Saturday, May 31, 2008

Friday, May 30, 2008

Off the grid.

Headed out Thursday night for a short surf trip to Baja with Marian and Andrew. Waves are building and the weather is good. Now let's hope for no Hershey squirts...

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Fast Food Nation



Just got back from a long stretch in the Southwest. I love warm weather, but I swear after so many days under the desert sun, my kit is fried. I swear, I felt like that, "Hey Brotherrr" character we all love to clown. Although I did laps in the pool every morning and skated a couple parks out there; there's something about the constant radiation that just melts your brain.

Think it might be from the fact that I'm so used to walking everywhere. Driving from spot to spot in an ac'd car just kinda got to me. However, I did take advantage of all that west coast driving living has to offer, mainly it's delicious fast food not normally available on the yeast coast.



I swear I can't get enough from this place. Not to mention I had a gift card burning a hole in my wallet. By the end of my trip I had my meal pretty much dialed. All drive thru no less. Double from In and Out, Waffle Fries from Chik-Fil-A, Grape Sprite from SONIC, and a Horchata Smoothie from QT. I so wish we had a QuikTrip somewhere in the neighborhood.

But nothing beats apres pool session than some real Mexican food. As much as I hated being mistaken for La Raza every fucking time; you can't beat Mexican food made by Mexicans for Mexicans. Yeah, Hola whatever, bring me some of those fucking sopapillas. Thanks, Manuel.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Hey you! Spielberg! Where the fuck was this dude?


Friday night we were complete nerds and pre bought tickets to Indiana Jones. I have to say, besides the absence of the dude above, I was pretty satisfied with it. I was having a little bit of a tough time buying Shia LaBeauf as a hard ass greaser, hoping for Short Round to come kicking through the door at any minute to regulate on him but, as in real life, a plethora of explosions and fire ants can cover up any plot holes. Hopefully he is in the sequel if for nothing else than to hear the 2008 iteration of "Hang on lady we going for a ride!"

Even more amazing was the parking spot I got on the way in. Right at the front, with the status of the 3 levels displayed in red LED's. Score. Take that Irvine Spectrum. (Please note, that is not my crotch rocket.)


After the movies we hit up A&J over on Culver for some legit Chinese food. This area is the real deal. So many options. Yolanda ate at this place 3 times last week alone. The pork dumplings were amazing, definitely going back to this one. Kind of hard for a couple of non Asians to get served though. Oh well, a little racism is worth it for some solid Asian food.

The looks were no more strange than the looks that Al and I got at Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken in Compton. But the chicken was better.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Flatbush & Lafayette.



Another late arrival but just found this party. It's pretty dope and reminded me of the days when I would always have my board with me. Going to the store? Grab your shit and session that block for a few. Doing Laundry? Grab the cruiser. Nowadays, it just doesn't seem right; like there needs to be a session or something. After so many "Yeah, Tony Hawks" by the Vinnys in the neighborhood, I just chill.

That pic is sick. Gino sessioning the former ledges at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. At the time I lived in a loft in DUMBO with some other skate rats. We even had a mini quarter that was so tight no one knew how to skate it. We loved it and ripped it as often as our one non-skater roomate would allow. He was the resident cook so we happily obliged.

I had a booty call that fortunately lived right up Lafayette and I could see the blocks from her apt. It was dope to see a session and peace to go skate. She was a runner and gladly took the time to get her jog on. Miss that neighborhood. At the time there was a dope Cambodian restaurant and this amazing soul food restaurant that ironically sold weed. Just flash the magic business card and you get cash & prizes with your meal. They never had any set hours as this grandma was the cook and would only cook when she felt like it. Never had fried chicken and collard greens so good.



But as with all things they come to an end. The rents went up so the neighborhood gentrified and the ledges were demolished; a very sad day to all those that got to skate those tall marble curbs. But with money come new business and restaurants like this new gem, Franny's. About a month ago, Norm & I went to check out that Japanese Super Perv, Murakami's exhibit @ the BK Museum. Afterwards, we went to the new BK pizza hot spot. Oddly enough this place is only open a few nights a week and only opens at 5:30pm. We were starving and got there pissed to have to wait. But was worth it though as the pizza was amazing. Perfect burn and taste. The weird thing is that they don't cut your pie into slices here; you have to do it yourself. WTF, I guess. But the slices on their own don't really hold up a fold. Guess it's a whole personal knife & fork kit. Whatevs. It was good but they lose points on the self service. 8/10.





Collaborative Cardboard Performance Art.

An Engineer's Guide to Cats.

An airplane that bleeds...


While I am here selling toys for rich kids to go out and play in the snow, there are people designing things like an airplane that heals itself. Stunning. Imagine the stuff they don't tell us about.


On the other side of design, you may not know the man pictured above, but you probably have something that he has done on your desk or, even more likely, in your pocket right now. It does'nt happen often, so here is a rare interview with him. Worth reading.

So tight...

Monday, May 19, 2008

Lambo Ads.

To be honest, I was kind of surprised to even see Lamborghini ads, I always thought they kind of sold themselves. These are damn good ads from Philipp und Keuntje GmbH in Germany. Something tells me they do all ads for the VW owned brands.





Sunday, May 18, 2008

Give me an H.....


This game is probably not supposed to be entertaining, but you know what..fuck it...it is.

What is it like 1987 again? Maybe it's just me but last time this seems like it was an issue here I was still watching Max Headroom and playing Legend of Zelda at Jay Hoskin's house.

Seems pretty simple...keep it safe, don't get HIV. If people don't get it by now, I don't know what to tell them. Then again, I guess you could still be at risk if you are completely fucking retarded, like this rocket scientist below. Click to read it. Like I said..total fucking retard. And he is....a teacher. Right.


By the way, the guy at the top of the post...I don't know what gave him away more, his Little Known Fact or his Greatest Influence.


UPDATE: This guy wins it all. Check out the day he found out he was positive. Holy shit. How many people were probably like "Yeah Charles, that is really bad and all..but have you seen the news? You are so being like, so fucking selfish right now with your HIV."

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Back in the Game.



Springtime brings warm weather, brutal allergies, but best of all the car show season. This weekend is the very rare NYC car show brought to us by the very gratious people at Wheel Concepts. There was one a few years ago at the Javitts Center but for the most part, I have had to travel from Vermont to North Carolina to do these events.




This year, I fortunately have the support of Subaru Distributors of America and get to show my car in the booth with Travis Pastrana's Red Bull STi and some homies. Just when I thought I didn't hear enough reggaeton during cable promotion commercials or the random lunatic dollar cab driver; this weekend I get to hear it for a 12 hour stretch. Pics up soon of the obligatory booty show. Let's hope the girls can keep their panties on, unlike last year's closer. Don't they know the only tacos we want to see are at San Loco?

Friday, May 16, 2008

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The boys of summer.

Again, Nike comes in with more insane in store pieces. Take some time with this one, pretty accurate.

How are you supposed to wear this hat?



They don't make meathead masterpieces like this anymore. Waay off-topic but pissed to miss San Clemente's favorite son's visit to town to film an episode of "Run's House" at my local park. Guess he killed the place.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

This stuff happens.


I guess it's possible, but how dumb do you have to be?

Then again, this is coming from a guy that accidentally left his 11 month old alone in a car that was rolling away. Settle down, I caught up with it and she was fine. It was the damn Puerto Rican rental cars fault anyway...and as you can see below, she was navigating.


Crazy to think that was a year ago already.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Kayak day.

Last Tuesday AP was in town from Boston so we headed up to LA with no particular agenda. Sometimes you just need those kind of days.

After some lunch with Ben and Bobby from The Hundreds at their local Chinese spot, we did the Fairfax tour and also hit up Melrose to see if we could find some shoe treasures. But...no dice.

We caught Iron Man at the Arclight (see previous post-this is the best theater ever, made to order caramel corn, need I say more) later that night. I'm usually not to into the comic book movies but it was pretty ill. Incredible special effects and Robert Downey Jr. actually bucks the trend and stays entertaining post-rehab. Go figure.

Being a stones throw away from the studios, they even had the suit on display in the lobby. Yeah, we did'nt get that type of thing at the McKinley Mall theater back in Buffalo.

Post action-cinema, on Rose's recommendation, we checked out Osteria Mozza. Food Network and Iron Chef superstar Mario Batali owns the joint, and one thing is for sure, fat boy (and fellow carrot-top) can cook his ass off.

Still thinking about that Grilled Beef Tagliata, as well as the mozzarella bar. Top shelf.

Packed.

This beef could be 100% certified Mad Cow and I'd still want to buy it because of the packaging.

Damn Swiss.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Bang a Gong.

It's coming back, and this guy is hosting. Can't wait.

Hopefully they get some better acts than this:

I think this guy works at Starbuck's at LAX now. Seriously.

Can't Hardly Wait.


My first movie memory was going to see Empire Strikes Back in Chicago while visiting family. My Mom & Aunt took us to a matinee and promptly assed out. My cuz and I were laughing so hard at my Mom's insanely loud snoring- straight lawnmower. Good thing the theater was empty at the 11am showing that day. So to anyone who's had to suffer through a night of sharing a hotel room with me; I get my hyena laugh and chainsaw snore from my Moms.


My second was Stripes. Both my Dad and his good friend from the neighborhood were both in the military & took us to the age-inappropriate Bill Murray/ John Candy classic. I remember coming home to a very pissed off Mom who grabbed my large fountain Coke and threw it at our garage door. Don't worry Ma, I grew up to be an ass man, not some double-d strip club junkie.


Raiders was the shit though. My first Opening Night experience. I remember being so hyped, complete with the bucket of popcorn an XL Cherry ICEE. We got commemorative Ts and everything. I remember rocking that T all summer, bmx-ing my ass off. The T got so f'd that one day my Mom grabbed the T off the clothesline and ripped in half to use as washcloths saying, "You ain't wearing this anymore. You look like crap". Hella Bummed. Now I can't wear a shirt after 2-3 washings. Thanks, Mom and Happy Mother's Day.