There’s a new wackyboard in town, and it’s called the Soul Arc board. I’m not sure why everyone keeps feeling the need to further refine the basic skateboard in hopes of more accurately mimicking the surf or snow covered slopes. I think the skateboard does a fine job as is, but then again the world would be a dull place if we never tried anything new. These guys may have loused up a perfectly good skateboard, but they might be actually onto something as far as getting closer to the feel of steering like forefather and son of skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding respectively. [Source: The Skateboarders Journal]

Oh the drama. Remember the brouhaha over Jim Phillips and the cease and desist from NHS over his continuing use of the screaming hand logo? Well it looks like they must have worked it out because Santa Cruz is having a book signing with Phillips at their ASR celebration of 35 years of the Santa Cruz brand. It looks like there will be quite a few “celebs” in attendance.

The first time for any park on the Trifecta is always fun, and Tigard was a blast, as well as a blast furnace. I don’t know what the official temperature was, but it was nasty hot. the topic on everyone’s mind was which half of the park were they going to use, but they used the whole park for the contest, which was cool. The double layered coping that seemed so bizarre during construction now seems like something completely normal. There were two fireworks explosions, a bad collision and a lot of sweating. I took about a million photos at Tigard, and rather than do a good job of editing them, I’m going to dump them all on you, but in two parts at least. Check out Oregon Trifecta 2008: Tigard – Part one

The new Grindline built novice park at the Howard M. Terpenning Recreation Complex is open for skating. Too bad it was raining today. Reports are that it is small but fun. There’s that word again. Oh no, I just blew out the skatepark. Thanks Rick MacDonald for the phone cam shot.

People are recycling old skateboards into shoes, jewelry, purses and furniture these days. Add Sansfurnace to the list if you don’t already know about it. It appears to be the work of Jeff Schaid, and it’s pretty interesting. A lot of it is obviously skateboard centric, but some of the pieces don’t even hint at their former existences. Sometimes the graphics play an integral role in design, and sometimes they are not even visible. Some of the pieces are just smart looking furniture that happens to be made from skateboards. A piece that screams “I’m a skateboard” can be good if it isn’t too clumsy. Sansfurnace is able to go to the next level. The shots above are from the “Work” section of the web site. Each piece has multiple views that do a better job of giving you an overall feel, so check it out. [Source: Ashbury]

In terms of spectators, this year’s Trifecta showing at Lincoln City was not as packed as it has been in previous years. That might have had something to do with the weather. It seemed like it might rain, and the fog and/or clouds were literally blowing through the top of the trees. Perhaps the heat wave was keeping away some of the inland folks who didn’t realize there was a 30 degree temperature difference between Portland and Lincoln City. It fluctuated between almost downright cold and mildly warm, with the warm periods seemingly only lasting for about 10 minutes at a time when the sun would peek out. So it’s that time of year again. Time to get ready for the onslaught of pictures that are edited with an eye towards quantity and not quality. If the names aren’t listed, it’s because I don’t know who they are. Check out Oregon Trifecta 2008: Lincoln City

Sponsored action sports athletes Bucky Lasek, Ryan Guettler, Rob Lorfice, Alistair Whitton (okay, I’ve heard of Bucky) and more will make an appearance at the Vans store at Clackamas Town Center on Thursday, August 21 at 7:00PM. It would probably be cooler to meet these dudes at one of the local skateparks but they promise tons of Vans giveaways including limited edition t-shirts for the first 100 attendees. You might even win a chance to take home a free pair of Vans shoes! Sorry this is short notice fanboys but you’d drop everything to meet Bucky right? Oh wait, we hate those guys because they make their shoes using overseas labor. You could go and protest. Vans Store Clackamas Town Center, 12000 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97086 503-659-1177

This is am image of a SpohnCrete precast waterfall from a Flickr post. It addresses one of the concerns found in the “cons” section of prefab concrete from companies such as Spohn Ranch, who have actually sent me a bunch of imagery and correspondence as a rebuttal to previous criticisms that I need to get to formatting. This is not an endorsement, rather a presentation of information to do with as you please. You can read what they have to say on the waterfall and other features on Flickr.

It’s a funny coincidence that I was listening to the Trilobites I Can’t Wait For The Summer To End when I got the email tip about this song. “Summer’s not a bummer. It’s a stunner, and it’s now.” Sure, Marc Bolan was not known for the depth of his lyrics, but rather for being the the supreme effeminate glam rock guitarist and vocalist whose half shirts, onstage mincing, high heels and general rocking cool stage presence and persona were not even approached again until the likes of Prince. Marc must have had a fascination with skateboarding too. This is Skateboard Music features a demo of his titled “Skateboard,” and this video clip performance of “Celebrate Summer” from his UK variety show simply titled “Marc” features skateboarders performing in front of a blue screen. Unfortunately, the song and performance are pretty flat. Not exactly a good introduction to T Rex for the uninitiated. Apparently, Marc was also an advocate for skateparks. You can watch the video and read an excerpt from an interview with Mr Bolan talking about the exciting new sport of skateboarding and what government officials should be doing to promote “skateboard tracks.” – Thanks to Eric Shea for…

July was a pretty status quo month. Nothing went super high, but prices weren’t low either. Lots of stuff went for over a thousand, which is my barometer. Australia is super hot or collecting right now: there’s lots of great decks going that way, and some great collections being put together. I guess the weak dollar is good for something. Check out eBay Watch for July 2008.