Surprise Parties

No offense, there were a lot birthdays this past three day weekend. But just wait till March starts to roll around cause its gonna be massive. Mines is on the 5th that month and only if the damn leap year never took place, then the Heat visiting the Lakers could've been played on my 24th birthday instead on the 4th of March.

And a big shoutout to the homegirl Evelyn Valencia, who I used to sit next to in homeroom back in middle school, for not only her birthday next Monday, but for a very successful delivery as she gives birth to her second child.

Probably the only notable moment this weekend was the NFC Divisional playoff game between San Francisco and New Orleans, who both used to be in the same division before the realignment 10 years ago (damn, its been that long already?). One of the most wildest, zaniest, playoff games I've watched in forever. That shit was like playing chess with ping-pong paddles. The memorable part was when Vernon Davis made that touchdown reception at the final seconds, and many people are referring to it as "The Catch III". The first two "catches" were also done by the 49ers in the playoffs in 1982 and 1998. Very great upsetting game. Didn't think the Saints would lose to San Francisco, yet the Niners didn't lose that many games.

I'm gonna be going out of state for the first time in 6 to 7 years on some business, not a vacation, with two other photographers. I'll be departing on Thursday and return on either on Saturday or Sunday. Just what I totally need, a break from this broke ass gorgeous state and from reading comments by thirsty dudes who would raid some random hot girl that tries so hard to get attention on Facebook and other sites. Thanks for your time reading.

Twenty-Five Questions of Life

You know what, fuck the weekend recap. The first weekend of 2012 was basic typical mediocre shit except witnessing Tim Tebow's epic mindblowing performance with my pops in the NFL's first ever postseason overtime that lasted 11 seconds.

But its been a damn awile since I posted something else on here. I was browsing my homeboy Jeremy's tumblr page (http://pinoykid13.tumblr.com/ and happy early 22nd birthday) and I happened to see a list of 25 unanswered questions that was one of the posts on his profile. I remember when that shit would be on every conceded chick's Myspace every week back in the day and it died out since Facebook took over the rat races. With some time to spare, I decided to have some fun with it. Expecting over-exaggeration on these 25 questions? Hell yes.

1: Apart from tumblr, what do you like to do in your spare time? Answering these questions and Photography. I got rid of my Tumblr after using it for a month and a half

2: Name a favorite of each: food, drink, color. Pizza, Pink Lemonade, Black

3: If you married rich and your spouse gave you $100,000 a week, what would you spend it on? That will never happen, but if it did... Then a fully loaded 2013 Nissan GTR for me one week with a title the first week and I'll let the CHP speed chase me until they reach the California state boundaries , pay off her college tutition in $50 bills and at least 50% of (not off) everything at Tiffany and Co.'s catalog or whatever Kim Kardashian wears for her the next week so that she can't stop smiling, a Canon 1DS Mark IV and a Nikon D4 both with a 24-70mm 2.8mm lens (along with the CRAZIEST telephoto lens available) and a studio with strobes plus a $10,000 bonus each for my 5 of my many homeboys to start their own photography/filmaking business the other week, every size 13 Nike SB Dunks and some Air Jordan Retros at Flight Club LA and Flight Club in New York the following week and invest at a home in Beverly Glen on Mulholland Drive and only fly First Class at Virgin America, Virgin Nigeria and Virgin Atlantic until another recession starts. Oh and I'll buy out the front courtside seats from the bitch-ass talent agents for Lakers games at the Staples Center so that the Laker Girls can rest their fine asses on those seasts instead of floor and I'll make it rain at the Spearmint Rhino or Deja Vu until a stripper gets a paper cut from one of the Hundred Dollar Bills.

4: Name a favorite of each: book, movie, tv show. Book: If I Did It (OJ Simspon's book that was never out to the public,but I read a leaked version) Movie: The Big Lebowski or the Back To the Future trilogy. TV Show: NFL Sunday Ticket

5: If you were given the opportunity to spend 48 hours with absolutely anyone (living or dead), who would you spend it with and what would you do? Every girl that I hitted on since the Fourth Grade, 3 hours per girl

6: Name a LEAST favorite of each: food, drink, color. See number 2

7: What do you spend most of your money on? Junk food, 35mm film, and Pepsi at Lee's 4 Cocktails

8: What kind of underwear do you prefer wearing? Boxers

9: Name a LEAST favorite of each: book, movie, tv show. Anything that's NOT listed on number 4

10: If you were sat on a plane beside your favorite celebrity, what would you do? I'll show him or her the photo that I took of them at Roberson Blvd, Beverly Hills or The Grove back in 2008

11: What is the strangest thing you have in your room? (You are not allowed to explain why you own it.) Recessed lights. Not everybody has it

12: What is a weird habit you have, or people have told you have. (Weird, not bad. No nail biting or any of that nonsense.) Doing a photoshoot with somebody else's iPhone 4S with instagram filters(haven't tried it yet)

13: What would you consider to be the biggest insult to yourself? Walking out of my pops church during the offering collection cause my checks didn't come that week

14: What are five things you absolutely have to have in your dream house? a woman who cooks, a woman who doesn't cook, a third woman in case the other two doesn't work out, a 4G LTE network inside a home, and a heated toilet seat

15: If you could be reincarnated as any animal, which would you chose and why? A human so that I can see watch what I eat this time

16: Which band (current or past) would you want to go on tour* with? (*Travel with, not preform with.) Aftergloam, The Orange Rev and Darger De Milo (my friends bands)

17: Name a favorite of each: band, album, song. Its a long list. Trust me.

18: Why is your favorite band your favorite? Cause its my favorite

19: How many concerts have you attended? Which was your favorite? Least favorite? If none, who do you want to see live the most? Does me attending the 2011 MTV Video Music Award's count?

20: What is one of your favorite song lyrics? (Who is it by?) "I think I'm Big Meech..." Rick Ross

21: Who do you ship? Ground shipping. UPS is expensive

22: What band merch do you own? If any, whose is it and when did you get it? If none, whose do you wish you owned? I once had Billy Idol's "In the Devil's Playground" CD autographed by him at the OG Tower Records on Sunset back in March 2005, but I sold it at Amoeba Records for 5 bucks.

23: How did you learn of the band that is currently your favorite? By the words of their mouth

24: What celebrity do you idolize the most? Used to be Ted Turner until he sold out Time Warner.

25: Which member from which band would you most want to lather in nutella? Which one again?

2011 Year in Review: Final Thoughts and first post of 2012

Oh God, what a year.

Alot can be said about 2011. There were many events and moments that I experienced which I would never see myself in. That's pretty obvious every year, but this is totally special and personal though. Last year was first full year that I had not had a vehicle under my name and to operate for the first time since 2005 and it was the first full year of living out of my parent's house. Signs of Independence as an adult.

It was also a year that I went to more parties and gathering events than any other year. I thought 2008 was the most that I went out, but thanks to my good friend Nicole Stetter, my relationships to establishing new friendships and expanding a mutual clientele has gotten greater, and it made a great role in my photography business. The more people I met, the more larger the networking got. One of the major examples was working with The Hear Gallery, which is a small group that curates art shows and books small local bands to different joints, bars, and venues in Los Angeles from the Airliner on Broadway to The Dragonfly on Sunset and the flagship venue, The Five Star Bar, on Third and Main. I had a fantastic time covering alot of the shows and getting to meet the people that were attending and to listen to some interesting tunes. Going to those shows just displays how a craft in music is performed in different rhythms from various diversities of the groups.

Out of all of them, Santoros is one of the best bands I ever seen perform. They are a Spanish twenty-something group from LA, and their music, to me, sounds like as if you were in a beach in Baja California or Ventura partying in a bon fire with a lot of palm trees and surfing at night. That's probably the best way I can describe it, but its really great. They're fan base is HUGE, for a local group. For example, they did a show at Nicole's house during the summer along with some other bands, including Darger De Milo, and her backyard was full with some of their fans. They rarely do shows in The Valley, and most of the fans who watch come from the outskirts of Los Angeles, to as far as Downey. It took me almost 10 minutes to get through the backyard that night. But despite leaving The Hear Gallery in May, I received a lot of experience from being with them, from the meetings at Frank Venadas' crib to being the very last ones to leave the venues in the middle of the night. I enjoyed it. Big thanks to Frank, Corina, Nadari, Art, Joshua, Shane, Uriel Jimenez and everyone else within The Hear Gallery. Wish y'all nothing but the best in the future.

Now I'll just recap the entire 2011 in just some one liners:

-Attended two of MTV's major awards shows

-stood next to Adriana Lima and Candace Swanepoel at The Grove, and got to witness Miranda Kerr in person

-Reunited with some people that I haven't seen since high school (thank you Cyndi for inviting me to your birthday and Danielle for letting me take engagement photos of you and Perry)

- met Andrew Bernstein, the legendary Lakers/NBA sports photographer responsible for your basketball cards from back in the day

-copped my first top the line Android smartphone

-drove alot of expensive whips, such as the new BMW X3, 2011 Mercedes-Benz GLK-350, every new 2012 Cadillac you can think of (except the V-series cars), 2012 Mercedes E Class coupe, Lexus RX 350 (which sucked), 2012 Chevrolet Camaro SS Transformer edition, Hyundai Genesis 5.o R-spec (one of the fastest cars I've ever driven), Hyundai Eqqus and a copule of Buicks, Fords and GMC trucks.

-went to the infamous SupperClub in Hollywood for the VMA afterparty and it was just too much

-covered a birthday party at the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point, Laguna Niguel. Totally upscale as upscale can get.

- I never said this, but I briefly appeared in a episode of America's Next Top Model which took place at The Roosevelt hotel. Not a fan of the show and have never watched one episode of it, just went to see the said models wearing bikinis in bathtubs. For those curious, it was episode 7 of the recent season

- Nicole Stetter's wild backyard party during the summer like I mentioned earlier.

-the number of baby showers I covered. Shoutout to my old friends Alberto Mujica, Beatriz Mujica, Marissa Mendoza, Gabriel Sanchez, Yvonne and Nestor for their new blessings. Also, shoutout to Kristy Giannino for her new daughter, despite missing your shower.

-The Hear Gallery's bands performing at Cheetahs gentlemen's club in Hollywood. 'Nuff said.

-Primitive's three year anniversary. Thanks again to Desiree, Alexis, Andy, Paul, Harry, Ashley, Erich and Erich Jr., Roxanne and Dawn for a dope summer Saturday afternoon in Encino.

- the 18 mile bike ride halfway through the Valley with my two homegirls Christina and Cecilia.

-my cousin Ikenna's graduation from Loyola High School. They shut down a portion of Venice Blvd just for the commencement ceremony.

-volunteering at Providence Tarzana Medical Center for 24 of the 27 Wednesdays last year. The food they had at the cafeteria was legit.

-launched a Tumblr profile that lasted only a month and a half. Got tired of it, but I might bring it back.

-shook Tommy LaSorda's hand with the 1981 World Series trophy next to him and received an accidental beer bath during the only game I attended that season. Got complimentary Dodger Dogs for that.

- I finally saw Erin Andrews and Sasha Singleton in the flesh.

-my 23rd birthday party in Burbank. Fucking epic.

-going to NBA All Star weekend in Los Angeles and taking a dope ass picture of Dwayne Wade. Wow.

- getting thrown in the swimming pool in my 50 Nike basketball shorts during the Fourth of July pool party at the homegirl Borrah Jackson's crib. Shoutout to Gerson and the Bootleg League.

-Occupy LA in downtown city hall. Surreal shit.

There were alot of other crazy tight stuff that I did, but those were just some of the majority of the notable ones. It was a bad year and a good year at the same time. Still bummed out that Steve Jobs is gone and that the job market hasn't improved sightly. It was also the second straight year that I didn't buy a pair of sneakers, cause the retail price for Air Jordans has shot up by 25%. Even though the sneaker game wasn't what it was when I got started in it 7 years ago, there are still some kicks that I've been going after. I couldn't believe that the Lakers got swept in the second round of the playoffs. They didn't win at least one game against Dallas. And all the wild surprising marriages and divorces, both celebrity and non-celebrity, makes the whole martial process look like a play thing.

As far as my New Years weekend, it was fun. I almost was gonna have a lame New Years Eve until I swung by my homegirls Amber and Carisa's place later that night. We dipped over to Lee's 4 Coctails and man, it was a scene there. The only thing that was worse was the DJ there that night, and he wasn't even a real DJ, just a dude who was conducting a sing-a-long on his synthesizer. They had the countdown on all the TV's and its a wonder to see Dick Clark still doing his thing every beginning of the year, which is why he's known as the "world's oldest teenager". On New Years Day, I did a photosession with my good friend Molly, who came here to the Valley during the holidays. We did the photoshoot starting at a scenic view on Mulholland Drive, the Santa Monica Place, The Santa Monica Pier, Pacific Park and the Santa Monica State Beach. Again that day was awesome, and I think I was the first photographer to do the very first photoshoot of 2012, way before all the other professional photographers did (except for the Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Issue since their session are usually done in the fall). I'm gonna try to edit the photos using LightRoom 3 again.

Well, like I always say every year: just make the new year great, don't let it be great cause it may not turn out how you wanted it to be at the end. Thanks for your time reading this and have fun this year, lots of it.