This “miniramp” setup cracks me up. It’s created from some quarter pipes made for use in the street. If the metal kick plates weren’t enough of a giveaway, the rope handles and coaster wheels behind the platform make it obvious. I love that the flat bottom is just a piece plywood laying on the grass, soon to be dirt. I’m not sure which one is going to rot away first, the plywood flat bottom or the masonite on the surface. Still, the next time I see a session there I’m going to grab my stick and ask if I can join in. Notice the coping on the right is PVC. My first ramp had PVC coping too. Come to think of it, my first ramp was also in the front yard of a rental property.
Allison Waters is trying to start another indoor skatepark in NE Portland, Oregon. She’s investing a lot of her own money in the project but has turned to Kickstarter for help. The assumption is that feels Commonwealth is not large enough to meet demands and D Block isn’t in our city limits. There are some tentative renderings of the park that look a little bit uninspired, but nothing is set in stone yet. Key words: Family Friendly and All Ages. It will be interesting to see if this can come together, and if so, how long it can last. In my experience, DOS was always family friendly during corresponding times you might expect a family to be there. However, you’re always going to need a bit of the crust to fill those time slots when the kiddies are at school or in bed. When it opens, it will be called Stronger Skatepark.
[Source: Oregonian]
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I saw a color version of this floating around Facebook, so I tried to track down the original which it turns out was done by Ben Jensen, and was not a specific response to sad events in Orlando. It’s been out for at least 9 months, and you can get them at Antique Skate as well as No Gods No Masters.
Posts about the blue fiberglass ramps that were used in Thrasherland and Skateball skateparks remain some of the most popular on Skate and Annoy. Stephen Smith was trolling the site and remembered he had saved an old flyer for the Great Bay Skatepark of Newington, New Hampshire:
I went there in the summer of 78 or 79 while on vacation with the folks from Nova Scotia. We got there at like 3 in the morning and all slept in the car so I could go skating as soon as it opened up. What a blast, great memories! Also while at the World Freestyle comp a few weeks ago , I chatted with old school East coast skate legend Bert Mathieson and he had skated there back in the day too. I got the flyer at the pro shop there.
As you can see, as well as “faster and safer,” the Great Bay Arena claimed to be the world’s first indoor fiberglass skatepark. I’m imagining a guy behind the counter at the pro shop mumbling to himself as he crosses off the incorrect session times and rewrites them by hand. He probably stole a coke that day because he was so annoyed.
Amazon Kindle has contributed to the advertising phenomena in which people go to a skatepark to engage in activities that don’t involve skateboarding. Usually it’s a TV commercial involving some radio controlled vehicle, or the next yo-yo abstraction. This time it’s a print ad in Time Magazine with a cute little girl sitting on the deck of a skatepark (which one?) enjoying a good novel instead of skateboarding. It’s perfectly reasonable, as long as she is reading the Secret History of the Ollie. The all caps text highlighted on the warning sticker works as an unexpected shout out to a certain truck company.
– Thanks to Tallboycan for the tip.
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It looks like the long, protracted war is finally over as Skateboarding will be proposed for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, so it’s pretty much a fait accompli. The International Skateboarding Federation is excited about it. Who is in that federation, some notables for sure. Also, the Telegraph definitely thinks I’m too old to skateboard. On a positive note, four Canadian skateboarders are being honored for stopping a sexual assault and helping to apprehend the culprit.
(The image on the top left is from Mpora, who has a lot to say about the Olympic announcement but for some reason can’t bring themselves to actually link to it.)
A spare cordless drill and a few parts from the hardware store is all you need to make your own electric skateboard. Start with a round wire brush, right angle bit holder, flexible bit extension, and some nuts and bolts. Just ad a skateboard with large size wheels and you’re good to go. I’m curious how long a charge on drill would last. This seems more like a fun project to do with kids than a viable transportation solution. Much nicer than this one.
[Source: BoingBoing] – Thanks to MC for the tip.
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70’s vs 80’s, hippies vs preppies.
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Kei Kamara, former DP of Columbus Crew and recent high profile / scandalous signee to The New England Revolution taking his longboard with him on a flight to Boston. That’s right soccer/skateboarding fans…. more breaking MLS action here on Skate and Annoy. I never thought there would be another S&A crossover post that didn’t involve the best team in MLS, the mighty Portland Timbers, but here you have it. This is from Kei’s Twitter feed. You know, I actually felt a little bit sorry for Kei last year.
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