This coming Sunday (13th May) there will be a veterans skate session On Sunday 13th of May there was a veterans skate session at Transition Extreme skatepark in Aberdeen. PLEASE NOTE THIS WAS ON LAST WEEK, NOT THIS COMING WEEK!
It runs from 6pm – 10pm, cost is £10 including food.
Get all your old school clobber out, dig out those Life’s a Beach Bad Boy print shorts and let’s party like it’s 1985.
Be there or be a shape with four sides at right angles.
~Rick
So War Of The Thistles 2007 has been and gone, there’ll be more information and photos to come both here on dundeeconcrete.com as well as on skateboardscotland.com. Here’s a video clip of Woody doing a backside 540 over the hip in the bowl to whet your appetite.
~Rick
As part of my role in Skateboard Scotland I was forced to go and check out the new Transition Skatepark in Aberdeen a couple of weeks ago. Seeing as I really had no choice in the matter I resigned myself to having to roll around on newly created birch plywood creations for a few hours!
The park was designed by Andy Dobson from Aberdeen, Andy sought out Carve designs to help with the construction due to the perfect bowled corners he’d experienced riding the Burnley skatepark. So for the last three months or so Andy, along with Dave and the team from Carve designs have been hard at work. The park is extremely smooth to ride due to the entire floor being covered in plywood which joins pretty much every ramp together, it just flows together nicely. The park is hopefully due to open on the 14th of April, but go check out the website and give them a call to be sure before turning up.
Here’s a few photos to whet your appetite, there’s also an article “Transition Skatepark: Disneyland for skateboarding…” on SkateboardScotland.com with a few more photos too.
Top left: Andy Dobson, Skateboard Scotland crew and Craig from Transition Extreme chewing the fat. The other three pics are me carving at speed around the bowl, this baby is super fast!
Andy Dobson rides the wooden wave.
Overview of the Bowl.
Overview of the mini ramp.
View from end of park.
Overview of park from the bowl platform.
Go check out the park website at www.transition-extreme.com.
Don’t forget too that War of the Thistles 2007 is happening in a couple of weeks time!!!
Day One of this 2 Day event takes place at Transition Skatepark, so get up there on Saturday 21st April, there’s going to be awesome skating taking place in that park! Day Two takes place at Unit 23 in Glasgow, let’s hope people have got plenty of energy left to skate!
The ‘éS Game of Skate’ UK leg will take place on Saturday at Transition Skatepark on Day 1 of the War of the Thistles (21st April). This will be a qualifier for the European final to be held in Milan, Italy in July, the winner of each country’s game of skate will win a trip/entry to the European finals, the winner of the European final will win a trip/entry into the final’s in the states in September.The UK event will start at 2pm on the 21st April, entry will be limited to 40 riders, it will be run on a first come, first served basis! For more information on ‘éS Game of Skate’ and rules go to www.gameofskate.com.
February 27th marks the 1st birthday of Dudhope Skatepark!
Congratulations on being 1 year old! For a trip down memory lane you can check out the article we posted a year ago, “27-02-06 Dundee Skatepark now legally open!“. Ah, the memories, how I remember when you were once free (almost!) from blemishes, your concrete skin grey and fresh… 😉
If there are any budding cooks out there and you want to celebrate then you can find the recipe for the above ‘skateboard cake’ here. Don’t forget to bring some to the park and hand it out…
Any older skaters reading this will probably remember Broughty Ferry local Nolan Docherty, he’s now in Japan (not sure why, Nolan, why are you there?) and he sent a picture of himself riding a park in Nagoya, Japan sporting one of the DCC Logo T-Shirts. So, DCC is big in Japan.
On Monday 5th March there will be a Skate Jam at the Factory Skatepark from 6pm – 10pm. The event is sponsored by The Ferry Inn, Focus, and The Factory. Find out more at FactorySkatepark.com
Building on the success of last year’s event, The War of the Thistles returns in 2007 on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd April.
Details are still being finalised, but it’s going to be Scotland’s newest indoor park (so new it’s not even finished yet) on the Saturday – Transition Extreme and Unit 23 in Dumbarton on the Sunday.
Um, that’s what you’re reading, supposedly…
~Rick
Well, sunny day today, lot’s of people making the most of this warm spell at the park, here’s a few pictures from Saturday at the park.
Not your typical mid-winter view of the skatepark!
Murray picks his nose.
Commanderson riding his top secret electric hybrid skateboard
Blair 360 flip
Murray tailslides on the saxophone
Murray and Red – Dundee’s answer to Tony Hawk and Andy MacDonald
Blair kickflip fakies whilst ‘wallowing’ in the sun’s golden rays
Someone should make a video with Blair skating opposite and call it the ‘Blair Switch Project’ – Frontside nosegrind and kickflip backside 50
Well, you gotta make the most of sunny days like this!
(Apologies for the crap puns in this article, sun went to my head!)
~Rick
Daryl just came up with a rad new design which we’ve used for T-shirts and Hoodies which you can now buy from the DC.C Store. Sign up now for the Wallride Army!
If you’ve read the last post (‘Christmas is all about presence’) then you’ll have seen the announcement about the Store, if not then you’ll see the ‘Store’ link in the left-hand menu. Here’s a little bit more information as we’ve had one or two enquiries about delivery etc. Also, don’t forget that the profits from selling these T-shirts will go towards improving the skatepark.
The shirts are printed on demand using a company based in Germany. It’s great because we don’t need to spend any money getting shirts done and hoping people will buy them! The postage costs are cheap so don’t worry about the fact that it comes from Germany!
There’s two different print styles: Flock print feels great: somewhat velvety and a bit elevated, and it looks soft. Flex print is slick, smooth, shiny and elegant. Don’t forget to check which style you’re choosing when ordering, that’s why you’ll see two shirts styles that look the same in the shop, one will be Flock and one will be Flex. Both printing styles are absolutely high quality, they don’t fade and your design will last longer than your shirt. Care instructions are included with your shirt.
T-shirts start from £14, Hoodies are £22.
Shipping is available to UK and Europe at a rate of £2.20 – £4.00 per order depending on cost.
Shipping is available to Cyprus, Iceland and Japan at a rate of £6.90 – £17.90 depending on the total cost of the order.
There’s currently no shipping to anywhere else in the world, but if anyone from Canada / US reads this and wants a shirt then get in touch and we’ll see what we can do.
Skateboard Scotland Christmas Carvery at Unit 23Just another reminder again about the ‘Skateboard Scotland Christmas Carvery’ which takes place at Unit23 skatepark in Dumbarton, Glasgow on Saturday 30th December between12noon and 8pm.
The comp will be in a jam format, loads of prizes sponsored by Boardwise, Focus, Fourdown, Kaos, Medic, Clan Skates and more.
The cost is just £10 for the whole day’s skate, that’s a whole 8 hours of fun and mayhem.
You can find out more about Skateboard Scotland at www.skateboardscotland.com, and more about Unit 23 at www.unit23skatepark.com.
Anyone driving through? How about giving some people a lift? Leavesome comments if you’re heading through and can help people make italong.
~Rick
Ah, did our catchy title get your attention? Well, in case you haven’t noticed there’s a new ‘Store’ link on the site, you’ll now find a whole load of T-Shirts etc available for sale. These are undoubtedly the best way to get some DC.C ‘presence’ over the festive season!
Quite a few people have asked about the availability of DundeeConcrete.com T-Shirts so here they are! Prices start from £13, so far there’s just 2 or 3 designs but they are available on different colours and sizes of shirt and also on a ladies / girls T-shirt as well, so you can get a gift for that special lady in your life. Remember, nothing means ‘I love you’ more at Christmas time than a t-shirt with dundeeconcrete.com written on it!*
* Warning: Some women may not agree with that sentiment!
With some of the shirt designs you can pick your own colour of shirt, we’re looking forward to see who can pick colours that are the most horrific colour combo! So if you buy one and it’s particularly hideous then send us a picture and we’ll put it on the site.
One point to make clear about the store is that it’s intended purely as a way to raise some cash towards the outdoor skatepark in Dundee, we’re not doing this to make a quick buck. We’re hoping that this can be a way to contribute towards the further development of the skatepark. Concrete costs money so we need to raise some more cash if we want to add to the park. So there you go, show your support buy buying a t-shirt!
Skateboard Scotland Christmas Carvery at Unit 23Just a reminder from the previous blog post, the ‘Skateboard Scotland Christmas Carvery’ is set to take place at Unit23 skatepark in Dumbarton, Glasgow on Saturday 30th December between12noon and 8pm.
The comp will be in a jam format, loads of prizes sponsored by Boardwise, Focus, Fourdown, Kaos, Medic, Clan Skates and more.
The cost is just £10 for the whole day’s skate, that’s a whole 8 hours of fun and mayhem.
You can find out more about Skateboard Scotland at www.skateboardscotland.com, and more about Unit 23 at www.unit23skatepark.com.
Anyone driving through? How about giving some people a lift? Leave some comments if you’re heading through and can help people make it along.
Cheers!
~Rick
The ‘Skateboard Scotland Christmas Carvery’ is set to take place at Unit 23 skatepark in Dumbarton, Glasgow on Saturday 30th December between 12noon and 8pm.
The comp will be in a jam format, loads of prizes sponsored by Boardwise, Focus, Fourdown, Kaos, Medic and more.
The cost is just £10 for the whole day’s skate, that’s a whole 8 hours of fun and mayhem.
A great way to get rid of that ‘stuffed turkey’ feeling by shredding about on some wooden waves for a few hours!
You can find out more about Skateboard Scotland at www.skateboardscotland.com, and more about Unit 23 at www.unit23skatepark.com.
If you’re on the Skateboard Scotland email list or been on the forums over there recently you might have heard about this already.
A guy called Daniel Turner from Glasgow Caledonian University is conducting some research into the “provision of skateparks in Scotland” for a Sports Development paper he’s writing. As part of his research process, he’s started a thread on the Skateboard Scotland discussion forum to get skaters’ views and opinions on the facilities they use.
Daniel’s looking for as many people to contribute as possible so if you could join in as this could become a great snapshot of the state of Scottish skating at the end of 2006.
You can find the ‘Skateboarding Research’ Skateboard Scotland Forum thread here.
Cheers,
~Rick
The Edinburgh Skatepark Project has been dealt another blow with the rejection of plans to put the £500,000 skatepark in Inverleith Park.
In an article on the Edinburgh Evening News website Edinburgh’s Tourism & Culture leader Donald Anderson is quoted:
“Half of the objectors to the proposal stated that they did not want a skatepark facility anywhere in the city. I regard this as deeply worrying because skateboarders are well-behaved and all the evidence suggests they cause no problems for the communities in which skateparks are based.”
Wow, that’s pretty worrying on first reading! Although he follows up in the next paragraph saying that there were 2686 submissions to the Planning meeting but actually 1485 of those were supportive of the project, so that’s more than half the submissions were in favour!
Let’s hope some serious effort is put in now to make sure they get a new site sorted out without delay.
~Rick
As promised here is the VaVa Man in it’s full uncut 27 minutes. You can see it in the Footage section, it’s another video by Scott Malcolm but this time focusing on the Aberdeen scene of the early 1990’s. There’s a few faces in their people might recognise, including a young John Rattray ripping it up on street and on ramps.
Speaking of young rippers, if you look carefully when watching the DHSS video you’ll spot another (very) young skater who can still be seen ripping it up at Dudhope. Answers in the comments please, no prizes, just for fun.
~Rick
I’ve now managed to get some more video footage up in the ‘Footage’ section. I’ve just added the Extended version of the ‘DHSS Video’, this was made around 1990 by Scott Malcolm and features the first unofficial Factory in Stobswell.
I’ve also made a few more changes to the site navigation and a new header image as well, it’s not permanent but just something to keep the changes in motion.
There’s some more stuff about the first Factory comp back in 1989 on the ‘When we Was RAD’ website. The comp featured was the first one ever and it predates the DHSS video which is about a year later roughly, sometime in 1990.
Anyway go check out the DHSS Video in the Footage section.
“The VAVA Man”!
~Rick
Nope, it’s not your eyes going weird, there is a slight change in the website! Apart from the obvious colour change there’s also a new ’Footage’ section available in the left-hand menu now. Basically we’re going to add any new footage into this section, for starters we’ve put the ’Dundee Got’ Weasel’ video in there just now but we want to add a lot more. So, if you’ve got any footage then leave a comment and we’ll be interested in checking out.
Of particular interest is any old footage from Dundee or anywhere else in Scotland, we’re keen to gather as much stuff as possible and get it archived for posterity. It doesn’t matter whether it’s on VHS, MiniDV, DVD whatever, we can deal with it.
So, enough about that. Anyone got any photos to send in? How’s about that cold weather? Surfing anyone?
For lack of anything better to put up here’s a picture of the park from about a year ago whilst under construction, it’s been over a year already.
~Rick
We present for you “Dundee Got Weasel”. Thanks to Richie, Pópulo and everyone else at the DCA / Discovery Film Festival who were involved.
You’ll need Flash to watch the movie, go get Flash here if you don’t have it.
Now the challenge goes out, get out, get filming and make some movies!
» Please go to the new ’Footage’ section to view the ’Dundee Got Weasel’ movie.
~Rick
A photo that Murray sent in:
Murray’s front crail on’Lisa’s saxaphone’.
nice one. keep’em coming.
—-Rumour Control: No new skateparks that I know of are being built anywhere in the city.
I mean… this one isn’t even finished yet properly, is it? Sigh…
There IS a BMX track with jumps and stuff,that has built up in Baldovie; but the ’wee darlings’ don’t seem to have taken to it.
Months old but funny interview with Stuon Transworld website: Check their attemps at transcribing his Scottish accent: also mentions the park in a good light!
http://www.skateboarding.com/skate/stories/article/0,23271,1532876,00.html
Hi, here’s some pictures from Saturday 19th August, a nice sunny day and a chance to take some pictures for the first time in a while.
Jack – kickflip
Blair – 360 Flip
Gusho – melon
Blair ollies amidst the crowds
Jack – bert slide
Stevie – carve
Alan – carve
Blair – 360 out of bowl
That’s about it, a few pics to check out.
Don’t forget, Perth Skate comp on Sunday if you can make it through. Also, just a pointer to the last post about the ’Discovery Film Festival’ screening, check the last post out for more details.
Cheers.
Richie Cummings from the DCA left a comment on the previous entry about some skate film-making coming up next week. It’s happening next week Mon – Fri between 6 – 7pm each night, It’s for an event called the Discovery Film Festival which takes place between 23rd September – 1st October this year.
I emailed Richie to find out a bit more information, he sent me the following info:
Scratch Skate Film
21st-25th August
6pm – 7pm
At Dudhope SkateparkSaturday 26th
12pm – 4pm
At DCA,Activity RoomFree!
Work with DCA and filmmaker Populo Antolin, in Dudhope Skate Park all this week between 6pm and 7pm and in DCA on Saturday between 12pm and 4pm to make a ’scratch’ Dundee skate movie. If you would like to be involved in the filming, editing or you have any original footage of you and your mates, bring it along.
In partnership with the DAFT initiative. The resulting film will be screened as part of Discovery Film Festival in September 2006. For more info and booking phone Richie on 01382 909237.
The Festival will have a night of skate movie screenings on Friday September 29th:
6PM
Scratch Skate Movie Dundee
Live action
4 minutes
WORLD PREMIERE of 4 minutes of madness made by young people at Dudhope Skatepark with artist Populo Antolin and DCA Community & Education programme. Project in partnership with DAFT Initiative.Screen Event
Meet Director Mitja Okorn and co-writer Adnan Omerovic. From no budget to high budget through music videos and films. Slovenian director Mitja Okorn is a 25 year old skater and ex economy student who has made the dream leap to become his home nation?s most sought after TV and music video Director.8PM
H?min Bam
Real life documentary
Scotland 2005
Director: Alex Craig
40 minutes
H’min Bam features the cream of Scottish Skaters and all the best spots. From Livi to Aberdeen with a white hot soundtrack, Alex Craig has made Scotland’s ultimate Skate Doc. With short animation ’Fonic’ by Thomas Selway from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art.Followed by
Dogtown and Z-Boys
(Cert 15)
Real life documentary
USA 2001
Director: Stacy Peralta
91 minutes
The zenith skate culture movie narrated by Sean Penn, boasting a great soundtrack including Bowie, Aerosmith, Hendrix and more, it brims with the enthusiasm and energy of the originators of the skating ideology.
So, sounds interesting, get up to the park next week between 6 – 7pm and get involved.
Here’s a couple of pictures from the leaflet for the Festival:
Hi, the wall ride got a bit of a paint job yesterday (which is kind of good cause that ’skint’ graffiti kinda sucked!)…
The back of the wall ride is always a great place to find some wacky graffiti too, the infamous ’Ken ah hud that kebab far ye’ is gone now but was replaced with this a while back:
Kind of funny, maybe if there’s enough demand Daryl will unleash the ’Dogcow’ on everyone?
~Rick
So, as well as not realising that yesterday was ’Go Skateboarding Day’ I also forgot that it was the Summer Solstice (the longest day of Summer), it was actually a clear sky at night so it was a great night to go skating (in compliance with ’Go Skateboarding Day’!). The photo of the park below was taken at 10:34pm last night, it was still light enough to skate!
So, enjoy the light nights while it’s there! It’s an excellent place to watch the sun go down, or kind of go down as it doesn’t get completely dark!
~Rick