Epicly Later’d – Gino Iannucci: The Final Episode

I understand why certain athletes retire before time is up. I guess that most of them want to leave the game while they’re on top. But it does kind of suck because you know that there is so much more they are capable of and you begin to think what could have been and what more they could have accomplished. Another championship perhaps? Quite possibly a scoring award. Or how about a couple more illegitimate children. Who knows.

I’m a big tennis fan and one player who I thought embodied cool was Bjorn Borg, the Swede. I think he was so ahead of his time especially with his style. If he is now who he was back in the 70’s, all the Silverlake hipsters would be swinging around a racket instead of biking the streets of Los Angeles. Retiring at only 26 years of age, probably due to too many drugs and boning too many women, he won 11 Grand Slams. Crazy!

Another obvious early retirement was that of MJ. Michael Jordon retired after winning the 1998 NBA Championships and his 6th title. The guy was really on top of the sports world and nobody even came close to his greatness. But he did leave and that left him more time to play golf and do Hanes commercials.

The last one I will mention is Gino. He has no responsibility beyond himself to skate how he wants to skate but he really leaves most spectators wanting more. His retirement is a little ambiguous because he still skates around but it’s uncertain if he will film another part, and if he does, the length is in question as well.

The biggest difference between Gino and the other two athletes mentioned is that when Bjorn and Michael retired, they both actually made a come back and you know what? They were horrible. Not exactly crappy but they weren’t who they were. I know along with most people that if Gino came back and filmed a part, it would be epic no matter what he does.

So considering I wouldn’t exactly call Gino an athlete and more of an artist, a skate artist at least, I should compare him more to the likes of someone like Hattori Hanzo from Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill”. Although a fictional character Hanzo is reminiscent to Gino. Gino is like the old school samurai master who takes a hiatus and comes back to greatness. That’s the kind of success I think Gino should have.

Paul Rodriguez Incase Luggage Collection

Skateboarders have really come a long way since the days when getting free stickers and granola bars from their sponsors was the bomb. We slowly saw the evolution of what today’s renaissance skater has become and I think we can trace back to when it started with notable members of the skateboard community. Tony Hawk for his multiple participations with corporate America like “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” and Willy Manoloto Santos for his film debut in “The Skateboard Kid II”.

Now lets see which skaters have the coolest endorsement deals:

1. Ryan Sheckler – Proactive
2. Shaun White – Target (heard there’s an underwear deal in the works)
3. Tony Hawk – Hepatitis B Awareness Charity

Now adding to this amazing list of endorsements is of course Paul Rodriguez. Not for the remake of his dad’s cult classic “Million To Juan”, but for his own line of luggage and backpacks from INCASE. I’m not sure if most of you out there can afford these but they are nice and just like some of the innovative skate shoes that came out in the 90’s, these bags have all sorts of hidden compartments and surprises.

FEAST: A Flip Southwest Tour

The name pretty much explains it and pretty much explains my disappointment because Flip is definitely one of my favorite skate teams.  Why do they have to go through the Southwest?  Maybe at least they can skip Texas and come to California instead.  I doubt anyone there can understand most of their accents anyway.  Oh well, it doesn’t matter because I never go to these things anyway.  But if you’re in the area, you should check it out because these guys are sick.  Read the press below.

THAT’S RIGHT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE ILLUSTRIOUS FLIP TEAM IS HEADING TO THE DESERT SOUTHWEST AND MOUNTAIN COUNTRY, THE PERFECT WAY TO START THE HOLIDAYS, FORGET YOUR TURKEYS AND FAMILY FEASTS GET YOURSELF OFF TO THE NEAREST SKATEPARK LOCATION ON THE SCHEDULE AND FEAST ON THE FINE SKATEBOARDING OF GEOFF ROWLEY, MARK APPLEYARD, DAVID GONZALEZ, RUNE GLIFBERG, LANCE MOUNTAIN, LUAN DE OLIVEIRA, CURREN CAPLES AND THE GANGSTA STYLE OF LOUIE LOPEZ. WE ALL LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE. HAPPY TRAVELS.

Roll Anything Day 2008

There are a few days out of the year that if you’re a street kid, bum, or just suffering from today’s economic woes, you are treated like a commoner because these specific establishments open their doors to the public for a gathering of free food.  I’m not talking about Thanksgiving or Christmas either.  Not even Ramadan.  So these days come unexpected.

My favorite convenient store 7-11 gives away free Slurpees on 7-11.  Just a few weeks ago, Baskin Robins was giving away free ice cream to celebrate their birthday.  And now we have Chipotle, one of the yummiest fairly new burrito franchises around.  Have you eaten there?  They’re excellent.  Better than 7-11 frozen burritos for sure.  All you have to do is roll up in a non-automobile to celebrate “Roll Anything Day”.

I will be availing of such an awesome day by gearing up with every non gas guzzling vehicle I own.  My skateboard, bike, snakeboard, unicycle, rollerblades, segway, rollershoes, and my Soaps.  Read the press release below for more info.

PRESS RELEASE

Emergency Alert: FREE Burrito-FREE Burrito-FREE Burrito-FREE Burrito-FREE Burrito!!!

Please forward this to everyone you know right now, post on your web site, send it by way of carrier pigeon! We are trying to give away 100,000 free burritos in the State of California this Saturday.

Get RAD, B RAD, U R RAD, RAD enough to Roll!

Here is a great one for you; this Saturday October 11th ASEC is launching our inaugural “RAD” (Roll Anything Day). This is a holiday dedicated to leaving behind cars, motorcycles, busses or whatever gas guzzling, veggie oil burning, natural gas farting device you or your parents are using and going out on the town Rolling your Skateboard, Bike or what ever form of “Non-Motorized Transportation” you choose. Go out and explore your city, Parks or Mountains, hang out with your friends and family or go see how many spots you can hit or shops you can check out in a day.

Break a sweat, work up an appetite and Roll to any Chipotle in California between 11-3PM and get a FREE Burrito! If you have never checked out Chipotle before you need to, they make the tastiest Mexican Food I have ever had, no joke just ask Danny Way, Bob Burnquist or anyone else who grubs there all of the time (they pay, they are not sponsored). They are the most natural and environmentally responsible fast food chain in America and they use naturally raised chicken & pork, locally sourced & organic veggies and really care about the Planet. Oh Yeah, they are not owned by McDonalds (that is another story, they used to be an investor but have nothing to do with them now, it was a dream situation). So go out & Roll your butt to Chipotle to get a Free Burrito or Roll to your friend’s house to hang out, it doesn’t matter where you go, just Roll.

Post your rolls on YouTube or somewhere else on the web and we will put them on our website, or you can write us, send photos or whatever way you want to communicate your Roll to the world to RAD@asecaction.org and we will show the world how you Roll!

Beauty And The Beast Premiere

I’m sure by now you’ve heard of the Beauty And The Beast Tour of the Northwest of the United States.  And if not, I’m sure you’re probably singing THIS in your head by now.  But the Beauty And The Beast tour takes essentially two of the most polar opposite teams, Girl X Antihero, and documents the whole thing on the road. I’m sure they will ultimately learn that they are all same.  So heart warming.

Well Patrick O’Dell from Epicly Later’d documented the Cinema Paradiso inspired premiere party with his photo camera and shared the pics on an Epicly Later’d site.  From the looks of things, the movie was a success.  Not to mention Patrick’s photos.

Volcom’s Final Teasisode

Volcom has slowly been releasing what they call “Teasisodes” for their “All The Days Roll Into One” documentary featuring the Volcom Skate Team.  What is this skate movie about?  I guess it’s kind of like Volcom’s version of MTV’s “The Real World” but cool.  And less annoying.  And more fun.  And less dramatic.  And less desire to want to punch somebody on that show.

So what took course over the month of May, the Volcom skate team roomied in an apartment in Brooklyn, NY with the sole purpose of skating epic New York spots. While out there they did a ton of filming, and since they had such a great crew and some amazing filmers, they decided to team up with the boys over at Fuel TV to bring you a 30-minute show on their trip.

I’m hoping we get to see some of the amazing culture that NYC has to share.  Maybe they went to see a Broadway show.  Hopefully MaMa Mia.  Or perhaps take a nice peaceful stroll into New Jersey.  We’ll see.

The show is called, “All The Days Roll Into One” and will premiere on Fuel TV on October 20th at 8 pm - The last one is below.

http://64.93.69.71/1008NYC_tease3

Johnny Romano Make-A-Wish Skate Jam

The 12th Annual Texas Skate Jam for Make-A-Wish is going down this year but will redirect its attention toward a special young brother for skaters around the world.  With the unfortunate passing of Johnny Romano last month, the event has will be renamed the Johnny Romano Skate Jam For Make-A-Wish in Johnny’s honor.  Tickets for this special day is $40 and will go on sale on October 9th.

The event will take place on Saturday November 8th, 2008 at 12PM – 8PM.  100% of the event’s proceeds will go directly to The Make-A-Wish Foundation.  Giving to the Romano’s is all on you, and it is truly needed. If you buy tickets to the Skate Jam, you’ll be giving to MAKE A WISH. Hopefully their medical bill problems will be relieved very soon. Again 100% of the money for this event goes as always to MAKE A WISH and that we will continue to reflect on Johnny’s passion and drive as a human to make this event better every year!

Click HERE to donate to the Johnny Romano Kicks Cancer fund.

2008 Vans Downtown Showdown Saturday

The Vans Downtown Showdown is a unique competition where skateboarding’s top Pros and Amateurs will have the opportunity at $85 thousand big ones on Paramount Studio’s Back Lot.  The format of the course will be designed based on recommendations submitted by the companies and riders themselves.  Hope we some commando lines as seen on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.

But if you’re not invited, don’t worry because you to can be part of the action, not in person, but in spirit.  And online.  Vans want you to log on and fill out your information on the Vans Site for a chance to win a Les Paul Guitar.  Meant for you hip-hop rappers out there.  Tune in to Vans.com to see the winner on the Webcast on Saturday.  Read below for more info.

Who: The top teams in skateboarding including Deathwish, Foundation, Toy Machine, Girl, Real, Element, Habitat, Creature, Black Label and Blind.

What: Each team will session four unique, custom-made obstacles in a round-robin format with awards going out for top team, best pro, top am and best performance by obstacle.

When: Saturday, October 11 at 5 pm (doors open at 4 pm)

Where: Paramount Studios Back Lot

Prize Purse: $85,000 in cash and prizes for individual and team winners

Chris Cole Leads Regulars to Win at etnies GvR

The etnies GvR contest is always one of the best to watch and this year’s was no different thanks to a thrilling final that actually resulted in a tie, meaning the two teams would have to face off in a Game of SKATE.

The Regulars’ Chris Cole and Andrew Langi went head-to-head with Goofys Tyler Hendley and Justin Figueroa and the contest was decided when Cole landed a backside ollie 360 down the double set. Read more

Etnies 5th Annual Goofy Vs. Regular - Day 1/2

Unfortunately yesterday God was sad and began crying, causing a delay for the 5th Annual Etnies’ Goofy Vs. Regular competition in Lake Forest.  He probably saw O.J. Simpson was prosecuted for kidnapping and may get 15 years to life in prison.

Fortunately there were a couple events that were able to complete on Friday including the Etnies Girl’s Bowl Jam.  Julie Kindstrand took the title and it was possibly due to the fact she had skate punk band Los Olvidados playing in the background.  If it were me, I’d have Los Lobos.  They’re more political.

A couple of more Bowl Jams were completed as well including the Pro Bowl Jam and the Masters Bowl Jam.  And surprise, surprise Christian Hosoi is back and took the title.  I’m sure the entire skateboard community is happy about that one.  And I’m also sure God postponed his crying to allow Christian to skate.

For the Pro Bowl Jam, Kevin Kowlaski earned the title and the $3,000 first prize.  Jolan Johnson took second and Ben Rayburn third, respectively.  The action continues today and you can watch it live over at Reelcomp.com.  I’m exactly sure who’s winning but I think the Regulars have it with a Goofy’s a close second.  Mongo footers are in a non existent third.

Pro Bowl Contest:
1.  Kevin Kowalski – $3,000
2.  Nolan Johnson – $2,000
3.  Ben Raybourn – $1,000
4.  Tim Johnson – $800
5.  Michael O’Friel – $600
6.  Donovan Rice – $500
7.  Michael Brookman – $400
8.  Nolan Munroe – $300
9.  Rion Linderman – $200
10. Jimmy the Greek – $100

Grand Masters Bowl Contest:
1.    Christian Hosoi – $1,500
2.    Glen Charnoski – $1,000
3.    Pat Ngoho – $800
4.    Lester Kasai – $700
5.    Duane Peters – $600
6.    Josh Nelson – $500
7.    Dave Reul – $400
8.    Steve Alba – $300
9.    Eddie Reategui – $200
10.  Jason Parkes – $100

etnies Girl’s Bowl Jam:
1.   Julie Kindstrand – $500
2.   Megan Brown – $400
3.   Priscilla Lee – $250
4.   Allysha Bergado – $150
5.   Lea Taylor – $100
6.   Erin Wolfkiel – $100

Next Page »