Craig Snyder is working on a book called “A Secret History Of The Ollie And The Pioneers Of Skateboarding.” Believe it or not, he’s got not two, but three whole volumes planned. I’m tempted to kick in if only to see how he can fill three books on the subject. He’s been working on it for six years, so there’s got to be at least one volume’s worth. From the description it seems to be focusing on the east coast, specifically Florida, at least the first volume. He’s publishing it himself, and to that end he’s got a project set up on Kickstarter. Here’s how it works. People pledge money to the project. It can be as small as $3, or large enough ($25) to get you a copy of the book if it is published. There’s a funding goal that has to be met, and if it isn’t nobody gets charged a penny. If it is, the book gets published and you get your copy if you pledged enough. You can find more info at theolliebook.com, or the blog.

P-town Throwdown this Saturday at Pendleton Skatepark Appearances by Bacon dudes. Benji, Johnny, Oudalay, and Jeff Ferris who will be traveling here in a time machine from the eighties to emcee. I swear, the kid could be an illegitimate son of Steve Schneer. Flyer after the turn.

Tito over at Team Pain sent in some pics from a recent lunchtime session at the Broomfield, Colorado skatepark, which is currently under construction. It appears to be almost done actually, but maybe we’re not seeing the whole park. All the sunshine in those pictures, it’s like a foreign country compared to Oregon so far this wet and dreary summer. Seriously Mom Nature, WTF?

This is from a Mr Potato Head card game that apparently features lots of different professions, skateboarder among them. We have arrived.
Why does he have braces?

– Thanks to Mark Pendergrass for the scan.

Here’s a rock and roll musical video for Darkest Of Kin by the hard rock band Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. The kids are really dancing to it with their sock hops and Walkmans. It’s hard as hell to tell in this video, but I saw a Salba, and possibly a Hosoi and a Duncan. I don’t know who else I missed.

– Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.

Venerable 80’s east coast zine out of Maryland with one of the best names ever is online. I’ve had my internet eye open for it for years, but I’ve been lax lately as Killer Dork Sessions has been up for a while now. Lots of old photos and four hours of videos if you can believe it. Plus you can download some old issues.

This video would be pretty good if only these guys had a sense of humor, some skills on a skateboard and a fake corporate sponsor of course.

Before you get your hopes up, this was a one off reunion gig at a benefit. In fact, FM Static distinctly warned the crowd that they should “…go nuts now cause it ain’t gonna fucking happen again!” Well, Epoxies fans can only hope he’s not a man of his word.

I’ve heard from a couple of different sources (some of them reliable even!) that The Department of Skateboarding, or D.O.S., will be shutting down at some point mid-summer. The rumor is that the building was sold, and the bowl is scheduled to be closed down as early as June, with the rest of it to follow possibly in August. This seems at odds with their posted summer camp schedule. Colin has an associate of D.O.S. scheduled to appear on his radio show on June 16th. Maybe we’ll get an answer then. It will be a blow to Portland’s skate scene if D.O.S. does shut down. It’s the only indoor street course of any mentionable square footage accessible to the public in the greater Portland area. No word on what this might mean for the attached Cals Pharmacy skate shop, a long time fixture in Portland.

[Image: SkateAllCities]

I’m unclear as to whether or not this XBox commercial ever aired or not. It looks kind of low budget, and I can’t believe a skateboard commercial for such a high profile client would have gone unnoticed by, well, me. Maybe it was online only, or something they wanted to see conceptually before they decided to air it. The director Billy Paul has two first names… What? Oh yeah. He said he had to act out the storyline in front of a bunch of Microsoft execs to convince them shoot it. As you can see by the look on the faces of the guys bottom right, things get a little dicey on that rail. But don’t worry, things work out in the end.

– Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.