John Monaghan is a teacher whose students hassled him into send in a few pictures of the old-timey days back in Brookhaven, PA, circa 1978 when he was a local at Cherry Hill and down the beach at Rehoboth, DE or Ocean City, MD.. If schools still in session you can let the little brats know you’re a star on S&A and finally command their respect! When I was a kid we had to skate uphill both ways on a gravel road to the…

I got an envelope from Born Ugly with issue number nine and a Snakebeast comic from contributor James Callahan, courtesy of his collaboration with Carhartt, who has also released some Snakebeast decks, one that looks like it came straight out of Aaron Murray’s quiver. If you love Born Ugly, you won’t be disappointed with issue 9. As for Snakebeast, I gotta say I wasn’t into it at first but I about midway through it I started coming around. By the time it was over I wanted more. It’s short one and only a one off I believe. Maybe it will stoke James to make it a series. Check out the decks after the jump.

Life Magazine covers skateboarding in Florida courtesy of photographer John Falls who went down to Florida to cover the Florida Bowl Rider’s Cup in Kona. And holy cow, that looks like some more artifacts from Thrasherland-style parks in those photos. It’s at this point that I’d like to remind Rick that I still know exactly where your Thrasherland slides are, you know, the ones you loaned me 5 years ago…

– Thanks to Seth Levy for the tip.

Skatepark of Baltimore is celebrating six years of working towards a public concrete skatepark in Baltimore by means of a benefit concert with skate-rock bands March 26th 2011, 8pm till 11:30pm at Ruintown 2980 Falls Rd. 21211, 8$ cover, 18 and up, BYOB. Mini-ramp Jam, Bands: McRad, Pfisters, the Trowels, Seasons, Shred Crust and the Tics. What else is going in Baltimore? Well, the good news is that infamous Baltimore bully/police officer Joey Williams is still fired after losing an appeal. More SOB in the news after the jump

Stands for Artisphere in AAA magazine. I’d leave at a link to the article, but they won’t let you read it unless you are in the right zip code, and I’ve tried some logical guesses, but apparently there is some advantage to not letting people read something just because they don’t live near there. Sheesh, what a misguided strategy. You can still read it if you really want to look beyond CSS tricks, or you can read it here after the jump. Artisphere is the joint that had the Skateboard Side Effects show. The image above is Lia Halloran’s Dark Skate Backyard. She’s got a body of these long exposure with light trails made by skateboarders that I swore was on S&A somewhere before, but I can’t find it.

– Thanks to Andrew Wahl for the tip.

Well, it’s already been kickstarted, it needs to be finished. This is a backyard bowl in Richmond, Virginia. The builders are looking for money to essentially fill the rest of the yard with concrete. Their motivation, besides the obvious, is the total lack of skateparks in Richmond. People pledge donations that are held in escrow on the condition that the $5,500 goal is met before time runs out. Visit the kickstart page to watch the video and learn more.

Born Ugly #8 is out. More of the same quality stuff you’ve come to expect. There’s an nterview with Washington DC skater/photog Shaun Gregoire, an interview Rob Lee from with Richmond Virginia (no it’s not the Dukes of Hazard car…) and a feature on the Kingshighway DIY spot in Saint Louis. My favorite thing in this issue is the graphic (seen above, without the Super 8 MOtel logo) that you can photocopy (or download) for use as a t-shirt design for your own DIY spot fundraiser. The C.R.E.T.E. (Clandestine Revitalization and Enhancement of Transitionless Environments) design comes with excellent instructions, 2A being the best; If you know how to screenprint already then why are you reading this? Just go do it. It just so happens that Sauce zine has already made some, so you can get yours if you want to help as yet unnamed Porltand DIY spots.

Congratulation to friend of the site Stephanie Murdock, who was just was named a Baltimore Community Fellow, an award that comes with a hefty grant that she plans on using to help raise more money for Skatepark of Baltimore. This is an interesting twist on skatepark fundraising, based on her plans to develop a new skatepark as a place to positively influence at-risk youth through facilitating positive interactions and mentoring at a new skatepark-based community. At least that’s how I understand it, you can read more at the Baltimore Sun. BTW – The congratulations are for being a friend of the site, not for winning an award…

[Photo: Jed Kirschbaum, Baltimore Sun]

I found this video linked from MiamiSkaters.com. Miami skaters just avoided a near disaster with an RFP for a new skatepark that was being railroaded in. There was a mandatory prefab clause and a semi-secret last minute proposal deadline that ruled out all but Spohn Ranch and American Ramp Company. Skateparks bids get rigged all the time. It’s no shocker, although usually it’s one company that’s put in all the groundwork where no momentum previously existed instead of whispering in the right politicians ears. I don’t claim to know what went on behind the scenes in Miami, but here’s a video showing the level of quality in one ARC built skatepark that’s just six years old.

If the current crop of serious artists who also happen to be skaters continues grow, the art historians are going to have to invent a new term for this type of art. Is there a term for postmodern examination of a specific act and the related, revered artifact, shared by one large tribe? (Feel free to call it Kilwagism, if you need to.) Cynthia Connolly is curating a show called Skateboard Side Effects at a place called Artisphere in Alringtopn Virginia. The image above is Richard Vosseller’s ‘Physical Manipulations of Structural Surfaces – A Homage to Skating.’ A videotape of a closed session is on display in the gallery. No word on what else is there, but admission is free. If any of our East Coast readers attend, give us an update.

UPDATE: Pictures up on Born Ugly. Art by Tim Bearse, Rick Charnoski and Coan Buddy Nichols, Sean Greene, Richard Vossler, Lia Halloran, Ben Ashworth, and Mickael B. And yes, that ramp structure is actually skateable.

UPDATE 2: Added video of the art being (gasp!) skated.

[Photo: Jay Westcott]

– Thanks to Kelly Robertson for the tip.