Maloof just unveiled the plans for the street course at the NYC leg of the Maloof Money Cup on June 5-6, 2010. The big news? The REALLY big news? The “course” is a permanent facility that will be donated to the city Instead of building a temporary course and dismantling it like they did last time. BRAVO!!!!! Lets hope the X-Games and the rest of the would-be contenders fall in step behind these plans if they know what’s good for them, the skateboarding public and the ecology. Details of the as yet unbuilt skate spot that replicates some NYC hot spots after jump.

– Thanks to Danimal for the tip.

Agent Orange is playing Sunday 28th at Slabtown Bar in Portland, along with Grindline, the Band. Meanwhile, John Egertson was converting some old vinyl to mp3’s and pulled out this mail order sheet from Agen’t Orange’s This Is the Voice, their ill-fated 1986 semi-major label debut on Enigma records. I think these guys even had an appearance in a movie around this time. Flyer for Staurday’s show and a chance to go back in time to order guitar picks, t-shirts and skateboards after the jump.

– Thanks and happy birthday to Steve Turner for the tip.

Once again, these spin offs have become so numerous that I hardly even consider them skateboard related. It’s like they are riffing on something completely different. Michele Camerlengo cops to borrowing inspiration from snakeboards of all things. It’s only a matter of time before the Obliqo becomes two separate foot items without the “board” connecting them in the middle.

I don’t think California’s Epic Indoor Park lasted a year. This one is in Marseille, France. It’s huuuuuuuuuge. The halfpipe alone is looks formidable. Check out the Palais de la Glisse on the Constructo blog of skatepark architecture. They have some public official looking types at the ribbon cutting ceremony, this might even be a public skatepark. The building looks beautiful, and not just some dusty old warehouse. Actually, it’s truly confusing now. If you scroll through this set of photos, it appears to be built on the site of a hockey rink. Could this in fact be a temporary installation?

– Thanks to Doc Murdock for the tip.

This has been making the rounds in the past few days. The city of Sarasota Springs, New York filled in the bowl at their local skatepark, essentially because the coping was damaged and the bowl was covered in graffiti, and they couldn’t afford the upkeep, what with having to pay people to make sure the helmets were strapped. It’s just one big long list of lame excuses. Must not be much of a big scene there, if the locals let that happen. Read all about it in the Saratogian. Kevin Cann pointed me to some video of the bowl, he regularly made the journey there from the Great White North. Looks like it would have been fun.

First off, it’s better off that a skateboard competition circuit be owned and operated by skateboarders. However, this whole business of signing contracts to compete exclusively in one circuit and not another, although it may make sense from a business standpoint, reeks of, of something, well, something very stinky, like say, GVK’s knee pads. Which is appropriate because it is a “street league” to the exclusion of any sort of vert or bowl riding. (You know Grover never washes his pads. he says that would dilute the trick juice.) I’m not a big fan of the logo either. Aside from scrimping on the graphic designer’s fee, It looks vaguely like something NBA or MLB related. If skaters are going to claim skateboarding from the media for themselves, it would be smarter not to emulate the worst aspects of organized sports. Still, I wish Rob Dyrdek luck with Street League Skateboarding, despite the bad name choice. The million dollar purse would seemingly best the Maloof Money Cup (even worse name), but then again Maloof isn’t spread over three events. Why not wrestle all the skaters away from the X-Games and the like? Was it lack of interest in vert/bowl by Dyrdek, or fear of abandoning the golden goose on behalf of the the current crop of X-games competitors. I suspect the former. Check out the press release after the jump. There is essentially nothing up at the web site except the press release. Meanwhile, the Maloof Money Cup still prominently features Ryan Sheckler, who has supposedly signed a multi-year exclusive contract with Street League. Look for some fresh HTML soon!

– Thanks to Mike Ballard for the tip.

How to Make it in America is an HBO series much like a grittier version of Entourage. Though no surprise as Mark Wahlberg is also an executive producer. The show is pretty decent. Two guys trying to “make it” in America. There is a an undercurrent of skateboarding in the series. Skaters are often seen as extras, including in the opening. The main characters have a room full of skateboard models for a local hero who has gone awol from public life. Right. There’s a lengthy video extra about skating in New York. Hey NYC readers, according to this month’s Thrasher, there are some billboards with skateboarding in town for an investment bank or something. I need a photo or two.

It’s skateboard polo in the Laff-A-Lympics,There’s a caveman, but no caveman slides, and everyone pushes mongo. That’s 1977 for you.

– Thanks to Kevin Cann for the vidcap.

I caught this commercial last night. I was making a note to look for it back at home, but it turned out to be a Florida-only thing. The cause is Tobacco Free Florida. Hey, I’m on your side, but this sad sack staring at me almost makes me want to take up smoking. Florida locals, where is this park? I guess that’s naive of me, this probably wasn’t even shot in Florida. Or maybe it was, you know they have a Universal Studios theme park in Orlando…

Re: Board is an exhibit of Brazilian skate art that will be opening in L.A. at the Exhibit A gallery on March 27th. Strange thing is, there’s nothing about it on the gallery web site. Friend of the site Mr Coulter is headed down fro the event due to his affiliation with Uncommon, the iPhone case company with a skateboarding fetish. I dunno. Take some pictures or something, would ya?