Tue 24 Jan 2006
Max called me late last week to remind me that the first "old school skate video night" will be taking place this wednesday at Beerland. It’s actually quite an evening at Beerland. Starting at 7:30 pm, there’s a screening of a documentary about R.L. Burnside with the director in attendance. Then at around 9:30 pm, the skate videos will begin. Free pizza if you bring your skateboard. Cary Jackson has been programming the content for the event, and he has assured me that the selection for wednesday night will be unique. At a minimum, there’s going to be footage from a Shut Up and Skate contest on the Clown Ramp from 1986 which was never released publicly. Featured skaters include Jeff Phillips, Craig Johnson, Lance Mountain, John Gibson, Lester Kasai, Allen Losi, Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi, Neil Blender, Kevin Staab, Steve Caballero, and some other guys you’re going to have to guess on. Phillips throws out a McTwist. Damn, maybe I’m giving too much away. Free to get in. Beer to drink. 21+ only.
A lot of people and city governments have looked at the Kettering skate plaza with wide eyes wondering how much it might cost to get a similar facility in their own communities. Some have tried to go the cheap route by skipping the organic materials like brick and granite in favor of a pure concrete implementation. Others are finding that reducing square footage can help deliver a street skating experience with a meager budget. Check this public street park in Costa Rica as an example.
Of my favorite top 10 movies of all time list, Quentin Tarrantino’s debut film, Reservoir Dogs ranks near the top. In that movie, the character Mr. Blonde (aka Vic Vega) explains why the jewelry heist turned into a bloodbath. "Yeah, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. I told ‘em not to touch the alarm, they touched it. If they hadn’t done what I told ‘em not to do, they’d still be alive." That’s exactly the way I felt when I read this article about the Georgetown public prefab skatepark getting stolen. Stolen! I remember talking to one of their parks and rec guys two years ago warning him against spending their $60,000 on prefab garbage. Doug King even went up there and pitched his own business. If they hadn’t done what we told ‘em not to do…..
