Are you pressing your own skateboard blanks with a vacuum press? If you are looking for a little less labor intensive method of constructing a mold, Ted over at Thin Air Press, home of the Roarockit has posted a lengthy set of illustrated instructions on how to make your own custom mold out of foam insulation. While his choice of shape and mold style may not appeal to you, the basic technique is still valuable if you want to make the next step in DIY skateboard construction with vacuum pressed boards. Sure beats the other method if you are still experimenting with your geometry. Check it out. [Source: Ted on SnA comments]

I got a tip about this Cisco advert and managed to catch it on my DVR without realizing it, but I accidentally deleted it before I could digitize it. I was waiting to catch it again but it seems like it only aired on one week. Cisco commercials show up, but it’s always a different one. Since then, discussions have popped up all over. So I finally decided to pull it of the Cisco web site. There are additional spots that didn’t air on TV. I’ve put them all together in one vid so you don’t need to wait through the intermissions. Where to start on this… it’s too easy. The main thing they are trying to sell is the fact that with Cisco Networks you can be in touch with everyone on a project almost instantly, no matter where they are. Ironically, the ad agency who put his together couldn’t have been more out of touch with skateboarding culture or history. – Thanks to Tracy Sigler and Paige for the tip.

I’ve been making half hearted attempts to put together a Cannonball Run of Oregon skateparks for several years. The Cannonball Run is one of those ideas that sounds fun but is actually quite a chore if you decide to undertake it. Every time I would suggest it I would get a few non committal grunts or “that sounds annoying.” It turns out most people would rather spend their time actually skating instead of driving from spot to spot and having to leave just as you get warmed up. Leave it to MC to actually put the plan into motion. He tried one earlier this winter but kind of gave up half way through due to weather and lack of sunlight. In Washington a crew had a similar experience. When Old Man Army decided to give it a go in Arizona, MC picked up the torch and ran with it. It wasn’t publicized as an event on Skate and Annoy because Mark had planned to hit some private bowls on the way and didn’t want to bring the troops along. At the last minute (literally) I talked him into just hitting public parks for the sake of continuity. In the car…

Yeah it’s the same joke I used the last time I talked about the Uganda Skateboard Union about a year ago. It looks like they have a new blog running, and one of the best things on it, aside from all the helping humanity and everything, is the preview for the video documentary. The preview itself rivals any GVK, and even manages to one up it with the addition of video effects. The Doctor has some stiff competition from the Boardmaster, who is hell bent on eradicating the twin evils of idleness and chess, from the looks of the video.

Skateboarding must be dead or dying. What else would explain the drought of marketing tie-ins for a major Hallmark holiday like Valentines Day. In 2008 my son got one lousy sticker of a tiger wearing hearts and riding a skateboard. What about all the Extreme™ valentines of the not too distant past? I feel like Charlie Brown. Here’s hoping for a more Extreme™ Easter.

Sure, we have some of the most famous parks in the world, but we also have our share of clunkers. During one of my many customary visits to SkateOregon, I decided to investigate the page dedicated to the “Skate Trac” in Prineville Oregon. What a gem! Oh save me, Tony Hawk Foundation. I still say this is better than phase one of Salem.

Notice there is no “P” in our ool. Sure, we like to complain about the rain here in the Northwest, but when it does dry off for a day or so, you can usually get your runs in. At worst, you might need the help of a squeegee, a pile of rags or the occasional weed burner. This park in Encino(?) actually has a sump pump but no electricity, according to the thread on Old Man Army. Yes, there’s a lot of OMA crossover here lately. No, that guy isn’t actually peeing in a pool, he’s hanging a tape measure into a skatepark bowl. Hit the link to see larger versions and additional shots. – Thanks to Concretins for the tip.

Last week we got a mention on a/the Vans Blog, written by a guy in their marketing department named Nikki. I assume Nikki is a he? The only other people I can think of with that name spelling are Nikki Sudden and the dude from Mötley Crüe. I’m not sure if the blog is part of the job or what, but one of the things he pointed out as being noteworthy is our 80’s skate zine archive. After getting the heads up, I told the author that he she had somehow incorrectly identified us as being Texas based, which we aren’t. He She said his her coworkers dug the fact that the zine archives featured actual skate zines instead of music zines. Surely there have to be other archives out there? I got to thinking that it has been a while since I added a new one. So this one goes out to Nikki and the clock punchers at Vans. It’s issue number six of Exotic Pets out of Dallas Texas.

So here we are again. Another month down, and more old decks to talk about. Just a quick reminder, you can click on the small images to enlarge them. Sometimes they show the top and bottom of the deck or some other detail that was cropped out for the sake of display in the article. Most times the enlarged versions are vertically oriented as well. Check out eBay Watch for January of 2008

Sure, we may have actually skated more parks on the NW Cannonball Run, but the crew from Old Man Army one-upped us by barging a bike-only park in Chandler Arizona, known as the, uh, Chandler Bike Park. According to the city’s web site, it’s the first bike-only public skatepark uh, bike park. Who knew they even existed? It’s not a dirt track next to a skatepark, like so many facilities are, but a full blown cement skatepark, (Sorry, hard habit to break) bike park. Chandler must have a lot of money burn if they can afford separate facilities on such a grand scale. How does it work for the respective communities? Is everybody happy? The OMA crew got the boot from an officer of the law, whom we are told was less offensive to look at and listen to than you know who. I wonder if the bikers are afforded the same courtesies when getting the boot. Maybe not, since skateboarders barging a BMX park is such a novelty. All of this has nothing to do with the photo above, which is a gal named Jean (See, I told you they wouldn’t discriminate) in the deep end (13ft?) of the…