You may have noticed banner ads in rotation for Razorcake magazine here on Skate and Annoy. It’s originally the brainchild of Todd Taylor, author, punk rocker, publisher, skater, drinker and general all around good guy to know. Razorcake is bigger than him now, it’s a non-profit organization for baby Jesus’ sake! Issue #41 has a seven page article, How to fight for a skatepark that has heroes, villains and an epic tale of struggle, much like Homer’s Odyssey – mostly because the villains seem to have the intellect of Homer Simpson. Imagine you are tied to a railroad track in the middle of a dessert, and you can see the smoke from the locomotive approaching over the horizon. You think to yourself, surely someone will find and help me, right up until the point where you can see engine approaching, and feel the rails rumble. Todd Taylor was tied to the tracks just blocks away from his apartment as the Red Tape engineer of the City of L.A., The Cho-Bot, and Teflon were intent on railroading prefab modular skateparks from a playground company down the throats and up the collective asses of his L.A. neighborhood’s skateboarding population. It’s a good read, and one that explains how it is possible for the city like L.A. with the largest population base, and in the state that is the supposed birthplace of skateboarding, can only have three public skateparks in the year 2007. The article is not available online, so look for Razorcake wherever you buy your independent media, or head on over to Razorcake.org where you can buy issue 41 or better yet, subscribe for as little as $15.

Fuck, man. It was a stroll down memory lane for me seeing this thing. I loved so many of these bands. There’s plenty of great footage and music. and lots of funny anecdotes. Gang Green touring with a skateboard ramp on stage, remember that?

OK, that’s a lie, there is some Rolling Stones. But by “Rock” they generally mean a heavier sound and have interestingly and thankfully avoided any mention of Elvis and the Beatles. VH1 Classics.com (Wait! dont go!) is running a series this week (and I’m sure it’ll rerun for a long time) produced by the BBC called 7 Ages of Rock. The fact that it was made by the BBC and not VH1/MTV means that it’s a level above the typical fare you find on the US channels. You know, where they play the same clips over and over again as teasers before the commercials so by the time they are actually highlighting the band or event you’re already numb to the footage. 7 Ages of Rock has seven hour long episodes: The Birth of Rock, Art Rock, Punk Rock, Stadium Rock, Heavy Metal, American Alternative and British Indie. On Monday the aired the Birth of Rock, which was quite interesting from the editorial skew of not considering Elvis ROCK, but still digging up the old bluesmen that fueled rock. Tuesday they aired the Art Rock episode (which includes psychedelic) which was also pretty good, but a little disappointing. Thankfully, you don’t have to sit through any Jefferson Airplane. Tonight is the Punk Rock episode so set your DVR’s. Did I mention they use the Damned in the opening of each episode?

This week’s late Shot of the Week is Jack Grover killing two birds with one stone, playing a skateboarding video game while standing on his skateboard. At least he’s not sitting on the couch. I have to admit I chose this picture after running out of ideas seeing a shot of little kids goofing off on a skateboard on Skate Daily, last week I think. Check it out.

From the San Jose Mercury News

The five suspects, who are ages 18 to 22, burst into the store on their skateboards and began to ride around in the aisles, according to police… …”They did it for the thrill of it,” Pleasanton police Sgt. Jim Knox said. “They were trying to videotape themselves.”

OK, so you’re trying to make your own Jackass tapes. That’s fine, just don’t beat up the store manager when he asks you to leave.

That’s when one of the suspects, who police believe is a juvenile, walked up to the manager, picked up his skateboard and struck the manager in the face with it. The manager suffered minor injuries that included cuts and bruises to his face, wrist and hand.

Now you are officially a dick, and not a very bright one, since they managed to get your buddy’s license plate as you drove away. More skateboarding dicks after the jump. Photos (Unrelated and with no editorial comment intended) are from Rebel Skates, although seems like I’ve seen the slogan on the left shirt somewhere, sometime… Oh yeah, Cow Skates in the 80’s.

I caught Ryan Sheckler’s episode of Firsthand on Fuel TV the other night. If you haven’t seen the series, it’s basically an hour long ride along with one Extreme!™ sports personality per episode. I’ve seen a few of the skateboarding episodes and they are generally worth checking out, even if you aren’t familiar with the skater in question. They offer a little more insight into personality without all the hype of a typical skateboard video setting, and of course they actually talk. Take Sheckler’s episode, it was shot when he was 15 and originally aired in 2005. His backyard skatepark is kind of ghetto compared to his new digs, and the hype hasn’t reached the level it is at today. In particular, one good scene catches him having a dork session at a local skatepark with one of his friends. There’s no front of attitude or image. He’s a surprisingly level headed and generally likable kid who doesn’t cry when he places lower than first. Sure, he’s got a meathead father, but at this point in his young life, he comes off like just a hard-skating successful teenager without an overblown ego. If you already like Sheckler it’s a no brainer. If you’re a hater, then this isn’t going to change your opinion, but you just might appreciate the episode anyway.

Gentlemen, here is the link that I believe we spoke of earlier. Mostly interesting for the clay and steel wheel era pictures.