Irrigon’s grand opening is just a month away – April 14, 2007 – according to SkateOregon, where you can view images of some test rides by the crew.
Find more photos at the Skaters for Public Skateparks forum and at Dan’s Skate Pages.

photos:top left and right – SkateOregon; bottom left: copinggrinder1 from SPS; bottom right: Dan Hughes

It’s always a bummer when your rock and roll heroes start to look like your grandmother. That’s none other than J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr fame posing with one of the limited edition Dinosaur Jr skateboards from Alien Workshop at SPOT. The artwork is from their first release as Dinosaur before they had to change their name. It turns out there are also Dinosaur JR wheels. And I thought Naked Raygun skateboards were a niche market. I saw Dinosaur (JR) in a small club in Champaign Illinois circa ’87 or so. Loudest damn show I’ve ever been too. Unfortunately, also one of the most boring. I think I left in the middle. Those darn kids and their rambunctious rock and roll! I think they are back together again with a mostly original lineup. You can see enlargements of the product after the jump. You’re skating all over me. [Source: JMascis.com]

There are lot’s of large skateboards, but only one title holder. Tod Swank has his work cut out for him running all that is Tumyeto without having to worry about people trying to take away his record for the world’s biggest skateboard. First there was that cheater (Update: Not a cheater) in Australia, Now there are a bunch of eggheads at Bay College who are building a 31 foot large skateboard as part of a project in a Computer Aided Design class. A student named Tim Timler (Seriously?) is the project lead. Tim, you suck. Tod didn’t need no stinking computers. The college president who is admittedly not a “balance person” is going to be one of the riders in the documentation attempt. Fantastic! [Source: Daily Press, Escanaba, MI]

Ten guys working out there this morning plus a couple of inspectors – I had to shoot through the fence. Notice all the bricks are done. Click the picture for a larger view. Beautiful day here, I heard they have another pour today.

Rich from EPM sent over this shot of Mike Swim from you know where. I’ve been screwing with the site layout, so things may look wacky around here for a whle. Chances are if you reload the page in 10 seconds it will go back to normal. So no, we’re not suffering from web site eplipsy. Click to enlarge.

I was in a pub ordering a cider a couple of months ago and looked up at the TV and saw what appeared to be a Jeep commercial with Mike Vallely. The sound was turned off but I seem to remember Mike sitting in a drainage ditch (LA River scale) and a graphic that said “Mike V on skateboarding” or something like that. I haven’t seen it since, but I did find a web site called Sportskool.com that is essentially trick tips for all kinds of sports, most of them no-so-Extreme. Mike V. is the go-to guy for skateboarding, and Jeep Patriot is the sponsor. At one time this would have struck me as odd. Maybe Jeep is trying to capture the Mike V and the Rats demographic.

The San Francisco Chronicle has an article on Zach Wormhoudt of Wormhoudt Inc. titled Chairman of the Board. Get it? “Board” as in “skateboard.” Ah ha ha ha! Get it? Get it? Oh stop, you’re killing me. Oh wait, you don’t get it? Wormhoudt’s father built Santa Cruz’ infamous Derby Park which is the world’s oldest surviving skatepark. Everyone is a critic, as evidenced by this quote from the article:

“I have nonskater friends who say, ‘You have the greatest job in the world!’ My friends who are skaters say, “I don’t envy you.’ “

It’s a decent article. Check it out.
Update: Links fixed.
[Photos Top: Chronicle/Mike Crane and Mike Kane, Bottom: Wormhoudt Inc.]