Skatepunk

I watched The Search For Animal Chin in the Game of SKATE van last week with the crew... the crew who stayed awake. Watching it in a setting where I know I am the only one who appreciates this video for what it was, rather than simply what it is, made me a little self-conscious. I loved this video growing up. It had everything in it -- friends, heroes, great skateboarding, and a great moral, although admittedly I didn't even get it at the time I first saw the flick.

And the kids -- 18 to 21 year olds who have, for the most part, seen every video released over the last five years and the majority of the important ones from the last 15 years -- kinda get this blank stare. They can appreciate the vert skating, and the wall riding stuff was pretty cool, but a lot of the style stuff, the jump ramps, the pool skating, the freestyle, Borst's ramp -- they just don't get. And that made me feel old, but for some reason I didn't care.

The I saw an article in one of the skateboarding magazines about Stacy Peralta's recent work on the other 5 of the first 6 Powell videos, and he kinda bags on Animal Chin. I'll have to get the article in front of me, but he says that a lot of the stuff embarrasses him and he doesn't seem to be proud of the work he did on this one or any of the first three videos... And that to me is a shame. He captured an era so perfectly and to look at it through 2009 eyes and view it critically... just seems like a sad way to view his work.

The Search For Animal Chin Check Out