Inside Look At Crossroads With Jamie Thomas

Not everyone can gain access into a trade show.   I myself have been to plenty and to say the least, I love getting free stuff.  I go just to get free stuff.  But at the same time, it deals with a lot of walking and talking to a bunch of people you really don’t care to talk to.  I have been to all types of trade show my entire life.  I’ve been to the ASR trade show, I’ve been to Magic in Vegas and the other smaller shows that coincide like Pool.  I have been to many cultural trade shows like the FilAm trade show in San Diego and in Los Angeles.  And I’ve been to plenty of business trade shows when I was younger with my parents.  Those were the worst.  They are also the ones where you can see big time celebrities like the SHAMWOW guy and BILLY MAYS (R.I.P.)

But there are only 3 tradeshows that I’ve been to that I consider my favorite.  Here they are in no particular order.

1.    The Adult Entertainment Expo – Understand that I’m not a pervert.  I actually attended this  event with a few friends of mine and one in particular who loves pornos.  But I have to admit, the exhibits and stands were actually very creative.  The porn industry is at the top of technology and usually dictates what direction technology is headed.  (e.g. VHS over Beta).  Plus the swag was pretty awesome as well.

2.    The Nightclub & Bar Convention – This one speaks for itself.  It’s like opening a bar tab with your friends, consume as much as you possibly can, and ditch the payment.  It was so overwhelming, my friend threw up in a trash can in the middle of the convention indiscreetly.  Patrons would just take a glance, smile, and walk away.  The people were that cool.  Plus the free food is a big help when you’re getting wasted.  You can see some of that footage HERE.

3.    The Video Game Exp – I’m not exactly sure what the exact name of this convention is called.  My friend and I just crashed it while at the Nightclub and Bar Convention.  Imagine Chuck E Cheese for adults and it’s free.  I’m not talking about crappy stand up games where you control with a joystick.  These games involved getting into contraptions and controlling movements with your body.  I’m not even a big fan of video games to begin with.

One trade show I would like to check out is the Crossroads Tradeshow in San Diego.  It is supported by the ASR trade Show but it’s a separate entity.  It has a better vibe than the bigger shows because its roots are skateboarding.  So none of the poseur companies looking to cash in.  The people partaking our in it for the love of skating.

Iconic skateboarder and founder of Black Box, Jamie Thomas, takes a few minutes to discuss his vision of Crossroads and the show’s move to downtown San Diego. On the opening day of CROSSROADS, Thomas takes ASRLive on a walk through the event.

Posted in Other Sports, Skate | Tags: Billy Mays, Crossroads, Jamie Thomas, Shamwow — | No Comments »

Kevin Pearce Update

It never ceases to amaze me how strong action sports athletes are.  Time and time again, we hear or see of tragic news of someone getting critically injured and the bloggers, media, and the fans can’t help but think the worse, especially if you had witnessed it yourself.  But time and time again, these guys always seem to pull through and make it out okay.  The same can be said for Kevin Pearce who just over a month ago, got into a terrible snowboarding accident.  And as we have been following his progress online, he seems to be getting better and better with unexpected results.  It just goes to show some of the heart and determination some of these guys.  Check out the press release below for Kevin Pearce’s latest update.

DENVER, CO (February 4, 2010) Snowboarder Kevin Pearce continues to make excellent strides in his recovery. Just over one month after his accident Kevin has been transferred from the University of Utah Hospital to Craig Hospital – a world renowned center for specialty rehabilitation and research for people with traumatic brain injury. There Kevin will begin his next steps towards a full recovery.

While at University of Utah Hospital Kevin was under the care of many doctors, including Holly Ledyard, M.D., a Neurointensivist (a physician with specialized education and training in critical neurological conditions) at University of Utah Health Care. Dr Ledyard is extremely proud of Kevin and his fight through the first steps of his recovery, “Kevin has made tremendous progress since being admitted to University of Utah Hospital on December 31.  He is able to walk and do many daily activities with some assistance. I asked him how he felt about being discharged from the hospital and he said, ‘Excited!  I’m ready to keep on going!’  His positive attitude and determination will certainly serve him well as he moves on to the next phase of his rehabilitation.”

Alan H. Weintraub, MD, Medical Director, Craig Hospital TBI Program, NIDRR Rocky Mt. Regional TBI Model Systems Center, will be leading Kevin’s team at Craig and is eager to help Kevin continue along the right path to recovery.  “Craig Hospital’s specialized TBI treatment program has begun a comprehensive evaluation of Kevin’s neurological injury and his rehabilitation needs.  Our goal is to assist Kevin and his family through this challenging journey and help them reach their fullest potential in every phase of recovery. I also want to acknowledge the excellent work since Kevin’s injury by our acute care colleagues at the University of Utah.”

Kevin’s parents would like to give a special thank you to all of the doctors, nurses and staff at the University of Utah Hospital who have helped Kevin and the Pearce family though this difficult time. The Pearce family would also like to thank all of the friends and fans of Kevin for their outpouring of support, thoughts and prayers; they have helped Kevin get through his day. With Kevin embarking on a new level of rehabilitation the Pearce family looks forward to the experience at Craig Hospital with great optimism.

Posted in Snowboard | Tags: Kevin Pearce Update — | No Comments »

Olympic Superpipe Coming Along

I have been following the progress of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver quite closely.  First of all as you probably already know, I’m an extreme sports fanatic.  I follow extreme sports, I breathe extreme sports, I AM extreme sports.  I just can’t perform extreme sports any longer since my ACCIDENT.   So whenever there is an event going down, I give my utmost attention and I hope that you do to.  Secondly, I’m kind of like a degenerate gambler.  I used to hit the CASINO here in Los Angeles almost every day.  Plus I was making pretty good money doing it too.  So what does being a degenerate gambler have to do with extreme sports?  Well I partake in extreme gambling and that includes betting on sports.  I have a bookie that will practically allow me to gamble on almost everything except the WSOP, oddly enough.  I’m not endorsing gambling in any way because take it from me, it’s a very difficult life to live.  Most card players I know who have hundreds of thousands of dollars stored away can’t even get a Honda Civic on credit.  Their lives are so up and down.  Plus looking around at a CARD TABLE, it’s discouraging to see your future.

But in following what is going on with the Winter Olympics progress, it gives me a heads up on conditions, thus giving me the edge I need on who will perform well.  It has taken several weeks leading up to the Olympics to get the Superpipe going.  Listening to an NPR report a few weeks ago, the Superpipe was not even close to being completed.  In fact, the area where the Superpipe was being built looked more like SANTA’S VILLAGE in the middle of August.  But it was reported that there was snow underneath the surface and that no matter what, there will be a Superpipe in time.

So what could I do with that information exactly?  Well knowing that the conditions may mild and not exactly ideal, I would have to keep the odds on Scotty Lago.  Shaun White will win the mountain prize for best smile and Vito will win a prize for doing some hot dance steps.  But overall, knowing that this group are pretty much invisible, I would bet on a clean sweep.

Posted in Snowboard | Tags: 2010 Winter Olympics, Louie Vito, Scotty Lago, Shaun White — | No Comments »

Nikita Moves Into Action

I’m always down to represent the NIKITA Snowboard team because they are one of the few entities out there pushing along the female agenda.  Showcasing that women as a whole can be just as creative, dominant, and gnarly, as the dudes.  And it never hurts to see some pretty faces here and there after looking at THESE mugs endlessly.  So they want you to send in your action clips to Nikita and you can bag yourself an all-inclusive trip to Iceland in 2010. If you follow the value of the dollar at all, you will learn that our currency will go along way in Iceland as well.  Unlike the rest of Europe and the EU.  Go out there and have some fun.  Having exclusively run this contest based on girls sending in their snowboard clips, Nikita has widened the remit to include all-action heroines.  Like BJORK.  She’s Icelandic.
From 19th January 2010 until 12th March 2010 you just need to get out there and get some footage together and show whatever it is that gets your adrenalin pumping. Maybe it’s listening to a Jonas Brothers tune.  Or perhaps getting down with some FREESTYLE WALKING.  Whatever it is, make it happen.

One winner will be chosen from all the entries to fly to Iceland in May 2010. You will be greeted at Keflavik airport just outside Reykjavik and during your stay, will be escorted in and around the city centre where you’ll see the new flagship Nikita store, choose some brand new Nikita gear and get to join our friends at Arctic Adventures on an unforgettable surfing and snowboarding trip!

Entry details?You must be female and 18 years or over. You can send in as much footage as you like as long as there is plenty of action in there featuring you and the file being e-mailed is no bigger than 4MB. Your footage will also be shown through Nikita’s YouTube and Mpora pages as well as the winner featured on our main Nikita website. Please send in all entries from 19th January until 12th March 2010; winners will be announced on 18th March 2010. As before, there are always so many great entries that we like to pay tribute where respect is due, so there will also be some special additional prizes to include Nikita clothing for the runners-up. E-mail all entries to contest@nikitaclothing.com.

Please include your full name, date of birth, postal address, e-mail and contact telephone number along with any other info you feel is relevant.

Posted in Snowboard | Tags: Iceland, Nikita, Photo Contest — | No Comments »

DC Launches Cool New DC7 Zine

Bathing Ape or BAPE used to be one of my favorite companies.  They had everything going for them from great APPAREL to delicious soda, to even make-up prodcuts.  They became an international force in apparel and design.  That’s until PHARRELL WILLIAMS had a hand in it destroying Nigo’s company (Kanye too).  He completely demolished the entire brand turning it into a cartoon.  Now if you were to check out the Bape store in Los Angeles, it’s always empty.  Trust me because I drive past it almost every day.

Go down a few blocks and you will find the DC Flagship store.  It’s one of the busiest stores on all of Melrose Ave. and it’s gigantic.  What are they doing right that Bape couldn’t do?  They held onto their base.  Granted they cater to all action sports and their have a pretty big demographic, but it still wasn’t want Bape was.  Bape was a household name.  And they got away from their base.  All I know is that DC stayed true to who they are while Bape is… I don’t know what BAPE is anymore.

DC announces the launch of the DC 7Zine website today. The DC 7Zine allows visitors to experience a unique behind the scenes look at DC’s Skate Team, both on and off the job as a professional skater. There you can check out to see what keeps them hot and what keeps them fresh.

The DC7Zine is the go to place for exclusive interviews, videos, product reviews and shop profiles for DC key retailers. Visitors will also get a glimpse into the lives of the DC Team through segments highlighting Josh Kalis’ travels around the world, Ryan Smith’s love of bikes, and Lindsey Robertson’s culinary expertise, to name a few. And with the timeless archive from photographer Mike Blabac’s, skate fans of all kinds will find something for them.

“The DC 7Zine is tight,” said DC pro skater Josh Kalis.  “It gives a wide variety of avenues to see the more personal and comedic side to the DC team and friends.”

Visit to check out KALIS giving a walk through of the site.

DC 7Zine will be updated daily and will be offered in two different versions.  A digital version that can be viewed at DC7ZINE and a printed version will available at select key DC Retailers quarterly.

Posted in BMX, FMX, Other Sports, Skate, Snowboard, Surf | Tags: DC, DC7, Online Zine — | No Comments »

Wilmington Skate Project On Halt

If you were to guess what are the four most popular sports in the United States.  I could already imagine football and baseball as numbers one and two.  Then three would be a tossup between basketball and possibly soccer since everyone kid and their mother played soccer as a child.  So could you guess what the fourth is?  Would you be surprised if I told it is SLAMBALL?  Well stay surprised because it isn’t.  I wish it were though and I will always stand by it.  Even though they canceled the league 5 years ago.  Surprise, surprise, skateboarding is currently the 4th most popular sport in the United States. Similar to many areas of the country, northern Delaware has active skateboarders of all ages.  Now that’s a surprise because Delaware is one of the more liberal states in the country.  They should be more empathetic to our young skater citizens’ needs.

Despite the sport’s popularity, this region has no free public skateboarding facility. Quality skateparks have many benefits for cities and communities including, increased tourism and detering crime.

Building a skatepark is an opportunity for the CITY OF WILMINGTON to demonstrate dedication to its youth and show support for a healthy young activity.

For years, The WILMINGTON SKATEPARK PROJECT has been hard at work, first fighting for a public skatepark and then raising money for their approved, future skate-plaza under I-95. Today, they released this message on their website.

“Over the last several months we had hoped that the beginning processes of building a skatepark would have started by this time. However, the appropriated city funding that is intended for the skatepark is delayed. This funding is tied into a bond bill that has been delayed due to various factors including current economic conditions. We hope for these funds to be exercised as soon as possible and wewill continue to monitor the status.

In the meantime, WSP is working with the City of Wilmington Parks Dept. on a feasibility plan for some smaller skateparks at various sites within the city. These smaller sites, if approved would be in addition to the main Skate Plaza location at Maryland Ave. and Linden Streets.”

Keep tuned to the WSP website for news on their progress and messages on how you can help in the planning and construction of these new parks.

Posted in Skate | Tags: Wilmington Skate Project — | No Comments »

Ian “Kanga” Cairns To Added To Surfers’ Hall Of Fame

Against the backdrop of the mega surf contest that he helped shape, Ian “Kanga” Cairns will enter the 2010 Surfers’ Hall of Fame this August.  Winner of the 1973 Smirnoff Pro and 1975 Duke Kahanamoku Classic, Cairns was the premier “power” surfer of his era and dominated the North Shore during the mid to late-seventies. The 13th annual Surfers’ Hall of Fame induction will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 6 in front of Huntington Surf & Sport (corner of PCH and Main) coinciding with the Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing.

Known as a fierce competitor who carved trench-like turns in big surf, Cairns ultimately turned his attention to growing the sport and played an instrumental role in the development of the NSSA, ASP, Op Pro, Bud Surf Tour and the U.S. Open of Surfing; earning a reputation as an articulate and passionate supporter of competitive surfing.  Cairns, along with other inductees to be announced, will place their hands, feet and signature in wet cement for the ages during a public ceremony.

Cairns was influential in the development of American surfing (and surfers), adding structure to the nascent sport and creating a “clear path to follow.”  Under his direction, the venerable Op Pro Surfing Championships produced some of the most memorable clashes in surfing history and created a world-class “stadium” venue to showcase the sport.  The Bud Tour received extensive media coverage and jump-started the careers of a new crop of Americans led by Kelly Slater, Taylor Knox, Rob Machado, Shane Beschen and Pat O’Connell.

Among myriad achievements ranging from co-founder of the Bronzed Aussies, appearances in two-dozen surf movies and overseeing the Bluetorch media company, perhaps the most indelible mark Cairns made in the world of surfing is the gargantuan U.S. Open.  Prior to taking a brief hiatus from the sport, Cairns helped lay the foundation for the U.S.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Surf | Tags: Ian Kanga Cairns, Surfer's Hall of Fame — | 1 Comment »

DC Moto Team Video

Team videos are very important in the action sports world; they give companies a way to show the talent of their team members outside of the contest arena.  I can speak from being into skating for along time, that a lot of skaters get to the point in their career where they choose not to compete in contests anymore and decide to show their talent via the video medium.

There have been so many memorable team videos over the years in all aspects of action sports, from the Plan B videos of the 90’s to the Metal Mulisha videos of the 2000’s.  If I were asked what my favorite video of the last 2o years was, I would be kind of dumbfounded, with so much talent out there it is a really hard decision to make, after a lot of thought I had decided on one. Click here.

It may not be for everyone but there are some major skills there that you can’t deny; it’s pure magic.

They guys from DC have put together a new MX video and even though it isn’t exactly as amazing as the one above, it’s still pretty awesome, so check it out below:

Posted in FMX | Tags: DC MX Team, DC Shoes — | No Comments »

Geoff Rowley & David Gonzalez Attempt The Walnut High School 22

You read it right.  Walnut High School!  For those of you who don’t know, Walnut, CA is one of the most unique cities in the entire country.  It is like a little utopia of wholesome family goodness.  It was even featured in CNN’S best cities in the United States article a few years back.  Now before you go on saying how you know of Walnut and that you’ve been there, plus it kind of sucks there, then hold up a minute because chances are, you are mixing up the city with another lesser city with Walnut in it’s name.  First of all, everyone thinks that Walnut is Walnut Creek, which too is in California.  But Walnut Creek is in Northern Cali whereas Walnut is in Southern Cali.  It’s about 25 minutes east of Downtown Los Angeles.  Second of all, for those who do know where Walnut is because you live in a nearby city, (Diamond Bar, Pomona, Chino Hills, West Covina), just note that you city is nowhere close to being as awesome as ours.  The reason why most people in Southern California don’t know about Walnut is because there are no major highways or freeways running through it.  If in the past there were ever any proposals to build any business structures, our little socialist community denied access.

You see, as much as the citizens along with the elected officials of Walnut like to think they are upper class conservatives, they are actually very socialist.  It took many years until we saw a Vons Supermarket in our neighborhoods.  You think you can just buy land and set up a McDonalds on a busy street corner?  No chance.  That’s because Walnut and its citizens take pride in keeping our community small and exclusive.  You should see what great lengths parents go through just to get their kids into our SCHOOL SYSTEM.

And along with the exclusive community, you will see things in Walnut that you won’t see much of anywhere else.   Horse trails that line the streets.  A TEEN CENTER along with a SENIORS CENTER.  Wildlife like raccoons, opossums, and coyotes.  If you’re lucky, possibly a snake.

But growing up, my friends and I cared very little about all the amenities that came with the city of Walnut.  There was nothing in the city that we thought of as cool.  That’s until the pros started coming through.  In a short 2-3 year period, Walnut did major renovations on our middle and high schools, creating skate heavens for us locals.  Manuel pads, perfectly sized planters, rails, gaps, hips; you name it.  It was enough to get the likes of Daewon Song to come out.  And a single clip in one of his videos was the very first time I can recall Walnut being in a skate video.  It was a landmark achievement in the city’s history.

A few years later, Flip’s second edition of their SORRY series came out.  At the very end of Geoff Rowley’s part, you should remember one of the gnarliest rail slides ever recorded on video.  That rail slide took place on the campus of Walnut High School.  I wasn’t fortunate enough to be there to witness it but one of my friends was.  He said it was the best thing he had ever seen in his life.  You can actually hear him in the background cheering.

Now as time went by, Geoff felt as if he could do more with that set.  His attempt of the massive 22-stair gap is insane.  Those steps are no joke.  And now surface some footage of little David Gonzalez attempting to do the same?  Man that kid’s got balls.

Check out the footage on the FLIP website and witness what brings me so much pride when it comes to my home town Walnut.

Posted in Skate | Tags: California, David Gonzalez, Flip Skateboards, Geoff Rowley, Walnut — | No Comments »

Win A V.I.P Trip To The 2010 Tampa Pro On Fuel Dime

I have never won anything in my entire life through a raffle, lottery, or any such drawing where you experience instant success all because of odds based off chance.  That includes slot machines, which don’t pay out based on chance, but still feels like it if you were to win a jackpot.  But overall, I wouldn’t say that I’m an unlucky guy because just like Rose from TITANIC, “I make my own luck”.  And creating my own luck can be attributed to some of the life’s ADVENTURES I have experienced.  Trust me, I’ve seen, discovered, touched, felt, indulged in more than 95% of the population out there.  And that includes the time some poor schmuck decided to send me to Miami Florida for the MIAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL, which is an event every year.

Back in 2004 to 2005, I was in need of a new job. I moved back to Los Angeles after taking a break for a while and got this job out in Hollywood as a talent manager.  Now I didn’t know jack about MANAGING TALENT nor did I have much interest in it.  All I knew was that you have to deal with these LA actor types who have big dreams of making it big.  Plus I needed a job and this sort of just fell in my lap.  Anyways, it was this one guy and this one guy only who ran this talent management company.  He had a boat load of cash through previous projects and wanted to expand his business so he took me on.

One day, my boss asked me if I wanted to go to Miami.  I was like, “Miami?  Heck yeah!  For what?”  It was for the music conference Miami Music Conference.  It thought to myself, wow, that’s a really bad idea.  This company barely has any money and he wants to go all the way to Miami to look for talent?  So I was torn.  Should I egg on this guy and tell him it is a brilliant idea?  Or should I tell him that his idea is horrible and for the sake of the company, we should skip.

Well I don’t know what you would do but I took the trip and man was it fun.  All on his dime too.  I was young, single, and had a burst of ENERGY.  That is how I create my own luck.

FUEL is offering a similar type of giveaway to Florida for the TAMPA PRO AM 2010.  The Pro Am is always a great event and brings out the best skaters and the best in skaters.  You and a lucky friend can be chosen for this once in a lifetimeV.I.P. experience.  If you are unlucky with contests like me, you should try to be that lucky friend.  And just tag along.

Check out the FUEL site for the rules.

Posted in Skate | Tags: Contest, Fuel TV, Tampa Pro Am — | No Comments »