Kickbacks? That’s the only thing I can think of that would convince a physical education program to buy Waveboards for PE classes. Let me try a different approach: In my day we had to push uphill five miles on a dirt road to get to the waveboard track and the U-shaped slide. Kids these days are spoiled in their PE classes with alternative sports. Not working for you? OK. Seen above, Angela’s friends stage an intervention and try to divert her from her quest to run off and join a very low paying circus for social outcasts. I’m not sure if these are better than the flat boards with caster wheels that they use for crab races on rainy days. Where did I get these pictures? Why, from the Ledger’s article titled Physical Education Rides the Wave Of New Recreational Technologies. Jealous? You can even buy print copies for yourself!

Tony Hawk’s Big Spin has been open for a while now. It’s got to be surreal having your own amusement park ride. There’s no Michael Jordan’s Big Dunk ride out there, but you would think he would have been able to sign the contract if he wanted. Here’s two YouTube videos with two different takes on the ride. One is a guy who obsesses on amusement park rides and the other is a couple of snotty kids who just like to hear themselves say “I hate Tony Hawk.” Check ’em both out after the jump. – Thanks to Tito for the tip.

Whatever your stance on Nike’s presence in the skateboarding industry, you’ve got to hand it to them for the commercials they made and actually aired on broadcast TV the first time around. They are great from a skating and an advertising perspective. I’ve been trying to get ahold of these and post them, but someone else has already done all the work, so why reinvent the wheel? My personal favorite is the running one because it brings back the times when people literally thought you were a freak if you were over 12 and still skateboarding on a public sidewalk. Of course now you’re a freak if you are over 30 and the hassle often comes the skaters instead of the non-skating public. So you can still be a rebel and participate in one of the world’s most popular sports. [Source: Transworld beat me to it.]

Mad Magazine is too highbrow for little kids, so they rolled out Mad Kids for the youngsters. I checked out the PDF preview, figuring it would be all Spongebob-y, and it is, but the cartoon ladies that Don Martin draws still have impossibly large gravity defying breasts. Tony Hawk is on the cover #9, where they gave him the Photoshop bug-out treatment. What is that move anyway? He’s also got an interview inside. OK maybe he’s not mad at kids, but mad for the kids! (And not in a creepy NAMBLA way…) – Thanks to Danimal for the tip.

Stop the presses! The days of slipping, banana peel-style off the top of your deck are over. Ferrari has made an important advance in friction technology. Apparently, the grip tape on this Ferrari branded skateboard is also coated with some sort of magical anti-slip material, which would make it even gripier than regular old grip tape. I hope they didn’t use spray-tack on griptape, otherwise my patent dreams are over. The Ferrari skateboard features a seven-layer Canadian maple board and stretches 79 cm by 20 cm. The Grip Tape on the upper surface (with Ferrari logo) is coated in an anti-slip material to improve grip. A stunning Ferrari red finish, the Italian tricolour and the Prancing Horse logo adorn the underside. The skateboard also has black 54 x 36 mm polyurethane wheels custom moulded with a red stripe. The Ferrari skateboard comes in a stylish red nylon carry bag too. Ferrari has been slapping their logo and PMS color matched red paint on host of mediocre non-automotive devices such as laptop computers for several years now. Further diluting the brand name with a mediocre skateboard must have seemed like a good idea to them as well. Who makes those trucks…

Yes folks, it’s the same people that bring you modern day cannibals, a woman who had 69 babies and the 200 pound tumor. The 9th wonder of the world appears to be something known as the “Urban Jib Park.” Witness the wonder and the horror of The Ripley’s Urban Rail Park – an urban rider’s dream, according to the folks at Polson Pier in Toronto, where it is located. Although open since December 21st, pictures of the actual park appear to be as rare as ostrich-footed Africans. Apparently, they built some rails at the bottom of a pile of snow for the snowboarders and put up a big heated tent with some ramps for the skaters. Things must be bleak in Toronto, because you can even buy a season pass for all this awesomeness: 20ft wide 4 foot mini-ramp 4 stair with hand rail 60 ft wide bank with grind box at the top 5 ft ¼ pipe 6 ft ¼ pipe Fun box with rail They will have unspecified rock concerts, pro demos and contests. I predict that this park sucks – BELIEVE IT OR NOT!! [Source: PR-Inside]

Yes, this is old news, thank you. Because the media portrayal of skateboarding it’s not enough of a zoo already, pro (?) skateboarder Chad Knight is supposed to be appearing on the January 6th premier of the revamped version American Gladiators on NBC. I have that question mark in there because I don’t know anything about Chad. His official web site is blocked by the content filter where I work (?! – Hey, I’m on my break!) but according to this outdated (and not dated) interview with Chad in Skateboarder, Chad turned pro in 1997 an had a model on the now defunct INC. skateboards brand by Syndrome. Currently he’s on 1031, which is ether a shop or a clothing line or who knows what since the mailing address is in California but you have to buy everything from Beer City in Milwaukee. Kristian Svitak seems to be the main perpetrator. Hell, I don’t know. Wow, it’s hosted by Laila Ali and Hulk Hogan. Why isn’t Mike V. on this? [Source: BuddyTV]

Warren Ray is 42 year old musician and songwriter who decided to give up smoking after his father was diagnosed with lung cancer. Instead of the patch, he decided to try to replace his addiction to cigarettes by rekindling his addiction to skateboarding, which he gave up in his 20’s due to poor health, and a general lameness. A friend of his made a short film about it which has it’s moments, but needs help in the audio mixing department. It’s in a few indy film festivals. Another episode of Old guys who started skating again, but with a twist. And hey, it completes the hat trick of Skate or Die posts. Check it out. [Source: The Courier Journal – Louisville KY]

There’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance of Burnside in the trailer for an upcoming movie called Untraceable. It happens slightly over half way through the trailer, and looks like a short spot for cell phone service. The movie looks like it is supposed to take place in Portland, so the shot a bunch of location shots, including Burnside. Hey does Gus Van Sant know this is going on? When is Paranoid Park coming out over here anyway? It’s just like Ash said when she contributed this bit of news, “Why not put Burnside in a movie??? Haha, PDX is blown out!” Portland is hot for murders on the big screen right now. So will Untraceable be unwatchable? The last one they did here (The Hunter) with Benicio Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones was a major dud, but the local weeklies sure loved to talk up the Benicio sightings. Diane Lane wasn’t as interesting apparently, or maybe they shot all her outdoor stuff in Vancouver BC. So who was there when they filmed this, and did Burnside get it’s customary appearance fee in the form of a donation made for park maintenance?

What about all the skateboarding Jews? We just don’t see Hanukka skateboarding marketing tie ins like we do with Christmas. Jew, Gentile, regular, goofy… it’s all the same. I don’t even know when Hanukkah is, it’s probably over already. Here’s an Israeli TV commercial for what looks like an exploding energy bar that blatantly rips off the Girl Yeah Right! video. Who knows, Maybe Spike Jonze directed this one too.