Hey, don’t let me scare you away. Here’s some heavy ripping at the Department. What was the occasion? Well I thought it was just because I wasn’t there, but it was actually overflow from the Bacon premiere for their new video Unheard. – Thanks to KC for the vid.

This week’s Shot of the Week comes from Colin Walsh. Whether or not he rules depends on what side of the bed he woke up on that morning. This is Brandon Morris at the Buena Vista pool in Watsonville California. Brandon loves Watsonville so much he had it tattooed on his legs. Are those NOS Airwalks or did they bring back the old logo? Man I hated that logo and those shoes when they first came out. (No offense, Brandon.) Hey look kids. it’s Pabst Blue Ribbon! Check out the Shot of the Week.

Here’s a couple of shots of another private indoor spot in Virginia known as the Cardinal Sins. I’m not sure how the name applies to this spot. Maybe some of the sinners will chime in. – Thanks to Chip Atkins for the pics

Late notice as usual. This will be the forum for input about the plans for development around the Burnside skatepark neighborhood. Skaters need to show up or they’ll think we’re not interested. 524 E Burnside, 7th floor of Bside6 doors open at 5pm. Be cool, but be there. Why? Because the area around the park is being redeveloped, and nothing is set in stone. I mean, there was even talk of adding a BMX track. Wednesday, January 27 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. 524 E Burnside, 7th floor

Some folks are looking forward to the Superbowl, while others in the New York/New Jersey area aren’t phased by a Jets loss, they are more interested in an Orange Bowl. Private indoor spot sent in by Eric G. I like the weird and angular volcano thing in the center. Did anyone realize that enlarge-o-rama is working again?

Illusion Labs showed a demo of their Touchgrind iPhone game running on a MacBook. The game design is pretty unique, well not so much when you consider today’s “pro fingerboard” agenda. The biggest beef with the iPhone game is that the small screen severely limits game play. MacBooks and MacBook pros have a track pad that is multi-touch sensitive, so the game can still be played with your fingers and you’ll get the added benefit of extra screen real estate. I may actually buy a game for my Mac for the first time since Myth II, back in the OS 9 days. Loved that game. Finished Myth I, but couldn’t make it past one of the levels in Myth II. Apple even makes a mouse that has a trackpad built into the top surface. I wonder if you can play Touchgrind on that. Hold on. Buy Touchgrind? Wait a minute, what am I thinking? Review copy! Now if I can just get Apple to send me a review copy of that rumored new tablet computer. – Thanks to Seth Levy for the tip. [Source: Engadget]

That’s right. $75 professional quality replacement trucks for your fingerboard. My kids have handfulls of Tech Decks, and the axles on the trucks are always the first thing to break. I’ve switched out trucks and wheels for my kids so many times… but this is just a smidge too much. I suppose if you’re going to go ahead and spend $30 on replacement wheels, with bearings even, you’d want them to go on a quality truck. They even sell replacement parts for Black River trucks, like axles, bushings and kingpins. Of course, you’ll want to spend anywhere from $26 – $52 on a fingerboard deck. You could save money by picking up a complete for $28 to $60. These things seem to be a European manufacturing phenomenon, (France, Germany, Poland, three brands out of the Czech Republic!) but there are American brands included.

The Life Rolls On Foundation “…is the story of able-bodied individuals, working in concert with those with spinal cord injury, to motivate each other with the inspirational message of achievement in the face of extreme adversity.” Thier flagship progrm is something you might have heard about. It’s called They will surf Again. Here’s an old PSA that should bring to mind Leader O Men.

The Benton County Skateboard Alliance is announcing a call for art for their 3rd Annual Art and Music Benefit: The Benton County Skateboarding Alliance (BCSA) is hosting the 3rd annual Art & Music Show to raise money to improve the Eric Scott McKinley Skate Park in Corvallis, OR. Improvements include a new pro-style bowl, advanced street obstacles, lights, BBQ pits, and benches. We need $75,000 to $90,000 for the first phase (the bowl). This is a community art show, and all art media and styles are accepted. All art in the show will be up for silent auction. We ask that a minimum of 51% of art sold go to the skate park fund. The show is planned for March 13th, 2010. Art submission deadline is February 15th, 2010. If you are interested in submitting art for this show, please contact the BCSA: bcskateboardingalliance@gmail.com. The BCSA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; donations are tax deductable. For more BCSA info, see their website: bcskateboardingalliance.org Word is that the new venue is a bit of an upgrade from previous years. We’re going to try and send a party from Skate and Annoy down this year. I’m going to see if I can…

Tonight it the Bacon video premiere at DOS, free skate starts at 7pm, and ends at 8pm with the video premiere of Unheard. Saturday, January 23RD Cal’s Pharmacy is hosting an opening of photos from Mark Whiteley’s new book “THIS IS NOT A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY.” Mark will be here signing his book and Chris Johanson will be providing music. Any questions? call Cal’s Pharmacy at 503-233-1237.