Stikboards are a plasticy skateboard deck that can be ridden like a skateboard on slippery substances like grass, snow or even sand. Big deal, right? Somehow the “inventor” came up with the idea of riding these things on garden mesh, a plastic mesh used in landscaping. Whether he engineered it that way or it was a happy accident, these things seem to slide really well on the stuff. My first take on this was that it was just about the lamest skateboard related thing I’d ever seen (in the past week or two at least.) I mean, they actually advocate spreading the mesh out at a skatepark. I ‘d love to be there when someone tried that at Burnside… Then I started poking around and watching the videos and my mind changed a little. They show a backyard skate spot setup with rails and such, launch ramps… set up on grass, but with the approach and landing covered in mesh, which is supposed to be inexpensive. I’ll be damned if it doesn’t appear to work pretty good, although the video is postage stamp sized, circa 1995. It occurred to me that any institutional arguments against “street stikboarding” would be nullified.…

Last year’s New York Toy Fair turned up this amusing iteration of the alternative skateboard, the Swerver Ultimate Carving Streetboard. I find this amusing if only for the fact that they adapted RipStick or Hurricane wackyboards to make them look more like a skateboard: The advantages of longboarding and skateboarding combined into one. Whether you want to go cruising down the street or tackle a new obstacle course, the Swerver is the only board you’ll need. The Swerver Ultimate Carving Streetboard combines the advantages of a longboard with those of a skateboard. The rider propels the Swerver Board forward using a twisting motion, eliminating the need to push off the ground every few feet. Set up complicated courses, perform tricks off the half-pipe or just fly effortlessly to your next destination. With the Swerver Ultimate Carving Streetboard, the journey is the fun. Somehow a whole year passed without the Swerver becoming a;ll the rage. I can’t even find an official web site for the product. See it in action after the jump. I can’t wait to perform some tricks “off the half-pipe.” – Thanks to Concretins for the tip.

It’s getting hard to remember what we’ve covered already. I could have sworn we did this one already, maybe that’s becasue it reminds me of the one that looks just like this, but with a motor. This one comes from Italian designer Francesco Sommacal who apparently won an international design award for this wacky skateboard called the 360. The web site has Extreme!™ Italian Nu metal rap. [Source: Dezeen]

Take a piece of plywood, a 2×4 and the trucks from some dimestore skateboards and you’ve got a trolley for ditch surfing. It’s not much different from the plans I’ve seen in various places online for making a camera dolly. Listen, I’m flying home all day today, and I needed something quick. Drainage ditch luge instructions online at Instructables.

Hell yeah! Grab your stick, head on out to the tree in your back yard and freakin’ GET SOME!!!!!!!!!!! Ropeboarding is where it’s at man. You don’t need a lift ticket or a skatepark pad nanny telling you what to wear. Here’s the deal. Hang a rope from a tree. Cut a hole in a skateboard and feed the rope through. Tie a knot on the bottom of the rope so you can stand on it. Attach a waterski handle a little bit higher than your head. Swing around on the rope, hold onto the handle and pretend to do early grab airs on your skateboard. Varial city! The best part is where your buddy inevitably catches it on video when the rope or branch breaks. [Source: Instructables]

There are a couple of interesting guys (Nerrrrrrds!) on this site called Crazy Builders. It’s kind of like a show you migtht expect to see on the Discovery Channel. They wanted to build a fan powered skateboard, and they did, except the fan is made from a high powered RC plane engine, and it’s open in the back. I’d hate to have a wipeout and end up on the wrong side of that cage… Anyway, just like the site says, it’s good fun in the name of science. Although the science connection is a little weak here. I like the guy in the video. He had the good sense to dress like a scientist and make his skateboard fan boat in the shape of a bomb. Skateboards, science and wacky hats after the jump.

On Tuesday we got a nice covering of fat, white snow here in Portland. It came down pretty good for a couple hours in the middle of the day. It even stayed solid on the streets, which usually doesn’t happen here. But, by the end of the daylight it had pretty much been replaced by rain, and it melted away. I looked outside at about 5:00 and it all seemed like a pleasant dream. Over the weekend I went to a kids birthday party (with my kids, not to abduct toddlers…) that was at an ice rink. It was the firsttime I’d had on ice skates since grade school. I go to thinking about those old ice board kits that were for sale in the back of Thrasher.

Carl Warren sent in a photo of on again, off again contributor Mike Estes on some sort of contraption called a snow skate. I’ve seen pictures of these things, couldn’t see how they would be rideable, but apparently they are. Are there truck-like mechanisms on these things? No bindings either. It looks like a tiny ski mounted to a skateboard like a hydrofoil. This is exactly why we kicked him off of Skate and Annoy. What’s that? I’m being told here that he actually quit. See the full frame shot after the jump.

We’ve covered both the iJoy cross training board and Stowboard before, but our readers pointed out some new videos from both camps that are amusing. First up, the iJoy board is being marketed as both an exercise machine and an training device for board sports. It features workout settings with great names, such as “Taking It Easy,” (not to be confused with the Dethklok side project “Takin’ it easy!”) “Getting Serious” and “Pump it Up!” The closeups of the iJoy board in action are bizarre and disturbing. Check it out. Next up is the Stowboard in action. There’s cruising with the Stowboard, but more importantly, “with practice tricks are possible.” Check it out. And speaking of Dethklok, you can watch Murderface and Toki pitching their song Takin’ It Easy to Dethklok after the jump. – Thanks to Benny Bones and Dave Arpin for the tip.

Here at Skate and Annoy, we recognize that many of our readers, particularly in the Midwest, are facing a difficult time in the life of a skater: the preparation for winter. Many are squeezing sessions in before the snow, ice, or rain sets in. The winter alienates many riders who recognize snowboarding and snow skating, as pictured above from The Snow Life, as insufficient substitutes for skateboards. Each year, skaters fall out of practice and even quit skateboarding after they recognize that their “summer legs” have atrophied into wonky and clumsy appendages by the end of the winter. Many tears are shed over the tremendous task of re-learning even simple maneuvers, such as ollies. For those who are considering measures to simulate a real skateboarding experience, check this out. The folks at wikiHow.com were kind enough to the skateboard community to post an instructional on how to create a diy pseudo-skatespot in your own backyard. Unfortunately for skaters, however, this idea is crap.