Hal Johnson

Well,kind of what I said before. Have and actual "pro" come in and teach. Maybe organise some regular competitions. I guess the security guard will stop the 14 yr olds from smoking pot and leaving their zigzag packages lying around, but I also think the guy or girl will have a mental breakdown by th end of the first month. Or, it will make the city council happy to know they guys there, and the kids will stop showing up; which will make them REALLY happy. But, really I have no idea, will have to see how it plays out. I shouldn't jump to any conclusions though, your right.

Well, appears the solution is to hire a security guard. I fail to see how this will "solve" anything.

haha, all good DB! They actually did that with the classical music at a strip mall by my old house in Etobicoke and it seemed to have worked quite well. Not sure of the lasting effect, haven't been there in a while. But ya, Im working for the rec dept in this town and the debate has been ongoing for the past few weeks. Freaker brings up a really good point though, in who exactly is complaining. Seems it could just be city staff who work close to the bowl, because, like he said, there's no one else around. Drug paraphenelia is found on the grounds rather consistently though, and enough of the kids don't wear helmets (liability issues However, the giant warning/rules sign is supposed to protect the civic center from such things...) so whoever doesn't want the bowl to be there has a case. I am trying to find some examples of other areas where this has happened and how they've coped with it so I can help the little buggers keep skatin!

The best is when I can convince the really young ones that the bowl is just well crafted side-walk art.

lol, Freaker, you hit the nail on the head!! It IS a crappy park, but that's neither here nor there. And you're absolutely right - there's a bunch of land around it that could be used to build a better park, that's for damn sure. All that being said - the kids LOVE it. They're there every day, morning to night. Thing is, the place is up for sale. They are building a new community center. IM thiking that the decision to shut down the park before the civic center sells will mean no new park at the new place though.

That my just be the problem here then - the Police have effectively said that regular patrols aren't going to happen. Seriously, they said that. And about the lights, they used to have lights, but the councellors viewed them as invitations to frequent the park after hours and cause even more trouble, so they got rid of them. Also seems that the one's causing the trouble are usually small in numbers but have large, negative personalities (bullies). One community I found on-line noted that "when a recognised group of people band together, those that isolate [bullies] the others [their victims] have got to take on a group that is interest focused, working collaboratively and cohesively to support the groups aims and objectives. This group could be in the form of a team or a club. " All sound very after-school-special-y, but I'm thinking it might be a somewhat legit approach. Bring in some actual instructors, for a club, do some comps and what-not.

Ha, that's actually really smart. Unfortunately, it couldn't be done here; Its an in-ground cement bowl that can't be moved, but a good idea anyway.

The skate park in the community where I live is in danger of being shut down due to "anti-social behaviour". I know that there are far more kids that use it for it's intended purpose than those who do not. I'm thinking that there's got to be some intervention ideas out there that have worked in other communities, that are cost efficient and keep the riff-raff from ruining it for everyone else. Any ideas?

Im just impressed that the spammers finally found a regularly used thread to post in...

Best first post ever.

It's called Newfie Horse shoes where I come from and I'm practicing dilligently and with hard work and determination I will give a formidable challenge!

hmmmm....I've been watching the Jays a bunch and they consistently piss me off...friend of mine wondered where they'd be this year if they had kept Halladay and Marcum...haven't watched any golf, but I did purchase a Washer toss game that is wicked-awesome! Yup, not much going on in the sport world. We need another "most embarrassing sports moment"-type thread...badly.

That's cool! Glad I got to see him play in his prime. I've only once been any other number than 12 in all my years of team sports, in tribute to Mr Catch de Taste.

Lost in all this is the fact that God really wants Chep Trick to stop playing that stupid song.

Im not a Lanois fan, didn't know that. Although, I did you tube his version and I do like it better coming from him.

I've seen these three play before - it's totally awesome. On a related note, the Sisters played the Halifax Jazz fest recently and the review in the Chronicle was kinda funny because it was obvious that this was the guy's first encounter with Breit and Co and he loved every minute of it: http://thechronicleherald.ca/ArtsLife/9021439.html

I feel the same way about them. When I was younger I loved their album with "the river" and "Save Me" and the at least one really cool instrumental, but they got pretty shitty pretty quickly. They started to lose me with "Temptation," then cemented it with that "Letter from a messenger song." That being said, I'll be you toobin their old stuff this morning! As you were folks.

It's exactly what places like NS need. All they do here to boost the economy (in rural areas at least - which is everywhere other than Halifax) is add passing lanes, or re-pave the same roads they re-paved last summer. At the very least, if the right people got a hold of some, they might come up with more creative ways to create jobs. :bonghit:

- Brian Burke http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/article/1020463--kadri-on-the-wing-reimer-in-the-net-maple-leafs-all-set-burke-says lol, hope Jim Carey doesn't read the Star or watch Sports Center, or drink heavily.

Same here!

Heard on the radio that he was offered the same deal as Bieksa and turned it down.

Bure should have been elected

In a perfect world McGuire and the Swirsk would find each other and become bradcast partners for either hockey or basketball, or both.

I literally "Stumbled" across this the other day. Its the picture of a child's skull while it prepares to lose it's baby teeth. I find it quite fascinating my self... MIght be disturbing to some

Me too. I think we've covered every topic known to man though.