---
author: Eric Wagoner
date: '2001-12-19T05:30:00'
draft: false
title: Skankin' the night away...
---

Right after my nephew learned how to walk (or maybe as he was learning...), I taught him how to skank. When he gets old enough to read, he can hone his skills thanks to the [Ska Workshop: Skanking 101](http://ska.about.com/library/1999/aa092899.htm?), kindly pointed out by the good folks at [RandomWalks](http://www.randomwalks.com). I once won a skanking contest here in Athens. I was in a tiny club watching the excellent [Johnny Socko](http://www.johnnysocko.com/). Athens isn't much of a ska town, so I was the only one dancing for all the songs. Had such a great time dancing that I didn't even visit the bar. When they announced me as the winner, I went on stage to collect my prize: a vintage pack of early '80s Michael Jackson temporary tatoos. I was overjoyed, and to show my appreciation, I moonwalked on stage. The held out a microphone and I gave my best MJ squeal. But then I moonwalked over some cords and fell backwards into the cymbals and off the stage. They laughed at me and made comments about how drunk I was and started the music back up. And I went back to skanking. I haven't opened the tatoos yet. They're a prized posession, sitting on my desk alongside my M&M-pooping; R2D2.