AND IT WAS GOOD...

(Taken from http://seattleskateparks.org/)

Jefferson park lights will be fixed

Posted by: Matthew Lee Johnston in Jefferson Park, South Seattle

Photo credit: Joel Lee

If you’ve tried to skate the first ever skatepark in Seattle to have lights at nighttime, then you know there is a serious problem: they don’t adequately illuminate the park.  This is in spite of the lighting designer shutting down any questions brought forth during the public meetings with quips like “I am a professional, this is what I do every day.”  There was even a bunch of talk about using LED downlighting that obviously didn’t make it into the final product.  (I almost wonder if this is why the shadows exist…)

It’s great that we finally have a skatepark that is open at night, but it adds a bit of insult to injury to have just enough light to skate, but not enough to actually skate safely.  There are shadows all over the park, and some of them could be dangerous if you weren’t familiar with those areas.  Good luck if it’s your first time skating there.

The good news is that Seattle Parks has gone back to the contractor to get a bid for adding more lights and frankly, for finishing the job they were supposed to do right the first time.  It must be nice to be a contractor with the City of Seattle…if you don’t do it right the first time, they will just pay you again to fix it later.

Anyone want to go in on a contractor’s license?

The schedule for this fix is TBD.  I will post more info as I get it.

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MEDICINAL PURPOSES.

New and improved shape and method. The new cruiser to ail my woeful heart. The cool colors were accidental, revealing themselves after a black spraypaint job that I decided to lightly sand down. Poly urethane coating to keep it waterproof, 80 deurometer (sp?) Bones ATF keeps the pebbles at bay. This little sucker feels really good, and will make any commute better.

BACKSIDE STRAIGHT JACKET HEAD PLANT REVERT.

I distinctly remember seeing this when I rented the painstakingly long Savanah Slamma VHS tape from the video store on Wheaton Way. Same place I rented Animal Chin and got immediately hooked for life.

Hands down one of the best contest runs ever, second only to Neil Blender's run where he had a can of spray paint in his pants of which he used to paint a wall mid-run. Honorary mention should also go to Dan Drehobl's oddly-similar (perhaps an homage) human crash test dummy run circa '93 in...Philly? (Seen long ago in a 411, #6 or 7.)

They don't make 'em like that anymore.

p.s. If you haven't checked out Grosso's Loveletter's to Skateboarding, you're missing out.

PAY YOUR TAB, THEN GO HOME.

Jesse's home-crafted boards for sale. I don't know the particulars but I do know they are well made, completely unique, and built to last. Inlayed wood like the Hobie's and Sincor's of old, complete with the wedge-grafted kicktail, these fuckers have perfect balance, but hold a weight suitable for bludgeoning the most capable of attackers.

P.S. Happy Birthday Jesse!

SPOT CHECK: CANON BEACH, OR

First skatepark I ever rode. A real dinosaur (it's still there), this concrete edifice was amazing to us at the time. No coping, one sided, no decks (those were installed a la wood later on)....perfect to learn the feel of a bank and rolling in.

My first move: the tail skid. (a 5-0 in my head movies.)

Get some!

This guy rode his bicycle all the way up from California. He super-stoked up the session with no shoes/shirt and serviced gorilla grip airs right off the cover of T&C Skate.

My old man gets shutter cred.

"HE'S A CLUMSY DUDE."

Honestly, I first took note of this lad when I saw him in a Transworld vid switch heel the biggest gap I ever ollied. It was a reticent note of self. Since then it's just been shock and awe. Style and skill. Janoski has a clumsy swagger, but a loosey goosey skateboard ability and harder-than-thou trick selection that keeps me simultaneously baffled and charmed.