If you’ve ever owned or frequented a backyard ramp you’ve probably seen the attempts to ride the neighborhood gas powered scooter or small cc dirt bike on a half pipe before. It usually ends in a lot of pain or hole in the ramp. Somewhere there’s a guy in a cube getting paid to send emails to sites like this one in hopes of instigating a buzz about a product. It’s called viral marketing and it’s either ingenious or insidious, depending on how you look at it. In any case, it’s kind of fun to imagine the possibility that there are guys out there somewhere taking Extreme!™ to the next level by freestyle car driving on half pipes. Who knows, maybe some day someone will do something like this on a really basic level. Most of the videos are really well done. The screen captures are difficult cause the car is only is barely ever in frame with the ramp, which is why it sometimes works. When it doesn’t work it looks like crap. The official site is still being coy about what they are really advertising. Captain Obvious says it’s an upcoming video game. You guys owe me a…

The NY Times has a two page article on Bob Burnquist’s backyard mega ramp titled “Huge Skateboarding Ramp Beckons Daredevils.” It has some good pictures and video. I knew they built these things for Danny Way to play on and then tore them down. It was only a matter of time before someone with a lot of land found a permanent place for one. I wonder if he has the traditional crappy chain and padlock on the flat bottom. I’m picturing an amusing scenario where Bob pulls up to his mansion in an SUV and has to yell “You damn kids! get outta here!” to all the groms barging the mega ramp, except they are all laying in a shattered pile at the bottom of the landing ramp. Hope he’s got good homeowner’s insurance. Maintenance on that thing must be a royal pain in the wallet too. How much does a mega ramp cost? $280,000. Well, it was either that or spring for his and her 24k gold plated Plasma TVs. Thanks to EPM for the tip off. Now go read the article.

Motorola is the latest consumer electronics company to use skateboarding to help market it’s products. In this case, a cell phone. I’m not sure which object in the picture they are trying to fetish-ize. Poached from Engadget who poached it from Phonearena.com. Not quite as impressive as a 24K Gold TV huh?

I don’t know anything about your 1080p vs. your 1080i. I’m still waiting for flat screen TV’s of any technology to reach prices affordable for your average joe. In any case, LG must be one of the sponsors of the X-Games or the Dew Tour or something, and they are showcasing footage from said event on their 24k gold plated 71 inch plasma display. At $132,000, only Tony Hawk or Bam can actually afford it. Ridiculous, as seen on Aving.net via Gizmodo.com.

Check out this hand painted skateboard made to look like a band aid. Another shot here. I’m surprised this hasn’t been done before as a commercial release. Looks good, but I wouldn’t want to tempt fate.

This is not the same Newberg local Jason. This guy used to hang out at Newberg on a regular basis, and he’s a VW fan, or was at least until he sold his to buy turntables. Impetuous youth. Another pic after the jump.

God Skates! Not to be confused with the seminal skate rock band McWilson’s tune of the same name. Skate churches are nothing new. Here’s a roundup of Christians and skatebording in the news.

This is Brian Crane at the deceased Beaverton vert ramp back in ’00 or ’01. He was in a band called Avalauncher. One New Years eve he played in a one off band billed as the Pretendents, a Decendents cover band. We showed up and drank the last of the beer and rocked our asses off. It was great. A transplant from Milwaukee Wisconsin, Brian stopped going to the regular vert sessions when he lost his job or went back to school or something. We did see him briefly later with some fancy home made stash boxes made out of exotic hardwoods that he was crafting. Maybe the pseudo vert ramp conditions at Pier Park will see him come out of the woodwork again.

My friend Steve Grover has a theory that if you are over 30 and skateboard, you will eventually meet everyone else who is, or run into someone who knows them. This is not a strict application of that theory, but last night as I was trying to get in a few post-work runs at Pier Park before the sun drained, I ran into a recent transplant from Pennsylvania who just happened to be in Sunburry PA the day I took this picture of his friend Victor Koons. That would have been 2000 or 2001 when I went to Pennsylvania for Grover’s wedding. I was searching the hard drive for any other pictures I might have had from that session. I remember the shot of Victor was pretty much the only good one I got, but I did find this shot of a little kid who was barging the adjacent BMX track on his skateboard, and having a blast. I forgot the guy’s name I met last night. Dave maybe?

FedEx, Gatorade Propel, and Levis Dockers all have commercials currently airing using skateboards. They range from pretty good to average. Decode my cryptic title with video links and commentary after the jump.