Or, “Yes, but was he wearing his airbag?” All joking aside, this technology is pretty amazing. Who ever thought that airbags could be adapted for motorcycles. Is it just a matter or time before this trickles down to skateparks? These things aren’t always as useful as the promise is. Remember the space age polymer that would harden on impact? It is being used in beanies for snowboarding as a potential helmet replacement, among other things. I talked to an individual who works for a certain Northwest based sporting goods manufacturer who says that most real world tests had results where the application turned out to be essentially worthless due to outside factors. Who cares? I just want to watch a video of a guy on a motorcycle crashing with airbags coming out of his helmet!

Speaking of the resurrection of our Lord Jebus, and finishing up the Easter Roundup is this shot of Stephen Baldwin at the LA airport carrying a religious-themed skateboard with wheels that are large enough to be some sort of miracle.

Verily, His wheels were just big enough for street skating, but when he got to the top of the mount, he worried not, for a miracle had turned the 40mm to 100mm, and there was enough urethane to feed everyone’s hunger for asphalt.

This isn’t the first time Stephen has pulled out the skateboard at an airport, and he’s starting to look like an old woman.

[Source: Gawker]

One more epic battle between skateboarders and BMX caught on video. Will it never end? Do we need to have a celebrity rap video made to stop the violence?

[Source: Fat BMX – Yes!]

My favorite Mod band that never existed, More Modern Snakes are playing an all ages show tonight at Club Bump! – Errr… right. Here’s a focus-challenged shot of a small snake run feature in Wake Forest North Carolina, built by a company called Bluestone that I had never heard of until Danimal sent me the link. I guess he knows a guy who used to be on the crew. Their web site is pretty horrible (get someone who knows how to resize an image please!) but the parks look like they have potential from what little they show. Of particular interest is a facility in Mabank, Texas that is listed as private, but looks like it might be part of some residential community as opposed to being owned by one individual. There’s no real information so it’s anyone’s guess. Looks like Bluestone has worked a few locations in Pennsylvania (Monroeville, Southpark, Imperial) as well as Delaware, Ohio and Kingsport, Tennessee. I know we’ve got readers in these states, have any of you ridden these parks?

What are these other modern snake runs I speak of? Why Lincoln City, Gabriel Park, and Naples.

In a surprising move, Concrete Wave has made a version of it’s photography retrospective book, “The Legacy of Warren Bolster” available as a free download on Silverfish Longboarding. Warren Bolster was a pioneering skate and surf photographer. The Concrete Wave Edition book had some production and layout issues that mostly disappear as a PDF. Of course, viewing them onscreen is not close to the tactile experience you get when flipping through a heavy book in your hands, but it’s free, and you can’t beat that. I’m not sure what the contractual ramifications were for releasing the book electronically for free. You may want to get it while you can. It’s a curious move to be sure, but one I can appreciate, and you should too. Check out this Steve Cathey photo from 1975. Look at his foot placement and body language. No matter what your age/discipline, you have to be able to respect that. Still available online is an interesting video interview with Warren shot shortly before the publication of his book.

Also available are the last two issues of Concrete Wave Magazine, which is nice, but they really should take a page out of Thrasher’s book and release the very first issues as a PDF. While I’m telling people what to do, Thrasher really should keep releasing more old issues as PDF’s. Someone start that petition to get the first 10 years of Thrasher online. I might even be tempted to pay a reasonable fee for that if they were done right.

Update: There are some great photos and words in this book. Definitely worth the download. They are hoping it will spark interest in print version.

Gabriel excavation is in progress. Anybody need 1000 cubic yards of clay soil? Geth has a bunch he needs to get rid of. More photos after the jump.

I was in the skate park video taping my friend Tito (the small kid wearing black) when pell, my friends sister, and aweosme make-out artist, Pell gets on her skate bored and steals Titos spotlight

Yes this is a weak post, but this short video totally made me laugh, all things considered. I guess I need to create a Friday T&A category. I got the idea from EPM.

A first glance at the web site for Penn State Industries makes it look like the company exists solely to supply a burgeoning cottage industry of making wooden pens. No, I’m not kidding! Hidden among the woodworking projects are two skateboard kits.

Skateboard Project Kit. Here’s a chance for you to make “awesome” custom skateboards. Cut our formed, quality, 7 ply hardwood deck to shape, decorate and install a pair of trucks with wheels and they’re ready to skate. The deck comes with the truck holes pre-drilled, a laminated sandpaper top and a pattern to cut the form. Truck assemblies are made out of lightweight aluminum and include quality bearings and durable quality polyurethane wheels.

Unlike some people, they have the decency to call griptape as it is. The “woodworking” aspects of this project seem pretty meager. Cut out the supplied outline and sand the edges. Must be a beginner project. Oh well, at least it’s not the Alan Parson’s Project. $50 for a complete (quality parts!) or $15 for just the deck at Penn State Industries. Why are we featuring this? This would have been highly unlikely ten years ago, and it’s pen-making supplies from a company based in Pennsylvania. Get it? Get it?

– Thanks to Steve Forcucci for the tip.