SEARCH
THE
FO
W
Words and photos
by Nik Freitas
HEN I WAS A KID, THE OLDER
dudes in the neighborhood would
I have skate contests for us younger
folk and would gather up all their
old gear (rails, old shirts, posters, old
wheels, stickers, etc.) to give away as
prizes. I did pretty well in a contest once,
and they gave me the Search for Animal Chin
video. My parents only had Beta, so my friend
Phil got the video, but I got to see it nonetheless.
I'm sure that most everyone has seen the Animal
Chin flick, but for those who haven't, a brief run-
down is that the Bones Brigade got on a crazy
adventure in hopes of finding a guy named
"Animal Chin" but learned in the process that
Animal Chin is just having fun skating.
Well, over the years I have encountered Chin on
more than a few occasions, but one individual
from the video has been boggling my mind ever
since: Johnny Rad. The Rad Man was the lounge
singer who sang ballads like "McTwist and Shout"
and "Skate to Create" at the Blue Tile Lounge. He
was just this dude who was stoked on skating.
I couldn't take it anymore. It was time to find Mr.
Rad, so I took clips from the film in my mind and
figured that I had better head southeast to Arizona
and New Mexico after hearing about the new
Media Centu
Clockwise from left: Where's Hewitt? Art. Jense takes
a rollercoaster ride in Phoenix, AZ. Chris Swanson hops
up on a 14-stair boardslide in San Diego.
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