Quick Hits Archive: August 9 - August 15, 2007

Oct 09 2007 / Los Angeles, CA

August 15, 2007

BMX's "King Of New York" Contest
Published: 1:56 a.m. PT by Me

Following in the footsteps of Abel Ferrara's film "King Of New York", BMX's "King Of New YorK" contest is returning to the Bronx on September 1st looking to crown the best of the city's "underground riders". The contest will be split up into Amateur and Pro classes with open entry for both, though the prizes will differ. So if you've been spending most of your time sessioning in your backyard or at neighborhood spots its about time to take your talents public and sign up for the event. It could be your chance to be the next Clay Aiken...alright bad comparison...how about the next Justin Guarini....ahhh forget the comparisons just check the link for more event details . Also see clips from the 2006 KONY contest check the youtube footage.

Laird Hamilton, Actors Support Path to Purpose
Published: 3:01 a.m. PT by Greg

Legendary surfer Laird Hamilton and paddleboarder Dave Kalama got together a little over a week ago to help their friend, water photographer/cinematographer Don King, who has directed the film "Beautiful Son" about his son's struggle with autism. The Path to Purpose benefit included a showing of the film and an auction to rase money for autism research.

On hand were a number of celebs to keep things interesting -- we have a full recap of the event as well as a photo gallery of who was there...

Sheckler, Pastrana, Nyquist Have Fathead
Published: 2:31 a.m. PT by Greg

If you watch any traditional sports you have probably seen a cheesy ad for Fathead, the company that makes huge posters of athletes for kids and fans. Usually it's of a football player or basketball player in action -- something that can be slapped on to your wall and stand out (and we mean stand out -- we're talking seven feet high, here!).

Anyway, Fathead is getting into action (aka X-Treme) sports in a big way, with Fatheads now available for Ryan Sheckler, Travis Pastrana (2 models), Dave Mirra, Ryan Nyquist and Chad Reed (with surf and snow to come).

It's actually about time that the company embraced some of the bigger names in the industry. Sheckler seems an obvious choice but there are tons more out there of interest.

"Fatheads are very popular in the sports world so it is an honor to be among the first few Action Sports athletes to have one. I'm really looking forward to being a part of the team," Sheckler said in a generic statement to accompany the announcment.

Check out a press release and then visit the site to see them for yourself. You can even see how they look in their room (we want to know how they will look in the Lat34 offices). We've pasted the Sheckler one below. Unfortunately, it's only like four feet square. What we'd give for a seven-foot high image of Sheckles...

Oh, and by the way each one will set you back about $90 and "Action Sports Fatheads are printed in limited quantities, so order today for guaranteed delivery."

It's Official: "Cincinnati" Canceled; Some People Care
Published: 2:02 a.m. PT by Greg

So it's official: HBO has canceled "John From Cincinnati." Surprisingly, there is at least one TV Critic who cares.

And on the heels of that story we had yesterday about the www.petitiononline.com website, lo and behold here's another: Save John From Cincinnati -- now with more than 520 signatures and growing.

The show didn't reach one million viewers in its final episode so with numbers like that, that petition would need to be pretty darned successful to make an impact.

The series featured pro surfer Keala Kennelly in a featured role (in fact, a shot of her surfing -- an all too rare scene -- closed out the show). To read Lat34's Review of "John From Cincinnati" from 3 pros check this link. They liked it well enough, but that was only three episodes...

EA Releases SKATE Demo, Interviews Skaters
Published: 1:43 a.m. PT by Me

In anticipation of the September 12th release of their video game "SKATE", the folks at EA have released a playable sneak-peak demo for the game, available at the XBox Live Marketplace. The demo will feature tutorials, gameplay challenges, and video editing functions to help gamers get used to the unique interface of the game (the game touts a brand new 'flickit' style of doing tricks) and to possibly start weening them off the Tony Hawk/Activision franchise. Luckily we got a hold of some amazing screen captures (see the gallery) from the "Best Sports Game of E3 - IGN Xbox 360" award winner to help wet your appetite.

P.S. - EA also did a short interview with some of the skaters involved in the game, including Terry Kennedy, Mike Carroll, John Rattray and Ryan Smith to get their takes on skating, video games, and whatnot. It's a nice little read if you're interested.

superFishal Introduces Custom Deck Designs
Published: 1:02 a.m. PT by Me

From Individual Sole:

Each season superFishal (Artist Jeremy Fish's Company) will introduce a new series of three collaborative board graphics. The boards are screen printed in limited quantities. The idea is to take two artists along with their different styles and mash them up together. Part of the upcoming Fall collection from superFishal.

The 2008 Women's Pipeline Pro in Doubt?
Published: 12:26 a.m. PT by Greg

The Women's Pipeline Pro has been around for only three years and has been trying to develop into a major competition for the WQS but its 2008 edition is in doubt now that the City and County of Honolulu has denied an application to use Ehukai Beach Park and Pipeline for the contest next March.

"From the beginning of the fall surf season in Hawaii I'm always trying to surf the spots that resemble Pipe in hopes of being ready when the Pipe contest starts," Alana Blanchard, two-time Pipeline Champion, said about the decision. "I was hoping that the Pipeline Pro would become at least a 4 star WQS event for next year so that more of the touring pros would come to it, which they would."

There are very few women's surf events in Hawaii and even fewer allow many local pros to compete (the Pipeline contest was open to all women). Event organizer Betty Depolito is hoping to get a new event set up at Sunset Beach in April of 2008 and have Pipeline return in 2009.

Read more about it here.

Shaun White Has Been Abducted By Target
Published: 12:09 a.m. PT by Greg

Okay, maybe abducted isn't the right word. Maybe I have been seeing too many ads for that new movie "The Invasion" but look at this official photo from Target for Shaun White. Do. Not. Show. Emotion.

Actually, Shaun, Kevin Robinson and Mat Hoffman and some other dudes were in Minneapolis for a Target demo on Monday and Shaun looked fairly normal. So maybe he's still Shaun. But that photo...

Click here to hear Shaun talking about the joys of Target and check out some photos from Flickr.

August 14, 2007

Rush HD To Air Singapore Metro BMX Jam
Published: 6:40 p.m. PT by Me

The Metro BMX Jam went down just a few months ago in Singapore featuring riders like Allan Cooke, Dave Mirra, and overall winner Morgan Wade fighting it out on a unique course for $20,000. Old news right? Well think again my friend because Rush HD is airing the contest IN HIGH DEFINITION starting today. The airdates will be staggered according to the stages of the contest with the August 14th show being a pre-game like set up for the contest, then the prelims being aired on September 7th, and the finals premiering September 14th. What this means is beyond being able to see the actual pores from which the athlete's sweat comes from, you'll actually be able to get the full scope of what a real BMX contest looks like. That's not to say that you can't actually decide to hold a top-notch BMX contest in your backyard just so you get the full scope of what a real BMX contest looks like, because you can if you try hard enough.

But before you get settled on your couch to catch the actual broadcast take a look at shots of some of the riders sessioning through the neighborhoods of Singapore during their off-time at the contest.

X Games Highlights from LevisBMX
Published: 1:55 a.m. PT by Greg

LevisBMX.com wanted to celebrate some good showings from its athletes at X Games 13 so they put together some cool video featuring bronze medalist Anthony Napolitan in action in BMX Big Air and Jamie Bestwick's huge gold-medal winning run in BMX Vert. Only problem -- no Morgan Wade. Sniff. Still -- check it out below.

We Love Petitions: Cops vs. Skateboarders in Arkansas -- the Latest
Published: 1:18 a.m. PT by Greg

There hasn't been much news coming out from that Go Skateboarding Day incident in which a police officer was caught on tape using what appeared to be excessive force on skateboarders. While he was cleared of any wrongdoing the skaters were actually facing trial for their part.

Some intrepid netizen is unwilling to let the police officer (one Joey Williams) off without a fight and set up an online petition that has a goal that the "Hot Springs Police Department re-investigate the actions of Officer Joey Williams, and to hold him to a fair and fully accountable investigative trial."

Jason C. Waite set up the petition and if that name sounds familiar, it's because he was previously featured in a protest held in favor of the skaters. (You can read about that protest here).

As he's spread word about the petition online, Waite has gotten plenty of opposition in message boards but he's gotten more than 330 signatures online -- though not all off the signatures are actually supporting the petition ("Officer Williams - GOOD JOB!" among the tamer entries). But a majority of the signatures appear to support the petition.

Click here to check out the petition for yourself.

As a side note, the website www.petitiononline.com is set up as a place where people can set up any online they'd petition they'd like. It's worth a look to get a good laugh or two. Some of the gems: A petition to "Remake Final Fantasy 7" (13000+ signatures); a petition to have Julian McMahon be the next 007 (500 signatures); and a petition to keep Chipotle open 24 hours a day, seven days a week (1000+ signatures) that adds, "Also, a lounge with beanbags would be nice."

I've got a few ideas for petitions myself, now that you bring it up....

Free Screening in LA: "Pray For Me: The Jason Jessee Film"
Published: 12:33 a.m. PT by Greg

The Lat34 X-Dance Film Festival Hollywood screening series is back after a month hiatus with the documentary "Pray For Me: The Jason Jessee Film" coming next Tuesday, August 21, to Cinespace in Hollywood.

The film follows the wild ride that is the life of Jason Jessee -- former skate pro, chopper builder, even waiter -- Jessee has seen many highs and lows in his crazy life.

Directors David Rogerson and Steve Nemsick won the Best Aspiring Director award at the 2007 Lat34 X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival for the film and Rogerson will be in attendance for a Q&A. We have our own Q&A with the directors here. You can also check out a 2006 interview with Jessee himself here.

The doors will open at 7 p.m. and the movie starts at 8 p.m. Here's the address:

CINESPACE
6356 Hollywood Blvd (@ Ivar)
Hollywood, CA
323.817.FILM

For more info check out the X-Dance website.


Headlines: Vans, Kite Surfing, Surfing Surfing and RV vs. Skateboarding Girl (RV Wins)
Published: 12:01 a.m. PT by Greg

We haven't done headlines in awhile -- not because there haven't been any, but mainly because we've been trying to do it all ourselves. Sigh. Sometimes we get busy.

• Vans is feeling generous to Portland now that the Vans Invitational stop of the AST Dew Tour is here...
• Also in Oregon, Kite Surfers are complaining about the mysterious "river nose" ailment on the Columbia River. But then again, we're talking about Kite Surfers so who really cares?
• Skateboarding dogs are so over. Now surfing dogs, that's more like it...
• Surfing in Iceland. Con: Yeah, it's cold. Pro: Don't need to bring a cooler for the beer.
• Leave it to surfers to think a statue honoring surfing is lame. But to be honest, it is.
• We've all heard of skateboarders getting hit by cars, but for a girl to get pinned under a RV tire?. That's a new one to us.
• Volcom's Chairman just made $850K. Find out how.

August 13, 2007

Rune Glifberg Pulls off the Oregon Trifecta Doublefecta
Published: 2:01 a.m. PT by Greg

While Creager was repping the west coast in NYC, Rune Glifberg was representing the EU in Oregon for the Oregon Trifeca, winning two of the the three events over the weekend, with the third event being rained out...

Well, so it seems. After the ladies and the masters got in their runs and rain chased the pros, the party moved to a garage for an makeshift final -- who knows if they will count for the World Cup of Skateboarding standings, but it was the only event Glifberg didn't win. We like his winning the Doublefecta so we're keeping it that way.

Here are the top results:

Lincoln City, OR (8/10/07) Results:

Pro
1. Rune Glifberg
2. Benji Galloway
3. Mark 'Red' Scott

Masters
1. Glen Charnoski
2. Buck Smith
3. Pat Ngoho

Pier Park, Portland, OR (8/11/07) Results:

Pro
1. Rune Glifberg
2. Sergie Ventura
3. Benji Galloway

Masters
1. Glen Charnoski
2. Steve Alba
3. Buck Smith.

Women
1. Julie Kindstrom
2. Jessica Starkweather
3. Holly Lyons.

Battleground, WA (8/12/07) Results:

Pro (Is it real? We'll find out.)
1. Benji Galloway
2. Josh "Screech" Sandoval
3. Morgan Burgess

Masters
1. Buck Smith.

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of complete results for the masters and the ladies... Skate and Annoy has the best coverage and some sick pix, while the official site is currently untouched.


Creager Reigns Supreme at NYC Manny Mania
Published: 1:49 a.m. PT by Greg

Ronnie Creager is the man -- he showed why he's one of the true legends in the game by taking an amazing final at the Red Bull Manny Mania event in New York City. Going up against Creager in the finals were Brandon Biebel and Red Bull Manny Mania Venice winner Joey Brezinski. Brezinski was hampered by leg cramps and couldn't keep up with Creager's bag of tricks, while Biebel came close, but still ended up in second.

Check out a couple of photos below and then see some more and read the full details here.



Baker Holding Demo in Temecula on August 25
Published: 1:19 a.m. PT by Greg

Sure, Temecula is a long haul from just around everywhere in California, but I guss it's close enough to San Diego. But that said, it's going to be the place to be in a couple of weeks when the Baker Skateboards team shows up at Active Temecula for a demo. That's right, Andrew Reynolds, Braydon Szafranski, Terry Kennedy, Leo Romero, Kevin “Spanky” Long, Jim Greco, Erik Ellington, Bryan Herman and Jeff Lenoce will be on the scene. Judging from past Baker Demos, this should be pretty crazy. Make it if you can.

Need more info? Here's something, but not much...


So Much For Surf Drama: "John From Cincinnati" Ends Run, Nobody Notices
Published: 12:42 a.m. PT by Greg

Ah, such a wasted opportunity. When "John From Cincinnati" premiered just a few scant weeks ago (10 or so) it seemed to be a good chance to explore a family of three generations of surfers. Instead, it became some odd tale of some sort of alien that came into this disfunctional family and turned it upside down. To give the filmmakers credit, it was never supposed to be a show about surfing -- rather about a family that surfs (not enough, if you ask most fans).

Critics didn't fall in love with executive producer David Milch's latest profanity-laced project (right on the heels of his canceled "Deadwood") and neither did viewers. Instead, more people spent time trying to figure out how many actors from "Deadwood" showed up in the show (seven was the count, by the way). While HBO didn't come right out and cancel the show, it didn't renew it during its run, which means it is as good as dead.

So as the show came to end yesterday, what exactly happen. Answer -- who the hell knows? This critic tried to decode it with little success. I watched it as well. Don't expect me to explain it.

Bourgeois, Silve Get Wins at Boardmasters Contest
Published: 12:03 a.m. PT by Greg

Ben Bourgeois took the Rip Curl Boardmaster contest in Newquay, England, Sunday, defeating Brazillian Heitor Alves in the final. For Bourgeois, the win takes him to No. 2 in the WQS ratings, 24 behind points leader Tiago Pires.

"I haven't won a contest in so long, so just being up there and getting that feeling is so awesome. I'm stoked," Bourgeois after being presented the trophy.

On Saturday Jacqueline Silva took the Davidoff Cool Water Wave, the women's event running alongside the Boardmasters. She defeated French surfer Pauline Ado, who advanced to the finals after defeating Megan Abubo in the semi-finals.

The win vaults Silva to the top of the WQS ratings race, more than 1400 points ahead of Jessi Miley-Dyer, who made it to the quarter-finals of the event.

Silva ranks 10th on the ASP Women's World Tour and her next competition begins August 20th in Brazil, her home country.

"The break we’ve had on Tour during the past few months has been good, because I’ve had some spare time to spend with my family and friends," Silva said. "When I get the chance to do that, I feel good and relaxed, so I think this helped me a lot."

Click here for more about the men's contest or you can click here for the women's contest.

August 12, 2007

Stephen Murray Update: The Latest From Denver
Published: 2:02 a.m. PT by Me

After a little while with no word from Stephen's family, brother Martin has posted an update of Stephen's condition on BMXTalk.com:

Sorry it has taken so long to do an update on Stephen. I know a lot of people have concerned about the lack of updates, but his condtion has been changing so much that i wanted to make sure he was more stable before we could let people know how his condition, as the updates quickly become out of date.

So, the biggest bonus of all is that he is really mentally strong and in good spirits. He is positive about everything and like he told me yesterday 'its the only way to be". This could be the biggest healer of all.

Two weeks ago, he could only manage 4 minutes off the ventilator (life support machine). On thursday, he managed two 2 hours 'weans' off the ventilator so he is improving at a good rate on that front. The hospital are optimistic of getting stephen completely off the ventilator, its just going to take some time, maybe 4 - 8 weeks. Getting off this and being able to breathe on his own will make a lot of difference to his rehab ability.

A few times a day they are able to adust his ventilator, allowing him to talk and communicate. This tires him out though so is there are only limited periods (1-2 hours) in the day when he can do this, although again as he becomes stronger this window will grow, as it has done from 20 minutes to 2 hours over the last 2 weeks.

He has very patchy sensation across various parts of his body, some parts of his arms, stomach and feet. He says this feels like a numb sensation and i'm sure this can only be a good sign. As for movement, he can shrug his shoulders consistently. Sometimes, he is able to very slightly move his knees inwards about an inch, although this takes about 30 secs from the time he thinks about moving his knees, to the movemet actually happening. Some days he is able to do this, some days he isn't but it can only be a positive sign.

His spirits are lifted by not only the great rehab team who work with him everyday, but by the friends and family who have been visiting. Stephens wife Melissa brought his little boy Mason out to see him and he just loves having him around. Some of Stephens other friends, Dale Holmes, TJ, Fuzzy, Scurto and Nasty have been out visiting which again has been a nice lift for him.

As those of you who know him will know, everything always happens to Stephen. Yesterday, he had to be taken to the dentist to have a tooth pulled out which had been giving him agony for the past few days, so he was a little groggy for the remainder of the day. As you can imagine, this wasn't a simple journey to the dentist with his condition but it went pretty smoothly in the end.

He is likely to be in Denver for at least another 3 months, although as his condition is constantly changing it's impossible to put a date on this.

Thanks again for all the support, it realy is a huge comfort to Stephen.

Thanks

Martin

Keep up with all the updates re: Stephen on our Stephen Murray update page and visit www.stephenmurrayfamilyfund.com to donate to help Stephen and his family.

Nice Board McFly
Published: 1:43 a.m. PT by Me

Cool Hunting is a nifty little site that tracks down pretty unique things and does little features on them, ranging from cool foods to hard to find fashion to what you are going to read about next. See you probably have a stoner friend (or you could be the stoner friend) who spends a lot of time watching 80's movies, "Back To The Future" in particular, and he's probably mentioned before that it would be "out of this world" if there really were hoverboards instead of skateboards like in the movie.

Well one of the people over at Cool Hunting decided to explore that possibility and look for what type of hoverboards are actually available. Though he didn't necessarily find exactly what he was looking for the rider did find some admittedly cool contraptions. Check out what we mean.

Real X Original Fake Skate Deck Released
Published: 1:12 a.m. PT by Me

Real Skateboard released their highly sought after skate deck collaboration with Original Fake (legendary graffiti artist Kaws' clothing company) on the Kawsone website. Too bad that even before their release the decks were already sold out (if you didn't know these types of things do really well on the secondary market) so the next best thing is to just look at the pics. Sorry.

 

The Action Sports Environmental Coalition
Published: 12:23 a.m. PT by Me

We've talked about the Action Sports Environmental Coalition (ASEC) before, including when it had some of its members show up in front of Congress (congrats Bob Burnquist on being the first person to bring a skateboard into the Captol). The ASEC was out in full force during this past weekend's X Games which gave LAist a chance to highlight the organization and some of their upcoming projects in a recent article. You should check it out and support the organization (at least, that's our opinion).

Kiwi Mitch Brown Takes Men's Halfpipe; Torah Bright Takes Women's at New Zealand Open
Published: 12:01 a.m. PT by Greg

It took awhile but the 2007 New Zealand Open was able to finish up on Sunday (NZ Time) after poor conditions caused the cancellation of the the Slopestyle finals and postponed action from Saturday. Local Mitch Brown came through with a surprise win with American Scotty Lago coming in second. Japan's Ryo Aono came up third. Slopestyle champ (based on the semi results) Mason Aguirre couldn't break into the top 10, ending up at No. 14.

For the women, Torah Bright and Kelly Clark fought for the top spot with Bright coming away on top with a score of 88.00 to Clark's 87.25. Swiss boarder Manuela Laura Pesko ended up a distant third with a 77.00. Men's winner Brown saw his sister Kendall Brown end up in 7th.

When the finals began weather was mild, but then for the second run conditions began to echo yesterday's near blizzard-like weather. Riders voted and a third run was held with mixed conditions.   You can read more about the final here, including Quarterpipe Jam results, won by Kelly Clark.

Coming up next for many of the same athletes is the Australian Open, taking place August 21 through August 26 at the Perisher Blue Ski Resort in New South Wales in Australia. Check out the official site. The NZO was the first event of the Burton Global Open Series for 2008, which will have six total events this season. The top woman and male athlete for the tour will win $100,000 -- Torah Bright won for the women last year and he win today sets her up with a good start this season.

Get more on Burton Global Open Series.

August 11, 2007

Third Time's the Charm for New Zealand Open?
Published: 1:44 a.m. PT by Greg

After two days of severe weather, Burton New Zealand Open organizers have their fingers crossed that the third time is the charm -- yes, Slopestyle was canceled on Friday (New Zealand time) and the semi results determined the overall winners, but Saturday the weather was so bad no action was able to take place...

If action does take place 42 riders will compete in the men's halfpipe semis including slopestyle winner Mason Aguirre, Scotty Lago, Keir Dillon and Scotty Lago. The top 16 riders will make it to the finals.

For the women 21 riders will start the semis, including Torah Bright, Jamie Anderson and Kelly Clark. The top eight will make the finals.

The semis are expected to start at 9:00 a.m. local NZ time and if it does go off, you will be able to watch the live webcast on Lat34 starting at 2:30 p.m. PT.

Los Angeles Beaches Dirtier Than Your Father's DVD "Collection"
Published: 1:22 a.m. PT by Me

Los Angeles area beaches were this close to reaching record high levels of closures due to dirtiness according to The Los Angeles Times. Apparently beach closures have increased from the previous year's level to reach a total of 2,072 in 2006. Of course there are technical reasons why so many closures occurred, most of which are documented in the article, but seriously it wasn't that big of a surprise that this would happen. I mean have you drove around L.A.? Have you seen the amount of SUVs here? We obviously aren't in touch with our inner-Mother-Nature.

Seriously read the article so you can get a better understanding of how crappy this looks (no pun intended) on our part. Don't forget to read this line: "Beach closings can occur when a sewage pipe leaks or a waste water treatment plant is overwhelmed and releases untreated water", then think back to all those times you were splashing happily at the beach with your mouth WIDE OPEN.

OK rant over.

Mick Fanning Tops Surfline's Power Rankings
Published: 1:09 a.m. PT by Me

Surfline recently released its 5th Power Ranking of the season which rates pro surfers according to a self-admittedly "somewhat subjective" formula. Similar to what ESPN tends to do with most of major sports this list is probably intended to stir up debate as much as it is intended to give a clear picture of the field. This time around Mick Fanning plays the role of the San Antonio Spurs as he's listed as #1 due to his overall consistency. According to the list though Taj Burrows and Kelly Slater are closing the gap between them and the top with their recent wins. Get the full rankings over at Surfline, then get ready to debate it...or not.

Now if Surfline could only parlay this type of thing into something lucrative like Fantasy Football it might be on to something.

Stevie Williams Iced Out Skateboard Medallion
Published: 12:01 a.m. PT by Me

NikeSB.org got a first glimpse at the newest medallion Stevie Williams is rockin'. It's an iced out miniature skateboard with Stevie's company name "DGK" (Dirty Ghetto Kids) on it created by custom jeweler UDEICE.com. It looks expensive, take a look for yourself.

August 10, 2007

Busy Day At The Rip Curl Boardmasters
Published: 4:01 p.m. PT by Me

With an event name like "Rip Curl Boardmasters" there best be some good surfing going down, at least enough to fulfill the masters part of the title. Apparently there was some "mastering" as pros like Adriano De Souza and Matt Wilkinsin dealt with the small waves but still put up nice heats. Even Jake Paterson temporarily came out of his ASP retirement to have a go at Newquay.

For a full rundown of Round 3 at the Rip Curl Boardmasters hit up the recap.

Rogers, Busenitz Added To Manny Mania Finale
Published: 4:01 p.m. PT by Me

As if skaters like Ronny Creager and Joey Brezinski weren't enough, Red Bull has added 2005 Transworld Rookie Of The Year Jereme Rogers, and Dennis Busenitz to its lineup for the Manny Mania final event this coming Sunday. The event will take place under the Manhattan Bridge and if you didn't know by now it'll feature only tricks of the technical kind, mostly manuals (as seen in the event name itself) and grinds. For event details check out the preview. Trust it'll be a dope event if previous stops were any indication.


New Zealand Open Delayed by Blizzard-Like Conditions
Published: 1:48 p.m. PT by Greg

UPDATE (2:29 p.m. PT) - All action has been canceled for the day and moved to Sunday (hopefully).  Weather is still expected to be problematic.

Weather is wreaking havoc with the New Zealand Open -- after yesterday's slopestyle finals were canceled due to poor weather (Read more here), today the halfpipe is facing problems of its own. Sunday was reserved as a bad weather day, but it's not known yet if it will be used. So far the event (and the live webcast have been delayed until 10 a.m. local time (3 p.m. PT for us Americans) but that doesn't mean much at this point. More updates as they come.

Fuel TV's Serving Up A Lot This Week
Published: 11:53 a.m. PT by Me

Wow Jake Brown's really making the rounds. After his death-defying stunt...I mean fall...at the X Games he's hit up Larry King (see below), MTV (see below again), and many other media outlets. Well this time around it's time for him to stop by the studios of Fuel TV for the station's daily series "Daily Habit". I'm guessing he'll be talking about geo-social politics, building smart investment portfolios, and yeah his fall. I'm just guessing though. The show will also feature Danny Way playing an accoustic set. For air times for "Daily Habit" as well as other new programs airing this coming week, including "Rockstar Rail Jam" and "Hobgood Challenge" check the Fuel TV update here.

IGN Previews 'Tony Hawk's Proving Grounds'
Published: 1:29 a.m. PT by Me

For those of you who like to live vicariously IGN.com has an up-to-date preview of 'Tony Hawk's Proving Grounds' for PS3. The game will feature a new video editing feature, emulating Final Cut Pro, that allows players to edit their own skate video from recorded runs they complete inside the game.

 

With words like "solid" and "refined" being bandied about by the writers it looks like it'll be another notch on the belt for soon-to-be-the-first-action-sports-billionaire Tony Hawk. For a fuller description of the game (sorry I'm not a video game head...my last machine was a Sega Dreamcast) as well as several screenshots like the one above check the IGN review/update.

Andreas Wiig Is For The Children
Published: 1:11 a.m. PT by Me

Method Magazine has a cool little write up on Andreas Wiig's long-time support of the Save The Children Foundation. Save The Children is an organization that seeks to do exactly what its name says, help children throughout the world through hunger programs, health administration, and literacy education among many other things. Quite simply it's just something great to hear about and we applaud Wiig's support.

For more about Wiig's work with the organization check Method's write up on Wiig. To learn more about Save The Children head over to their home page.

Matthieu Therres Is Also For The Children
Published: 12:57 a.m. PT by Me

Fresh off the first two legs of the AST Dew Tour (where he finished 5th in the Skate Park competition at the Panasonic Open) Matthieu Therres decided to stop by Camp Airy Skate Park in Frederick, MD to help the local kids out with their tricks and hopefully give them some confidence with their skating. Of course the kids were wowed by Therres and one actually got to session with the pro for 20 minutes. Hopefully some of Therres' magic will rub off on the kids and we'll be seeing a generation of super skaters with robot-like precision coming out of Frederick in a few years.

For the whole story check out the article from the local newspaper. For photos from this year's Panasonic Open (including pics of Therres in action ) check the Panasonic Open Photo Gallery.

Voting For The 2007 Surfer Poll Ends Soon
Published: 12:09 a.m. PT by Me

Just a friendly reminder: there's less than one week left for you to cast your votes for the 2007 Surfer Poll. Started by SURFER Magazine in 1963 the Surfer Poll & Video Awards asks voters to choose their top ten males and top five females of surfing with the winners being revealed at the Awards Ceremony, which this year will be on Sept. 11th at The Grove in Anaheim.

For more information on the event check the Lat34 Events Calendar entry. To vote in the poll itself head over the Surfer Poll website. Also check out photos from last years Surfer Poll Awards.

Aguirre, Jones Win Slopestyle at New Zealand Open
Published: 12:01 a.m. PT by Greg

The New Zealand Open was hit by poor weather conditions Friday and as a result the Slopestyle finals were canceled after the semis, leaving those results as the final standings. That left Mason Aguirre (USA) and Jenny Jones (GBR) as the winners. You can read more about that here.

Here are the top five for the guys and gals:

Men's Slopestyle
1. Mason Aguirre (USA) - Overall score: 78.00
2. Alessandro Boyens (GER) - 77.50
3. Dan Brisse (USA) - 75.00
4. Stef Zeestraten (NZE) - 71.67
5. Eric Willett *USA) - 71.17

Women's Slopestyle
1. Jenny Jones (GBR) - Overall score: 80.67
2. Claudia Fliri (AUT) - 77.83
3. Hana Beaman (USA) - 76.33
4. Torah Bright (AUS) - 73.67 5.
Sina Candrian (SUI) - 71.00

Action is supposed to resume Saturday (local time) with the halfpipe semis and finals, which you can watch starting at 2:30 p.m. PT right here.

August 9, 2007

From The Maker Of Etnies Shoes, 'The 11th Hour'
Published: 3:58 p.m. PT by Me

From the Etnies Blog:

As one of the most celebrated names in the action sports industry and founder and CEO of Sole Technology, parent company of etnies, etnies girl, eS, Emerica, Altamont and ThirtyTwo, Pierre Andre Senizergues’ passion for the environment has remained true to his roots and shown in the company’s success.

Teaming up with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tree Media as Executive Producer for The 11th HOUR, Senizergues hopes to create awareness around the environmental issues we are currently facing. Opening officially in theaters this August, The 11th HOUR describes the last moment when change is possible. The film explores how humanity has arrived at this moment – how we live, how we impact the Earth’s ecosystems, and what we can do to change our course. The film features dialogues with experts from all over the world, in addition to over 50 leading scientists, thinkers and leaders who present the facts and discuss the most important issues that face our planet.

For a trailer of "The 11th Hour" head to the film's official home page.

MTV Catches Up With Jake Brown
Published: 2:13 p.m. PT by Me

Yes, we've got more Jake Brown for you.  For better or for worse he became the face of X Games 13 when he survived an amazing five-story fall with *only* a broken arm, fractured wrist, bruised liver, fractured vertebrae, and lung contusion, as evidenced by his Larry King interview posted earlier today.

Well in what's probably some type of tie-in with their slam section-like show "Scarred" MTV also caught up with Brown after the fall to pretty much get a post-game interview about the crash. In the interview Brown talks about the fall, the attention given to the fall, and what pros like Danny Way who've taken similar falls have handed down to him. You can read the full story here and if you haven't seen the slam (which I highly doubt) check out the clip.

Action Sports And The Olympics
Published: 1:46 p.m. PT by Me

As the Beijing Olympics is now officially less than a year away some action sports athletes like Mat Hoffman are thinking about the reality of their sport being featured in the banner sports event of the world. That's because the IOC (the governing body of the Olympics) has decided that Freestyle BMX and likely Skateboarding will be included in the 2012 Olympic Games, to be held in London.

It's been said before and we'll say it again -- as with any major action sports event that isn't developed "organically" from the sport itself, the idea of skateboarding and BMX being included in the Olympics is looked on skeptically by some of the athletes, especially with an eye on what went down in 1998 when Snowboarding entered into the Winter Olympics equation. The New York Times attempts to cover those and other perspectives in a pretty decent article regarding the issue. Read about what some of the athletes, including Hoffman and Bob Burnquist, think in the NY Times article here also check out a preview of BMX Racing, which will be featured in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Tony Chickenhawk: Skateboarding Rooster
Published: 12:56 p.m. PT by Me

In what seems like an attempt by PETA to further convince us that animals are just like humans, and thus meat is murder, a skateboarding rooster has been discovered in a town near Seattle. Hanna Dahlquist's pet chicken "Tony Chickenhawk" (the name quite possibly a play on the name of the world's most famous skateboarder...quite possibly) supposedly can ride a skateboard, which adds to his arsenal of human tricks.

Currently his arsenal of human tricks numbers at one: skateboarding. He really should think about getting sponsored though, kinda like how Rob Dyrdek sponsors Meaty, but back to the original story other residents of Chickenhawk's town are trying to shut him down 'cause of his other talents: crowing. Get the full story here.


Funniest Interview Ever: Jake Brown on Larry King
Published: 4:23 a.m. PT by Greg

So I had my TV on CNN yesterday. I was trying to see video of the Space Shuttle taking off (you gotta stay connected, after all) but nothing was happening so I left the TV on and left the room to run an errand. I come back about an hour ago and "Larry King Live" is on. Now, everyone should know who Larry King is -- the guy is the stuff of legend. Sure, he's a Crusty Old Fart, but he has been pretty important in the past.

The first thing I see on the screen is a car crash, repeating over and over, with a race car driver talking head. I don't know who it is, but the helpful text in the crawl below explains "Ashley Judd's Husband Cheats Death" then "Extreme Crashes, Shocking Survivals." The first thing I think is "Jake Brown" and then the second -- "How would you like to be known as just Ashley Judd's husband?"

I rewind my Tivo and it turns out that Mr. Ashley Judd (his name is Dario Something. He won the Indy 500, apparently. I still prefer Mr. Ashley Judd) got into an accident on Sunday and his car flipped, etc., etc. I check back and there's no Jake Brown. Not yet, I think.

So I leave the room (no way I am sitting through that dreck if I have to) and come back after the show is done. Check my Tivo and, yep, there's Jake. I then proceeded to watch a cringe-inducing several minute interview with the COF asking one-word questions and interrupting Jake's responses. It went something along the lines of this:

COF: "These are your shoes?"
Jake: (nervous) "Yes, those..."
COF: "What happened?"
Jake: (looking very scared now) "Well, I was..."
COF: "You didn't die?"
Jake: "Ummmm, I'm still..."
COF: (struggles to understand concept of skateboarding) "People pay you money to do this?"
Jake: (now confused) "Yes, I..."
COF: (grasps for something) "How important is the board?"
Jake: (given up) "Well..."
COF: (turns to the camera) "Tonight on Anderson Cooper 360..."

Then later:

COF: Are you anxious to get back on skates (yes, he said skates).
Jake: Yeah, yeah definitely, I can't wait to skate again. It's going to be a few weeks for me, maybe a month... (around this point he's interrupted again)

Okay, I might be pushing it a bit, but I kid you not -- funniest interview ever. Good for Jake for putting up with it. He doesn't come off badly at all -- this just proves that Larry King isn't just your father's TV newsman, he's your dead great grandfather's TV newsman, as well.

If you don't believe me, well see it for yourself: ladies and gentleman -- the funniest interview ever. Jake Brown on Larry King Live.

New Zealand Open - Slopestyle Qualifiers; Watch it LIVE TODAY
Published: 2:36 p.m. PT by Greg

Yesterday marked the Slopestyle qualifiers at the 2007 Burton New Zealand Open. Winners in the qualifiers will advance on to join the invited riders which include last year's Kevin Pearce as well as Scotty Lago, Louie Vito and Kazuhiro Kokubo at tomorrow’s Slopestyle Semi-Finals. The women were also in action. Read the full details here.

Starting tomorrrow and on Friday, Lat34 will be webcasting the event. Watch the webcast here!

Here's the schedule if you want to take a look (note: when the webcast is over, highlights will repeat):

Live Webcast Schedule

Thursday, August 9 – US (Friday, August, 10 – New Zealand)

EST: PST: Event:

5:15-6:05pm 2:15-3:05pm Slopestyle Semi-Finals WOMEN
6:05-6:35pm 3:05-3:35pm Warm-Up Run Slopestyle Semi-Finals MEN
6.35-8:05pm 3:35-5:05pm Slopestyle Semi-Finals MEN
8.05-8.35pm 5:05-5:35pm Training Slopestyle Finals
8.35-10.05pm 5:35-7:05pm Slopestyle Finals WOMEN & MEN

Friday, August 10 – US (Saturday, August 11 – New Zealand)

EST: PST: Event:

5.30-6.30pm 2:30-3:30pm Halfpipe Semi-Final WOMEN
6.30-7.00pm 3:30-4:00 Training Halfpipe Semi-Final MEN
7.15-8.45pm 4:15-5:45pm Halfpipe Semi-Final MEN
8.45-9.15pm 5:45-6:15pm Training Finals WOMEN & MEN
9.30-11.30pm 6:30-8:30pm Halfpipe Finals WOMEN & MEN

 

Older Archive: August 2 - August 8, 2007