I was down on Vice magazine for a while, and reasons I can’t quite remember. I’m coming around to it though, maybe it’s because they are hanging out with Dennis Rodman lately, I’m not sure. Here’s one for the warm fuzzy file. It’s a grown up’s take on how his 12 year old self would have approached a local skate spot. Read: I wonder if Natas still skates.

Well, street mostly. Jenkem Mag asks if skateboarding is ready to openly embrace a transgender skater, and responds “I think so. I think it’s just waiting for someone to step up to the plate.” It’s an interview with Hillary Thompson, a skateboarder born with male genitalia that has always identified herself as female. It’s called Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria. True to, er… form, King Shit Magazine actually broke the story, but in the tabloid/Big Brother style they made famous – remember the Jarret Berry interview? You can read that interview in one of the most annoying Flash-based magazine readers I’ve ever seen. Jenkem’s approach is more mature and journalistic, like something you’d find in a sympathetic mainstream magazine. Hillary’s got the skills, as many photos will attest. Her own peers accept her for the most part, but at her age she’s in no danger of turning pro, so there’s little chance the rest of the skateboarding world having to come to grips with it.

[Photos: Sam Mcguire]

POLICY UPDATE: I’m going to delete any asinine comments here. Don’t even bother commenting unless you have something intelligent or thoughtful to say. You don’t have to agree with anything presented here, and you can rattle on about choice versus nature, but you do have to be an adult about it. (Yes, I’m aware of the irony of my statement in light of recent discussions)

I obviously don’t know how to write about music, because I could never come up with “something less like VHS-dubbed memories-of-memories than an underwater DJ set,” as Marc Masters did in his Pitchfork review of Cankun’s Culture of Pink. That has got to be Rodney Mullen on the cover, like some grainy, rubylith masked 35 mm enlargement from a newsprint magazine… Dang. Don’t know how write about album covers either.

[Photo: Restoring Sounds] – Thanks to Charles Glover for the tip.

Oregon Live reporting on an annoying law mandating helmets for anyone under the age of 18 who rides a skateboard or a bike (Seriously, how did our population survive until the new millennia?) is bad enough. But the companion bill leaves the choice out of the hands of adults should they choose to enter a contest or participate in a public demo:

Senate Bill 741: Requires person of any age to wear helmet when using bicycle, skateboard, scooter, in-line skates or roller skates when participating in organized exhibition, competition or contest.

It’s not a law yet, but has been introduced to the state senate by Chris Edwards.

– Thanks to Mac for the tip.

This weeks Shot of the Week is near and dear to old GVK’s heart. It’s Payton Moriarity wearing the vert mantle and forging ahead for the youth of skateboarding. It brought a tear to Steve’s eye, mostly because he realized he’ll never be that good. Full frame after the jump, bonus shots at Cold War Skateboards. Photos by Marshall “Stack” Reid.

It’s just an auction or a single z-roller truck, vintage, yes, but not a big deal. It’s the auction description that is the best part, and it comes from S&A reader “Skater Dave” who is peddling some of his old gear to make up for lost wages due to a skateboard injury. While I have no scans of the x-ray, I do have the auction description preserved for posterity.

From Robert M. Hutchins, The Great Conversation, The Substance of a Liberal Education

Issue 181 of Sad Sack dates back to September of 1966. It may look like a second rate rip off of Beetle Bailey, but Sad Sack debuted as a comic strip in 1942, while Beetle Bailey started in 1950. It has a 40’s aesthetic though. You know it’s bad if the props have to be labeled, as in the case with the skateboard. It says “loved by Millions” on the cover of this Harvey Comics publication, but the contents are pretty horrible inside. At least Beetle Bailey was sometimes actually funny. Full cover after the jump, and no skateboarding in the contents. I bought this on Ebay from a real skateboard historian, Scott Starr. I didn’t realize he was the seller until after I bought it.