Located in Everton Park in Liverpool, England (insert gratuitous Men in Blazers reference), this is second glow in the dark skatepark in existence. Korean artist Koo Jeong A, who came up with the concept had some pretty lofty goals: “I devised extremely steep, sharp angles, which would be a challenge to the most courageous and skilled skaters,” Jeong A told The Guardian. “It was as if they would be the great mountaineers that the rest of us would admire. And with its glow-in-the-dark surface, I hoped the Wheels Park would offer an experience of contemplation.” Maybe a glow in the dark skatepark that looks like a stealth battleship will inspire contemplation that will hopefully result in kids picking up their energy drink cans, cigarette butts and Big Gulp cups. It’s not clear how much she actually has to do with the main skate terrain aspect of the skatepark. It would be incredible if a non-skating artist had free reign in skatepark design and somehow managed to design a park that wasn’t a disaster, twice. [ Source: The Guardian ] – Thanks to Boy Ipoh for the tip.

There are 19 new (old) 90’s ads posted from the January 1998 issue of Thrasher. There’s a couple doozies in there, including a weird one with Tas Pappas, Z-Roller Trucks still going, recycled 70’s safety advice from Goodtimes, a classic Dwarves album art, plastic launch ramps, and some total crap art from Think. In the loose ends department there are two that I can’t figure out what they are advertising because I have no recollection of these companies – Solar and Amp.

It’s been a while since I updated the 80’s Skate Zine gallery, so here’s Contort #7 from some time in the mid to late 80’s. Theres no date listed, but both MC’s Bodyslam and Skate and Annoy are listed/reviewed so I’m guessing ’88 or ’89.

I had to both cry and laugh when I saw his Kevin Harris deck (on the left) or what is left of it. First I thought I could finally afford a Harris mountie for a reasonable price, but when looking at the pics it seems like the seller ‘restored’ the deck and turned the mountie in what looks more like the guy on the psycho stick who just had the intestines of the beaver. The picture on the right shows the original mountie (although this is a reissue, seen on the Powell Peralta website). Another bad example of restoration you can find here. Surprisingly enough, this sold on eBay within a few days.

Check out this gallery of Burnside photos from 1990-1993. Amazing and rare shots of history being made. Donate to the fundraiser!

This 2012 George Faulkner production is less a true documentary and more a collection of random Seylynn footage through the years, heavily weighted towards the 80’s, but inclusive of the 70’s and 90’s. Also includes some interviews with the park’s designer, rare photos during construction, and shot of the time the riverbank eroded and the whole thing almost slid into the water, and what appears to be an original soundtrack. – Via Tim Kerr on FB

An addition to the Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre in the form of a wave-shaped miniramp with airbags on the high end is supposed to help Australian Surfers learn aerial maneuvers in the ocean. While the jury out on how much of this training actually carries over to actual waves, it sure looks like fun. They should make everyone ride actual surfboards with skateboard trucks mounted on them, or possibly even Streetboardz. It worked for Simon Woodstock! More details at Surfing Australia.

ABC News and just about everyone else has reported that the Tokyo Olympic Committee has recommended adding skateboarding to the 2020 Olympics. This is by no means a done deal, the host country gets to recommend one or more sports, and Japan recommended 5, 6 actually if count Baseball separate from Softball, which you should. Baseball being the mens’ competition and softball for women. The other three are sport climbing, karate, and surfing. The International Olympic Committee will decide which if any to include in August of 2016. The chances seem pretty good however. Surfing conditions can’t be guaranteed unless they build an amazing inland wave facility, and how would the surfing community respond to that? Now that Street League has ironed out a decent spectator friendly competition format, (If you’re into that, not that there’s anything wrong with it…) we might just see skateboarding in the Olympics, whether you want to or not. Who is behind the push to get skateboarding in the Olympics? There’s a shady organization called the World Skateboarding Federation for one. Their web site appears to be down, so I can’t comment on the board members or their mission as I’m writing this post. All…

Red Bull has an interesting documentary on the Montreal, Quebec skate scene with the ulterior motive of furthering the case of getting good public skateparks built. Dire Skate is a 22 minute film made by Dan Mathieu of Exposé skateboard magazine. It delves into some history of the scene, including Big O, an atrocious city-funded skatepark built by a generic construction company, as well as efforts to legalize a famous Love Park style spot. Definitely worth watching. – Thanks to Kevin -Live for the tip.

Check it.