About a million years ago (10 or so, actually) I did a write up of concrete skateparks in the greater Chicagoland area for a pre-blog print issue of S&A. It was pretty dismal, especially coming from a Northwest perspective. In most cases the design or finish were flawed, often times both. Most spots weren’t built by actual skatepark builders. Some have expansion joints where the transition meets the flat, filled with whatever soft goo they use on sidewalks. Some even have brushed cement. That’s not to say you couldn’t have fun in those parks, because you are skateboarding after all. Since that time, Chicago got an adequate, professional, but not especially exciting park on Wilson, plus a prefab junker on Logan, and think some other satellite parks in the burbs, but again, nothing to write home about. Who knows, (I don’t) maybe there are a other new parks in the area that I don’t know about. Admittedly, I’m going on old information, although I did hit some more suburban spots in 2009. This new skatepark in Villa Park by Portland’s Evergreen Skateparks has a small-ish footprint, so it’s kind of hard to dazzle, but still it’s got to be a step forward for the state of Illinois. Hopefully this will open the door for other build/design projects in the area. Maybe not though, I heard Evergreen ran into some Union problems on the site, with picketing and what not. That’s Chicagoland for you. Big shoulders extend all the way to the burbs. We’re da Machine! Getting back to Evergreen, here’s another slick helicopter-dogcam edit from Robert Mcintosh. Bonus Effigies audio for “We’re da Machine” after the jump.

It’s highly unlikely that this Swell brand gum is either, soft, fruity, or “swell,” given that it dates back to early 80’s. Unbelievably, the starting bid on a box of antique gum is $125. You can get an unopened box of skateboarding trading cards from roughly the same era for about quarter of that. I can’t tell exactly what is going on here, this kid is possibly puking fruit into big glass of soda. Big box after the jump.

I just saw this Red Bull commercial on TV sunday night, and couldn’t help but noticed they covered everything except the glring omission of skateboarding. I mean, they had down hill ice skating races for the love of Hosoi. I don’t know whether to laugh with joy or weep. Oh yeah, on second look, there doesn’t appear to be any snowboarding either. But again, they’ve got “Ice Cross” and parkour.

Neal Hendrix is Babes dig Balls Sports Babe of the Day. Babes Dig Balls is “The sports spot by babes who dig balls…and pucks.” If the interwebs has taught me anything, it’s that this site probably run by a 30-something dude.

What is sexier than a babe on a skateboard with five X Games medals and a trip to the Olympic Games? Not much. Today’s SBOTD is sexy Lewisville, North Caroline native, Neal Hendrix.

Click the link for his interview.

Betonhausen is A D.I.Y. spot in Berlin funded by c-list energy drink. (But really, is there anything as an grade A energy drink?) It has an outdoor part that looks like it served as the concrete college. Check it out. They’ve added an indoor part as well, 3 videos after the jump. The best video in the series is part two, which features the construction, including huge chunks of styrofoam sculpted in place and used instead of fill dirt.

New skatepark is goin to have a soft opening this weekend. The 1/13 check Kevaland on F-book for updates. These are the ramps from the old freemont project. There is room for a vert ramp we just need to stoke the owner. It is located in Clackamas close to the highway. GPK on the scene and out.

How to stay relevant in a world where you came up with an original (isn) idea and everyone has copied you, and Chinese manufacturers are flooding the market? Christian Hosoi has a model out on Penny skateboards. Looks pretty damned cool, and he shreds that thing. Video after the jump.

Kolie and the Funeral is the title of this coloring book given out by some funeral homes to help kids deal with the death of the loved one. It was published in 1988, so Kolie the koala (should have been K-ollie) might be preparing for the death of the skateboard industry… Zinger! I’d hate to be the kid who gets a brief glimmer of joy when he sees the skateboard on the cover and then realizes the whole damn thing is about his dead relative. A couple sample pages after the jump.

– Thanks to Dan for the tip.