Checked out the new Kelso, Washington skatepark yesterday, where the locals were friendly and the concrete was…

…really smooth in the shallow and street area with vast expanses of bumpy patches and washed out transitions in the deep end. Not the locals seemed to mind at all, I asked one kid who built it and he said he didn’t know, he was “just there to tear shit up.” According to one BMXer on deck, the park was designed by Rodd Marks and built by a bunch of construction workers in the city. 80% of the concrete is smooth as silk, but everything over shoulder height looks like it was finished by an entirely different crew.

You make your own fun right? Take the exit with the Target store, go north on the first street on the east side of the highway.

Here’s the view as you approach the park.

And this is the punchline. “No scooters aloud. 3pm Bitchs.” Does that mean no scooters allowed after 3pm? Is it a cautionary message directed at a scooter gang called the “3pm Bitches.”

Whew. That’s a big drop. That clamshell in the back doesn’t really go over vert. It’s more of an elevator extension.

I like the heavy metal works, but I still hate heavy metal.

Abandon all hope, ye who enter the deep end. It does have pool coping though.

I keep looking for this Sears catalog from 1965, but they always go for upwards of $40 when I’m watching. Too much for me, but i’d never actually seen the page before, but I knew it existed. This one showed up as an ancillary illustration to another Sears Hot Dog board on eBay. The same board they used on an episode of Green Acres. It’s at this point in the interview that I mention for the umpteenth time that I got my first skateboard at a Sears. Enlarge-o-rama.

- Thanks to Dave P. for the tip.

Shiner distribution in England is opening up their vaults and having a deck show. The rumor is that they kept at least one of every deck that ever went through there. The show is running for a month at Howies in Bristol. Opening day is Saturday, April 17th.

This is a sneak preview trailer for a one off exhibition of 3 deckades of skateboard art that howies and Shiners Distribution are curating at howies 62 Queens Road store in Bristol running from April 17th. Chris Allen of Shiner has kindly agreed to let us have access to their whole archive of decks. We’ve chosen over 200 favorites which will be on show for a month. With boards from every deckade that Shiners have been distributing the biggest names in skateboarding to the british public it will be a treat for any skateboard fan and graphic freak . There will be decks on show from Dogtown, Sims, Sant Cruz, Powell Peralta, Vision, Schmitt stix, G & S, Zorlac, Alva, Santa Monica Airlines, plus a host of others. There will also be a series of one off decks painted by guest artists that will be auctioned for unicef at the end of the exhibition. All boards are hand painted and Jim Phillips, Geoff McFetridge, Pete Fowler, French, Kev Grey, Will Barras, Mr Jago, China Mike, Marcus Oakley, Andy J Miller, Chris Bourke, Mr Bingo, Bowlegs, Millie Marotta, Gav Strange, Danny Wainwright, Jethro Haynes and Nigel Peake’s boards will all be on show for the month.

The St Petersburg Times has an article on the Bro Bowl in Tampa and a documentary in progress.

No matter how hard you try to keep it a secret, somewhere, someone you don’t know is going to find it. I’m not going to tell you where, except to say that my mother in-law lives in this state. At first you might think it’s a coincidence that the satellite caught this pool on a day it was drained for maintenance. But if you look closer, you’ll notice some other suspicious concrete work, and what might possibly be some of the blue fiberglass ramps of the Thrasherland type set up in a closed track. I think those buildings might actually be ramps.

I’m watching this first video by “Jimmy” that looks like it takes palce in Corvallis and an Harrisburg, Oregon, And I’m thinking, Damn! That’s the scene to be in. What do those guys need help with a skatepark for? Just kidding about the skatepark thing there BCSA, but your locals are tearing it up! The second video was shot at Pier Park by KC, and aside from Thomas shown in the bottom still shot, it mainly features Shane Bell, who looks like he has recovered from his bone break in his leg about a year ago.

Since we’ve already discussed the merits of natural and synthetic wine corks, I feel we can confidently add modern landscape design our list of high brow topics. I’m not talking about skate plazas or the appropriation of public spaces. I’m talking about how Thomas Dolliver Church, the acclaimed author of Gardens are for People and the father of modern landscape architecture (California Style) was widely credited with influencing garden and pool design with his influential free form pool in hi most famous work, El Novillero. Truth is, he didn’t invent the kidney pool though. He most he was inspired by a visit to FInland’s Alvar Aalto Villa Mairea, which also featured a free form pool. That’s El Novillero above left, and Villa Mairea on the right. So there you have it. Kidney pools were invented in Finland in 1937, not in California, circa 1948.

[Source: Intercontinental Gardener] – Thanks to Jarno Väisänen for the tip.

BCSA ART & MUSIC 2010 at the Vue, 517 SW 2nd St, Corvallis, OR on March 13. All proceeds from the silent auctions go towards the Eric Scott McKinley Skatepark improvements. Contact the BCSA for more information (bcskateboardingalliance@gmail.com). My lame ass will be in the Seattle burbs this weekend. On top of that, I didn’t get my art done in time. However, I did take five minutes out of my busy life to make this post, so I care… a little. (Next year for sure!) I believe MC is going to make good though.

It doesn’t get much purer than this. You have to build it before you can play. That’s your barrier to entry. Also worth mentioning, non-athletic shoes. VIntage Life magazine.

- Thanks to Andy Wylie for the tip.

Here’s two shots from Curtis Spencer down in Redmond, Oregon. The skaters name is Remy, or possibly Renny.