… which is alright by me, thank you very much. The Airspeed crew was out on a Sunday taking advantage of a break in the rain. What a great setting for the Gabriel Park skatepark. Probably won’t be too hard to get the family to go along to this one if you can get them away from those videogames.

The new Lake Cunningham Park set to open looks amazing in the pictures, but it’s rubbing the locals the wrong way. Kind of like a Klamath Falls situation squared. The San Jose Metro reported:

Although everyone agrees that the park is a massive benefit to San Jose, they admit that the mandatory pads rule might turn off a few folks, as will the fees, which are $2 per day or $50 per year—along with a $6 for parking.

“It’s a great park, but it’s already got two negatives against it as far as the street skaters go,” explained Caballero. “Street skaters don’t like to wear pads. It’s not very comfortable for them. They can get away with helmets, but wearing knee pads and elbow pads—it just doesn’t feel like street skating. It’s like something else. It doesn’t feel natural. That, and paying to get in and paying to park. So I would say three negatives.”

Echos exactly what we’ve been hearing in the comments here almost since day one. It’s hard to imagine how a city so in a region so rich in skate history could be so clueless in this day and age. It made the front page of the weekly free paper, so maybe citizens will take note. The article isn’t only about the negative aspects however. So don’t be afraid to check out Now Boarding.

[Source: Have you seen him?]

Last Saturday there were two events coincidentally planned for the same day at Portland’s Pier Park. One was a neighborhood cleanup championed by Mark Conahan and the other was some sort of Pier Park locals appreciation event organized by Chris Nukala. There was a short speech and some short spot-driven contests with plenty of giveaways. I arrived late to the cleanup and and had to leave early and in a hurry, due to, well, you know. I didn’t get any decent shots, but Michael from The Skateboard Archives was there snapping away, so I’ll link if he posts anything. Also, GVK cameras were on the scene for a little while. Otherwise, this is what you get.

UPDATE: More cleanup coverage on EPM.
UPDATE: More coverage on The Skateboad Archives.

Check out this video titled Skaterpede from Wall of Gray. Yes, it’s Wall of Gray week on Skate and Annoy. He’s got a different take on skate videos, and a nice break from the usual.

Frequent tipster and commentor John Aguilar sent in some pics from a recent session at Bellingham Washington’s skatepark. The riders himself, John V, and Jeremy Brown, in an order that I can’t quite make out, except I can tell you for sure that the bank shot is not John A. I’m not sure what’s up with the assortment of black and white, sepia tone, and color photos, that’s they way they came. A gal named Amy gets the photo credit.

I got suckered into leading the skatepark cleanup at Pier Park again. Come on down and help with graffiti removal and trash pickup around the skatepark. Here are the details:

Project Date and Time: 4/19/2008 – 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Site Address: N. St. John Street & N. James Street Portland
Directions to Site: Cross the St. Johns Bridge at Highway 30. Turn left on Lombard and right on St. Johns. The Park will be on your left at North James St.
Parking/Meeting Location: Ample street park available along N. James St. Meet at the covered picnic area.

Clean graffiti at the skatepark. There will be a small barbeque after the Pier Park Pick-Up for volunteers. Snacks and beverages available during the event.

Following are some general items to keep in mind when planning your participation:
* Please bring work gloves.
* This event will take place rain or shine! Dress appropriately for the weather, but plan on long pants, long sleeves and sturdy shoes or boots, even if it’s warm.
* Mark tools or other items you bring with your name and phone number.
* Parents/Group Leaders must accompany and supervise children.

Hope to see you there.

Am I making you feel uncomfortable, err, down there? This is an image of the Lincoln City snake run that I took a couple weeks ago when we had the place virtually all to ourselves. I spent about 20 minutes trying to capture a view of the snake run that would please me, and this is what I came up with. You are looking down at the bottom wall from the very top. I have a similar shot that is less abstract because it isn’t framed as tightly and gives you a better idea of what you are looking at. You can see it after the jump.

The City of Vancouver, Washington/Clark County Parks (Yeah, I’m confused too) has set up a web page for finding all their (sanctioned) skate spots and parks. It’s got links to pages with specific information about each spot, such as operating hours, directions and individual contact information for concerns an information. A lot of park districts have web sites with information about skateparks, but usually they aren’t centrally collected and you have to know the name of the park to find it. So, hats off to Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation, even if the supervisor didn’t want to use one of my photos in a newsletter with a credit to Skate and Annoy because he thought we promoted cursing and drinking alcohol. True story. In a moment of weakness I agreed to let them use it and credit it to me personally, all for free of course. What was I thinking? They ought to thank Parks Communications Specialist Jilayne Jordan for presenting a more human and less robot-with-stick-in-orifice face to the public. Just so we’re straight here, Jordan lobbied for using the picture, and she’s been helpful to the Pacific Community Skatepark (obviously) and to Skate and Annoy as well in providing us information to disseminate to you.

Enough petty whining. Vancouver-Clark has three new parks/spots planned for this year! Details after the jump.

This week’s Shot of the Week is another old one, dating back to 2001. Chris “Bone Man” Swan at the old Pier Park skatepark. I like the way everything is out of focus except for the wheel and shoe, and it’s shot with film. How nice. Bone man doesn’t skate very much these days, but when he does he still rips. He’s annoying that way. Check out the full sized shot.

A lot of our readers won’t get a chance to go to Lincoln City and see what the new snake run looks like. Fortunately for them, I’ve gone ahead and put together a short video tour that looks like it was shot by a meth addict in withdrawl who covered the lens with vaseline, stuck it down his pants and then dropped it in the dirt. This is the first time I’ve looked at any of the footage I’ve shot on a large screen in a long time. I can’t wait to see those family videos…