Coan Nichols and Rick Charnoski’s newest film Deathbowl to Downtown is a documentary on the history of skateboarding in the sprawling giant New York City. They are celebrating a screening of it with a photography (and art) show titled The Moving Image – A Photographic History of Skateboarding in New York at the Etnies Show Room (29 Greene St., NYC). The opening reception is invite only, but there is a public viewing on May 10th and 11th from 12-6pm and 12-5pm respectively. I don’t know if this means the film is has been released or not, but it must be getting close. If you’ve never seen their work, the word documentary doesn’t do them justice. May I suggest starting with Fruit of the Vine and then moving on to Northwest? It ought to be obvious to anyone that New York City has a rich history of skateboarding to draw from, so the NCP films treatment is essentially a guaranteed winner. And who knows, if you look real close in the credits you might see a certain web site mentioned. I contributed some commercials from the SnA archives that they had intended to use in painting the big picture. Of course it took me forever and a day to actually get it to them, and I haven’t seen the film so they might not have used anything. Regardless, head on over to the film’s official site for more photos, a trailer and some more clips. My favorite one features Steve Quentin.

Yes, that legendary haunt of the Dogtown Z-boys in the last heydays of the 70’s. Immortalized in the documentary, and romanticized in the Lords of Dogtown. Skate and Annoy is proud to be the first to publish this never-before-seen shot of The Dog Bowl.

These are from the Oregon Trifecta’s Battleground stop last year. Sometimes it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there in the ranks of the Portland non-professional skateboard media. Looks like that might be Rich from EPM, or possibly Mike from The Skateboard Archives, or even Dan from Northwest Skater. Don’t feel sorry for me, cause I’ve poached them all too.

The 30th anniversary Independent Trucks tour is coming to a skatepark, DVD, and Thrasher magazine near you. A great big list of the pros on the tour, but they are doing it in shifts, so it’s anyone’s guess who will be at what stops. Not true. The Indy tour site has the tentative roster for each stop. Let’s see… Lincoln City, Oregon on Sunday, June 29 from 2:00-5:00 pm, featuring Darren Navarrette, Jeff Grosso, Chet Childress, Slash, Peter Hewitt, Emmanuel Guzman, Steve Alba, Danny Way, Alex Horn, Sam Hitz, Tony Trujillo, Alex Olson, Grant Taylor, Tosh Townend, Spanky, Randy Colvin, Tommy Guerrero, John Cardiel, and Max Schaaf. How are those guys going to fit in one truck? Here’s a curious one, co-sponsored by RedBullSkateboarding.com.

Once more from the collection of John Drummond, I give you Convert zine #7 from Indianapolis, Indiana. Strangely, for a zine based out of Indiana, most of their coverage was from other states. Although this is the “street issue,” it features mostly ramp skating, aside from a page of Chuck Treece from McRad on a bank, and a ditch contest. The same contest features “Kendall’s mom” who brings everyone White Castle sliders. This issue came out in 83 or 84, so I don’t know if Jeff Kendall was still a local or not. There’s an interview with Paul “Gramps” Hugasian or Heugeson, they spell it two different ways. An interesting note, “Gramps” was only 23 years old, something that would not raise an eyebrow now. The accompanying photos document the highest ever air witnessed on an Uncle Wiggly argyle deck, one that we in the Skate and Annoy circles used to fondly call “The Lead Sled.” Convert #7 is one of those full, letter size zines where the pages are stacked up and stapled on the side with no folding. This was the easiest way to go, and although I scoffed at the unprofessionalism of this style zine, I always secretly admired those who went for the large format without all the headaches of tabloid size printing and layout. Convert #7 has multiple colored pages too. In a move to cover more aspects of skating besided vert, this would be the last issue titled as ConVERT. Social Contortion was to be the title of the next issue, although I can’t say if it ever came out. These guys were close enough to Skate and Annoy headquarters in central Illinois, but our first issue didn’t come out until ’86, and I had never heard of this zine until I got it from John this year.

Featuring: Milwaukee Extravaganza, Marty and Bob Beaudoin, Paul Heugeson- who might be the same person as Paul “Gramps” Hugaisan, Oz, Chuck Treece, Sean West, Sean Long, Jim Charters, Mike Orfait, Andy Egger, Shawn from Arizona, Dump Contest, Corn Head, Kendall (Jeff?) and his mom. Hoop, Rob Roskopp.

Spots: The Turf, Vatolands BC, The Ditch in Carmel, Oak Ridge Ramp

Check out Convert #7

UPDATE: Comments closed here, but you can comment directly in this gallery now.

While the PowerBoard can be presented as a new type of skateboard, it’s attraction reaches beyond that of conventional skateboards. Adults, as well as children and teens are drawn to the PowerBoard’s high-tech/high-performance image. The PowerBoard is an exciting new exercise machine, a means of transportation, and a high performance sport vehicle all-in-one.

The prototype looks pretty heavy to be “small and light enough to be picked up and carried indoors!”

This week’s Shot of the Week is from Damienhialation, and it’s called the challenge.

Dan told the kids that whoever grinded off his dollar could have it. He’s a giver.

Yeah great, but did they get the beer too? I mean, by kids I assume he means freshly turned 21 year olds. Check out the Shot of the Week

Local skater Rick Lai has been working toward a Happy Valley skatepark for a while. Here’s the latest development by way of the North Clackamas Parks & Recreation District:

In March, North Clackamas Parks and Recreation District purchased 33 acres of property off SE 162nd Avenue in Happy Valley. This land was purchased to provide active recreation for community residents of all ages. Some of the uses already suggested include athletic fields, trails, play areas, skate park, dog park and community center. NCPRD will work with the community to complete a concept plan to determine future improvements to this site. Interested citizens are encouraged to participate in the process by attending the planning meetings or by submitting comments via mail, e-mail or telephone. Submitted comments will be presented during the public meetings.

Thursday, May 1, 2008
6-8 p.m.
Oregon Trail Elementary
13895 SE 152nd Dr.
Happy Valley, OR 97015

Your input and ideas will help shape the park site for future use and enjoyment. We hope you will attend.
Questions, suggestions or comments may be sent to Michelle Healy by e-mailing (michellehea@co.clackamas.or.us) or by calling the parks hotline at 503-353-4367.