The crew at the Windells Camp has been busy. There are a couple of characters named Jamie and Billy who have been busy with the concrete. When finished, it will be 28,000 a square foot park. They have a 12,000 square foot indoor facility, and about 15,000 square feet in assorted skate trail-type terrain, so that would make them the largest skatepark in Oregon, unless you’re going to split hairs. Enlarge-o-rama, then head on over to Windells.

Checked out the new Kelso, Washington skatepark yesterday, where the locals were friendly and the concrete was…

I keep looking for this Sears catalog from 1965, but they always go for upwards of $40 when I’m watching. Too much for me, but I’d never actually seen the page before, but I knew it existed. This one showed up as an ancillary illustration to another Sears Hot Dog board on eBay. The same board they used on an episode of Green Acres. It’s at this point in the interview that I mention for the umpteenth time that I got my first skateboard at a Sears. Enlarge-o-rama. – Thanks to Dave P. for the tip.

Shiner distribution in England is opening up their vaults and having a deck show. The rumor is that they kept at least one of every deck that ever went through there. The show is running for a month at Howies in Bristol. Opening day is Saturday, April 17th.

The St Petersburg Times has an article on the Bro Bowl in Tampa and a documentary in progress. Trailer after the jump.

No matter how hard you try to keep it a secret, somewhere, someone you don’t know is going to find it. I’m not going to tell you where, except to say that my mother in-law lives in this state. At first you might think it’s a coincidence that the satellite caught this pool on a day it was drained for maintenance. But if you look closer, you’ll notice some other suspicious concrete work, and what might possibly be some of the blue fiberglass ramps of the Thrasherland type set up in a closed track. I think those buildings might actually be ramps.

I’m watching this first video by “Jimmy” that looks like it takes palce in Corvallis and an Harrisburg, Oregon, And I’m thinking, Damn! That’s the scene to be in. What do those guys need help with a skatepark for? Just kidding about the skatepark thing there BCSA, but your locals are tearing it up! The second video was shot at Pier Park by KC, and aside from Thomas shown in the bottom still shot, it mainly features Shane Bell, who looks like he has recovered from his bone break in his leg about a year ago.

Since we’ve already discussed the merits of natural and synthetic wine corks, I feel we can confidently add modern landscape design our list of high brow topics. I’m not talking about skate plazas or the appropriation of public spaces. I’m talking about how Thomas Dolliver Church, the acclaimed author of Gardens are for People and the father of modern landscape architecture (California Style) who was widely credited with influencing garden and pool design with his influential free form pool in his most famous work, El Novillero. Truth is, he didn’t invent the kidney pool though. He most he was inspired by a visit to FInland’s Alvar Aalto Villa Mairea, which also featured a free form pool. That’s El Novillero above left, and Villa Mairea on the right. So there you have it. Kidney pools were invented in Finland in 1937, not in California, circa 1948. [Source: Intercontinental Gardener] – Thanks to Jarno Väisänen for the tip.

This has been stated so many times before that I don’t even know how to say it any other way now, but my primary impetus for beginning work on what would eventually become The Disposable Skateboard Bible was to tie up a few loose ends that I wasn’t able to find or include in the first book—several of which were only made possible in the years following its publication. For this reason perhaps that’s why I dragged my feet for two and a half years to compile material for the Bible, because just when I was about to theoretically call it done I would inevitably find one more board or story to follow up on, e.g. the random time I met Rich Harbour’s daughter at a backyard Banta party. I could have gone on indefinitely in this manner had I not finally committed to a delivery date with the publisher in April 2009, and it was an oddly bittersweet moment to at long last say, “It is finished.” Not only that but I kind of felt like a dink for calling it the “Bible” when I knew there were still a few outstanding historical pieces to the puzzle. Seriously, God…

BCSA ART & MUSIC 2010 at the Vue, 517 SW 2nd St, Corvallis, OR on March 13. All proceeds from the silent auctions go towards the Eric Scott McKinley Skatepark improvements. Contact the BCSA for more information (bcskateboardingalliance@gmail.com). My lame ass will be in the Seattle burbs this weekend. On top of that, I didn’t get my art done in time. However, I did take five minutes out of my busy life to make this post, so I care… a little. (Next year for sure!) I believe MC is going to make good though.