They’ve got an amazing interview with Andy Roy up over at Thrasher Magazine that you should absolutely check out.  For those of you who have only been skating in this “everyone’s gotta be nice to everyone else” era, it might be a bit shocking, but to a lot of us, it’s a breath of fresh air.

Josh Stewart’s got a dope little clip of some Hi-8 footage from over 10 years ago up on his Theories of Atlantis site that took an old codger like me back in time.  The original Rob Dyrdek DCs?  Damn, tight.

The blokes over at Tweaker Zine gave us a shout on their blog, so we’re shouting back at ‘em.  Thanks fellas.

We had to make a few slight changes to Issue Nine, like adding Matt Ballard’s ON: segment and changing the wording in some interview answers, so you might want to take another spin through the newest issue.  Besides, it gets better and better every time you look at it.

I don’t remember how I found www.popills.com, but I remember that I was blown away by the concept AND the content.  A single webpage with one embedded quicktime montage?  What was the point?  Why were the clips so good?  Who was behind it?  And is that really all there is?  Well, while some I’ve gotten answers to some of my questions over the years, some of them still remain a mystery.  One thing that isn’t a mystery, however, is the fact that the new montage is absolutely incredible.  Go see for yourself.

Once again, Templeton Elliott came through and gave theProgram a shout on The Skateboard Mag’s website.  Truly stoked!  Thanks (again) Templeton.

Whew, that was close.  We’re only one day behind schedule on the release of Issue Nine, and that’s basically a record.  But wait no more friends, the newness is here.  Being that it’s the middle of the winter in the Midwest, there’s not as much content as usual, but what is in there is probably the absolute best stuff we’ve ever had.  I’m honored to have industry heavyweights Sam Ashley and Michael Sieben, as well as industry welterweight Isaac McKay-Randozzi, contributing to this issue.  I consider this to be our best issue so far, which is really the goal…to keep improving.

 What are you waiting for?  Go check out Issue Nine!

Louisville area skateboarders:  Listen. Please.

 For the past few months, theProgram has been going around the city building spots and improving old spots.  We weren’t going to post anything about the spots and just consider them “Random Acts of Gnarness,” but it’s apparent that a few people are already catching on, so I felt the need to go ahead and be proactive about things.  All of the spots that we have built have been approved by the neighboring businesses and all parties involved.  We aren’t going to divulge any of the locations of the spots because we want all of you to take pride in seeking out and finding new spots, but we would like to ask you a few favors should you find one of the spots in question.

 1.  Don’t be an idiot.  That means don’t litter, paint graffiti, break windows, harrass any of the business people or bums that might be around, and in general, just be respectful.  If you’re at the spot and someone is doing something that they shouldn’t be, make them stop.  You can be sure that if any of us at theProgram roll up and see any thing stupid going on, it’ll come to a stop.

2.  If the police show up, quietly leave.  Don’t run your mouth or try to be a thug or any of that other stupid shit I see people doing when the cops show up.  Just apologize and leave.  That being said, there should be no reason for the cops to show up unless you’re doing something that you shouldn’t be.  Like I said, skateboarding has already been approved at all of the spots, so there shouldn’t be any issue unless you’re doing something that would fall under number 1 up there.

3.  Again, don’t be an idiot.  Pick up after yourself, don’t bother anything at the neighboring businesses, and think about it…these spots are privileges. And again POLICE THESE SPOTS YOURSELF! 

 4.  If you have been lucky enough to find one of them, don’t go broadcasting it to everyone you know.  That’s the beauty of these spots, they’re like little hidden treasures and if you’re in, you’re stoked.  If you can’t find one, build one yourself. 

 With all of that said, I just want to remind you that these spots are PRIVILEGES.  We worked hard to get permission to fix them or build them, so don’t let anyone ruin it by being childish.  If these spots start getting shut down because of idiot behavior, you’ll be back to sitting on the rail at the skatepark wishing you had something different to skate.  If the spots remain open and everyone’s being respectful and not taking them for granted, you’ll start to see a lot more of them popping up around the city.  You know how everyone’s always talking about all these sick spots popping up in other cities (Atlanta’s foundation ring a bell?), and why can’t we have something like them here?  Well, here’s your chance to prove that we can have something here and all it takes is a little adult behavior. 

Thanks in advance and we’ll see you out there. 

It’s been a minute, but it looks like Swinsky and crew finally got Livin’ Sick back up and running.  Amazing stuff from ATL as always.

Hip-hop and skateboarding have always magically gone hand in hand.  A Tribe Called Quest is one of the most influential groups to fuse with skateboarding, just watch any video from the early 90s.  Well, this morning I was directed to a link for a free download of a new Q-tip mixtape done by J. Period.  Free stuff is good and free stuff that’s this good is simply amazing.