New Years Re-Evaluation

First blogpost of 2014. Barely a week into the new year.

I enjoyed making that end-of year recap list from the previous update. The only things I left out on the list were self flushing urinals and ride-sharing companies such as lyft and Uber, which both got so much play in 2013. I'm curious and unsurprised to see which asshole will get his or her fifteen minutes of hype and vanish away from fame this year (previous notables include Nadya Suleman, Ted Williams, Christopher Dorner, Jon and Kate Gosslin among others). However, I'm glad that the New Years Day frenzy is over already so that we can move forward with our busy-ass lives. Every person I've talked to this past week has been telling me that they didn't much on New Years Eve. Some of them just stayed home and kept it low key as opposed to going to a club with a group of friends just to watch a countdown while getting shit-wasted in mini-skirts and black ties. On weeks prior, I didn't even know what I was planning on doing for New Years Eve, until I actually did something useful.

I visited the moms on Christmas Day and that was my first time seeing her since my 25th birthday back in March. She said that she got these non-refundable tickets to a New Years Eve party down in Coronado Island next to San Diego and that she also booked a suite which she claims that it was hard to get while every other room was booked for that week. In the past few years, my moms has been telling me about Coronado Island and that how she and my siblings always goes there every so often. I've never been there before, but I decided to tag along since she went through a lot to always take advantage of the finer opportunities in life for myself (she even brought that up during the drive down there). Plus the other reason I went is just to escape Los Angeles for a bit.

So it was me, the moms, and one of the little sisters that traveled down south of California on the I-5 freeway while my other two siblings went to my uncle's new crib on New Years Eve. The fog became totally thick as we approached Oceanside and then it cleared up later when we got to downtown San Diego. We then crossed the San Diego-Coronado bridge which I always see whenever I used to visit San Diego and but it looked kinda cool at night. After we crossed the bridge to Coronado, that's when the fog started to kick in. The town was very quiet and empty as we drove around, and this was about 7:30PM when we arrived.

We then got to this hotel we were gonna stay at. The moms went to go check in and told us that the suite we were gonna crash at had already been taken, but they did give us a small room with a kitchen and a refrigerator, so we went with that anyways. There was no reception at Coronado but they did have free wi-fi at the hotel which was a bonus. As we got to our room, my mother said that we have to go to the New Years Eve party that she told me about. So I changed into my black Primitive Apparel crew neck sweatshirt and took my Nikon SLR with me as we left.

I thought the New Years Eve party was gonna be at some ballroom filled with several well-doing adults in their forties and fifties since Coronado is an affluent community, but instead, the party was at a bowling alley filled with conservative families and their kids. Its was so PG rated. When we got to the bowling alley, I thought the moms was gonna see some bowling schedules or something since bowling is one of her hobbies, but she told me that this was the party she mentioned. Now if this event took place around 6 years ago, the 19-year-old me would've been very pissed and upset for traveling a hundred miles just to go to a party like that, but the present day me just decided to make use of it. The cosmic bowling New Years Eve party consisted of unlimited bowling and free food and endless fountain drink refills. Also, they were playing tons of 80's and alternative 90's music videos on a screen throughout the night. Most of the videos they played were songs I haven't heard in forever. They also had, of course, Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve with Ryan Seacrest televised on one of bowling score video monitors. We had to bowl with this young couple and their kid because the party had this social aspect to meet new and different people. These were families that looked like they came straight from the Reagan presidency era in the mid 1980's. I'm talkin' collared-sweatshirt, station wagon driving, Sunday School going, "learning valuable lessons at the end of the episode" type families that you rarely see in the Valley, and it was slightly diverse with different races there.

We bowled for 5 straight hours and the moms continued for another hours as me and my sister looked back in our childhood from watching the music videos that were being played. Obviously, they did the obligatory countdown and drank Sparkling Cider (the party was PG rated) as the families pulled down the balloons hanging above the lanes to ring in 2014. I actually enjoyed it for once, despite it being family oriented. When we finished, the fog had already kicked in when we got back to my sisters car and safely drove back to the hotel.

On the morning of New Years Day, we woke up very late and then started packing up to drive back to Los Angeles. I was researching Coronado Island on my iPhone 5 to see what's there to do in that place. Then I read about the Hotel Del Coronado, which is a famous, historic, hotel that every US President and actors from Hollywood's golden age stayed at since it was built. I then told my mother about it and she agreed to drive down there for a bit. The Hotel Del Coronado island was right next to a beach and me and the little sister went to go check it out as the moms slept in the car. The beach is quite awesome and there were alot of people there. The temperature was at 70 degrees that afternoon. I spent my time there taking photos and some video of the beach and the exterior of Hotel Del Coronado. My biggest regret was not going inside to check it out cause I forgot to look for the entrance. Later on, we drove around Coronado for a bit and that place looks similar to Marina Del Rey. Then we gassed the car up and headed back to reality in Los Angeles. It was a good trip, yet I spent it with family which I haven't done in a while.

Here are some of the images I took down there

The New Years Eve traffic south on the 405 Freeway (also known as the San Diego Freeway). Riding shotgun in the Air Jordan 1 retro "Black Toes". I didn't drive throughout the whole trip, which was rare and good. 

 Downtown San Diego while crossing the San Diego-Coronado bridge.

Cosmic Bowling lanes in full effect.

The families and setup for the New Years Eve party.

We made strikes and spares (and some gutters) for 5 straight hours. That's a long ass time.

This photograph, to me, has this Space Mountain/Club MTV style atmosphere.

Ultraviolet Black Lights among the lanes.

Glasses of Sparkling Cider. If this wasn't family oriented, these would've been champagne.

The thick ass fog as we approach my sister's car. 

Checking out Coronado in the daytime.

New Years Revelation written in sand.

This is Bill Pavlacka in the white cap and t-shirt building a sandcastle with these two girls. I didn't talk to him that day cause he was busy showing kids how to build sandcastles, but I learned that this bloke builds them at the beach near Hotel Del Coronado either for a living or for fun, or both. I was amazed to see his creativity in building these large sand castles. Here's his website The SandCastle Man

The legendary Hotel Del Coronado.

The horizon, and Mexico is less than 20 minutes from there.


Anyway, that was my New Years Day recap. I also did another long drive last Sunday down to Palm Springs for some business. I've been to that area before (Coachella, Tamale festival) but this was my first time driving down there instead of carpooling. I actually enjoyed the 2 and a half hour drive there, which took place at night. I would like to do more of those cause once in a while, escaping LA for a bit is pleasing. I need to learn how to take vacations alot more.

Thanks for your time reading this, and have a blessed, fun Twenty-Fourteen.

Annamarie Rhyne's Graduation Party images, October 19, 2013

I'm very late on uploading this, so blame my crazy schedule runs.

I had the privilege to attend my friend Annamarie's graduation party back in October. She completed a Nursing program that she's been taking and I went to congratulate and show support for her culmination. While being there, I was talking to her friends and her family members and having great conversations with them, and they also served Tamales that were delicious. Here are some of the few images I took with my Nikon 35mm film SLR. Must respect and thanks to Annamarie.

1993 'Til Forever: Photosession of Ikenna Nwachuku

As some of a few of y'all know, I did a photoshoot of my cousin back in December 2012 at his place in Los Angeles. I told him that I was gonna get it done by February, but at that time I just received my Taxicab Permit and I was starting on that job at that time, which didn't give me time to work on editing this photoshoot. Now after several months, I managed to proceed working on this, and I figured its best that I share it on the day of his 20th birthday.

I swear, back when he was born in 1993, alot has happened in that year. I started kindergarten, Michael Jordan walked out of the NBA at the peak of his career after winning his third title, as well of the death of his father that summer, the nation was started embracing democratic ideals and policies with Bill Clinton as President of the United States in his first year in office, Jurassic Park was THE hottest movie of the Summer, Universal Citywalk opened,  Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Beavis and Butthead got alot of kids in trouble at the school playground, the Dallas Cowboys were killing shit in Super Bowl XXVII at Pasadena and the entire NFL, The Simpsons and Seinfeld on Thursday Nights after Cheers and A Different World finished that year, David Letterman joins CBS to start Late Show With David Letterman (which will be 20 years ago tomorrow), Fred Savage's The Wonder Years ends as his little brother Ben Savage's Boy Meets World starts on television among other events. Pretty much an leaf-turning opening to understanding society for myself even though I was very young.

Anyway, here's are the images of my cousin Ikenna and his ride: the BMW 328i sedan. Used alot of though into it and took my time to make it interesting. I'm so glad and blessed that he and his siblings have been a part for majority of my childhood. Thanks for your time reading this.

That Was Yesterday

Today is almost over, including the month of May heading into June. Since is almost tomorrow as I'm typing this on May 31, I'll talk about what I did yesterday since I feel like sharing it... in one liners.

- that Thursday started with a phone call from one of my good friends as I woke up (thanks Carol)

-I never ever like to discuss about the people I pick up and give lifts to, but I had a interesting talk, with a Jewish doctor that I picked up, about how everything has changed in certain parts of the Valley and some of the businesses that got affected by the recession.

-Took a customer from Sherman Oaks to Santa Ana, which was the most expensive ride I've ever gotten so far in the three months I've been doing this... and the bloke paid in cash.

-Drove a few miles to Newport Beach and had a basic, interesting lunch at the Yardhouse in Fashion Island for the second time since December 2011.

-Went to the Apple Store at the same mall (which has a very high ceiling) and copped me a Belkin anti-glare screen protector and a Nike case for my iPhone 5.

-Cruised on the Pacific Coast Highway (speed limit was 60 MPH) and stopped at one of the beaches in Huntington Beach to take some quick photos.

-took the 710 Freeway straight up to Alhambra from Long Beach with some stop and go traffic every now and then.

-Since I was in that area, I drove up Fair Oaks Ave and decided to check out the Phil Jackson Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success book signing that was taking place at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, which isn't that far.

-Found a open parking space next to the Target on Colorado and Oak Knoll Avenue (which is uncommonly rare in downtown Pasadena) and its just very close to the bookstore

-I though the books were sold out when I got there 30 minutes after Phil Jackson started signing, but the store had several in stock, and I bought one since they said that I can still get it signed.

-The line was long, but that shit moved VERY QUICKLY. The whole experience and meeting the Zen Master was short and fast as he signed my book.

-The store originally prohibited photography of Phil Jackson signing his book, but at the last minute, Vroman's Bookstore management were loose and cool about it, so I took only three photographs of Coach Jackson and left.

-Jetted onto the 210 Freeway back home to find that my sisters came over to spend a few days at my pops' house, which is not bad.

-Had a deep discussion with the siblings and reflected on how far we gotten so far in our lives.

-Made some phone calls to catch up on some of my other homegirls who I haven't heard from in a while to finish up the day.

-and I didn't even have to use an AK.


I wish everyday was like this all the time, but time eventually moves on. Tomorrow, my cousin graduates from Loyola High School, and he is the youngest in my immediate family. I remember when it was at least 5 years ago that him and my other cousins and siblings were starting high school, but they are all now almost half way through with their under graduate college life. Show how fast time has gone through. Another thing tomorrow (or today if you're just reading this after having another overrated hangover from the night before) is that Primitive will be launching not only their Summer '13 collection , but they also have a brand new website with focuses on the Primitive Apparel brand and lifestyle. Going to be interesting to see what surprises that they have this summer, as always. Here's the link Primitive Apparel

Thanks for your time reading this and have a great month of June without the gloom.

Lost-N-Jealous

Three fucking months since I last spilled my guts on here.

I haven't forgotten about this site during that time period, but there was so much shit that I had to work out in ways that I couldn't imagine. I would like to discuss it on here, yet many of them were not fun to deal with, so I'll set that away from this post. Typical life learning bullshit that some (or most) twenty-somethings always deal with. Had some tensions with the family for a bit, but thankfully its already been resolved.

My two younger sisters had their commencement graduation ceremonies last month. The youngest one graduated from Kennedy High school in Granada Hills, which is where my other siblings and I attended. I really hate the way they run their admissions to get into the ceremony by having tickets and a bunch of other shit. An example was trying whatever I can to get into my brother's commencement back in 2010. One of the graduation ceremonies that took place there in 2009 made it to the news. I wasn't able to make it there on that day. My other sister got her Masters in Health Care Management from West Coast University. The ceremony took place at the campus of University of California, Irvine in Orange County and damn, the area is well decent. Not to my surprise since I'm familiar with Newport Beach and that part of the OC, but this was my first time at UCIrvine. Campus is just TOO CLEAN, about slightly similar to the other notable UC school at Los Angeles in Westwood.

Now in regards to the ceremony, it was fine. The chairman of West Coast University mostly promoted and talked about the institution by featuring in detail the programs they offered and the student life there. There were a good amount of people there and about 500 graduates were rockin' the cap and gowns, with more than a third in the institutions Nursing program. After the show, we went out and took a grip of family portraits and then headed out to an El Cholo restaurant about less than 10 minutes away from UCIrvine. I didn't even know there were more than two El Cholo resturants (the ones I know are the ones in Western Avenue and downtown LA) That El Cholo we went had more light than the OG one in Western which had a darker ambiance, but the environment and the experience is still the same, as well as the food. Feasted on some Quesadillas while the moms, siblings, one of my sister's long time "besties" from back in the day, and this Filipino couple that I never met before. The guy from the couple was the "photographer" for my sister's event and he was shooting with a Canon EOS 60D and the 18-135mm lens.

Now all of that happened right before Memorial Day Weekend. Colleges and Universities I can understand, but this was the first time that a public high school had their graduation set before Memorial Day weekend. It kind of makes sense since that holiday, which not everyone takes seriously, is the unofficial start of Summer. But then again, the public school systems here in LA are already fucked up with numerous cuts in money and staff, and that caused it to shorten some of the pupil's summer vacation and fragment the traditional school calendar. The year starts in early August instead of September that I'm completely familiar with and ends in May instead of June which I'm also familiar with. Well, not everything stays the same in life and we all have to adapt with the changes that come across us. I myself had to get used to supporting the smart decisions that my younger siblings make as they keep maturing, especially the youngest sister since she's now out of high school. There was a time when all of us would live in the same house and see each other every day. Now, I can't remember the last time when when that happened cause we all moved on and live separately and already we're used to it. Major part of being an adult is just accepting changes in family life, technology, and society as well. We make not like most of it, but we can't do anything about it that much except taking it or leaving it.

As for me, I spent the last six months at a warehouse in Sylmar helping out underprivileged middle-functioning adults at this place called Build Rehabilitation Industries. I was about to work as a washer/porter at Galpin Ford that my friend told me about last year but the last position was already taken at the time. My friend then said that he can get me in as another alternative by just helping out with the clients there at the warehouse for half a year as a quick reference so that I can get that job at Galpin Ford without having to be interviewed there. It was quite an interesting experience at Build for the first half of the year. Dealt with all different types of people that you don't normally see out in the public. Most of them can't read, write, spell or speak clearly and they're all twice as old as me. I did get paid for being there, but the check varies every two weeks since I wasn't getting paid hourly. Sometimes it low (my lowest was 18 bucks) and sometimes on a day that is jumping, the check get high (my highest was $350). But in most cases, I'm wasn't too concerned about the pay there that much. I was supposed to finished at the end of the month, but since the staff there really liked me, they decided to put me in at Galpin Ford for that position, a month before my six month stint ended. The job is alright. I just wipe Mustangs and other vehicles inported from Detroit and I leave work with that new car smell every day. The pay is alot better cause unlike Build Rehabilitation Industries, this one was hourly. I'm working there so that I can get better photography lenses and equipment for the summer among other important things. I wanna improve my skills and enhance my photography business alot more, so therefore, the gig at Galpin Ford is just on the side to make some cash, even though I'm there full time 5 days a week for 8 hours. There'll be some times when I may not like it, but then again its part of every job and I have to just plow through it.

Since the last time I typed on here in the middle of March, even though I dealt with a lot of bullshit, the only thing that was impressive was the sports world here in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Dodgers currently have the best record in Major League Baseball right now. Shoutout to Ervin "Magic" Johnson and the Guggenheim Baseball Management for turning over a new leaf at the Chavez Ravine. Went to a game against the San Francisco Giants and thankfully there were no "monkey business" from the intoxicated fans just like opening day last year. Plus there were several Giants fans in the Left Field Pavillion where me and my homies were sitting at, but again, nothing wild didn't happened. Also, it was the first time in forever that the Staples Center had a different playoff game everyday from the Lakers, Clippers and surprisingly, the Los Angeles Kings. When I mean everyday, I mean EVERY DAMN DAY. Hell, there were days when there would be two different games at Staples in the same day, which is rare. We're used to the Lakers making it all the way to the big dance, but they didn't get past the second round courtesy of the confident Kevin Durant and his Western Conference champions Oklahoma City Thunder. We're used to the Clippers making a fools of themselves during the NBA season, yet the shortened season made them alot opportunistic with the talent of Blake Griffin and his teammate Chris Paul who was supposed to be with the other LA basketball team, and like the Lakers, they didn't get that far in the playoffs as the San Antonio Spurs stopped them by showing that they still have some life left in this aging team. Finally, we're used to Kings not even touching the Stanley Cup Finals, or the playoffs for it, every year. Apparently they surprised everyone by winning alot in the playoffs and that sucked in interest to alot of non-ice hockey fans for the past several weeks, including myself. I'm not a fan of ice-hockey at all, but watching them at the Stanley Cup Finals against the New Jersey Devils (who also played against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim back in 2003 at the Finals) suddenly just became too addicting.

To be 1000% real, this year Stanley Cup Finals was the first time I EVER watched an NHL game in its entirety, not just five minutes of it. Plus this was history being made which was another reason why I was tuned in. Viewed most of the games at the De La Torre's place. I felt high and fell to the ground laughing with some weird excitement after the clinched the Stanley Cup at Game Six, and the best part was that they won it at home. It felt like when the Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics at home in Game Seven two years ago, only this time it felt slightly different. Reason being is that this win is mostly for the REAL down-ass LA Kings fans who have been season ticket holders since "The Great One" Wanye Gretzky took them to the Stanley Cup Finals back when they played at the Forum in 1993 and the fans before that when they had the same colors as the Lakers in their uniforms (that DID happen cause the Kings and Lakers were owned by Jack Kent Cooke then, now its fucking AEG). I almost went to the victory parade, but I didn't cause one of my friends I was about to go with couldn't make it and also, I wanted to let the real fans enjoy it for once. They really earned it.

Lastly before this post goes on for another 5 years, I'll just recap the weekend since it was one of the best ones I had in a long time. My pops is out of the state, meaning he wasn't available for Father's day yesterday, so I had to watch over his full size Lexus till he comes back. I went over to my homegirl Nicole Stetter's place last Friday evening to give her a belated birthday gift cause it already passed three weeks ago and I haven't her and her partner Jorge Herrea in months. The gift I got her were two rolls of 35mm film: a Kodak 400 speed T-Max Black and White film and a Kodak 400 speed Portra color negative film. Ate homemade dinner that she prepared and also blew some balloons for her twins kids that got them very excited. After that I drove to my buddy Richard's crib and had some laughs there while I listened to his stories as we watched Next Friday on his TV. Then on Saturday, I met up with my old classmate from my filmmaking class back in high school at Starbucks in Mission Hills just to catch up on life and she how she's been doing since we left Kennedy high six years ago. Later on, I drove to Burbank for a pool party that my buddy's girl was hosting. To my amusement, only  about 10 people attended. It was on a very nice day and I kept wondering why they haven't showed up during the afternoon. But it was great meeting some new friends and taking a couple of photos there. Special thanks to Liz and Jeff for inviting me. I left at around 8PM and stopped by In-N-Out to get a Double-Double meal there. That shit is now close to 7 bucks, but then again, money is tight nowadays.

When I got home, my little brother then told me he wanted me to drive him to a Nigerian Youth "Function" party in Gardena with his car. I wanted to decline since I was out all day but because I still had some energy in me, I went to escort him and also to make sure that he's safe. The club was at a lowkey spot in Gardena just a walking distance from my photography buddy Joseph Harris' crib (his website: http://www.cherishedmomentsbyjoeharris.com/). Damn, I still need to drop by there like I used to back in 2009. Dude helped me out alot and saved my ass that time. But anyways, we got there and the interior looks like a scene from Tron mixed with some Electric Daisy Carnival from two weeks ago. Alot of laser lights and shit. About 100 young people around my brother's age (he'll be 20 in August) packed the club, with several attractive Nigerian females, but it kinda hard to see since it was dark. The DJ there fucking sucked. He didn't know when to transition at the right moment but then again, the young bloke is just doing his best. We were there till 3AM and then afterwards we had to drop off one of my brother's female friends nearby and then went back to the Valley by bumping Power Tools on Power 106.

I didn't plan on doing anything on Sunday so that I can get rested up for another long week of work. But after seeing a photo that Nicole posted of herself in her store on instagram (which I'll write about in the next blogpost) I decided to drive down there to check it out. The place is called Twin Lemons Collective and its a thrift store located in the border between West Hills and Woodland Hills, just next to the 101 freeway bridge crossing Ventura Boulevard. I missed out on their opening party back in March and other events that they held there, so I made it a day on Sunday to finally check it out. The place is awesome, like REALLY awesome. Every thing inside the store is authentic and natural, makes it Toys-R-Us for Gen-Xer's again. So many vintage items there that you won't see anymore or can't even find on the internet. Plus the atmosphere and the vibe there just makes it fit at home and fits the mood into its nostalgic theme. I'm very proud of the homies Nicole and Jorge to take so much of their time dedication and pride to put this store together. Wish them the best in everything they accomplish. By the Way, Twin Lemons Collective is on 22311 Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills/West Hills. I recommend y'all should check it out.

I end this post here since I threw down alot so far. I'll try to type some more on this blogsite since things are looking good so far. I say this every New Years Eve, you don't just expect a great year, you make it a great year. Thanks for your time reading this, even though its a lot.

Busy Shades of Winter

So Superbowl XLVI is tomorrow. Fuck, already?

I used to get hyped up for that day every year, but for tomorrow's game, not so much. It's somewhat of a rematch of the Super Bowl from 4 years ago, with both the New England Patriots and the New York Giants going against each other for the Vince Lombardi trophy in front of over 800 million something people watching around the world. If the Niners and or the Ravens won on their conference championship games instead, then I'd be more interested for tomorrow. And already websites are playing the $3,000,000 30 second ads that will be aired in-between the games. I only saw one of them and its for the new Honda CR-V crossover featuring Matthew Broderick reprising his role as Ferris Bueller since the commercial satires some of the scenes from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I thought it was another 1980's resurrection "keeping the franchise alive" type bullshit piece, which it kinda is, but I actually liked this ad.

I was a huge fan of that movie back when TBS would play this film every now and then in the early 2000's. I remember reading one of the screenplay drafts of the film on my moms old computer and printing the script which turned out to be about 170 pages! I'd like that more then the film itself but the only difference is that it showed some dark, rebellious moods of Ferris and some of the scenes that were cut off form the final film include him, Sloane and Cameron going to a strip club, visiting a radio station, Ferris going to his pops room to take his savings bond check or something like that and the ending credits clip were it showed Mr. Rooney going on the school bus with the students from his high school was supposed to be somewhere in the middle around the final third part of the film. Plus according to the draft, Ferris had two other siblings instead of just Jeanie, so yeah, the late John Hughes (RIP) cut off alot of shit from the screenplay, even during the principal photography of the production. Bottom line, this is one of the best films made because of the message that it showcase. Its all about just searching and enjoying your life every now and then cause its flies by "pretty fast".

But other than that I'll probably watch the Super Bowl cause everybody else that I know who's never watch a regular season NFL game will be viewing the Patriots V. Giants part II tomorrow, and to watch the ads as well as Madonna still showing that even fifty-somethings (no disrespect) can still be trendy in the "Barack Obama post-recession" era during halftime.

As for myself, I've been more booked and busy since the last time I wrote on here. I did a lot of interesting things, including going to a Burger King which sells Miller Light beer (didn't drink) and taking several photos of attractive female entertainers who fake orgasms, but hey, its my job.

My friend Nicole Stetter threw this one kickback at her place two Fridays ago. I wasn't really gonna attend but then I changed my mind later cause I haven't seen any of my mutual friends in several months including the group Santoros who was performing there. After I heard that they were gonna perform, I thought its was gonna be as chaotic as the last time they performed in Granada Hills, (blogged about here last summer http://justforsneaks07.blogspot.com/2011/07/sporting-entertainments.html)

but it wasn't like that. The crowd grew moderately as the time went by, but it didn't fill up to full capacity like it did last year, and there was nobody swimming in Nicole's swimming pool. When I arrived, I ran into some OG's from middle school and high school that I haven't seen in years and talked with them for a while. Then took some photos of Santoros performing and this one group called Blue Jungle. I've never seen them performed before, but I liked them, especially the lead singer. Never have I seen a female vocalist who would go walking in style onto the crowd and sing right next to the people watching them. Band was terrific and I think they did like five songs. Later on, I chilled in Nicole's room with a few other people as they construct a small jam session. This was one of the best jam sessions that I ever heard, and THIS WAS REAL FUCKING MUSIC RIGHT THERE. Everyone was just brainstorming with different instruments by just playing them with confidence and it was raw. The homegirl D'Ana Joi Spencer (http://awakewithjoi.tumblr.com/) was running things with her ukulele and her fantastic vocal signing skills, with others playing with instruments you would never hear that much in person such as bongos, an organ and the homeboy Victor Diaz (http://victortillas.com/) was strumming along with an Acoustic guitar. A few minutes later, I then passed out on Nicole's couch and somewhat missed out on the rest of that night. I didn't drink but the cold outside her backyard made me tired. Major shoutout to Nicole, Jorge, Uriel Jimenez, Leticia Llesmin, Amanda Welsch, and everyone else that was there that night. That's how a standard gathering should always be like.

I also got a chance to spend some time with my moms and the sisters this past Monday night. Haven't seen them for a month but it was great to catch up with them. We drove around from my sister's work in 24 Hour Fitness in Burbank to Downtown LA near the American Apparel headquarters factory through some neighborhoods in Hancock Park and the Mid-City portion of Los Angeles. Stopped by this joint called Lucy's to get some enchiladas on Pico and La Brea by the suggestion of one of my sisters and I haven't ate at Lucy's since 1996. My family and I used to go there RELIGIOUSLY back in the day and the enchiladas were still made the same after all these years. Finally drove through Century City and I was giving them some brief history lessons and facts about each neighborhood and city we drove by like I was some sort of cheap tour guides. Great time with them. Wish it was like this more often but then again, we're all getting older so its better to do it once in a while.

And if things couldn't get more brilliant, the first day of February started off flawless for me, minus the passing of Don Cornelius earlier that morning. First, I got a chance to do this paid non-photography gig at the Califone warehouse not to far away from my place in Sylmar, where I spent 4 hours unloading boxes from trucks and organizing them in pallets. For those who remember way WAY back in the day at elementary school, before 1994, Califone was this company that made those blue phonograph turntables with the big speaker in front with the words Califone over it in white, and every classroom would have one where the teachers forced us to sing a bunch of songs that we'll never want to sing in the future. But it was alot of work that day. My muscles ached and I had to wear a backbrace which show just how serious the unloading was. The whole process kept me motivated and confident, like I was doing 5 miles on a treadmill. I left with a couple of splinters on my hand from carrying all the wooden pallets for the forklifts. Hopefully they might ask for me again for another gig. Second, I finally got the Adobe Lightroom 4 Beta installed on the iMac at the living room in my place. I downloaded it right after Adobe announced it three weeks ago, but I couldn't complete the installation process cause the passwords were changed on the iMac the week before and one of my house mates misplaced the list. So we finally manage to recover it and already proceeded with installing it. Lightroom 4 looks very similar to the previous version, only with a few small tweaks. I've only edited 2 photos so far cause I haven't got a chance to fully play with it. I'm gonna be using it to edit the photos I took of the kickback at Nicole Stetter's place last week, as well as the photoshoot I did of my homegirl Molly back on New Years day a month ago. The absolute best part of the Lightroom 4 beta trail is that the software doesn't expire until the full final software is released around late March or early April. Usually, Adobe would give about a month for their users to try their software applications, including the Creative Suite package, but for Lightroom 4 beta, its about two months that I get to use this for free. You can't beat that, since Lightroom is the most popular application that photographers use to fix up their work and projects.

Third and finally, I drove over to my friend Tiffany Zhang's place in the Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village area. Haven't seen her in person in a year and a half, which was around the time the week after the Lakers won their 16th title. She wanted me to help her create a listing so that she can sell some of her stuff. Then we talked for a bit and she later made me some dinner straight from China, where she's from. Dumplings and dates with sticky rice wrapped around it. I enjoyed it ALOT, and it made me ask for seconds. Had a fun time catching up with her and its been four years of that day since I first met her at the Apple Store in Sherman Oaks back in 2008. Thanks again Tiffany for the delicious food.

I really wanted to watch David Letterman celebrate his 30th year on late night television that night with Howard Stern as one of his guests, but I was really tired from all that work and driving during the way. Letterman just broke Johnny Carson's tenure has hosting a late night talk show from 1963 to 1992, which was about 29 years. I think David has a couple of years to do this cause I honestly don't see him hanging it up, he's been doing this shit since 1982. Major props to him, and in my opinion, he should've gotten The Tonight Show 20 years ago if the NBC suits haven't screwed him over by picking Leno so that they can focus on the "younger audience". They should've left that for Arsenio Hall cause his show featured all of that and he could've been around for a few more years in the 90's.

So that's what I've been up to these past few days and weeks. Looks like February is gonna be another packed month. The new kid on the music block Lana Del Rey is gonna be performing at Amoeba Records this Tuesday at 6PM. I'm gonna try to attend that so that I can see her in person after watching her on Saturday Night Live last month. It might be tricky cause I can assume that there's gonna be a shitload of people there. Not really alot but a decent amount of people and plus she just got started. I'll take some photos and buy her record, but hopefully, I'll try to score an autograph since Amoeba's website said that the autograph session is "sold out". What the fuck does that mean. Is Lana Del Rey's time very limited or something? If she really cares for her fans, then should just not abide by her publicist's rules (if she's has one) and let her stay as long as she wants. The other most important thing, in my case, is to try to pick up the Air Jordan IV Retro White/Cement colorway that releases later this month. It's an original colorway from 1989 and the Air Jordans that Buggin' out went crazy after that bloke in the Celtics jersey scuffed on it in Do The Right Thing. I might have already talked about this sneaker and I'll probably talk about it again later.

Another thing, well 2 things actually, is some stuff that I wanna spit out from my mind. First is those "Shit People Says" video clips. I live in Los Angeles which is a very diverse city and I seen every different races and culture lifestyles in the 24 years that I've been living here. Same thing from watching the movie Crash as well, which is a must see. Everytime I go on the internet to upload some of my photos on a forum my Facebook or website, I always come across a different "Shit People Says" clip, and each one portrays a different ethnic race or some stereotype being portrayed. Honestly, that shit is played out. It was fine when different comedians used to make fun of their own race a few years ago before 2006 because people can relate to what their saying since their speaking the truth. I'm not a racist and I don't like to bring up that topic that much anymore, cause at the end of the day, we're all just regular people with different backgrounds. I'll do my best just to ignore them cause apparently, its becoming the new "trend" this year. Speaking of trends, fuck that one percenter Jack Dorsey and his Twitter suits up in Silicon Valley. Letting people trend about fake celebrity deaths for more than day and y'all can't have your programmers prevent that shit or make some PSA type notice about it? Shit is totally childish and immature using death as a play thing. That fool and whoever else is in charge needs to do a better job overseeing the content. I seriously think Justin Bieber's and Selena Gomez's publicists should tax him 38% of his earnings, not the companies, for everytime their fans worship the young couple on the trending topic. I'm only on Twitter just to plug my photography, so I have to be on there.

Well, that just show that not everything is perfect. Its a wild and bizarre lifestyle everyone endures every 24 hours. We do things and see things that we don't like in front of us. From that hot girl we think who's with a dude that she doesn't deserve to be holding hands with to long ridiculous lines at the courthouses and the Department of Motor Vehicles only to see two out of the 10 booths open to seeing a group of 15 year old teenagers on the subways during school hours unless if they go to a private charter school with a strange schedule. What's important is bypassing all of that distraction and reaching out to where your goals are targeted every day. Most people will receive free stuff without getting anything out of it whereas some people will earn stuff after putting out everything. Just focus on your best, and fuck the rest. Thanks for your time reading.

Kickin' and Screamin'

Christmas weekend was decent. But the part about getting into a heated argument with my little brother after church and hitting on a semi-attractive woman 22 years older than me in Spanglish wasnt.

I spent those two days of it at two of my friend's house. I didn't receive alot of stuff this year other than a $75 Macy's gift card and a $50 check from my pops, but I liked watching my friends, their kids and nephews and nieces getting excited and watching their reaction as they unwrapped the presents they got. I also watched two films on TV during that weekend at their place: Horrible Bosses on DVD and A Game of Honor on my homie's Showtime On Demand. When Horrible Bosses came out during the summer, I thought that it was gonna be a piece of shit film with forced played out jokes and light bland acting. Plus I didn't like the concept of it as it came out during a time when people didn't have a job with bosses to bitch about, and those fortunate with jobs can't bitch about their bosses on their Facebook status. That was all before I watched this movie. After it finished playing, my opinion was different cause that entire film was funny as hell.

They should've made Jennifer Aniston a cameo in this flick and her acting in the movie is different as a minor cast member instead of taking lead roles as in other film. The plot of Horrible Bosses is slightly similar to Office Space, another earlier film that Aniston was also in, which relates to those fed up with their everyday jobs and the managers that signs their checks.

A Game of Honor is a documentary about the behind the scenes leading up to the annual traditional Navy-Army college football game that was played earlier this month (the same game that my homegirl Tina and I watched at Yardhouse in Newport Beach which I last blogged about). Its amazing and mind-thumping to see the new students at the US Naval Academy having to go through the intense disciplinary lifestyle and saying goodbye to their parents during the orientation. I got re-fueled alot more about responsibilities and respect from watching that documentary, from having to go defend and represent your country after finishing the requirements at the academy, as well as doing what it all takes to win a football game with your team members and showing your respect to those who gave you what you have from having to pull a lot of work and sacrifice just to put you were you're at in a fortunate position, just like the troops and soldiers have done for the past 225 years . If you're into the Armed Forces or know anyone who's served in the military and likes football, then this is a excellent film to check out. Major super props to the those in the Air Force, Marines, Army, Navy and the Coast Guard for doing so much work. I've been to military bases at Port Hueneme in Oxnard, El Segundo, Las Vegas, Sacramento and San Diego and just watching those in uniform had me thinking all the time, in a way similar to being in the same room with a traditional elder who's been alive for over so many years (at least 85) and still has perfect health. That's something you can't argue or debate about. Its untouchable. Forget money or politics in this, those are people just making lives better, and they're set for life for doing that. Again, thanks to those using their time in the military bases and the De La Torre's and Galvez's for the hospitality not just during the holiday weekend, but this entire year as well.

Another thing that was been happening throughout the holiday weekend was the release of the Air Jordan XI Concords colorway. In the last post I said that the release for this sneaker was gonna be wild with fights breaking out, AND I WAS TOTALLY RIGHT. Many people who've never collected expensive Nikes as a passion were surprised to see this occuring just for a basketball show, yet they fail to realize the whole meaning behind this shoe, not just because Michael Jordan wore it to win his fourth ring. It was the first (well second after the rare Nike Sky Force thanks to legendary east coast sneaker connoisseur DJ Bobbito Garcia from Its The Shoes) to have Patent Leather on a basketball shoe as well as carbon fiber on the bottom which has never been done before. Also, this was the first Jordan sneaker that Michael wore for his first full season in 1995 back from his first retirement. Ahmad Rashad debuted the XI's by wearing them during the Bulls playoff game against the Orlando Magic that summer before the Bulls 72-10 season on National television, which started the longevity buzz for the shoes, and in the finals during the 1995-96 season, the Chicago Bulls won their fourth title on Fathers Day that June, and it was significant for Michael cause this was the first championship that he won without his pops James Jordan to witness it, and there's a photo of him on the floor in the locker room that displays that moment. The XI's are Michael's personal favorite shoes, which makes it the most sought out Jordans of all time. That release from last Friday was nothing new. Everytime the XI's have been released (such as the Cool Grey XI from last year and 2001 when Jordan was in the Washington Wizards, the Space Jams XI re-release in 2009), there is always reports of chaos and fights in the shopping malls, but the Concords XI was another backlash.

The whole damn news media was in this all over the world. I knew that there was gonna be some shit that was gonna happen, but NOT LIKE THIS! Damn, there were fools who hid inside the malls just to get this shoe, with lines formed with over a THOUSAND PEOPLE, and I'm surprised many of them have the cash to get those sneakers, yet they complain and whine about fuel prices and not obtaining a job? Shut the fuck up man. And I'm saying to those who buy the shoes just cause its hot and everybody else will wear them with no knowledge of the origins of the shoe, or Air Jordans in general. What made this shit go to another universe was that some kid lost his life for those Concords and that's where the negativity come in. Yes, they were being sold for $180 which is a lot. As a sneaker enthusiast, I'm not surprised about the price. Its all about supply and demand. The hottest shoe plus greater interest in them from the consumer generates unimaginable profits for Nike, Brand Jordan and the resellers. Now because of this mess, Jordan Brand is being viewed by non-sneaker enthusiasts as "a company that creates expensive basketball shoes that people will die for", literally. There were lines EVERYWHERE, which shows just how serious the Air Jordan XI Concords. I didn't intend on getting a pair since I paid majority of my emergency savings to help pay for my little brother's rental car but, shoutout to the people who got them and have been planning on copping those XI's for the past year. To those who've never worn or owned a pair of Air Jordans such as those not earning income or the newsmedia, talk about something else and quit expanding the negativity for the Concords. They're just shoes, and don't be surprised if the same shit happens when the Columbia XI's get released next year, the shoes that Jordan wore at the 1996 All Star Game in San Antonio that year.

Well, all this talk about the Jordan XI's bring me back to my days of smelling a brand new pair of fresh Nikes. That's pretty much the main reason why my photography business name is JustForSneaks Ent. I created it during the summer of 2006 when I was creating a screen name for my account on NikeTalk, an underground sneaker forum. The JustForSneaks Ent. name (originally JustForSneaks07) came from a DVD that came out around the time of my high school graduation called Just For Kicks, which is a documentary about the sneaker culture and the history behind it and how popular it became over the years. I took that name and switch the word "Kicks" with "Sneaks" as a synonym. The 07 was for the following year 2007 and the Ent. part of the name is short for either Entertainment or Enterprises, or both, two of my core focuses. During that time was when it was fun and awesome to buy shoes and to get reactions from them by other people. I once got a remark from my 12th grade Goverment teacher when I wore my Zoom Kobe 1's to class, and he said this during class. Great feeling. Now I hardly buy sneakers, and I haven't got a pair in two years. But then again, the recession and the price hike of Air Jordans overshadow the reason.

I've always been into shoes for a long time. Started out with a new pair of Payless shoes twice a year in elementary, then Adidas and Converse from 8th grade to the middle of 11th grade. I never liked Nikes during the 90's until I saw Michael J. Fox rock the OG 1985 Nike Bruins with the red swoosh and of course the Air Mags in the Back to the Future trilogy. I though I was shit out of luck when I realize that Nike stopped making those since they came out of in the 80's but I saw that the Nike Dunk and Air Force 1's has been brought back for people to wear again during high school, and they were similar to the Bruins since they were also from the 80's and have a big ass swoosh on it. When I saw the price for them at Foot Connection next to the Red Robin at Northridge Fashion Center in 2002, I was upset and of course my parents wouldn't copped them for me since my allowance game was weak as hell. I got my very first pair of Nikes in March 2005 for my 17th birthday, which were the Nike Franchise Low. This is what it looks like...

Unfortunately, this was the only photo I have wearing them when I was in 11th Grade. I was shooting a short film at the Kennedy High school track field with the Canon ZR80 DV camera during my filmmaking days back in June 2005 during the last week of school. My friends and I spent the entire last day of school editing it. By the way, the blue Fruit of The Loom Shirt and Puritan Khakis were both less than $15 from Wal-Mart, plus the shoes which were $35 from the JCPenney at the Fox Hills Mall my aunt got for me totals to $50. I bought a pair of Air Jordan basketball shorts for $50 in 2007 once.

I'll probably make a separate blog about all the shoes that I've gotten and give you a history about them. I don't know when that will happen but probably after I buy my next pair of shoes, which is either the Zoom Kobe VII's or the Air Jordan White/Cement IV's that they're bringing back, which ever is first. The next post will give my final thoughts of 2011 and a recap of this past year, which I'll have up by the end of by tomorrow or on New Years Day this Sunday. Thanks alot for reading alot of this.

Serving Laundry To Others

Well, I was supposed to recap my last weekend this past week, but we're already in this current weekend.

The reason why is because I spent majority of the past week busy taking care of some personal, yet minimal matters with my moms, including on Father's day which coincidently happened to be my little sister's 22nd birthday. That week started off by both my moms and I copping her a inexpensive Samsung laptop as a gift for her. Then the rest of the days went on from paying a $35 oil change for her '99 Altima at Nissan Mission Hills to driving all the way to the Anaheim Hilton to with the moms and the sisters yesterday only to miss an award ceremony that my moms was supposed to participate in, yet they gave her the certificate while they were taking down the sets at one of convention halls there.

Later on we picked up my brother and then headed out to the Hometown Buffet in Burbank and Empire next to the Burbank Airport. I haven't been to a Hometown Buffet since my 21st birthday two years ago and I forgot how worse it's gotten. The food they serve there doesn't have that much of an appeal that it had when my entire family used to go there after church before the parents split up. The place was full because there were a lot of families that were celebrating their kids graduation from elementary and middle school that day and watching all them feasting on the food makes it look like a bunch of virgin dudes consuming 30 boxes of pizza during a Hack-A-Thon session on Mark Zuckerburg's computers at his dorm room. I didn't realized that until I finished my plates of Enchiladas, Nachos and a Salad with the Ranch dressing that must've been stored at the wrong suggested refrigerator temperature. That shit was watery. The Pink Lemonade saved my dinner, but the dinner itself made me TOO FULL. I could barely move from my table. Hell, I felt like I gained 25 pounds or something like that cause I was hurting like crazy. I'm totally done with that place. By the way, shoutout to the fine Amy Winehouse looking Armenian hostess chick at the front counter that charged us for the dinner and table. The line to get inside got expanded like wildness outside when we left and she had to deal with all those impatient families who's kids just graduated.

The family and I then walked to the Best Buy not too far from the Hometown Buffet to kill some extra time. Moms and I was gonna buy my sister's notebook there on Sunday, but we went to the one at Glendale cause they had one that has decent specs at a good price. Again, I felt like complete shit from all that food I ate earlier, so I swooped all the way to the Magnolia Home Theater section at the back at the store, sat at one of the large sexy leather reclining chairs in front of one of their Big Widescreen HDTV sets and STAYED THERE for the entire time. I didn't want to get up while the food was still digesting.

What's also sexy was that a Shakira concert Blu-Ray was being played at the screen in front of me while every other TV screen there had ESPN on talking about the bullshit headlines happening in sports, so I was lucky and fortunate enough to get a good viewing experience. Man, I can believe that its already been a full decade that Shakira has been in the scene. I remember when her song "Whenever, Wherever" first played on the radio and MTV just two months after the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York and The Pentagon in 2001. Then a month later, my little brother got a PSone (the smaller compact version of the OG Playstation) for Christmas and the slogan, somewhat coincidental, for that console was "Whenever, wherever, forever". Ten years later, she's still fine doing the same thing and that concert was tight. Felt like I was there in person while I was watching it. I forgot how long my family was looking around the store, but we then left later since I had to go back to my place.

So yeah, that's pretty much my week. Mostly family stuff, along with working on photos for my business. Speaking of which, I did a last minute photoshoot for my friend Nicole Stetter's band Darger De Milo at her place on Thursday night. Shot it on 35mm film. It was fun getting some shots of them and listening to them work on some great new material which looked like an episode of MTV Unplugged. Major props to her group.

By the way, journalism was very weird this week. So many weak headlines. From the dude that founded Thrasher magazine (which I don't read, but I see that magazine alot in skate shops back when I used to buy Nike SB's) who offed himself, to Ron Artest legally changing his name to Metta World Peace (yes, that the name, which looks kind of tight) to a lot of top tier companies being hacked left and right and to Kim Kardashian posting a X-Ray photo of her ass (I really like her and all, but really? Selling yourself like that?) among other things. I don't even want to bring up that 29 year old mother who had to force her 6 month old inside a Microwave and a big "happy" party in New York City last night, which I'll leave that for you to figure out. Now there are other major world issues out there that are more important and valid, but I think alot of the media does not want to publish it because to them, and pretty much everyone else, those have nothing to do with them and they can't do anything about it since it doesn't affect certain people. Plus, those people have other priorities to worry about, like financially raising their kids or those university graduates trying to head start their career by landing interviews for a full time job on their own.

I didn't plan on making this post lengthy today, but somehow it just happened. Not everyone like to read stuff that's very long, which is why I created a separate site on Wordpress where its just photos with a mixture of interesting journalism from pop culture and some of my photography work. Six days from now, it'll be the mid point of 2011. Now before y'all think that I spent three quarters of my life on the social media webscene, that day means a lot to me, which sounds shady as hell but it really is. On July 1st, it'll be my fifth year on Facebook, my fourth year on Flickr, my third year on this site, two and a half years on Twitter and half a year on Wordpress and my website so far, and not to forget , my homegirl Jade Luber's 23rd birthday. For this new start of the "fiscal year" under the JustForSneaks Ent. production name, I'm planning on launching a new site on that day. I've been thinking about it for the past several months and since I'm a photographer trying to get better and better every now and then, I figured I'd expand my creativity to a broaden the viewership and be more recognized. This site will be photography related. So if you're a fan of my work (which you should be) and/or just appreciate photography as an art itself, then you'll like this site. The thing is that I haven't came up with a name for it. Already I have Random Shots for this Blogger-hosted site and Nobody Reads Anymore for my Wordpress-hosted site. This third blogsite needs a name that fits and sounds VERY similar to those other two names and if anybody on here who's reading this that can give me a very appealing name for the new site...

I'll hook them up with free In-N-Out T-shirt of their size and lunch from there.

I'm dead fucking serious about this, otherwise I wouldn't put this up. I like giving stuff away to other people. I'm more of a giver than a receiver which you hardly see now a days, especially in this economic recession. I'm a guy that doesn't give a shit about prices on certain things cause to me, money is just paper that causes problems, if not handled very well. If I feel like spending at least $200 a month on processing film and buying packs of 35mm rolls, I'll do that. If I want to spend my last $40 on packs of Gatorade and Little Ceasers pizza and fresh FinishLine socks to give out to the bums on Venice Beach? Shit, I'll do that... if I want to. That's my kind of philanthropy. If anyone disapproves with that, which has happened to me in the past because of me not having a legit decent job, then go ahead. I'm just trying to be nice. I get free stuff every now and then but sometimes I like to give it to those who I think need it more than I do.

But yeah, just give me a dope-ass title, and you'll get free lunch and a sick T-shirt. For inspiration of the name, just look (and when I mean look, I mean just spend at least 10 to 15 seconds looking at each photo) at my work on the sites below. Its that basic. All I'm doing is showcasing my profession for those who are seriously interested. Its what I like to do.

Here are the links to my other sites (which many of you get tired of seeing on Facebook and Twitter every other day)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justforsneaks07

http://justforsneaks.wordpress.com/

and my Youtube page just for the fuck of it, which I had since March 2006 (before Google's acquisition)

http://www.youtube.com/mitube

again, hit me up on Facebook or twitter or shoot me a text message or write on the comments below if you have a great title for the site. Seriously, who doesn't want free In-N-Out? They can even give you a Double-Double without the beef for those who are vegans. But seriously, thanks for taking your time to do this. Totally appreciate it.

Oh and major shout to my mutual friend Annamarie Rhyne who's going on an epic trip to different countries this summer. I wish you the best and safe travels on your expedition, and thanks to you and Christina Campa for inviting me to your going away party last week.

You can't Judge the Present by the Design of its Wrapping Paper: A Christmas Weekend recap

If you read the last post, which I'm sure many of you have, then you've noticed that I was saying a some short harsh things about the overhype marketing on Christmas Day and how the holiday shopping season overshadows the true meaning of December 25. Understand that this was what I thought of it. Half of it is facts while its mostly opinion in its entirety.

But after surviving the Christmas weekend, I had second thoughts about what I wrote on that day. To me, what I wrote on the last post was just an outside view of that day. I'm gonna write the inside view of it, which was as better as I thought is was. Shit, it was way better, despite all the bullshit situations that I dealt with throughout last week. From the transmission on my compact sedan giving up to my T-Mobile contract expiring, which means I'm without a cell phone for the time being, and somehow last Saturday made me set those (no pun intended) uncalled for problems aside, or pretty much away from my distance.

First, I just wanna let out that I didn't get any presents, gifts or anything under the tree with my name on it. I could care MUCH LESS about getting "free stuff" from people on that day. As a matter a fact, I looked back this past year, and I've noticed I've BEEN getting free stuff every month at the least, and I'm very thankful and privileged for that. I'd be more delighted to get a card with some girl's handwriting on it over a nice wristwatch or a Xbox 360 (by the way, shoutout to the lucky fuckers (pun intended) who's girls spoiled them with that Microsoft console and then some. SHIT!) Bottom line, its all about being with family and close ones, which I've said many times because that shit is true.

Now onto the recap.

I was given orders by my moms to take her and my sister to LAX on Christmas morning at around 4AM. They came at 5AM instead so when I asked them what time their flight is, they told me that its at 6AM. I told them that they should've left their house at 3AM instead but my sister told me that they over slept. We managed to get to the Los Angeles International Airport on time. I helped them unload their luggage at the terminal and then my moms told me to take good care of her Ford Explorer for a week since they're traveling to the midwest of the United States until New Years Day. I think they picked the wrong time to go over there, and I told my sisters to wear a shitload of jackets. After that, I bounced out of LAX in my mom's SUV and headed back to my pop's house by driving on the Pacific Coast Highway and through the mountains on the Topanga Canyon Boulevard pass.

After I got home, my pops talked to my little brother and I about what this day is all about from his point of view in the living room. I'm not gonna front but that got me really touched up for a moment. I sat in my room for about an hour just sitting there, not doing anything. I was thinking and pondering about how we went from my entire family, before the parents split, singing some songs from the Church hymnal and opening our multitude of presents that we got to just my brother taking his new cellular phone and a drum machine from under the tree and going about his business in his room, like it just a regular day. It was a frequent thing that happens every year and I thought that shit wasn't gonna end, but apparently it didn't happen.

After I collected my thoughts, I went to make a surprise visit to my friend Nicole Stetter's place, which is about 5 minutes from my pop's house. Her entire family was there, which is what I liked to see. I gave her a children's book I got back in September that Tori Spelling published, and inside of it was her autograph with Nicole and her kids names written in her handwriting. I held it for three months so that I can give it to her at the right time. I spent some time there eating peppermint brownies that Nicole made, which were very delicious, and started talking about how I didn't like and approve Nick Cannon dating Mariah Carey with Nicole's family since they were watching the Disneyland Christmas Parade on TV hosted by him. Later on, I then drove to my church in Sylmar (I'm an Adventist by the way, not Jewish) to see the annual Christmas program, which to my dismay, they did a regular church service instead. I was only there for a portion of the service, and then I left to go to Downtown Los Angeles to catch the vibe and action of the self-called "Lakers/Heat Christmas Day ratings game". Yeah, I admit, I wasn't supposed to do that on Christmas Day, but sometime, you have to take the necessary risks, and plus, I'm already a legal adult.

I wanted to drive down to park at LA Live but I too the Metro Subway there instead. I wasn't going to the actual game inside Staples Center, but I hung around the VIP entrance to take photos of the celebrities go inside the arena. Hey, if you don't approve what I did, then deal with it, cause that's what I'm really great at in terms of photography. Speaking of which, I ran into some paparazzi that I used to see alot on Robertson Blvd and Beverly Hills everyday back in late 2008, and I knew that they wouldn't rest on Christmas Day cause from having experience in this business, it never shuts down. The reason why I say that cause they're always a "money shot" opportunity waiting to happen within the 24 hours of the day, regardless if there's a serious tropical storm or God forbid, a national tragedy or anything that gets in the way to civilians.

This will probably be the last time I might be taking photos of famous people in general. I'm not too sure yet cause I might be there when the Boston Celtics come to town again on January 30th since that is the other big marquee game on the Lakers 2010-11 season schedule, which draws the majority of A-list stars and plus the game will be nationally televised. You know what, fuck it, I'm done doing that shit. I'll probably go over there, but I'll take someone with me who has a greater interest of taking photos of someone famous, probably someone who's out of state for that matter. If I was 15 years old doing this, I'd be the top of the student body in my class in terms of publicity and recognition throughout the whole school. Hell, even the hot girls would show much interest. But I will never get that experience again, cause as an adult, some people around my age have better things to do instead of hearing what actor you saw the other day.

There weren't that many female stars that showed up to the Staples Center than the males stars to my surprise. Despite the cops and the weak security making sure that shit doesn't go off, it was great seeing Sinbad and Kevin Hart (dude was short as fuck) in person and to see Dr. Dre actually ripped up. I wanted to ask him about the Detox album, I didn't for two reasons.

1. I wanted to respect him since he was a legend in the hip hop industry and one of the founders of Gangsta Rap

2. I was at a far distance and there was a shit load of people surrounding him, yet I can scope him out from a good view.

A few minutes after the game started, I went inside the Nike Vault next to the Staples Center and the AEG offices. They had the whole placed decorated and dedicated to Kobe Bryant's new signature basketball show, the Zoom Kobe VI. To me honestly, that sneaker is ugly and weird looking. It very similar to the Zoom Kobe IVs that came out two years ago, which I regret not buying. They had the live feed of the game showing inside the Nike Vault, but I went to the ESPN Zone to watch some portions of it. It was full inside there, and unfortunately, the Lakers were way behind Miami. by the end of the first half, I left and took the subway back to Universal City, where I parked my moms Ford Explorer at.

I drove down to my cousin's house, who lives not too far from the Staples Center, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to park at LA Live. There wasn't a lot of people there, just mostly family there talking and eating some Christmas dinner. I watched the rest of the game in my cousin's room, where it turned out that the Lakers lost for the second Christmas Day game in a row. Phil Jackson said before the game that he doesn't approve the idea of the NBA playing basketball on Christmas Day and that the players should spend time with their families instead. I won't be surprised if he gets fined for that statement, but yet, I totally support the coach's statement. I think its Kobe's new sneakers since the whole team was wearing them during the game throughout. After that, I went and played some UNO with my cousins to forget about the loss which sucked. I haven't played UNO in at least 7 years and that is the ONLY card game I'll ever fuck with. Forget Poker, Blackjack, 21 (which I used to play against my sister back in the day), Texas Hold 'em and any other card game that I don't know the rules to. They are not as entertaining as UNO is and I had a fun time playing that card game with the family.

I then bounced out early because I had to go deliever another gift to one of my friends' buddies, which is a DVD containing a photoshoot I did for her back in September. As I was driving on the 10 freeway west merging onto the 405 north, it started to pour rain like fucking crazy! I was being very cautious while I was driving in that unpredictable weather condition.

So when I got to to her house, the lights were out. I figured nobody is home so I went to go ring the doorbell to double check. I was about to go to my car until I saw my buddy Arlene and her family opening the door. I thought that Arlene's friend lived there cause I would always see her friend everytime I drove to that house, but then Arlene told me that she also stayed there. I went inside and ate some Carne Asada that Arlene's mother made, which I really liked and enjoyed, and then chilled with them by watching some television and having some discussions about photoshoots. Then I took off home since it started getting late.

I didn't really do much on Sunday, which happened to be my mom's 46th birthday and my little sister's 16th birthday on that day. Yep, they're 30 years apart. They were probably celebrating it in the mid-west over there. I spent the day just working on photos, my website, driving to the Wal-Mart in Porter Ranch to print out an 8 X 10 enlargement for a friend of mine and watched a double feature at my friend Natasha's house. The movies were the original Wall Street and Defending Your Life through her Netflix. I thought that they had the second Wall Street uploaded on there cause I saw the Blu-Ray on sale at Wal-Mart, which had a lot of people there returning gifts that they got under the tree, but the site didn't have it so we watched the first one instead.

Like I said, the weekend turned out as well as a thought it would be, with the exception of 80's singer Teena Marie passing away on Sunday. I'm not gonna front, but I first found out about the news from Birdman's Twitter account before CNN and all the other news media outlets confirmed it a few hours later. Looks like Twitter is going to replace The Huffington Post as the main source for internet journalism sometime in the future. I wanted to mention about my upcoming website and the important information about it, which also involves this Blogspot page, but I'll bring it up tomorrow since I threw in too much on the Christmas weekend recap. Major thanks to the Stetter family and the Arias family for letting me spend time inside their homes. I take back what I said on how everything is off limits on Christmas day. What I meant to say that everything that is not close to you and that's a distraction to your everyday lives should be off limits on Christmas Day.

One last thing, y'all should watch the Top Gear Holiday Special, the UK version. That shit is a MUST SEE, whether you like automobiles or not. It more like a movie as you watch it, so make sure you got you computer connected to a screen that is at least 46 inches, which some of you must've got with your Holiday bonus.