The Discovery Channel has a series about GM’s car of the future (not to be confused with Chef of the Future) which is basically a radical (no pun intended) new platform for building cars. Why do we care? The basic chassis system is officially called “The Skateboard.” It’s powered by fuel cells and has no central motor, allowing different body configurations to be bolted on at will. Also, the steering is fly-by-wire, meaning the turning impulse is controlled electronically like a jet plane instead of mechanically. And yes, it looks like a skateboard. Catch the video after the jump. [Source: AutoblogGreen]

I thought I was going to run out of commercials to showcase, but lucky you, I dug up this old VHS tape I had in a box. Continuing the yogurt industry’s obsession. with skateboarding, here’s an ad from around 1999 or 2000 for Yoplait brand GoGurt, which is yogurt in a tube. Please excuse the clipping of the beginning which was due to not giving the VCR enough time to cue up properly. That was the best I could due at the time. I blame Y2K.

Northwest Skater has some new photos of the Irrigon, Oregon skatepark being built by Grindline. Brick coping, hobbit doorway, bumpy rock lip. Lots of unusual stuff going into this one.

This is the Three Sixty table from Sports Utility Furniture in Germany. Right now its for sale in at The Future Perfect in NYC, for an unknown price. I’ll bet it’s spendy. It had better be, because the rest of their current designs are very weak. I’m not a huge fan of gratuitous skateboard parts in furniture beacause it usually looks very forced, but in this case I kind of like it. Hopefully the glass is heavy enough to keep you from taking an old Chevy Chase prat fall if you put a hand down on it. I imagine you wouldn’t want to use too good of a bearing in those wheels. I wonder what their durometer is? Independent trucks too, that’s a nice touch. [Source: AGP design notes]

Airing Friday, February 23rd at 9:00 pm Eastern Time (6:00 pm Pacific Time) and telecast three additional times, Matt Hensley has been a major contributor to everything skate culture from carving pools to rocking the box. Recently making time to get back on his skateboard, Matt shares stories about his H Street days and talks about life after Flogging Molly. Matt’s sponsors include: Duffs, Innes, Black Label, and Gullwing. Plus, we take a look at the work of influential skate photographer, Grant Brittain. And, Braden Szafranski takes Michael Rappaport out for a crash course on the mini ramp.

I don’t eat Cheetos so I never payed any attention to these bags until my son grabbed one off a rack a the sub shop today, and it had Chester Cheetah getting rad. More pics for those with obsessive compulsive disorder (like me) after the jump.

While we were out… Seattle’s City Center skate park or SeaSk8 as it sometimes gets called, was demolished to make way for a new Bill Gates foundation complex. January 3 of 2007 marked the second time in recent years that the city of Seattle tore down a perfectly good skatepark to appease developers. Of course some might argue that the Seattle Center park was not exactly perfectly good. As with Ballard, more money was allocated to replacing the skatepark. Talk about inefficiency, why not just build two new parks and leave the old ones accessible? It’s clear that I don’t understand or appreciate eminent domain and the wheels of commerce. Pre/post demolition pics, links and more after the jump. [Credits: Demo Picture – Auggiedawg, Fascist Bill Gates – The Software War

I’m a little confused on this commercial for Capri Slims from 1995. We don’t allow cigarette commercials on TV in the U.S., but I don’t know what’s the norm in Canada. Lisa Whitaker was the stunt double for this commercial and she posted it. I contacted her for more info but it’s been over a week with no word yet. This commercial follows the typical “creative person amidst a sea of stuffed shirts finds an unusual way to take care of business.” Actually, it’s almost exactly like a Mentos commercial, except Capri Slims aren’t exactly a freshmaker. There’s nothing hotter than a barefoot career woman reeking of polyester, pantyhose, and cigarette smoke. Watch the commercial after the jump.