, Mike Hirsch and Steve Hirsch. What, no Eddie Elguera, Eric Grisham, or Allen Losi? That’s like seeing Van Halen without David Lee Roth. The footage is nothing amazing but has some solid skating for all you bowl trolls (myself included) out there. If you need more Variflex action, check out this Juice interview with Lance Mountain where he talks a little about his Variflex days.

Yes. You have probably seen this video of Martin Sweeney one before, but in my eyes it doesn’t really exist unless it shows up on Skate and Annoy. This video segment is from the BBC show Record Breakers. The video was shot in 1991, and the host is Roy Castle who died in 1994. The source of the video comes from UKSSA, the United Kingdon Slalom Skateboard Association. The UKSSA site has a history of the UK slalom scene, a how-to, and other information pertinent to UK slalomers including a higher quality video than what you can see after the jump. It must have been fun to skate on that road racing course. Nice Shoes Martin!