The Fuel TV web site has this thing called the Five Spot where they put together five pictures or five web sites that are related. I think that’s the gist of it. They asked for a Oregon Trifecta recap from last year, and I obliged. It’s for the good of this web site skateboarding in Oregon, you know? Check it out.

Gee, I hope they get it finished in time. Continuing yesterday’s aerial photo obsession, here’s a shot of tomorrow’s Oregon Trifecta stop, the Tigard skatepark, under construction as seen by Google Maps. When this was taken, Gabriel Park was just a dot on the horizon. The satellite flybys must be scheduled more frequently over big cities, because Lincoln City is still at phase one.

The Oregon Trifecta begins tomorrow in Lincoln City. I don’t know why they bailed on Pier Park, I though it was very well received last year. Oh well. This year it’s Tigard instead. For the love of Hosoi, couldn’t we get another Oregon skatepark in the Oregon Trifecta this year? While some are boycotting, our coverage begins tomorrow. Until then, check out last year’s coverage of Lincoln City, Pier Park, Battle Ground, and the Battle Ground rain out at Tobin’s Bowl.

Not to be confused with an areola fetish. Google Maps is really fun! Now, which one is the real amusement park? – Thanks to Shawn F for the tip.

The previous issue (1058) of Rolling Stone had a feature on Skatopia. It would never occur to me to actually pick up a copy of that magazine, so I missed it. The web site has a photo gallery that you have to get ten pictures into before you can actually see any skating. they’ve also got “exclusive” footage from a trailer for Skatopia, The Movie that is supposed to be out in 2009. I haven’t seen the article so I don’t know how long, bad or interesting it is. I seem to remember Rolling Stone had an article about Dogtown that predated the documentary, but if you search for it now yo uhave to sift through endless Lords of Dogtown reviews and and soundtrack information. – Thanks to Michael Brooke and Larry for the tip.

There’s hundreds of pools visible from planes flying in and out of Midway and O’Hare International Airports in Chicago, problem is, 98% of them are above ground pools, as seen in the shot above that I happend to find on Google Maps. I suppose it’s inevitable with an airport as busy as O’Hare that the satellite would catch a plane coming in for a landing. Flying home (I can’t find the lyrics to the Vibrators song online) to Portland I took some aerial shots from the plane.

After spending most of the session at Northbrook, Neil asked if I wanted to check out Chicagoland’s oldest concrete skatepark located near by in Deerfield, Illinois. He said it was janky, but they used to call it home before Northbrook existed. I’ve never been one to pass up some jank and/or history for a quick photo or two.

One of the highlights of my trip was getting to skate with House of Neil again. The two of us started Skate and Annoy together, and it was his idea actually. We have a long history together. He had a surprise for me, and when I arrived he presented me with the skateboard he said I was riding the first time he met me.

I got back from vacation and found a free monthly neighborhood paper sitting in the pile of neglected mail. The cover story of the Sentinel is Skateboarders Without Borders. It’s about local D.I.Y. project that is not so much of a secret, but still, the article pretty much gives the exact location and shows a landmark photo that all but draws a map for you. On top of that, the author interviewed the current land owners. I heard there was a “bust” of sorts during construction but that there were no real consequences. If they weren’t already numbered, my guess is this spot is about to become extinct. I hope the guy in the interview used a fake name.

I hooked up with House of Neil and his friend Mark to skate one of the newer concrete parks in Chicagoland. Northbrook is also a well off suburb, and they took a different approach to building a skatepark for their community. It’s part of a massive athletic complex that you pretty much have to drive to get to. There’s baseball fields, batting cages, soccer fields, a golf course and a fishing pond. You can even get pole on loan from the golf pro shop if you want to drop a line in. So theyt spent some money on this park, but how does it skate?