The two works are Unknown Pleasures and Closer. And that’s it. Everything else, is merchandising. Merchandising of memory. Chances are, if you see anything with the name Joy Division on it that isn’t music, a book or a movie, it’s a bootleg. The quote above is from the 2007 documentary Joy Division which you can (and should) watch for free on Hulu, at least for now. The quote appears in the last few minutes of the film and the speaker is off camera so I’m not sure who it is. The image of a Joy Division inspired skateboard is superimposed over a famous band photo for a few brief seconds during the quote, which I thought was an unusual choice. It could have been used as commentary on Joy Division’s cultural appeal spanning the decades from the 70’s to the new millennium, implying the music is still modern. They might have chosen a skateboard because it looked more interesting than a bootleg t-shirt. Then again, maybe the skateboard in question was designed by an astronomy fan. REVISION: The Hacienda sells licensed Joy Division coffee cups. Err… right.

Chuck E Cheese squares up against the venerable Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse certainly holds the edge in sheer quantity of appearances on a skateboard, but Chuck has the advantage in this presentation. Actually, he kind of looks like a skatepark hipster. That’s a pencil sharpener on the bottom of his skateboard, not a battery pack for an electric motor. Production date on both of these items are unknown.

St. Patrick’s Day graphic from the Powell Peralta page on Facebook. Honestly, I’m surprised there was no limited edition board to go with it.

Last weekend the family went to a Lego event called Bricks Cascade that was small but pretty decent. The center floor was dominated by different creations with skill levels ranging from grade school kids to some pretty advanced Master Builder level accomplishments, a huge chunk was devoted to some impressive WWII era battles. The outside loop had various vendors selling old kits, current kits, and aftermarket compatible pieces, mostly weapons. There were a couple skateboards on display as well.

Concord Foods Banana Pops kit featuring a monkey on a skateboard, and why not? It’s got cocoa in the ingredients, but it’s still only “chocolate flavored” for some reason. Well, what do you expect for $1.28?

The Stooges drummer Scott Asheton passed away on Saturday night, as reported by Iggy Pop. That’s Asheton on the right in a promo photo for the reunited Iggy and the Stooges circa 2010. More details on Asheton’s history with Iggy at Rolling Stone.

This crazy thing is obviously a copy of a 1988 Vision Psycho Stick.  The psycho on the Free Former  looks even more mental than the original one on the right (as seen in eBay Watch August 2010). The guys at Free Former must have liked their psychos, since they did a Gator bootleg too. Spotted this one on eBay.

A sticker from Adidas that looks to be of 70’s vintage, based on the somewhat narrow skateboard, hockey style helmet and odd implementation of pads. As seen on Ebay.

Check it.

Bob Burnquist and crew (including Jeff King) built a classy looking floating miniramp as part of a PR campaign to (Warren) bolster California tourism. Visit California, where all your dreams can come true. This commercial speaks directly to 1984 Kilwag. I remember my first time in California, actually visiting some of the places I’d read about and seen in Thrasher like venice Beach, the Nude Bowl, and random grade schools with banks. It was like making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Dream Big was filmed in 2013, but I didn’t see it until recently. It looks super fun, kind of small, almost anticlimactic in the context. Maybe their budget didn’t allow them to dream bigger. Still, it’s great that things like this are being built. Don’t forget to visit California.