The long-planned snake run connecting upper and lower Lincoln City skatepark is in progress. They tore out the tight tranny on the west side of the park and started the snake there. It runs down the hill at a fairly steep angle with four or five turns and there will be a big wall at the bottom to direct you back up the hill. It is going to be gnarly! Word is they will start to pour next week. Dreamland strikes again! UPDATE: Expanded coverage at EPM

Warren Ray is 42 year old musician and songwriter who decided to give up smoking after his father was diagnosed with lung cancer. Instead of the patch, he decided to try to replace his addiction to cigarettes by rekindling his addiction to skateboarding, which he gave up in his 20’s due to poor health, and a general lameness. A friend of his made a short film about it which has it’s moments, but needs help in the audio mixing department. It’s in a few indy film festivals. Another episode of Old guys who started skating again, but with a twist. And hey, it completes the hat trick of Skate or Die posts. Check it out. [Source: The Courier Journal – Louisville KY]

1987’s Skate or Die spawned an NES only sequel in 1990 that was imaginatively titled Skate or Die 2. No word yet on whether Nike has plans for a shoe based on Skate or Die 2. I don’t remember this game at all, but there’s probably a lot of info to sift through. Apparently, you accidentally run over the mayor’s wife’s dog on you skateboard, causing the mayor to ban skateboarding. Then you have to skate through the ghetto avoiding thugs and dragons, etc.. you know, normal skateboarding stuff. Unlike the other skateboard “simulators,” Skate or Die 2 looks more like a regular walking adventure game with skateboards pasted onto the feet of the characters. In some of the frames of the sprite animations (old 2D gaming terminology) the skateboard almost disappears. Oh yeah, you get to carry a gun too. Actually, it’s getting more and more realistic as time marches on. One thing that is worth checking out is the theme song, or at least the first 30 seconds of it. It’s got a very heavy Devo vibe. Check it out after the jump.

Shoe fetish. I don’t get it. I’m only mentioning it because it’s a good excuse to post a bunch of shots from the home version of Electronic Arts’ Skate or Die video game that came out in 1987. This isn’t even Nike’s first shoe inspired by or in tribute of 80’s skateboard video games. If they really wanted to do a tribute shoe, they should re-issue the red and black canvas Air Jordan’s that everyone wore while skating and playing video games. If you think skateboard forums are annoying, you should check out some of the sneaker forums where users have tons of Google ads in their signatures as well as bad Microsoft Paint graphics about how the user and/or their crew rules and everyone else deserves a beat down. Awesome community you’ve got their. Makes the comments on SnA look like one big hippie love fest. A little bit of shoes and a lot of Skate or Die after the jump.

I had versions of myself from various points in my skateboarding career but I couldn’t find that memory card. I haven’t played in a long time.

Dear Sir, We surf on your web site and find out you sell the skateboard and skateboard accessory. Our company also export these product over the world for more than 12 years. We can provide the best product and service to your company. I can offer the best price to you. You also can surf our web site. There are many product on our web site. Yes there are, and if I ever need a Foldable Sledge I’ll know where to look.

There’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance of Burnside in the trailer for an upcoming movie called Untraceable. It happens slightly over half way through the trailer, and looks like a short spot for cell phone service. The movie looks like it is supposed to take place in Portland, so the shot a bunch of location shots, including Burnside. Hey does Gus Van Sant know this is going on? When is Paranoid Park coming out over here anyway? It’s just like Ash said when she contributed this bit of news, “Why not put Burnside in a movie??? Haha, PDX is blown out!” Portland is hot for murders on the big screen right now. So will Untraceable be unwatchable? The last one they did here (The Hunter) with Benicio Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones was a major dud, but the local weeklies sure loved to talk up the Benicio sightings. Diane Lane wasn’t as interesting apparently, or maybe they shot all her outdoor stuff in Vancouver BC. So who was there when they filmed this, and did Burnside get it’s customary appearance fee in the form of a donation made for park maintenance?

My kid got this Pro Skaters action figure for X-mas from an unaffiliated third party – a non-relative, non-skateboarder. “Rodney Stone” has magnets on his feet, and is supposed to be the most articulated Exteme!™ action figure. I don’t have a lot of Exteme!™ action figures to compare him to, but the others must be really stiff since most of Rodney’s articulation is concentrated on the way his feet rotate in circles around his ankle joints. Rodney couldn’t bend over to pick up his board if his little plastic life depended on it. Check him out, he’s on the “Vert Team” according to his jump ramp. He’s also a fan of big air.