Monday, June 30, 2008

Follow Up: Travel Camp footage from Skatelab

If you remember reading the skatecamp post from a few weeks back, you'll probably also remember the mention of a 'travel camp' that the guys over at Skatelab were offering. Even if you don't, you'll probably appreciate checking out their footage linked from their official homepage, check it out. (I promise, more news is coming, and fewer links to youtube videos in the near future)

Even More Vegan-Friendly Shoes from Emerica


For those of you who love to skateboard, but have a hard time finding shoes that appeal to your vegan nature, Emerica has some solutions for you. Check out the vegan shoe selection on their site here, and rejoice with your animal friends.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Go Skate Day at OP Park in Orange Park


Ms Anjie sent me a few photos from the happenings at the OP Park on Go Skate Day on June 21st, so I thought I would share-Just click here. In addition to absolutely free skateboarding (as always) from dawn to dusk (minus rain time), contests and giveaways also went down. I wasn't able to make it out due to family obligations and bad weather, but it looks like everyone had a good time. It's too bad that we missed it.

Full Results for the contest can be found here, this is the press release sent right from Ms. Anjie who manages the park.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Free Day at SPoT, Krux Kickflip Challenge

If you are planning on going down to Tampa any time soon, keep this in mind: July 12th is a free day of skating at the Skatepark of Tampa, and on top of that, it's catered by Chili's, Moes, and Panera. The food alone is almost incentive for me. Almost, but you know. Gas is expensive. The free skating takes care of the rest of the motivation though.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Go Skate Day Part 4: Kona, and the Kona Cookout

CustomBatteryCover

So we waited out the rain at Ed Austin Skatepark, had a good time and did a good job of avoiding the piles of 'fertilizer' surrounding the edges of the newly-laid sod at this new park. Up next was Kona. At this point, Jordon and I split ways due to some scheduling conflicts (and general spaceyness of my own), and each of us made our way to Kona seperately.

Pickin'YoTeethWifAStraw


When I got to Kona, I was surprised to find a nice cushy 'Media Area' set up (not my words) with two cushy red couches, a nice red carpet, and a red bull slushy machine right behind it, all located just a few feet from the freestyle area's Jersey Barrier in which the contest was taking place on. Nice. I'm sure a good deal of the people skating were worn out at this point, but that didn't really stop people from pulling out their proverbial 'bangers', if you know what I mean. (No, I don't mean THAT, use some context clues.)

EvanMirschel
Evan Mirschel

As promised, skating at Kona was totally free, and I think everyone was stoked about that, especially after driving their mom's SUVs around town to get to these events. Once the contest got underway, there were both new and familiar faces from the previous stops. Once again the Pineiro brothers were there, going full force, and The Darkness was doing things I didn't even think were possible on the barrier, including a big frontside stale and a frontside smith, all while wearing a day-glo green helmet. I saw Evan Mirschel do a nice ollie up to crooked grind on the barrier, and generally everone skating on the obstacle was ripping. (Again, I didn't catch everyone's names, so just drop a comment if you want to help me give credit to the tricks.)

Blunt

After the contest was done, there were plenty of people on hand to take part in the free food and free skating. Since I was told that the OP skatepark events were rained out, I decided to pick up the kids and head back to Kona to spend the rest of the day skating and enjoying the company I had there. We all had a really good time, and I want to take the time to thank Jordon Fink for driving me around and buying me some food from Wendy's. I hope those 2 dollars covered the cost of gas! Also, I want to think Martin Ramos from Kona (again), along with all of his crew for making this happen, along with Ryan King from Red Bull fame for promoting and supporting this event. Thanks for making all of this a community effort that everyone could enjoy.

FreeRedBull
This is my Red Bull face

TailBlockin

DarkNessStale
The Darkness, again


Coming Up: OP Park Contest Results and Photos

Monday, June 23, 2008

Busstop's Go Skate Day Adventure, Part 3: Ed Austin Park

We finished our free pizza at Huffman park and headed on down to Arlington, on our way to the new park on Monument road. About 5 minutes before we got to the park, however, mother nature decided to give us the proverbial finger, letting loose a whole bunch of unwanted rain. It really sucked, and I thought this had meant the end of skateboarding for the day. We pulled into the parking lot, and saw tons of familiar faces. Everyone was just sort of sitting around, waiting for the mild rain to finally let up.

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Jayson Colon, Blunt-tastic

We got out and took a stroll around the wet park, and the Kona crew was already setting up for the next contest. After about 30 minutes or so, the rain did let up, and people had started skating again. Puddles and wetspots were everywhere, but as you may know, 50 people running their wheels through a puddle will contribute to the drying process. Also, it will kill your bearings. About 30 minutes or so after the skating began, the contest was underway, and people were pushing through eachother left and right to get to the brick quarterpipe for their chance to win a 20 dollar bill with a banger.

DropIn
This guy was skatin' real good too. Too bad I only took a picture of him dropping in.

At this point, all hell had broken loose on the brick quarterpipe. See, the park isn't all that big, and with all of the attention on this one obstacle, quite a few people collided, and almost everyone got cut off at one point or another. Hell, I even got cut off when taking photos. Whithin no time at all, the supply of 20 dollar bills was exhausted, and the contest was done. Some standouts from the contest that I remember in my head include Jayson Colon doing a backside 180 noseblunt to backside 180 in (to revert?), and Kevin Graver doing a long ass tailslide and making a little kid jump. Later on, I saw some guy with a Hook-Ups board do a sick looking noseblunt on the bench in the corner coming off of the bump. I remember him politely asking a guy to move because he was in the way, and skating off, and dude bowed up and got all pissed. Steer clear of mean looking guys in ankle braces.

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Kevin Graver, Frontside Tailslide


Unfortunately, I didn't get too many photos of this place due to the rain, and the fact that I was using a borrowed camera from Rachel Best. Maybe next time I can shoot on an iPhone, I hear those things take some pretty awesome photos. Besides, SLRs are way too heavy.

Up Next - Part 3: Kona.

I'm just looking for a chill contest writeup - AST Dew Tour Results


I dunno if you care about this or not, but the AST Dew Tour happened, and here are the contest results:

Final Results
Park
1. Ryan Sheckler
2. Paul Rodriguez
3. Chaz Ortiz
4. Greg Lutzska
5. Chad Bartie

Vert
1. Bucky Lasek
2. Pierre Luc Gagnon
3. Bob Burnquist
4. Andy Macdonald
5. Adam Taylor

I watched a good bit of this over the weekend. Did you know Airwalk still existed? Looks like Andy Mac knows, according to his t-shirt. Also, Bucky Lasek is a beast. So, That is all I will write about that. Now back to working on real work, and finishing up the Go Skate Day Adventure writup.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Busstop's Go Skate Day 2008, Part 2 - Huffman Park


After Jordon and I were done skating the parking blocks and getting the trunk of his car to finally open, we headed out to the new park near FCCJ, Huffman Park. For this event, it was Bangers For Bucks on the Manny Mania box provided by Red Bull. At this point, we were rushing to avoid the rain, and luckily only a few drops hit while we were there. (It should be noted that as of the 21st of June, the Red Bull Manny Mania obstacle was the only obstacle that the park has, but more is said to be coming.)

When we got there, there were already a couple of kids skating, notably an FBI agent. Not too long after we got there, the contest was under way.

Kgrind
K-Grind all the way across the box.

Luckily for everyone there, Red Bull came through once again with free smoothies, and Martin from Kona provided free Dominos pizza for everyone to enjoy. The crowd eventually got pretty thick, and once the contest got underway, the 20-dollar bills got handed out pretty quickly. I was pretty stoked to see Captain J do a fakie 50-50 to half cab manual on the box, myself.

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Justin Lewis, Deliverer of Bangers

NoseManual
Not Sure Who This is, Someone Help Me Out

MicControl
Martin Ramos on the Mic

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I was glad to have the Red Bull crew on hand for the refreshment support. Here they are, in a %100 candid, not posed at all snapshot.

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Ryan King hopped into the competition and got himself a 20. Pretty sure he did a tre flip to nose manual on the big box.

It was at this contest that Jayson Colon from the Board City team joined us. I'm just going to take a second to fan out here and say that this kid is a serious ripper, and he's got such a clean style it's unbelievable. Once things were wrapped up at Huffman park, we were off to Ed Austin Park in Arlington, just off Monument Road. Stay tuned for Part 3!

JaysonColon
I have to admit, this 8103 gear coming out lately is looking pretty fresh. This is Jayson Colon.

Busstop's Go Skate Day 2008, Part 1 - Atlantic Beach Rotary Club Park



In an Effort to make the most of my Go Skateboarding Day on June 21st, Me and my friend Jordon Fink made plans on getting up at the crack of dawn to enjoy the scheduled activities. Unfortunately, I had spent a little too much time the night before enjoying drinks and a show with my friends up at Club TSI downtown, and had a hard time waking myself up before the event. Apparently, Jordon slept in too, so it all evened out. Just a little after 10, we headed out from Riverside and made our way toward the Atlantic Beach skatepark. We stopped to get some food at Wendy's near the corner of University and Atlantic, and had quite an interesting experience involving baked potatoes, oranges, and lack of common sense.

OnTheRoad
Jordon Brought a Hat That can be Worn 2 Different Ways. This is Option 1.

We used google maps to find the park, and our directions to the park were way off. Apparently, the Go Skate Day flyer had the incorrect address to the park, and we ended up at the park with the long C-shaped curved ledges. Nice place to skate, but we were way off and had to ask for directions. Luckily, a rad guy in a blue truck let us follow him all the way to the park, so I'd like to personally thank him for that. (And sorry for bugging you while your were renting a movie from McDonald's.)

When we got to the Park, things had already started, and Red Bull was on location making Red Bull-infused smoothies for everyone. I'd never been to the Atlantic Beach park, so I was pretty surprised to see it when I got there. This park is not at all like a traditional park, with high transitions surrounding almost the entire body of the park, sort of like an over sized pool. I took lots of photos to better illustrate what I'm trying to say.

RedBullSmoothies
Red Bull Smoothies
The contest here was taking place on the door obstacle, which is basically like an over sized deathbox in a pool. I was surprised to see people skating this park as well as they were, and even Martin Ramos joined in, doing some grinds and a huge backside ollie over it. Seeing how he was the one giving out the 20 dollar bills for awesome tricks, I don't think that he is too worried about not getting one, but I wouldn't hold it against him if he did give out one to himself.

MartinBackideOllie
Martin Ramos, Over the Door

Other Standout Tricks at this park include a 540 over the channel by one of the Pineiro brothers, I think it was Steven - I didn't get a great photo of it, but it was pretty substantial, and I can see some potential vert pro-ness coming from this kid. Both Steven and Juan Pineiro were giving it their all, all day long. A guy people were calling 'The Darkness' was killing it all day, and it was apparent that he would be from the second I saw him skate. He was doing smooth backside smith grinds over the door, among other awesome things.

smithDarkness
Darkness, Backside Smith over the Door

540overDoor
Steven Pineiro, 540 Over the Door



There were quite a few good tricks done during our time there, and Atlantic Beach turned out to be a surprisingly good time. Also, I met a really rad little dog. I can't remember it's name, but here's a picture anyway.

AwesomeDog3

Before we left for the next park, Jordon and I spent some time skating the parking blocks in front of the park. Apparently, the People from Board City excel at this.

ParkinLots

After that, we headed off to Huffman Park to skate the Manny Mania obstacles, so stay tuned for part 2.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Go Skate Day Update for the OP Park

I just got an update from the OP Park skatepark about Go Skateboarding Day activities. As I've mentioned before, which is Saturday, June 21. There will be contests during the day in 20-minute jam sessions on various obstacles in the park, and at 7 p.m. there will be a 5 and under contest. Also, there will be pizza provided by Dominos for the purpose of fundraising, in addition to giveaways throughout the day for things like stickers, hats, and wheels. As always, no entry fees are required.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Streets ATL Premieres Tonight in SF


Satva Leung is premiering his latest video tonight in SF, in which the latest talents from the ATL are showcased. (Okay, so I know Atlanta is a good bit North of the 904 area code, but it's worth noting, since I get quite a few hits from ATL and Jawja as a whole) According to the latest post on SkateDaily.net:
"Streets ATL Features: Grant Taylor, Anthony Williams, Kris Markovich, David Clark, Justin Brock, and Jeremiah Babb and includes spots such as Black Blocks, Downtown, Foundations and Midtown."

If you happen to be in the San Francisco Area, which I know some of you readers are, stop by Madrone to check it out. Screening starts at 10, and the cover is $2.

Reminder - Go Skateboarding Day is June 21st, which is THIS SATURDAY.

I'm bumping this topic- be sure to take note! See the flyer below, or visit Kona's website for information. Red Bull will be at each location for your energy deficiency needs.

So here is the official flyer, direct from the man in charge. Save that gas money, cuz this is something you don't want to miss!



Once again, this contest is taking place in some of Jacksonville's best skateparks. If you don't have anything planned for Go Skateboarding Day on June 21st, you better get crackin'! Jax Beach, Southside, and Arlington. That's a full day of shreddage.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Tampa School's Out Jam Results, June 14th

Just a quick update on Contest results - Looks like Skatepark of Tampa has updated their website with some photos from their recent contest that took place over the weekend, the all-ages School's Out Jam. (or School's out "Jame", if you are going by that photo label on the homepage.) Congrats to Brooke Durgin of Jacksonville on placing First in the girl's division, and Bong Gause and Kai Gause for taking 2nd and 9th, respectively, in the 9 to 12 division.

Results for these events can be found Here and Here, and more photos from the event can be found on SPoT's website.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Cairo Foster Jacksonville footy from 1995

I came across this youtube video today. I used to live right near this bank. Check out Cairo's shirt, he's wearing a DASOTA tee. Watch the whole thing, you'll get to see what the Skatepark of Tampa looked like way back in the early days.

Friday, June 13, 2008

New Skatepark @ Ed Austin Regional Park


So in some way or another, I got word of a new skatepark being built at the Ed Austin regional park in Arlington, right off Monument Road, just south of where Monument meets Ft. Caroline. Apparently, it isn't quite "open" yet, but that doesn't deter tons of people from strolling over the mashed-down fence to skate there. Yesterday, I felt inclined to participate in this activity, so I stopped by the park and took some pictures.
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From how it appears to me, this park is awesome for those who love to cruise a skatepark without having to push. Up high, there is a brick-lined quarter pipe, which rounds out into a cement quarterpipe/bowl that extends along the north end of the park. Just below the quarter pipe after the flat, the park drops off into some pyramid-type objects, a grind box on the south end, and a pyramid type thing just below the transition on the north edge. On the way down this slope on the south most side, a china bank extends along the side of the slope. On the lower, eastern-most side of the park, there is a bowled corner, a rounded wall with an extention, and some benches with coping lining the outer edge.
IMG_5371
Overall, I'd say that this park is not for the faint of heart, and if you come out to skate here, you'd better bring some tranny skills with you, and I don't mean the ones you picked up at the Metro the other night. The brick quarter pipe on the high end of the park takes some getting used to, and you'll need a little bit of effort to get enough speed to hit it just right. In the middle of the flat on the high side just below the brick quarter pipe, there is a little bump, sort of like a miniature, round version of Kona's mogul.
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The Ledges and rails that run along the middle portion of the park are hard to approach slowly. Due to the design of the park, you'll probably be approaching all of the obstacles at speed, so remember-if you are going to try a trick here, you'd better commit.
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As far as size is concerned, this park is probably about the same size of the Emerson park, or Cuba Hunter Park, for those city officials who may be reading this. (also, just kidding about jumping the fence, that was some other guy.) The park here is by no means a street park, but there are some nice ledges and a good flat rail along the northern edge of the park. The only problem with these obstacles though, is that kids were sitting on them when I was there.
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The people that were skating the park yesterday were all skating it pretty damn well, and I think that may have to do with some of them coming straight from that training facility in Atlantic Beach that they call SKATELAB. In summary, I'll say this. Don't be afraid to visit this park, but be sure to bring a board with some decent sized wheels, and be prepared to skate some roundwall-even if it is just a corner or two of it. And have fun.

Directions to the park can be found here, (I added a marker just for you guys) and more photos of the place can be found on my Flickr account here. All the photos on my flickr account can be expanded to be relatively large.


View Larger Map

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

June 14, 2008 - Contest at RockBottom Skatepark in Brunswick, GA


If you love contests, it looks like 2008 is the year for you. With today's update, I bring news of a contest going on this weekend (June 14th) in Brunswick, GA, about an hour and ten minutes from J-ville (depending on how many pee stops you have to make). If you don't know about RockBottom Skatepark, a friend of mine described it to me as 'a bit bigger than the Skateboard House, it's pretty cool'. So there you go. If you have MySpace, you can find the park's MySpace profile online to find out more. If you don't have myspace, Just go ahead and check out the flyer, get directions to the park here, and plan your weekend accordingly. Feel free to click on the flyer to embiggen it.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Damn Am Contest Results are up, Rebroadcast on Tuesday.



For those of you following the Damn Am contest, just an FYI that the contest results are up. I want to publicly say congrats to all the Florida people who are present in the top 12 from the street finals, including Evan Smith from Orlando, Ben Gore from Pompano, And Tampa's Dylan Perry. You can see the results from the street finals here (with brief notes on the tricks), or just visit the Damn Am homepage for the whole dealio.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Manny Mania Footage

I came across this on Youtube today, thought I would share. Thanks to Youtube user 'FLALOve' for sharing this.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Go Skate Day: Bangers for Bucks - A Jacksonville Skate Tour


We have some new updates on Go Skateboarding Day. Martin from Kona just let me in on what he has been working on. It's big, so get ready.


Go Skate Day, Saturday June 21st

Bangers for Bucks - A Jacksonville Skate Tour
$500 to be given away $20 at a time for bangers at each skatepark.

Schedule:

11 a.m. Oceanside Rotary Skatepark in Atlantic Beach - Bangers over the Door
1 p.m. Skatelab - Bangers in the Vert meets Street area (VMS)
3 p.m. Huffman Park, off Beach Blvd right behind FCCJ south campus - Bangers on the Red Bull Manny Mania pad
5 p.m. Kona - Bangers on the barrier in the Freestyle Area

Kona will be open for FREE after 5 p.m.
Free cookout for anyone participating in the Jax tour.
In addition to the skating, Red Bull will be on location with Free Red Bull drinks at each park.

Skate Camping


While the idea of summer camp may be a sore spot to many kids growing up in the 80s, it's still a popular concept to this day. Sure, skate parents probably remember the painful wedgies and general outcastedness they experienced while summer camping in their childhood, but now there are other options. You don't have to dress up like a native American, you don't have to swim in a deadly organism-filled-and-drying-up lake, and you don't have to learn how to start a fire. You don't have to feel embarrassed about your asymmetrical haircut. Nope, none of that noise.
Nowadays, skate kids in the 904 area have plenty of options. So, whether you are a parent, or you are a kid young enough to be interested, skate camps are worth looking into.

For starters, Skatelab in Atlantic Beach seems to have a pretty substantial program for kids to participate in during the summer days.

From their website, this is what their camp includes:
"The Camps will include personal instruction from experienced skaters, lunch daily, Skatelab T-Shirt & Camp Pack and a group photo. There will also be a water slide every Wednesday and an instructor and team rider demo during the week. Extended skating (after camp) is also included until 8pm. Ages 8 & Up welcome. Skatelab is closed to the public during exclusive camp hours."

There is also a Travel Camp, which to me sounds like a hell of a time. The hours and dates are mentioned on the site, so please visit the URL above for more info.

Next up is Kona Skatepark in Arlington. When I was growing up, going to Kona every day during the summer was my equivalent to skatecamp. It wasn't officially called that, but Mr. Martell and Ms Ramos sure did look out for everyone skating at the park, and my mom had no problem leaving me there for 75 percent of the week. Neither did I, really. But enough reminiscing- What Kona has going on right now is pretty killer:

Camp Starts at 9am, (early drop off-8:30) and camp runs till 12pm. After camp is done, skaters are free to skate at the park for the rest of the day. Included with the skatecamp is a cookout for skaters and parents on Friday. As far as dates are concerned, skatecamp will last from June 30th through July 4th.Check out the flyer for more details.

And last but not least, Skater Vader down in Middleburg is also holding a summer camp. I don't have info directly on hand, but I do know that they feature a skatecamp that includes skate time, watching videos, and food and drink for all skate campers. See the previous post a few entries down for more info on this park, and for contact info.

Do you know of a local Skatepark or skatecamp that I missed? Leave me a comment and let me know what's going on and I'll be sure to add it.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Free Bearings!


Sometimes, Just sitting at my desk and doing work is enough to keep my mind calm. Sometimes, though, it isn't. So here is the deal: Keep me entertained at work. Post a joke in the comments section below, and the first person to make me LOL will get a free set of Lucky Jackpot$ bearings mailed to their location.

Rules:
All Jokes must be in paragraph or text form, no images. Please substitute foul language with stars where applicable. I reserve the right to not laugh at your joke, and subsequently not give you these free skateboard bearings. There will be only one winner.

Kona's 31st Anniversary Party, July 5th


It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that Kona celebrated it's 30th anniversary. And 30 years, That's a whole lotta years to put into a skatepark. Not content with just having a huge bash every 30 years or so, Kona is at it again, throwing a huge anniversary bash on the fifth of July. Just like last year, there will be a vert demo, a slalom competition in the snakerun, and a best trick contest on the tombstone in the bowl, among other things that are awesome. Speaking of which, Check out that photo on the right. Can you see me peekin' around the tombstone? I grabbed this from the Kona website. See it for yourself for more details. For more info on what happened last year, see the story I wrote for EU Jacksonville here. If you want to see the PDF form of the paper with photos, click on the PDF link on the left.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

OP Park Update, Go Skateboarding Day Happenings


Word from Ms Anjie at the Orange Park skatepark indicates that there will be some substantial shreddage going on at the park on June 21st. She tells me that the park will be having some contests going on throughout the day, and that they will be open from daylight to sundown. You have to give some respect to someone that would come out to a skatepark before daybreak (6 A.M.) just to ensure kids had lots of time to skate. I don't think my clock even has a six A.M., I have never seen it. Anyway, more news is coming on Go Skate Day events, so keep checking the Calendar at the bottom of the page for more info to be added.

(The image on the right is me and my kid at the OP Park)

Sunday, June 1, 2008

New Shop: SkaterVader in Middleburg, FL


So, as I noted in a previous post, Middleburg has a new skateshop and skatepark. Me and the litl'un stopped by the place today to check it out. The name of the Shop is SkaterVader Skate Shop, Apparel and More, Inc., and it's located at 4283 218 West, Suite 112 in Middleburg, FL. If you are coming from Blanding Blvd, its about a couple miles west down 218, on the left.

From talking to the people working there, it sounds like there is an indoor park under construction toward the back of the building. Currently, the shop's park features some boxes and grind rails, and a couple of vert quarter pipes. It looked like they were in the process of building some things. The inside of the shop was clean, with a varied selection of shop decks and pro models, as well as accessories and clothing.

Currently, SkaterVader is advertising a raffle that'll cost you 5 dollars to enter, and will have five winners, with 1st place getting a free skate pass for 2 weeks, in addition to 200 dollars in store credit. Contact the shop for more details on the other prizes. In addition to the Raffle, SkaterVader is also offering a Skate Camp, so again, contact them for details.

It's nice to have a place for kids in Middleburg to go for skateboarding stuff. If you happen to be in the area, be sure to stop by and check out the shop. I'll be sure to stay updated on when the indoor park is finished. The number to the shop (according to my free bumper sticker) is 904.622.7503.

Check out my flickr account for a few more photos of the park.