McBride skate plaza won a Tony Hawk Foundation grant. The grand opening is this Saturday, February 11. Pictures via park creators Spohn Ranch.

Amongst skateboarders that have actually been to more than one skatepark, American Ramp Company is easily one of, if not the most hated so-called skatepark companies. They’re basically a playground equipment manufacturer that has done really well for themselves with clueless park districts and municipalities across the country. Well enough that they’ve acquired other companies in order to break into the concrete market. They’ve used questionable financial logic in proselytizing their prefab metal ramp program, largely based on how durable they are and cheap to install. There are examples on the web of ARC projects that ended in disappointment. Someone noticed a pattern, because the law offices of Dermer Behrendt are bringing a law suit against the American Ramp Company on behalf of the United States and a long list of plaintiffs. Why the United States of America? Not because ARC is an offense to all skateboarders and skateboarding was invented in America (Damnit!), but because ARC installed a bunch of junk on some Air Force bases. Mission Accomplished! American pastimes? Lawsuits and Skateboarding. I’m not a fan of frivolous lawsuits, but this one gives me a warm fuzzy. Still, I am worried that this could somehow adversely affect other other skatepark builders.

UPDATE:  This post originally contained links to a web site with information about the lawsuit. Almost 4 years later, the domain name americanrampcompanylawsuit . com appears to have been hacked, or lapsed and was taken over by unscrupulous parties, and as of 5/4/16  is a suspected phishing site. The links have been removed.

– Thanks to Concretin Nik for the tip.

Near as I can tell, Tashkeel is like a health club for artists living the United Arab Emirates. I don’t mean an actual health club, but like a health club. You know, pay your dues and and you get to go the art club and use the facilities to make art. Pay some extra money and you get to take some fancy classes. What’s up for workshops now? Skateboarding. We’re all artists, every time we step on a board. What’s the skate terrain equivalent of one a Tippy the Turtle art test? Whatever the rationale, the end result looks fun. Check it out after the jump.

– Thanks to Boy Ipoh for the tip.
( Note, Boy is going to arm wrestle Matthijs for the King of Tips belt.)

These 100% cardboard skateboards from Bill Barminski are really cool. Not quite $1000 cool, but maybe he prices them that high so he doesn’t have to turn them over to anyone else.

[Source: BoingBoing] – Thanks to Seth Levy for the tip.

Crystal clear plexiglass skateboard by Pulp68, although it’s not on their site anywhere. Pictures via Rad Collector. Video after the jump.

– Thanks to Boy Ipoh for the tip.

Wood burning on skateboards courtesy of Minus Five in Brooklyn. Dude, your resumé link is broken.

It’s being reported that Rob Dyrdek is negotiating the purchase of Alien Workshop off of Burton.

“While Rob’s message was definitely premature, we did want to confirm that we are in an open dialog with him about a possible purchase. At this point, please note that nothing is confirmed, and we will absolutely do a formal announcement when and/or if that transition happens.”

That kid loves Ohio. I imagine that’s got to be a good feeling, buying the brand that gave you a start in your own neck of the woods.

[Source: Shop Eat Surf via Skateboarder Image exceprt: Gentlemanly Conduct]

P.S. Yes, I realize this is not exactly hot off the presses.

It looks like a cross between classic Duane Peters graphic and a Bob Schmelzer graphic, on a skull skates shape. Tyler picked this up at work one day, but the original owner couldn’t shed any light on in it. The deck itself seems of a higher quality than typical bootlegs of the era. Is it a test print or a misprint that later had unrelated designs screened on it? Enlarged after the jump.

This week’s Shot of the Week is Gabe Spotts with a switch Heelflip in Salt Lake City, UT, from Gage Thompson.

Thanks to the good folks (Jack Smith) at the Skateboarder’s Journal, we have 3 subscriptions (Published quarterly, normally $25 a year) to give away. Same rules as last time, leave a comment in this post and 3 winners will be chosen at random. Contest ends on February 9th at midnight. In the mean time, check out the Skateboarder’s Journal online community and Facebook page.

WINNERS: Jeff (Me! Me! Me!), Talentless Quitter, and Idahosk8gringo. Thanks again to the Skateboarder’s Journal.