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 Goodyear park in Arizona, shot during the OMA Cannonball run. Want to see it larger?

You’re viewing thiss pot from beyond the grave! Oohhh… Spooky! Well, who knows, maybe it’s still active. Joesf Heffner (nweyesk8) sent in this possibly xeroxed copy of an old photo that his buddy Jason Walker took of him in 1992.

In Vicksburg, MS there was this old parking lot of actual concrete, not asphalt, that had transition along one edge. The transition went up against the side of this building, but as you can see there was a slight deck still. The main problem was there was a water pipe that leaked from the building and the lot would get completely covered with a thick layer of algae. making it unridable most of the time, except durin the scorching heat of summer.

This is a cropped version of the original, you can see the whole thing after the jump. How about it Mississippi readers, is this spot still a go?

OK, Officer Salvatore Rivieri doesn’t just hate skateboarders. He hates radio controlled cars, or maybe street artists or most likely himself, because he’s been driving that ridiculous go-cart police car for at least a year. Another video has surfaced of officer Rivieri serving and protecting. Apparently this guy has a very short fuse. Here’s hoping he gets an attitude adjustment via painfully boring and embarrassing anger management counseling, or better yet, an old fashioned pink slip. What a dick. – Thanks to Eric Cherry for the tip.

It’s not always about the clarity or the technical execution. Sometimes I just like the way a shot looks, as is the case with this shot of Jeff Phillips taken in Houston. I like the blur and all the artifacts. The overall quality of the pic outweighs any faults. Photo by Sonny Robertson, 198… See the uncropped version here.

Sixteen skateparks in one day. This shot above is Gabe from Salem at the Aumsville park which was our last stop. I wonder how the guys in Arizona did on theirs? More pics and details to follow. In the meantime, Conahan put up a park shot from each spot via cell phone on Antigrav Remote.