It could have been titled “Swiss Skate Pranks” but I thought the Google translation of this news article written in German was much more intriguing. Some pranksters in Hitzkirch, Lucerne (Switzerland) filled a skatepark bowl with water and some fish. This is skate harassment I can get behind. – Thanks to Greg for the tip.

Chet Childress and Al Partanen hooked up with Skate Daily to pitch a reality-esque skate show a couple years back. It’s been shelved, but why let it go to waste. This is the second Portland based skate reality show to meet an untimely demise, maybe third time is a charm. Watch the pilot after the jump, or head on over to Skate Daily for the deluxe edition with the bonus disc.

Transformers. More like less than meets the eye. Near as I can tell, the Access creative agency comes up with ideas… and then? They’ve got a ton of marketing/promotional projects online, but it doesn’t appear that any of them have actually come to fruition. Keep dreaming, young dreamers. One of their projects is a fancy series of miniramps with two giant Transformer robots overlooking them: It’s the kind of event and setting that gets talked about, blogged about and written about – not just in skating circles but in the channels used by the general movie going public. Well they got that right. We’re talking about it and it doesn’t even exist. Check it out at Access. – Thanks to MC for the tip.

Check out these pics of a ramp compound found on Rampbook, aka Negative Ion. This behemoth is made from the carcasses of no less than 11 other Colorado ramps, a few of which have been shown on S&A before. Check it out and noodle around Negative Ion a little, there’s all kinds of good stuff squirreled away there.

“There are times when you need car insurance.” And then there are times when you need to get some new blood in your marketing department, Clal Insurance in Israel does. – Thanks to Seth Levy for the tip.

I saw this in Concrete Wave a while back but I forgot to post it. I thought it was a gag advert at first, in part due to the fact that you can’t currently find any mention of it on the Venom web site. However, it appears to be aimed at a real niche market… people with downhill gear that wish their boards had tails. My first thought was to goof on it, but this is one of the oddest yet most functional products I’ve seen. I know you’re saying “just buy a board with a tail” but then this isn’t meant for you. It’s meant for guys who typically spend a lot of cash on downhill equipment and like to have their setup dialed in. These boards are not disposable in the tradition of the typical short board that gets ridden until it falls apart in a comparatively shorter time. It is what it is. Goofy but extremely useful for a subset of skateboarders. It sells for about $20.

Merde Skatebaords corporate bigwig Mike Egbert hates Portland, and everyone who skates there. That’s why he’s moving back to Klamath Falls. Actually that’s not true. He is moving, but he loves Portland. He had this to say about his new venture: Basically, I’m just trying to establish a skateshop in Klamath. I’m just starting out with an online shop so kids down there can see what is available, as I’ll probably be selling gear out of my car until I can get a retail space going. I’m from there so I want to help their scene however I can. There are a lot of ripping skaters in Southern Oregon. I’d like to just help those dudes get some coverage/due. I’ve never ran a store, so I don’t really know what I’m doing, but I think I’ll learn pretty quick. I’ll just try and focus on what unheard carries, for the time being. Once i get established, i want to bring in more brands that i’m stoked on. i’m a big skate nerd, so i’m partial to particular brands. Skate Farm is a good name, lends itself to all kinds of imagery. I don’t know how Mr deep pockets is going…