You think your scene is bad? At least you don’t have to make knee pads out of palm fronds and bamboo. The Uganda Skateboarding Union Is an organization dedicated towards trying to keep Ugandan youth alive by giving them something positive to do while educating them on social and health issues, like HIV/AIDS. They just got NGO certified, which means your skateboard donations won’t be hit with crippling import tariffs. From the looks of those neon wheels, Uganda is receiving donations from 1980’s era time travelers. They also take cash. Unfortunately they are importing ideology too – now that they have a skate park built, they want to put a fence around it. The skateboard scene in Uganda was started by a visiting South African named Shael Swart who built the first ramp with Ugandan local Jackson Mubiru. Those efforts were discovered by another visitor, a Canadian named Brian Lye. Brian has taken it to a completely different level. Spend some time checking out the pictures. It’s a warm and fuzzy skateboarding experience. Much better than the alternative. Right now the program is active in one small town, which I’m guessing must be in southern Uganda, since children in the North are being kidnapped to fight in the civil war. If all goes well they plan to expand to other towns. [Source: Kingpin Magazine]

Oh great, now I’m not the only wannabe skate-photog lurking in Portland. Hey Rich, how’s that new camera working out for you? Pretty good, huh? Just don’t get in my shots man, or I’ll sic Lil’ Pimp on you. Everyone is a photographer. Why not make the deck a little more crowded by checking out How To Steal My Job by Transworld photographer (I assume, because I don’t have a subscription) Scott Pommier. It’s lenghty and humorous piece filled with good practical advice. Lastly, when you look at the above picture of Chris Nukala, make sure you are humming speed metal and not Blink 182.

Dave Hupp sends along this announcement of a benefit event for Neil’s homecoming. March 31 in McMinnville. Your chance to check out the new Dreamland/Vox video, win prizes, and more.

Also check out Dave’s website. There are some killer new photos up.

So we’ve go an eBay vibe running. Here’s an old auction I sent to Neil but he didn’t cover it because it was he forgot, or I never sent it to him in the first place. I can’t remember a thing about this other than I think it was from the U.K.. Quite an awesome starter package though. I’m a hair’s breadth away from having some Captain Radical stickers made for Skate and Annoy. I remember a lengthy discussion about this sticker, but when and where? Slightly larger pics and an additional shot after the jump.

I had this post planned for today before I saw Mark’s other Andrecht post. As you can see, he’s still doing them. These are some shots from a quick session at Pier Park over the weekend. It was wet and overcast, but the weed burner enabled a safe entry and exit into the deep end. More after the jump.

Here you go Neil. Your connection between skateboarding and wrestling. What starts off as a two person altercation between a skater and rollerblader ends up as a 15+ person pyramid death match. One kid pulls a leg drop on his victim. They even jump the referee park supervisor. It’s a very low impact (slap fest!) fight between mostly youngsters. I think these kids must have all been friends, but it’s amusing nonetheless. It’s funny to hear little twerps shouting “Ow! My leg!” Given today’s school-violence hysteria, I’m surprised there wasn’t a more heavy handed reaction from the authorities. Catch the video after the jump. [Source: Worldwide Skateboarding]

Contort’s Dan Estabrook was bored with MC’s Andrechts 22 years ago. Looks like a lively session, though.

Check out this new Bill Danforth interview over at Old Man Army. I had a bunch of his old Alva decks. The tri-tail was the best. He’s got a sort of tribute graphic out on Bill’s own American Nomad.