Saturday, August 30, 2003

(Skate)Board Stupid

Watched "Rad" on Channel Five. "Rad" is a programme about skateboarding, surfing and BMX'ing.(if BMX'ing's a word...) Most things on channel five are crap, but this was very cool.

As I've so far failed to be good at anything in life(ok, well there is one thing...) I have the deepest possible respect for kids who can jump over stuff on their skateboards and slide along handrails etc. While watching "Rad" and eating my Wheatabix I started to think more deeply about skateboarding culture. A large part of skateboarding is about taking over "public" space and using it freely. Skateboarders discover hidden deapths to spaces such as squares, carparks and embankments. In a very real sense they are breaking free from the restrictions that are put upon people living in an urban environment. See http://www.infiltration.org for more discussion on this.

Met up with a couple of 3l337 haxors in the city centre. We went to McMurder and talked about haxor-type things. Then we hung around outside McMurder watching some old dude try to skateboard. Most of the people skatebording were about 14 or 15 years old but this guy seemed to be in his 30's. He tried hard and was doing pretty well until he realised he was being watched. While I stood around watching the freaky kids outside McMurder I felt rather pleased for them all. Most of the kids were dressed in Maralyn Manson-style clothing and had far too much hair.

No comments: