The Wall Street Journal (online) has a short piece on private skate spots across the country. It focuses on the age of aspect, as most of these operations are helmed by a 30 and older crew. Minneapolis gets mentioned as having an unusually large concentration (Hiawatha, Blood Bowl) but at any given time I think Portland has more. Some of them are there for a while and gone, but I can think of four going right now. Also mentioned in the article are New Yorks defunct Autum Bowl, DOS bowl in Portland and the private vert ramp facility in Seattle (More on that in a little while.) A video clip shows a cool little tunnel under the Hiawatha ramp. Conor Dougherty is the author, and if I’m not mistaken I have corresponded with him before. I think I recall him saying that he likes to sneak in as much skateboard content as he can. Check out I Say, That’s One Gnarly Grind You Just Executed: Aging Skateboarders Join Exclusive Venues to Avoid Those Darn Kids in the WSJ. (I swear that’s a punchline in one of MC’s comics.) Colin was supposed on call for an interview, but they must not…

A 45rpm record spindle adapter made out of recycled skateboards. Found on sale at Ebay. Kind of nifty.

Pendelton Woolen Mills has a pretty conservative approach steeped in their history and name. They’ve also got a somewhat secret operation going on to appeal to hipsters, with limited and semi-limited production runs ranging from t-shirts to higher fashion wear in their Portland Collection. They want to expand their market without alienating a loyal customer base. Then there’s this advertisement at Windells that features what they’re mainly known for, which is a wool semi plaid looking fabric. Bonfire’s connection? They must have used some Pendleton wool lining their snowboarding gear. So this is best of both worlds, young action sports enthusiasts and the 45 year old housewife together at last. Fire up the Cougar Life theme song. I may sound bitter, but I’m not. I’m just a little bit puzzled. A snowboard clothing company hooking up with an uptight fabric mill in the middle of an identity crisis. What better way to advertise than with a Skateboard? Actually, Bonfire has been throwing the Pipe to Pipe skateboard/snowboard contest for fifteen years now, so it does make sense after all. Unobstructed view after the jump. Update: Pendelton wool covered Vans, thanks to Ben.

This week’s Shot of the Week is from John Aguilar. Not much to say about it but, you know, just look at it. Cool.

Spotted on a bike ride over the weekend. Pretty good unintentional driveway spot. Another view after the jump.

An article in the Sunday Business section of the Oregonian features a picture of Brooklyn Street Skate Spot as part of an illustration of the property that the expanding Max line (light rail) plans to purchase. BSSS has known about this they became legit, but I’m not sure what this means to the spot. A quick check on the Oregonian web site to find a link to this article also turned up a to Daddies new location and another with Paul Rodriguez breifly talking about NIke in the skateboarding shoe business an his desire to have skateboarding in the Olympics.

These are garment hang tags for Maple XO, made out of skateboard veneers that have been etched and cut with a laser. Pretty damned cool. Hang tags are a little bit too high brow for the stuff I hawk, but damn, I wish I thought of it myself. [Source: Oregon Screen Impressions]

Mike Perry is an artist who works in a lot of mediums and make a wide variety of objects, including this odd little wooden skateboard object. He’s got a handful of skateboards and skateboard-related pieces sprinkled in his collection of work.

The ski skate (Not like this, but like this.) is a time honored tradition. Antihero has a good looking tribute to the waterski skateboard, all grumbling about heat transfers aside… What’s better, they put together a nice dork session video, that although it stretches the gag pretty thin, it’s still damned funny.