We’re going to be eating fireworks and setting off hotdogs.
That is all.

The Toy Machine dudes rolled through last Sunday on their “Oddity Odyssey” tour and put on a sick show despite the swelter. Those dudes are gnarly because they followed up their demo at Exit in Salem in 100+ degree heat Saturday by skating for 2 hours in 96 degree 90% humidity heat the next day. There was also lightning strikes going on outside but they weren’t fazed. Toy Machine has always had the reputation of busting at whatever spot, contest, demo or session they’re at. Here’s some photos in case you missed it:

It starts at the top, and if the boss is down to shred in unfavorable conditions, you better be bringing it too. The Tempster with a front blunt. What?

J. Lay powered a front feeble on the bank to bank.

Then followed it up with a smith schralp.

The hardest working pro skateboarder without his name on a board, Manson annihilated the course and his sweat glands.

And when you’re rippin’, the fans take notice.

From what we hear, the Toy dudes were super cool to all the skaters in Salem and followed it up with everyone in Portland. These guys appreciate the fans and The Dept. appreciates the skaters too. Take that into consideration the next time you’re looking at the board wall for your next deck.

-The Dept.

Hey Everyone,
Toy Machine is smack dab in the middle of their Oddity Odyssey West Coast Tour and are going to be stopping by The Dept. this Sunday June 29th at 4:00pm. You tell us if this isn’t a heavy hitting lineup: Billy Marks, Johnny Layton, Matt Bennett, Ed Templeton, Austin Stephens, and some serious flow’ers. Toy Machine never fails to deliver and the last time guys came through we had to turn the lights off on them to get them to quit skating. You always get your money’s worth, which doesn’t matter since the demo is free.
See you on Sunday.

Hey, this Saturday is Go Skateboarding Day. We know, every day is Go Skateboarding Day but June 21st is the only day you can search Wikipedia and have it tell you it’s Go Skateboarding Day so we’re going with it. If you’ve been hanging around the skateboard scene for the last few years you may be aware that we have a few events we do every Go Skateboarding Day to try and maximize the fun and this year is no different. It all starts up Saturday morning at 9:00am at the peak of Mt. Tabor. We’ll be SkateRacing again this year and if you’re not the competitive kind, make sure to show up and just cruise it for fun. Details of the route will be available at the starting point.

Once the SkateRace is over and you’ve had a chance to chill for a minute, get your team together and head over to The Dept. The GSD Video Challenge v.3.0 will be kicking off at 12:00 noon. If you’re not familiar with this challenge, think of Thrasher’s King of the Road but instead of traveling cross country for weeks you’re traveling across town for hours. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check this out.
This is a team event and there is a $50 entry fee to compete and be eligible to win money. Teams are welcome to participate just for the fun of it but will be ineligible for prize money. Again, meet up at The Dept. at 12:00 noon to go over the rules and regulations.

We want to emphasize that these events are supposed to be fun and in the spirit of true skateboarding and are in no way supposed to be taken too seriously. We appreciate the skateboard community in the city of Portland and the surrounding areas and want to positively contribute to this community however we can. Hopefully events like this help accomplish that. Thanks to everyone who has participated in the past and participate in Go Skateboarding Day every day. We’ll see you on Saturday.

-Cal’s Pharmacy/The Dept. of Skateboarding.

Hey Everyone.
Sorry for the short notice but that’s how we do stuff over here. If you took part in last years’ Go Skateboarding Day “Search for Mikey Chin Video Challenge” than you need to make sure to stop by The Dept. tomorrow night @ 8:00PM for the premiere of the footage and the crowning of the champs. If you get this info and were on a team, make sure to let all your other goofy buddies know.

See you tomorrow.

In case you missed the mayhem at the Girl/Antihero demo on May 20th, here’s the next best thing to being there.

It takes a real OG to make an early grab method look this stylish. Carroll definitely fits the description.

Alex Olson is going to be a fantastic pro. Front Feebs.

Brian Anderson was there. Not like you could miss him. No one blurred the line between Girl and Antihero more than Brian. 180 switch crooks.

Matt Beach was there too. He actually skates for Skate Mental but it’s all family on this tour. Switch Tre.

Matt came through with one of the biggest bangers of the demo. Frontside flip Tailslide stuck real solid.

Beach floating backside on the new quarter to bank.

Frank Gerwer, evidently, has a large nose. That’s just what we hear. Noseblunt slide.

Ship captain Rick Howard crook to fakie.

Eric Koston has managed to miss demo appearances 2 times in the past. People were more than ready to see the man in person, and he definitely delivered. What more can you say? That’s why he’s Koston. Wallie FS 360. Next time you’re standing at the top of the 7, think about how hard this really is.

The Show with a fakie ollie backlip.

If Sean Malto isn’t the future, he’s definitely a big part of it. Switch backlip.

Sorry Goldman, but McCrank kills. Legend status for sure.

TNT was all over the course. KF Front board prior to giving Tommy the evil eye.

After the demo, the madness really started. Nothing stirs up a crowd like a good product toss.

Carroll got it started.

Free boards and tees will make you lose your mind.

Colin, we thought you had this…

All of the dudes were great about signing. A few guys walked out with legendary autographs all together on a single tee. You know who you are.

Don’t you hate it when you’re standing inches from a skateboard legend and you just have to get a few last text messages in?

Better get used to this, buddy.

All in all, this may have been the best demo so far at The Dept. Rarely does a tour come through that features 6 former SOTYs and such a diverse crew of shredders. We hope everyone had fun and we’ll see you next time.

-The Dept.

Here’s some other coverage of the Beauty and the Beast Tour.
Crailtap

The redesign and re-model of the street course is complete and the park is officially back in biz. We’d like to thank everyone for they’re patience during the time we were closed and hope everyone likes the new course. Here’s a few pics Garric snapped to give you a preview.

Overall, the response to the new setup has been positive and the feel is much more open. The Dept. would really like to thank the following dudes for there exceptional skill and expertise in ramp construction: Paul Anderson, Ben Mohr, Andy Shaw, Peter Jenkins & Crew, Kent Boles, Kurt & Brian,Brennan, the Lurk, Joe D., NoDak, and of course Cube. Big up to DTMG for the Beautiful Mind for design and immense thanks for the numerous homies (R. Westhusing,Adam, Ronnie & Donnie, TSpeezy, BACA, Craigery…) who swung through and helped out. Oh, and thanks Compton for breaking the broom.

The Dept will be re-opening this Tuesday May 20th in the evening to host a demo by the entire Girl and Antihero skateboard teams. The brand new street course will ready for them to break in and/or destroy. The demo will start @ 6:00pm. Don’t miss this.
Cal’s Pharmacy will be open and operating as usual. People interested in signing up for Summer Skate Camps can do so by phone by calling 503.233.1237, emailing The Dept. at info@departmentofskateboarding.com or stopping in to Cal’s Pharmacy.

-The Dept.

Sorry everyone. The Lock-In is Full. We’ll see you at the next one.

The mini ramp got a makeover to help boost it’s self esteem. We threw some Birch on it so it rides like the bowl now. It’s already pulling Ramp Gramps out of his house on a Saturday. Dave’s auctions must have all ended. Come check it out with a blunt of your own.

Spring Break is next week and you could do 1 of 2 things: be lazy and sleep in and not go skate outside because it’s more than likely raining OR come hit up Spring Break SkateCamp at The Dept!! If you’ve never been to one of the skatecamps, they run Monday through Thursday from 9am-Noon. They are open to anyone 6 yrs old and older and any ability level. The Dept. Skoaches can help you out with tips on anything from pushing to 360 flips. The goal of these camps is to emphasize the FUN of skateboarding as well as challenge skaters in their progression. Camp is open to the first 30 people who sign up. Campers can also stay and skate the regularly scheduled public sessions until 6:30pm.

See you next week.

After many years of dungeon quality illumination we finally got it together to get some new high-bay fluorescents in the bowl. It’s like a whole new world. Hopefully this makes the skating experience way better. So far Russ is backing them. Thanks for hanging in there with us Russ.

The Dept. will be closed Monday Dec. 24th and Tuesday Dec. 25th for Christmas.
It will also be closed Monday Dec. 31st and Tuesday Jan. 1st 2008.

Baby New Year here wishes everyone a Happy and Healthy 2008!!

Due to the ARCTIC BLAST 2008 and the likely terrible weather conditions that are being forecasted for the next few days, we’ve decided to re-schedule the Holiday Havoc contest for Friday January 2nd, 2009. We want everyone who wants to participate to be able to actually get to the contest so it makes sense to move it a few weeks. If you’ve already pre-registered than you’re fine. If you haven’t, you now have a couple more weeks to do so.

ABOUT THE CONTEST:

Holiday Havoc is going to be the biggest contest Portland has seen this year! Here’s the breakdown: Three divisions- 14yrs and under/ 15yrs and over & sponsored. Jam style format. Killer prizes through 5th place in each division. $15 entry fee. Every participant gets a prize pack. Practice and registration/check-in starts at 6PM. We’ll keep you posted on pre-registration.. Make your plans now to check out the Holiday Havoc on Friday Night, Jan 2nd!!

YOU CAN NOW PRE-REGISTER ONLINE BY CLICKING THE BANNER AT THE TOP OF THE HOMEPAGE OR GOING TO www.departmentofskateboarding.com/holidayhavoc !!

There are a limited number of entries so pre-registering is encouraged.
If you enter the regular contest, you can also enter the best tricks contest. If you’re just entering the best tricks contest, you still have to pay the $15 registration fee.

-The Dept.

Alright everyone, this is ridiculously last minute but we will be premiering the new Lakai video “Fully Flared” tomorrow night Dec. 6th at 7:30pm here at the Dept. We started trying to set this premiere up 6 months ago but since all you goofs always put everything up on Youtube the guys at Girl and Lakai refused to send out any premiere copies. It makes it really difficult to rent a venue for a premiere if you don’t know when the video is actually going to be out so we ended up just doing it here. We will have a limited # of copies available for sale directly after the movie so make sure to bring some loot because this video is a must have. The premiere is FREE to watch so tell all your cheapskate friends to come with you. See everyone tomorrow night!!

—– DATE HAS BEEN UPDATED!! SEE POST ABOVE!!!!——
Hey Everyone.
The Dept. is kicking off the winter break by bringing the Holiday Havoc!! Holiday Havoc is going to be the biggest contest Portland has seen this year! Here’s the breakdown: Three divisions- 14yrs and under/ 15yrs and over & sponsored. Jam style format. Killer prizes through 5th place in each division. $15 entry fee. Every participant gets a prize pack. Practice and registration/check-in starts at 6PM. We’ll keep you posted on pre-registration.. Make your plans now for Friday Night Dec. 19th to check out the Holiday Havoc!!

UPDATE: YOU CAN NOW PRE-REGISTER ONLINE BY CLICKING THE BANNER AT THE TOP OF THE HOMEPAGE OR GOING TO www.departmentofskateboarding.com/holidayhavoc !!

There are a limited number of entries so pre-registering is encouraged.
If you enter the regular contest, you can also enter the best tricks contest. If you’re just entering the best tricks contest, you still have to pay the $15 registration fee.

There is going to be an opening reception for the Michael Sieben + Nat Swope collaboration show “Forever and Never” that will be up at Cal’s Pharmacy for December this Saturday night. You may recognize Michael’s art from numerous contributions to the skateboard world, including graphics for Bueno Skateboards, Toy Machine, Volcom, Thrasher Magazine…etc. When you’re a highly talented individual in the skateboard world there is never a shortage of channels to display your work. Nat is widely regarded as one of the best screen printers in the business, so make sure to stop in and check it out or swing through sometime during the month of December and view some of Michael and Nat’s handiwork up close. Here’s a few other spots to check them out as well:
www.msieben.com
www.bloompress.com

If you’ve been holding your breath wondering when those dudes at Dept. were finally going to get around to fixing the ledge, go ahead and exhale. The ledge has a new lip and it really came out pretty nice. Allegedly, Cody Bustamante was quoted saying “…as long as this ledge is here, I’m never moving away from Portland.” Evidently, Cody doesn’t think there’s any good ledges anywhere else in the world. Here’s a few more photos:

(and one of Cody NOT skating the ledge.)

Special thanks to Kent @ Solid Rock Granite.

Paul, Cube, Kyle and the crew did an amazing job on the resurfacing of the bowl. Solid baltic birch ply. Diamond corners might be the wave of the future. Anyways, you gotta ride this thing. Nothing but rave reviews. Way faster, way brighter and way less slippery.

Just wanted to let everyone know that the Flip Feast West Coast Tour is stopping by The Dept. this Friday Night @ 7:00PM. This promises to be one of the biggest and best demos ever to go down and you need to make sure you see it in person. The lineup looks like this: Mark Appleyard, Rodrigo TX, Geoff Rowley, Arto Saari, Lance Mountain, Rune Glifberg, David Gonzales, Louie Lopez, Curran Caples and a recent addition to the team Luan de Oliviera. Serious LEGENDS in that list. The demo is scheduled to start around 7:00pm and the madness will more than likely continue all night. Get the crew together and get down here.