While we were out, Playmobil launched an action set featuring Chad Muska as the skateboard bandit and George Michael as the cop… Or maybe that’s not really true. However they currently have 2 sets featuring skateboarded typecast as the bad guys. There not just run of the mill skateboarding-where-they-aren’t-suposed-to-be bad guys either, they are involved in high stakes robbery and… it’s hard to say what that stick is for… illegal water divining? – Thanks to Josef for the tip.

Soon after Skate and Annoy went online with it’s own domain name after jumping ship from Annoying.com, I had toyed with idea of adding a discussion area or bulletin board as they were called in the online days of Sleestak.net circa ’03 or so… I was never quite happy with the pricing, capabilities, or performance of the early options so I did a lot of investigating and putting off the final decision, until Facebook made all that stuff irrelevant. In the immortal words of TLC and other irrelevant 90’s phenomena, I ain’t to proud to beg. Since the comments section of these posts are barren, and morel like to receive a comment on our FB page, I’ve decided to jump on the height of 2010 technologies and start a Skate and Annoy Facebook group, in the spirit of Edvard Munch. Join, post and destroy!

We started as a print zine in 1986, moved online around 1996 and moved into “new media” (late 90’s buzzword alert!) around the turn of the millennium when we started recording and archiving skateboarding whenever it appeared in movies, TV shows or commercials that we were able to see. You may have seen some of our donated archival footage in the 2008 documentary Deathbowl to Downtown. At the time we started the biggest hassle was the actual recording. Now that the technology is simple, the biggest hassle is keeping track of it all.

Bernie Sanders inauguration memes have definitely slowed down, but new ones are still trickling in. Bernie used that popularity to raise $1.8 Million (!!) to be donated to Vermont based charities, most of them battling food insecurity. One notable exception is the Nono-profit Chill Foundation, described as a positive youth development program where boardsports become a vehicle for empowerment. Unlike some so-called benefactors, you can bet that the funds will actually make it to the charities in question, and that is apparently…. radical. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) Source: Forbes. Photo left: Chill Foundation.

So glad this clown is gone. If you were in a skateboard-related online group in the past couple of years chances are you’ve had to put up with MAGA fools interjecting MAGA nonsense, unsolicited. On top of that, there was the rash of dramatic exits as in “I’m quitting Facebook, look me up on Parler” – all of this happening in skateboarding groups for some reason. I’m sure it happened elsewhere too. Well hopefully that’s over now. Good riddance, and as the expression goes “fuck your feelings” if you don’t like it. The editorial cartoon is by Ross MacDonald and the kickflip sticker from RedBubble.

Australia’s beloved punk/metal/pop group the Hard-Ons (be careful when you google that kids!) just dumped hundreds of tracks on their Bandcamp page. Singles Collection, EP collections, expanded releases… many previously unpublished or only available on vintage vinyl, like this self titled EP shown in cassette form above. I believe this record (pictured above) was one you once had the option to select with your subscription to Thrasher, which was a thing they used to do. If that’s not how I got my copy, I’m pretty sure I bought it based purely on the cover. The punk purist in me had a hard time getting acclimated to metal aspects, but tracks like Girl in a Sweater and Then I Kissed Her definitely appealed to the Descendents and Simpletones fan in me. UPDATED 2-25-21: There’s a Hard-Ons documentary in the works.

We are stoked to take your money. Check out these reproductions of an old 70’s skateboarding sticker graphic available in a combo life size sticker and larger than life size embroidered patch. Believe it or not, this project has been in the works for over a decade. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Get yours from Skate and Annoy.

You should check out episode 84 of the Punk Til I Die podcast. Episode 83 features an interview with Roxy Epoxy from Portland’s beloved Epoxies. Why? At one time I made an Epoxies skateboard and Skate and Annoy cofounder and former Ebay Watch author Neil McDougall is one half of this podcast, a little brother to the Punk News podcast that started because the actual Punk News podcast seemed to be lite on the actual Punk Rock. It started in early 2019 and they are already 83 (!!) episodes deep. Check it out.

Variety Magazine reports that a Lords of Dogtown TV series is in the works at IMDb TV. “In the works” probably means very early stages, pre-pre production. This could mean 0 episodes get produced, or a pilot , or a pilot and a handful of first episodes… who knows. At one point in my life as a young skateboarder this would have gotten me really excited. Now that I’m just an old man yelling at clouds, something like this just makes me sigh, even if it won’t cost me a penny to watch a TV adaptation of a movie dram adaptation of a documentary film. You have to wonder if any of the original parties involved will see a dime from this. – Tip via Heidi Lemon

Skaters Mob The Capitol for Spots After Learning There’s No Security. – Pure gold from the Nut Daily News. It’s just an Instagram account, not a web site or a Facebook page, which apparently is something you wacky kids do these days. Happy New Year as a farewell present to Trump, you can listen to Security by the Big Boys (not the Proud Boys) after the jump. – Thanks to Betsy for the tip!