Callin on Colin is back! My 33rd interview with Marek Litinsky, a transplanted Czech Republic native living in Oregon. This is the first time i’ve spent any real time with Marek… I recorded it in his garage, both of drinking a beer and standing around shooting the shit. I really like this new formula because i think it helps my guest relax and talk more comfortably. I’m new to my audio stuff using a wireless lapel mic system and my iphone… which obviously failed when someone called me since i didn’t put it in “Airplane mode”… at which point i increased the volume which made it sound much better anyway… we had a good time despite the poor audio quality. At the end of the interview i think i freaked out about how it wasn’t recording correctly that i decided to just cut it off. Thanks to Marek for being such a good sport!

There’s an article about the Brooklyn Street Skate Spot in the Portland Mercury. The picture is old, because phase one is done, right down to the pool coping! Disturbing news though, according to the article, Portland’s light rail is set to impinge on the spot’s footprint as early as 2014. However, I’m not sure if the author did her research, that might just be a reference to the fact that the pedestrian bridge is scheduled to be demolished. The MAX would have to pull eminent domain on all the adjacent buildings and homes too. We’ll see…. There’s also an appearance from the neighborhood sourpuss who again reiterates his displeasure that the whole thing didn’t go through the proper channels. [Photo: David Lansdown]

<a href="

I curse the audiophile who sniped me on this eBay auction for Skateboard Jive by the Mixtures. What kind of loser bids on crappy skatesploitation music? ME. There’s a fan page set up on MySpace, so I guess at least two people care. The Mixtures were an Australian band from 1965-1976. Skateboard Jive came out in 1975, and it was the last thing the Mixtures released before disbanding. There’s a bunch of skatesploitation records that come up on eBay all the time, pretty much the group, if you miss once you can most likely try again in a month, but I’ve never seen this one before. I covet this.

Ripzu skatepark in Vancouver, Wa is having a contest on Saturday November 20th, 2010 Registration Begins at 10am. Details after the jump.

The Chicago Reader has an article with Dr. Yung Tae, the physicist and skateboarder who allegedly fixed the wonky skateboard controller for the sequel to Tony Hawk Ride called Shred… that’s suppsedly out now? Geez, who knew? It’s a pretty interesting article, but real story is the half hour long video on Dr Tae’s web site titled Building A New Culture Of Teaching And Learning, which asks the question Can skateboarding give us a better model for teaching and learning? I’ll give you a clue, nobody bothers to make a half hour long video if the answer is “No.” It’s clearly labeled as the most important thing on his web site. “Real-life research is more like skateboarding than something manufactured in a school curriculum. The school is the thing that’s artificial and pathological.” That’s a quote from Dr Tae, so you can tell he’s passionate about it. If you’ve got still more time to kill, check out The Physics of Skateboaridng. He’s got three episode previews online. Previews for what? I don’t know yet, I’m still trying to figure out when I’m going to have time to finish the first half hour video. Yes, but as a known scientist it…

More skateboarding jests courtesy of The Onion. Youcan see some past jibes here and here. – Thanks to Colin for the… Wait up. Get off the interwebs and finish your next interview!

The Tony Hawk Action FIgure, narrowly beating out the seemingly fan favorite Outhouse. The winning story ends with Concretin Nik getting a free board, so now he’s gotten another one out that story… If I had to guess I’d say he had some help from the other Concretins. The editor’s choice goes to… stolen hamburger buns. What can I say? I like the futility of a love letter spelled out with stolen bread combined with the absurdness of an illogical mom. Truth be told, Outhouse was my second favorite. Must be the love stories. Congratulations to our winners and thanks to Weirdo Skateboards fro graciously providing the schwag.

Born Ugly #8 is out. More of the same quality stuff you’ve come to expect. There’s an nterview with Washington DC skater/photog Shaun Gregoire, an interview Rob Lee from with Richmond Virginia (no it’s not the Dukes of Hazard car…) and a feature on the Kingshighway DIY spot in Saint Louis. My favorite thing in this issue is the graphic (seen above, without the Super 8 MOtel logo) that you can photocopy (or download) for use as a t-shirt design for your own DIY spot fundraiser. The C.R.E.T.E. (Clandestine Revitalization and Enhancement of Transitionless Environments) design comes with excellent instructions, 2A being the best; If you know how to screenprint already then why are you reading this? Just go do it. It just so happens that Sauce zine has already made some, so you can get yours if you want to help as yet unnamed Porltand DIY spots.