This is a shot of a well known Portland skater Wes Cording taken in 1980 at a skatepark in Philadelphia called the Roxy or Roxbourough or something. Wes originally submitted it for the blue fiberglass ramp collection, but I am using it to announce that Wes is getting married tomorrow and all interested parties should meet at Union Jacks tonight if you want to send him off in the customary fashion. That’s not him on the cover, but you get the idea. Wes cleans up real good, you can see the proof after the jump.

Everybody sing! Who can take a sunrise Sprinkle it in dew Cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two? The candyman Handstand man! The Handstand man can The Handstand man can cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good! I’m not going to begrudge anyone from trying to make an extra buck off of a web site, but the Handstand Man is really, uh, pushing it. He’s got one claim to fame, and it’s a burly one to be sure, he’s ridden a handstand down the infamous Signal Hill. That’s gnarly, but he won’t show it to you unless you pay $14 for the DVD. He has some still photos for sale, but has graciously provided a few “free” pics for downloading as well as a couple of video clips you can watch for free, as if that is some kind of rarity. Let’s see, anything else? Most of the pics don’t show his face and he performs most of his stunts in track pants, sometimes even white sweatpants! The whole site is a trip: “The ballsiest skateboarding action sequence I have ever filmed!!” As quoted by James, the video cameraman who filmed the stunt.…

Tracy Sigler built a mostly modular miniramp in his basement and documented the hell out of the whole process. It cost him about $800 to get all the materials delivered to his door to build what looks like a 12 foot wide 3 and a half foot tall mini ramp. I’ve built a handful of ramps in my day, and I’ve been known to over engineer my structures so that they could withstand large earthquakes (or small Grover-quakes.) Tracy builds them right. He’s more of a Yankee Workshop ramp builder than a measure once cut twice guy. Er, I assume tracy is a guy, or maybe I’m just a sexist pig. Tracy even has a nice diagram on how to set the coping (too low!), which is one area where a lot of first time ramp builders balk. Check out Tracy’s basement ramp break down, he/she is Heavy Duty.

Aside from the wedding ceremony of one of Portland’s most beloved skateboarders (Yes, I said “most beloved” and I meant it!) the other very interesting thing that happens this weekend is the premier of the Steve Rocco documentary The Man Who Souled the World. October 5 is the date for showings in the following cities: Angeles, Santa Monica, New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Orange County California, Santa Barbara, Portland, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Reno. Check the official site for more info. After Z-Boys, there was a glut of documentaries for while. The Man Who Souled the World is the one that really needed to be made, and if done well, should serve as the bookend to Peralta’s Dogtown flick. I’m really looking forward to this movie. So far the reviews from gay hollywood gossip sites are positive, so that’s encouraging. You’ll need to scroll down past the Spice Girls coverage if you follow that link. Let’s hope we don’t see a dramatized adaptation like the Lords of Dogtown. Although now that I think about it, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Joaquin Phoenix as a young Steve Rocco.

Hey guys here is the Cold War video for 07 shot in one day edited in 7 hours by Kilwag. If you get Concrete Wave it is on their DVD they put out 1x a year, so get your board orders in early if you see something you like. I am going to be so rich when this hits subscriber’s mail box, I will be able to make new friends so easy. So please get your orders in early so we can still be friends. I also want to welcome Shane Bell to the team. Peace Off.

First off, this is not commentary on the quality of the teams listed on the graphic, so cool your jets. I got an email update about the 4th annual Ellensburg contest and demo on October 6th. It included a flyer with a picture of the Ellensburg, Washington skatepark. I glossed over it at first but for some reason I took a second look and thought, “Man, what a bummer it would be if that was what I had to look forward to skating on.” The contest has a ton of sponsors with more than one skate shop involved, so there must be a vibrant scene. The moral of this story is that you make your own fun. It’s something to keep in mind. If we have any readers in the Ellensburg area, send in some pics from the event and we’ll put them up – poor photography or not. The full version of the flyer is after the jump. I believe I found out about this from a Skateboard Mag email.

The December January 2007 issue of Dwell had two separate skateboard related features. The first one was for an insane conceptual skatepark in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It turns out they actually tried to figure out if they could build it. The second more down to earth feature was in Dwell’s Nice Modernist column, and it was about Rob Dyrdek’s radical (no pun intended!) new approach to skatepark design, the skate plaza. Aside from the Kettering Skate Plaza, the article mentions his recent Shreveport, Louisiana venture which according to some people involved in the project, did not go as well as planned.

Sure, in the 70’s you could have made a skateboard deck in shop class. Now you have more options. Of course there is Paul Schmitt’s CreateAskate that we’ve covered here a little. CreateAskate is for educators only, so what about those of you who aren’t in grade school? Surely there are adults interested in learning how to make their own skateboards. Roarockit has an emphasis on possible use in school programs, but it’s always been available for individuals. Now Roarockit has a permanent facility for learning how to make skateboards. They had a grand opening of their Professional Skateboard Making School last weekend. Sounds like a good idea if you find the task of building your own vacuum press a little intimidating and need more hand holding than the take-home kit provides. If you want to see how skateboards are made the old fashioned way there’s another video and some more CreateASkate coverage after the jump. [Source: Lumberjocks.com]

I just wanted to babble on about this week’s Shot of the Week, since the standard format doesn’t allow it, and this one is too good to let go. This shot sums up skateboarding in the Midwest during the 80’s for me. Sure, we were rad, but it seemed like our surroundings were holding us back. This is from the Chi-town Shred photo archives. No further information is available, But it was undoubtedly shot on or near Oak Street Beach, which has more concrete than sand. Brilliant. Chicago!

I got an email alert about the grand opening of Sarasota’s Payne Park next Saturday. I got excited because my mother in-law lives in Sarasota and so I visit it on a regular basis. The existing skate park is fun, but nothing to write home about, so a little variety would be nice. It turns out that Sarasota isn’t getting another skatepark, it’s just phase two of the surrounding park facilities, which includes amphitheater, more tennis courts, a walking path (Whee!) and a “skateboard clubhouse,” whatever that means. Then I read that the skatepark fees would be waived for the day of the opening festivities and I really got mad. Sarasota has one of the highest concentrations of wealth in the southeastern US, but you have to pay to skate at that park. The land for the park? Donated outright. The construction costs? Paid for by a one percent sales tax. Public tennis courts? I think they are free, but for some reason, a facility that can be used kids from all demographics is pay-to-play. Absurd! It’s already annoying that the damn thing isn’t open on holidays or during school hours! I don’t know what the hell this “skateboard clubhouse”…