It’s another Kickstarter project, this time to fund the final editing an film clip usage rights for a documentary on Devo. I mention it here on Skate and Annoy partly because they brought Tony Hawk in to comment on the Freedom of Choice video, but mostly because I love DEVO. They make a big deal about this being an authorized documentary, as compared to the Devo biography which the band originally cooperated with but ended up denouncing. I spoke to Gerald Casale about it and he said it was “all bullshit.” (Yes, I am almost that cool, but not really, I just met him at a bar after he did guest vocals with Portland’s legendary Punk Group.) Regardless of Casale’s opinion of the book, We Are Devo! is a must read if you believe in Devolution. The documentary looks good from the preview clips, I just hope they don’t water it down with too many celebrity appearances. Iggy Pop, sure, I’d love to hear about how he turned David Bowie on to Devo, (or maybe even how he turned David Bowie on) but Tony Hawk seems kind of, well, gratuitous. Surely someone like Steve Olson or Duane Peters would have been more appropriate. No knock against Tony, he just seems like the low hanging fruit in this case. So yeah, Devo documentary. I can’t wait. Trailer and bonus Freedom of Choice video after the jump. This time around, Devo has gotten on board with a YouTube Channel, so we don’t have to worry about the record company suits pulling it down.
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I did not see Tony Hawk’s unannounced stop at Burnside yesterday, but I did make these nifty shelves in my garage instead. It would take me half a day to get this into the form of a cartoon like MC does, so this is what you get instead.
Frame 1: Caption – “1986″ 1st guy speech bubble – “Tony Hawk is at our local skatepark right now!”
Frame 2: 2nd Guy speech bubble – “Oh man, I’m going to blow off finals for this, lets go!”
Frame 3: Caption – “2012″ – 1st guy (looks older) speech bubble – “Tony Hawk is at our local skatepark right now!”
Frame 4: 2nd guy (looks older) speech bubble – “I think I’m going to build shelves in my garage.”
I’m not dissing Tony, I’m sure he was rad. I saw that he even graciously posed for some photos with grooms.
Interesting side note: The story behind why Portland wasn’t an official stop on his tour is a disappointing one.
There’s a Tony Hawk-branded series of books for young teens (or tweens?) called Tony Hawk’s 900 Revolution. There’s no mission statement about the series being designed to engage kids in reading other than a tagline on the front page that says “Join the reading revolution.” You can read sample chapters and find out about characters like Omar, who is “aggressive and inventive, and often likened to Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.” The premise of the series:
At the dawn of the new millennium, Tony Hawk landed the first-ever 900, finally capturing the Holy Grail of skateboarding. At that moment in time, everything changed. A mysterious force shattered his board and scattered the pieces across the globe. Today, a talented group of teens unite in an eternal quest to bring the board – and its power – back together again. Adventure, action sports, and sci-fi rolled into one super-hot series!
Your kid (or you with a cleverly disguised entry) can win a chance to appear as a character in a future book. They look a little bit like comic books don’t they? They aren’t but they do have a 16 page graphic novel insert. Extreme!™
Tony Hawk on the cover of the Fall 2011 editions of MIT Sloan Management Review. Why, I’m not sure, because he’s not really central to the article, except as an illustration of consumers modifying products to make something new that didn’t exist in the marketplace. Not exactly a timely reference to the now popular DIY trend in electronics, arts, crafts, mechanics, programming, and well, everything, but I guess it is one of the earliest and most visible reminders – Kids tearing apart old rollerskates to make skateboards.
- Thanks to Brian Baade for the tip.
Grover used to love trying to fluster little kids at skateparks by asking them if they knew who Tony Mohawk was, or just shouting it out at random moments like an exclamation point. My friend Boneman lives in Colorado now, but when he saw this Tony Mohawk dog toy he immediately thought of me and yes you, the readers of Skate and Annoy.
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Get some, so you can get some. I swiped this photo from the Onion. The click through is worth not blowing the punch line.
Tony Hawk had a short interview in the How Did I get Here? column of the October issue of Fast Company. Turns out there is interesting reading material at my mother in-law’s house.
Kind of a stretch to tie in a gratuitous Everly Brothers reference, but it’s slightly more clever than putting “Tony Hawk files for 3rd Divorce” in the headline. Hawk… Bird… Dog… Divorce… get it? GET IT? Yeah, I had to make you work for that one. And I am not implying his wife is a dog, so don’t even start. The real news here is no that Tony is unlucky at love, but that his divorce is newsworthy to US Weekly and the Washington Post, even if it is only in the celebrity section.
- Thanks to… everyone an their brother who sent this in, but truth be told, Mrs Kilwag found it first.
Tony Hawk is hosting the Hall of Game Awardsshow February 25th on Cartoon Network. It’s a mildly amusing commercial, but what’s really interesting is a weird segment that aired immediately afterward called Super Scooter Dog. It’s one weird looking dog riding a scooter that is way more entertaining than any dog on a scooter. There’s no explanation as to what it’s for, but I suspect it’s something related to Cartoon Network.
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I was not a fan of Phineas and Ferb when I first saw it. I think it was the animation style and color pallet made it seem kind of cheap. My kids are into it though, and like any lazy American good parent I watch a lot of TV monitor what my children watch to make sure it’s appropriate. I’ve since grown to appreciate it. Phineas and Ferb have a spin off now called Phineas and Ferb: Take Two. It’s essentially the same premise as Space Ghost Coast to Coast, a virtual set and hosts with real guests. Space Ghost Coast to Coast is one of the most brilliant shows ever put on late night TV, so Phineas and Ferb has a tough act to follow. I’ve only seen the one episode, and it falls flat. Part of what made SGC2C work was the general weirdness of the situation. Some of the guests didn’t quite know what was going on, and the writers occasionally deliberately created a semi hostile atmosphere. At it’s best, Space Ghost Coast to Coast was a bizarre masterpiece of postmodern awkwardness. Then again, Phineas and Ferb is aimed at a grade school audience, so maybe I expect too much. Tony Hawk on Phineas and Ferb: Take Two, after the jump.
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