Luka Karlin is a 15 year old skater from Slovenia whose crew put together a video called Phobia that you can watch on Vimeo. I always like to see skate spots in different parts of the country or world. There’s some cool stuff in Phobia, for example, the ramp in the top two pics has avery nice covered structure on tracks that slides off for skating. I think Phobia is broken into different parts, just click on the related videos that have Phobia in the title. In case you are wondering, Luka is one of the crazy Slovenians.

Not only are many big name skateboards manufactured in China, now they are going to start making our extreme sports genre films there too. CounterCulture Independent Filmmakers’ Resource, has the following oportunity listed: Wanted Screenplays with a Skateboard Theme to shoot in China Budget is 1.5 million. Investor is a skateboard champion and wants to produce a feature in Shanghai with a skateboard theme. Big question, who is the “skateboard champion?” I accidentally caught a Chinese action film on cable that has big chase scene that takes place on mountain boards. I forget the name of it, but it’s probably at least three years old. – Thanks to Tito Porrata for the tip.

A crooked cop asked me to mention Tr3spass.com, new San Francisco area site focusing mostly on ditches, banks and any other skateable cement. It’s in the beginning stages right now, so now’s your chance to get in on the ground floor. Check it out.

Lat year we highlighted the Built to Skate video, and now it’s time for another look. 2008’s version is available in two sizes 320×240 and 640×480. In case you don’t remember, the Built to Skate crew in Austria (who are they? I mean, where’s the link?) spends some time pouring guerilla concrete to make found obstacles more skateable, then they go out and document the session. Sounds great, right? It is pretty great. I liked last year’s video better, but maybe that’s because it was the first time I was introduced to the concept. In any case, it’s still a great concept. Check it out. – Thanks to Roman Astleitner for the tip.

So Rich of E.P.M. and myself managed a couple press passes out of the A.S.T. crew. As it turns out, video was not allowed, that only slowed me down a couple of times. They threatened to kick me out. I shouted “Do you know who I am?” Apparently they had not heard of G.V.K.. Talk about living under a rock, or not really being involved in skateboarding. (the riding side). You may notice a difference in video quality. That is because I checked out a Get HI Def video camera from the E.P.M. library. Wow, what a difference. Watch out Mack Dawg productions. Well this video made me want a vert ramp so bad. How about you? P.S. I went to San Diego and skated the ramp at the Y.M.C.A that where 80 percent of these guys ride. Vert is dying and becoming incestuous. Lets build some f-king ramps and take it back bizzellitch.. – Poser off.

Yakima, Washington has new skatepark built by Grindline, and a problem with the locals getting stuck in the bowls during the winter. There’s video over at KEPRTV.com. Yakima, Washington folks should be used to snow, right? We rarely get snow in Portland, yet we never get stuck in the bowls when they are full of snow. To be fair, kids sometimes get stuck in Pier Park’s deep bowl even when it’s dry. Somewhere MC has a comic or two about that. That rope isn’t for hanging rollerbladers, it’s to help kids crawl out of the bowls. The fire department has been called out three times in 24 hours to rescue trapped kids. – Thanks to Tito for the tip.

Jeff Greenwood is the guy who started Concrete Disciples as a print zine from the Northwest, no less, and brought it online way back in 1997. Concrete Disciples is one of the biggest independent forums in the online skateboarding world. Sure, the big forums have a rep as a haven for bunch of whiny babies and armchair skateboarders, but as long time SnA readers can recently attest, you can’t control who decides to visit your site. I met Jeff a few years back and he was a very down to earth guy. He was enjoying the hell out of some Oregon skateparks at the time. I think it’s been a while since he’s been out here. Running one of these sites can be a thankless job. Jeff had some serious health issues for a while, and he’s got some partners now, but he’s always been the driving force behind Concrete Disciples. Blah blah blah. Go read the interview over at Europe Skate. – Thanks to Rene Morales for the tip.

This week’s Shot of the Week is Austin Korte taken at the Springfield SkatePark in Springfield, MO on November 8th. What is it? Frontside ollie to disaster out of the miniramp into the adjacent tranny. The photographer is Brian Infante, who runs 13th Street Skateboarding, a site devoted primarily to skateboarding in Missouri. I’m in the Midwest right now, and indoors is a good place to be. Check out the full frame Shot of the Week.

November 2008. The economy is even worse if that’s possible, but by the look of eBay in November there are still collectors with deep pockets out there. These shitty economic times have dropped some prices, but the truly rare and desirable decks are still going for big money. Where do some of these guys get their cash? Good question. Another good question is why do so many big money collectors come from Australia and New Zealand? Maybe the recession hasn’t hit down there yet. Maybe in 6 months time there’ll be a massive sell of from down there. Who knows? So to underline the trying times I have a new section this month: Bargains of the Month. Take a look and kick yourself. Maybe I’ll do it again, maybe not. Check out eBay Watch: November 2008

Only a skater can wander around in southeast Portland, and understand the significance of a Sharpie marker- drawn little bird with “Luda Crooks” written underneath.  The graffiti art of Chet Childress shows up in the places where one would expect it to show up the most: dive bar bathrooms, bus stops, skate-spots, etc.  The above picture is an example taken from his myspace page.  Oh, did I mention that Chet Childress rips? Childress will have a showing of his art from 7-10 pm on Thursday, December 18th at the Department of Skateboarding, located at 15 NE Hancock Portland, OR 97212.