Just got back from SPRING BREAK whoo-hoo! Show me your… kids, 5 and younger. First trip to Disneyworld. It was fun, and the kids loved it, but somewhere around 13 hours into it (drive time not included) my 3 year old turned away from the Main Street Electrical Parade and whined “why are we still here?” Disneyland made a liar of me. Two big things I got my kids stoked to see were no shows. The part of the Haunted Mansion at the end where the ghosts end up in the car sitting next to you.. broken or discontinued. In stead there was some really lame one dimensional cartoons projected on the wall as you went past. The second disappointment? Midway through the day I realized I couldn’t find 20,000 leagues under the sea. I told my kids we were going on a submarine and might get attacked by a giant squid. I mentioned it to an old timer who struck up a conversation with me, and his wife laughed at me. She said it had been gone a really, really long time. What? Oh yeah, skateboarding. One thing that hadn’t changed, Tomorrowland Speedway. Even as a kid I didn’t…

Its Sugars 43rd Birthday so come skate with a dinosaur! Dress like an oldschool skater and get in free, ride a cruiser get in free, over the age of 30 get in free!!! The contest is mainly for fun, although there will be prizes and a product toss; but the real purpose of the event is to gather old skateboard equipment to be refurbished and to raise funds to buy new skateboards that will be taken to Cuba. There is a growing skate scene in Cuba but there arent any skate shops or any money to buy gear. Skaters only have the equipmet that is brought on to the island by tourists so if a skateboard breaks there isnt going to be another one to replace it. Unfortunatly, skaters in Cuba have gone weeks or even months looking for another deck to ride and if you skate you can imagine how bad that must suck! Please bring in your old wheels, trucks, decks and even tshirts or donate a couple of bucks and we will put it down on some new stuff. We have no political adgenda, we are just a family of skaters who see a need and want…

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.

True Skateboard Magazine has a short but interesting interview with old Bones Brigade member Frankie Hill. He’s got a model coming out on Unity skateboards, who have also welcomed Ron Allen to the team. Then again, it looks like he’s got a model with Diabolical [via Skatebook] as well. I’ve never heard of True before, not sure if they put out print issues, but it appears to be based in Florida. – Thanks to Boy Ipoh for the tip.

Hey, we’re famous! Or at least we got mentioned in the Miami Dade Herald. Family members of relatives buried in the Miami City Cemetery are upset about the skatepark slated to be built next door, and it’s at this point that you can insert a noise violation joke about waking the dead. The article mentions Seth Levy’s post about the proposed park being under attack by local NIMBYs. The Miami Dade Herald article is not so subtly slanted against the skatepark. The photos all show mourning relatives in the cemetery and how historic it is, what with all the veterans (both sides) of the Civil War buried there. They feature quotes from people feel having a skatepark next door is somehow an affront to the people buried there. They make a point of how it’s easy to find (via the internet) incidents of trouble at skateparks around the country, including recent closures. Skate and Annoy is almost the positive voice in the article, and I have to say I’m suspicious that they only included it because of the negative connotations of the name. Read the article, but please remember you represent skateboarders. If you choose to comment on that site,…

The St Petersburg Times has an article on the Bro Bowl in Tampa and a documentary in progress. Trailer after the jump.

Ben Warren sent this pic of a ramp he built FOR FREE from donated and discarded materials: The ramp is built out of wood that is anywhere from 15 years old to pretty new but it was all free! Thanks to the Dew Tour, Mesh Skatepark in Longwood Florida and some local donations! Im stoaked and i want to spread the word that if you just take some time and initiative, anybody can build something to skate with no cash!! Hell Yes!!! So thanks to Ben, and hopefully this will stoke some of you out there to do a little scrounging and build something. Which reminds me of another successful scrounge (and I mean that in the best possible way…) from Florida, Tim Kulas. Ben’s ramp is in Casselberry, Florida. He sent me a link (www.hereforkicks.com) but it appears to be dead. Don’t forget about Enlarge-o- rama.

We’ve featured the ramp handywork of Tim Kulas here a few times. His latest ongoing project is something called the Goat Ramp. It’s a sectional miniramp made from vacuum-formed laminates… I think. The sections are sturdy, but hollow and comparatively lightweight, so it can be transported and set up at a place like this beach. Slide show with gratuitous bikini shots after the jump.

This is Jeff Stevens hitting the slalom portion of the iconic Kona skatepark. Damn, I wish we had one of those things around here. I know it’s not the most efficient use of concrete, dollar for dollar as far as skateparks go, but it sure looks like a lot of fun. Enlarge-o-rama and bonus. Oh hey, he’s wearing a Kona Kanoa flyaway at Kona….