Tim Middleton Lifestyle Photosession

Recently, a few weeks ago, I did a photoshoot of my friend Tim in around Encino and Lake Balboa. I met him on Twitter around two years ago and then in person a year later at Primitive Shoes and Apparel, which we both have the same interest there among other things like women and sneakers. Its been a while since I did a legit photosession.

The only difference with this session and my previous ones is that these photos were taken with my iPhone 5, because due to my busy schedule, I didn't have time to drive down to Samy's Camera or any other photography store to by some rolls of film for my Nikon N70 camera, which I was originally going to use for this. Anyway, the photos turned out great and it was also great working with Tim on capturing these images of him.

Support and follow up on Tim at these links 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tim_818

Instagram: http://instagram.com/tim818

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/tim818

Tumblr: http://freshavenue.tumblr.com/

Primitive Shoes and Apparel's Five Year Anniversary

Where the hell were you five years ago? I tell you where I was.

I was always finding myself in the Beverly Hills/West Hollywood area almost every day that summer, running around with an Olympus E-1 DSLR camera trying to capture a famous celebrity or an infamous personality, so that I can not only earn some quick cash, but to also make my friends jealous on MySpace with these images I got of famous people. I was unemployed that time since the recession got to me a few months prior from working at the Apple Store. They actually let me go, despite my explanation to them about why I have been missing a few days of work and my disinterest of the new teal shirts that all the sales associates had to wear from the start of the second retail quarter. I assume they didn't wanna waste anytime, so they just threw me out and got someone else that can dance and enjoy amusement park rides as much as I did.

It really was a start of a long tough rest of the year. Most of my friends from high school at the time had no time of hanging out that summer, by using the excessive excuse "It's cause of the economy." Somehow, without making a decent income aside from the paparazzi gig, I still had a car and I managed to go to a few parties, but just to only take photos of drunk people grinding into Lil Wayne's The Carter III and semi-thick girls caked out in makeup.

However, I was still into sneakers back then. This was a time when the so-called "shoe game" started to turn around and made some, if not, most of the OG collectors either sell their collection due to the recession or they just stopped collecting period. Nike's Jordan Brand did something different that entire year. Once a month through out 2008, they released a pack of two different pairs of retro Air Jordans entitled "The Countdown Pack" because the 23rd edition of the Air Jordan sneaker was released that year. The part that sucks about the pack was that they went for $310 and no other Jordan retros were released separately that year, aside from the affordable Team Jordan sneakers.

Towards the end of the year and around the time of the election, I heard about professional skateboarder Paul Rodriguez opening up a skateshop/sneaker boutique somewhere in Encino called Primitive. I was like "All right, P-Rod owns a sneaker store. Giving back to the community. That's cool.", yet I never had the time to check it out and that was when my earnings were getting smaller and smaller. What interested me about Primitive at the time was that they were one of the few places in the Valley that has a Nike SB account. Previously, I would get my SBs at the Active Ride Shop in Burbank, Val Surf in Valley Village and sometimes Flight Club LA in Fairfax. Before that, I remember getting my first pair of Nike SBs at the Chapter II skateshop in Granada Hills (which was formerly 118 Boardshop) and when the Nike SB line were starting up, that was one of the only places in the Valley were you can get them at the time

Fast forward two years later, and I finally got a chance to check out Primitive after a old friend that I knew told me about it since she worked across from there. I already blogged about my first trip to Primitive a few times in the past, so it's best to read that rather than just re-telling it again. Primitive Two Year anniversary recap . After that, I was hooked into that place and I started going there more frequently. Then my find myself wearing Primitive Apparel like is the only thing I have.

As many of y'all know, I spent my whole entire life in the San Fernando Valley. The place is known for its multiple suburban communities, adult clubs, independent auto dealerships, locations for television and movie scenes, shopping malls, and its extremely hot temperature summers among other things. I'm used to all that for the past 25 years of my life. The guys who run and skate for Primitive have also spent majority of their lives in the Valley as well, and the store represents the lifestyle of the 818, especially the culture of the state of California. They just had their 5th anniversary celebration at the shop last week, and I was there of course.

Actually I was at the shop since 5:30 in the morning to line up for the Air Jordan 3 Retro "Fire Reds" that were dropping that day. I haven't lined up for a pair of Air Jordans since the White/Cement IV retro release last year at the Panorama Mall (which sold out very quickly) and its been forever since I purchased a pair of Jordans in retail price. The campout line experience was actually dope. I talked to several blokes in line, including this one woman who's around my age that's lining up just to get some Nike SB's (Civilist Dunk Hi's were also released that day) for her husband. I asked her why doesn't he get in the line? She then said that he's a doctor with an insane sneaker collection and that he had to be a work since he can't lineup for them. Then I said that's real supportive love and trust right there. Now I thought that I wasn't gonna get a pair, but fortunately I did, and I was like the 10th person in line. Already a week and I still haven't worn them yet, but but these shoes are nice. Those 3's, especially that particular pair, are quite significant to me because Michael wore these at the 1988 Slam Dunk contest, which was less than a month before I was born (birth day is on the fifth of March). Also, the Jumpman logo debuted that year, and it one of the most well know logos in the world.

After I got my pair, I went back home to trim my beard and change into my red Iesha Marie Van Styles/Primitive t-shirt and some Khaki Shorts from American Eagle Outfitters. I could've worn the Fire Red 3's to match, but I rocked the Black Toes Jordan 1's that came out earlier this year, which I purchased at The Holy Grail in downtown Los Angeles earlier this summer. Then I went back to Primitive for the anniversary party. It wasn't as big as the previous anniversary parties cause there weren't too many kids that attended and Paul didn't show up since he was at the X-Games in Downtown that day. But nonetheless, the anniversary was great, probably as great as the other ones. Ran into several people that I haven't seen since the 4 year anniversary party and met some new people as well. Unlike the other anniversary parties, I didn't go crazy with the photography. Hell, I didn't even bring a Nikon SLR with me, yet I did manage to capture some images through my iPhone 5. I think those few pictures I took are just as good as taking 300 pictures of the same event. Here are the photos that I captured on that Saturday.

Taken at 5:30 in the morning, just as the sun was about to set.

Cashier's desk inside the store. 

Ashley in the Air Jordan XIII retro "He Got Game" and Nicky Newcastle in a pair of Vans. 

Tim Middleton throwin' up the dubs in Primitive's dressing room. 

Primitive Apparel co-founder Andy Netkin in the center of attention. 

DJ Butch and 2 Deep 

Irene, Ashley and Nicky.  

Headshot of Tatiana Javosrsky 

Portrait of professional skateboarder Terrell Robinson from the Primitive skate team. 

Primitive Apparel's 5th anniversary t-shirts were given to those who attended. 

Finally got to meet my favorite inspirational photographer, Van Styles. The camera he's using is the Sony Cybershot RX100M2 that he just got that day, and behind him are my favorite models Christine Mendoza, Justene Jaro, Nikki Sotelo, and Dawn Jaro. Here's is his recap of the 5 year anniversary party Visual by Van Styles

Andy Netkin reflecting with his daughter, Bari. 

Elisabetta with her and Andy's daughter, Bari, both wearing the Primitive "Signature Script" shirts. 

Andy with his lady, Elisabetta. 

"First lady of Primitive" Elisabetta conducting the group photo. 

Original Red Cup Crew. 

Closeup of the Primitive 5 year anniversary t-shirts (one in black, the other in navy)

The Air Jordan "Fire Red" IIIs I purchased from there, along with some of the Fall '13 t-shirts and my Primitive 5th Anniversary t-shirts. 

That was one of the greatest days I've had this summer. Looking forward to more anniversary parties at Primitive. Thanks for your time reading this. 

The So Called "No Filter"

I can't remember the last time I uploaded any photos I took without the editing make up. Its been such a while since I did that.

With that being said, here are some random photographs I took in the San Fernando Valley yesterday while driving around all day like I've been doing everyday. I average about 140 miles per day and spend about 30 to 40 dollars in fuel. Multiply that by seven days and you get the idea how much my credit card has been working out at the gasoline stations. (I push in a 2005 Ford Crown Victoria taxicab with a V8 engine that does about 17 to 20 MPG if that matters). I'm still into photography, but the taxicab stuff is just something on the side. Read my last two posts about why I took that driving job. Anyway here are some unedited photos I captured.

Sherman Way and Woodley. Go get 'er. 

Suburban Mexican pride. 

The following two photos were taken at Richie Palmer's Mulberry Street Pizzeria, a pizza joint that I just started checking out right next to Primitive on Ventura Boulevard in Encino. Their pizza is very delicious. Here's their website  Mulberry Street Pizzeria

Finally I end the day by taking some rush hour sunset shots at the Sepulveda Dam on Burbank Boulevard, near the 405 Freeway.

All about that Valley life. I'll try to update this blogsite frequently with more photos (despite me saying that all the time) so keep check back on here frequently, otherwise, just remind me to make a new blogpsot. Thanks for your time reading and looking at this.

Nothing in the Air

Today should've been "National Hooky Day in LA" since majority of Angelinos put their work shifts and college classes on hold to witness the Endeavor Space Shuttle flying over Los Angeles throughout the day, along with the release of the new iPhone 5 that many people broke out of their current two-year cell phone provider contracts just to get. Hell, even parents pulled their kids out of school to witness one of each, or both, and the media was all over this today as it made it the top story for 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, I didn't see the Endeavor. I could've though, but I didn't want to spend alot of time looking for parking and being stuck on weekend traffic in LA. Yet, I did take this photo of some sexy clouds hovering over the suburbs of Encino two years ago from an attorney's high rise office on Ventura Boulevard and spent the day re-editing it. I took it with my then old Sony Cybershot W290 point and shoot, not from a iPhone. 

Other than that, this is just a quick impromptu short post I decided to do just for the fuck of it. Not bashing the Endeavor's arrival, but honestly, that moment of it landing is one of those things you might want to tell your kids about, as the news media has been addressing it I guess. Anyways, have a nice safe weekend, of course. 

Stayin' Primitive and The Olympic Hunger Games

Basically, the social networking world, which consumes about 58% of my time and is also part of my work, will be soft for the next several weeks until the Olympic games will be finished in London.

I have absolutely nothing against the Olympics. I'm just baffled that the last one in China felt like it happened last year instead of 2008, but like I said, as you get older, then time just swifts by very quickly. Shoutout to all the athletes from around the world, especially the one here in the United States of course, for representing their homelands as the compete in various athletic competitions. Just leave the racism bullshit and controversial prejudgment in the paper shredder and let these athletes play.

I got a chance to see some of the opening ceremonies at the bar inside Cheesecake Factory in Warner Center after work on Friday evening since it was close by. There were already showing Poland walking around the stadium representing themselves. I was trying to focus but I was being distracted by some recession-proof horny-ass couple in their early thirties next to me feeding each other with a lot of food AT THE BAR. Those fools could've got a table and left the bar to individuals consuming some liquids, and also, the woman was a seat over left of me and her crack kept showing every time she was about to make out. I really wanted to stay until the United States came out, but as Sweden was about to come out, I just closed out, paid my drink and left the Cheesecake Factory courtesy of the future divorcees next to me that look qualified to star in some failed Thursday night sitcom. They were annoying as hell.

Other than that, mostly worked during the weekend obviously. Started out slow with 4 clients on Friday cause everyone was watching their favorite country being introduced in London, then 2 on Saturday cause one of my other co-workers flaked out, otherwise we could've had more people. Then on Sunday it was back to normal with families letting their kids scream and run around as I try to get their attention to stay still for their photos being taken. No surprise there, but shoutout to Elisa at the Starbucks in Target for the Venti Iced Coffee that took care of my Sunday. And shoutout to the cooks and the Staff at the Cafe Bistro in the Nordstrom for those Sweet Potato Fries. Went there for the first time cause I wanted to try something different since I kept going to the food court in the Topanga Mall several times, and the place looks very look key like the old Playboy clubs from the 60's without the bunnies. Here's how the Fries came out.

That's some creative shit. Totally going back there next time, but I still fuck with these fries as well. 

In-N-Out is a mandatory staple here in the greater Los Angeles area, and yes, I had to toss in the Back to The Future 25th anniversary Blu-Ray set that I just got from the same Target where I got that Iced Coffee. I originally first went to the Best Buy across the street from my work thinking that they have it, but I wasn't able to find it there and that lead to a argument with most of the staff there for 5 minutes after they told me that they have the disc set, but only in their on-line inventory instead of the stores, out of all movies. After I cussed them out, I then went back inside the mall, went to the Target and saw that they had the set, but it was the last one. So I grabbed it and whipped out my Visa card to thankfully see that I was charged 45 bucks for the set when it usually went from 55 to 85 dollars. Been waning to get this for the past two years since they did the re-release back in October 2010 (which was fucking dope as hell), but now I finally managed to obtain it. It has ALOT of extra shit and features inside that set that could last for two days, but I'm cool with it. 

Finally, just want to say happy 4 year anniversary to Primitive in Encino, which is professional skateboarder Paul Rodriguez Jr's skating boutique. They opened back in late July 2008 and I wasn't aware of the store then cause I was driving around West Hollywood and Beverly Hills chasing celebrities as a paparazzi during that summer. I have nothing but respect for that store and all the staff there. Major thanks to Andy, Paul, Jubal, Harry, Ashley, Irene and the rest of the staff as always for doing their jobs and distributing apparel that represents the culture of the Valley. Also, their new fall 2012 line just dropped last Saturday and its very superb. Here's some of the t-shirts I got on Saturday. 

The black t-shirt is taken from the opening lyrics of "Under the Bridge" from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers since they're based out of Fairfax High School, and the shirt on the right features the model Rachel Metz. Their shop is on 17060 Ventura Boulevard in Encino, right across from the Chase bank between Balboa and White Oak. You don't even have to skate to shop there. Stop by Primitive if you're not doing anything with a lot of money to blow. 

Anyways, thanks for your time reading this and enjoy the rest of the week. 

Only in the Valley...

This was in regards to last weeks massive fire at a building in Chatsworth. Click on the picture to read it better.

By the way, major shout out to Darger De Milo and Aftergloam for putting on a excellent show at the Tribal Cafe last Friday. They did very well as always. Oh and shoutout to my friends Lucy Hakverdian and Pretty Bhamidi for letting me help them sell their product line of bowties at Granada Hills Charter High School's 50th anniversary event yesterday.

Black folks can NEVER have no fun

So this past week had been such a tailspin for me. I broke my phone on Ventura Blvd on Friday evening. I cussed out my half cousin on Sunday, I got into numerous arguments with my parents, which resulted in me getting barred from my house on Sunday, I missed the USC-Buckeyes game on Saturday cause this "Special" elderly person came straight from Nigeria over to our house to spend the night and he and my pops stayed up till 1 AM watching evangelism seminars. I think the guy is a pastor or something. Plus I owe a lot of money which is common for most young adults at this current economic times. I'm gonna see if I can TRY to get a new vehicle this month. I planned on getting a new vehicle around November or December but I had to drive on Empty from South bay to the 10 freeway west to the 405 North to the Santa Monica Blvd off ramp to Santa Monica Blvd east to Sepulveda Blvd North past the Getty and Skirball all the way to Balboa and Victory Orange line parking lot. While I got there, I saw that the Los Angeles Police Department arrested two or three youth males across the intersection near Birmingham High School. 

My sister and I almost went there for summer school six years ago but the summer session there was full so we went to Cleveland High School in Reseda instead, and looking back I'm glad I did go to Cleveland that summer. But if I did go to Birmingham, I could've seen a lot a famous people there, including Gwen Stefani, before she was pregnant, cause they shot her "Hollaback" music video there and other film and television shoots. Now if I was still in high school I wouldn't want to go there based on the people that I knew that went there. Place is full of kids who parents that don't know how to raise a teenager properly. Every time when I drive or walk past that school, the kids there would be wearing stuff that you can't wear to a job interview or your nieces christening and there would always be some ruckus happening there, which is why the LAPD would shut down the intersection of Balboa and Victory until things were all clear. I feel bad for those kids who live in that are who are forced to go to that school instead of Reseda high, Van Nuys high or Taft high. Hell I feel bad for those teenagers period.  

On Sunday night I slept over at my moms house in North Hollywood. Then I woke up the following morning I went online to read the days headlines. One of them discussed an incident that took place at the Video Music Awards that took place the previous night in New York city. From what I read and watched the video clips online, young Country music singer Taylor Swift won the award for best Female Video over Beyonce Knowles- Carter's ( yes she married Jay-Z) "Single Ladies" music video. As she went up to say her acceptance speech, rapper Kanye West came out of nowhere and interrupted her by saying that Beyonce had the best video of all time, which is damn true, and when gave the microphone back to Taylor Swift as he walked off the stage. Since then Kayne West has been under the magnifying glass the next few days as the media, Taylor Swift fans, Kanye West fans, countless celebrities and even President Barack Obama disapproved Kanye's action on Sunday night, despite the apologies he gave on his website several hours after the incident took place. He even got sonned by talk show host Jay Leno on the inaugural "The Jay Leno Show" premiere. This happened to be totally coincidental because Kanye West was scheduled to preform on the premiere with Jay-Z and Rhianna and that gave Leno an opportunity to talk to Kanye West, in which he mentioned the late Dondria West which made the rapper emotional. 

To me, I think this whole thing is totally preposterous and absurd. Not just what Kanye West did which I find kinda humorous but the way everyone is shitting on this. I mean, to me, I think this this whole thing is fixed, planned, worked and or staged. In paraphrasing the ESPN Classic program, here are some reasons you can't blame Kanye West for Interrupting Tayor Swift at the 2009 Video Music Awards.

1. This isn't Kanye West's first incident at the VMAs

If you done your homework and research or if you religiously wacth MTV, then you know that this past Sunday wasn't the only stunt that Kanye did. In 2007 when the Video Music Awards took place, the rapper went apeshit after losing 5 nominations and he claimed that he would never appear on MTV again. Not everybody keeps promises nowadays. 

2. He was Intoxicated before the show started

As he and his girl Amber Rose appeared at Radio City Music Hall, Kanye had a bottle of Hennesy and Amber took turns chugging it. He even had the audacity to go up to Joe Jackson, who was here because his daughter Janet was gonna do a tribute performance to her brother, and give him "daps". Michael just died, but that was totally awkward encounter between Kanye West and Joe Jackson.

3. Beyonce Knowles' "Single Ladies" was the best video

I'm saying that cause I'm a guy. But as a former filmmaker, this video was shot in one take continuously and it was choreographed very well. I mean not A-plus well but three attractive females moving around in tights can have a group of Frat boys dazed  for minutes or they might do their own version of "Single Ladies". As for Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me" music video, the background for producing this video takes a great deal of trust and time. I mean your shooting a scene that takes place in a football field and a school dance with thousand of kids who could consist of some high school in the mid-west or just about every exact Taylor Swift fan on this planet, and it's not easy. But the storyline was obvious. I mean, if you saw at least 50% of the chick flicks that came out the past decade including the Notebook, you pretty much know how this know how the video plays out. And that goes for never listening to the song which ties-in the video storyline. The bottom line is that Taylor Swift could've been reserved for the Kids Choice Awards, or the Teen Choice Awards, or the Billboard Music Awards if it was still in existence.

4. Its the VMA's

When MTV launched the Video Music Awards back in 1984, it was basically the youth version of the Grammys with some formality. Sure not everybody was wearing black ties and the performances were something you would see at a world tour such as Madonna's "Like a Virgin" performance or Rod Stewart's "Infatuation" performance, but everything else was moderate and things went according to plan. That was when it was the "Video Music Awards". When it became referred to as the "VMA's" things started to stir up a bit and all kinds of hell and mayhem ensued. Take Howard Stern's "Fartman" debut in the 1992 and having "Beverly Hills 90210's" Luke Perry grab Stern's visible rear end. Or how bout the entire 2007 Video Music Awards where there were countless after parties and concerts in every hotel on the Las Vegas Strip as well as Britney Spears' "supposed comeback" performance which was a major failure and letdown and the brawl between Pamela Anderson's exes Tommy Lee and Kid Rock. Let's not forget the threesome between Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in 2003. And last years show made "Solid Gold" conceiving a child with "American Bandstand" due to it being shot at a packed warehouse in Hollywood. I could go on and on but the bottom line is that the show is entertainment. It a chance for the celebs to let loose and do stuff that they can't do at any other award shows.

Here's the "Best of the Rest" the Stuff that didn't make it on the list:

5. MTV doesn't play (that much) videos anymore                  

6. Nobody in MTV's current demographic likes country music 

7. Kanye wants to try to promote Jay-Z's "The Blueprint 3" album which came out around that weekend in favor of Beyonce

8. Kanye never won a VMA award  and wants his own acceptance speech

9, Taylor Swift is just 19 and should stay in school to risk being the next Paris Hilton, came out with an album back in 2006, or Lindsey Lohan, who also came out with an album back in 2004

10. It's all about the ratings........ and Twitter.

I really don't know about that last one but that's the best I can come up with. Maybe Kanye has gotten his wish. He might get some sort of lifetime ban from any future VMAs just like Andrew "Dice" Clay did in the late 80's with threw off the the MTV exces based on his explicit stand up performance. Looks like he'll take a while for him to recover from this tailspin he's in right now.