New York * -- Forbes Magazine, which really has nothing to do with skateboarding, has interviewed Rob Dyrdek * in their latest issue. Now practically a household name because of his MTV * "reality" show Rob & Big, Dyrdek talks about his skateboard history and business sense. Says Rob: "I got into skateboarding because I idolized my sister's boyfriend, and he was a skater." Eventually, he said, "there was never anything else I ever thought about. Nothing mattered. I just knew I wanted to skate, and if I wasn't going to skate, then I would do something in the skateboard industry".

The Hartford Courant, a Connecticut * newspaper, recently ran an article about the strange but undeniable connection between skateboarding and rap music. With mentions of skateboarding notables including Jeff Kendall, Stevie Williams *, Kareem Campbell *, Chad Muska *, as well as some rap industry perspectives. "It's always white kids in Connecticut who are buying a Busta Rhymes record," says Kyle Anderson, assistant editor of Spin magazine. "I'd bet dollars and doughnuts that it's the suburban kids who made the Pharrell shoes a big hit." Anderson was also quoted as saying "This generation of rappers coming up now are the guys who came up ... during a time when skateboarding and X-treme sports in general were becoming mainstream."

One of Montreal, Canada *'s best kept secrets is less of a secret now. Apparently, a 'whistle-inspired' fullpipe built for the 1976 Olympics has served double duty as an almost-perfect skateboarding halfpipe * for 30 years. Called by Skateboarder Magazine * one of the "10 Spots You Gotta Skate Before You Die," the spot is recorded for posterity in a new book called "Pipe Fiends: A Visual Overdose of Canada's Most Infamous Skate Spot", put together by two 20-year "Big O" regulars, Barry Walsh, and Marc Tison. The spot, Tison says, "is a gift from the skate gods." The book is available from your local skateshop or bookseller, as well as from publisher Mudscout.com and online channels.

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