All About Those Lives

I gave the Davidson family the signed portraits of Ashley over the weekend at the memorial service for her. That part wasn't easy, emotional wise. Rest in Paradise Ashley Davidson and my condolences to the Davidson family.

And during the upcoming NBA All-Star Weekend, Michael Jordan will , coincidentally, turn half a century this Sunday. The day before that His 28th edition Air Jordan basketball sneaker that nobody will buy will be released at the same time his first sneaker from 1985 in the Black/Royal blue colorway will drop, which everyone and their girlfriends mothers will buy.

The 1985 joints releasing only at House of Hoops Foot Lockers (Westfield Topanga, Beverly Center) for $140

The 2013 Air Jordan XX8 releasing at every foot wear store you can think of.


Finally, this fool right here....

his life is like a 15 minute movie this past week. If it were a reality show, than LL Cool J should play as him (yes, I'm a few days late on that joke, and I think the Huffington Post did this page on purpose). 

Anyway thanks for your time reading this, and spoil your girl tomorrow. 

The Sneakers that John Connor is wearing back in 1990...

are gonna be released this Saturday. For those who can't see to closely, here's the big picture. 

The Nike Air Jordan V White/Fire Red colorway, which is what Edward Furlong was rockin' during his pull-up session, was released around the time when Terminator 2: Judgement Day was being filmed a year before the movie was played in theaters and WAY before Arnold looked after my state of California. The Air Jordan V was the first pair of Jordans I ever bought, but in a limited Black/Carolina Blue colorway in the summer of 2006. It came with a card (known as a retro card) that showed a black and white image of Michael Jordan spreading his arms just like in the "Wings" poster and on the back, it detailed the history of the shoe, such as dissecting the moments that Michael had in the NBA that year while wearing these. I also have another pair of these in the White/Emerald Grape colorway that will also be re-released again this year. 

What I like about these Jordan Vs is not what Michael did while wearing these, but the background I learned from it as well. The bottom of the sneaker was one of the first to have a clear sole with the Jumpman logo visible through it. Two other cool features of the Jordan V's was that it came with lacelocks for those too lazy to tie their shoes and the other is the reflective tongue that brightens when exposed to a large amount of light such as a flash from a camera (the other version of the Fire Red Vs had a black tongue that doesn't reflect). Will Smith was know for constantly running and dancing around in Uncle Phil's lavish house while wearing these during the first season of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which also came out in 1990. 

Speaking of which, the retail price for these back in the day was $125, a shitload of money that year for basketball sneakers. This was at a time when anybody and their moms can go into a Foot Locker or an Athletes Foot and just purchase them anytime of the day, any day of the week. That process is no longer relevant nowadays in the present. Everytime an Air Jordan Retro is released, it sell out in less than 5 minutes online and many athletic footwear stores (Footlocker, Finish Line, Champs, Sheikhs) and boutiques (Undefeated, Blends) received limited shipment of each particular Air Jordan retro, with in some occasions, certain pairs are captured for the store employees as they take advantage on their employee discount on them. So don't expect to see this and other future Air Jordan Retros in the stockroom, otherwise the only other option is to pay beyond retail for these at sneaker reselling consignments like Flight Club LA, eBay, or make some offers through sneaker websites like Sole Collector and/or N-SB.org. 

Thanks to the Air Jordan XI Concords release (I blogged about that shit already http://justforsneaks07.blogspot.com/2011/12/kickin-and-screamin.html), now its getting more tough and challenging just for a pair of Air Jordans. The whole reasoning is because from the logic of Supply and Demand: the lower the Supply, the higher the Demand. People should realize, or have already realized, that Nike, and its shoe distributor accounts like Foot Locker and Finish Line, is a business. And in a business, its all about making money and maintaining that procedure. Buzz generates interest, which makes the hype for these shoes to spike while reselling. That's why those same shoes that sell out will still in shelves of Flight Club LA cause not too many people will pay alot more for a sneaker as opposed to suggested retail price, which the term MSRP comes in, Manufactured Suggested Retail Price. Because of the buzz and the mayhem from the example of the Concord XI release, many Foot Lockers, NikeTowns and several other athletic stores now have the so-called "raffles", which is a way to avoid the campouts and potential wildness during a Air Jordan Retro release. I've never done a raffle for a pair of shoes, but how it goes is that you walk in to the store, obtain a raffle ticket by giving them your phone number or email address and wait until if they notify you that you won the said raffle in exchange for a secure right to purchase that Air Jordan Retro on the day it releases. Here's a screencap I took from Beverly Hills NikeTown's Twitter account as a example. 

They also do a raffle process, but in a different way. You have to have a Twitter account in order to secure your pair at NikeTown through their "Twitter RSVP" method. Here's the link to Nike's website that explains it further. NikeTown Twitter RSVP information

I'm explain all of this for those parents and others who like Michael Jordan (or dislike him) and the design of Air Jordan Retros but aren't into sneakers and have the knowledge of them as I do. If you swim around previous release date threads on NikeTalk and Sole Collector for a particular Air Jordan Retro that dropped, you'll not only read stories about dudes crying for not being to get these off Finish Line's website or the Foot Locker nearby them had 15 pairs and ten of them went to the employees with the remain 5 not available in his size, but you'll also read the posts on these threads from people saying that they either have to know somebody that knows a connect, and that you have just have to do their homework by researching a way to get that Jordan Retro that your favorite rapper or that reality TV star you hate and his girl is wearing. Not only does this happen with Air Jordans, but hype and purchasing process usually happens whenever Kanye West's Nike Air Yezzy drops or if there's a different shoe like the Galaxy Foamposites from last year.

As for me copping the V's this Saturday? I don't want to go through that raffling Twitter RSVP bullshit. Sucks how there are young kids (post 1994 babies with money) who maybe know more about shoes than I do, but has never got to experience walking into a Foot Locker or NikeTown on a Saturday afternoon instead of camping out the night before and purchase the sneakers in his size right then and there. I don't give a fuck about paying more for these when they get re-released at Flight Club LA like I did with the White/Cement IV's last year, but I will be getting them in the future. One of my favorite bits about this retro is that

1.) There's no 23 on the side, and its the first time since the 2000 Fire Reds Vs that these retros will be released without the 23 just like the OGs from 1990 (yes, there was another pair of Fire Red Vs that came out in 1990 as well, but it had the 23 on the side, the midsole had more red than black, and like I said earlier, the tongue was non-reflective black.).

2.) The OG design box that its gonna be packaged in, just like Nike did with the IV's last year and the III's the year before.

I know for sure these will sell quickly now that people got their tax refund at around this time. Now you can see why Nike is bringing back the Black/Royal 1's and coincidentally re-releasing the White/Cement Jordan III's again with the Nike Air on the back this time. For those getting these Vs and those other retros, good luck. For those who didn't, find a Terminator or a T-1000 and have him take you back to 1990 in Los Angeles so that you can pay for these less cheaper than it is in the present. I suggest you use a credit card instead of cash cause the cashier will look at the dollar note and think that the money is counterfeit by looking at the year the cash was made.  

Unexpect the Expected

Judging from the recent events in London, I just wanna say on behalf, that we really suck ass at Basketball, and I'm not talking about Team USA.

For those who do not know, my ethnicity is Nigerian. I was born here in the United States while the two great people who created me were born over there. I honestly didn't know up until last Thursday that Nigeria had a basketball team in the Olympics. I mean, I know there are some other athletes from my relatives' country competing and all but damn, SINCE WHEN DID WE HAVE A FUCKING BASKETBALL TEAM? AND OUT OF ALL OTHER TEAMS FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, WE HAD TO GO UP AGAINST THE "110% EXTRA CREDIT A PLUS" TEAM USA BASKETBALL TEAM?!?!

After I found that out, I then peeped the game and already this showed up just as soon as I turned into the NBC Sports Network (the gay peacock-suckers version of ESPN)  just to support for the hell of it, I see this shit to no surprise.

Yes, that was Kobe Bryant with so much real estate on the hardwood floor to execute a rare perfect slam dunk. I though he doesn't do dunks anymore like he used to during the "Shaq/Kobe 3 championships" era from the early 2000's and yes, that score was legit, not some photoshopped screen cap straight out of NBA LIVE 2K-something. By halftime, this game goes worse than worse itself. Lebron, Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Deron "Taper-ass" Williams and the rest of Team USA were just chillin' at the bench being entertained from the score and the game itself, and hell, even the commentators were having a field day. Also Craig Sager from the NBA on TNT was one of the sideline reporters for this game, and that fool was wearing a polo shirt, not one of his loud swagger rainbow suits that he wears every Thursday Night during the basketball season. Again, another rare sight. 

After the first half, I turned it off, feeling all embarrassed and disappointed. I even shut off the Computers and mobile devices cause every one I knew were all surprised about the 50+ point margin difference and talking about it and making jokes about it for a while, including making the front page on the newspaper the following day. But fuck it, its just a game. A practice session. A high school JV basketball game gone bad. That's what I've been telling my little brother about it for two hours (true story) after he got very upset from hearing about the outcome of Team USA versus Nigeria. Again, we suck at basketball. 

So what other stuff happened over the past week. Well, the Air Jordan IV Fire Red colorway dropped last Saturday. I though these were gonna create massive hype similar to the Olympic VII from last month, but somehow, this was a smooth release. I went on Niketalk and the Sole Collector forums to expect people bitching about the shoe being sold out in 15 seconds, but most people there managed to get their pairs. Before I left for work, I went on Nike.com to see the sizes they don't have left. To my surprise, THEY STILL HAD THE BIG SIZES LEFT IN STOCK. From 11-13. I never even planned on copping those IVs, and I already have the Air Jordan IVs in the White/Cement-Grey colorway. 

But that shit on Nike's website was nothing. When I got to the Topanga Mall right when it opened, I stopped by the Finish Line there to see if they had any sizes left just for the fuck of it since I didn't intend to buy this like I stated in the previous paragraph. Place was dead with 5 of their Sales associates just chilling at the cash register counter. One of the sales associates asked me what size do I wear. I was expecting him to say that all of the Retro Fire red IVs were sold out just like in every Air Jordan Retro release, and keep in mind this was 30 minutes after the mall opened. I then told him my size and then he went to the back of the stock room. 

I was shocked when he came out with a pair of Size 12 (yes, that's my shoe size since I was 10, no joke) Fire Red IVs and that assume that this Finish Line, as well as a few other stores here at Westfield Topanga  had a full size run of these kicks minutes after the store opened, which was a first for an OG colorway since late 2007 I believe, otherwise, these would've been gone like the White/Cement IV release I witnessed. By the way, this was the first time ever that the Fire Red IVs were dropped in it true original design without the Lasering and the Mars Blackmon logo from its previous releases. I could've just copped these if I didn't have to buy new work shoes from Payless Shoesource (I got tired of wearing my Black Nike Dunks so I had to get some proper footwear) and some $20+ lunch and dinners the day before. 

Wasn't on instagram (every photographer should have one on their phones to promote their business) the whole weekend that much cause my T-Mobile G2 had no power in it battery and I misplaced my charger until I found it this morning. I had to rely on a cell phone Kiosk upstairs to charge it for 10 minutes which is the most that I can have it charged, but then again, the power went out fast in 15 minutes while I was listening to some MP3s on the device. Whatever. 

Not only did the weekend turned out pale, but it lingered on earlier this morning as well. For some strange reason, my Yahoo Email account (required in order to get a Flickr account) forced me to change my password. Then after I picked up some prints from Samy's Camera, we planned to go have lunch at Islands in Century City, but they didn't have a parking lot and my little brother hated parking on the streets in the westside. So we ended up going over to the one in Porter Ranch instead. It was my first time eating there at Isalnd and I had the Quesadillas while the little brother had the big wave hamburger. That place was really good. I bought him Islands since he's gonna turn 20 one week from now as one of his gifts. 

This whole thing wasn't a negative rant. It looked like it, but just a description of how my week went. I'm already used to dealing with this type of shit, yet its part of life. Thanks for your time reading this, and I'll leave you with this epic photo I took of Scarlett Johannson on 35mm film right after she's leaving her Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony back in May, and I LITERALLY had less than two seconds to capture this on film, and I'm so glad this shot turned out great after I got it processed and developed. (had to make the watermarks large so that some conceded, degenerate asshole wouldn't download it and clain its theirs)

Putting Lin My Two Weeks

President's Day weekend, Washington's Birthday, or whatever the hell this past three day weekend was labeled, fell way below the curve.

Wasn't able to obtain the Air Jordan White/Cement IVs since the Footlocker I went to only sold 20 of the 25 pairs ( the other five went to the sales associates) There were two people in front of me at the line before one of the sales associates announced that the shoes were sold out after the third person in front of me got his pair. Nothing but random acts of shadyness. This was like the time when I was gonna get a pair Nike Dunk SB "Skate or Dies" four Februarys ago in 2008. I called the Active in Burbank, since that one was closer, every day around the week that they were supposed to drop cause the thing about Nike SB's is that they have no official release dates, the stores sells them whenever the shipment of the SB's come in (you start becoming knowledgeable about this type of this when you have interest in sneakers) I didn't call them on St. Valentines Day cause I was with some girl from Pierce College at the time, and then on the day after I called them, they told me that the Skate or Dies were already gone the day before. That shit was fucked up, but shit happens.

Just like I did with the Skate or Dies, I'll get over myself not getting the White/Cement IV's which I've been thinking about ever since they announced it late last year. Fools were spending their tax refunds on it which was smart for Nike to drop the shoe around this time during the month, as well as the All Star game the week before and Michael Jordan's 49th birthday which many people in line at the Panorama Mall didn't know about when I asked them that. This isn't a upset rant or an outbusrt or some type of therapy reflecting. I'm just telling what happened. And the people that gave up sleeping in bed or bathing for long hours to get these? I'll give props to the ones who REALLY want these just to wear for the lore and historic legacy of the IV's but NO FUCKING PROPS AT ALL to the one ones who've never seen Do The Right Thing or know anything about these kicks and just want to make a quick profit off of them (for example: Flight Club LA is selling these for almost $400). But the bottom line is this: I just wanted the shoes.

Mainly the ONLY positive portion this entire past weekend was watching the New York Knicks defeating the fuck out of Dallas Mavericks on Sunday Morning. Never a fan of both teams, especially Dallas since the swept the Lakers in the playoffs last year and Lamar Odom left Lakerland to go play for Mark Cuban's team which was bullshit. Plus, I think the media should just lay low of the gassing and the overhype on everything about Jeremy Lin from the Knicks, including the writers from Saturday Night Live from last weeks episode that I didn't see, yet I did read about it later. Dude's a excellent persistent athlete based on his performance last Sunday, but please just leave out his personal life in the press and respect the man's performance on the court. Like I said in the previous post, he's just doing his job of Lin-ning... I mean Winning games like every other sports athlete, which got him on the cover of this weeks Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated.

Speaking of Sports Illustrated....

Bought this during the campout, was surprised that all the young dudes there didn't give a damn about my copy of the Swimsuit Issue. I'm just glad to see Kate Upton get the cover this year but wouldn't been more better if she got it last year.

I'll end this here. I felt like myself as some 15 year old High School freshman typing this post about sneakers, basketball and women in swimsuits. Staying on the topic of age, I'll be turning 24 just two Mondays from now, on the 5th of March. SHOUTOUT TO ALL THE FELLOW PISCES OUT THERE! There's gonna be at least two different birthdays every day next month aside from mine. Thanks for taking your time reading this and get me something good in 13 days.

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.