Last time New Jersey. This time in the UK. Local residents who live adjacent to the skatepark are very concerned with vulgar talk and behavior. However, we now feel that if we allow our children to spend time in our garden they will have vulgar language permeating through their ears. What affects us more directly are the youths who smoke and use very vulgar language towards each other, which is audible from our garden. This means that we are unable to sit out on dry days with family and friends whilst this abusive language can be heard so clearly. I felt kind of bad for them, until I learned where they lived. SOME Cockermouth residents and councillors claim a skateboard ramp in the town is causing them misery..

Update: It turns out the press misrepresented the facts. Imagine that. Make sure you check out a reply from the twins father Michael after you are done reading my flippant remarks. From the Taipei Times (?) comes this article titled The Sky’s the Limit: A downward shift in the skateboarding demographic and the accessibility provided by the Internet has major labels seeking to endorse kids as young as seven. The article highlights the Puehse Twins success and rampant internet popularity: None of this would have been possible without the support of their father, Michael, a man with a vision, a video camera and a marketing plan. Nothing like a father with a “marketing plan” for his six your old kids. Yes, he started trying to market his kids at the age of six. I have nothing against the Puehse Twins. I think it would be fun to see them skate, and I wish them all the success in the world. It worked for Tiger Woods’ father, so why not Michael Puehse? Skateboards, safety gear, road trips, video camera and web site to market your skateboarding twins: $8000. The look on dad’s face when the twins reach adolescence and decide they…

The great debate can finally be laid to rest. Are you sick of hearing “Too many old dudes making the decisions.” or “Too many bowls.” or “Not enough vert!” or “Stop being a spoiled baby and skate what you have!” ? (How do you punctuate that sentence anyway?) Well then, your prayers have been answered. We went directly to the source, the youth of today. Because children are our future, we consulted this birthday card to come up with the perfect skatepark design. (Thanks to Troy Sliter)

BMX celebrity Rooftop is interviewed about Tony Hawk’s foray into entry level BMX bikes branded after the Boom Boom Huck Jam. I don’t follow BMX at all, but I recognize the name Rooftop, so he must be a celebrity. Catch one interview on Vital BMX and another on The Come Up. Thanks to Concretin for the tip off. Tony looks like he’s been listening to some Aphex Twin. [Photo: Vital BMX]

How telling that the day after our country celebrated our independence I end up making a flippant post about how the US government is helping to fund “extreme sports facilities” in El Salvador in hopes of combating violence amongst disaffected youth. As if Extreme!™ Democracy wasn’t enough (see Iraq). The News Blaze has an article titled Extreme Sports Offer Salvadoran Youth Refuge from Violence – United States provides extreme sports facilities to Salvadoran youth center. This popular rejection of violence is what the founders of Fundacion Salvador del Mundo (FUSALMO) hoped to see when they created a recreational facility for the youth of Soyapango in 2003… …In 2006, with a grant from the U.S. government, FUSALMO expanded its facilities to include extreme sports: bicycle motocross (BMX), skateboarding and break dancing. Break dancing and skateboarding? Sounds like 1987, not 2007. I guess skateboarding heals all wounds. I’m sure a few American-made prefab ramps will make up for the fact that the USA backed a bloody dictator for all those years. I can’t think of a better way to say “I’m sorry for the death squads and you know, those 30,000 executions. Let’s put this unpleasantness behind us with some method airs…

My son is about to turn two years old and he’s already obsessed with skateboarding. (Hmmm, I wonder why?) Seriously, one of the first 20 words out his mouth was “skateboard,” although pronounced as “sateboard.” I tried to make his first birthday celebration a small affair, but my wife nixed that idea, just as she’s vetoed all of my plans for sanity on his second birthday. While preparing for the over-celebration this year, she came across a mess of Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huck Jam birthday decorations and party favors. Yes, there’s more than just that excellent likeness of Tony on that cake topper.

The Simpsons Movie is having a so-called contest to see which city named Springfield gets to host the premier of the movie. I say “so-called” because it’s pretty obvious that Springfield Oregon is the inspiration for the city, given that Groening used to live in Oregon and lot of the character names can be found on the street signs of Portland predating the show. The contests involves each city making a video plea for their case. Why do we care? Because tony Hawk makes an appearance in Springfield Oregon’s video. [Source: Oregon Live]

Not much to say about this 1981 clip of Tony Hawk on the old children’s show Captain Kangaroo. I didn’t know the Captain was still on the air in 1981. It’s a little disappointing actually, since Tony’s appearance isn’t live on set with the Captain. Instead, it’s just video footage of tony skating Del Mar on a Steve Caballero board no less. The Captain’s crew even managed to record an old sea chanty titled Skateboard Johnny, not to be confused with the song Skateboard Johnny featured in this collection of 70’s skateboard tunes, or this UK child molester named Skateboard Johnny. Watch the video after the jump. [Source: Wall of Gray]

Found after the Battle Ground grand opening.

The July 1st issue of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News reports that Tony Hawk has inked a deal for a signature bike line with a company called Dynacraft. Tony Hawk will be joining Dynacraft’s illustrious lineup of brands that include Hot Wheels and Barbie. You can buy these performance machines at such fine cycling outfitters as Amazon.com and Target. What’s that? concerned about the quality? Not to worry, according to Bicycle Retailer and Industry News Tony Hawk bikes will be completely different than anything Dynacraft has distributed in the past,” said John Bisges, managing director at Dynacraft. “They will have higher end components, updated frames and the most cutting edge graphics ever. We are all extremely excited about this new bike line, and are certain it will be a big hit when we showcase it to customers at this year’s Interbike show.” The line will be available in retail stores beginning in spring 2008. I’m placing bets that Tony Hawk bicycles will likely be a BMX facsimile. Maybe we can expect a Matt Hoffman to start hawking toy skateboards in retaliation. Get a closeup of some previous Dynacraft “cutting edge graphics” after the jump. Update: Not just one bike line,…