It’s going to be one parade of lameness here on Skate and Annoy today, so you better brace for it. Kicking it off are these lovely fraternity flavored longboards, as seen here, although it’s not evident that any of these have actually been produced because all the links are dead. – Thanks to Kelly Robertson for the tip.

Ironic that the self proclaimed “Longboard Mega Ramp” is dwarfed by the “regular-don’t-call-it-short” board mega ramp, even though the wheelbases on the regular mega ramp are significantly longer than boards they would, uhm, regularly ride. So it’s big to be sure, but not a mega ramp by any stretch. Actually, I remember there’s a mini mega ramp in eastern Oregon or Washington that is about the same size as this one, ridden with ordinary skateboards. I guess it’s all about the marketing. My favorite part of the video is where the guy talks about wanting to take early grabs to the next level. It does look like fun however, regardless of what size board you ride. Brought to you by Original Skateboards. – Thanks to Seth Grossman 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.

There was a tradition of converting old waterskis into skateboards that seems to have fallen by the wayside in this millennium, but someone over at Deep is keeping it alive. This was just a personal project, these guys also make those artisan longboards. the web site is a little maddening because there’s no indication of who, what, or where Deep is, outside of some vague manifesto, but hey, I guess that’s art.

This is goofy and fun to watch. If you can’t have fun with skateboarding that falls out of your own personal style then.. oh I give up. I don’t actually, because I’m still posting this. Some interesting cinematography. Bookmarked inside the wacky costumes and tomfoolery is some amazingly technical skating. At times, essentially masterful freestyle moves done on giant oversized boards. I hope you enjoy it, and if not, choke on it. From Loaded Longboards: Of Troglodytes and Men.

So far my alma mater is famous for two things, the birthplace of the fictional self-aware computer Hal 9000, and the place where internet browsers were invented. And now the University of Illinois is pushing the Corn board, a composite material made from the husks and stalks of corn plants. Think of it as a replacement for particle board. Something you could build houses and miniramps out of, and well, skateboards. Technically, longboards, and just the core. It seems like you could stuff just about anything in the core of longboards, even Bonite! I’ll be impressed when they can make a shortboard out of that stands up to Canadian Maple. Actually, I’m impressed by the recycling bit. It would be great to cut down on wood consumption, although I thought particle board was already made from discarded bits of wood used to make other things. Unless anyone is specifically cutting down trees to make particle board, it’s not really going to save anything. Is it really “green” to take something that would otherwise decompose and turn it into something that won’t? The Daily Illini (The “student” newspaper run by a privately owned media company) has an article with some of…

What do dads want for Father’s day? At least one dad wants a new deck. From the June 15th edition of the Metro in New York. – Thanks to Doug for the tip.

There’s a bunch of guys traveling across different countries on skateboards. Guiness World records for distance must be falling faster than world’s biggest skateboard records. The only reason I’m bringing up Rob Thomson from New Zealand so I can lament over the fact that Flight of the Conchords is not returning for another season. Well that, and the fact that Thomson uses a trailer on his longboard. For some reason, he’s got like five web sites. Follow his exploits on Skatefurther.net as well as 14 degrees off the beaten track. I guess that’s only two web sites. Get the long winded explanation of the trailer on his YouTube channel.

My daughter snapped this shot while visiting friends at Oregon State University. Looks like if you cabled two of the rungs together your trucks and wheels might keep someone from removing the board. Is this really a skate rack? I wonder if the thing fills up with longboards during class hours.