This week’s Shot of the Week is courtesy of Dylan Davies. It’s a nice 4×5 camera shot of Grant from New Zealand at the Bonsor skatepark full pipe in British Columbia, Canada. Every time I see pictures of this park it makes me think it’s some old relic, but I guess it’s actually from this millennium. You gotta admire the skate photographer who uses a 4×5 view camera. You need to lug the camera to the location, load the film in a true dark room,none of that red light cheating, do your metering, focus on the ground glass and pop the film back onto the camera. Then you slide the slidey thing out (it’s been a while) and hit the shutter release. Then slide it back in, take the film back off and bring it to a dark room to develop, one negative at a time. That’s a lot of hassle to get a decent shot. Not something you’d want to try on a kickflip variation that might be a bust on the first 20 tries.

Check out the full frame version.

This week’s Shot of the Week is Greg Baller at a bowl in Halifax, Nova Scotia as shot by Steve Hayes, AKA “Shayes.” Said Greg,

We paint the park regularly because the graffiti is awful here! Right now it is beige/brown, and with a few throw pillows would be quite tasteful.

What about some shag carpeting? Check it out.

I lifted this from Earthwing Skateboards where they have a larger version and no information other than this is a guy named Adam Auger, who apparently rides for Rayne. That’s the Montreal Olympic Stadium. There are lots of shots eslewhwere, but this is the only shot I’ve seen of it from this angle. It almost looks as if there is a half pipe at the bottom where the roof meets the ground in the, uh, foreground. Pretty clever, actually. The snow melts and funnels into a collection pond. Previously, the only skateboarding I’ve heard about associated with this stadium is Big O. Getting back to Adam Auger, I don’t know anything about him, but there’s a video after the jump and some random Big O vids too.

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There’s this thing called the Urban Circus that has “a contemporary look, it boasts dancing, swaggering, swinging, swaying and skateboarding.” The actual name is 7 Doigts (fingers), and it’s a French Canadian operation that is more or less a poor man’s Cirque De Soleil. Traces is the name of the particular show they are currently putting on. All the press keeps mentioning skateboarding, as if it’s an integral part of the show, but all the photos and various video clips out there suggest it might be more “skateboard-inspired.” But still, everytime something gets written about the show, basketball and skateboards get big billing. Well, I finally found some actual skateboarding. Looks like they are using them as little more than dance props. Extreme!™ I’d rather watch the guy who skates and dances on crutches, aka the Virtual Provocateur.

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Girls get no respect skateboarding. Whether it’s some sleazy businessman making cheesy adverts (or some sleazy web site editor reposting them!) or Fuel TV running jiggle girls on top of the airing of the Skate Girl documentary. What happens when they end up on Mexican TV? Well, they get introduced by cast full of Cuchi Cuchi girls bouncing up and down in their seats like Charo. And of course, the closing set has the cast doing some lame sidewalk surfing in place. Chica Rider is a Mexican organization devoted to girls who skate. They were profiled on some sort of entertainment show on Mexican TV.

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From CBC News in New Brunswick, Canada

Skateboarder jailed after refusing to pay fine

A Fredericton man who refused to pay a fine for skateboarding on city streets has been taken into custody and will be sent to jail. Lee Breen, 25, was fined in the summer of 2007 after receiving several warnings. After not paying the initial $50 fine, it was increased to $100. A judge then ordered him in April to pay the fine or be sent to jail for five days.

But he’s not doing it because he’s too broke to pay the fine, he’s actually trying to make a point! He’s challenging the nuisance law under the grounds that skateboarding is not inherently dangerous and provides a environmentally friendly means of travel. About 80 people rallied outside the courthouse as he was taken into custody. Skateboarding is a crime!

- Thanks to Michael Brooke for the tip

Look out for this amazing entry into the heated surfing simulation battle from On Shore Boards. No seriously. I mean look out for it, because if one of these things catches you in the ankle, your walking days are over. These guys are so into simulating surfing, they made a guy ride a board into a water puddle. Now you and I both know that a company with such amazing technology is going to stick around for the long haul. They obviously have a lot of business savvy since somehow managed to squeeze three patents out of combined pre-existing technologies. Just in case they aren’t around in a year or two, I’ve got some highlights for the archives.

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Separated at birth: This photo of my old friend Jay taken circa ‘85 in suburban Illinois, and this photo of Mike Blake at the North Vancouver Canadian Nationals in 1980. No, not the skaters or the action by any means, but the graffiti for sure. It even takes the hatred a little longer to filter out to the Midwest. Or at least it did before the Interwebs™! [Photo: Right - Calstreets]

Man, getting hacked and a having to essentially take 24 hours off from the web site due to work (real job in the real world) really set me back here. I feel like I lost this whole week. This week’s very, very late Shot of the Week comes from Dylan Davies. It’s Warren Jones doing a backside flip over a the seven set at the Vancouver Plaza in Vancouver BC. Check it out.

Yes folks, it’s the same people that bring you modern day cannibals, a woman who had 69 babies and the 200 pound tumor. The 9th wonder of the world appears to be something known as the “Urban Jib Park.” Witness the wonder and the horror of The Ripley’s Urban Rail Park - an urban rider’s dream, according to the folks at Polson Pier in Toronto, where it is located. Although open since December 21st, pictures of the actual park appear to be as rare as ostrich-footed Africans. Apparently, they built some rails at the bottom of a pile of snow for the snowboarders and put up a big heated tent with some ramps for the skaters. Things must be bleak in Toronto, because you can even buy a season pass for all this awesomeness:

20ft wide 4 foot mini-ramp
4 stair with hand rail
60 ft wide bank with grind box at the top
5 ft ¼ pipe
6 ft ¼ pipe
Fun box with rail

They will have unspecified rock concerts, pro demos and contests. I predict that this park sucks - BELIEVE IT OR NOT!!

[Source: PR-Inside]

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