When I first saw this sculpture I assumed it was just a temporary installment that was part of the D-Town Throwdown context in Dallas, Texas. It turns out that “Skaterbird” by Brad Oldham Studio was in fact, the impetus for contest, and is a permanent installation. The sculpture sits atop a parking garage which is home to the sanctioned downhill portion of the contest. [ Photo: Billy “Bones” Meiners ]

Sick of documentaries about skateboarding and/or punk? I don’t care. You must watch this feature on the legendary Big Boys. Don’t worry, it’s only 10 minutes and 33 seconds long. Some early Big Boys records are being rereleased on vinyl this year, and Conspiracy is going to do a limited run of a Big Boys deck. The first true Skate Rock band? Let’s argue about it.

Two photos of a spot that amazingly enough was not built for skateboarding. Storm water management done the right way, somewhere in Austin, Texas. – Thanks to Brianna Vance for the photos.

Roger Fairdale was a famous English cyclist who set several long distance speed records and was even knighted for his acts of bravery. He drowned in the early 1920’s while trying to swim across the English Channel with his bike attached via chain to a padded canvas belted harness. He was memorialized by… Whats that? Oh yeah, right. No. This is a collaboration between Fairdale Bikes (makers of the skaterack) and Roger Skateboards. Check out the video after the jump. If I’m not mistaken, that’s Tim Kerr from the Big Boys making an appearance.

There’s a guy trying to restore the Clown Ramp, I’ve got an email or a Facebook message somewhere that I’ve misplaced. I know he’s looking for people who might know where pieces of it are, mainly the bits that used to be part of Skate Ball. The pic above is from Embassy Skateboards recap of their 2nd Annual Jeff Phillips tribute.

Checkout this somewhat funny, somewaht sad video ad for the sale of Dav’s Skatepark, which can be sublet for 2k a month, but if it doesn’t work out you can bail without penalty. Business tip: The reason your skatepark isn’t packed might have something to do with the fact that you are cranking “Under the Boardwalk” on the sound system. Bonus Pro Shop adjacent to the public area. 10 years in business! Holy cow. Lufkin Texas. Dave sounds like Kenny Powers.

This site has been around for a while in one form another. I believe it started just selling DVD’s of old skate footage from the 80s. NOw it’s branched out to include more contlent like recent contest footage and interviews with noted Texans like Ken Fillion. Visit Texas Style Skateboarding and check out the trailers for Texas Style Two which seems to feature every notable Texan from back in the day as well as everyone who travelled through it.

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]

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.

Nope. Keep of the grass! I think someone was “on the grass” in Houston when they decided to order this sign. Thanks to Dan from Northwest Skater for this one.