Shoot Yourself With Dustin Dollin

Hey now, read the headline very carefully.  I said, “Shoot yourself with Dustin Dollin,” not “Shoot up with Dustin Dollin”.  There’s a big difference.  Well that difference is what I want to talk about.  Just last night on the way to THE FLORENTINE GARDENS, I was driving up La Brea Blvd in Los Angeles and saw a pretty big street leveled VANS billboard.  On that billboard was the one and only Dustin Dollin completely drunk and passed out on the sidewalk.  He looked like he belonged on Skid Row.  Not the band but the STREET. 

I thought, “Damn that’s a pretty bold move on Van’s part.”  It’s their main objective to sell as many skate sneakers as possible and they do so by presenting the image of an Aussie passed out and drunk.  What will the parents think?  Parents will never allow their sons and daughters to emulate such a vile character.  Well it doesn’t matter what the parents think because the kids are going to take one look at that image and say in a high falsetto PREPUBESCENT voice, “Yo, damn son!  I’ve gotta cop me a pair of deeez!” thus rendering the Vans ad campaign successful. 

With the success of Dustin’s presence here in the United States, Vans has decided to continue their effort to exploit his public drunkenness.  Sweet!  Check out the VANS press release below…

There have been multiple sightings of our favorite pile, Dustin Dollin, on the streets on West Coast and the East Coast. He’s been all over LA and was spotted on the boardwalk in Venice Beach, on Melrose down the block from Brooklyn Projects, and around the corner from Hollywood High. Up north, Dustin was spotted by the Berkeley Park, down the block from Huf, and, not suprisingly, in the Mission. Then we started getting calls from New York, where Dustin was seen laid out up the block from Supreme, lounging by the TF, and barely able to crawl into The Fish. We just got a call from Amy at KC/DC that Dustin’s passed out by the train station in Williamsburg. We’re really psyched to have Dustin in the US, but we need some evidence that he was here this summer! If you’re game, track down Dustin, shoot a photo of you and Dustin and send it into shootyourselfwithdustin@gmail.com and save your full name as the file name of your photo. Each Monday in July the photo’s will go into the Shoot Yourself…with Dollin Gallery. At the end of the month, the most hilarious photo will win a year supply of Dustin’s new shoe, the No Skool Tre, a digital camera, and Dustin’s I-Pod. The 2nd Runner Up will win 2 pairs of the No Skool Tre, a disposable camera, and a walkman. The 3rd runner up will win a pair of the No Skool Tre, a sketchbook, and some airplane headphones. Good Luck and get snappin’!

Posted in Skate | Tags: Dustin Diamond, Dustin Dollin, Florentine Gardens, Vans — | No Comments »

Red Bud LIVE on NBC

My favorite firework in the wide world is ground snakes. I don’t know if you have ever experienced the magic for yourself, but if you haven’t you are missing out. For my dollar you can keep those huge firework displays like the one at Dodger Stadium, for me its snakes every time. Unfortunately I have moved to a town where it is illegal to light off fireworks so this year there will be no snakes for me, and my heart will be broken.

Lucky for me that NBC feels my pain for my 4th of July loss and is doing something special:

As America celebrates Independence Day this weekend, the world’s greatest riders and the most prestigious motocross series on the planet come together again to provide racing on live network television.

In cooperation with Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports, MX Sports Pro Racing presents the second of three exclusive races on NBC Sports. The Monster Energy Motocross National at RedBud, round six of the 2009 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, will be broadcast to millions of households live on NBC Sports, beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET, with the final 450 Class moto.

In addition to being one of the most historic and best attended races on the schedule, RedBud also serves as the halfway point of the 2009 season and the site of round two of the Monster Energy Triple Crown of Motocross. Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki’s Chad Reed sits atop a highly competitive 450 Class championship battle and carries the momentum of winning the first round of the three-race Triple Crown. He enters southwestern Michigan looking to score the jackpot and the chance at a $25,000 bonus at the season finale in September.

Chasing after Reed, the 2008 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion, will be Honda Red Bull Racing’s Ivan Tedesco and Andrew Short, Joe Gibbs Racing MX/Toyota/Yamaha’s Josh Grant and Cody Cooper, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Timmy Ferry and off-road specialist Ricky Dietrich, along with many more.

Host Jason Weigandt, analyst and motocross legend David Bailey, along with trackside reporters Jamie Bestwick and Tiffany Simons, will bring the millions watching at home all the action.

For fan and racing information on the 2009 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, log onto www.allisports.com.

Posted in FMX | Tags: Chad Reed, Cody Cooper, Josh Grant, MX Sports Racing, Red Bud — | No Comments »

Full Deck: A Short History Of Skate Art

I was so psyched because as I was skimming over the information about this skate art show, I saw the words “location” and “Walnut”.  But my excitement was short lived because after reading on, the word “Creek” came after “Walnut”.  I’m not going all the way to Walnut Creek for an art show.  I come from the city of WALNUT and I’m an expert.   What does Walnut Creek have that Walnut doesn’t?  We’ve got a great school system with the strongest MATHLETES in the state, we have beautiful horse trails along the streets, and the citizens even got the city council to agree on putting an IN N OUT in the shopping center.  Are art exhibitions prejudice against us WALNUTIANS?  That blows. 

Anyway Full Deck presents an anthology of skate-art from the 1960’s to the present. The skate artist’s aesthetic—raw, passionate and personal—is energized by a devotion to the act of skating and a DIY embrace of skate culture.

Since the first graphic was drawn onto a board, the culture of skateboarding has grown hand in hand with visual arts movements such as the Mission School (Barry McGee, Chris Johanson) and graffiti art. The skate culture’s embrace of individual style, approach and intention is, I think, what continues to draw new skaters to this renegade art practice—a hybrid in a realm of its own. And like the inclusive surf community, skaters and skate artists span several generations.

The multi-media skate art community fosters the highly unique mix of painting, graphics, photography, filmmaking, music, stickers, magazines and clothing—the ever-growing creative by-products stemming from this alternative and popular mode of transportation. The colorful graphic paintings on the bottom of a skateboard are one of the purest forms of self-expression: highly personal and mostly created without artistic boundaries—just like skateboarding itself.

You can get more info on the BEDFORD GALLERY website.

Posted in Skate | Tags: Bedford Gallery, Full Deck, History Of Skate Art, Walnut — | No Comments »

Billionaire Mafia’s $50,000 Vegas Treasure Hunt

What is the deal with Ed Hardy? I see more people wearing their stuff than any other brand of clothing. Often these people are muscular jock kind of guys, this cracks me up. If I were a super buff tuff guy the last thing I would think would make me look harder is a be-dazzled and airbrushed pair of jeans with matching hat. Also from what I can tell by the graphics on the shirts, they are based after old school tattoo flash art; yet, most of the people wearing this stuff don’t have any tattoo work at all. In fact it’s mostly tuff guys and soccer moms that wear the gear, and they mostly only have tramp stamps.

Another thing about Ed Hardy is I see a million people wearing it but I don’t think anyone is giving them any money to sport their stuff? Well, the folks at Billionaire Mafia are giving away $50k to a lucky customer, check it out:

In an economy were most fashion brand are struggling, BILLIONAIRE MAFIA is launching their new street wear collection with a $50K, three day treasure hunt in Las Vegas. Inspiring the World with music, art and fashion, BILLIONAIRE MAFIA is here to “Bail You Out.”

What’s unique? The free BILLIONAIRE MAFIA Treasure Hunt T-shirt has the first contest clue embedded in the graffiti design and the clues will incorporate local businesses.
www.billionairemafia.com

Posted in Other Sports | Tags: Billionaire Mafia, Ed Hardy, Las Vegas — | No Comments »

The ESPY/Teen Choice Awards Quandary

Around this time every year, I come to a huge dilemma.  It’s a dilemma I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemies (AL ROKER) because the headache and heartache it puts me through is unbearable.  Not only must I betray some of my best friends in the BIZZ, but there is no perfect world when that same betrayed friend isn’t up on stage glorified with accolades.  Well it has come to that time again where we the fans must choose the best of the best.  The highest of the high.  The most happy, strong, and honorable people this great country has conceived. 

As you might have already guessed, the quandary lies in the agonizing task of voting for our favorite nominees at the Teen Choice Awards.   The categories of “Best Eyes”, “Best Abs”, and “FUNNIEST COMMERCIAL”, at the Annual Teen Choice Awards are the choices that strike me the most difficult.  Who will I choose for best eyes?  Zac Efron, Ryan Sheckler, or DEV PATEL?  And the same goes for every other category each of them are nominated in.  I’m guessing they’re nominated in every single category.  Even “BEST IN 4 INCH HEELS”.  But there is no perfect world and only one of them can take home the gnarly surfboard prize. 

In other action sports news, the Shreckster is also nominated for an ESPY Award.  I’m not exactly sure what ESPY means but it’s by ESPN.  It probably means, Enjoy our Sassy Party Yo with hunks.  Shecks is definitely a shoe in for that one. 

You can do all your voting for the Teen Choice Awards HERE and your ESPY voting HERE.

Posted in Skate | Tags: Al Roker, Dev Patel, ESPY Awards, Ryan Sheckler, Teen Choice Awards — | 2 Comments »

Snowboard UK Magazine Calls It Quits After 18 Years

Don’t let his hosting performance on the Mtv Awards fool you, Russell Brand is a really funny guy. Brand is one of the stars of the awesome film of Forgetting Sarah Marshall , and is one of the funniest comedians working today. He is also super flamboyant and if you have read any of the articles on this site you can tell we are big on flamboyance here at the Lat (Ry Ry, this means you) You maybe asking yourself, what does Russel Brand have to do with this article? He is British and so is the magazine in the story below:

Originally launched in 1991, the United Kingdom’s longest running snowboard magazine, Snowboard UK(SUK), has fallen victim to the current economic tides.

According to Snowboardclub.co.uk:
Mark McGettigan, who was the editor of Snowboard UK Magazine, has contacted us this evening to say that Freestyle Publications today officially suspended the magazine. All the editorial staff were made redundant this morning.

Mark Nuttal, owner of Freestyle Publications added it’s just a harsh reality of current times and said the whole company has ceased trading. He is hoping that SUK will continue this season and is working hard to find the right backing.

Posted in Snowboard | Tags: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Mark McGettigan, Russell Brand, Snowboard UK, SUK — | 2 Comments »

Hurley U.S. Open 50th Anniversary

Can you remember what you were like 50 years ago?  Most of you probably weren’t even a sperm egg back then but the style and fashion was pretty sweet back then.  I’m sure your parents were alive to experience the madness but it was right before the 70’s so that mean cool HAIRCUTS, awesome MOD CLOTHES, and even RADDER MUSIC.  Most of these things hardly stayed alive 50 years later but when the HURLEY U.S. Open was introduced in 50 years ago, I wonder if they thought they would be alive 50 years later as well.

On July 18 – 26 over at the Huntington Beach Peir, a special tribute will be made to the dudes and dudettes who graced the original U.S. West Coast Championships, Op Pro Surfing Championships and the U.S. Open of Surfing. 

Flashback 50 years: Ben Hur won the Academy award and a loaf of bread cost 14 cents.  Alaska and Hawaii became the 49th and 50th states, American Bandstand was the most popular TV show, Boston defeated the Minneapolis Lakers to win the NBA championship, the cost of a first class stamp was 4 cents and Jack Haley and Linda Benson won the inaugural West Coast Championships (later named the U.S. Championships) at Huntington Beach’s famed pier.

The event was an overnight success, drawing thousands of screaming fans to pack the sand and pier.  In rapid succession Wide World of Sports began broadcasting the event in 1962 and Duke Kahanamoku (Olympic swimming champion, Hollywood actor and Hawaiian folk hero), credited with introducing the sport to Huntington Beach in the 1920s, attended in ‘63 and was mobbed by hundreds of fans.  Sports Illustrated chronicled the event (mid-60s).

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Posted in Surf | Tags: Duke Kahanamoku, Huntington Beach, Hurley, Pier, U.S. Open — | No Comments »

2009 T-Mobile Local Support Miniramp Challenge In Germany

When I was 14 years old, my friend Mike and I built a mini-ramp in my parent’s backyard.  We had spent a week searching the entire neighborhood for the materials to build it, then an entire day in the construction process. It was a lot of work because we had no idea what we were doing and we had no power tools.

Finally after it was all done we were so excited we called our other friend to come over and ride the ramp. He looked at it went up to the top of the ramp to do a rock it to fakie and put his foot right through the ramp. As Mike and I sat there in shock of seeing all our hard work being destroyed our friend exclaimed “Big wow, this ramp sucks!” and he left. As we saw his finely gelled head disappear into the sunset we realized we would never let him skate our ramps again.

Hopefully these guys don’t let their jerk friends ruin their ramps too:

- T-Mobile Local Support Miniramp Challenge on August 15th 2009 at the BMX-Park in Darmstadt/Germany
-  Pro-AM BMX Miniramp team contest
- Official qualification for the Summer Session of the T-Mobile Extreme Playgrounds on August 30th 2009 in Hamburg/Germany

There are not many miniramps in Germany which are capable for high-quality BMX contests. That’s why the 2009 T-Mobile Local Support Miniramp Challenge takes place at the BMX Park in Darmstadt the second time after 2007. Starting at 11 a.m. on August 15th, 2009 the slogan for the first day of a weekend full of BMX madness in Darmstadt is: Grab your bike and ride the ramp!

In good old Local Support tradition, two riders partner up to a team and compete in separated Pro and AM classes in the miniramp, which offers a spine and a subbox – so awesome action and lots of fun are guaranteed. Like always great prizes are waiting for the best riders of both classes! The best Pro team wins an obstacle worth € 4000 for a spot of their choice. Second place Pro team will win a fat BBQ at their home spot. A team portrait on freedombmx.tv and an additional complete set of Pro-tec protective equipment awaits the best AM team. Loads of prizes from the Twenty Inch Shop are reserved for places 2 and 3!

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Posted in BMX | Tags: Miniramp Challenge, T-Mobile — | No Comments »

Dale Staples Scores A Perfect 10 At The Mr. Price Pro

I can remember the first time I ever witnessed a perfect 10 performance.  I was only 9 years old and my parents forced me to join karate with my cousin at the local Y.  After about 10 minutes of stretching and pretending to do the splits (I can remember one particular BOY that did the splits better than anyone else in that class, including the girls) the karate instructor showed us some great video footage that would lift our souls for inspiration.  He told us that if we follow our hearts, dreams, and took our vitamins, we could be just like Jeff Speakman performing an Ed Parker Kenpo Karate Kata just as he did in the film The Perfect Weapon.   Take a look…

We were truly INSPIRED after such a performance and I personally went gung ho.  After seeing that perfect 10 performance at such a young and tender age, I think it is safe to say that perfect 10’s are far and few between.  Sure you’ve got the obvious PERFECT 10 model, but you can’t really count looks.  And of course there’s Shaun’s White perfect 10 smile, but then again, those are just looks.  But it looks like Dale Staples did something almost rarer than a CALVIN BOOTH trading card.  That’s right.  He scored a perfect 10 point ride at the Mr. Price Pro.  Check out the press release below. 

Day two of the Men’s 6 Star Mr Price Pro Ballito revealed some of the most perfect surf witnessed on the ASP World Qualifying Series, as thunderous two and a half to three meter barrels roared the length of Willard’s Beach in Ballito this morning.

Seven heats of the Men’s Round of 144 were completed in epic conditions that saw perfect rides’, gaping barrels and sensational wipeouts unfold as surfers waged war on the raging seas.

Eighteen-year-old South African surfer Dale Staples (St Francis) emerged as the event’s standout performer, his barrel riding antics earning him the nickname ‘The Magician’ as he weaved his way through some of the most spectacular barrel rides of the morning, to score the only perfect ten-point ride of the event so far.

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Posted in Surf | Tags: ASP World Tour, Calvin Booth, Dane Staples, Ed Parker, Marco Giorgi, The Perfect Weapon, Wade Goodall, Yujiro Tsuji — | 3 Comments »

Nike 6.0 Riders Pedaling To Beat Gasoline

Have you ever seen the show “Living with Ed” on Planet Green?

It is a show about Ed Begley Jr (actor and famous environmentalist) and his wife Rachelle (Ed’s wife and a total MILF), and their friends who spend all of the money they used to spend on coke in the 80’s on green products such as solar panels and wind generators. Why I actually watch the show is that Rachelle is pretty funny and messes with that dude Ed every single episode. I hate to say it but I have actually learned a couple of things from the show: for one that burning tires for fun in the backyard is bad, also going swimming in the ocean to punch dolphins isn’t cool, and most of all racing Ja-Rule in a big drag race for cash is a waste of gasoline. Really, I did learn a few things which is more than I can say for the time I spend watching “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.”

The Nike 6.0 BMX team must have been watching too because they have a great idea on how to fight gas consumption:

The Nike 6.0 BMX team is fighting gasoline consumption by doing what they love: riding bikes. What’s your Beat Gasoline story?

Nike 6.0 has teamed up with Beat Gasoline to encourage youth to use the power of sport to beat gasoline. Gasoline itself isn’t the enemy. The enemy is its use. The Nike 6.0 BMX team is fighting global gasoline consumption by doing what they love: riding bikes. Not only does riding a bike reduce impact on the environment, the world is more interesting behind bars. Watch the 6.0 athletes story and share your own Beat Gasoline story by uploading a video to beatgasoline.com, illustrating how you use sport to power your life, rather than conventional fuel burning methods of transportation.

“When I’m on my bike cruising through the city, I feel in synch with the life of the city…hearing the sounds, meeting new people.” Says 6.0 BMX Athletes, Nigel Sylvester. “Being on a bike makes the world more interesting….plus it’s a low impact form of transportation that beats sitting in traffic any day.”

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Posted in BMX | Tags: Dennis Enarson, Garrett Reynolds, J-Rule, Living With Ed, Mike Spinner, Nigel Sylvester, Nike 6.0 — | No Comments »