Bad Boyz Are Honored for Doing Good

The Bad Boyz, Venice Beach’s stunt-skating dance team, are bad, which is to say that they are, well, good.

And they’re having fun at what they do. Who wouldn’t? From their base on the tourist-thronged boardwalk, the roller-skating quartet has branched out into television and movie appearances, not to mention live shows at home and abroad.

“We decided to test the water and it proved to be pretty warm,” said Jimmy Rich, 30. But they have no plans to leave the boardwalk, where it all started with four young men showing off their moves.

Other members include Demeryst Upshaw, 28, Jeffrey Young, 36, and Juan Carlos Avendano, 24. “We will perform there as long as we’re allowed to,” Rich said.

And who would say no? Not the Venice Boardwalk Assn., which is honoring the Bad Boyz with a community service award Saturday at 1 p.m.

“They helped make the Venice boardwalk the skating capital of the world,” said Mark Ryavec, executive director of the association.

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PIG UPDATE: It’s time to slim down and shape up for Rosemary, the 170-pound potbellied pig taken from a Culver City family who could no longer handle their enormous pet.

The poor thing has been adopted by a woman in Solvang who runs a potbellied pig rescue house named--what else?--Little Orphan Hammie.

The woman keeps about 10 other little porkers on her farm, most of them similarly rescued from unhappy homes.

Perhaps peer pressure will help Rosemary stick to the weight loss goal that has been set for her--10 pounds a month until she reaches a healthier level.

Exercise is encouraged. Rosemary may take up walking with her little friends. And her diet will be restricted to piggy pellets that are filled with vitamin and protein goodness.

“Now we just have to make sure that Rosemary doesn’t start eating out of everyone else’s trough,” said an official of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

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CHECK IT OUT: Pop star Madonna, who is said to cherish her privacy, is selling her controversial Mediterranean-style estate in the Hollywood Hills, the official explanation being that she spends more time these days at homes in Florida and New York.

But could it also be that the house has become, shall we say, overly exposed?

For a quarter, visitors at a Mulholland Drive overlook a mile away can peer into a telescope equipped with a chart identifying landmarks that include Downtown, the Hollywood sign and--you guessed it--Madonna’s house.

Hint for those using the naked eye: Hers is the only nine-story house in the neighborhood painted in red and yellow stripes.