Girl & Chocolate Skateboards At Boarders LA

December 10, 2009 – 6:56 pm PT by Mike

If you missed my “Free Brings Glee” manifesto that I wrote up today, I insist that you read it. It’s full of plenty of knowledge on how to be happy during the holiday season. So please read it HERE and when you’re done, use this Girl and Chocolate book signing to your advantage. The two teams will be doing an in-store book signing at Boarders in Arcadia. I’m going to assume that BOARDERS is a skate shop and not the national book retail chain. The only types of people they invite to their store is the author of my favorite book, YOU’VE GOT MURDER.

The signing takes place this coming Sunday December 13th at 5PM. Maybe they will be nice enough to sign your face. And as you should know from what was mentioned in my “Free Brings Glee” statement, Girl and Chocolate skateboards is also home to some of the biggest names in skateboarding. Even if the people you are acquiring gifts for may not particularly be into skating, there’s someone on of those two teams that would suit the gift receiver.

If you have a Filipino friend, give them a signed picture of DANIEL CASTILLO. Your Filipino friend doesn’t even know who Daniel is. He/she will be happy with it no matter what. But come to think of it, Daniel may not be attending because he, Chico Brenes, and the rest of the DVS TEAM are in the Philippines as we speak bringing Daniel home. Daniel is like Dorothy from THE WIZARD OF OZ right now. But not to worry because Sean Malto is Filipino too and would suffice. You have a friend into sneakers? Eric Koston is now the face of NIKE SB and there are all sorts of posers that think they skate who are into Nike SB and they must know Koston. Have a friend who’s a vegan? Rick McCrank is a great spokesperson for veganism. Just look at him. You can tell in his eyes he’s starving, but he’s still dope.

So if you understand what I mean, this holiday season should be no problem. Use what you’ve got and exploit it. And just let the gifts come to you. But don’t be surprised if you end up receiving a bunch of autograph pictures from your friends.

We’ve Got A New King Of Sao Paulo

December 9, 2009 – 8:06 pm PT by Me

There are several kings coming out of Brazil this week as we just saw a dominating performance from Luan De Oliveira by winning his second consecutive Tampa Am this past weekend.  Now we’ve got another king crowned this weekend at the DC King Of Sao Paulo event where some of South America’s biggest shredders competed for the top prize.  I’m not exactly sure if JP Dantas Anjinho is actually from Brazil but job well done young Dantas.  Even your name sounds like that of a king.

DC Shoes would like to congratulate JP Dantas Anjinho for winning the DC King Of Sao Paulo, the latest installment of DC’s amateur skateboarding contest, this past weekend. Fifty of the best regional amateur skateboarders from South America came out and competed at two of Sao Paulo’s most famous skate spots, the Praca Roosevelt and Praca Azul. Head over to the DC Shoes site for more coverage.

Final Results
1. JP Dantas Anjinho
2. Gustavo Malagoli
3. Thiago Lemos
4. Jose Martins Zezinho
5. Carlos Iqui
6. Luiz Apelao
7. Denis Silva
8. Jhony Melhado
9. Gauber Marques
10. Murilo Romao
11. Dhiego Correia
12. Douglas Molocope
13. Heverton De Freitas
14. Mailton dos Santos
15. Alber Leandro

Girls Of Skateboarding Calendar Out Now

December 9, 2009 – 7:55 pm PT by Mike

I read somewhere that the traditional yearly calendar may soon be obsolete.  Because of digitized calendars coming in all shapes and sizes including phones and computers, traditional calendars are seeing a decrease in sales.  Just go to any 99 Cents Store and you will see every type of calendar to suit interests of all walks of life.  I should know because I collect these types of calendars dating all the way back to 1998.  It’s a good thing that my hobby is cheap because it allows me to really bulk up my collection every year.  Now I’ve got hundreds of calendars in my collection and sometimes I like to take an hour or two, or six, and just sift through the hundreds of days that once was.  Most of the time, I can even remember the moment and exact 99 Cent Store where I bought the calendar.  And of course, I do have my favorites.

Everyone loves puppy and kitten calendars for some reason.  There are over a couple dozens of these made every year and they continue to be a hot seller.  I honestly can’t stand them.  They are so cliché and so not cute.  It makes me feel like a wuss just owning one.  So I try to stay away from those particular collections.  But what I do like are the horse calendars.  They are a lot rarer than other animal calendars and how can you not admire the horse?  Long silky hair.  High muscular legs.  Chiseled features.  Plus I know that one day my horse calendars will go up in price and will be worth a fortune.  Then hopefully I will be able to sell one of the horse calendars so that I can buy a real horse.

Another one of my favorite calendars dates back to the 90’s.  The Backstreet Boys were a hit everywhere in the world and their calendars were not cheap.  A good high gloss picture calendar could set you back anywhere between $20 – $30.  I even got a Backstreet Boys Chinese calendar.  But the most memorable one in my collection is the Latin Jazz piece that I have.  In it is a great tutorial on certain dance moves from the Straight Through tour.  I’ve been able to rock it at the clubs thanks to this calendar.

And finally, the best calendar in my entire collection is definitely a swimsuit calendar.  I didn’t even have to deliberate as to which of the tens of female calendars I have is my favorite.  This one actually just came out for 2010.  It’s called the HOT MORMON MUFFINS calendar.  The title speaks for itself.  2010 will be that much more memorable as I get to see the bodies of 12 very sexy Mormons.  Just make sure you have the right calendar.  There are SEVERAL of them out there and I just want to make sure you don’t get the wrong one.

I don’t have many skate calendars, unless you count FIGURE SKATING and Rollerblading.  But there’s a great new calendar out now called the “Girls of Skateboarding Calendar”.  Don’t worry.  This calendar doesn’t feature sexy girls, like the Mormons, squatting down in a bikini next to a set of skate trucks.  These are actual skater girls who rip.  If you are looking for nasty girls, I recommend the Mormon calendar.  Anyway, proceeds from the calendar go to a good cause.  The city of Baltimore is in great need of a concrete skatepark and sales from the calendar will go towards that mission.

You can purchase your Girls of Skateboarding Calendar HERE.

Livin Large With Louie Vito

December 9, 2009 – 7:07 pm PT by Me

Are you LIVIN SINGLE?  Quit livin like that because you should be IN LIVIN COLOUR.  Livin Large With Louie Vito to be exact.  You should know by now that Louie Vito is an American hero despite his “hobbit like” stature.  He proved to the entire world that action sport athletes along with having serious shredding skills, also have some moves, grooves, and dancing tudes.  Attitudes that is. Is there anything an action sports athlete can’t do?  Probably not.  Except for maybe concentrating in school.  But that’s besides the point because now Louie Vito has some shwag to share with all of his fans and I’m sure that includes some newly acquired screaming admirers across the globe.

So whenever there is an opportunity to gain from his success and ride his coattails, you jump at that opportunity.  Just like he jumped and danced his way into each advancing round on DWTSSPY OPTICS is throwing a little contest with a sweet deal.  The task at hand is pretty simple.  Go to there website and fill out your information.  If you win the random drawing, you can take hope all the cool things above and show them off to your friends while you dance around like a superstar.

Nike SB Tour Video Don’t Fear The Sweeper Out Soon

December 8, 2009 – 8:24 pm PT by Mike

There are a handful of film that I am highly anticipating this winter. It’s around this time of the year the best films come out because of Academy contention with hopes of getting a nod from the Academy. One of those films is James Cameron’s highly anticipated AVATAR. Most fans movie fans will probably expect an epic science fiction journey through a fantasy world with geopolitical symbolic significance pertaining to U.S. foreign policy. Most of the fans will probably be right. I could care less for anything of that nature. I’m just hoping that James will go back to his days of romanticized storytelling showcased in his one true great film TITANIC. Never before in cinematic history has a love story between polar opposites been so moving. If FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY was never made, Titanic would be the greatest love story of all time. That includes literature. So James Cameron, please don’t let us down.

The next film I just can’t wait to see is a smaller film called ME AND ORSON WELLES. Even though this is the most anticipated film for me personally, I still have my reservations about it. If you’re unaware of this movie, it stars a little known actor named ZAC EFRON. Ever heard of him? Well he’s renown for his singing and dance sequences in the multimillion fan grossing HIGHSCHOOL MUSICAL. This will give ZAC the platform to fully express himself as an actor with the versatility as say a, SIR LAURENCE OLIVIER.

And finally, I personally haven’t been too big a fan of the NIKE SB videos. Maybe it’s the pretentiousness behind NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH but I’m quite looking forward to this next one. Don’t Fear The Sweeper has a title like a mysterious thriller, but I think it has some sick elements. Not to mention a fully stacked team with plenty of money to make a look good. Check out the trailer below.

VBS.TV – School Of Surf Season 2

December 8, 2009 – 7:58 pm PT by Mike

I don’t mean to sound like a jerk by complaining about California, specifically SoCal weather because 99.9% of the time, it’s great. But I couldn’t believe my eyes yesterday when the thermometer in my car went below 50 degrees. And not only that, it was raining CATS & DOGS outside. I mean really pouring. I’m only accustomed to awesome 98 DEGREE weather.  There was even water flowing down the LA RIVER. Most of the time, it’s only full with GRAFFITI artists. But it just felt creepy yesterday. Today is a little better. At least the sun is actually out but it’s still bone chilling cold outside. It’s probably around 55 degrees with clear and sunny skies. I hope GOD isn’t punishing us. Everyone knows that 2012 is just right around the corner.

So since most of you can’t surf with crazy weather ruining your day, we can leave it up to the folks over at VBS to put out another great season of School Of Surf. This is especially good for you kids in school who don’t know anything at all about teamwork and camaraderie amongst your peers. The best thing about this season is that you don’t even need to turn on your COMPUTER to check it out. Just head over to MTV 2 for some sweet surf programming. Plus you can learn a thing or two from these kids. They won’t let a little pretty snowflake keep them off the gnarly waves.

School of Surf is a show about two high school surf teams as they compete to go to the Red Bull’s Riders Cup. One is from Malibu High School, situated in a classic California surf town with perfect waves, sunshine year ’round, and a vibrant surf scene. The other is from the OC of the East – Ocean City, New Jersey, with its freezing winters, crowded summers and unpredictable waves. The two towns couldn’t be any more different. But the thing the two teams share is the dream of becoming pro surfers and balancing their lives with an obsession with waves. But this isn’t another reality show, this is real life. This is School of Surf.

Six episodes every Monday at 9AM, so set your DVR, or call in sick, or skip class but don’t miss it.

Greg Long Wins The Eddie!

December 8, 2009 – 7:47 pm PT by Greg
cr. Servais

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Greg Long has won the 25th edition of the world-famous Eddie — the Hawaiian big wave contest named after Eddie Aikau. The contest was held Tuesday for the first time since Dec. 15, 2004, when Bruce Irons won the contest.

Kelly Slater, who won the event in 2002, came in second after leading most of the day. Sunny Garcia was third while Bruce Irons finished fourth.

Keep reading for the official press release and all the details of the contest.

Read the rest of this entry »

Lat34 x FamousSAS 10th Anniversary Contest Results

December 7, 2009 – 9:41 pm PT by Brian

We at Lat34 are proud to announce the winners of our FamousSAS 10th Anniversary Party:

2nd Place: (winner of a Lat34 Grab Bag) – Kathy M. from Downey

1st Place: (grand prize of two passes to the event) – Jennifer C. from Chino

Congrats to the winners and we will see Jennifer at the event tomorrow.

To all of you that were curious what the answer to the question was, check it out at the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

Tampa Am 2009 Results

December 7, 2009 – 9:39 pm PT by Mike

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It was a pretty monumental day for one Brazilian boi who came out of the woodwork to demolish the rest of the world’s competition in the Tampa Am 2009 Skate Contest. It was the 16th year the event has gone down and it once again gave birth to some new talent buttery talent. You pros better watch out because I saw some of the footage on Fuel over the weekend and these guys are no joke. Especially Luan De Oliviera straight out of Brazil. Most of you who follow this event should already know this kid’s name because not only did he place in last year’s event, the kid won the title as well. Luan went back to back! I told you the Brazilians are taking over. They’ve taken over MMA, the Olympics, wax, and now skateboarding. Good for them and I hope them more success to come.

But what I actually care about was the CCS High Ollie event that took place this weekend. The Ollie event is a prestigious event because if won, you can actually put your name in the record books. We’re not talkinga bout some cheap record book they keep in the city of Tampa either. This is the big boys. The GUINNESS book of World Records.

The record previously held by Danny Wainwright, had not been broken for nearly a decade. That’s crazy. It takes a certain amount of advanced technology along with some dedication to break the High Ollie Record. And possibly some BALUT. It was inevitable that the day would come and it did at the helm of a Fil-Am boy named Luis Tolentino and his muscly LEGS. His record? 44.5”. He has made his people around the world proud including me.

But he can always do more. Instead of being content with tying a record, Luis needs to go out there and claim the record himself and not share it with anybody. Would the PAC MAN be content with tying a fight? Would ERNIE REYES JR. be okay with having an equal role in a film? No way. So my advice to Luis is to go out there, eat as much BALUT as you possibly can, and take that record son!

Final Results
1. Luan De Oliveira
2. Ben Hatchell
3. Nick Tucker
4. Jack Olson
5. Chris Mendes
6. Felipe Gustavo
7. Ron Deily
8. Shawn Hale
9. Mark Suciu
10. Clint Walker
11. Adrien Bulard
12. Kevin Romar

Independent Truck Co. Best Trick
1. Matt Berger – Backside 180 switch front crook to fakie flip out on the ledge
2. Dan Plunkett – Ollie up, gap to lip on the rail
3. Chris Mendes – 360 flip nose manual, nollie heelflip out
4. Gilbert Crockett – Kickflip back smith up the big part of the granite ledge
5. Daniel Rodriguez – Nollie hard flip feeble grind on the rail

CCS High Ollie
Luis Tolentino 44.5” – Ties Official World Record Height!

The Brooklyn Banks Closing Date

December 7, 2009 – 9:33 pm PT by Mike

All good things must come to an end; especially for a skateboarder. New decks come and go all the time. A good pair of skate sneakers must meet its final end sooner or later. For some people, much LATER. And for good skate spots, due to skate STOPPERS, and Officer RIVIERI, there is no way the skater can complete with so many obstacles and barriers. Although there are ways around them, some spots get permanently destroyed. We saw this when everyone coming through the west coast made a stop in San Francisco for the epic EMBARADERO. It had everything. Ledges in all shapes and sizes, gaps for every skater, and beautifully sounding brick when skated on. It later got turned into volleyball courts.

Everyone in the skateboard community knows how important of a role the Brooklyn Banks has had on skateboarding going back to the 80’s. It’s been a staple of New York and many people consider it home, especially skateboarders. And even homeless people to a certain extent. So why are they taking away this home from so many people in need? Because if they don’t, rubble, steel, cement, and possibly train parts will fall on their heads. The Brooklyn Bridge is in major need of some renovation and the project is meant to rebuild the foundation and make it sturdy once again.

This project is scheduled to take about 4 years so that means the banks will not open again until 2014. The world might not even exist by then according to the movie 2012, and the Mayans. But at least there is a set date for skaters to enjoy the banks once again. Hopefully by then, I won’t be skating anymore and my mission to bring extreme SEGWAYS will come to fruition. Read about it more over at PINK CRACK.