Kate Hudson’s decks looking great!

At least I think it looks like a Speed Demon deck…

kate hudson speed demon image

Picture yourself putting your skateboard gear on: helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, and a good shoe.  Now picture yourself jumping on your skateboard and riding to the nearest 7-11.  You park your gear outside, go inside and buy a Slurpee, and come out…only to find the local law enforcement hovering around your gear.  They intimidate you…they yell at you…you pick up your gear and run back home.

Is this Mt. Prospect, IL?  How about Lee’s Summit, MO?  LA? NY? Miami?  No.

It’s Bahrain.

Huh?

Yep, a little rich country in the Middle East (read the full story here).

Face it kiddies…this shtuff happens everywhere.

What can we do about it?

Nothing.

Live long, skate hard

Roach Man

I like this story about skateboarders damaging a barn in BC.

There are a couple of barns at the Salmon Arm Fair grounds mainly used for storing live animals (and an occasional homeless man).  With a skate park nearby, that wasn’t enough for the local skateboarders.  Some kids decided they were architects and proceeded to dismantle roof trusses.  You see, these trusses would get in the way of skateboard jumps.  You don’t want some kids not wearing helmets to run a jump, then suddenly smack their melon on an obtrusive truss.

So one day, a kid brought his dad’s tools (namely a saw) and cut off the trusses.  Walla!  Problem solved.  Unfortunately, these kids haven’t majored in Architecture and cut off a major piece of the roof puzzle.  If it was done over the winter, chances are the roof would collapse on all of them…killing them.

Moral of the story  Leave architecture to those who have a diploma.  Or, at the very least, leave it to your dad…this way, you can laugh your a$$ off when the barn roof collapses!

Ride strong

Roach Man

Why must the Japanese put electronics on everything? 

As you can see by this skateboard story, a Japanese company have placed robotics on a skateboard.  It’s not your run-of-the-mill skateboard…it weighs a cool 33 pounds…roughly half the weight of many kiddie skateboarders.  Apparently, it’s supposed to work just like one of those Segway two-wheelers (ever see the movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop?  Funny flick!).  If you lean forward, the board mvoe forward.  If you lean backward, it will either slow down or move backward.

But it’s not the point.

Is it cool?  Yep. 

Can you become lazy and not get your recommended daily exercise time?  Yep.

Can you grind? Nope.

Is it coing to cost as much as a cool, 1st beater car?  Yep.  Try over $1,000.

This toy is for daddy’s little Richie Rich to have.  Not for the serious boarder.

Take it from me…stick with what works best: you and your skateboard in the sakteboard park.

Ride Hard, Live Hard…

Roach Man

Townships are getting smarter.

Instead of posting a sign in English, they’ve come up with a new way to show “No Skateboarding, Skating, or Bicycling”.

This is a universal way to get their point across. No more excuses such as “I forgot my glasses so I couldn’t read the letters” or “Solly, no speka or reda ingles”.

No Skateboarding, Skating, or Bicycling in a 1000 languages

While learning to drive a car, my instructors would say “Look out for pedestrians…they ALWAYS have the right of way.” Also, my dad would say “If you hit a pedestrian, they’ll sue you…”

Pedestrians come in all shapes and sizes: old people crossing the street, moms crossing the road with their baby carriages, joggers, bicycle riders, thieves running from the cops, and skateboarders. Yes, skateboarders are pedestrians, too. They board on the sidewalk, they board at a skate park, and they also board on a street. They have the legal right to do so, as long as it doesn’t get annoying to businesses (kids, don’t board in front of a business, please).

But after reading this story, I am totally pissed off at the woman.

According to the story, a woman’s husband was riding his motorcycle down an avenue in one of those countries on the tiny island of Great Britain. Some kids were boarding nearby. All of a sudden a kid’s skateboard gets loose and the kid runs after it in the street. The motorcyclist panicked, didn’t apply his brakes and/or steered correctly, slid and crashed. He avoided the boarder/pedestrian, but died due to injuries.

I am very sorry for the loss. No one should lose a loved one.

But to sue the kid which ran out on the intersection? What will happen next?

“…a 10 year old is sued for riding his bike across the street and not looking both ways…”
“…Grandpa Jones is sued for damages to a front end of a car caused when car hit Jones…”
“…Jogger struck, killed, sued for not putting on blinkers…”

I know in the US, Americans are sue-crazy. Apparently, same goes for the British/Scottish/Irish speaking worlds.

My advice to motorcycle (and car) drivers is: Take a chill pill. Look out for Grandpa Jones crossing the street. Watch out for little Johnnie on his paper route. Pay attention to the health geeks jogging on the boulevard. Remember: skateboarders are pedestrians, too.

Ride Hard
Roach Man

This is absolutely cool! Too bad we don’t sell it…yet…at 44Skate.com

I found another town who doesn’t approve of skateboarding in a public place: Cary, IL

No skateboarding, no rollerblading, no nothing

They forgot to mention:
No Speaking
No Thinking
No Fun

I love reading Police Beat stories. They are good reading, especially in the can. But, I don’t bring my laptop in the can with me…so, I log in to my favorite Police Beat blog - the Arizona Daily Wildcat. They’ve got some great stories of kids / misfits breaking the law — mostly drug-related. What astounds me how the rent-a-cops look the other way on drug-related incidents. Yet, any incident regarding skateboarders are blown waaaaay out of proportion.

here’s the skateboarding story:

I can understand people have other hobbies in life. My hobby is watching TV. Yours may be reading. But looking at this story, a skateboarder is trying out for the WWF.

This kid got busted for skateboarding where he shouldn’t. So he resorts to throwing himself on the ground like WWF wrestlers do. What was the point? Was this his way of expressing anger? Was this some after-effect of his parent’s up-bringing? Imagine him kicking and screaming on the high-chair when forced to eat his peas?

Now, for the “fun” stories.

#1: No sleping in the library
Looks like a heroin addict was using the library as his hotel. He was caught with paraphenalia. Yet, he wasn’t arrested.

#2: Marijuana Candy
A guy is freaking out after eating some pot-laced Jolly Ranchers. The cops found the source, informed the “owner” of the law, and told her to get rid of them. Nice. A slap on the wrist.

#3: Skateboard citation: the main story above.

#4: Car and Battery missing
Not much of a story. Car stolen. Car found. Stereo equipment gone. Batter gone. Surprise, Surprise!

I figured the skateboarding story was enough to grab my attention.

My advice to you: if you ever get busted for skateboarding where you weren’t supposed to, don’t whine about it. Take it like a man.

Roach Man rolling out…