CHRISTMAS TIME

Well, even though I didn't get to go to New York to see family and friends I did get to come down to my parents house and spend time with them and my sister near the Colorado river. It was an eventful few days to say the least. Sat in trafic for hours on the way here, Rode a Harley, drove in a $200,000 desert buggy, played some bingo and I swear was the only one under 40 years old, won some money at the Casino, enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery and just kicked it for the most part. Back to magazine life in a few hours after I get back to LA.

WEEKEND

Fairly normal weekend. Chilled, rode, went to the S & M video premiere. Fell on my head and broke my phone at the East LA park. Rode at Ben Snowdens house which is always a good time, hung with some friends. That pretty much sums it up. Nothing too exciting going on just waiting to get the holidays going and get back to a normal (if you can call it that) schedule at the office with deadlines and all that.

Cloudy

It has actually been rainy in Cali lately. As much as I love to brag about how sunny and nice it is all of the time I can't stand even one day of rain. A few days of rain feels like an eternity and I know I shouldn't complain seeing as how there are very few days of rain throughout the entire year compared to most everywhere else in the country. Random pic after getting done shooting some photos of a few Fox team riders in San Diego a while back and a photo from the annual light show in Griffith Park. Good times.

Weekend

Fun weekend. Got to ride a little bit, shoot some photos, go to some really cool art openings/shows and hang out. Went to the opening for Glen Friedmans photo show and bought his new book along with getting that one and an older one I already had signed. He is a famous 80's skate/band/punk/rap photographer. Oh, I also saw Russel Simmons from Def Jam while I was there. It was pretty weird. That dude has so much money it is insane. Went to a flatland jam in long beach and also caught a slideshow presentation by Pro skateboarder/artist Ed Templeton from Toy Machine Skateboards. It was pretty cool and had an intimate setting. Thats about it. Be patient with my actual website. It is in the process of being fully re-done when I get some time.

Santa Monica

Well, today was fairly productive but it took a while to make two photos happen. In LA it is not easy to get around. I spent more time in my truck stuck in traffic than I did shooting and riding combined. Actually, I spent about 3 hours in my truck and only traveled 50 miles total. Two hours to go 25 miles. Yea. Not fun.

Good things = *got two photos that I am stoked on (check future issues of mag)

Bad things=*got two parking tickets that total over $75

Overall it was worth it and that shit is just part of my job.

My Bad

The title of my blog 100% suggests that I will be updating it daily. Even though it is not entirely true, I do give it a good attempt. Instead of changing the name I will just work harder at keeping it up to date. Picture #1. It is some weird picture from a commercial on TV that I took for some strange reason. It is for a test drive of a motorized scooter for old people. It reminds me of my gramps (RIP) I miss you. #2. Nike premiere in San Diego right before the video started. #3. Funny sign that was across the street from my hotel in Oklahoma. #4. Pretty straight forward.

Riding

Random photos from last night and today. Took a nighttime cruise on the fixed gear and then explored some new riding spots today up in the Burbank hills. Not too much else going on. Been riding a lot which is good. Finished the March issue minus the cover which is also good. That's about it for now.

PHOTOS

I mentioned that I would be putting photos up from the last trip to Oklahoma. Here are some from that trip and some from before I flew out at my Aunts house in Temecula. Best buddy dogs, first and maybe only snow I will see this winter, LAX, sick view of the sky, glamorous hotel, blah blah. You get the idea. A picture is worth a thousand words until you become an editor and write about pictures all day long. Then they become worth a short caption. Over and out.

Blah Blah Blog

So just got back from Oklahoma. It was a fun trip for the most part but I basically spent two days traveling and two full days working so needless to say I was burnt out by the time I got back to LA. Then I got to sit in traffic for an hour and a half before I made it home. It was 22 miles by the way. Almost finished up with the March issue which is good. Things will mellow out towards the end of this week. Kind of in a lazy mood so I will let the pictures do the talking for me. Edit (the pics will come tomorrow)

AIRPORTS

Airports become a familiar sight when you work for a magazine. I can't say that I have anything to complain about that is for sure. I figured I would throw this up quick while waiting for my delayed flight from Colorado to Tulsa, OK. It is snowing pretty bad outside and since there won't be any snow in Oklahoma this might be the only bit of snow I see. Gotta keep this short and sweet, about to board.

San Diego

Nike Banksgiving was this past weekend in San Diego. It was a fun day for sure. Dennis Enarson was the host for the West Coast one and had private ramps built in his backyard for the jam. There was some good riding that went down and it was a chill vibe all day. The Nike video also premiered later that night on an Aircraft Carrier (yes an Aircraft Carrier). Wierd I know but Nike always does it big and it doesn't get much bigger than that in a literal sense. Check out some photos of the day. Dennis's backyard, solo on the red carpet, a view of the aircraft carrier, me chillin inside some cockpit, and the inside of some crazy helicopter that was on the top deck. Good times.

Newest Cover!

Things have been pretty chill the past week. That will be over soon and deadlines officially start again tomorrow morning. Then its a busy weekend in San Diego, then a few days at the office next week, then Thanksgiving then fly straight to Oklahoma the morning after. Anyways, the newest issue of BMX Plus! is out now and everyone should check it out. It is my newest cover photo and one of my favorites to date. The rider is Raul Ruiz from Los Angeles. When it comes down to big tricks he has things handled. This is an 18 stair double peg grind to second stage icepick. The crazy thing is a few weeks before that I was at that same school about to shoot photos and got kicked out by the cops so I never expected that the next time I was there we would have time to ride and shoot and leave on our own terms. This was second try by the way. First time he hopped off early and the photo is his first and only real go at the icepick. Add the mag on myspace while your at it. myspace.com/bmxplus

Random

Things have been chill since I finished up the second Buyer's Guide. Finally back to my normal schedule of chillin', riding and hanging out which I have been missing out on. Just hit up Woodward yesterday for a sweet session. Always a good time there. Other than that going to shoot a bit this weekend for an upcoming Photo Special. Should have a new bike put together within the next week or so. Nike Banksgiving is coming up again on the 22nd. They always do it big. Check the pic from X-Games 13. It is the view from the 90FT tall roll in before the mega ramp gap. I seriously was scared just being up there on my feet. I can't imagine rolling in on a bike let alone a skateboard. One fuck up and your done. Guess that's why there are so few people that compete in the Mega Ramp comp.

Lazy Day

Took a day to chill today and cruise around on my bike. It was much needed after two months of solid business working on back to back buyer's guide's. (which are both done by the way). California hardly ever has clouds in the sky so this view from Universal City is pretty rare. Also, on the ride home I caught a sick sunset which is also fairly rare where I live. The other picture is of the LA "river" which is funny that it is actually called that. Looks more like a drainage ditch with a stream in the middle to me but whatever.

TRAILS

Got to hit up some of the best trails in California yesterday. It was awesome to ride some dirt, it has been waaay too long. It was a mellow session but fun as hell. Then we headed over to Jurupa skatepark and had a session there and they had a raffle for Mike Aitken (a rider that has some head injuries). Keep an eye out for some photos to be published in an upcoming issue from the trails session.