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.

The Department is hosting what is supposed to be Portland’s biggest contest this year, AKA the Holiday Havoc which is on December 19th. And Windells would like everyone to know that they are now open for public sessions as well as doing the whole skate camp thing. Flyers after the jump.

Nice painted deck from Aaron Draplin. Dude is a design hero of sorts for this.

I should have made this post on Tuseday. On this date in 1982, (December 9th) Code Of Honor released their debut single, “What Are We Gonna Do?” It was backed by “What Price Would You Pay? Neither track appeared on an album. The San Francisco hardcore punk band released a split album with Sick Pleasure and then one album of their own before disbanding in 1984. The band was formed by Michael D Fox who was a co-founder of Subterranean Records. What are we going to do? From the looks of the cover art, I’d say mostly handplants.

We mentioned this limited edition Jenna Jameson board by Zoo York before, but the board wasn’t actually out yet. It appears to have been released, which is a good excuse to mention that I walked into a Portland area Macy’s a week ago and was surprised to see a large portion of the floor had been allocated to a big display of Zoo York clothing which I found odd, but then didn’t considering it’s much more acceptable in hip hop culture to infiltrate higher end retail shops, as opposed to Shaun White having his own line in Target. While I appreciated the original Zoo York movement detailed in the Deathbowl to Downtown documentary, those roots seem far removed from the current incarnation, as if related in name and location only. In any case, everyone should print out copy of the deck and run down to the nearest Macy’s and ask them when they are going to get the Jenna Jameson board. [Photo: Sakteboard – miniroom549 on Flickr]

Officer Salvatore Rivieri, one of Baltimore’s finest, is in the news again. The results of Baltimore’s internal investigation have yet to be released. The family of the scrawny teenage skateboarder he abused sued Officer Salvatore Rivieri for assault, battery and violation of rights. There was a legal question about the statute of limitations, a paltry 180 days. The family sued after 10 months, but a judge ruled that statute didn’t apply to minors for some reason, and now the $6 million suit can proceed. I’m all for sticking it to this guy, especially since he has a history of being a dick, but $6 million is an absurd amount. Flame on! – Thanks to Stephanie Murdoch and Derek Krasauskas for the tip. [Source: Baltimore Sun]

SoCal Skateparks has a bunch of video from the 80’s vert challenge that happened at some point in time that is probably still sitting unread in my Google Alerts mailbox. Low purse and high fun. Everyone wore neon, and Hosoi complete with spandex and hair extensions should have won best-dressed, although maybe he did, as there was a special cash prize for finishing dead last. Check it out on SoCal Skateparks Skate-TV. – Thanks to JF for the tip.