If you are in the Portland area on Friday, there are two video premiers going down. The first one is at Burnside, Shrunken Head will be showing Cancer Dust and the new Concussion video titled Straight to the Bottom. If that’s not enough, there’s a release party for issue #8 of the PDX zine Sauce. That’s 10pm Friday night at Burnside, and it’s free. Also that night, The Dept. will be premiering the new video “Debacle” from Nike SB on Friday June 12th @ 8PM. This vid focuses on the ams and includes full parts from Justin Brock, Daryl Angel, Shane O’Neill, David Clark and Grant Taylor. The whole thing was shot in HD and features some handiwork of The Dept.’s own Tyler Brown. Flyers for both events after the jump.

Sleestock 2009 is this weekend, June 6th and 7th in Hood River. I had planned to attend but the concrete doesn’t wait for anyone. I might be able to make it out for a bit on Sunday. If you get into town early on Friday June 5th, Wally Inouye’s IPS skate shop will have three live bands (Pink Gravel, OAC, & The Vipers) as part of Hood River’s First Friday, starting at 5pm..

OK kids, come check out Skate Life NW this Sunday from 12-5 behind DOS. There will be a grill, a bunch of product you probably haven’t seen, some Schwag – I believe Nike SB has donated some gear. And then there’s the best trick contest on the bank to wall at DOS with a cash prize. Stop by and say hi! Throw some food on our grill. All we ask is that you love us, please? LOCAL ZINES: Show up and set up for free! List of attendees after the jump.

It may have been pen for months already, but the Ed Benedict grand opening celebration is this Saturday, May 30th. 1:15 PM Ceremony: Commissioner Saltzman, Commissioner Fish, PP&R Director Zari Santner 1:30 PM Adidas/Tribute Skateboards Skate Jam 2:00 PM Best Trick Competition 2:30 PM PP&R Skate Jam Invitational (grades K-8 and 9-12)

The review of Mingus Park, also known as Coos Bay, is deep and smooth with fast coping. The street area has yet to be developed. When you pull up, it looks like a 1950’s flying saucer. The pool is deep and fast. The shallow end is a hero’s drop in. The deep end is fun and easy to ride. This is the link between Reedsport and Port Orford. You can now skate yourself silly on the coast hitting a park every half hour. There were about a hundred people skating on Saturday, the day after it officially opened. I would like to thank the Mayor for his hand-written invitation to Mingus Park. Hope to see him next time I drive through. P.S. Surrounding the park are baseball fields and tennis courts; none of them used. Eight great iPhotos after the jump. Thanks to EPM for the gorgeous shot of yours truly. He’s got some more shots of Matt Kline killing it.

Yo, loyal viewers. Here is just the opposite of the big pool party (Protec) in California, The second Burnside non-test. No stars, no free guitars, just local skate studs and mall graders. This thing really felt like some sort of family reunion. Even though I do not ride there that much anymore, people are always welcoming. I was only there for about a half hour so I am sure I missed a ton of good footage, but here is what I captured. P.S. What is Q’s secret for such a strong looking body?

According to The World, Mingus Park skate park in Coos Bay will have it’s official ribbon cutting ceremony on May 22. Until then it’s going to remain fenced off. I don’t know why, but this sentence cracks me up: After consulting with its insurance company, the city’s decided that it’s OK for people to use roller blades and skates, though bikes and scooters are still banned. As if they were going to build it and then decide that nobody could use it. Pictures courtesy of Concrete Warefare on MySpace. There are some construction pictures here on SnA and some more recent photos on EPM. – Thanks to Tristen Reasor for the tip.

Skate Life NW has been pushed back a day to May 31st to avoid a conflict with the official grand opening of Ed Benedict skatepark. We’ve added a bunch of companies to the official attending list, with more to come. Check it out at Skate Life NW.

So we’re involved with this thing called Skate Life Northwest. In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a lot of hype on the Northwest. It’s the first annual (we hope) event that is essentially a trade-show-ish meet/hang out thingy to check out Northwest based skateboard companies and assorted scensters. Probably really close to to what Thrasher was donig for a while, only regional. It is my hope that along with some of the strict skateboard companies we can also get some zines and other skateboard related entities there. Let’s own this thing before someone else does. We got on it very last minute, so it can only get better next year! At the very least, it will be a good excuse to hang out and throw some food on the grill. It’s going ot be behind the Department of Skateboarding who is strictly actin in the landlord capacity for this event. There will be a short bank to wall contest with a cash prize as well. More details at SkateLifeNW.com. Hope to see you all there if you are in the neighborhood. My top rejected name for the event: “Northwest Kookfest – A trade show”

Mosaik Board Shop is having a best trick contest and video premier of King of the Road on Saturday, May 9th at the Richland Skatepark in Richland Washington, one of the Tri-Cities… What are the other two? I don’t know. Flyer after the jump.