Evergreen Skateparks recently broke ground on a 4500 square foot skatepark in Happy Valley, Oregon. I can’t find a design for this anywhere, and most of the pictures that turn up in a Google Image search are old concepts attributed to Newline that appeared here on S&A back in 2009. Newline still has revised plans on their website. What happened is anyone’s guess, but Oregonians are happy to keep it local.

Eazy E shot by Mike Miller back in 1992, holding a 101 Natas Kaupas deck. There’s another photo of Natas holding a print of this photo floating around Facebook, credited to Miller, but I can’t find it on his web site.

Captain America and the Falcon, Volume 1 #196 dates to 1976. In issue 195 the Captain somehow lost his shield and now must enter in the Kill-Derby in order to win it back. Marvel Comics has posted some digital versions of old comics online. They require a subscription fee to read beyond a few pages. I thought this issue was in there, but it isn’t. You can view the skateboard related excerpts here on S&A – he said, until Mickey mouse’s lawyers crushed him… I was going to the refrain from Captain Sensible’s Wot as the title, but I’m pretty sure I’ve already used that joke at least once. Instead, the title comes from one of the panels in the story.

Drain and skate at your own risk. Why? Because it’s in the middle of Big Cat Habitat, a home for retired circus animals and other unwanted, mostly very large animals.

Free screening of Underexposed on Saturday 3-30 at 8:00 in Mesa, AZ at Kids That Rip. What is Underexposed?

Bradenton, Florida has a relatively new Team Pain skatepark on the riverwalk. It’s mostly waist high or under, with the exception of a 10ft or so vert wall on one end of the park and a large bowl on the opposite. The park is long and narrow, dissected in the middle by an overhead highway bridge that crosses the river. As with Louisville, KY, it’s more or less across the street from the hospital. I’m not sure if they do that on purpose or not. It’s on a stretch of land that would otherwise most likely be vacant, which means plenty of room for expansion! The non-skating locals I spoke with are very pleased with it, and consider it a destination worth hanging out at just to watch and enjoy the location. More photos and a video skate through after the jump.

An iPhone case in the shape of a broken skateboard, complete with truck and wheels, making it impractical for carrying anywhere besides a purse. It’s times like this that I start to rethink my policy of “sometimes it’s good to execute an idea, no matter how impractical it is.” It comes in a bunch of different colors too.

UPDATE: This post originally contained links to the web site ducksizedhorses.com. Almost 3 years later, the domain appears to have been hacked, or lapsed and was taken over by unscrupulous parties, and as of 5/4/16 is a suspected phishing site. The links have been removed.

[Source: Duck Sized Horses (Site infected) ] – Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.

I was down on Vice magazine for a while, and reasons I can’t quite remember. I’m coming around to it though, maybe it’s because they are hanging out with Dennis Rodman lately, I’m not sure. Here’s one for the warm fuzzy file. It’s a grown up’s take on how his 12 year old self would have approached a local skate spot. Read: I wonder if Natas still skates.

Well, street mostly. Jenkem Mag asks if skateboarding is ready to openly embrace a transgender skater, and responds “I think so. I think it’s just waiting for someone to step up to the plate.” It’s an interview with Hillary Thompson, a skateboarder born with male genitalia that has always identified herself as female. It’s called Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria. True to, er… form, King Shit Magazine actually broke the story, but in the tabloid/Big Brother style they made famous – remember the Jarret Berry interview? You can read that interview in one of the most annoying Flash-based magazine readers I’ve ever seen. Jenkem’s approach is more mature and journalistic, like something you’d find in a sympathetic mainstream magazine. Hillary’s got the skills, as many photos will attest. Her own peers accept her for the most part, but at her age she’s in no danger of turning pro, so there’s little chance the rest of the skateboarding world having to come to grips with it.

[Photos: Sam Mcguire]

POLICY UPDATE: I’m going to delete any asinine comments here. Don’t even bother commenting unless you have something intelligent or thoughtful to say. You don’t have to agree with anything presented here, and you can rattle on about choice versus nature, but you do have to be an adult about it. (Yes, I’m aware of the irony of my statement in light of recent discussions)