Every city has a core skate spot. It may not be perfect, but it embodies the heart and soul of scene. When you visit that city, you already know about the spot and you make a point of hitting it. For Vancouver that spot may be China Creek. It’s got a lot of history outside of skateboarding too. It used to be the site of an actual creek, as well as a velodrome in the 50’s and 60’s. In 1979 China Creek became Vancouver’s first public skate park when two mellow coping and edge-free 70’s style bowls were poured, and that’s about the last time the city did anything with the property. The Jaks have held a contest there for years. In the meantime, some of the surrounding areas “lost their luster” and the overall park location filled with the usual assortment of characters that homeowners find disconcerting. The future of the skate park looked grim when the parks department came up with some cash for a facelift of the property. There were three options presented for the skate park part of the park: Leave it where it is, bulldoze and move to a different corner, or bulldoze and move to a completely different piece of property. Nobody wanted it relocated on the same land, a the noisiest NIMBY’s wanted it gone completely. Fortunately, the skaters had created more good will, as most of the nuisance in the park was unrelated to skaters. Most of the residents actually wanted the skate park to remain where it was, and were upset when the board decided to ignore popular opinion. It looked like China Creek was going to be the Ballard Bowl all over again, but somehow the tide changed. As of December 6, 2006, everything looks good for China Creek. Is should end up staying where it is with the addition of some grassy berms built up around it to reduce noise complaints. Other homemade ramps will be removed for nose and safety concerns. Some metal rails might be removed as well. It would be better if they were adding to the skate facilities, but at least it’s going to stay.

That last paragraph is too long, but I had to work those links in somehow. Lastly, Vancouver Skateboarding Coalition is the group that mobilized to defend China Creek, and I’ve been to Vancouver exactly once.

Hold on to your mustaches, it’s a skateboard safety film from the 70’s. There have been a couple of educational films made over the years that deal with the subject of skateboard safety. I’ve seen bits and pieces of some before, but the full versions have always eluded me. Thanks to the folks at I-Mockery, not only can I watch it, but I don’t even have to go through the trouble of making fun of it.

Actually, this kid just appears to have narcolepsy, because that’s the only explanation I can come up with for his randomly falling backwards like that. But who knows… maybe you have narcolepsy too and don’t know it! Are you really willing to take that chance!?

The 70’s rule. You can soak up the bad fashions, groovy soundtrack and stylin’ moves after the jump.

Love and Acceptance on the Half Pipe: Sexy Skateboarding Ads Attack Discrimination is the title of the Gaysports.com (Who knew?) article about the MTV’s gay skateboarder anti-discrimination commercial that appears to have been written by a time traveling robot. The article, not the commercial. I’m not exactly sure why they wrote the article, because it’s more of a primer on skateboard culture than it is a commentary on the TV commercial or gay skaters. A few choice quotes and more after the jump

That’s right. Sperm donor’s wanted, Herby closing up the last chance we had of slipping through the content filters where you work. This is a benefit show for mounting medical bills accrued by Dreamlander and the Oregon skate fixture (affectionately?) known as Sperm. Not sure, but this may be a Shrunken Head production.

This is probably the best tutorial on how to build a mini-pipe that you will ever see. It’s a quick view, so check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Old Man Army is at it again, this time interviewing 70’s skate legend Russ Howell. I know what you’re thinking. By the end of the 70’s nobody much cared about Russ (in the skateboarding world) so why bother now? Well, it’s an interesting read nonetheless, especially for Howell’s take on the Dogtown documentary. He’s got a bone to pick with Stacy. The guy he should have a beef with is Richy Carrasco. See, Howell set a 360 record in 1977 (35 spins) but claims a personal best of 163. Meanwhile, Carrasco beat his record in 1978 with 35.5 spins and then again in 2000 with 142 spins. I don’t know how Russ lets a guy get away with calling himself the 360 King when Howell’s best is 21 over the Guinness Record. Did you know Russ Howell currently has a signature model? Learn this and more in the interview at Old Man Army. Don’t forget to check out the official web site of Russ Howell which stays true to his old school roots by maintaining a look that is circa 1996 web design.

You heard right. Want to revolutionize the skateboard industry? Then start bidding on the patent rights for this Easily Steered Skateboard, which near as I can tell, aside from already being in production elsewhere, is essentially a shopping cart wheel, or a rotating caster. Fug. This was supposed to be a quick and dirty post, but instead it turned into a dissertation on the variety of caster wheel type truck systems. There are more than you’d think. Catch patent details and the most shopping cart action with skateboards seen since CKY. Seriously. This sounds dumb but it’s worth reading.

I want to start off this December Baywatch by thanking a faithful reader who goes by the excellent handle “she was killed by space junk”. Thanks for the stickers, much appreciated. You rule. Now back to business. December was another down month, with some great bargains to be had. I know. I got one. But more of that later. December also saw the sell off of a bunch of 60s decks, and what appears to be some of Mike McGill’s personal collection. Of course, that’s just conjecture on my part, but what isn’t? Check it out.

At the urging of Old Man Army, Recent Skate and Annoy conscript Elder Skelter (long first time reader, first time caller) sent us this newspaper article scanned from the November 12, 1987 issue of the Valley Times. Things must have been pretty uptight in Geauga county Ohio for the authorities to get that bent out of shape over some innocuous graffiti. Talk about out of the loop! Reminds me of the scene in Rock ‘n’ Roll High School where Mr McGee asks “Who are these Ram Ones?” You can read the very funny (in a sad way) article and see the half-hearted correction they printed the next issue after the jump.

Way Out East! from Stereo Sound Agency, circa 2004. This is a three week long tour video of London, New York and Paris with a little west coast action thrown in for good measure. I really like this video for its smooth style, and it always seems like they are having a blast. Isn’t that what skateboarding is all about? To answer my own question… Yes, yes it is. The entire video is shot in either 8mm or 16mm film.

I didn’t even know that Stereo was still a company, but I guess Jason Lee seems to have run into some money with his TV shows and Movies.

Stereo was originally founded in 1992 by Jason Lee and Chris Pastras. After Jason left the company to pursue his acting career, Chris kept the company running, until 2000 when it closed its doors. In 2003 Chris and Jason relaunched the company under the Giant Distribution company. By 2006 they were able to distribute independently which was probably their main goal in the first place.

Featured Skaters: Jason Lee, Chris Pastras, Clint Peterson, Benny Fairfax, Keegan Sauder, Olly Todd, Brian Brown, Rick McCrank, Mike McDermott, Soy Panday, and Snowy

run time: 27 min 19 sec – Check it Out