Austin Ice StormI knew there had to be a catch. So this company (Grindline) comes from the Pacific Northwest to build all these concrete skateparks in Central Texas and we’re all stoked, but they’ve come at a price. Now we’ve got crappy, rainy, cold weather to contend with for weeks on end. If any climate scientists are reading this, please consider researching cradles and pool coping as a solution to global warming. Seems to turn drought-stricken areas into freezing mud pits.

With all this time spent indoors, plenty of people are turning to video entertainment to pass the hours. Here’s a fun YouTube clip where some skaters created their own version of Tony Hawk Pro Skater’s graffiti mode.

In sunny Corpus Christi, the local TV station seems thirsty for controversy, so they made a big ruckus about skaters and their parents barging the finished, but unopened Junior League skatepark. First they aired this story about the barging. Then they followed that up with the police response to the earlier story, which may involve video camera surveillance transmitting video streams over a wi-fi network. How about acknowledging the intense need for such facilities? Do you see people breaking into baseball fields to throw the pigskin around? On the plus side, we now know there’s wireless internet at the new Corpus Christi skatepark. Perhaps the only skatepark in the state to boast that kind of kit.

In order to compete with the conference football championships broadcast on TV last night, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel knew he would have to book something spectacular to score any ratings. He went with a hail mary pass for the end zone with a live performance by Slayer. They set up an outdoor stage and had the devout un-christians play four songs to a crowd of boisterous fans. Only one song was aired, but if you scan YouTube, you’ll find cellphone-video of the others, including Reign in Blood shot with commentary. Hope he pulled some kind of numbers with Slayer’s first performance on broadcast network television.