After a period of inactivity, followed by a period of me failing to check in, it looks like the official archive of RAD Magazine (see our stickers) is very much alive. I reference Britain’s defunct Read and Destroy every so often here, and for those who have no idea what I’m talking about, or for those that do, you should investigate When We Was Rad. Aside from the colloquial coverage of the UK scene, there’s always a bit of U.S. based interference as well. You know how fond we are of sending advisors and spreading democracy… Above left is Steve Caballero skating South Bank on the cover of the September 1988 issue. On the right is a page featuring Winstan Whitter in 1991. Winstan later direct the U.K.’s answer to the Dogtown documentary, Rollin Through the Decades (reviewed here) which was in many ways superior. Tim Leighton-Boyce was the editor of RAD, and is naturally the person behind When We Was Rad as well. He’s putting up one page scans at a time, accompanied by any related recollections he had, and sometimes transcripts of the text. RAD existed from 1987 to 1993, so he’s go t his work cut out…

This week’s Shot of the Week is from Michael Goetz at The Skateboard Archives. It features Andy Adams, a Toast rider, on the Burnside bridge in Portland Oregon. You’ve heard of Burnside, right? This concludes our street coverage for 2008. Just kidding. In the full size version I swear you can see Ziggy Stardust hanging out in front of the building in the background. Check out: Shot of the Week 3-24-08

A VH1 blog for the show Best Week Ever has a list of the top 10 professions that are one death away from extinction. Meaning if the most famous guy dies, nobody will take his place. Coming in at number one, Skateboarding and Tony Hawk. They are actually aware of other pro skaters, but their rationale is that… who cares. But, maybe they are on to something. Perhaps the almost dead profession should have been Vert Skater since I keep getting tips relating to vert skating and BMX being dropped from the X games. Also being dropped? the VH1 show Best Week Ever, unless they get picked up by ESPN. The rumors are flying, and the official word is that “changes are coming.” I doubt the loss of vert in the X-Games mean much of anything to skateboarders, besides the ones competing. It might have more of an impact on Madison Avenue than anywhere else. Commercials and cartoons will have lost their point of reference for portraying skateboarding. – Thanks to Concretins for the first tip.

Among this weeks iStockPhoto’s “Hot Shots” is a photo imaginatively titled “Skateboarder flying through the air,” available here.

Ha! Made you look! So, save your “Don’t do it” speeches. If you are going to geek out over shoes and skateboard toys, this Reese Forbes Nike SB figure would be your wet dream. He came with extra shoes and shoe boxes. I guess these are hard to come by. I don’t know when they were released, but there’s a set of two on eBay going for $195. That’s a lot of cash for a an upscale Tech Deck Dude. Archived for posterity after the jump. [ Source: Skateboarding Fashion Right images: Sneaker News ]

Everyone knows the story of skateboarding in Philadelphia’s Love Park. A group called Franklin’s Paine (web site is a nightmare to navigate, no explanation anywhere of the group’s origins) has been trying to raise money for a street park to serve as a replacement for the community that was displaced at Love. So which is the more noble fight, the battle to Free Love Park or the fight for a new park built specifically for skateboarders? An agency called Red Tettemer has gotten involved in the PR and has dubbed the marketing campaign From Love Comes Paine. They’ve built a moving (but headache inducing) web site that at times seems more like a masturbatory exercise in Flash than it does a useful resource, low bandwidth version included. The design of the park is skate plaza, but taken to a more pedestrian inclusive direction than Kettering. It’s more than just landscaping, and hopefully there won’t be a huge DC logo anywhere. It looks like they are making some progress, but with $1 million down and $5 million more needed to break ground, a 2008 dig seems unlikely given that fundraising started in 2003. Do you call it a “dig” or a…

I’m late and I’m proud. We missed Black History month, but this board is a good excuse to wrap up some loose links I was trying to figure out what to do with. It’s a limited edition skateboard collaboration between WRG Magazine and Series Skateboards. The crossword answers are all black skaters. I can say “black” because it’s not African American History month. Only 100 decks were produced, and some still appear to be available. You can try out the crossword online in a slick presentation with clickable video cheats. Nice touch. They are giving a board away with a raffle donation. Although the deadline has passed, the links are still active. I can’t seem to find a picture of the deck anywhere besides my original source, Josh Spear. I’ve been sitting on this Washington City Paper article about Darren Harper for a year. I couldn’t figure out what to say about it immediately so it got lost in the shuffle. I had forgotten about it until I got an email from his publicist saying “We are very interested in having Darren featured in your publication.” Err.. Ok. have you read our “publication?” Part of the press kit contained the…

Heidi Kenney is taking the now familiar padded skateboards (1, 2, 3) to new levels. This is a plush skateboard she made as part of an exhibit that has long since ended at a gallery that isn’t really open. Yes, it’s old news, and only vaguely interesting in this context, but I’m cleaning house, and we love the crafty skating ladies.

Some skateboarders rallying support for a skatepark bond measure (Measure D) in Los Gatos, California had a bit of creative inspiration when the fashioned “Yes on D” signs out of broken skateboards and took to the streets to stump. this picture is from the Los Gatos Observer. Other skaters in Los Gatos experienced a little inspiration and possibly perspiration when they went on late night vigilante missions to “liberate” offending “No on D” signs. Unfortunately, someone destroyed a plant on one such mission, branding all skateboarders as “thuggish” and prompting neighbors to expect gangs of vegetation-hating freestylers overrunning the town. Even more unfortunate, some of the vigilantes may have been identified on video surveillance. Still even more unfortunate, the vote ended up going 2-1 against funding the skatepark. Opponents said it was too much money, and that the skateboarders might not use it. There is no silver lining in this cloud, but at least San Jose is only 12 miles away.

One more epic battle between skateboarders and BMX caught on video. Will it never end? Do we need to have a celebrity rap video made to stop the violence? [Source: Fat BMX – Yes!]