The Missing Stuff

I have not been keeping up on my blog so this is just a recap of everything I have missed to bring you all up to speed.

My Birthday:

Benihana Free Birthday Lunch

Disneyland Birthday Trip

Took m good friend Chad to Universal Studios with my free Birthday Ticket

Stayed at the Disneyland Hotel for FREE! 

Went Bowling

Stanley Cup Finals:

Amazing Seats thanks to a vender

Work / Surf Trip up to Santa Cruz:

PCH 

Surfed the Lane

Sweet Hike to a Water Hole:

Won a contest on Instagram with this photo:

Went to a Private Event at Disneyland:

 Was in my friends wedding:

 Took My friend Sandy to an Angels Game for her Birthday:

Made fun of Hurley's newest AD campaign but no one got it:

Rode the new Matterhorn (and was super disappointed): 

Went to Scout Camp for a day to help out: 

Another VIP event with my bud Donny:

 Billabong Art Room Angels Game:

Rode in a Bike Race:

I think that brings us up to date. It has been a fun summer and its not done yet.

Reading Waves

This animation is so sweet. 

Much Better Now from Salon Alpin on Vimeo.

Photo Credit: T.SMITS

So for christmas this year I got myself a nice SLR camera. Well let me tell you it has opened doors for me. I have been taking pictures my whole life but never like this. I have been mainly shooting my friends at Disneyland and fun stuff like that. But lately I have also got some good gigs from it. About a month back I got the pleasure of shooting a Billabong event at Greg Noll's Surf Shop. It was a great night lots of people and of course Greg Noll. But the BIG shooting gig was shooting the Billabong XXL Awards. Now this was big time I had a press pass and was rubbing elbows with Movie, TV and Surf Stars. But the big thrill was when I spent the end of the night with the band Chevy Metal. But you may know some of them from the band Foo Fighters. It was crazy to be hanging back stage not just as a photographer but as one of the crew. The night was none stop fun and just amazing. I can't even begging to explain how great of a time I had. Looking forward to shooting more and more events. Here are some of the better shots from the two events.

I took this painting home with me at the end of the night it an original 1 of 2 Greg owns the other one

Greg Noll and Greg Long Old School and New School

Me and Dave

A Night with Coldplay at the Bowl

Now the joke goes...

"You know how I know your gay? Because you listen to Coldplay"

But let me tell you something these guy can really put on a show. And I was lucky enough to get to go thanks to my great friend Bayleigh. I wouldn't even call myself a Coldplay fan. But I am not one to turn down a concert, definitely not one at the Hollywood Bowl.

So when the night of the concert came I headed over to her house where we then went to meet up with some of her friends. On the way to the show everyone was talking about their favorite Coldplay songs and all I could say is I don't even think I can name two songs they sing.

Well needless to say I was wrong I knew a few more then two songs. The night was amazing and the show is up there in the top best shows I have ever been to.

 For the first encore the band emerged in the middle of the crowd.
And via spot light played a few songs.

I would have to say one of the coolest part about the show was how everyone was a part of. This was because as you walk in they give these bracelets that light up during certain parts of the show. It was a sight to be seen.

Body Surfing

The world of surfing is not enough for me. I have been opening my eyes to every way possible to enjoy mother ocean. The newest thing I have added or should I say expanded on is Body Surfing. I have enjoyed body surfing since I was a grom. But it is not until I came across this movie 

COME HELL OR HIGH WATER

And just like it says in the first part "It's not about riding the perfect wave, it's just about being out in the ocean and enjoying it." But this video did turn me onto a little thing called hand planes. Hand planes are used in body surfing to help you move up and down the wave just as if you were on a surfboard. So once I found out about these I began looking for where I could get one. Sadly they were way out of my budget for a piece of wood. BUT... the wood was not out of my budget and long story short I went to work researching how to make them and before I knew it I was on my way to owning one. I had such a great time working with my hands and the wood. So much so that I made 5 so all my friends could enjoy this with me. Once I made 5 then out of no where people started asking me where theirs was. So now I have a few more to make but these one are not for free Im going to make some money off these ones. Since finishing this project I have used it twice on nice days out at the wedge. I am looking forward to spending a lot of time body surfing this summer once the Black Ball season starts.

Here is what I will be taking to the beach then.

 Oh and on a side note I documented the whole process on how I did it and my work posted it on the Billabong website. Here is the link Hand Planes

I Wonder...CON

Thanks to a co-worker I have been getting back into things that I was into as a kid. One of these things are comic conventions. The other weekend I had the privilege of attending a smaller convention called Wonder-Con.

Wonder-Con is normally held in San Fran but this year it was moved to Anaheim due to the fact that the convention center in SF is under construction. Now Wonder-Con is no where near the size of Comic-Con (witch I will blog about in a few months when I attend that). But this one was really fun, it was two and a half days long. Day one was a half day and the main thing this day was the Regular Show Panel. The Regular Show is a cartoon that I enjoy watching and going to this panel was a must. They had all the artist and voice actors at it to talking about up coming episodes and answer questions about past episodes. But the high light of the panel was the sneak peak of an upcoming episode. This episode is made from an old 80's movie called The Wizard. The preview was amazing and I can't wait to see the whole episode.

Here is the Preview.

The Next Day was even more important then the first. Today was the day of the Adventure Time Panel. Adventure Time is another cartoon I watch and have been watching since the pilot. After this panel was over the creator and the the artist and voice actors did a signing. I was planing on trying to meet the creator and this was a perfect way to do it. Now I wanted to meet him for two reason. One he is the creator of a show I really love. And two I have designed a original piece of art that I wanted him to see. So at the signing I pulled out this art I had done and well....got the the reaction I was hope for. His eye lighted up and he loved it. Not only did he love it but the heads of Cartoon Network also loved it. They Loved t so much that they were asking if I could send them the file. I am working on making a deal for the file if they are going to use it in any mass production. Later that day when I was walking the floor right before the show ended for the day I came across the creator again. He was taking over a table in the up and coming artist area know as Artist Alley. He had a some little scraps of paper and was doing little drawings for people. Lets just say this little convention turned out to be well worth it. Here is a photos of the art I made and the art creator made. Along with some other photos from the event

Pen doing my personal art

Me and Pen

Personal art from Pen

My Personal Art I did

Me and Gonzo

Little Kid Cosplaying as Tin Tin