Few people know or remember that while he was recovering from his ankle injury, Natas had to resort to a career as a part time department store model to make ends meet. That’s not Natas, or at least it’s Not-as.

Rip City Skate grand reopening on Friday. This thing should be skateable by then. Yeah, it’s a blurry cell phone shot, sorry. Maybe there’s something to those Nokia commercials. The new location is kind of accross the street from Jiffy Lube. It’s basically a half a block south of NE 33rd and Sandy Blvd. UPDATE: Added a little video of the event.

Double page spread for the Gap in an issue of GQ. Almost looks like it could be 20 years old… Photo courtesy of Aaron Shims, who thinks you should patronize Black Market Skates, skateboard at Marginal Way, and swears he doesn’t actually have a subscription to GQ

Skateboards made with surfboard technology is nothing new, I recall it was Hamboards that used to offer a foam and glass construction board, although it seems like they’ve gotten away from that. I was ready to dismiss this kickstarter project for Hydroflex Skateboards almost immediately, but in the interest of pretend skateboard journalism, I decided to check it out. I’m pretty impressed, actually. They’ve taken technology they developed for surfboards, adapted nd improved it for skateboards. Besides being waterproof, they appear to be highly durable and functional as well. You usually don’t see radical (no pun intended) alternative skateboarding manufacturing technologies put to the test in the street. It’s a foam core board with a honeycomb of resin running vertically, connecting the top and bottom layer. Of course, it’s never going to replace 7ply Canadian maple because it’s too labor intensive to produce. I’m not sure how the materials cost compares, but these the prices range from $90 to an unbelievable $230 for the deck alone. As durable as they are for some applications, you aren’t going to want to slide these on anything. Maybe there’s a place for Hydroflex boards in the industry, who knows. Do yourself a favor…

I’m upset that I accidentally deleted my recording of Dora the Explorer!

While wasting time on Alibaba.com, I saw a lot of bootlegs. Especially the more recent Tony Hawk designs from Birdhouse seem popular to rip off. If you order a minimum of 100 decks, you’ll get them for a few dollars a piece. Yes, I definitely took most of these pics from the sellers, but what will they say? That I stole from them? Also, take a quick tour in their factory here.

Rad Dudes trading cards are were published by Pacific trading Cards in 1990. Everything is neon, Rad Dudes are hanging on to the last bit of 80’s they could muster. Rad Dudes are pretty much a third rate copy of Garbage Pail Kids, as perpetrated by someone who was only vaguely familiar. They are amzaing only in the total absence of any amount of creativity. Character names are uninspired and the illustrations usually lack an interesting composition. There’s 110 cards pre set, 55 front illustrations, each having two back versions, one with some character dialog and the other as part of a tile making a larger version of one of the cards. Although the cards are 23 years old, they have absolutely no collectible value. You can buy an entire set of 110 for $1-$2, with shipping usually costing more than the actual cards.

A sneak peek at the proposed design being discussed at tonight’s meeting. Basically the options are on the snake, a new snake or this snake that replicates the old with some new more practical renditions. We will most likely replicate the old if the decision to raise the OG happens. Leaving it up to the city and board to make that decision. The only change would be the down sidewalk would get transitions on its side almost all the way up, and the banks would get smoother radius with coping… Whatever the decision is, you know it will be built right.

A miniramp suspended by a hot air balloon, the brainchild of Brazilian skateboarder Vanderley Arame, as seen in Cemporcento Skate magazine. Exclusive video after the jump. – Thanks to Giancarlo at Skate Cultura for the tip.

The news about the new skatepark design meeting in Tampa got me thinking about the Bro Bowl. Ages ago I posted about a Bro Bowl documentary that was in progress, so I decided to see if anything ever came from it. They finished it, and it’s available for viewing in it’s entirety. The opening sequence starts off a bit rough, but once you get past that, it’s pretty good. Notably missing, however, if an interview with the guy who designed and built the place, Joel Jackson. The Tampa Bay Times interviewed him in conjunction with the Bro Bowl being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places as one of only two 70’s era public skateparks still in existence in the USA. The par was originally surrounded by housing projects, but the whole area is slated for redevelopment. It’s not quite the same situation as Southbank, the redevelopment is in advance of a State of Florida Department of Transportation edict to widen the road adjacent to the skatepark. The city has advised locals to accept a the funding of a replacement park as the best possible outcome, over any temporary reprieve that activism may be able to achieve. The history…