Time for more input on the Happy Valley skatepark in Clackamas County, Oregon. We must have missed a meeting or two, because from the looks of the tiny renderings, they appear to have chosen a designer already… Street plaza city, Newline? The meeting is Wednesday, April 29, 2009, from 5-7 p.m. at Sunnyside Elementary school on 13401 SE 132nd Avenue in Clackamas, OR. No word on whether the infamous Happy Valley back biter (seen above, lower right) will be allowed in the park. This is as good an excuse as any to post some more photos form the Happy Valley pool you love to hate.

There’s an old 70’s snakerun park in the Het Hulsbeek recreation park located in Oldenzaal, Netherlands. For the past handful of years they’ve been holding an annual contest series there called “Oerend Hard” that looks like it’s more of a weekend festival of skateboarding and fun than a strict contest. Events typically include a standard downhill race, boardercross, jump ramp, best trick, and something you never, ever see anymore, the two man catamaran. The Netherlands Skateboard Federation, or Skateboard Federatie Nederlandis trying to have the park designated as a national historical monument, if for no other reason than they claim it is essentially the last preserved skatepark in Europe from the 70’s that is still in widespread use. I know there are still some 70’s skatepark remnants in the U.K., so perhaps the key phrase is “widespread use.” I don’t think the park is in any eminent danger of being destroyed, they are just being proactive about it. Check out the press release presentation that includes photos through the years, including the construction. It made the news, but I can’t understand a word they are saying, and it’s buried in a long video. I did find a nice video run…

Check out this 1995 Airwalk Shoes video featuring Jason Lee. There’s a lot of filler, but he skateboarding eventually kicks in. This was probably used for trade shows and the like. You can see some of Jason Lee’s early character work here. Who shot this?

I spotted this Bones parody shirt by Jeremy Fish at the Umbrella Market. Parodies of old skate logos are a dime a dozen, but I like this one. Bonus footage of a real life fish skateboard after the jump, thanks to a tip from reader Dylan.

…as in the case with this highly durable, yet somewhat overweight skateboard deck made by artist Herr Schulze, guaranteed not to delam. But seriously folks, Mr Schulze has a lot of skateboard art in the mix. If you need more conventional skateboards, he’s involved in some capacity with a company called Robotron. They have a cool, if somewhat familiar aesthetic.

Don’t worry, these guys didn’t send me anything, I’ve always been a fan of the Slasher graphic. I’m pretty sure that some smaller companies have already done the sword shaped skateboard, but for Santa Cruz it seems like an obvious choice. I’m actually more surprised that this board doesn’t have Keith Meek’s name on it instead of Emmanuel Guzman, especially considering the Meekster’s still active in their lineup. Speaking of the lineup, Monthly eBay favorite Jason Jesse’s Neptune board had been reissued.

Dekline sent me a nice pair of shoes to review. This is my very transparent way of thanking them. Check out this short video welcoming Matt Bennett, Austin Stephens and Diego Bucchieri to their team. [Source SkateDaily.net]

This week’s Shot of the Week comes from Greg Baller, who was actually in a Shot of the Week last year. Greg was a partner in Burly Caps, a company that made… burly recaps for knee pads during the late 80’s and early 90’s. Burly Caps are back again, and the web site has a lot of pictures of vert riding in the Great White North from the same era. Burly Caps are made from UHMW plastic. What? Glad you asked: Ultra High Molecular Weight, much denser than you garden variety caps. Burly Caps, Right? This is Neil Blender in Vancouver BC, as shot by Greg. Neil Blender used to have a web site selling his art online, but he’s since moved his operation to an eBay store. There is still a few hours left to bid on his original painting (alternate version) for cover of the Best of Dinosaur Jr. See the full frame Shot of the Week.

If I read my Google Alerts anymore I probably would have known this before hand, but Tony Hawk (Yeah right, more like his minions) stashed autographed boards in several locations world wide and then provided clues via Twitter and Shred or Die so his fans could find them. Pretty cool idea. GVK had a similar plan, that involved hiding candy in his pants… – Thanks to Mrs. Kilwag for the tip. [Source: Perez Hilton]

I thought this Battle Ground, WA video montage from Joe Stevens contained some footage from the same session in Battle Ground that I was poaching him in back in January, but it was uploaded before that day. I’m trying to talk Joe into becoming a contributor. I love seeing videos of my friends skating, but it gets literally and figuratively, uh, old after a while. As The Dogs said, I traded in all my old attitude, for a younger point of view.