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]

Local Portland coffee roaster and media darlings Stumptown Coffee had an advert in the October 23rd issue of the Portland Mercury. Make a note of the location of the appendage holding the letter “T”. Stumptown is the coffee of choice in the tattooed crowd of Portland. When is Pabst going to get on the ball and shoot an advert at Burnside? They already runs ads with local bands. Donate that fee to the park. Larger after the jump.

Hippie dippie tea company Celestial Seasonings is getting in the Extreme!™ kids marketing game with these drink mixes called Go Stix. Sure, they have extra vitamins, and half the sugar of competing products, but they are still meant to be poured into convenience store bottled water, which doesn’t seem “all good” as far as mother earth goes. Hey! What do you call a prehistoric monster that is asleep? Find out after the jump.

Halloween is coming and so far I haven’t seen anything skateboard related outside of this big bag of Dubble Bubble with a skateboarder on it. Dubble Bubble was always a favorite when I was a kid, but damned if that bubble gum doesn’t lose it’s flavor after about two minutes. Still tastes the same though.

I can remember being stoked when Poweredge first came out in the late 80’s. It seemed like a little bit of Thrasher and a little bit of Transworld. More importantly, it was something different, and it seemed fresh and authentic and not just something cobbled together by outsiders jumping on a bandwagon. I remember meeting a couple of the Poweredge staff at a few of the higher profile skate events in the Midwest, and they were all friendly and without attitude. Needless to say, Poweredge folded in 1991. but like R.A.D. before it, Poweredge has shown up online. Right now it’s just some history and selected parts of the first issue. The interface is a bit wonky, but sometimes it’s better to forge ahead instead of waiting for another five years to pass while you make everything perfect. Believe me, I’ve been there.

Check out Poweredge Magazine online.

And on another note. The site has been relatively inactive lately because I’ve been ill and I’m finally recovering, so expect the pace to pick up. Thanks to everyone who contributed in my absence.

I’ll use any excuse to pst a picture of Annabella Lwin, including colored sugar balls stuffed inside a hollow plastic skateboard. There are at least two versions available, the invert espousing “Loose Bearingz” and the more succinct “Rad.” Pics and bonus vid of Bow Wow Wow’s version of “I want Candy” after the jump.

Success Magazine did a short piece on Tony Hawk. Chairman of the Board Maybe the print version includes skate photos. I could drop by a dentist’s office and check the waiting room.

I keep thinking this is a fake article, like something you’d find on the Onion, but it seems like it’s real. When I reported on it in June, it seemed like a bad idea, destined to go nowhere, but it popped up again in Denver’s Westworld News. Regardless of the plan to open a skatepark within an amusement park, I have to give him (Llewellyn Werner, the man behind the company) a little credit for advancing the sport. They are building four smaller “neighborhood” skateparks in Baghdad out of Freshpark Freshpark portable ramps to introduce kids to skateboarding free of charge. Is it working?

The first park was finally installed on September 8. But since September also marks the Muslim holiday of Ramadan and daytime temperatures regularly reach into the 110s, no one has yet used the skatepark. So the official opening is planned for the second week of October. The mayor of Baghdad and Iraq’s Minister of Youth and Sport are expected to be in attendance.

How did the the venture capital company come up with the idea? Jeff Wilson who is the “head of sport” has some sort of relationship with Grind King. It will be interesting to see if anyone shows up for the grand opening. I’m still not confident that the whole thing is legit, mostly because the only source is obscure and the images are super tiny. Something about it seems off.

[Source: Sublimited]

Rick Charnoski and Coan “Buddy” Nichols’ newest film is titled Deathbowl to Downtown, and it’s on tour right now. Tomorrow night (October 1st) for example, it’s being shown in Portland at Cinema 21. As we mentioned before, a certain skate blog may (or may not, I ‘haven’t seen it yet) show in the credits. I’d still go watch it even if that weren’t the case. I love their films, and so do you. What time? I don’t know, it’s not listed. As soon as I find out, I’ll post it. – Thanks BK.

Cinema 21 Theater
– 616 NW 21st Ave
– Portland, OR 97209

Plan B Bar
– 1305 SE 8th Ave
– Portland, OR 97214