Friday, October 23, 2009

Changes are coming...

I am about to start blogging here again... I need to keep a different style from my Youth Noise stuff. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Skate for Good: A Night at Norwalk Skatepark

Norwalk Skatepark opened up a few years back and I frequented it often with a lot of the friends I grew up with. Like anyone else, life hit me and I got into other things: girlfriends, bands, politics, pretty much anything but ride my skateboard. That lasted a couple years until late last year, when I decided to start skating again for good.

The last time I went to Norwalk Skatepark, there were so many little kids just starting to learn how to skate for the first time and trying to figure out what tricks were cool and going through the awkward stage of pushing mongo and just not knowing the ettiquette. Upon my return, I noticed that a lot of these kids got bigger, and they definitely got better. Now that I've been fully back on board(no pun intended) for almost a full year now, I brought my camera to the park the other night to try to figure out why some of these guys skate for good.

Skate for Good: A Night at Norwalk Skate Park from nando yiv on Vimeo.



Based on a pre-determined set of questions, I found that although the skateboarders varied in age, they found skateboarding or decided to keep skateboarding for the same reasons. Most of them came from a mainstream sports(baseball, basketball) background but succumbed to skateboarding's appeal because of the personal responsibility and the comraderie that came with it. It requires athleticism but doesn’t require an organized team, or coach, or regulation area to skate in. That was the unanimous sentiment based on the responses to the questions.

If you’re ever in the area, feel free to stop by Norwalk Park and watch the kids tear it up.

P.S. The grown-ups could hold their own as well.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Random #11

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They get bigger and bigger every year.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Skateboarders go through great lengths

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to get the "perfect angle". We climb things, hide under things, get dirty, sometimes even hurt to get that perspective that most people would never even think of getting. How many people do you know see things from 8ft high? Or from under a loading dock. Some are impressed, others just click on through.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother's Day Mobbin Mack Maniacs Minimalizing Mimes Missioning Mental Murfs

Lakers lost today.

Dodgers lost today.

So, we went skating(only two of us really cared about the above):

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Jacob stayed MEX

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man crush

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Ended the night by jumpin the fence at the park. Good sesh. Got our fill.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Random #10

I got a fortune cookie with two fortunes!!! Awesome!
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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Yippi ay yay mini skateboard spot

Takin it to the streets...! on the dining room table.

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Friday, April 24, 2009

Hate Crime...

My dad enjoys eating snake.
Its true, my aunt brought some snake jerky for him from Cambodia. I shared this interesting story with some people at work at I received this threatening and highly detailed hate letter on my desk:
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Can you believe it? Someone wrote down what my dad does and has done. How can they do that? This is an agrigious act.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

I love these children...

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This is automatic.

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I'm in for sure.

Monday, April 20, 2009

First Dodger Game of 2009

I went to my first Dodger game this year on Friday.

Jakes hooked it up with sick field level seats.

Randy Wolf gave up 3 runs in the first but pitched five more stellar no run innings to keep the game in reach.

The boys came through with a 4 run inning in the 7th.

I was particularly impressed by Jonathan Broxton, who was brought in a little earlier to record 5 outs. He inherited bases loaded with one out and a 4-3 lead and kept it out of the hands of the rockies. He threw as hard as 99mph....!!!

Thanks Jacob and thank you McCourts and Colletti for putting together an excellent team this season.

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look at this view!

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the homie luis hooked it up with some dodger dogs!

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Jakes was hyped!

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Let us on the field after.

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Dodger dirt. Hes holding dodger dirt!

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Left my mark.

Sorry for the crappy resolution. Photos were taken on my phone w/ no flash.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Ain't no Hollenbeck Girl... pt. 2

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Two hours. Three Lines. Watch yo backs.

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Ey foo. Your cute.

Call me Michael Jackson:

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And boys being boys:
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And the hombre with the ice cream cart seems to always find us:
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

It was just this kind of day today...

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With the wind blowing the pile of dirt across the street at us, our resident skateboarders decided to sit this one out.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Random #8

I love my mom.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Random #7

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Can you write your name with your feet?... Thought so.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Random #6

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Nothing beats ice cream after a good sesh.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Random#5

Whenever we find a gap, we figure out how big it is by having Jacob lay down on it. Hes 6'3. If its longer than him, we might have quite a challenge on our hands.
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What Dreams May Come

On Saturday April 4, 2009, I had the privilege of skating at the Berrics. Through a promotion, Steve Berra(co-founder) had come up with, if we went and saw his friend Mark Webber's film "Explicit Ills" at the Sunset 5, we will be able to skate at the Berrics and have a pizza party. We did our part, and they kept their word. My friends and I are in our mid twenties and we were giddy to be able to skate here.

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John and Jacob trying to warm up before we got in the car.

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We made it to the address that was given to us and waited in anticipation.

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Salman checked us off his list and many others were still waiting.

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John was ecstatic.

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Watching Steve Berra unlock the gate was kind of like the scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory where the crowd eagerly waited to see Wonka himself.

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Our first glimpse of the park.

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In hour into the session, Jacob already suffered a casualty.

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I tried to get 10 years of skateboarding into a three hour session at the Berrics and it just felt like I was starting over again. Either way, the skating was intense and we all had a great time. We played some skate dice, I choked on the two tries I had on tricks that I had down, but it felt awesome to really experience it. I saw some of the kids shaking.

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Its Koston. How many times do you get a chance to take a photo with a legend.

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I got my photo-op with him as well.

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Salman was awesome, a legend in his own right, he really kept things in order.

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When I stepped up to lose a dollar at Skate Dice, Berra looked at me and shouts, "Nando Kalrizian!", he remembered my name. I was psyched and missed the nollie flip.

It was a great experience and everyone who was in the building was definitely feeling it. It was everything we expected and more. Thank You Steve for your crazy promotion and to everyone who helped accomodate us.