I am not making this up. A new study by the nonprofit Rand Corporation finds that girls who live near parks with active facilities like jogging paths, basketball courts, and playgrounds are more likely to be physically active. (Duh!) Sounds good right? Except, Skateboard areas and special-use parks were negatively associated with physical activity in adolescent girls.

This started out as a quick post about this guy who has been floating around the news wires as the Sole Man. He entered a Red Bull soap box derby dressed as a classic Vans checkered slip-on on top of a homemade oversized skateboard. But like all things concerned with the Interwebâ„¢, it’s not always that easy. There’s the obvious comparison to Tod Swank and Foundation’s super-sized Ripley’s Believe It or Not appearance, and at least two others. Pictures and videos after the jump.

Siriusly (har har) I can’t tell if this is a commercial for Jeep or Sirius Satellite Radio. The gist of it is if you buy some kind of Jeep they throw in the Sirius service for free. It’s a mildly amusing commercial. If anyone still needs it, it’s proof that skateboarding has been assimilated into popular culture. Watch the video and see it dissected after the jump.

Apparently there is an activity that adults enjoy but most people think of as a toy, fad, or a phase to grow out of. Sound familiar? Although they both spin and have axles, I’m talking about yo-yos, not skateboards. Who knew there was a crossover? (Wait, isn’t that a yo-yo trick too?) Yo-Yo Nation is offering these limited edition skateboard and t-shirt combos featuring artwork “..based around a trick invented or pushed to the next level by the artist himself.” More pics and an amazing Hail Mary Gratuitous Tony Hawk Appearance after the jump.

Continuing the theme of commercializing existing practices, Didi over at Modern Convenience makes a lot of objects, mostly upholstered, that appeal to the whimsical side of people who have too much money. Two items of interest to us are the Inside Skate and the Indoor Longboard. Didi’s are prettier, but Egbert’s version is guaranteed to be cheaper. And speaking of people who have too much money, that’s Bam in in the picture above. More pics, including a Gratuitous Tony Hawk appearance after the jump.

Snoopy has been known to ride a skateboard or two, at least on shirts and toys. This may be the first time he’s ever appeared in animated form on skateboard. He’s A Bully, Charlie Brown aired over the Thanksgiving weekend to little fanfare. The copyright is 2006 and though already deceased, Charles Schultz is listed as a producer. It must have been in the works before he passed on. Video link and more captures after the jump.

Making furniture out of skateboards is nothing new. These guys are trying to capitalize on the art-chic trend in skateboarding culture. The company is called Skurniture and right now they have a very simple bench available. It has a lot fewer parts than an actual skateboard, but at $129 it costs a bit more. You can even by the (overpriced) pieces separately.

Or purses, as we like to call them. The Holidays are approaching, so it’s time to get your girlfriend a present. Or if you are a female reader uh, buy one for yourself of a cross dressing male friend. I don’t know if we have many female readers. I know Alexis Schemp isn’t one of them because we haven’t heard from her yet. So, Sophie Mason makes bags out of used skateboards. Cool. In the past there seemed to be something negative about skating, almost artless. Whether this was due to the media, society or generally bad experiences is irrelevant as we have the freedom to make our own judgements based on our own reasoning. At Focused we have come to realise that skating provides vivid examples of excellence and skill. Why does every arts & crafts practitioner need an artist’s statement? If you are going to quote John Cage, at least get rid of the free image hosting watermark on your front page. Oh wait, maybe it’s part of the statement. You can buy the bags and even sell her your broken decks, if you live in the U.K.. Check out Focused Bags.

That’s right. Stop sassing them and say “Sir” and “Ma’am” and you just might be rewarded with a new skate park. A November 17 article in the Pitsburgh Tribune-Review titled Retired teacher puts a lot of stock in skate park tells the story of James Peach. He bought some Standard Oil stock after the war (occupation of Japan) and at age 78, in a fit of grieving and good will, turned it over the county of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania on the condition that the money be spent on the local skatepark project. Turns out that the original $900 investment was worth $161,000! I hope the park they build looks better than it does in the plan above, but with an advocacy group named Westmoreland Street Park Alliance, I wouldn’t hold my breath..

It depends on where you find it, this is either called GR8 TaT2 Maker or I-Tattoo There’s nothing like pretending to be an adult. If you’ve got a toy skateboard, you might as well have a toy tattoo gun. Next in line is the Lil’ Addict Heroin Kit™. Seriously, these kids look like little meatheads already. The kid on the right looks like he’s wearing a hair helmet. As soon as they get done with the fake tattoos they are going out to the back yard to off road in their battery powered mini Jeeps. Get Inked!! Vibrating Electronic Pen! Safe and Easy! Uses Washable Markers! Contains: 30 Stencils 3 Markers No, there’s no skateboard in the actual product, just in the advertising. I like how the copped the SK8 spelling for GR8. Tip of the keyboard to Gizmodo.com where I poached this from.