Skateparks

Typing this from my new tablet and the keyboard that I bought. Sony Xperia Z (and a Sony Bluetooth keyboard). It's ok... a little frustrating to organise in terms of Bluetooth Connection and Internet connection via my phone... but otherwise seems good. This keyboard is very nice to type with... even if it is only small. It seems to occasionally double-tap the letters I am typing, particularly if I am going fast, but it feels good at the fingers. I have yet to really play with the tablet, but the visuals seem gorgeous. It also has the potential for me to hook up a PS3 controller and play Playstation 1 games once I download the correct app... although, looking in to it, I am actually starting to suspect that this is not true.... I am trying to hold off on this until I finish (or at least pass) the NaNoWriMo project. It's a temptation that is gnawing at me, for there are many great titles that I'd like to get a hold of again... but I should be strong enough in willpower to hold off for the time being.

One big thing that I have found with this whole process is that it can chew up a lot of download data to organise everything. I have linked the tablet with my Google account and, as such, it has downloaded my regular apps that I use on my phone. In doing so, and keeping in mind that I only really use the Cracked.com and Facebook apps, as well as the default Google stuff (such as Gmail and Maps), I bit off about a quarter of my mobile phone's download limit. Granted, my limit wasn't huge (1GB), but it just goes to show how much the world of tech relies on the ability to acquire things online after a purchase.

Also, I'm not really a big fan of this Office Suite Pro that comes automatically with the tablet. Had to download a spellchecker... either that, or it claimed that I did before I really checked it out. Either way, poor form.

Back to the irregularly scheduled program.

At the risk of seeming like a seedy man, I have watched a few skateparks, until recently without intent on actually using the facilities. I like to watch people in action, like a crowd or from afar. There are many things that you can see and learn whilst observing how people act. The people acting may not even know what they are doing collectively themselves.

For example, the motion in a skatepark seems to act in waves. As can be expected, this is more visible when there are a few more people using the setting. For my eyes, and without actually timing it, I think the waves are roughly 7 minutes long, but vary according to what type of equipment is being used and how many people are using it at the same time.

The scooters, particularly the 12s and under group, seem to use the same area of the park for a little longer than the other users. The more people in their group, the longer it gets used for. BMX Riders, however, seem to have a time span more variable depending on the inverse of how many people there are, that is to say that the more people in their individual group, the less time the group spends doing things and the longer they spend sitting down. They also tend to use the Half Pipe/Bowl areas more than most though, in some respects, this is to be expected in part due to their age and also due to the nature of how BMX speeds allow for a high launch out of a vert section. When there are only a few users on a particular piece of equipment, the BMX Riders will spend a lot longer hanging around on that piece of equipment... though, I'm not really sure if this is out of respect for the other users or just because they seem to spend longer on the sidelines when there are more people around or in their group.

In terms of population, it is interesting to me to note how the demographics and types of equipment users change from place to place.

I expected a lot of skateboarders, simply because where I am from (Newcastle, New South Wales) has a lot of skateboarders. If I remember correctly, the overwhelming majority of skate park users in my home areas were skateboarders, usually around the mid-teens. Here, there is a strong BMX presence. In fact, if it weren't for the scooter kids under the age of 12, the majority of weekend users here are BMXers, followed closely with young-mid teen Scooter riders. This should not have really surprised me, as Kalgoorlie has a strong BMX Track contingent and so BMX bikes in the town are fairly commonly seen, with and without the wheel pegs used for skate park tricks.

Another thing to note is the apparent cooperation and comparative peace between the different types of users. Back home, Skaters were King, with BMX riders accepted, Bladers laughed at and told they were gay... albeit tolerated (side note: I still don't understand how Bladers are laughed at as being pansies, when every other type of equipment allows you to throw the equipment away if you screw up. Bladers don't have that option, and so have to fall over if they screw up. Not seeing the weakness there...). Scooters were almost violently opposed pretty much every skate park I've seen because the earlier versions left a lot of scrape marks everywhere.

Until Kalgoorlie.

I'm not sure why there is a difference here. Maybe it is because of the ubiquitous nature of scooter kids here, being that apart from footpaths, there is nowhere really entertaining for the kids to ride, and so you have to build a tolerance for them. I don't know. All I know is that Scooters are very common and an accepted part of skatepark life here, in all areas including the bowl and halfpipes (areas where before they were least tolerated back in NSW due to the tendency of the scooters to bottom out in some areas and cause scraping marks). I've not really seen any outward animosity at all toward them... with the sole exception of the older/bigger BMXers, who sometimes use up half the old section of the park to build up to a single trick or two coming out of the old halfpipe. I can see their frustration at times, because a younger child will not be looking more than 3 metres ahead to see someone coming and so move in to their landing space but, really.... the BMXers (almost) only have themselves to blame. They tend to hoard in packs of people, and if they know that one of their own is setting themselves up for a longer trick set that they should sort of populate an area to guarantee use of it. It's one thing to get a little frustrated when you are in the middle of a run and suddenly a whole bunch of people come rushing across you (or you are mid trick and they decide that now is the time to move close to you), but people seem to tolerate that as Kids-Will-Be-Kids. And that's fine. But to get angry at them to use space that is seemingly otherwise unoccupied is a little extreme (especially when they seem to crowd areas, albeit largely unused and otherwise unuseful areas). Perhaps it is an unwritten rule... or the group is too lazy to sort that out (I vote the second one: Teenage boys won't do anything unless they absolutely have to).

Speaking of unwritten rules, there appear to be a few of them in use. Some appear to be immutable, whilst others are more sort of vague collective agreements.

The main one is that, with the exception of people you know, never use the halfpipe/bowl if someone else is using it. That one gets you yelled out, even from people who aren't socially related to either party involved. Interestingly, this rule is less restrictively applied to most other areas of the skatepark. Maybe it's the more open/free nature of the rest of the skatepark area or just the uniqueness or special nature of the bowl/halfpipe that marks it for such attention... but it is quite interesting to watch when two people, from different groups, will use the same area (such as a ramp or box) basically together in opposing directions, nearly causing accidents (or even side by side) with no issues, but the moment someone drops in to the halfpipe 3 metres away from them, there are angry shouts and threats.

Teenagers, hey?

Skateboarders are somewhat rare here. It is uncommon to see more than 4 genuine skaters at the park at once (there are a few of the younger kids who use the small thin board things that I am not counting here, as well as the occasional congregation that show up later in the afternoons). Amusingly, they are as one would stereotypically expect from skateboarders: They are usually the guys peddling the cigarettes and weed.

Actually, that's a little unfair: there are a quite a few of the BMXers who do it too.

Whatever. They should already know by now.

As someone who does something different to what everyone else does, it is good to see that people coming up and giving you big-ups for doing something special, like a particular type of air grab or even a whole set of tricks. I've had a few times where some of the older scooter and BMXers have come up and said something along the lines of "I saw what you just did, and that was pretty cool" or "I once tried rollerblades and couldn't stand up so I gave up. It must be challenging to do something like that. Nice." Feels good to get something like that from the older users of the park, and not just the young ones who are impressed if you do anything that remotely looks different. But it's not even just me. There are more than a few times when I have seen people from different groups mingle temporarily because somebody is trying to work out how another person did a particular type of stunt or they might want a tip, or they have seen something pretty cool. Grab a little advice, or show a bit of admiration, then move on. It's not something that I'm really used to seeing from kids over the age of 12.

And I think that's the key thing here: it might just be that I'm all grown up now and can see it a lot more or better, or maybe it is just the location change... The kids at the skate park seem to actually have some sense of caring about what is going on around them and are somewhat mature enough to subtly (and sometimes outwardly) show respect for those around them. There are a few who I know by sight that don't seem to do that. There's one kid, about 15 I suppose, who doubles up on BMX and Scooters, talks trash to those who he thinks is below him and practically demands everything he wants when he is doing his thing... He then got shown up BIG TIME by an 11 year old on a scooter and seems to have calmed down a little (or at least he has been when I was there last). People like that seem to be few and far between... and it is a good thing. No one needs that sort of crap.

(1899 words over 100 minutes, spread over 3 sessions. Final edit added a few.)