This week’s Shot of the Week features Mark Conahan in a photo that he says he’s embarrassed of, but shouldn’t be. When is two and a half feet below the coping still an admirable feat? When there’s another 8 feet below you and the transition is ridiculously tight. This is the horizontal crop of the pic so it would fit in the post reasonably. Check out the vertical frame Shot of the Week and then follow the rest of this post to get an idea of how deep that deep end is. This pool was demolished this morning, so everyone who feels obligated to comment on how it looks like a piece of crap can just save your breath. Someone has to skate the crap so the super cool tough guys can get all the glory. Thanks again to the guy who gave us the opportunity to skate this very short lived pool. Much appreciated.

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This week’s Shot of the Week is the Q-Bert pool in Happy Valley, Oregon that everyone loves to hate. You don’t have to worry about how much it sucks anymore because it is recently deceased. This is Mark Conahan, obviously. If you think this pool is only good for “spending all day trying to get over the light,” I suggest you see the extra pic after the jump.

Check out the Shot of the Week

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I think this was an entry in some sort of video contest being held by the LA Times back in 06. It’s a collection of pool skating by the “Squarebuckets Crew” out of Plasterville, California that I know nothing about. I enjoyed the video, but neglected to post it until now.

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She says:

I hope I don’t break my neck!

Yeah, that would be a real, uh, shame.

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This is a Public Service Announcement, with(out) guitars. If you see this seemingly friendly, albeit sketchy looking dog hanging around by a certain pool, pay attention to him. He gets really agitated when you skate. Don’t stand too close to the coping in the shallow, because he bites. This dog bit me in the back when I wasn’t looking. It broke the skin. I hope his rabies shots are up to date.

Wouldn’t is suck to be the one family in this neighborhood who didn’t have their own backyard pool? I mean, you’d still have a very nice roof over your head, but still… This is a detail from a Vincent Laforet photo. It’s number 20 at his page on the Young Gallery.

I skate pools because Thrasher told me I in so many words that I was supposed to. I can’t remember the first time I read it, but I know the idea occurred to me originally because I would read about it Thrasher in the Mid 80’s. Each new issue of Thrasher used to be an all encompassing event for me. There simply was no other way to connect with skaters across the country, and across time. Reading Thrasher left an indelible imprint in my mind that roots skaters, real skaters skated backyard pools. As a result, I skated some pretty crappy pools in central Illinois. These weren’t exactly backyard, but more like municipal pools and hotel or apartment building pools. None of them were anything to write home about, and yet we pressed on.

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D.I.Y. concrete projects are being birthed everywhere these days. Unlike the D.I.Y. vert ramp heydays, these bowls will probably be around for a lot longer. This one attributed to Hermann is in the St Louis area, and it is getting close to being finished. It’s only a matter of time before the weather breaks for them out there. I mean it’s sunny in Oregon, fer chrissakes! Check out some more picks of this Midwest Gem.

This week’s Shot of the Week comes from the archives of our own Mark Conahan:

We were at a permission pool in Montebello, California. I drove. Eric (Dressen) used to hang out with us before he was discovered by Tony Alva.

Check out the full frame Shot of the Week

Some things once glorious, fade into tragedy or treachery. Danimal testifies:

Hass and I stopped by the River’s Inn last sunday and it looks like shit. We also barged the park in the evening on Easter Sunday

On the left, the tragedy of a permission pool neglected. On the right, the treachery of a public skatepark betrayed by the very people entrusted to serve the public. OK, I have to assume it’s a betrayal if the situation with the Klamath Falls skatepark is still as bad off as I had heard. Greatly reduced operating hours subject to the whim of a local business entity (without roots in skateboarding) that gets paid to act as the park pad nanny when the whole thing used to be unsupervised and free. K-Falls must be the one town in Oregon that doesn’t get it. Click to enlarge.