I have been in Caracas, Venezuela for a year now. I walk the streets of the city even though it’s not recommended due to the ridiculously high amount of violence and crime.  Venezuela is one of the largest Anti-America countries in the world. President Hugo Rafael Chavez rules with an iron fist and one of his favorite tools is PROPAGANDA.  Check out this painting on Avenida Bolivar, one of the busiest Avenues in downtown Caracas,  of US President Barack Obama. The painting portrays him as a robot with the message that he is a puppet of Imperialism. These paintings are everywhere here. Chavez gets up!

I haven’t checked back in since “vacation” ended and am back cold snowy WI. Although the change of seasons is nice and shakes things up every few months, the long winters definitely get old. Every year in November, I get all riled up for snowboarding season to start. By mid February I am ready for Old Man Winter to head to the southern hemisphere for vacation for a few yearsmonths. We are working on the rest of the line for 2010 right now and starting on 2011 so at least we get to look forward to warmer times which are still a good 3 months away. My head is still in Cali. While we wait for the snow to melt, you can follow us on one of the 100,000 social networking sites that are out there here and here and find where I get my personal inspiration here. That aught to keep you busy.

Here are some more photos of our trip out west. We were in San Diego, LA, and Vegas for a few hours. Those Vegas hours are mostly a blur.

After spending a day in San Diego we headed up to LA. I am always amazed by the LA traffic. There are 18 lanes, they are all packed, and everyone is going 70 mph.

As soon as we got into the city it started to pour. Californian’s hate the rain. I watched people run for cover and look up at the sky in disgust. I’d love to see what would happen with a foot of snow in SoCal.

We headed over to Melrose and Fairfax because that’s where all of the cool kids hang out. There was a pretty awesome spot called Canter’s Deli that has been there forever. If you are in the area, check this place out.

We checked out the Bape store, Kid Robot, The Hundreds, Johnny Cupcakes, Supreme, Diamond, and RVCA while we were on the block. Each one has it’s own feel, music, and look. You can get an idea of what each is about based on the vibe.

Another part of LA that I love is the graffiti. Although I didn’t see as much as I would have liked too, I did see a bunch along the freeway. It looks like these kids just stand out on the highway not worrying about a thing. Also I noticed that kids will climb up pretty high just to catch a tag.

Oh yeah and did I mention we have free shipping on all orders for a limited time?

We were in San Diego and L.A. most of last week. It rained on and off over the 5 days I was there but it didn’t snow once.  As usual, we were running a tight schedule and almost missed our flight.

Note: If you question the sobriety of the pilot they have to administer a breathalizer. Seriously.

We got to San Diego and immidiately hit In-N-Out burger. I’m not going to lie. Best Fastfood EVER.

We asked around to see where all of the cool kids hang out and then headed downtown and to the Gaslamp District.

“So let me get this straight, I can’t bring my skateboard up in here?”  “Nope.”  “That’s weak.”

It was ONLY 63 in SD, which is what San Diagans refer to as “Cold”…

… And I came home to a winter snow warning. I miss you already San Diego.

We are in San Diego doing a little scouting. So far I’ve found some great weather, you never have to get old, and that In N Out burger us everything promised. We are at ASR today just checking it out. Here are a couple quick flicks.

We will be leaving for California tomorrow for a week. We just got a bunch of snow dumped on us here in the Sconni so I’m ditching the snow shoes for flip flops. One of the biggest things I’ll be looking forward to is the food. I hear that there is a secret menu at a few of the spots out there that we don’t have here.

I also plan to check out this place…

We’ll be in San Diego for ASR and then on to LA for a few. If you are local or just in the know and want to send some suggestions for the good west coast spots send them here.

Looking forward to this…

Also the new tees are in and in stock. Limited numbers as usual.

New FM tees came in today. I’ll have them up in the cart soon so stay tuned. We’ve also been working hard on some up coming projects for 2010.  We will continue to keep you in the loop for all of our trials, travels, and tribulations. As always, thanks for the support. We couldn’t do it without you.

As the kids say…

Hailing from the East side of Milwaukee, there are quite a few landmarks that have been a part of my upbringing and have played an influential role in shaping me as an individual. We have the Oriental Theatre (Saw Kidsthere when I wasn’t old enough. Score!), Oakland Gyros (The best gyro place anywhere. Ever.), Landmark (The best kept secret), Brady Street, and Pizza Man. Well, sadly, we don’t have Pizza Man anymore. The building caught fire early this morning. One of the oldest and best pizza joints in the city is gone.

The whole feel of Pizza Man was as old as the building. The interior consisted of dimly lit brick, wood walls that had carvings of who loves who and who to call for a good time in them, and a door that was weighted by bricks and a sack of potatoes. Character.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Its believed that the fire started in an apartment above the restaurant. Although the restaurant will no doubt be rebuilt, it will not soon be replaced.

R.I.P Pizza Man. What a guy.

If you aren’t aware, there was a pretty big earthquake in Haiti. Followed by numerous other earthquakes. Of course if you aren’t aware you probably don’t have a computer and aren’t reading this post. The area that was hit is the most densely populated area in the country. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the region. With family in nearby Jamaica, I can only imagine what its like for those still searching for family members. Although we like to keep things light around these parts, this is a pretty serious issue. You can help out by clicking here.

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