Yesterday I was checking out Tim Kulas’ new bowl progress at Bowl Surgeon. I noticed Tim had a few computer renders of his work in progress. I was surprised by the high-tech at first, given his philosophy of dumpster diving for the majority of his wood. Then I learned it was done with some free 3D software called Google SketchUp. It inspired me to download it and work out a sketch for an idea I have for some home improvement on my garage. Originally I had dreams (delusions, really) of tearing down my small garage and re-pouring the foundation to make it wider, and adding a second story for a mini ramp. Besides money, the biggest drawback is the massive pine tree (bigger in scale than the picture above) about 5 feet away from the back corner. I couldn’t reliably dig up the sidewalk that separates the garage from the tree. I don’t want to damage the tree. It’s gigantic and I don’t want it falling on my house. It’s already causing the sidewalk to the back alley to buckle up a little. Tim’s approach and free software inspired me to have a look at tearing off the existing roof…

Team Pain Skateparks sent in some pictures of a magnificent looking new skate facility they recently finished for Eastern Skateboard Supply in Wilmington, NC.. Eastern is the largest skateboard distributor on the East coast and is owned and operated by former Walker pro Reggie Barnes. The bowl is probably one of the biggest on the East Coast. The first week the park opened it hosted a demo with the Plan B team along with a handful of other pros. I’m just looking at those pictures and I can smell the birch! More pictures and Reggie Barnes after the jump.

– Thanks to Kathleen for the tip Update: From Kilwag – I had to make an addition to Mark’s post. Usually I’m hands off but in this case, for the sake of continuity and timeline, I’ve added a cartoon titled How Electric Skateboards Really Work after the jump.

Tilt Mode! from Tilt Mode Army, circa 2000. Tilt Mode Army is a group of skaters out of San Jose, California. The videos are the mastermind of Matt Eversole, Chris Avery and Jesse Erikson, with help from NC Clothing. The Tilt Mode videos seem to be more about having a good time with friends rather than landing a single trick after fifty tries, which makes the video stand out from all the others out there. A lot of companies now-a-days could learn a lesson from these guys.

Skateboarding dogs, monkeys and pigs are for the birds. Haw haw! His name is Tony Parakeet. Get it? Get it? Yuck yuck. This small bird does little more than perch on a fingerboard while the owner, dare I say trainer moves the board into position to roll down inclines or rail slide (extreme cave-man style) down a railing. they even set up a few ramps and ledges so the bird naturally maneuvers into a tail slide through sheer gravity. Low impact fun. Hey vid-heads, is this a section from a larger video? Watch it after the jump on embedded LiveVideo. Speaking of embedded video, does anyone else find the new YouTube interface intrusive and annoying? Seems like it kooks up web browser performance too.

Not Blind skateboards, but skateboarding for the blind. In a departure from the usual “how to clean your bearings” type articles, About.com has an article titled Blind Speed – Daredog, blinded as a child, picks up skateboarding at age 20. Pretty interesting stuff. To top it off, Daredog AKA Jennifer Tissot, is a woman, which is no big deal but when combined with being blind and a skateboarder makes her a super-minority. Check it out.

Pretty cool overview of Oregon skateparks at SkateOregon with a photo of each one. Dang there are a bunch of them.

As seen in the May 2007 issue of People Magazine, this advert for the Chevy Cobalt features street skating prominently. Some publicist or team rider over at Powell ought to be getting a fat check for this product placement. Usually company logos are not so readily identifiable. As for the Devil Dogs lyrics to Brand New Chevy… Devil Dogs? Never heard of them, but according to Last.Fm “People who like The Devil Dogs also like New Bomb Turks, Radio Birdman, Supersuckers…” Really? OK, Sounds good, but going against their credibility is the fact that they released the song in 1989, which would not have been an especially noteworthy year in the annals of American car design. Is anyone in this day and age excited by new Chevrolets, Corvettes even? I doubt the Devil Dogs would find the Cobalt that inspiring, but I’m sure the publishing rights inspired their bank accounts. Enlarge the advert after the jump.