The Wall Street Journal want’s you to know that Portland, Oregon is Skateboarding Capital of the World. If only my father were alive to read that. Ruining my life, indeed! As soon as I get home from work tomorrow I’m going to actually read it. I’m up past my bedtime. Holy cow if it isn’t S&A reader and sporadic commenter, Tom Miller in one of the photos. Why can’t we enlarge that one? Where’s that Bush Beater we gave you? And no inside scoop either? Miller, Miller, why have you forsaken us? That’s OK. I’m still voting for you when you run for Mayor.

– Thanks to Greg North for the tip.

This week’s Shot of the Week is Melissa Dafnos going frontside over the deathbox at MC’s bowl. The thing I found out when I finally looked at this shot full size is that she started out with a grind but ended up with a high sided weird edger over the deathbox. It’s all in the details. Check out the full size Shot of the Week.

R.E.load Bags had a line of messenger bags called the 80’s skate series that was essentially bootlegs of famous skateboard graphics. The product description had said they were a tribute, but the “Hammerhead” bag is pretty much the only one that wouldn’t be considered copyright infringement. Fortunately, a friend of Neil Blender’s saw them and tipped him off. The bags were removed from the web site almost immediately. They look totally cool, they should have licensed them instead of just ripping them off.

[Source: Freakbeatfuzz]

Wanna see the motherload of old Powell stickers? Check out Rohan James’ Powell Peralta sticker flickr set (say it three times fast…) for 193 Powell stickers. That’s almost as many Powell stickers as I have in my entire collection of skate stickers.

For some reason, the Weather Channel has video about people who are filling in their pools because they can’t afford to keep them. I guess the weather causes the water to evaporate… Well anyway, it’s a slightly different take on the crappy economy, empty pool syndrome. Check it out.

– Thanks to Mac for the tip.

I always wondered how they built the X Games mega ramp, and this is not what I expected. California Skate Parks is the builder, and their PR firm is trying to drum up some press, offering interviews, tours and such. Do any of you guys have any (reasonable) questions? Maybe we could make it a group effort. (FYI I’ve got a killer Brian Brannon interview coming up!)

Danimal went camping with Shawn F on the coast near Newport, Oregon. I know it sounds kind of gay, but it wasn’t because it was all dudes. Just ask Grover to explain that one… Anyway, the camp site asphalt was pushed up by the roots of a tree looking for water, and it created a little kicker. It looks like kind of gnarly terrain, good thing Danimal had a shortboard with a ridiculous oversized soft wheel and truck combo.

I saw this album cover over at the exotic blog of Kahuna Kawentzmann. According to Hodad Heaven, it’s a re-issue that dates back to the 80’s. The original release was credited to the Good Guys. The Good Guys release has a different track listing from the Challengers. You can download MP3’s for a price from Amazon, or free from other places… (Hodad, Ahem.) For some reason the 80’s rerelease is collectable, New copies ago from $49 – $112, and remember this is a CD rerelease! The original LP was up as a vinyl rip for a time, but it’s been archived. You can pick up a copy of the Good Guys version on vinyl via eBay. Right now there is one listed at $25. Check out the cover! You gotta love the original Roller Derby board used as an exclamation point. The back has what may be the first ever monkey on a skateboard too.

A small chain of actions sports clothing shops called Munition was in some way instrumental in forcing a small skateshop, called Plan Z, out of the mall it is currently located, in Kelso, Washington. Depending on who you believe, Munition threatened to leave unless Plan Z was evicted, or The mall owners came up with the idea on their own. Plan Z was on a quarterly lease. The owner of Munition says it’s just a small mom and pop operation (with seven locations…) Hey, Zumiez started out that way too! Anyway, local kids protested, and Plan Z is trying to figure out what to do and where to go. All of this information was poached from TDN.com, as was the photo.

– Thanks to Colin for the tip.

This is what it looks like under the temporary concrete superpark setup at the X-Games. Thanks to the anonymous tipster, you know who you are…