The Wall Street Journal has an article on the blank skateboards titled “Avid Boarders Bypass Branded Gear: The $15 ‘Blank Decks’ Work Just Fine — A Marketing Challenge for Industry.”

Zoo York riders scored the photo incentives. If you’re hoping for the old school pen and ink renderings that they used to use for illustrations you’ll be disappointed. In fact the first composite illustration looks more like something out of a second rate USA Today. It’s like all those years without a photo editor have them crippled. One recurring theme is that the kids with real talent are the ones that are buying blanks, and the newbies are buying branded gear. I don’t know about your town, but I see mostly the opposite happening in Portland. The IASC is quoted, and even brings up their ill fated “A World Without Pros” campaign. Here are some interesting facts. There are an estimated 800 professional and semi-professional skateboarders on the industry’s payroll, and Santa Cruz (NHS actually) claims an R&D budget of $500,000 annually. There are a few factual anomalies in the article. Apparently in Sioux Falls Iowa you can buy a “complete” deck from Crown for $30, or a name brand for $60. I’m sure they meant deck only, but even so, $60 for a normal production run deck is a rip off. Another kid who broke his deck had to buy his own replacement when his mom refused to foot the bill. “…he chose a $130 one from Mystery Skateboards — on his own.” Someone should tell that kid that his trucks and wheels were still good. Read the Wall Street Journal. Just in case you are wondering, yes, we think Skate and Annoy is every bit as revered and important as the Wall Street Journal. More so, actually. Thanks to Michael Brooke for the tip off.

Dan Hughes tipped me off to Tony Hawk’s appearance on HGTV‘s show called Sizzling Summer. This particular episode had to do with sizzling backyards, and Tony Hawk’s cement “skatepark” was one of the backyards featured. I tried get this recorded on my own but all I could seem to find were episodes on a bunch of arts and craft projects. Dan was kind enough to digitize it himself. One of the related links that came up with it is a Red Bull authored video on Ryan Sheckler’s backyard skate ramp. It looks like Red Bull must have built it for him because it’s got Red Bull’s color scheme and a cheesy little built in fridge stocked with Red Bull. Watch them both after the jump. Update: Added Bob Burnquist’s house after a reader request.

They look like the picture above, plus one. Some people collect, and then some people really collect. Head on over to Wheelbite to check out the biggest Zorlac collection this side of Jeff Newton. Some of them are just minor color variations, but even so, there is a lot of Zorlac history there. They range from the early Texas time period through to the California days, but curiously no current Zorlac offerings. I’ve got a basement full of decks as it is, but I’m still hankering for a Craig Johnson reissue. If you can’t afford to pony up on eBay for the originals, you can order a near life sized print of some of the decks for $70. There are only a few available now, with more to be added.

…give it a few days to cure so it lasts a little while.

Dave Tobin sent this link to a gallery of great skate shots.

I didn’t know where Swalecliffe was until I looked it up. Turns out it’s in South East England, near Whitstable. “Whitstable?” you ask? Why I believe that’s near Swalecliffe. SnA reader Neil Brown says they’ve been waiting years for a good outdoor concrete park in his neck of the woods, and he’s stoked to finally get one considering the project got the green light way back in 2005. Sometimes it seems like these things will never get built. Neil’s got a Flickr stream of construction and opening day, but he hasn’t given us a review yet. Probably too busy skating. There’s a rendering of the park plans after the jump. Looks decent enough from afar. Swalecliffe. I like the “e” on the end of the word “cliff.” It’s like “shoppe.” I wonder if it’s called Ye Olde Swalecliffe Skateparke. Get it while the weather’s good!

Reading and watching documentaries are no substitute for experience. If you want to learn how to work with concrete to build skate structures, here’s your chance. Marginal Way Skatepark will be hosting the Red Bull 10 Stair contest on Saturday, August 4. Red Bull has offered to pay for skatepark improvements as their contribution to the cause. Part of the improvements are needed for the contest.

SATURDAY JULY 28 – ALL DAY – MARGINAL WAY NEEDS YOUR HELP!

We have 10 yards of mud scheduled for an 8 AM delivery. The site is completely prepped for a flat pad and transition pour around the back of the pillar island. Come down to the skatepark and help us out. Good times, good karma and hard work = MW Phase 2!

Marginal Way Collective

Contest August 4th in Ketchum Idaho, which is quite a fun little park. Andy G. sent this in. Click to enlarge.

Hey guys hoping you might post this and anyone within 10000000000000000 miles might make the trek. We started having contests in Ketchum in 1995 and haven’t thrown one since 2003. This is a home spun by skaters for skaters event and it has always been a really good time. Nothing too serious and good times also DJ Press Play (who lives in Portland now).

PS I know that Montana is the new Idaho but we are still the old Idaho and have a good thing going! Cheers!

Let’s hear it for Idaho! Make your travel plans and head out there. We like Ketchum, and Hailey is only 15 minutes away. Get your vaccinations up to date in case you are bitten by a wild Slackjack.

the Home News Tribune (News that hits home in central Jersey!) reports that a new skate park irks neighbors. Noise complaints have neighbors starting a petition to remove the brand new $300,000 skatepark. HNT Staff photographer Jody Somers’ picture clearly shows that these noise complaints could have been avoided or severely curtailed had the city of Linden done a little research and gone with a concrete park instead of prefab. You can read the most compelling study statistics after the jump. Don’t worry, it’s a quick read.

Imagine a session with a skatepark designer prior to building a new skatepark for the express purpose of telling (and showing) what you do and don’t like about skatepark terrain. Talk about direct feedback! Well, that’s what’s going on with Portland’s Gabriel Park. Airspeed’s first “Drop In” for Gabriel Park is going down this Saturday July 28 at 5pm in Florence Oregon. There will be others held in the Portland area too. This is a fantastic opportunity for armchair skatepark advocates. It’s one thing to sit behind your computer and anonymously criticize someone else’s work, but here’s your chance to do something constructive, live and in person. Keep checking the Airspeed site for upcoming Drop-Ins, and we’ll try to keep you posted as well. Looks like the newest concept for gabriel park is a more traditional snake run.