austin skate notes

Small, but that should make the ramp easier to move…

i have a 12ft by 8ft mini ramp that is about 2 1/2 ft tall the top needs new surface but all of the two by fours are good and the transition is perfect and mellow, its a really fun ramp, with a new top which is about four sheets it will be ready to skate again. I am moving to new braunfels so i need to get rid of it by friday, it is already in half the two quarter pipes are seperated it will be easy to move… you have to come pick it up though i can help you load it…. save money on wood this ramp is ready she just needs a little tlc…. thanks brad 214 205 8280

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If you haven’t seen the Hangover. Get to it. It’s a phenomenal movie featuring Mike Vallely acting, and his band is on the soundtrack!

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If you couldn’t get tickets to this weekend’s Explosions in the Sky performance, there’s always Mike Vallely’s hero talking at Emo’s. Any bets on the number of Army recruiting posters hanging up around that show? Wonder if he’s got any other bookings set up for this Austin visit like Henry set up for last year’s ACL festival?

Seems like the enthusiasm for Go Skateboarding Day might be waining. A couple years back, stores were hosting competing GSD events. Now, it’s hard to find anything going on. Perhaps it is just a conflict with Father’s Day this year. If people are going to bail on their dads and go skate, they’ll have a new park to check out in New Braunfels this weekend. To their credit, Tekgnar, appears to be the only local shop with anything scheduled for Go Skateboarding Day 2009.

Ideal Skateparks is down in Seguin, Tx. working on a renovation of a wooden-ramp skatepark at the Seguin Activity Center. Should be ready to skate the first week of July.

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Cary Jackson and Louisa Spaventa got married in Austin. It was an amazing event. A great reunion of friends & awesome food. The two newlyweds are exploring Italy on their honeymoon as I type this.

According to this article, the Tank’s previous owner was killed by burglars last month. He attempted to fend them off with a baseball bat, but was shot to death in his apartment. No suspects have been apprehended yet.

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I edited some video footage during the Angry Samoans show on Saturday and posted it on YouTube in HD. I also updated the Find and Grind photo collection with some pics shot by John Weiss.

Early voting is open in Travis County. Chris Riley is a city council candidate who is worth taking a look at. Early voting allows you to vote at any of these polling places regardless of where you live in Travis County and where you’re registered to vote within the county.

Here’s a little story on the BBC putting a skateboarding angle on the economic recession: more backyard pools to ride thanks to all the foreclosed homes.

Fans of the early 80’s LA punk scene flocked to Red 7 Saturday night where one of that city’s best bands of all time returned to perform all of their hits and a few by other bands. The $12 cover was a mere pittance compared to the value of the entertainment offered inside. Just like their set during 2008’s Fun!Fun!Fun! Fest, the Angry Samoans were in stunning, authentic form. $5.00 t-shirts and CD’s at the merch booth. The pit roared like a lion. People met the band. It was a great show. Metal Mike sported the same exact shirt(s) he wore at last year’s FFFFest. Here are some photos I shot at the Angry Samoans concert.

Another export from Los Angeles is heading to Austin. Tuesday @ 6:30 PM, KLRU will host a free screening of a new film by Stacy Peralta. It’s a documentary about the Blood & Crips gang wars, which is a little odd that the Bloods are still even considered a competitor to the Crips when that group claims tens of thousands more members. Perhaps the Dogtown & Z-Boys director was looking to give the movie a little color to contrast the sea of blue. Check the trailer below.

Find and Grind celebrated the opening of it’s newest location just a few blocks east of it’s previous location on North Loop. The new location sports a wooden mini-ramp and on Saturday bands played and both kegs and ollies were floated.

Lowbrow Emporium is closing in the next month or two. Check the Emporium website for details.

After a months-long hiatus, as of February 17, 2009, Austin Skate Notes is back with a higher definition digital signal thanks to the national change-over required by federal regulation. While we agree that the result of this switch is going to provide a better viewing experience for Austin Skate Notes readers, it is regrettable that skaters still depending on analog rabbit ear antennas will be left behind. In order to help those skaters receive premium ASN digital content, we have partnered with the FCC to provide these coupons that can be used to purchase digital signal conversion hardware to enable older browsers to work with the new system.

In anticipation of the national signal switch-over, ASN staffers have been hard at work behind the scenes upgrading the website to the new digital format. During this effort, we’ve been editing and reviewing content for the maiden digital broadcast and have selected some real gems to share as we step across this exciting threshold together.

A few weeks ago, Micah Shapiro of Grindline’s skatepark design staff visited with some friends from Seattle. Chris, Scott, and Micah ripped several concrete spots in the Austin area and were captured in these photos. After one session, we visited some drinking establishments downtown on a Saturday night. As we were ordering food at a roadside stand, a man ran away from the ordering window and Chris set off in pursuit. The rest of us had no clue what had transpired until Chris returned a few minutes later with the tip jar and all the money it contained. Chris chased the culprit only a dozen or so yards before he surrendered the loot to the leather-jacketted Seattle crime fighter.

We also hit up the Alien Pod where condo construction inspires everyone to skate like it might be the last session.

Sometime Austin resident, Quentin Tarantino, has completed principal photography of his ‘guys-on-a-mission-flick’: Inglourious Basterds. Here’s a trailer for the movie, which seems to draw more inspiration from the Last Rambo than the original Italian movie of the same name. (more…)