I’m not sure if this commercial is even airing or not, but thanks to the Interwebs, here it is. There’s nothing funnier than an age-inappropriate person on a skateboard, with the possible exception of a football to the groin. Catch the video after the jump

For more photos of the Sit-N-Skate, head on over to Skateboarding Sucks. It looks like Destructo is the truck of choice for homebrew kooky skateboard manufacturers. I’m drawing a blank on why you would need a skateboard truck (or any wheels for matter) on this sitting device for roller skates. Maybe I just lack vision. To dream, the impossible dream.

The road ahead. Challenges facing the skateboarding community in the coming year over at skateportland.org

Thor was good enough to brave the wrath of John Dalton to give us a photo essay progress report on Battle Ground Washington’s skate park. Looks like it’s getting close. This looks like it will be a great park for riders of different disciplines to mix. Street brethren, bowl bros, we can all get along. All photos by Thor.

Vox Footwear and Dreamland Skateparks made this short video which features the construction of Pier Park, some Wilsonville skatepark footage and a few other extras. I don’t know what the plan is for getting this out to the public but you should try to get a copy of it. The footage of Peter Hewitt going over the mousehole is … words fail me. Dave Hupp shot it.

Update: the disc will be available as a shrinkwrap gift in a upcoming The Skateboard Mag issue and a gift with purchase for CCS that will help the sale of the Dreamland Shoe.

Once again proving that a government publication is more fun with a picture of a skateboard, the headline on this Russian poster loosely translates to They did everything for us. Are we doing anything for them? “They” meaning Russian World War 2 veterans, and “Us” meaning the current young generations in Russia. Basically, the poster wants Russians to take care of their war veterans. There are no other details available, my guess is this was made during the 80’s. You can view the whole poster after the jump. [Source: Flickr]

These photos were smuggled to our agents at the cost of many Bothan lives. Grindline is building this at an undisclosed location.

Actual bricks are out because of expense. Costs have also skyrocketed on dyeing the concrete. But Dreamland did do a test on stamping a brick texture into the concrete of the street areabanks. Word is it skated all right. This was a rough test and it’s a little well, rough. Finishing would be better if they go with it.

What do you think? Would you prefer the fastest, smoothest surface possible or some simulation of brick banks or some combination? At lower right is the stamp used to texture the concrete. Please comment on the bricks post at Skaters for Portland Skateparks

The Express-Times has short interview with old Zorlac pro and current Syndrome Distribution honcho Rob Mertz. The article, titled “Skateboard to top not pipe dream” is a short fluff piece, but it does contain an amusing fact – the town mayor was the one who encouraged him to follow his dream of being a pro skateboarder. If like me, you’re still skating as grown man with a family of your own, you can probably relate to hearing this kind of thing from your extended family, and in this case, from Rob’s mom:

All the years, miles and bruises later, Nancy Mertz still worries. “He skates every day on his lunch hour. You know he’s 41?” she sighed. “This is why they have hair dye; I turned gray early.”

More Mertz links after the jump.