When I first got a copy of Wire’s Pink Flag album I was hypnotized. The music was unlike any of their punk contemporaries, but it still made perfect sense to a kid in the suburbs of Chicago in the mid-80’s. It was kind of like the missing link for me. Minimal, but incredibly rich at the same time. Catchy but abrupt and confrontational. Discovering music used to be a much more sensual experience. It required considerably more effort than it does today. After buying a record I would usually pour over every minute detail of the artwork while listening to the turntable. It was an experience that deserved my full attention. When you were in a cultural desert like the suburban Midwest was, you savored every morsel you got. The back cover of Pink Flag has fake biological data about the band, and one of the things I couldn’t get past was the drummer’s name, Robert Gotobed. Everyone else had regular enough sounding names, so was Gotobed a goof or what? Anyway, it fascinated me. I desperately wanted to meet him – remember, cultural desert… Others have waxed on about Wire much more articulately than I am apparently capable of, so just do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Pink Flag. Or if you want, you can buy some expensive skateboard-themed bedding.

[Source: Pulama Project]

UPDATE: We’re back!!!!! Don’t pay any attention to the words below.

We are experiencing technical difficulties with our web server/hosting company. Bear with us please. You won’t be able to read posts that have a “There’s more” link, you won’t be able to comment or look at earlier posts that aren’t on the front page, which makes this site 80% useless, just like a tech support line in India.

This is a photo of Mark Conahan bailing over Kuna Idaho last year.

I had meant to include this in the Disciplinary Architecture post but it got a way from me. Sit-Stopping devices existed long before the idea of skate stopping anything was ever considered. (Those sitters are intimidating and cause property damage. Plus, they could sue me!) Skateboarders should band together with our wide-bottomed brothers and sisters to effect social change. The lazy and the active should unite as one! Transfer has a massive photo collection of anti-sit devices. Some of the devices are likely meant to prevent skating as well, but most are clearly aimed at your ass. I’ve seen these things before and not given them much thought, aside from “Why doesn’t the man want anyone sitting here?” As long as we are forming a union here, let’s reach out to our prone brothers who just want to pass out on a park bench. Somewhere out there somebody has probably compiled a gallery of anti-sleeping modifications on public benches. You’ve seen them before, the large bumps that prevent a person from laying down across a bench. I propose we name the group Construction of Anti-devices Needs Toppling – or C.A.N.T.. While I start making the “U.S. Architectural Discipline off our backs/butts/feet!” protest signs, you can check out the Anti-Sit Archives.

[Source: Architecture of Control]

If you have an extra $1500 laying around, (and who doesn’t?) you can pick up Skateboard Joe for your kids to hang their clothes on. Seriously. That’s what it’s for, and that’s what it costs. Available from Boot Kidz. You can see it larger after the jump.

Aside from teaching you how to apply grip tape or remove your skateboard trucks, About.com has a whole section on home schooling. One of the units they offer has a skateboarding theme. There are word searches, crossword puzzles and multiple choice questions all based on the same 20 words. It’s a bit monotonous, but that’s your word of the day kids! Also, they make you jump through extra hoops to actually get to the pages where you can see them larger, so I’ve provided direct links, and of course the usual assorted flippant remarks. Children are our future, the little bastards.

In case you were wondering what’s been going on here, In the past few days we’ve had some server issues at our crappy web host (Ixwebhosting.com – I can’t recommend them) as well as two separate plumbing leaks at my house that have conspired to leave Skate and Annoy in a sorry state. Everything is back to normal now, so move along, there’s nothing to see here. I mean, wait, there is something to see now. Bail photo by Rich at EPM.

It’s been a while since we’ve covered any music. MC’s Siouxsie Sioux private bowl monologue inspired me. Once again, we’re talking about Punk Rock. We’re actually looking for someone to write thoughtful analysis of the latest speed metal trends… and then submit them to someone else cause we’re not going to publish it.

I don’t know how it happened, but AOL managed to create some original humorous content about punk rock that wasn’t completely stupid. Debbie Harry’s Punk Rock Preschool is actually quite good, even if you consider my strong personal bias in favor of Debbie Harry. I hate to see my idols degrade themselves, so I expected the worse, but was pleasantly surprised. This video is full of surprises. One of them is that she kind of looks like Hilary Clinton. Debbie even lets one little kid call her “Blondie,” which used to be a major pet peeve. Find out the definitive answers to such questions as “What is New Wave?” and “Is it better to burn out or fade away?” after the jump.

Eww.. gross. Get your mind out of the gutter. Joining Blake Nelson’s Paranoid Park is Nick Hornby’s Slam. You might recognize Nick Hornby as the writer whose books get made into good movies like High Fidelity. Slam’s protagonist is skateboarding obsessed and regularly holds imaginary conversations with Tony Hawk who answers in not always relevant quotations from his autobiography. Sounds like an amusing premise actually, if it weren’t written for young adults. Actually, if you can enjoy Harry Potter, why not Slam?. It’s interesting to note (OK, maybe not) that Tony Hawk is so pervasive that his status as a cultural icon can now be a bit supporting character in books much like Elvis was in the movie True Romance. Hornby’s had a few of his books made into successful movies, so maybe we’ll see a Tony Hawk cameo that’s a little better than what he did in Thrashin. While it’s unclear whether or not royalties were paid to the old 80’s wrist guard company of the same name (Haw!), it is clear that skateboarding is a hot topic for those trying to sell to the young adult market. Speaking of being in the market for young adults (what is this Perez Hilton?) the Gus Van Sant adapted Paranoid Park for a movie before it was even properly published. We heard rumors that Paranoid Park the movie was doing well overseas, but we haven’t heard squat about it in the states, or even in Portland where the damned thing was filmed. Hornby’s Slam comes out on October 16th, and for some reason the cover on the US version is skateboard-free while the UK version is what is shown above. There’s a spoiler heavy review of Slam at The Guardian.

This web comic from The Book of Biff is followed by a tale of woe featuring bike on skate action. There but for watching where I’m going, go I.

Day Two: Duel AKA Rad Ramp Racer for the Commodore 64, from 1990.

Here we have the classic BMX vs Skateboard battle. Is it a bare knuckled fight to the finish like the duel scene in Thrashin’? Stay tuned to find out. Man I wish I could see a closeup of that video cover. Does anyone recognize the picture?