Donald Cassel of Grind King was interviewed on malakye.com, which is a sort of Monster.com for the action sports industry. I had always been a little curious about Grind King. I remember the showed up as king pins first, and eventually moved to making trucks as well. The interview doesn’t go into much depth but it does have a few interesting bits. I’d say it was a missed opportunity, but maybe there just isn’t that much to say. It’s a quick read.

I lifted this text from a Swedish (I think) blog that linked to Skate and Annoy. I suspect we have Stefan Hauser, who keeps threatening to be our resident Swede, to thank for that. I can’t read a damn thing on the blog, except for the word “plywood”: Vad har hänt idag. Inte mycket med bowlen, men renoveringen av streetytan med ny plywood har tagit fart, trots att Erik.. Come on, the country that gave us Ikea doesn’t have it’s own word for “plywood?” I’m having a hard time swallowing that. I’ll bet they have a word for “particle board” for damn sure. I don’t know what the Swedish equivalent of D.I.Y. is, but you can see it in action on Wavebridge Pioneers

Last year we had a great turnout, and this year we listened to what the racers liked and disliked, we adjusted the event to make it more skater friendly. Even the houses over-looking the park will breathe a sigh of relief knowing there won’t be a kids band playing at the same time. If you want to check it out, I shot a dizzying clip with my camera last year here. We hope to see you for a fun day of racing the clock. I can assure you there will be a great product toss when its all over! If you would like to donate prizes or want to volunteer to help control crowds and racers feel free to contact me at sk8god43@gmail.com because without some volunteer help, the event won’t fly as smoothly. Please help if you can…it will be over by Noon or 1Pm at the latest.

Getting sick of looking at Shawn Reinert’s ass at Pier Park like Danimal was? Fine. Here’s the very first “Shot of the Week” that will actually change weekly. The page formatting is bunk, but I wanted to get it up and running first. We’ll make it look pretty later. But look at the front page now, the picture has changed at long last. Now to work on the Annoying Kid of the Month! This was street skating circa ’88 at Oak Street Beach in Chicago. You can partially see the name of Chicago’s seminal punk band “

I didn’t get a ton of great shots, but I think I did get heat exhaustion. Anyone who braved the crowds and heat last Saturday for Battle Ground’s grand opening definitely deserves the Red Badge of Courage. That place was packed solid, but you could still get your runs in the bowl while everyone else had their attention focused towards the cradle and deep end. now is as good a time as any to ask if there are any fellow Nikon D-70 shooters out there who are constantly bumping their shutter speed selection dials. I fell victim again but fortunately caught it after a while. Don’t worry, you’ll still get to see action in all it’s blurry glory. Joking aside, this is one serious design flaw with that camera. Anyone? Anyone? Check out the pictures and prepare yourself for the onslaught of teen commentators. [Photos: Left – Unknown rider. Top – Mark Conahan, and Johnny Turgesen] Additional coverage: Dan Hughes has some more pics up at Northwest Skater The Skateboard Archives. Thrasher has good video here.

Annette’s got the hits, and EPM has the park slalom coverage, as well as links to more coverage. First off, I’m surprised that the city of Aumsville agreed to host another contest. Perhaps there is a new administration in this notoriously skater-unfriendly town. Skater-unfriendly? How could that be when practically the only thing in that town is the skatepark? I think they got more than whatthey bargained for. They probably thought they were getting a playground instead of a world class skatepark that attracts traveling skaters. They have been hostile and inflexible towards competitions in the past, ultimately rejecting the Trifecta after two years. Not to mention the predatory behavior of local law enforcement towards visitors from out of town. I actually haven’t been to Aumsville in a long time, but just thinking about it makes me smile. It’s a really fun park. Aumsville locals, how is the surface holding up? i’ve heard it is getting pitted. Aumsville public servants, protect your investment! Star sealing that park annualy before it’s too late. Second point of interest: What is the social hierarchy in slalom skaters? Do the regular slalom skaters dismiss park slalom as a gimmick or fad? Do park slalom…

Team Pain sent in a few pics of the Englewood Florida skatepark that is under construction. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because we covered it in January when a woman donated 200k to the mysterious project. I say mysterious because the only web presence for the city seems to be owned by a newspaper conglomerate that publishes for several small towns in the area. There is vague, limited information about the community. If I lived there I would find it kind of disturbing to have my town’s official news dissemination in the hands of a private company. But I’m getting way off track here. There are more pics and enlargements after the jump.

OK. Time to clear up a few things from yesterday’s post about the progress of Vancouver Washington’s Pacific Community Park Extreme Sports Park. I was totally off base on the BMX track. Somehow I got it in my head that there was going to be a dirt track for BMX at the Pacific Community Park Extreme Sports Park. That is not the case, and BMX will be allowed on the concrete. Before you start complaining you should know that according to the Parks Communications Specialist, the turnout of BMX riders at the public meetings significantly outnumbered that of skaters, especially in the early planning and design phases. Although the whole complex will not open until 2008, they are going to open the skatepark section after it is finished, and the street course is scheduled to open at the same time as the bowl. More information, including the projected opening date and a sneak peek at what phase 2 might look like after the jump.

On the way home from the Battle Ground grand opening we decided to check out the progress of the Vancouver Washington skate park. Looks like we weren’t the only ones with that idea. Follow the link for way too many pictures of the construction site. Looks like they are holding out on pouring the flat. Or if you just want to see the incredible street course, you can skip ahead. Battle Ground pics coming tomorrow.

Innes Clothing and Black Label Skateboards is teaming up to roll the Innes RV up the I-5 corridor for some in-store “Meet and Greets” and to skate all the sweet buttery spots they can locate. Skaters confirmed are: Chris Troy Shuriken Shannon Peter Raffin Steve Reeves Donovan Rice Shaun Gregoire Woody Butwolski (Aussie) And a few suprises along the way. TWS is going to run some coverage, but I’ll be there too, so it’ll be a double whammy. TIMES TBA! CALL THE SHOPS LISTED FOR MORE INFORMATION! July 12th Jacks Boardshop in Medford OR July 13th ValleySSS in McMinnville OR, EXIT (Bridgeport Mall) and Skate Legion in Milwaulkie OR July 14th PlanZ in Kelso WA, IandI Boardshop in Olympia WA, SkateBarn in Renton WA. July 15th Drive Day to Boise Id. July 16th The Boardroom in Boise Id