I’ve been making half hearted attempts to put together a Cannonball Run of Oregon skateparks for several years. The Cannonball Run is one of those ideas that sounds fun but is actually quite a chore if you decide to undertake it. Every time I would suggest it I would get a few non committal grunts or “that sounds annoying.” It turns out most people would rather spend their time actually skating instead of driving from spot to spot and having to leave just as you get warmed up. Leave it to MC to actually put the plan into motion. He tried one earlier this winter but kind of gave up half way through due to weather and lack of sunlight. In Washington a crew had a similar experience. When Old Man Army decided to give it a go in Arizona, MC picked up the torch and ran with it. It wasn’t publicized as an event on Skate and Annoy because Mark had planned to hit some private bowls on the way and didn’t want to bring the troops along. At the last minute (literally) I talked him into just hitting public parks for the sake of continuity. In the car he was still inclined to hit one well known private spot in particular because he was afraid we wouldn’t get to all sixteen. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed. Heck, we could have easily squeaked in a seventeenth since we drove right by Oregon City on the way to West Linn.

Yeah it’s the same joke I used the last time I talked about the Uganda Skateboard Union about a year ago. It looks like they have a new blog running, and one of the best things on it, aside from all the helping humanity and everything, is the preview for the video documentary. The preview itself rivals any GVK, and even manages to one up it with the addition of video effects. The Doctor has some stiff competition from the Boardmaster, who is hell bent on eradicating the twin evils of idleness and chess, from the looks of the video.

Skateboarding must be dead or dying. What else would explain the drought of marketing tie-ins for a major Hallmark holiday like Valentines Day. In 2008 my son got one lousy sticker of a tiger wearing hearts and riding a skateboard. What about all the Extreme™ valentines of the not too distant past? I feel like Charlie Brown. Here’s hoping for a more Extreme™ Easter.

Sure, we have some of the most famous parks in the world, but we also have our share of clunkers. During one of my many customary visits to SkateOregon, I decided to investigate the page dedicated to the “Skate Trac” in Prineville Oregon. What a gem! Oh save me, Tony Hawk Foundation. I still say this is better than phase one of Salem.

Notice there is no “P” in our ool. Sure, we like to complain about the rain here in the Northwest, but when it does dry off for a day or so, you can usually get your runs in. At worst, you might need the help of a squeegee, a pile of rags or the occasional weed burner. This park in Encino(?) actually has a sump pump but no electricity, according to the thread on Old Man Army. Yes, there’s a lot of OMA crossover here lately. No, that guy isn’t actually peeing in a pool, he’s hanging a tape measure into a skatepark bowl. Hit the link to see larger versions and additional shots. – Thanks to Concretins for the tip.

Yeah, it’s got nothing to do with skateboarding, other than a few incidental shots each episode, but as far as mindless entertainment goes, it’s regularly good for a few laughs, so I guess I was wrong about the Rob and Big show. Plus I always liked the theme song from the Courtship of Eddies Father. Or maybe I had a crush on Mrs. Livingston. Hello, Mr Eddie’s father. Let the hate mail commence.

Last week we got a mention on a/the Vans Blog, written by a guy in their marketing department named Nikki. I assume Nikki is a he? The only other people I can think of with that name spelling are Nikki Sudden and the dude from Mötley Crüe. I’m not sure if the blog is part of the job or what, but one of the things he pointed out as being noteworthy is our 80’s skate zine archive. After getting the heads up, I told the author that he she had somehow incorrectly identified us as being Texas based, which we aren’t. He She said his her coworkers dug the fact that the zine archives featured actual skate zines instead of music zines. Surely there have to be other archives out there? I got to thinking that it has been a while since I added a new one. So this one goes out to Nikki and the clock punchers at Vans. It’s issue number six of Exotic Pets out of Dallas Texas.

Getting ready to take a trip to Florida with my two and a half year old kid. Need to buy him a carry on bag. Must fight competing urges to barf and/or buy an Elmo skateboarding suitcase. See it larger after the jump.