So the joke goes, (my joke, by the way) that zoning ordinances and building codes in Portland require that any mini ramp built on private property must have at least one extension that goes to within one foot of the ceiling, an over-vert section, or a three foot or smaller transition. Apparently those rules apply to Beaverton as well. My friend Marek built himself a miniramp in his garage with really tight transitions, and of course, pool coping. MC and I went to check it out the other night.

Continuing the trend where I raid the archives of Dezeen Magazine, this is the Port of Tel Aviv public space by the architecture firm Mayslits Kassif. Their hope is that the rolling surface will act as “a reflection of the mythological dunes on which the port was built and as an open invitation to free interpretations and unstructured activities.” Sounds like a session to me.

Today in old iPhone news we have two separate iPone apps that are skateboard related. The first is GoLearn Skateboarding from Santa Cruz. According to Mobile Marketer; “With GoLearn Skateboarding, consumers can learn different tricks, discover new skate parks and play music from their mobile device.” OK, I’m pretty sure the device the device already plays music, but that’s OK. Trick tips… meh. Skatepark finder? Well that seems useful, especially consideringthe fact that it’s GPS enabled. Sweet suite. A little bit os confusion here, the “Santa Cruz” mentioned in the article is Santa Cruz Skate shop an not NHS. and in further WTF, for some reason they have what looks like ultimate fighting graphics on the web site. Awesome! The second iPhone app is a skateboarding game being developed with Vans and Fuel industries. Kind of funny, considering the old concept game with fake Vans branding that was floating around the web a year ago. They are running a name the game contest. Odds are that Finger Fracture won’t be a chosen as the winner. Game play looks pretty fun with the touch screen accelerometer combo. Somebody needs to send us an iPhone so we can, uh, review the game.…

There are a couple of interesting guys (Nerrrrrrds!) on this site called Crazy Builders. It’s kind of like a show you migtht expect to see on the Discovery Channel. They wanted to build a fan powered skateboard, and they did, except the fan is made from a high powered RC plane engine, and it’s open in the back. I’d hate to have a wipeout and end up on the wrong side of that cage… Anyway, just like the site says, it’s good fun in the name of science. Although the science connection is a little weak here. I like the guy in the video. He had the good sense to dress like a scientist and make his skateboard fan boat in the shape of a bomb. Skateboards, science and wacky hats after the jump.

The ASU Libraries (Part of Arizona State University, don’t ya know…) has an archive of old photographs from the school newspaper that includes this one titled Student demonstrates a new craze – the skateboard. Sweet. I guess there was a time when short boards were the college craze.

I know we’re in the middle of winter here, but when my son saw his new deck with an orange top ply, the first thing he said was that it looked like a pumpkin. Grover said the same thing too, so I made it look like a pumpkin. I hadn’t really done the custom grip tape thing since the 80’s, so it was a nice project. Bonus pic after the jump.

Yeah, we went to the opening day, but it was at the end of a long day after sessioning in the Aumsville/Salem area. Figured it would be a zoo there, and everyone we talked to said it was. We got there about 5:30pm, and it was still packed full of kids. There were a lot of bikes too, but everyone was happy. I did hear some grumbling about the traffic. Miniramp section looks fun. Coping is slick and sticks out a little too far. ALso odd that there is no decks on any of it, but still fun. It seemed like every obstacle had a line of kids waiting to hit it. We heard tales that there were three separate filmers there at the same time, each in a different area of the park. “I can’t wait to come back when there’s nobody here” was a common refrain. And yes, we had a winner from that morning. I was only there for about a half an hour. Nobody was really landing much, and I had to split, but I did get a few snaps. If you’re still hungry, EPM has one shot up so far. UPDATE: EPM has the shots.

Again from the shutter release finger, dare I say Hood River bureau of SnA? (I’m trying to shame you, Estes…) Carl Warren has a few shots of… aww… come on. Who is this guy? (I’m trying to shame you, Carl…) Looks like it’s too late for a gap jump “first.” Three shots after the jump. UPDATE: Added video.

This week’s Shot of the Week came from Dan Hughes Northwest Skater. He’s got three pages related to his old friend Mark Holt. There’s one full page of shots from the old Olympic Skate Park in Olympia, Washington, probably from the last couple of years it was open. It closed in 1982. There’s some great shots in there, some probably better than the one I chose, but I decided on this one despite the obvious out of frame flaw. It’s still rad, and I like the guy in the background. The next page is dedicated to various ramps that Mark had, some without any flat bottom. The last page is assorted skate shots in the street, skateparks and a pool. Check ’em out. (1 – 2 -3)

A car company in Spain called SEAT (?) is celebrating the 25th anniversary of a car called the Ibiza. They are promoting it with a commercial featuring a lot of skateboarding and the now ubiquitous Alphaville song “Forever Young.” They’ve got a very loose interpretation of a skateboarding timeline as the backdrop. is SEAT spanish for Mazda? Check it out after the jump. Thanks to Dean Tyrell for the tip. His friend Jairo Garcia is one of the skaters in the ad.