Northwest Austin skate residents have an opportunity tonight to request that our city’s Parks and Rec department locate future public skateparks in their neighborhoods. Parks and Rec. has been holding these input meetings to determine funding priorities based on requests from the public. So far, a few skaters have showed up at these meetings asking for skateparks and been met with support from other attendees.

According to this flyer created by Michael Sieben, it looks like Mabel Davis might see its first pro bowl contest. Also its first cooking competition!

Chasoi is floating ollies around Austin again.

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This past October, local skateboarder / artist, Johnny Walker, was traveling through rural Cambodia when he came upon some kids riding unique hand-made, gravity-powered vehicles on the only concrete in the area. He shot these photos which he passed on to Austin Skate Notes for publication. The small wheels beneath the baggy pants of the nineties are like monster truck tires compared to these rides.

Meanwhile, in Uganda, impoverished skateboarders have created their own little scene that is certainly an inspiration to anyone who has ever bitched about not having anything to skate in their town. Here’s a cool skate vid made by the local Ugandan skateboarders.

Speaking of skateboarding artists like Johnny W., Meghan Turner sent in an email reminding artists that Friday is the deadline for submitting applications to participate in the Art in Public Places installation to be located at the new Central Austin skatepark. Here’s her note with other details about the application process. (more…)

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Got this flyer yesterday afternoon from Matt @ Mustache. It’s another mustache contest, but this time it looks to be at the skatepark instead of a bar on Red River.

I posted some photos from a skate demo Adobe put on at their SXSW party. Cary Jackson and Jason Schmale built the mini-ramp, Dave and Jason ripped the demo. Free food and beer kept them fueled. I believe the ramp will end up in Schmale’s backyard.

Speaking of mini-ramps, people interested in the Patterson Park Mini-ramp project can show up @ noon on Saturday to lend a hand with site preparation. Now that the rain seems to be over and the endless (?) political hurdles cleared, progress should resume.

NASA decided to torture the astronauts on the Space Shuttle this morning by waking them with a nu-Metallica song (post-Justice).

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Update: PARD planning meeting is Tuesday, not Monday.

The second design input meeting for the House Park public skatepark was well attended by skateboarders and BMXers. There seemed to be even more people than were at the first input meeting. A lot of the new faces seemed surprised that the design direction emphasizes form over function, but most people seemed happy with the draft presented by Kyle Dion of Canada’s New Line Skateparks. If built to the design presented, this facility would hands-down be the prettiest dedicated skate terrain in Texas.

The money for this project was secured by the dedicated skaters and BMXers who attended the city’s bond input meetings back in 2005. If we could get as many people who showed up to critique the design to come to the Parks and Rec planning meeting this Tuesday, then we’d be able to get five or six more of these facilities scattered throughout the city.

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From bouncer, to dancer, to surfer, to vigilante patriot, Patrick Swayze’s career has spanned a lot of movies, but like so many other cinema greats, it’s really all the same character. Just different names. Sadly, it was announced yesterday that Patrick Swayze has contracted pancreatic cancer, which is normally a terminal illness. If cancer does wipe him out, we’re really going to miss the guy who once said, “We just live for getting radical.” Here’s a cool article about the philosophy of Patrick Swayze.

According to this article, the city of Lakeway has denied the Texas Outlaws’ plans to get radical with their downhill slalom race. Perhaps their organization’s name was problematic during the application process….

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March 11th is the date Kyle Dion of Newline Skateparks will return to gather additional input from Austin skaters to guide his design of the central Austin skatepark. Below is the note forwarded to me with the time & location of the meeting. Also note that artists interested in participating in the “Art In Public Places” component of the project should also attend this meeting. (more…)

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