With numbers like that, industry insiders say some brands will disappear and the economic undertow will pull down a number of mom-and-pop shops, considered the backbone of the business because of their connection to the core action sports customer. Extreme!™ Bankruptcy! The San Diego Tribune takes a sobering look at the state of the industry in the article titled Economy wiping out some action sports firms. ASR attendance is down about 50% from what it was last year this time, and “industry insiders” are predicting about a third of action sports businesses will shut down by the end of this year. Bad news for skateboarders? I’m going to say no. Your favorite shop may close, which will suck, but there are shops out there that have weathered the storm on multiple occasions. Most of the core shops are probably going to stick it out. Some big names might decide drop a product line or two, or even pull out entirely, but that wouldn’t be any great loss. They’ve done it before, no need to point them out. Ultimately, the kids (and old men) are still going to ride their skateboards.Skateparks and DIY spots will still be made. Some little guys…

Legendary skater Tom “Wally” Inouye just celebrated his 50th birthday, and he’s still going at it strong. Need proof? Check out the Shot of the Week with Tom at the Donald bowl that was captured just last summer. Tom is the owner of his own skate shop in Hood River, Oregon known as Inouye’s Pool Service. There’s an nterview with Tom in Juice that is recent, at least in terms of Juice! Scholastic News (for the kids, you know?) also has a short profile on Wally, Gelfand, and Larry Bertlemann. Leave it to his friends to post a video with a backhanded complement, “You rip hard for a 50 Year old.” I’d say he rips hard, regardless.

I’ve recently gotten two emails promoting different skate spot maps on the web. The idea is that you sign up and add spots in your area, and if you are traveling you can find spots on the way. I suppose the idea is useful for the casual skate tourist. Say you’re in a town on business or with family. If you got a break you could use these services to see if there is anything nearby. Of course you’re limited to what are probably the most blown out spots in the area, but it’s better than nothing if your are without a guide and don’t have a lot of time to explore. One service is a very slick one called New Breeders that’s pretty fancy, but has a some interface problems once you dig down. Also, it’s not limited to skate spots. The promo vid show surfing and bmx, so who knows what else is in there. Oh wait, I do. It’s got everything extreme!™. The second is from a web site called SubPublic, and it’s got much less eye candy, but it’s strictly skateboard related. SupPublic doesn’t require a login, but New Breeders does. What do you get for…

This week’s Shot of the Week is Trevor Osterholt, AKA Roadkill, at a spot in Kansas City Missouri. It was taken back in October of 2008, by photographer Ryan Young, who is currently in Iraq serving as a Marine photo journalist. What a cool looking “natural” spot. Now if only he was six inches tall he could hit that full pipe too. Speaking of size, does anyone else think I should start making the SOTW larger in the gallery? Check out the full size Shot of the Week.

He’s been at it for 25 years an he’s got something to show for it. Bryce Kanights’ Renegades & Role Models show opens at The Department. on Friday, January 30th, from 7pm – 10pm. Nothing up on the D.O.S. site as of this posting, but you can view the flyer after the jump. See, I told you he was a local!

I found this on Dan Hughes’ Northwest Skater site. There’s a guy who had what looked to be a really nice miniramp in his garage. Not one to remain satisfied, he decided to tear it out and build some roundwall instead. I don’t know the owner, or where he lives, so don’t ask. Instead, just enjoy some pictures and videos, and think of what you can do for yourself. Thanks to Dan for letting me cop these.

The Benton County Skateboarding Alliance, Inc (BCSA) is putting on the 2nd annual Art & Music Benefit 2009 in March at the Odd Fellows Hall. The BCSA needs art for the show (sale/silent auction). This event is a fundraiser for the new skate bowl addition to the Eric Scott McKinley skatepark in Corvallis. Artists must donate at least 51% of art sales to the skatepark fund. For further information, email the BCSA at bcskateboardingalliance@gmail.com or call 541-829-9005. That bowl in the upper right hand corner is a new one that Dreamland is going to add to the existing Corvallis skatepark, that is as soon as they raise the money. We’re also adding BCSA to our rotating Public Service ad spots in the side bar.

I don’t have a fondness or any sense of nostalgia for freestyle skateboarding, but I grudgingly watched one of these vids, and ended up enjoying them. People have posted some vids of Cristobal Bahamonde under the title “Rodney Mullen’s son?” something that Cristobal has countered by posting the same vid under the tittle “I’m not Rodney Mullen’s son.” Those freestyle contests of the 80’s might have been more entertaining if Cristobal had been around to give Rodney some competition. The web link in the video was dead when I posted this. I’m not sure what language that is, and I don’t know where Cristobal is from. The videos have some straight up freestyle and some hybrid street skating. I’ve never seen Mullen kickflip into a pogo like Bahamonde can. Maybe Rodney’s done it before though, like I said, I don’t follow his history. Regardless, Cristobal Bahamonde has some chops. Watch them after the jump. – Thanks to John Aguilar for the tip.

Time Warp is a whole show on the Discovery Network based on the premise that a couple of guys have a really expensive ultra high speed video camera, and they shoot processes and show them as you’ve never seen them. So basically, it’s all kind of silly that they make such big deal out of it now that you can basically buy a point and shoot camera for under a grand that does the same thing. The camera man even makes a big deal about it being “ready for high speed” as if it’s some giant apparatus out of a Frankenstein movie that has to be charged by lightning. There’s the obligatory “host wipes out trying to skateboard” scene, as well as some very flowery descriptions of the act of skateboarding: The urban art of skateboarding is just that: An art. It combines the athleticism of gymnastics with the choreography of ice skating, with all of the in-your-face aggression of a street fight. Err… right. Greg Lutzka’ is the pro that skates for them. He seems like a likable guy on camera. They spend way too much time dissecting an ollie, and not enough time showing more complicated derivatives that…

Public skateparks should be open 24-7, and free to boot, but that’s a different rant altogether. Dan Hughes made a road trip recently, and ran into a bunch of padlocks.