This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Comments (0) Wednesday, May 28 2003

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Mark Deering

Good Lord -- praying mantises are eating the residents of the Butterfly House, beginning in June.

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Tuesday, June 3There was a time in the not-so-distant past when an amateur skateboarding contest meant everybody who entered paid $10 to ride and the winner got his $10 back, with the rest of the money going to buy pizza for all participants. It was all vaguely socialist in nature, this idea that you gained nothing by winning except the knowledge that, for one day, you skated better than anyone else in town. Fortunately, the quaint idea of a skate contest's being solely about skateboarding and camaraderie has been crushed by the crass commercialism of the modern skater, and today's contests grant cash prizes and potential stardom. Whoopee. The Hometownrising Amateur Skateboard Contest Series stops at Ramp Riders Skatepark (2324 Salena Avenue) at 1 p.m., offering young careerists who place in the top eight of each age bracket an invitation to the national competition in Houston, as well as an armful of skate-related swag. Win and cash in, kids, and all for a $25 entry fee. The first entrant to wet his or her pants mid-axle-stall (à la Todd Congelliere) while humming JFA's "Blatant Localism" wins nothing less than a moral victory. Call 314-776-4025 for info or log on to www.hometownrising.com.