No, X-Carve is not another alternative skateboard designed to simulate surfing and snowboarding. It’s a hobbyist or slightly better grade CNC machine made by Inventables, a company whose goal is to bring manufacturing capabilities to (very) small business owners and DIY designers/inventors. There are small commercial CNC machines available, but not at this price point, which is roughly $800-$1300, depending on the size you want. There are also open source DIY plans for making your own CNC machines, but those can end up costing about the same, and while there are communities out there, support and troubleshooting building your own machinery, sourcing materials and integrating the software can be a daunting task for some. I’ve been trolling DIY CNC machines on and off for years for use specifically in manufacturing skateboards, and I would be ready to pull the trigger on an X-Carve setup (or at least set up a Kickstarter! Gimme, gimme, gimme…) but even though the X-Carve is specifically advertised as being capable of making skateboards, the reality is that it isn’t quite big enough for actual skateboard manufacturing. I’ll explain why after the jump. [Photo (Top right): Skateboard cut out with X-carve – Blue Sky photos /…

It’s been about 4 years since Skate and Annoy mentioned Fruit Shoot, but they’ve been shredding it up while our eyes were averted. They’ve got a YouTube channel that “…is the place to get all your info on Skills, whether you’re a football freestyler, a skater, a BMX flatlander, a dancer, or an urban gymnast.” I know skateboarders and Urban Gymnasts have historically been at odds with each other, vandalizing each other’s hal pipes and parallel bars, but the time has come to live peacefully amongst the larger Extreme!® community. To help you uncover your skills they’ve unlisted the talents of skateboarding pro (?) Stefani Five-O. They’ve fixed a series of skateboarding tutorials that she hosts. She actually skates in some of the basic ones, but hands off the more difficult moves to an accomplice. I guess she’s no Nikki Rose Quinlan. Who is she? You can meet her in a video bio. Up top is a screen capture from the Netherlands version of the Fruit Shoot web site. Skateboarding tutorials with Stefani and a couple TV commercials after the jump. – Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.

Tony Hawk loves movies and he’s going to talk about it for some reason, most likely because the folks at Fandango asked him to. They’d also like to remind you of his foundation. i guess movie theaters are having a hard go of things. I hear two large ones in NE portland at the mall are shutting down. I just caught the latest Mad Max in the theater, and holy cow… It’s an amazing addition to the series, doing the franchise much more justice than the Beyond the Thunderdome. The first two will always be flawed but “best,” However, Fury Road is insane. Now that I’ve done my part for the industry (freee of charge no less, and don’t forget about my foundation), click through to hear Tony talk about The Spy Who Loved Me and The Naked Gun.

We ridicule a lot of so-called skateboard improvements here on S&A, but here’s one that actually could be useful for a select subset of skateboarders who already use riser pads. Why not have the option to stash “something” in your risers or pop in a mount that holds your Go Pro? That’s probably the biggest seller right there, one that I’m surprised GoPro doesn’t already offer. I wonder if it’s similar to the setup they use on the Sony Action Cam. If you want to buy them you can fund their Indiegogo campaign. They are also trying to fund a much less novel idea in the form of another clear skateboard. I guess it’s worth noting that the deck is made from bulletproof glass, so if there’s a drive-by shooting you can hide behind it.

Tony Hawk for the the Sony Action Cam, otherwise known as a Go Pro camera with an awkward form function. The promo video on loop in the display features Tony Hawk and Lizzie Armanto, selfie sticks and and even a bracket for mounting it under a skateboard. I should have got a screen cap of that bracket, as it looks like there is no skateboard specific bracket, but the video did briefly show a camera snapping into a bracket in front of the rear truck. I ‘d like to see how the made it work with their universal bracket. “Retired” sports figures are still used to sell products, but Tony’s the only one who can still perform up to the standards that made him famous in the first place. He’s not standing around with a bottle of talcum powder like Shaq.

A trip to Target is a 50/50 chance that’s I’ll be able to squeak out a quick post. This time I found this helpful display instruction accidentally left on by an employee who stocked the shelves. Maybe the next version the Kryptonics produces will have an addendum that says “Don’t forget to remove this notice.” This is the very important, critical piece of skateboarding history that would be lost if I were not out there tirelessly documenting it. Betsy, where’s my Nobel Peace prize? Part of me actually wanted to take the paper notice home with me, but how embarrassing would it have been trying to explain that to store management after I got stopped by security, walking out the door?

Cookies, chips, and soda! Actually, that used to be a diet that sustained me well around the time these boards were made. Check out these skateboards featuring the Keebler Elf, Chester the (Cheetos) Cheetah, and the Coke logo.

Here’s an 80’s era token or coin with the Kool-Aid man riding a skateboard as well as skateboarding in a 70’s era Kool-Aid commercial. Unfortunately, Kool-Aid Man doesn’t ride the skateboard, and the kids spend more time talking about skateboarding than actually riding. Video quality is craptactular, if anyone has a better source let me know.

The Kilwag offspring have been trained well to enable my OCD act as spotters for potential content for Skate and Annoy. One of them pointed out an anthropomorphic carrot shredding on the packaging of Cool Cuts Carrots from ready Pac. Carrots with ranch dip? It should say carrots with attitude!

Scion brings you the worst ever Northwest skatepark tour, featuring Riley Hawk and something called a “Shep Dawg” crew. There’s something to be said for traveling off the beaten path, but given the wealth available terrain in the Northwest, the park selection is pretty weak. They actually go to a good spot (Windells) but it’s raining, so they stick to the indoor section. Let’s face it, nobody wants/needs to see a session at an indoor wooden skatepark unless it’s phenomenal. Then there’s a prolonged, implied commercial for Exit Real World that sticks out like a sore thumb. The contrast and tension between the spots, action and bad soundtrack (which you can download) makes the whole damned thing really awkward. But then here I am reposting it, so it works on some level. The screen capture above is the best part of the video, watch the rest at your peril. – Thanks to MC for the tip.