Recession gives out extra Pool sessions for skaters.

[Wintermute]

Just got linked to this on another forum and couldn't help but chuckle.

Skaters Jump In as Foreclosures Drain the Pool.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...pools_span.jpg

It's an article on Pool draining, how recession has hit Pool builders, and the health risks of stagnant pools.

Turns out along with the old-school guerilla draining of pools for a session it turns out the skaters are helping out with lowering the risk of Mosquito carried diseases as a result of fetid water.

On a recent morning, a 27-year-old skateboarder peered into a swimming pool in Fresno, Calif. emptied by his own hands — and the foreclosure crisis.

“We have more pools than we know what to do with,”...“I can’t even keep track of them all anymore.”

Mr. Peacock travels with a gas-powered pump, five-gallon buckets, shovels and a push broom, risking trespassing charges in the pursuit of emptying forlorn pools and turning them into de facto skate parks.

Pool builders feel differently, of course as builders are being pummeled by declining home construction and evaporating credit for potential buyers. Several large companies have gone bust this year, including Riviera Pools. Smaller contractors, retailers and pool cleaning companies have also failed, leaving unpaid bills and unfinished projects.

Business is just as bad in Florida, where builders like Ben Evans, the chief executive at American Pools and Spas in Orlando, said he had let much of his staff go as orders for pools dropped to 150 this year, from about 1,000 in 2007.

In many warmer states, the authorities are trying literally to bail out pools, using pumps, dredges and strong stomachs to attack a surge in abandoned ones that have attracted all manner of nastiness — rats or belligerent raccoons, or algae, dead leaves and worse. These so-called green pools can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus.

California law calls for fines of up to $1,000 per day for egregious cases of pools left with standing water, but officials say the sheer numbers of cases are daunting.

John Rusmisel, the district manager for Alameda County’s mosquito abatement district, said he used a promotional company that flies banners over football games and other events to help find the fetid swimming pools.
Once he finds a problem pool, his workers treat it with a combination of insecticide and mosquitofish, pinky-size carp that find mosquito larvae delectable.
Dirk Voss, a code enforcement agent in Oxnard, Calif., northwest of Los Angeles, said even those residents who manage to stay in their homes often could not maintain the pool.

But skaters do not mind doing the work, whether it is that of scouting for pools or scouring them.
Mr. Peacock travels around town in his pickup searching for the addresses of homes he has learned have been foreclosed on, either via the Internet or from a friend who works in real estate.

Once he has found a pool he likes he drains the water into the gutter with his pool pump, sometimes setting up orange cones on the sidewalk to appear more official. Later, he returns to shovel out the muck, and then lets the pool dry. In order to maintain a sense of public service, the skateboarders adhere to basic rules: no graffiti, pack out trash and never mess with or enter the houses.

A day or two later, the skating begins, often in short bursts during the workday to avoid disturbing neighbors or attracting police attention. Twice in recent weeks, Mr. Peacock said, the police caught the skateboarders in an empty pool and demanded they leave but did not issue citations.

Mr. Peacock said he was helping the environment. “I’m doing the city a favor,” he said, by emptying fetid pools. “They’re always talking about West Nile on the news. Those little fish can only eat so much.”

As a skaterfag myself I say Kudos to them, nice to see they're not being pricks and actually taking consideration for the neighbnours and property.

Barring the pool damage.

EDIT: Some of those pool s are pretty nasty pre-cleanup.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...s/26221063.JPG

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...s/26221061.JPG

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/package...S/26221081.JPG

[archibaldcrane]

This post is way too long for there to be no "Pool's closed" jokes.

[Wintermute]

This post is way too long for there to be no "Pool's closed" jokes.

Fuck...could have used that in the thread title.

[Nekonaruto]

This reminds me of "Lords of Dogtown"...

[Beckwin]

this is awesome. in many ways.

[Kiro]

The first step... :3

[Kaliden]

This reminds me of "Lords of Dogtown"...

Loved that movie. I must have watched it a thousand times the summer after graduation.

[Nekonaruto]

Is there any other (good) skate-related movie? Something like BMX Bandits...lol.

[Kiro]

I dunno about skateboarding movies, but "RAD" was always my favorite BMX movie. >_>

[Maguspk]

Heh, that's awesome.

[archibaldcrane]

Is there any other (good) skate-related movie? Something like BMX Bandits...lol.

Um, hello? Gleaming the Cube, duh.

[Wintermute]

Is there any other (good) skate-related movie? Something like BMX Bandits...lol.

Dogtown and Z-Boys is a great documentary on the guys who helped make skating what it is today.

Drive by Mike V is pretty good too. It's sort of but not quite his life story and reflection on skating mixed in with the one-man world tour he did.

Decent watch for a lazy afternoon but he gets carried away when he talks sometimes and comes off as preaching every now and then. It's also a TV show on FUEL.

Grind is another lazy afternoon popcorn movie about a bunch of nobodies who try to make a name for themselves as they follow some pros around trying to flog their 'Sponsor Me' tape to them whilst also trying to carry themselves as a team by putting on impromptu demos.

Typical hollywood affair but has some nice segments and tricks to carry it over. Kinda cheesy though.

Don't know shit about BMX movies. Though I always recommend everyone check out Ruben Alcantara's insane Wallride part from the Etnies video.

[Nekonaruto]

Thanks Winter, about Gleaming The Cube...sadly I think I've seen that in my childhood, I can't remember if it was good, which probably means it wasn't.

[Howard Roark]

man I'm old lol:

any one ever see Thrashin'?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rasgundvd2.jpg

I was thinking it was called Thrasher, haven't seen it in a good 15 years or so, basic premise is this 'new guy' falls for some chick involved with another dude from a gang of some sort and all I remmeber is he gets injured at some point (I think) and they torch his halfpipe he built in his friend's back yard

worth watching but this was back when Powel Perralta and Santa Cruz were THE brands and Tony Hawk was still undisputably #1 -- oh and skateboards weren't symmetrical yet, they had a tail at the back which was flat edged not rounded, and the wheels were huge (boards were heavier too)

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/1010984...Skateboard.jpg


this was way after people laid down on their boards and went down on hills luge-style and skate parks were around, rather than people using old pools -- to see people bringing back an older old-school than even I know is pretty cool, whatever the cause

[Wintermute]

Ones I listed are documentary types. Apart from Grind.

Apparently there's a Steve Rocco documentary too. Man who souled the world I think which is worth a watch if only for the fact that he's not only an influential skater but one of the guys responsible for skating turning mainstream rather than it being a 5 year yo-yo trend.

Also worth watching is a Rodney Mullen biography made by On Video.
His autobiography The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself is also worth a read even if you're not a skating fan.

On Video was a video magazone, only lasted 8 Issues but made a lot of good documentaries.
Including a Love Park nostalgia session where the designer himself calls the city stupid for skate-stopping it, biographies for Natas Kaupas, Mullen, and other spiffy features. Most are spliced on Youtube and worth watching.

@ Howard Roark
Holy shit. The old Powell-Peralta videos are a sight to behold nowadays. I watched one a while back and it feels like they were made a million years ago. Must only have been 30 years or so, back when Kickflips on flat were ground-breaking.

Old-School "Fish boards" are like finding fossils.

That said there's some insane shit in them. I forget the video but some guy does a fucking Nollie 180 No-Comply when bombing a street. I Still can't figure out how he did it.

[Day]

Um, hello? Gleaming the Cube, duh.

FFFFFFFFFUCK YESSSSSS

[Mizango]

A million to Juan was a good movie.

I have no idea what the fuck that has to do with "pools" or "skating" but yeah.

[Ace-o-fire]

Shit i would pay skaters like 100 bucks if they clean a pool and empty it all out.

talk about cheap labor.

[Mizango]

We should just deport them.

[Wintermute]

Shit i would pay skaters like 100 bucks if they clean a pool and empty it all out.

talk about cheap labor.

Most I know would do it for a round of drinks and some food.