Some parents buy kits to assemble swing sets and sandboxes for their kids. Things in Oregon are a little different. I was at a BBQ this weekend where the dad had built a small mini ramp and a rock climbing wall on the outside of his wife’s studio almost entirely made from salvage lumber. This was a “Welcome Spring” BBQ in Oregon, so of course it rained, but dad had the possibility of bad weather covered. Alternate picture after the jump.

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Skateboarding really is dead! A disappointing marketing turnout for Valentine’s Day has been followed up with a similarly anemic skateboarding Easter. The Scooby-Doo extreme Easter baskets are nowhere to be seen this year, and so far the only thing I’ve found is a pocket skateboard game (Skate Jam) that is housed in the chassis of a VW hippie bus. I saw it with the rest of the easter paraphernalia at Target. For some reason they chose to market these with a few Easter Eggs on the packaging, which is odd. There’s nothing inherently Easter-ish about VW vans. Makes me think they will drop well below $6 in a few days. That rabbit is something I had laying around from the 80’s.

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A lot of kids are scared of bowls. Judi Oyama shared a quick note on some lessons she helped organize for local kids at the Santa Cruz Skate Park. (Judi goes with the official two word spelling of skate park, making me break with every other time “skatepark” has appeared on this site. How do we get that change adopted?)

Skate class with my buds. We had 11 kids signed up 10 showed and we had 15 on the waiting list. This photo is classic. Gary was showing the kids how to kick turn. We had many of them dropping into the small pool and learning the basics. Thanks Gary Holl, Eric and Patty for the help.

Cool photo. I offer help to kids if they ask or I think they might be receptive, but taking time out to organize a formal event for the benefit of kids is more than I’m willing to do. Fortunately for Judi (and park locals who don’t need lessons), they are only doing it once every couple of months.

This week’s Shot of the Week is one from Nathan Gray. He took it last year in Bangalore India. If Nathan’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he is involved in the Sour video project we covered recently that documented a historical cultural skate session with skaters from Jordan and Israel that was filmed during the Israeli, Lebanon war/incursion/police action/violation of sovereignty, or whatever you want to call it, of 2006.

See the full size version.

A skate photographer only gets a few lucky breaks in his or her life. (Actually, where are the female photogs?) All my time and effort has paid off now that I gained secret access to Danny Way’s training facility for his upcoming skateboard mega jump of the Luxor Hotel and Casino. I’m headed to the big time now. Exclusive pictures after the jump.

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Rick went to the meeting and wrote a recap. My favorite part is this excerpt.

The committee and THPRD have no plan at all to keep more advanced skaters or bikes out of the novice park. In fact, they seemed very surprised, and somewhat dismayed, that the “advanced” (in years, if not ability) skaters and bikers at the meeting thought the new park looked fun and that we did plan to ride there when it opens.

I love it when park officials get dismayed that a park looks fun. You can read the whole story and see some renders of the proposed site after the jump.

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Getting ready to take a trip to Florida with my two and a half year old kid. Need to buy him a carry on bag. Must fight competing urges to barf and/or buy an Elmo skateboarding suitcase. See it larger after the jump.

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Hey guys, I work for the Tualatin Hills Parks District, and this morning my boss gave me word that the Thursday after next the parks district will be having an open house with Grindline to hear from local people what they would prefer for a NOVICE skatepark. I highlight novice because I know if there’s anyone that’s all about ripping the deep end, it’s MC…

I swear, if I hear any complaining about building novice parks for beginners, you are all fired, kicked off the staff, team or whatever! I hear that they might consider a bowl if there is enough interest, but please, let’s not stack the deck. Instead we should consider the needs of the community. Plus, a good novice park might draw all the little scrappers away from the more advanced parks in the region.

So there you have it. When: Thursday February 28. 6pm- 8pm. Where: Dryland Conference Room at the Howard M Terpenning Recreation Complex. 15707 SW Walker Road, Beaverton, OR 97006. Additioanl information contact Wendy Bell, Park planner at 503 529 6305 x2932, or wbell at thprd dot com.

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Sure, it’s got nice packaging, fancy electronics and a marketing campaign to back it up, but I bet this Math Mission game for the Leaptster Learning Game System isn’t nearly half as gnar as Radical Mathematical.

Check out the Travis Bickle looking rugrat in these catalog shots for Knuckleheads Clothing. These guys are also sponsoring that weird skate demo at the motorcycle show. Hey, I’ve got rugrats too. They sure would look good in some of that. Hint. Hint.