austin skate notes

• A blurb promoting this weekend’s chili & skate competition at Mabel Davis appeared in the Food & Life section of today’s Austin American Statesman.

• Tuesday’s Statesman used Mabel Davis photos to illustrate the heat that has arrived in the area.
• The Huck Jam tour kicks off in San Antonio in July and also boom-booms in Houston and Corpus.
• McRad is scheduled to play at the Broken Neck next Friday. There’s also a film festival there this weekend, but I don’t have details because mySpace is total fucking bullshit that I don’t have time for.

Mabel Davis’ Chili Bowl contest is likely to bring a spectacular collection of pros to Central Texas later this month, but the chili cook-off is just the warmup. The Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark opening in Houston the following weekend looks like it will be the pro skateboarding spectacle the likes of which hasn’t been seen in Texas since Shut Up and Skate 1988. I spoke with Jason and Jenny Espeseth this past weekend in Patterson Park where I heard the following list of names given as possible demo participants: Lance Mountain, Benji Galloway, Jeff Grosso, Ben Schroeder, and Christian Hosoi. A lot of these guys will arrive as particpants in the 30th Anniversary Independent Team Tour. Since the tour is scheduled to be in Phoenix the same weekend as the Chili Cook-off, it’s hard to say which of these pros will be in Austin for that contest.

Here’s a map to the behemoth public skatepark in Houston.
Here’s a listing of other stuff going on in Houston that day for traveling companions who don’t care to see Ben Schroeder do an alley-oop nose-pick grind.

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If you’re thinking you’ll skip the crowds on June 1st at the Houston Skatepark and are planning to wait a month to visit July 4th and maybe swing down to Galveston, forget it. The Numbskulls in Houston government are closing the skatepark for six days to turn the facility into a launchpad for the city’s July 4th fireworks display. No info on when Galveston’s skatepark will officially open, but it’s nearing completion.
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The other day I dropped by Lanier High School where its skate club was holding an after-school session. The club is in its second year and boasts a strong membership among Lanier students. They skate together on campus at least once a week, and this session boasted a special guest. No-Comply shop owner, Jake Nunn, came by to ride and hand out stickers and sun glasses. Here are some photos from the session.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, JFA, play this Saturday with ANS and Bark Hard.

The skate notes knuckle tattoo generator has been offline for quite a hell of a long time. Just fixed it a few minutes ago. Get your digits inked.

Phone calls came in fast and furious this evening reporting a Chaz Pineda sighting at Round Rock. Utter carnage. Can’t imagine what next month’s pro contest is going to be like at Mabel Davis. As a reality check, I phoned up Bob Burnquist using the number he gave me when I bumped into him at Whole Foods a few months ago. I told him Chaz has been riding Mabel Davis regularly and asked him if that would pose a challenge for him at the Thrasher-sponsored competition. Here’s a recording of his response.

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Patterson work session this weekend. Send contact info to: seth[@]austinskatenotes[.]org

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.

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…)

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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