Wear your helmets kids. [Source: WKOB, Albuquerque]

If you approach (or leave) Daubenspeck Skatepark in Bingen, WA. from the right direction you’ll pass up this lovely ditch. This (Grindline) park is a good one in case you’re wondering, but you’ll get no pictures from me for now. Just one shot of the nearby ditch. I didn’t even see it until we were leaving. Unfortunately, we had an injured party so I didn’t stop to session. Looks steep and rough, but potentially lots of fun, right?

I wasn’t sure if this Miller beer commercial ever aired on TV, and I can’t remember how I found out about it, but I held off on posting it to see if I could record it off TV for the official S&A archives. I eventually forgot about it when it never showed up in anything I watched. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been looking through draft posts lately and this one got my attention. The original video has been deleted but a quick search turned up a replacement. According to the new and apparently original source, it didn’t air because it was shot on spec circa 2006. Devo and skateboarding in a beer commercial? A beer company would probably balk at even the hint of targeting an underage audience. How dare they assume responsible adults drink beer and skateboard! Still, stranger things have happened in the TV commercial world. This post originally had another commercial for Panasonic (What? I don’t know) that had some high profile names skating a ditch, but I can’t find it anywhere.

Dave England performs a public service in this video by RossAngeles. – Thanks to Matthijs for the tip

An article form the Economist: The new waterway is part of the biggest water-diversion scheme in the world: the second arm of what is known as the South-North Water Diversion Project. This is designed to solve an age-old imbalance. The north of China has only a fifth of the country’s naturally available fresh water but two-thirds of the farmland. The article goes into detail about the gross mismanagement of China’s water supply for industrial and agricultural uses, and how this canal is not really going to do much for the country as a whole, especially long-term. All you care about is that it won’t be skateable after October 31st, because that’s when the water starts flowing. – Thanks to Gene Sato for the tip.

There’s a spot in Panama called the Albrook ditch. It looks pretty harsh. The locals are working on a DIY addition to make it work. Clearly, it works already. There’s before and after video of the ditch being skated, but they are making improvements. I wonder if these guys argue about whether or not it makes sense to goof on scooters. I doubt it. Fresh air everyone. Get some in Panama. Insert Van Halen joke here. Skateboarding Panama provides video coverage. – Thanks to Mirlo for the tip.

What are you still doing at work? It’s New Year’s Eve. Take off early. Nobody will notice. Still here? OK, then enjoy this Casey Morrow video from Ditchslapped 2009. – Thanks to Carl Warren for the tip.

A housing development in El Paso required a large drainage ditch. Skate activists Paul Zimmerman (president of the El Paso Skatepark Association) and another guy who goes by PC (?) managed to get the city and builders on the same page. Instead of a ditch that was accidentally skateable and possibly restricted from skating, the end result is a multi-use facility with tranny added specifically to make it more skateable. Apparently, some funds were diverted from a slab and prefab ramp park, no word on whether or not there are complainers on that front. You can get an explanation of the project here on Skatepark.org and a photo essay on the process hosted on Photobucket. The whole thing was hand stacked. [Source: Austin Skate Notes]

Apparently this spot showed up in the bizarro Slovenian skate vid I highlighted last week. I missed it, but 26 Feels Old spotted it. Apparently the location is infected by fixies.

Here’s another one from Sk8 D. It’s the Drop ditch in San Antonio, Texas, circa 1998. That’s one hell of a drop. One hell of a drop. Nice job setting up the shot. Check it larger as the Shot of the Week.