Ball Above All

I'm finally feeling somewhat decent after being sick for a week or so. Played 3 hours worth of full court hoops this morning and went undefeated! Then me and my girl went to see the Lakers squeak one out in OT vs. the Wiz. Now thats what I call a perfect Sunday.

Part of The Record

My girlfriend got us some tickets to go see a once in a lifetime game this weekend. It was the Dodger's 50th Anniversary game held at the Memorial Coliseum vs. the Boston Redsox. I was pretty hyped to go see a game at the Coliseum for several reasons. 1) I had never been there for a game, 2) because I hate the Redsox, and 3) because the baseball field that they set up was of ridiculous proportions . The field was a little over 200 feet to the left field wall and to left it was almost 500 feet! It looked crazy! We heard that the parking situation was going to be a nightmare so we decided to take the "courtesy" shuttle from Dodger Staduim. BAD IDEA! I think about 50,000 other people has the same thing in mind so when we got to Dodger Stadium we saw THE WORST line of all time. This line must have had at least 10,000-15,000 people in it and snaked back and forth across the entire Dodger Stadium parking lot several times. After seeing that we decided to ditch that idea and called my parents up to get a ride down there. Surprisingly enough, it couldn't have been any easier. We got there with no traffic and they dropped us off right in front of the Coliseum. Once we walked inside it was a madhouse. I'd say 98% of the people there were Dodger fans, and 35% of those fans were cholos. One guy we saw was wearing a Giants hat and he was getting ridiculed by everyone in sight. I don't know what he was thinking wearing that to this game! As we walked through the crowd, we got a few beers, a few dogs, some kettle corn and a T-shirt, then made out way to the seats. For 15 bucks they weren't bad at all. The game however was pretty weak (as are most pre-season games) and the Dodgers were down 7 to 1 by the 4th inning. Eventually the Dodgers lost and we went home, but not before having a great time and helping set the world record for most people at a baseball game. Whoo hoo! Now we are a part of history.
Worst Line Ever!
What are we gonna do now?
The Coliseum as the Sun Sets
Jam packed concessions area.
I guess thats what 110,000+ Fans Looks Like!
Batter Up!
Say Cheese!
Leaving The Game.

Soot Bull Jeep

Went to my favorite Korean BBQ restaurant in the whole world tonight. The smoke filled and always delicious place in the heart of grimy Korea Town, Soot Bull Jeep. My girlfriend and I and my cousin and his girl all went there and had a feast. We pretty much got the same thing as always (you can never go wrong with this order) which was 4 orders of Bulgoki (or however you spell it) a few beers and some spicy kimchi soup! Damn it was a great meal. Forgot to bring my camera so no pictures will be posted until the next time i go there, which hopefully wont be too long from now. Until then...

Rafting Trip

A good friend of mine just called me up and told me about his 30th birthday party. Its going to be sick! A bunch of us are going up to the American River for Memorial Day weekend and are going White Water Rafting and camping. I've been wanting to do this for a while so I was super hyped when he told me about this trip. It's going to be even more fun since there will be 30 of us going up there so we wont be stuck on a raft full of random bozos. I'm sure everyone will be getting tossed out of the boat and having a great time. Memorial Day Weekend here we come!
Hit Them Rapids

Diesel Truckin' NYC Style

Here's a little video I made a while back. Nothing too special but anyone who is a fan of Kool Keith should enjoy it. It wound up as a bonus feature on the Diesel Truckers album.

Not Again!

Damn the Laker's game tonight was crazy. For a second there I thought it was going to be a repeat performance of Sunday nights game. That would have been the worst! 2 victories just handed to the Warriors in the final seconds? Hell no! Anyways thank goodness that wasn't the case, and the Lakers held on in OT for the "W". Kobe came up huge down the stretch as did D-Fish, LO, and Sasha "The Machine" Vujacik.
Oh yeah Kobe got a mean gash from Baron Davis too!

Great

Its Monday again and I hate Mondays. It always sucks that the weekend has come to an end much too soon, and now you have to get through 5 days of work before having fun again. Let's hope this week goes by as pain free as possible.

A Waste of a Weekend (well kind of...)

I'm still sick with the worst sore throat ever. Haven't done jack shit all weekend really. I was supposed to go mountain biking and I had Lakers tickets for Friday nights game vs Seattle and tonight's game vs Golden State. But guess what. I'm still here sitting around at home sick as a dog. WEAK! At least WVU laid the smack down on Duke in the second round of the NCAA tourney and advanced to the Sweet 16. My updated prediction is that WVU is at least going to play UCLA in the Elite 8 and hopefully beat them. F that. WVU will beat UCLA and go to the Final Four. Thats my prediction as of now. They play on Wednesday so we'll see what happens...

BC x SAC

My good friend Rick over at Skate all Cities hooked me up with some new product today. I've been waiting a while to get some gear from him, so I'm pretty hyped that we finally met up. They just came out with these new t-shirts and hoodies, and as you can see, they look sick. The font is modeled after the Thrasher "Skate and Destroy" logo in case you didn't know. Also pictured below is the "El Sarape" deck that looks like a poncho with cholo tagging on it, and the SAC team deck with their classic skull and boards logo.
Colors

Third Times A Charm

I can't F"n believe it! I'm sick again for the 3rd time in the past 5 months! The one year I skip out on the flu shot I suffer the consequences royally. All 3 times have been completely different, but this one is starting to suck just as bad. I have the sore throat from hell right now. It fells like my entire throat is cut up and then someone poured acid on it to finish me off. Worst Sore Throat EVER! Im going back to bed.

And So It Begins...

March Madness officially starts today. It's the first time in a long while that I didn't even bother to fill out a bracket or get in on my works NCAA tournament pool. I never win anyway so it's not that big of a deal. The way I fill out brackets, I might as well just burn 20 bucks. I'm just hoping that WVU can win a few games, and that Duke doesn't win it all. Right now I can't even begin to worry about college hoops when the Lakers are in the midst of a huge battle for playoff position. The NBA is way more exciting to me no matter what the college hoops circumstances are. The Lakers are on the road in Utah tonight and that game is going to be crazy. Hopefully Kobe and the gang can keep some of that momentum from the Dallas win and take it to the Jazz in their own arena. We shall see. Go WVU! Go LAKERS!

The Blueprint

So when I finally get my all black, 2008, 4 wheel drive Honda Element, I'm definitely going to have to pimp it out a little bit. I was looking for ideas online and came across a great picture of how I want my ride to look. Lucky for me this guy has a sticker from the wheel company that he used on the side of his car. I don't usually like to bite on people's styles but Im definitely going to have to get the same rims. The difference is that he has chrome 20s and I am going to get the all black 18s. Also Im not going to put one single sticker on my car either.
Nice!!!

Any Day Now

At long last I think I will finally be getting a new car this week. I've had my truck for about 10 years and driven that sucker into the ground. It has about 160,000 miles on it and a few good crash marks too. It's definitely time for a change. Anyways this lady over at the Honda dealership has been busting her butt to get me the 2008 Honda Element of my dreams. All black, 4 wheel drive, with a roof rack to mount bikes, snowboards, and surfboards, as well as a ton of other cool options. It's pretty much the perfect vehicle for me and my interests. I can't wait to get that car and go on a road trip or a camping trip ASAP. I should know more later today on what the status of everything is.
Mine will be all black and have some sick rims!

I Hate St. Patrick's Day

Today is St. Patrick's Day. How great! I'm only kidding. St. Patrick's Day is just like every other day in my book, except on this day every alcoholic loser known to man crowds into their local Irish Pub (which I also hate) to get completely shithoused. I hope you had a great one.
I needs me gold!

Smile Now, Cry Later

Sunday is officially basketball day in my world. Not only do I play in a regular full court hoops group for 2+ hours every sunday morning, but 90% of the time the Lakers play a Sunday game, so for at least half the day everything I do involves basketball. Today was no different, however, 2 big issues were going to have to be dealt with in the world of basketball... (1) Has my knee recovered, or is my knee ruined and in need of medical assistance, and (2) will the Lakers snap Houston's 21 game win streak? Anyways, Im happy to report that with the help of my girlfriend's "knee-band" I was able to run and play full court hoops for 2 and a half hours this morning, relatively pain free. Hopefully my knee has recovered enough to not cause further problems anytime soon, since if I couldn't play hoops I'd probably go into a deep depression. First half of the day over. All goes according to plan. So far so good. On the other hand the Lakers (playing shorthanded again) lost a game that they should have won against the Rockets. Kobe has a bad shooting game, the Lakers get no calls from the refs, and they let Rafer "Skip To My Lou" Alston light them up from 3 point land for a career high, en route to a double digit victory. Thats all I want to say about that one. The weekend is almost over. Im going for a bike ride now.

Art Don't Sleep Tonight!

Me, my girl, and some friends are gonna roll out to this party at the Crash Mansion tonight in Downtown LA. Pretty much anything that Art Don't Sleep is involved with is a guaranteed good time, so I'm looking forward to chillin' with the homies and hearing some good music. See you there!
Party people, where you at?

Just Can't Catch a Break!

Pau Gasol out with a sprained ankle... Un-freaking-believable! I can't believe how bad the Laker's luck with injuries has been this season. I'm really pissed off right now.

Never Give Up... Haru Ulala!

We went to one of our favorite spots in Little Tokyo tonight, Haru Ulala. Its an "izakaya", which basically translates to a Japanese style tapas restaurant that serves small plates and drinks. I think the name also has something to do with a race horse (if you look closely at the U on the sign outside its decorated like a horseshoe) but Im not 100% sure. The place has a really chill vibe, it's always crowded, and most importantly has these really cool hand drawn (in crayon) menus. Oh yeah... the food there is delicious and they have really cheap pitchers of beer too. The menu offers all sorts of little meats and vegetables and come grilled or deep fried, a good variety of sushi and other seafood dishes, and tons of other items like the "Japanese Pizza" that I can never remember the name of. Pretty much you just order a ton of different things and snack until you are about to explode. The only drawback to going there last night was that we weren't able to eat as much or drink as much as we would have liked to (no sake on a week night!). Also there was some French tourist family next to us that kept letting their little kid crawl around on the floor (kids are so annoying!). Otherwise it was a great time and meal as usual. If you're ever in Little Tokyo you should definitely check it out, and if its not open go to T.O.T., but I'll review that place the next time I go there.
Haru Ulala (Notice the A rating!)
The Infamous Crayon Drawn Menu
A Beer and Edamame Warmup
Deadly Blowfish Sushi! Just kidding its an Avocado Roll (I'm a wuss)
Deadly Blowfish Sushi! Oh never mind, thats just some Tempura.

VICE TV

So a little while back I bought a DVD called The Vice Guide To Travel. I had read an article somewhere that said it was a mind-blowing look into all sorts of cultures, countries, and scenes that people either (A) don't know about, (B) don't talk about, or (C) aren't really allowed to/ are afraid to talk about (within mainstream media anyways). Needless to say, it lived up to all the hype and was a real eye opener. I've watched it several times so far. Each time it's just as good. The only downside is that it clocks in for just over an hour, leaving you craving for more and a bit bewildered. I thought I'd just have to wait till the next DVD came out (whenever that might be) to see more footage of Pakistani arms markets, toothless Nazi hicks in Argentina, and Mutant game hunting in Chernobyl, along with a long list of other weird shit. But then a strange thing happened. A few months later I was surfing around on You Tube and saw a few clips on various topics that sparked my interest. All of them had been posted by VBS TV. What was this "VBS TV" I wondered, and why does everything they post kick so much ass? Low and behold I did some google searching and found out that "VBS TV" was Vice Magazine's Internet TV station. I also found out that it was already loaded with hours and hours of premium programming ready for my viewing enjoyment. Their topics cover everything from Norwegian Black Metal Documentaries, to North Korean Travelogues (how they got the footage out of North Korea is beyond me), to the Death Squads in Columbia that hunt down street urchins and firebomb the sewers. AND, every episode is always thought provoking and entertaining... GUARANTEED. Basically what Im trying to say is click on one of the links above and visit their site and watch some episodes. You won't be disappointed.
Gaahl of Gorgoroth, one of many subjects that VBS TV covers.

Ahhh... Thats More Like It

Well its safe to say that today was a million times better than yesterday. Work was a breeze, my bike got fixed by the bike shop in less than a day, my Iron Maiden tickets arrived, and I also got my bi-monthly wine club shipment and some clothes I had ordered online in the mail! It almost felt like it was Christmas. Why can't every day run as smoothly as today? Maybe I will have some good dreams to cap it all off... we shall see...

Looks Like Somebody Has A Case of the Mondays

Damn today was whack! I was so swamped at work all day that my head was spinning for the rest of the evening. When I got home I decided to go on a bike ride with my girlfriend to relax, which promptly resulted in a popped tire a couple of miles away from my house. Walking home with a bike that has flat tires is like dragging a plow through the mud... so annoying! Hopefully tomorrow will be stress free. If not I'm going to have to join some weird cult and meditate all the time to relax, then I'll probably wind up looking like this guy.
Who is this guy anyways?

Show Tonight

My good friend Jesse's band Frienemy is playing a show tonight at the Universal Bar and Grill. I think it is their first show, but Im not too sure about that. Their music has kind of a Tool meets Deftones sound and they just released their first album. Anyways I'm going to roll over there and check it out and take some pics or something. It should be a good time.
Frienemy - Goodbye For The Last Time

I Hope It Isn't Serious!

I don't know how, but apparently my left knee is all screwed up. It was feeling fine all week but out of the blue I go and exercise and some crap like this happens to ruin my weekend. I ran a few miles yesterday morning and my knee started to ache. After a few hours of rest it felt fine again so I decided to play some basketball. BAD IDEA! That put my knee in some really bad pain and left me limping around in pain for the rest of the night. Im not sure what could have injured it but there is a sharp pain on the outside of my knee when I do certain things, which is really really annoying. I guess I'm going to have to rest it for a week and see how it is next weekend. Hopefully I won't have to see the doctor.

Rocklahoma 2008 aka The Glam Rock Alphabet

So a few friends and I were thinking of checking out Rocklahoma 2008 this year in Pryor, Oklahoma. In case you haven't heard of this show, its supposed to be the "worlds biggest" glam rock/ hair metal festival. Anyways, it was going to wind up costing about $1,000 per person to fly there, get a campsite, a rental car, food and tons of booze for the 4 day festival so we decided to ditch that idea. As fun as it might have been, shelling out a grand to see these bozos seemed like a really bad idea. So instead, I decided to put together a list of the gayest publicity photos of the bands who are either playing Rocklahoma this year or who played last year. Enjoy!
Armored Saint
Bullet Boys
Cinderella
Dokken
Enuff Z Nuff
Firehouse
Keel
Kix
LA Guns
Poison
Pretty Boy Floyd
Quiet Riot
Ratt
Stryper
Twisted Sister
Warrant
Winger

Battle of Los Angeles

The Lakers play the Clippers tonight. Should be a BLOWOUT if everything goes according to plan!Staples Center, home of the Lakers

Federated Federated Federated!

Blast It!

Have You Seen Him?

"Oh don't worry. My band will definitely make it."

Never Fold

BREAKING NEWS! In one of the greatest moments in recent NBA history, the league has declared Chris "Birdman" Andersen eligible for reinstatement... and its about time! He got suspended a few years back for violating the NBA's drug policy, but unfortunately they never released what drug he got busted for. Based on his looks I'd have to say it was either Acid, Mushrooms or PCP. He doesn't seem like a coke or heroin user to me really. I guess the word on the streets is that New Orleans is going to re-sign him. Anyways, here's to you Birdman! I'm glad you're back!

Go Lakers!

That Lakers vs Dallas game today was sick!!! Kobe went off for 52 on those fools and saved the day once again. It was a huge win to say the least, and proof of how good the Lakers really are. If they can beat a premier team like Dallas after playing a mediocre game then I would say they are going to be in great shape for the rest of the season (barring any further injuries). I cant believe how bad the referees were today though. They were calling all sorts of flop crap that Dallas was doing, but when Kobe got flagrant fouled by Eric Dampier they only called it a regular foul. That's just example # 10,582 of how the refs give Kobe NO LOVE! Oh well, lets get on to the next games and start off on another fat win streak!

Foggy Hiking Trip... Whoo Hoo!!!

For the first time in what seems like at least a year, my girlfriend and i got together with a group of friends and went on a hike. Originally the plan was to hike to the peak of Mount Wilson via the trail head by Mountain Street in Sierra Madre, but when a few people in the group found out that it was 13 or so miles with an elevation gain of abut 6000 feet they weren't having that. So eventually we figured out a new "warmup" hike to go on to see where everyone was at physically and set out on an early morning adventure. The trail we decided on was the "Big Santa Anita Loop" up at Chantry Flats, which can be taken up to the peak of Mt. Wilson if you so desire (and its a much easier trek). This trail goes somewhere between 7 and 9 miles and takes about 5 to 6 hours to complete. I have to say it sure felt good to be out in nature this morning after another long week of sitting at my desk at work. We all met up at the trail head around 7:30am and took off on our hike at 8:15am sharp. I was expecting it to be a fairly sunny day, but from the second we got there it was nothing but fog. It was so foggy it seemed like we were just walking around inside a cloud for the most part. Here and there the air would clear up but 95% of the hike was through the fog, making for an interesting time. Along the way there were numerous waterfalls both natural and man made, and primarily you walk over rocky trails through the forest next to stream beds and sheer drops. We also saw some mountain bikers out there taking advantage of the sick single track trails (which reminds me... I need to take my bike into the shop to get new tires, tubes, and a tune up this weekend!!!) Anyways, the hike was a ton of fun and a good workout, so when we got back, we celebrated by scarfing down some burgers and beer at this little shop at the trail head. All in all I had a great time. Here are some pics we took along the way. Hikers at mysterious waterfall.Look at that fog!