As part of the ongoing beautification of the waterfront and adjacent areas of Portland, the Burnside project is getting more real estate. Eventually it will butt up against some new parks facility and thus scenes like this mom chatting on her cell phone while she drops the kids off at Burnside wil lbecome more and more of a reality. I don’t know if Burnside will get any cold hard cash, but the land grab has already started. There’s a panorama of some recent tranny work after the jump.

Let me introduce my friend Eric. The reason I call him my friend is because when I asked him if he would like to be sponsored, he replied “I have skateboard. How about we just be friends?” My reply was “Cheap and easy. Lets get married.” Every time I go to Newberg, Eric is skating doing some weird ass trick I wish I could do. If my hard drive didn’t crash this video would be 3x longer and 6x better. Who the hell knew the hard drive needs a back up? Who backs up the back up? Pose off  Grover 

Clockwise from top left: Fuck Helmets, Longboard Radness, Saktepark Vermin, Kidney Bowl Boxing. Aside from the usually funny commentary shots, there’s also a lot of, you know, actual skating and skatespots the likes of which you don’t see here. Check out John Doe Zine, the web site, straight outta Wyoming. I think they still do print issues too.

The ongoing concrete work in Hood River, Oregon is looking really interesting, at least from afar. This is a shot of what looks like a bridge over a creek that has one side with a steep tranny wall, almost like a modified Jersey barrier. I assume this is connected to the rest of the new skate trail that’s being built. Actually, I should stop making assumptions and make the drive out there to check it out. Carl Warren has the picture, and you can click to enlarge.

This month, at Fifty 24 PDX Gallery, skateboarder/artist/writer Michael Sieben has his original artwork in an exhibition entitled “From the Desk of Whatserface,” along with Mel Kadel and Travis Millard.  This exhibit is located at 23 NW 5th Ave, Portland, OR 97209, and will last until November 29. Expect paintings with lots of cutesy, renegade monster things with cryptic messages.  Sieben is also a columnist/artist with Thrasher magazine, and has made many skateboards with his trademark style.  Some may remember the video he did with Adidas that SNA covered a few months back.  The above pictures were borrowed from Sieben’s web page.

Went by Ed Benedict to see the progress. They finished the quarters opposing the shots Kilwag got earlier. They seemed to be finishing up a lot of smaller sections of the park. It seems like it might be a while before it opens. Enjoy these awful cellphone shots..

He’s got blisters on his fingers, but Joesf finally finished the last pour of this bowl in his DIY backyard concrete extravaganza. Two pics after the jump.

After probably a 30 year gap, there’s another Skitch Hitichock model out. This model made by Skate Designs looks like a pretty nice cruiser, complete with wheel wells. I want to say that Skitch the guy who invented the gorrila grip, but I’m not sure. Proceeds from the model will help Skitch with some life threatening medical needs. Video and pics of vintage Skitch after the jump. – Thanks to Craig Snyder for the tip.

It was nominated last year and didn’t get in, but this year the skateboard made it into the National Toy Hall of Fame. Joining it this year were the baby doll and the “stick.” Proponents of the booger and the “doodle” (As in “They can see my doodle!”) were upset, as can be imagined. Tony Hawk appeared in a prerecorded video at the induction ceremony. In his words skateboarding “promotes individualism … artistic expression and it’s also very athletic.” Also, it doesn’t make you go blind if you do it too much. – Thanks to Livmo and Sorenee for the tip. [Source: CNN]

This week, Thrasher magazine’s website will release one section per day of a five part Duane Peters interview filmed by Lance Conklin.   It started on Monday and will end on Friday.  Everyone’s favorite crusty old grouch tells it like it is about being in a band,  Jerry Only, Los Angeles and Australia, and more to come… It’s actually kind of neat to see DP just unloading his attitude onto the internet.  No rocket science or brain surgery here; just a punk rock skater/surfer/survivor telling it like he sees it.  If you can ignore the gratuitous advertising, check it out! Thanks 10 Things Zine for the picture.