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.

Soirees, Scrimmages and Scrooges

Haven't been on this shit in two weeks, so lets get on with the recap since then.

So two Fridays ago I had to go to a clinic in Hollywood for a regular basic checkup in the morning. I didn't feel like being there, but since the staff was really short with only one physician with a Ph.D and a grip of patients, I decided just to go and let the bloke get his job done instead of postponing it or flake out of it. Then later on, shit got really off-beat. Just after the doctor examined me which lasted less than two minutes, one of nurses said that there's a shooting outside on Vine Street and that we can't step out. The nurse had a very thick Filipino accent and I thought that she meant that there was a film production outside the clinic since the building is a block from Sunset and Vine, just walking distance from the Arclight Parking lot and the McDonald's in front of it on Vine and De Longpre Avenue (the clinic is on De Longpre). But instead, what she meant was that there was an ACTUAL shooting, WITH GUNS. I couldn't fucking believe it. I mean, what kind of demented maniac goes off on Hollywood and starts blasting in broad daylight. Didn't he learn anything from the North Hollywood shooting at the Bank of America on Laurel Canyon Blvd 14 years ago? (I was in third grade that time in school at Colfax Elementary, which is also in North Hollywood, but two to three miles south the Valley Village neighborhood)

We then were stuck in the clinic for two hours. I was playing just about every game that I let my friend's kids and nephews download off the Android market on my phone last month during Thanksgiving, until I got tired of it. Later on, I was then told that I could leave and when I stepped outside, I was like "Damn this can't be unreal". The cops shutdown De LongPre, Sunset and Vine so that they could do their investigation on the bloke who went wild on the street. It was weird cause I didn't hear any gunshots, and the clinic was close to the scene. Maybe the wall at the doctor's office were soundproof or something. I recorded the streets that were blocked off on video with my phone. The intersection of Sunset and Vine was empty with the exception of the news vans and the LAPD. I saw a journalist from KNBC channel 4 getting ready to broadcast the story and I took like two pictures of her on my phone, cause she looked hot. Plus those at the LA Film School and the staff at Amoeba Records couldn't go anywhere for a while. I took the subway instead of driving back to the Valley.

The next day, I read that they were gonna open a flagship New Era Store at the old Bathing Ape shop on Melrose on Saturday Morning, and that the first customers receive a free custom made fitted or snapback with the words "Los Angeles" embroidered on it. I used to be into fitteds from 2006-2008 and I haven't bought any since then thanks to the great recession. Would've gone and waited outside the store from 5 to 10AM to be one of the first customers, but instead I went to another store opening in the O.C. with a friend of mine. I had to go with her cause first of all, it was a year of us knowing each other. Nothing too serious or spacious. Just good friends since I first ran into her at the Kardashian Konfidental book release in Century City exactly one year ago. I've done this many times before with a lot of other female friends. And secondly, the store was at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. I driven past this mall three times this year and I've never been inside it before. Plus, I've heard a couple of myths about that place such as 50 something women who look half their age and that you can occasionally run into Kobe's wife there since she lives in Newport (I'll get into more of her later).

After 15 minutes of looking for parking, we went to the store where the opening was gonna take place. The place is called Casey's Cupcakes and Cappuccino's and its ran by this residental affluent hot chick named Casey Reinhardt. They had a ribbon cutting ceremony and unlike other ribbon cutting ceremonies that I've been to in the past, this one didn't have any excessive media press, just one photographer that they hired, which isn't me despite the fact that I did bring my Nikon N70 SLR with me. I took some shots of Casey and one with her as my friend went to go try out her cupcakes. It wasn't as big as I though it was since Casey appeared on TV. They're were about 25 women that showed up who looked like they want to spend the rest of their lives as rich single moms, and some of them brought their daughters to the event.

The mall is nice. Wasn't as I though it was gonna be, but the structure of place itself wasn't something that's new to me. Fashion Island is a lot like the Simi Valley Town Center mixed with Westfield Century City and parts of the Valencia Town Center after its expansion. I would've also thrown The Grove into the mix, but the buildings aren't that tall. The other thing about that mall is that its close by to the beach, so you can watch the sun set off to the coast from the mall. Its very cool. They were also constructing a movie theater, which is already opened right now, and after doing some research on it, the name of the theater is called Island Cinema and inside there's a five star like restaurant that you can go to before your film starts, and they serve Wine and Beer! So you can be a rich yuppie couple getting intoxicated before watching one of Steven Speilberg's two films that are out during the Holiday season, which are Warhorse and TinTin ( the OG cartoon was the shit). My friend and I then feasted at YardHouse while watching the Army/Navy college football game on their TVs, in which Navy defeated Army with President Barack Obama in attendance of course. The food at YardHouse is delicious, and this was my first time eating there. I got a pizza with some thin fries and a garden salad while my homegirl got the same thing. After that we then took some photos, including one in front of a big ass Pine Tree with some decorations on it (I don't feel like saying the word Christmas Tree). I was surprised that they have a Ritz Camera there at Fashion Island. I talked to the manager there and told him that I though Ritz Camera was bankrupt and out of business. He said that only the Los Angeles County locations are closed but everywhere else is open in a few locations. Back before I got into digital photography, I used to take my prints to the Ritz Camera in the Sherman Oaks Fashion Square where I worked that time and my little brother copped a the OG Playstation Portable that was being sold at that location. Finally we went to Macy's cause my friend had to try on some high heels. After an hour, we dipped Orange County and drove back to the Valley in LA County.

Then on Sunday, I shook over to Lee's 4 Cocktails to go watch some Week 14 games in the NFL and there were a few decent games. I was mostly interested in the Green Bay Packers V. Oakland Raiders contest, but it wasn't as interesting as the Denver Broncos/Chicago Bears game that was also on at the same time. That was the game of the week right there. Quarterback Tim Tebow getting his seventh straight win with team in a very crazy ending. Also the Sunday Night between the Dallas Cowboys V. New York Giants had very fantastic football being displayed cause the top seed for the NFC East was up for grabs that night, with the Giants taking the win. Major shoutout to the homegirl Carissa Blau for celebrating her birthday there which made the day more exciting.

Now during the rest of the week, which was last week, it felt like I already opened my Christmas gifts two weeks early. I was at The Grove taking some photos of Katy Perry launching her new fragrance last Wednesday. The event looked like it was completely over done, with a big ass stage over the fountains in front of the Pacific Theaters there inside the Grove. Plus there were a shitload of fans that showed up later. I got there early so that I can get a closer angle of her on stage but security kept moving us all the way to the back between the Cheesecake Factory and the Apple Store, and they left that space in front of the stage for the press and media. They weren't kidding cause there were several television cameras and press photographers, which I thought it didn't make sense until I found out that the event was being live streamed on the internet. I didn't really plan on being there since I saw her twice already but I had to pick up some prints at Samy's Camera and I had plenty of time to kill before the Christmas party that I have to be at starts.

Now this party that I went to, its located just not to far from Rio Vista School, the elementary school that I went to from Pre-K to First Grade. They referred to that area in North Hollywood now as West Toluca Lake. I spent the first two years of my life at an apartment just a block from where the Christmas party was being hosted at. I found out about it randomly on Twitter and after communicating with one of the people who promoted the party, they said that I can attend. I didn't know ANYBODY at this party. The people that showed up are in their twenties and they reminded me of my old co-workers at the Apple Store in Sherman Oaks just down west on Riverside Drive. It was hosted by this organization called Red Eye, where they go out to the community and give back to those who are disadvantaged and live in tough situations. The only thing I do know about this party was that The O.C.'s Mischa Barton was gonna host it, and she was a chill person to talk to. Everybody didn't go wild on her and to me, she was just a regular person. I didn't think that she would speak with a British accent since she spoke like an American on the show. But the coolest part about the party that got me by total surprise was that they needed a photographer to take photos of the event as one of the hosts, named Justin Mayo, announced after everyone showed up. I told them that I do photography right after he said that and showed him some of my photoshoots I stored on my phone. Justin them got relieved and then he sent me to another dude upstairs to receive the camera that I was gonna be shooting with. I though it was gonna be some old Canon EOS Rebel or a Nikon D3000 entry level DSLR. But instead:

THEY GAVE ME A MOTHERFUCKING CANON EOS 5D MARK II DSLR TO USE FOR THE ENTIRE NIGHT! WITH A GODDAMN 24-70MM F/2.8 LENS ON IT! HOLY FREAKIN' SHIT!!!

For those who don't follow up with photography or filmmaking that much, this camera has a full frame sensor with 21 Megapixels and it can capture full 1080p HD Video. Shit, you don't really need a flash with this camera since you can escape with fantastic low light shots in an ISO rating at least 3200 or higher. This is a top of the line DSLR that's WAY up high the bar. Plus, that camera was HEAVY. Weighed about 3 pounds with the lens adding the weight. I was holding about 4 grand worth of equipment that night and that shit is more than a recent Mac Pro tower. Photographers would give up their daughters tuition money just to get this device. Damn, I never used the 5D Mark II before and I ALREADY LIKE IT. The results are just too much, where it can save me less time in the post production in Adobe Lightroom 3. To me, this is just one of those rare ass moments, photography wise as well as social wise to party with some well raised adults my age, and Mischa Barton, who was one of the biggest TV Stars back when I was in high school. I even did a photoshoot of her with that camera that night. Jesus, and the trust that they gave me there was, for the lack of better terms, so awesome, I can't even put it to words. It was a excellent night.

That Christmas party wasn't the only rare moment that took place that week. I managed to score tickets to watch the Lakers practice and run a scrimmage in front of a crowd at the USC Galen Center that Friday. I was surprised that nobody else wanted to attend since I had a extra ticket, but fuck it, it was during a time when everyone was at work or taking some final exams. I even tried scalping it to this one girl but she backed out in the last second. To be honest, y'all missed out. For reals. I was in the front row watching the team shoot buckets and run some drills with Coach Mike Brown taking charge. Kobe Bryant came out last and when they showed his face on the video screen, I was wondering why he didn't come out with a smile or something. This was a totally different Lakers team to watch since Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown are no longer there in Lakerland. Lamar left on his behalf since he was originally involved with the Chris Paul trade to the Lakers that didn't happen, but he still wanted to be traded to a different team regardless. That entire shit got me upset, and what's more mindblowing was that Chris Paul got traded from the New Orleans Hornets to the Los Angeles Clippers, the city's other professional basketball team. Obviously, it threw off alot of people. For example, during the scrimmage, whenever Chris Paul or the Clippers were mentioned or shown on the video screen, every started booing and jeering, yet I don't blame them. But, on the positive side, the fans cheered like crazy in the Galen Center when Lawrence Tanter announced Ron Artest's new legalized name "Metta World Peace" for the first time. After the event was over, I then hit up the Burger King across USC to get some free fries since the restaurant was giving away their new cooked French Fries they introduced. It wasn't as wild as the ones they did back in the late's 90's, when the lines would be long for free fries.

I then went to a second Burger King in San Fernando to take more advantage of the free fries promotion and then I just found out that Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa filed for divorce on my phone. I didn't see that shit coming and I WAS JUST WITNESSING KOBE BRYANT ON THE COURT IN PERSON WAY BEFORE THE NEWS BROKE! No wonder he wasn't happy when he came out during the scrimmage. I though he was set and loaded with his wife and two daughters. Fuck, it just shows that marriage is not easy at all, mostly towards the affluent notable figures. Maybe he got bored with her and they been together for a decade. I've been noticing that when some people are rich and young, they like to do things so fast that it dries out very quickly as they start to realize it. But hell, this ain't my business and Kobe may not be over it too much just as long as it doesn't affect his game play. Its gonna be tough for the daughter to deal with this now that their pops moved out of Newport Beach. And what's worse was that the Lakers lost to the Clippers during first preseason game in the Staples Center with the Lakers court on Monday Night, by almost 20 points. I was watching that game right after the power blew out in Candlestick Park during Monday Night Football between the Niners and Steelers, in which the score was 20-3 with San Francisco getting the home win and not allowing Ben Rothlisberger to make a touchdown.

So that has been my two weeks notice during the middle of December. I'm typing this from my pop's house which I've been staying at this past week. I've helped my little brother pick up and help pay for his rental car, a 2011 Toyota Corolla LE, since the bumper in his car got dented from a party he went to. Thankfully he's safe. And because I had to contribute for my little brother, I won't be able to get the Air Jordan Concord XI's that I've been focusing on since the Cool Grey XI's dropped last year, which I hated. Well, that chance is gone now. Looking forward to reading the stories about the crazy shit that might happen during this release rather than reading about those fools who's girl surprisingly spoiled them with those overhyped kicks that is worth the hype. Special thanks again to Red Eye and Mischa Barton for the party and everything else, and shoutout to Dr. Jerry Buss and the Lakers organization staff for hosting that free practice scrimmage viewing that may never happen again. Thanks for your time reading this and have fun returning your presents at Macy's or Target the day after Christmas, which happens to be my moms and little sister's 17th birthday.

Second Nurture

A post update on a Saturday? Hey, the Breakfast club had to spend the entire Saturday in detention 26 years ago.

I didn't recap my Thanksgiving weekend from last week cause I didn't feel like typing about it for some weird reason. It was just a regular occasion to me. Went to three different houses which involved alot of football watching and a lot of food, including the Turkey obviously. My friend Marlene De La Torre's daughter Yvonne gave birth to her second daughter on that Thursday as well, which made it alot more special and interesting since I was with their family for that weekend. Spend Saturday and Sunday taking photos of the newborn on film. She's very gorgeous, and I give my ABSOLUTE, ULTIMATE best to her, and her parents Yvonne and Nestor the very best in their new blessing.

Also, week 12 of the NFL was just another Sunday. Bad teams losing to good teams and Denver's Tim Tebow still getting criticized and ridiculed by football fans despite his 5 game winning streak. That bloke is still probably getting the most heat from the New York Jets fans after that insane 90+ yard drive his offense performed in the final minutes of that Thursday Night game. He might somehow get a close break from the Chicago Bears in week 14, but I have a obvious feeling that the "Tebow Time" run will shut down when they greet the New England Patriots the following week. But then again, both of those games are home at Mile High Stadium... I mean Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Remember when Sports Authority used to be known as SportMart more than 5 years ago?

That's it for now. Damn, this is the SHORTEST post I ever typed in a while. And last thing, I hope those who were affected by the power outage and the Santa Ana winds damage to their vehicles and houses around the Pasadena area this past week will get something rewarding by the end of the month. It just sucks to think about those who unfortunate and have to deal with that shit, especially around this time during the holiday season. Thanks for you time reading this.

A Back-Words Weekend Recap

I'm typing this blog post from my pop's house in Granada Hills. Right now, he's out of the country for a few days, including Thanksgiving. To you it sounds odd that one's parents won't be around to bake and cut the Turkey and digest the stuffing inside it while watching a ball game either taking place at Detroit or Dallas. I'm used to that already. Between 2000 and 2008, its mostly him or my moms who would spend the entire month of November traveling to Nigeria, and one of them would stay and have the traditional Americana Thanksgiving dinner. But since my pops got remarried three years ago, he's been hosting gatherings at his place where my relatives and cousins would swing by and I'd have conversation with them while on a full stomach.

Its been a month and a half since I slept over at the house, where I spent the majority of my middle school and high school years at while sharing a room with my little brother until I moved back from spending the summer at Oxnard in 2006. All my siblings have moved out the past few months and they haven't stopped by here in a while, and its been already over a year since I moved out to Sylmar. I got here yesterday morning before the rain started to pour like crazy and watched the Green Bay/Tampa Bay game on the big screen HDTV in the living room. I turned it off after the third quarter cause I was feeling really tired and I'd wanted to go lie down on my old bed in my old room that I haven't slept on in a while. I was gone in some random lucid inception-type dreams for a few hours. I woke up later and order Papa Johns pizza cause there wasn't anything good in the kitchen and watched Sunday Night Football while feasting on the $17 extra large pizza that I ordered, and that shit was worth it. The New York Giants were supposed to win that game but they got picked off at the end by one of Philadelphia's defense around the two minute warning, and also they had Vince Young at Quaterback since Michael Vick is out. To me, that was an upset that the Eagles won that game at Giants Stadium... I mean, Met Life Stadium (seriously, fuck corporate stadium names). I didn't watch the rest of the games during week 11 cause they were all too predictable and bland, just like this entire weekend.

Saturday was another ordinary day. Nothing really happened and a lot of people other than my pops are out of town also. Went to my church to catch the last few minutes of the sermon. When it was finished, I went to the potluck room, then went home five minutes later. I was originally gonna go with my brother to a church either in Simi Valley or somewhere in the 818 like Van Nuys or the one next to his place in Canoga, but he didn't want to get out of his bed when I called him that morning which led me going to the one near my house. The rest of the day was just editing and touching up on some photos.

Now the day before on Friday, I attended the opening day of the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show. The showrooms were all the same like last year, just with newer cars, but I didn't really care about it that much. I only attended to test drive every car that they had available outside this year. Before I did that, I ran into Tanner Foust who was talking to some of the other attendees in the Lobby. I met him last year with my homeboy Jeremy while we went to a taping of the American version of Top Gear. He did recognize me for a bit and told me that they're still filming some episode. After talking to him for a bit I went to go drive some whips.

The test drive took up a lot of my time. I drove every car they had except the Dodges, Toyotas, Chryslers (I really wanted to drive in the new 300c and the Challenger), Kias and whatever new compact car that Mitsubishi had that's not named the Lancer. Its not cause they suck, but there wasn't that much time and all the test drives end at 5PM. The whips that I did try out was all the GM cars from Buick, GMC and Chevrolet. They had Cadillac there also, but I driven their cars SO MANY times this year that I'm already used to them. They only difference was that they had the entire V lineup for the attendees to drive and I was like WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?!?! I was told months before that the V cars can only be test driven at a closed course track due to its INSANE RIDICULOUS HORSEPOWER OUTPUT PERFORMANCE that made the CTS-V the fastest American production sedan in the world. I never driven their V-series and that would've been my opportunity to do so, but I didn't wanna risk getting pulled over in downtown while burning fuel with over 550 horses. If this was at the desert or someplace completely open, then I'd drive it, but not in the city.

I did however drove the Chevy Camaro SS Transformer edition. That shit can fucking scream. I'd had TOO MUCH fun driving it. Yes, its fast and all, but that was my first time driving a Camaro. I knew the SuperSport was gonna be quick beyond my expectations. One of the funnest cars I've ever drove. I then drove some Lincolns and a couple of Fords. The REALLY stepped it up the Explorer. My parents used to have the second and third generation Explorer, and I wanted to see what the new one look like. The dashboard and the navigation panel looked like absolutely nothing than the previous models, and plus the SUV now reduces emissions and has a decent EPA rating from Ford's Ecoboost technology.

Then I made my way to the Hyundai section and the cars that they had were no fucking joke, especially the 5.0 R-spec Genesis Sedan. Jesus Christ, that whip can FLY! I also drove the Equus Ultimate sedan that has gotten a few talk since it came out and that car was the sleekest, swagged out vehicle I've ever driven since I rode in my uncle's BMW 750LI three years ago. That car has SO MUCH TECH. Cameras on the side of the cars, a control console entirely built into the back seat, a refrigerator and a fucking massage feature for the back seat. That blew my mind, hell I could've rode in the back seat instead of driving it. Shit was Birdman in a Maybach status. Finally I drove the Elantra and already fell in lust with it. I'd recommend that over a Toyota Corolla, a Nissan Sentra, a Ford Focus and a Chevy Cruze that took me away in interest until I drove the Elantra. 10 years and 100,000 mile warranty on this car? You can say no to it, real talk. I didn't drive the Sonata cause I didn't feel like it, they didn't have the Genesis Coupe to drive and I forgot to check out the new Veloster. Shoutout to Hyundai Motors for doing whatever they doing to get to change people perspectives on considering automobiles and making them enjoyable to drive and major props to the staff at the LA Auto Show for another great experience this year.

When it got dark, I wanted to eat at the ESPN Zone just a block away, but the appeal didn't seen to catch on me since there's no NBA season for now. I always go there whenever there's a Lakers game taking place across the street, but not this time. So I left and just walked over to the Five Star Bar to see Darger De Milo perform for the first time without my friend Nicole Stetter. They actually did great as an all male group, no changes to the rhythm at all. Talked and mingled with some of my friends there who attended the Five Star bar and then went home after Darger De Milo performed. I didn't stay till the placed closed like I usually do, but I was at the Los Angeles Convention Center all damn just driving and looking at cars that I'll never obtain.

I'm sure you notice that I've gone backwards in this weekend recap. I don't even know why I did that, but from looking at it, the unorthodox chronological order went from worst to best. Thanks for taking your time to read this and enjoy the Thanksgiving week.

Booked and Pinned Weekend

The three day weekend was more of that minimum D+ that you had to get in order to graduate from high school. Nothing too spectacular like my friend's baby shower the week before.

Went to Northridge Fashion Center on Friday to buy a St. John's Bay black long sleeve shirt from the JCPenney there. That shit was 10 bucks and its the only place where they sell St John's Bay products, which I've been wearing for the past two years since the Lakers won their tite against Orlando. Damn, I STILL miss the NBA. But anyway, I was about to cop the mockneck longsleeve akin to the one Steve Jobs would always wear. Only difference is that his is furnished by St. Croix and that brand sells their clothing products for over $200 at least, and his black mockneck sells for $190, real talk. I'll just leave the link here to prove my point. http://www.stcroixshop.com/stcroix/product.asp?s_id=0&prod_name=Full+Turtleneck+in+Cotton+%26+Microfiber+Knit&pf_id=PAAFICGMGMCHMCID&dept_id=3032

Tried out the mockneck, then had second thoughts about it, so instead I got the long sleeve shirt instead which is closer to the mockneck. As I was walking around and leaving the mall, I've noticed that the place is now started to get more occupied with people in high school or those in college who look like their in high school. Every thick chick and boots with leggings and every thin dude there with an overpriced snapback of a team they don't even like. Obviously the mall was packed cause it was on Veteran's Day. Plus they already had the freakin' Christmas Tree and the decorations up already. I blogged about the same thing on here about early holiday decorations last year when I went to go take photos of Cindy Crawford in the Glendale Galleria, and that was in October.

I then went to the Westfield Promenade to go pick up the Steve Jobs biography book at the Barnes and Noble there. Didn't stay long, just paid for the book with a Barnes and Noble gift card I got a few weeks ago and dipped my way home. I had the e-book version of it, but it only went up to one chapter since it was a trial. The book is very addicting and like I said before, it details Steve Jobs life very deeply and I learned so much stuff that I never knew about from the previous bios and history of the deceased Apple co-founder, and the book IS THICKER THAN THE ASS AND THIGHS OF SOME HORNY GANGSTER'S TWENTY YEAR OLD EX-GIRLFRIEND IN THE VALLEY! Right now I read six chapters already and there's alot left to go.

Later on I then hit up my friend Tina to go watch a film cause I really wanted to get rid of the AMC movie passes I got last year during the holidays. We went to one of the 3 AMC theaters in Burbank and I can't remember more than one parking garage that was literally full, with no where to park. So we managed to find parking 20 minutes later and had a tailgate like dinner at Fuddruckers right next to the theater. The place was like The Habit mixed with the environment and atmosphere of TGI Fridays, which I only went to once on my sister's 14th birthday in 2003 and I don't plan on ever going back there cause their Onion Rings fucked me up that day. And what makes Fuddruckers separate from all the other burger joints (still haven't tried Unami and The Counter yet) was that you get to pick what size patty and the kind of cheese you want and then you take your burger over to a section where the lettuce, onions, tomatoes and pickles, as well as the condiments, are provided for you to prepare, which I though was cool. After we got full, we the went to the theater, got the tickets and watched J. Edgar. That movie was alright but it wasn't what I expected it to turn out. It mostly focused on the gay overtones between Hoover and his assistant Clyde Tolson more than his 40 something year stint as the first director of the then newly formed Federal Bureau of Investigation and the chronological order of the film will get confusing for a while. The film started at 9:30 and it ended at Midnight. I didn't think it was gonna be a long ass film. After that, we left and I went back to my place.

Woke up late as usual on Saturday. My friend's band Aftergloam was scheduled to perform at this small venue right across from Amoeba Records, but the show was cancelled at the last minute sinced it rained that day. I REALLY wanted to attend and I enjoy watching the homies Tianna, Elvis, and their new members Kimi Quinn and Albert Rubalcava putting those instruments to work. What made the day much worse was that the internet/phone service was cut off from my place in Sylmar just like that for the entire weekend. I lived in Sylmar for 13 months and this was the first time that ever happened. Usually when the service is down, one of my housemates has a short cut sneaky way of getting it working, only this tine it didn't budge after we spent the day trying to fix it. But I didn't really need to upload or download anything right now. I spent the rest of the day reading the Steve Jobs book and watching some pro-wrestling DVDs with my housemate for the rest of the night until I was tired.

Then on Sunday, I went to Lee's 4 Cocktails to watch some NFL games there and to digest the unlimited Pepsi and hot dogs that was provided (thanks again Dafnee). The Niners/Giants game in the afternoon was the game of the week. Unbelievable that San Francisco is 8 and 1 with their sixth straight win and I can't say anything about the Indianapolis Colts. On top of all this, the Oakland Raiders are first place in the AFC West, something that I haven't seen in a LONG time. I didn't watch the Sunday Night Football game between the Jets and the Patriots cause obviously tom Brady knows that First place of the AFC East was at stake and didn't want his team to lose three in a row, so I knew that they were gonna win over New York.

That's the end of my three day weekend. It looked like I did alot, but in person, it wasn't that much. Now I have another appointment meeting this Thursday, so I hope this one doesn't get fucked up in the last second like it did two weeks ago. Other than that, thanks for your time reading this and have a excellent rest of the week.

Thanksgiving came early....again.

It was just another weekend for me. Mostly with friends and some excellent pro-football.

Saturday was just mostly spent at the DLT's for my friend Marlene's daughter, Yvonne, for her baby shower that was taking place. I went there for two purposes: to take photos of the event and to show support as well. As I was heading my way over there, I needed to stop someplace to eat since I didn't consume anything after waking up late as usual. I could've gone to my church for their weekly potluck, but instead, I went to this pizza parlor just up a block on Glenoaks and Roxford. The Subway there was my original choice, but since I've passed by that place a hundred thousand times for the past nine years, I decided to try out their pizza for the first time.

It was very decent. I like it, probably the best 5 bucks I spent for two slices. It was run by this Hispanic lady in her late 20's and another girl, who I assume might be her sister or cousin in high school, that's probably doing a weekend gig for some cash. Place was small with a 4 arcade machines and a regular size flat screen TV hovering on the ceiling. They were showing a bullshit episode of True Life profiling this teenage girl who has to deal with their embarrassing mom's that has very large fake breasts and some crying shit. I didn't want to watch that while I was eating in risking regurgitation, so I made the owner of the restaurant change it to the Stanford/Oregon Pac-12 college football game. This Andrew Luck kid is gonna be the talk on the sports world for the next couple of months. I won't be surprised if he gets drafted by Indianapolis next year, if he decides to not play his senior year with Stanford. After consuming those two slices and a cup of water, I then dipped out to the DLT's. Shoutout to Bella's Pizza for the quick, delicious lunch.

The baby shower for Yvonne was pretty much handled like another regular kickback at her place like before. Only difference was that it was mostly women that was in attendance, and obviously, I didn't have a problem with that. I brought a black tarp as a background for a "prom night portrait" style photoshoot that I did for everyone there, the first time I ever did that for any event I did. The stock photos actually came out well, but I might tweak them up a bit. I didn't have any strobes or studio lighting to use, just some of the light that's occupied in the house and the built in flash on the camera. My uncle is getting his SB-600 flashgun repaired. Aside from that, everything else was absolutely chill. Spent the night there and watched a bit of football as soon as I woke up from a two hour sleep, cause I drank some Pepsi the night before that kept me awake the whole night.

I didn't go to test drive some Cadillacs at The Grove on like I said in the last post, but whatever, I drove several of them in Glendale last month. They also had the annual Glamourcon event at the Long Beach Convention Center, which is a meet and greet of former Playboy bunnies from the 1970's, 80's and 90's. I could've gone, but I rather take photos of those models from the way the looked 20 or 30 years ago. Sunday was just mostly spent at the DLT's just checking out the Niners/Redskins game, which ended up with San Francisco becoming 7-1 since Steve Young was the starting Quarterback there in that ball club in the 90's. The rest of the early games were blowouts. I thought FOX was gonna air the Packers/Chargers game in the afternoon, but they showed the Giants/Patriots game that had the shittiest scoreless first half I've ever seen. I left when halftime started (thanks to Katie Galvez for the lift back to my place).

When I got back home, I wanted to rest to make up for the loss of hours that I didn't sleep, but one of my housemates was going off with his karaoke system in the living room, and to be honest, I FUCKING DON'T LIKE BEING IN KARAOKE SCENES. I can't sing for shit, and I'm glad I've never tried it in my life, ever. To avoid hearing him from my room singing every catalog more than twice for the remainder of the time (no joke, EVERY SONG MORE THAN TWICE) I shook over to my friend Frank's house just not too far from where I live. got a chance to see the final seconds of the Giants/Patriots game and damn, that shit felt ALOT like their duel in Super Bowl XLII. Brady losing at home for the first time is like him breaking his team perfect season record in the 2007 season. That feeling was just... damn, with a different New York Giants team. Hopefully, Eli Manning earned a lot of confidence from that game. I also got a chance to see the end of the Packers/Chargers game thanks to Frank's DirecTV Game Mix feature, where its every game in one screen. Resulted with Green Bay still proving why they're the World Champions by defeating San Diego in a crazy 45-38 win. The Sunday Night game between Pittsburgh and Baltimore was brilliant. A lot of defense was displayed and it was worth watching. I still think that Ray Lewis has several years left in the league, but it was a great game nonetheless with the Ravens embarrassing the Steelers fans at their stadium.

That was my weekend. Its pretty much the usual that I do every week, friends and football. Thanks as always to the De La Torre's and the Galvez's for inviting me to Yvonne's baby shower and shoutout to the young female cashier at the Burger King in San Fernando for complementing my red St. John's Bay shirt on Sunday Night. The rest of this week was emotional news so far for some African American notable figures in the news. Dr. Conrad Murrary is finally going to jail, boxing legend Joe Frazier died from liver cancer last night and now this afternoon, hip hop legend Heavy D passed away. I wasn't alive to see Joe Frazier duke it out in the ring, but I was jumping from different nursery schools in North Hollywood every six months with my little sister in the 90's when Heavy D was getting exposure then. I remember glancing on some of his videos back when BET did a top 20 video countdown every Saturday afternoon with a different guest host paying their favorite music videos back in 2005, and a few of them chose Heavy D and the Boyz. I also remember seeing him making special guest appearances in a few repeat episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and A Different World.

Damn, his passing got me by surprise. I was coming back from taking photos of Shakira's Walk of Fame ceremony at Hollywood and Vine today (she is VERY fine and I've fucked with her music since Laundry Service back in 8th grade), and found out about Heav's death as soon as got on the internet. I actually could've spent this last paragraph blabbering about witnessing Shakira in person for the first time and how it was the CRAZIEST Walk Of Fame that I've ever been to in 5 years, but two deaths withing 24 hours is just as bizarre as the passings I've seen vanished back in 2009. Just be blessed and thankful for your life, and give back to those who helped you got to where you're at right now. Enjoy the rest of the week.

Los Angeles: Locked Out From Its Occupations

Damn, its hard to realize that I've lived in Sylmar for one year already.

Actually more like 13 months. Prior to that, the most I ever lived outside of my parent's house was two and a half months in Oxnard during the summer I graduated from high school. It didn't last long cause of the hiked expenses and the blazed up drunk roommates I was staying with. I moved out initially cause I was having issues with my pops at the time and his wife and my brother had one of ugliest arguments I ever heard. Now fast forward a year later, my brother is no longer living there and my pops and I became cool with each other two months after I left. It felt like I got cheated out of leaving his house or something, but either way, I needed to leave Granada Hills cause in my case and where I'm from, it looks bad for anyone over 22 years without an actual, legit job to still live with their parents.

Now in this economic time, its common to see people over 25 with University degrees move back in with their parents. I don't blame them since many of them have no other option. I've talked about this subject several times in my previous posts and to this day, that topic hasn't gone anywhere. I went to the Los Angeles City Hall in Downtown yesterday to check out the Occupy LA protest that was taking place there. That was my second time going to the site since a month ago when this whole thing started. It was night time when I first went and didn't take that many photos, but yesterday, I managed to make it there around the afternoon with my uncle's Nikon D5000.

I'm telling you, the protesters turned City Hall Park into A VILLAGE! That shit looked like I was at the Coachella camping grounds taking place somewhere in Africa mixed with the Outback and the Amazon Rainforest and a refugee site in a war zone. There were like at least 500 tents around the City Hall building. The protesters there were acting like civilians with their own Zip Code. Everyone there was cool with each other and the whole protest was just too peaceful, whereas in some other cities and countries, it was pretty much the opposite. Over the past month, the Occupy LA marches and protests felt like the Los Angeles Riots being massacred with Christian Saints. Everything there was just too damn surreal. I thought the demonstration of the Occupy movement here in this city was gonna last about a week since the one in New York was already in unimaginable proportions, but its still going on and when I saw a sign there that said to Occupy the Rose Bowl parade in two months, I then realized that this will go on through Thanksgiving and Christmas, which will make homeless look totally jealous during the holidays.

Honestly I'm not really into the whole movement and I don't have any interest in all this. I just went to take photos and some video of it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIVPtm_Tifk)since this was major and most of the media hasn't been covering the real side of it, just the madness from Oakland's own version of the Occupy movement a few days ago. I lived here in this city for my entire life and I never would expect to see anything like this in person. This is something that I'll probably think will be talked about for the next 15 to 20 years at least. Not to judge, but majority of the people that I saw there demonstrating, protesting and spending several weeks in Downtown don't have jobs and there are some who gave up their jobs just to show support and express their concern over corporate greed and economic government issues among other things. Hell, I don't even know too much about the background of the Occupy movement. I spent a the past week watching videos from the demonstrations in New York and some of the marches here in Los Angeles. Crazy shit happening the past few weeks. It'll be quite interesting to see how this will end, whenever that will be.

And the Lakers were supposed to start their season last Tuesday Night. Shit, I even had the money to buy tickets for the first game of the "would've been" season. I could've seen some new hot Laker Girls, Mike Brown screaming with panic and flaunting up and down the Staples Center hardwood floor, as well as seeing a Metta World Peace jersey in person and free Tacos. Obviously, the NBA lockout is an absolute waste of time. Mostly talk and discussions and shit. I don't remember too much of the previous lockout 13 years ago cause, surprisingly for a black guy like myself, I wasn't into the NBA that much (the only players I knew then were Shaq, Kobe when he was just barely legal, Jordan, Pippen, Barkley and Penny Hardaway from their signature sneakers they dropped in 1998). Its no surprise that the league isn't aware of not only losing hundreds of millions of dollars from this mess, but losing the fans interest and patience for the sport of professional basketball. I wonder what current NCAA basketball players are thinking about this? Maybe they probably are considering for playing overseas since they pay more or exercising their basic fundamentals of the sport by becoming an assistant coach for pay at a private high school Basketball team in Indiana, the Hooiser State. I bet the blokes from TNT's Inside the NBA are bored with their lives right now. I wonder how this will impact the sales for Kobe Bryant's next signature shoe, the Nike Zoom Kobe VII, since we won't see him performing in those sneakers for a while. For now here in Los Angeles, its mostly Kings Ice Hockey, a USC or UCLA college game which will go by quicker and the NFL three nights a week (Thursday night games start next week) at some local bar with DirecTV.

Alright, got a busy weekend to look ahead on. Gonna be covering a babyshower on Saturday and to test drive some more Cadillacs on Sunday with some Football at a bar again. Thanks for reading and a happy 23rd birthday to the Arlene and Darlene Arias, as well as old foolish-ass Sean Combs.