Tom Mcguigan passed away on last Sunday due to complications from a severe case of pneumonia. He was a local fixture at the Corvallis, Oregon skate park, a good friend to our friend Josef Heffner, and according to those he left behind, a potential friend to anyone who skated at any level. There is a memorial session for him on Saturday the 16th at the Corvallis Oregon skatepark at 1pm. If you can’t make it to the session, feel free to leave a note in the comments here.

UPDATE: It’s not just a session. It’s an informal gathering of friends and family.

I’d place this video at maybe 93-94? That’s my layman’s-I-wasn’t-there guess. It was posted on YouTube by Nate Sherwood, so it’s mostly footage of him as a youngster, but mid way through there is some amusing footage from a local Portland news channel. Seems to be from shortly after the city of Portland decided to leave it alone. Look for Mark Scott in a Turf t-shirt.

– Thanks to Malcolm MacMaster for the tip.

Wieden+Kennedy, the add agency behind Nike and some other high profile companies has a series of original audio and video content. We’re here to talk about the series called D.I.Y. America:

A serialized show focusing on leaders in the youth/punk/DIY movement. Subjects include over two decades of leaders from the skateboarding, punk, grafitti and hip-hop worlds. Assembled using footage shot for (but never included in) the Beautiful Losers film. Examples: Ian MacKaye, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Glen Friedman, Tony Hawk, etc.

Now I get it. I watched the episodes before I read the description. It’s leftover footage from another project, and as such it comes off more as an extended trailer than an actual feature. There’s come good footage in there, and it’s very slick, but a little unfulfilling. The skateboarding episodes skip an installment, and are numbered in parts, so it’s a little confusing. (DIY America Episode 3 , Skate and Create Part 2….) Best begin at the beginning. Is it just me or does Ethan Fowler sound and look like he’s doing a Jason Schwartzman impression? (See episode 4).

On the opposite end of the scale, check out this video from reader Tim Laidlaw. It’s actually a video from his father Tom. It seems Tom is hell bent on helping his grandson press his own skateboards, a fact that Tim found ironic considering skateboarding didn’t exactly help endear Tim to his father while he was growing up.

– Thanks to Zach Olsen for the tip.

TuneBug Shake is the name of this modern day adaptation of the Bone Fone. You plug this thing into your iPod, and then attach it to back of your helmet where it vibrates sound through the helmet while still allowing you to hear what is going on in your surroundings, at least until the first time you wilson and shatter $120 worth of plastic and circuitry on the concrete. $120? [Source: Gizmag]

– Thanks to Seth Levy for the tip.

The adult film Hot and Saucy Pizza Girls from 1979 appears to have at least four skateboarding scenes. I haven’t been able to find a copy online for less than $17, and I’m not prepared to shell out that much to find out. Some VHS copies are going for $30! Desiree Cousteau is billed as the female lead, and she coincidentally starred in Female Athletes too. Pizza Girls gets good “reviews” for attempted plot and comedy, although I suspect there was one good review and everyone just paraphrases it. Tune in after the jump for a PG-13 trailer that is still NSFW if you have the audio track loud at the end. There’s also a link to an entirely NSFW trailer. Both trailers have hot and spicy skateboard action.

– Thanks to BrockEs for the tip.

Phase One of the Gresham skatepark built by Dreamland is now open for fun, provided you play by the rules. Phases two and three are distant, and unfunded dreams so far as anyone knows. [Photo: City of Gresham]

– Thanks to Bjjpd Tom for the tip

The Fall 2009 issue of Shotcrete Magaizine had a cover story on recreational projects with a two page spread on skateparks featuring Team Pain. (Update: Actually written by Tim Payne with contributions from Team Pain) with That looks like an old photo of their Cocoa Beach skatepark on the cover. Shotcrete.org doesn’t have the Fall 2009 archive up yet, but you can read it over at Team Pain. While trying to find it, I came across a Spring 2004 article titled The Growing Market for Shotcrete in Skatepark Construction. I’ll say!

Now class, lets start where we left off yesterday. Can someone please tell me where the Kiwifruit comes from and what was it originally called in the West? Yes Bobby, that’s right. It was imported from China to New Zealand in 1906 and colloquially called the Chinese Gooseberry. It was briefly called the mellonette before being changed to Kiwiwfruit in the 1950’s. No Suzie, commercial cultivation didn’t start in the United States unit the 60’s. What’s that Grover? You are correct, from the looks of this hang tag, the first time a Kiwifruit got “radical” must have been some time in the 80’s near Arizona, or possibly the Moon.

– Thanks to Andy Wylie for bring this in to Show-and-Tell.

TR853-1™ is a “street artist” form SIngapore who, among other things, puts up these small stencils of skateboarding figures. I think these are most interesting when done in a temporal context. Some of them appear to float mid air without any reference until they are seen at the right time of day or night with the correct accompanying shadow. Another cool thing about TR853-1™, aka Trase is that he’s got the artwork available for free download, so you can make your own. I love stencil art, it’s been a long time since I dabbled. I have a hard time believing he’s doing these pieces in Singapore though, considering their harsh stance on chewing gum. I can’t imagine what would happen if he got pinched mid-stencil. Check out some of his work.

– Thanks to Mike Buckley for the tip.

I never saw Full Power Trip from 1990. I did have a bootleg copy of Molecules in Motion though. I’d like to see that again. Here’s some Sadlands action with Blender and Jesse. I think that miniramp was Blender’s. Video quality is sketchy. It’s probably bootlegged, but hey, at least someone preserved it.