Yakima, Washington has new skatepark built by Grindline, and a problem with the locals getting stuck in the bowls during the winter. There’s video over at KEPRTV.com. Yakima, Washington folks should be used to snow, right? We rarely get snow in Portland, yet we never get stuck in the bowls when they are full of snow. To be fair, kids sometimes get stuck in Pier Park’s deep bowl even when it’s dry. Somewhere MC has a comic or two about that. That rope isn’t for hanging rollerbladers, it’s to help kids crawl out of the bowls. The fire department has been called out three times in 24 hours to rescue trapped kids.

– Thanks to Tito for the tip.

Ah, Bart Simpson you old scamp. Skateboarders have a love hate relationship with him. At first it was just great to have you on our side, but like with so many skaters that keep with it over the years, he eventually ended up being branded as a kook, even though to my recollection he only wore a helmet in one episode. Nowadays we, as a skating population are more apt to give him grief for his poor style. However, a new era may have dawned on Bart’s skateboarding hijinks, thanks to the Skatebook. And thanks to Hulu, I don’t have to take the time to digitize it and eventually get kicked off YouTube again. You can watch the whole episode, but they also let you chose your own start and and end points, so you can embed just the segment you want to highlight. Genius.

PBS Kids airs an educational program called WordWorld. It’s pretty crappy looking as far as animation goes, but it does seem to do a good job of teaching kids the basics of spelling and phonetics. You might think a show trying to teach kids how to spell would be, you know, spelled correctly, but that’s not the case with WordWorld. All the characters and most of the props are made out of letters. When they have challenges or adventures, the characters have to collect and place letters together to physically make the items they need to overcome their obstacles. WordWorld’s opening sequence has a brief bit where a bear rides a skateboard. The bear is a regular, but the skateboard isn’t a constant companion. In fact, I’ve only seen one episode where the bear rides the skateboard outside of the opening sequence. Why do I know so much? I’m not developmentally delayed (much), but I do have three year old kid. As with any vaguely popular TV show aimed at children, WordWorld has merchandising.

Jon Favreau and Tony Hawk are on tonight’s episode of the Sundance Channel’s Iconoclasts show. If you haven’t seen it, two “iconoclasts” spend an hour talking to each other about the things that made them iconoclasts in first place, as well as completely unrelated matters. It’s a good show, though somewhat slow paced at times. If you are looking for something with a little more substance than your typical TV interview piece, Iconoclasts is the place to get it. The show airs tonight on the Sundance Channel at 10p E/P time zone. Video clips after the jump.

At first I thought this was a private facility owned by Rob Dyrdek, but it turns out this is the set of his new MTV show titled Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory. The show is… right, who cares? But the set looks pretty amazing. I like the fake trees and plants. Nice attention to detail. More photos thanks to Transworld after the jump.

– Thanks to JF for the tip.

Apparently, four insecure jackasses felt the need to hassle someone they knew, repeatedly taunting and eventually beating up a kid and stealing his skateboard. The kid finally pulled out a knife and fought back. One of the attackers suffered some non life threatening injuries, and all four were arrested after the cop took everyone’s story, including onlookers (non-skaters) using the surrounding park. The upshot? If you watch the postage size video reminiscent of the internet circa 1998, you’ll see the commotion has scared off some younger kids from visiting the park again. Hooray! More skatepark for me! But seriously folks… It’s too bad that happened. Gabriel Park is one of the last places in Portland I would have expected that. Hey douchebags ands bullies, keep your quarrels and your lame asses out of the skateparks. Skatepark users, don’t stand for this crap. – Thanks to Welsh Pete and Troy Sliter for the tip.

[Source – KGW NewsChannel 8, Portland]

Wrapping up some longboard-centric items. First up is fashion designer Adam Kimmel’s promo film Claremont consisting of a couple of beardos screaming downhill in suits we can only assume were designed by Adam Kimmel. I’m not exactly sure how the tie in works, but it seems to be getting people talking. The right people? I can’t make that call. I thought it was a hoax at first, as far as Adam Kimmel being in the fashion industry, but it would have to be an elaborate one. The downhill action looks insanely fast. These guys even pass a car as well as passing the camera between themselves and shooting backwards. I don’t know how they do it, but my helmet is off to them. They make a certain German downhiller look like a wuss in comparison. Supposedly, German police are on the lookout for a man assumed to be “a professional stuntman” in full leathers who reached 62 MPH on a two mile stretch of the Autobahn after getting a tow in by a motorcycle. Pfffft! Talk to me when you do it in light blue polyester. Lastly, there’s the L.A. Times article titled More skaters switching to longboards, from the Health section no less. Because it’s the internet, you can watch both videos in the same place.

– Thanks to sk8norcal, Jake, Colin and Micheal for the tips.

It’s a funny coincidence that I was listening to the Trilobites I Can’t Wait For The Summer To End when I got the email tip about this song. “Summer’s not a bummer. It’s a stunner, and it’s now.” Sure, Marc Bolan was not known for the depth of his lyrics, but rather for being the the supreme effeminate glam rock guitarist and vocalist whose half shirts, onstage mincing, high heels and general rocking cool stage presence and persona were not even approached again until the likes of Prince.

Marc must have had a fascination with skateboarding too. This is Skateboard Music features a demo of his titled “Skateboard,” and this video clip performance of “Celebrate Summer” from his UK variety show simply titled “Marc” features skateboarders performing in front of a blue screen. Unfortunately, the song and performance are pretty flat. Not exactly a good introduction to T Rex for the uninitiated. Apparently, Marc was also an advocate for skateparks. You can watch the video and read an excerpt from an interview with Mr Bolan talking about the exciting new sport of skateboarding and what government officials should be doing to promote “skateboard tracks.” – Thanks to Eric Shea for the tip

The LA Times reports that skaters and BMX riders alike are not too happy with ESPN’s Superpark course built by a BMX crew. The main complaints are “too small” and “tight transitions,” although you’d be hard pressed to tell by some of the photos. The Flying Tomato reminds us that this is the first year for the event, and next years will likely be better. Shaun White may be right, or he may just be more interested in making bad miniseries for HP computers. I seem to recall hearing that some of the early vert ramps in the X Games were kind of crappy too, but they eventually go that right. With more money on the line now, they’ll probably get right on that. Although the general public seems to only be interested in the Mega Ramp. [Photo: Los Angeles Times] – Thanks to Mac for the tip.

There are shin injuries, and then there are shin injuries. That shot in the top right is Danny Way hanging his shins out to dry on the coping of the quarterpipe part of the Megaramp after catching about 20 feet of air. Catch some incredulous highlights after the jump, including Jake Brown’s return to the event. Looking at that huge contraption… I can’t believe it’s actually used in a competition. An exhibition would be crazy enough. I hope those guys are getting paid. How the hell do you practice for this? It’s not like they have them set up everywhere. So yeah, those guys are skateboarding, and it’s amazing to watch, but one of these days someone is going to die or end up crippled. Best case scenario: They’ll be like Hank Hill’s shinless father Cotton Hill.