| ill leave you with this Hitting the road for the next few days. I’ll be roadtripping from Texas to California to move into my new place, so updates may be a little scarce until Tuesday. I’ll leave you with this to get you throught the weekend though…. Check out this video of a favorite of mine, Miss Amy Kuney, covering [...]  Toxic Holocaust & The Wizard of Gore! Hope things are going well for everyone out there in the wasteland, for myself it's been very busy!! Got lots of new songs written for the next Toxic record as well as working on some new Tiger Junkies stuff. We are gearing up for our upcoming west coast tour as well as our dates with Municipal Waste on the east coast, as well as Japan.Come out and rage! April: 4th Portland, OR @ Satyricon 5th Seattle, WA @ The Morgue 6th Everett, WA @ Tony V's 7th Bremerton, WA @ AFU 8th Spokane, WA @ Cretin Hop 10th Oakland, CA @ The Metro 12th San Diego, CA @ Radio Room FREE SHOW! 13th Los Angeles, CA @ The Blvd Cafe 14th Sacramento, CA @ On the Y With Municipal Waste: April: 21st West Chester, PA @ The Note 22nd Brooklyn, NY @ The Knitting Factory 23rd Asbury Parkm NJ @ Asbury Lanes 25th Washington D.C. @ The Rock and Roll Hotel Japan with Municipal Waste and Warbringer: May: 12th Tokyo @ Club Quatro 13th Nagoya @ Club Quatro 14th Osaka @ Club Quatro Chaos in Tejas Fest: May 28th Austin, TX @ Red 7 For this blog I decided to interview a living legend. Horror movie director Herschell Gordon Lewis....the creator of splatter films!! If you don't know who he is, by all means rent Blood Feast or Wizard of Gore tonight! Hello Herschell, how are things? What's the weather like in Florida today, sunny as usual? The sun always shines when Im in motion. One of the happiest moves I ever made was from snowbird country to Florida. First things first. What are you currently up to these days? Any films in the works or new books you're writing? My newest book, Internet Marketing: Tips, Tricks, and Tactics, has just been published. And the editors are completing the final touches on the movie, The Uh-Oh Show. I know you are an expert on direct marketing, what is that exactly? Your list of books in overwhelming! Just how many have you written? I claim 31 books. The reason for the half is that the new book the title I mentioned earlier wasnt supposed to be a book. I wrote it as a Report for the Direct Marketing Association, and somehow it appeared in book form. (Direct marketing is causing someone to perform a positive act as the direct result of exposure to the marketing message.) What brought the switch from film making to direct marketing? It wasnt a switch. I always had one foot in the marketing world, and when the movie business seemed to dry up it was a logical shift. The two worlds have a common denominator: the ability to create a desire. You are known for creating an entire sub-genre with the making of Blood Feast back in 1963. How did you come up with idea to make the worlds first gore film? Was it really because you saw a gangster movie and the murder in the film was too tame? Precisely. The driving concept was to make a film the major companies couldnt or wouldnt make and some theaters might exhibit and some moviegoers might pay to see. It was a short list. When you were growing up what were you like? What got you interested in making films, and what were your influences? As far as I know I was just an average kid, growing up first in Pittsburgh and later in Chicago. I was interested in sports and had a good grade average, but nothing in the early years pointed me toward what has become my ultimate destiny. How was the gore created in your movies? Originally, by experimentation. What Id have given in those early years, using pieces of department store mannequins, to have rubbery limbs and realistic blood! What can you tell us about the making of these movies? I picked these ones because I found them to be especially unique. Budgets, locations, anecdotes, criticisms, etc: Something Weird A fellow named Jim Hurley, who was a faculty member at a Chicago-area college, was an aficionado of extra-sensory perception. He came up with the idea and the usual no-frills budget. This movie had only a moderate success. Blood Feast This was an original concept of my partner Dave Friedman and me. Blood Feast, as primitive as it was, out grossed any following splatter movie. We wrote the script as we went along and never anticipated the wild success this movie would enjoy (and still enjoys, to this day). Wizard of Gore It was time to make a movie, so we made this one. Im still surprised at the business it has generated. Two Thousand Maniacs Of all the films Ive made, this one, about a small Southern town that gets even for the Civil War, is my personal favorite. I sing the title song and even now, when I appear at film festivals, Im sometimes called on to sing that song. I always say Yes. Linda and Abilene This wasnt my movie. It was produced by Tom Dowd. I was the director and cameraman but had nothing to do with script or distribution. As well as director you are also listed as a composer for the music in Blood Feast, what musical background do you have? I have seen the Blood Feast / Two Thousand Maniacs Soundtrack LP, but never heard it. Who released it and how was this recorded? When I was quite young, I took violin lessons. Every boy took violin lessons. Some of the background stayed with me. A number of companies have released music from these films. I cant pinpoint one. What about the record you did with the Amazing Pink Holes? Did you write both of these songs, and is that you singing? Yes, theyre my songs and Im the lead voice. We recorded in Cleveland. If you had to pick one movie that you've been involved in, what would be your favorite and why? As indicated, Two Thousand Maniacs. We got a lot of movie for our money, and the film plays well, even more than forty years later. I've read that you thought of remaking Wizard of Gore because you said it was a jinxed film, did you have any part in the remake with Crispin Glover? No. Jeremy Kasden made that one. Well, I'm gonna wrap this up. Thanks for your time! Anything you'd like to add? Im not only grateful but also bewildered that I havent been forgotten! HGL  Darkest Hour interviews Dillinger Escape Plan at SXSW Darkest Hour and Dillinger Escape Plan were both at SXSW with us in Austin. We thought just throwing a microphone at them could turn out to be a good time. And it was indeed:  leopard print nails I tweeted the other day about wanting to try out leopard print nails and a lot of you were into it, so I thought I’d share the tutorial. I personally am terrible at painting my fingernails, but this was actually pretty easy. You can try it out with any colors, I have seen blue and [...]  All About Some LA Film Premiers This week has a lot of good stuff happening in LA. You should come over. We have both the LA Skate Film Festival and the Bicycle Film Festival going on at the same time. Here's the trailer for Trafik film, To Live and Ride in LA, essentially pointing out that you have to have a deathwish to ride a bike here. But we have a lot of fun. BFF has a block party on Sunday, September 5th. Go bunny hop for free shit.  It's the first annual LA Skate Film Fest so make sure to give them some love so they can do it again next year. It's your chance to see everything you missed so far this year in skate films on a big screen. Plus, you can see the one and only Steve Olson in Machotaildrop.   ECSC 2010 The 2010 East Coast Surfing Championships have been going down the last few days and things are coming to a wrap tonight. Nikki has been out there covering it for you guys so check out her blog with tons of awesome photos and videos. A few of my faves are below.  Hayley Williams with Tegan & Sara for Spinner Paramore front woman Hayley Williams sat down with some other musical talents, Tegan & Sara. See what they talked about in this two part video from Aol Music and Spinner. They talk about everythig from Warped Tour, to fashion on the road, and how Hayley prepares for shows. Watch it all below:  Vans Girls Fashion Show! Hey New York! We are having a back to school fashion show that will be styled by your Off The Wall Style Muse Kateland this coming Saturday at the Westchester Mall in White Plains, NY. Check out the flyer below for all the details, and be one of the first 30 girls there to get [...]  Bike Art. Ok… so I admit, coming off the tour I am a little behind on real world happenings. So more than a little late, I stumbled on these amazing bikes that were customized by designers for a show and to be auctioned for charity. They were all revealed at the end of June during the show [...]  Warped Tour Bonus Here is a little bonus from the Pomona stop of Warped Tour, We Are The In Crowd got moved to the Altec Lansing stage and played for an awesome crowd. Check out the video below. Your final tour wrap up will be here tomorrow.  C.R. Stecyk for Arkitip Arkitip curated for Incase a nifty combo by C.R. Stecyk. The iPhone 3GS case has one of his signature skull heads whilst the Jay Adams back-in-the-day photo is printed on the 15" laptop sleeve. Rats. What? No iPhone 4? I'm trying to get fancy. Get these gifts for you (because you deserve it) at ARKITIP.   While you're at it check the newest issue from Arkitip featuring Vans art alum, Parra. It's nice.   The Kid Stays in the Picture  If you want something to really make you feel like running and playing outside click through OLIVIAWASHERE's flickr. This lady is a talented photographer who is living rent-free at her parents house in Kansas - because she is a child. She takes all kinds of photos of animals, other kids, the park, being underwater, and goofing off in general. The really neat part about looking through Olivia's photos is they look like what you wanted your photos to look like when you were a kid, but they never did. Hers do. This kid is ossummmmm. Here's Olivia's bio: "Hi, my name is Olivia, I'm 12 years old. And I like to take photos which is obvious. When I get older I wanna do a lot of traveling. (:"        MOMA Panel - History of Skate Films In October 2009, Pat O'Dell and PopRally organized a panel discussion at MOMA with influential skaters and skate filmmakers on the history of skate videos in conjunction with the Spike Jones retrospective showing at the museum at the same time. O'Dell moderated the discussion while Jones, Mark Gonzales, Greg Hunt, Tobin Yelland, Ty Evans, Jake Phelps, Lance Mountain, and Ed Templeton talked old shit, new shit, and just plain shit (thanks, Phelper).
 Warped Tour San Diego Got to go to my hometown Warped Tour stop. As usual there was lots to see and do. There was so much energy and I had a blast with the group I was with. The Vans booth was going off! The slip and slide was also a hit. I’m amped for Warped Tour 2011! -Alexis [...]  Vans Girls of San Diego Warped Tour Check out some the Vans girls at Warped Tour San Diego stop – Alexis Allan  40 Years of El Tecolote  You might have seen photographer Amanda Lopez' work on this blog before. She's been doing an ongoing series for years documenting travels in her checkerboard Slip-Ons. Amanda just got back to San Francisco from a trip to Miami and dropped us a note about her latest rambles. If you're in San Francisco, you'll want to drop into the opening of a super cool looking photo exhibit Amanda is involved in. EL TECOLOTE, the Mission's bilingual newspaper, is turning 40 years old. The opening reception is tomorrow night, August 11th and continues through August 29th, 2010 at the MISSION CULTURAL CENTER FOR LATINO ARTS. Have a look at Amanda Lopez' newest portrait series CALI LOVE on her site.   The Photos of Kyle Scully I've been pretty crazy with writing on about 9 million other sites lately. This blog looks super sad right now. A fog of blog shame enshrouds me, however here's something good for you. Vancouver photographer Kyle Scully documents his everyday life. Somehow, his work has this sort of mysticism meets voyeurism quality. Take a few minutes in the woods of the Pacific Northwest on Kyle Scully dot CA or on Kyle Scully's Flickr.       Thanks to Jared E. for the head's up on Kyle.  Agenda Huntington Beach Spent the day at Agenda in good ole HB. Vans had a lot of cool graffiti artwork around the show. I hung out with the Vans crew and saw tons of cute boys. Agenda is most definitely a fun place to people watch. – Alexis Allan  Toro Y Moi is Totally Enfermo & Other Fun Facts  Not familiar with Toro Y Moi? Let's get the important stuff out of the way first. One. Toro is a Gamecock, ya heard? A GAMECOCK. USC ain't always for SoCal. Where we're from, its the University of South Carolina. If you love wallowing in agony and being so close yet so far away, then fall in love with that team. *Bonus - screaming, "Go Cocks!" with your maw maw at games.  Secondly, Toro Y Moi (aka Chaz Bundick) is a baddass musician/producer who is creeping up through the indie ranks and seems to be making everyone take notice. (Paper mag says he's beautiful - so there.) He's currently touring Europe, but will be doing a few dates in the US in August. CHECK HIS MYSPACE for more info. Oh, and he's on CARPARK RECORDS with other lovely folks like Dan Deacon & Beach House. That didn't do it enough? Well, dang it. Bundick has a photo blog of his loves, tours, travels and untravels, too. POOR AND LONELY.     Stoked On Summer Show  The gallery at Space 15Twenty got real surfy on last Saturday night. In fact, it was so surfy that I couldn't even get into the gallery to see the photography show, the purpose of my trip over there. I went back on Sunday when it was a bit more mellow to give it another go. One of my favorites and no stranger to VANS SURF, Kyle Lightner, had a good grip of photos up along with Dan Monick. There were a couple of new (to me) names as well that I'm happy to have stumbled across - Kassia Meador, Jeffery Jones, and Joni Sternbach. The show is up through July 31st.  How about a little Kyle Lightner right about now? HIS BLOG IS RAD. Go get in the water.    Jeff Jones top photo from FOAM & INSITE.  Lurking & Stealing & Lomos  First up is the lurking part; If you're all tweeting with me I'm gonna suss you out. So this kid is all, "Hey @vans_66 gimme some free shoes," as 567 people do per day. As it happens, this guy has a handsome lomo photo blog. Neil Cooper is from Brighton, UK, and apparently, likes to make things hard for himself. He's a vegan and shooting with a lomo for chrissakes. I can hate. He's going to live to be 100, and his photos are cool so he doesn't care. He's got time for film. Look at his tumblr LOMO EMULSION, and look at something cool for a minute today even though you are busy - you have all those reports to do and that meeting about things - whew! You are so busy.     Get to Know Jaques Renault
 Best Tasting Vans Logo Ever  Getting buttered up with a plate full of cookies does not hurt my feelings. Just so y'all know. Yesterday, our mens accessories designer's brother Scott turned up at the Vans home office for a little tour. Turns out the dude is some kind of pastry chef. Oh, word? Word. Yeah, these are real cute little Off The Wall logos. How'd they taste? Man, Like crispity, crunchety, butter cookie awesometown slammin.' This man has a future in expensive-ass delicacies with clever store fronts in high-rent districts. Thanks to DANIMAL for hooking a sister up.   Vote Van Doren 2010  Oh, you wish. Unfortunately, there will be no free Vans for everyone in the state where that candidate is running for office. It ain't our man, SVD.  But come on! With this face? Put Steve Van Doren on dollar. Thanks to MOUNTAIN MAN SHAWN via Todd Harder for the Van Doren political find & Avoid Mag in Brazil for the shot of SVD.  Will It Waffle?  Everybody knows we have a soft spot for a good waffle. This nacent blog, WAFFLEIZER, is attempts to answer this simple question,"Will it Waffle?" Dudes are throwing every kind of food into the waffle iron - cupcakes, eggs, whatever they can smash in there. Its making me hungry. This blog for sure will be Van Doren's new fav. Thanks to Ken B. for the heads up.  Time to Get Sappy.  The cute post. Yep. The couple is cute. Wedding party is cute. I'm sure they had at least one puppy doing something cute like biting its own tail on the big day just to make everyone die of some acute syndrome. Congrats to the cuties in question, Kate & Garrett. Thanks for sending us your photos & having good style & not blowing it on the wedding footwear. Good luck, you two!   From Kate: "We were married on April 17,2010 in San Diego, CA. Who wouldn't want awesome, comfortable shoes for their wedding that can be worn over and over again after the wedding? It's the most important day of your life so why wouldn't you want to completely be yourself? It really only made sense for us to wear Vans. I can't wear my dress every day. It doesn't even fit in my closet. But every day I can look at/wear the shoes I wore on the day I married my best friend. And I think that's pretty great." (And I only had to wait outside Kate's office, her mom's house, and tap on the glass of their living room window for 27 consecutive evenings to get her to write that.)  I Could Choke on the Dust on this Blog.  Yeah, yeah, I know. Blog has been lagging. What can I say? I thought they'd at least let me have the internet while I was in the slammer. Enough about me. Let's discuss snakes and sailors as that's what Amanda Payne is into - specificity is always appreciated here at ye 'ol blog. She made these custom Vans sometime between going to shows and doing her hair...which she is also into. Bug Amanda & maybe she'll make you a pair at SNAKES AND SAILORS TUMBLR. Digging the water color base on the blue ones.     Oh, Noes. Emo Gots Teeth.  I think the newscasters are bummed. The teachers and parents have perspective? Shouldn't they be angry? Nah, werewolves are cool. At least they aren't jocks. If you have a problem, take it up with the leader of the pack, De Kitten Something Something Lupus. Mo' Effin' Teen Wolf, ya heard? Michael J. Fox bailando encima del Wolfmobile al son de los Beach Boys!  One Elephant Leads to Another  Who doesn't like a good solid elephant? I found myself asking that question last night and I'm sure the same thought lumbers across your minds as well. All the time. Conveniently enough, I had in the que the photography of Thailand via Japan via Sweden resident Mattias Westfalk. Judging by his portfolio he has one of the greatest lives ever lived (dude has done EVEREST TRAIL twice). He appreciates a moment, and he's spent many of those moments in 52 countries.    Travel to unknown worlds at MATTIAS WESTFALK. Look at more casual dailies on MATTAIS'BLOG. Train wreck of a segue to my newly found favorite photo in the world, Mr. Rogers on an elephant. It was posted on NERD BOYFRIEND yesterday along with the ingredients of Mr. Roger's style. Sadly, they didn't include an elephant in the guide.   My friend Ken B. sent me the link to Mattias' blog & @NECKDEEP sent me Nerd Boyfriend.  Craola Ain't That Scared  This is LA artist Greg Simkins aka Craola. He doesn't remember his first experience with art. Its always been part of his life since his mom rolled out spools of butcher paper on the table for him to draw on when he was a little tiny thing. Craola got his start in grafitti, however, he's no stranger to Caravaggio, Rembrandt and old masters.    "I havent always liked stretching canvas and never thought I would be doing it on a regular basis but these days, it has become more of an adventure than a chore. It is the sponge that soaks up all the thoughts going on in my head. Having an overactive imagination since a very young age, it has always made sense to me that any artwork I develop should be composed of these vivid thoughts. What used to take form in crayons and pencil, evolved into pen and ink drawings, spray painted murals and computer graphics, and has further morphed into the acrylic paintings I create these days. My childhood obsessions with Disney cartoons, Lorne Greens New Wilderness and books such as Watership Down and The Phantom Tollbooth have become fodder for my work as it develops today."    Greg, who has done some work with Vans in the past, has recently launched his new clothing line IMSCARED. Check out his merch at SHOP.IMSCARED.COM. Look through galleries of his imagination at I'M SCARED. I like his RIPPER nod, here.   Clever Joke About Being Stoned, Anyone?  Ben Russell sent in a couple of photos of Old Skools that he'd carved out of stone. I thought, "Wtf. He's got awesome craft, and its not everyday that you happen into a real live stone carver...except for that one that I knew in college...stone carver & into concealed weapons." Anyway, back to the matter at hand and yes, I did have a few questions for this youngin' Ben. Get impressed:  "I am a student currently living and studying in London. After completing a two year Foundation Degree in Applied Architectural Stone Work and Conservation for which I was awarded a Merit (and chosen as a winner at the annual carving competition at the college two years running) I decided to further my carving skills at the City and Guilds of London Art School where I am in my first year of a two year Post Graduate Diploma in Historic Carving. Here we are trained in the traditional techniques of carving stone along with lettering, modelling in clay and drawing. I carved my shoe as an experiment in working with different textures and wanted to try to capture the worn leather and the pattern on the sole.It is carved in Portland stone and I put a real lace into the shoe to make it look as real as possible. I chose a Vans shoe as they are the most recognisable skate shoe and my shoe of choice for skateboarding. I am hoping to display the piece in the Royal Academy summer exhibition (14th June-22nd Aug). Alongside stone carving I also do alot of illustration."     See more of BEN RUSSELL'S WORK WITH ALL THESE CAPS. Wait, wait! How about alternate title "Ben Russell is a (Stone) Cutter" as in double entendre emo way? No? Eh, ok. No. Fine.  This blog has moved This blog is now located at http://vansskateblog.blogspot.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://vansskateblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.  JLay Video DRONE Toy Machine just posted a Video Drone of our boy, Johnny Layton. Check it out here.  Massimo Cavedoni on TSM  Massimo Cavedoni has a gnar flick shot by Acosta on The Skateboard Mag's PHOTOFILE. Check out the rest here.  Pfanner Thunder ad is like WHOA!   Coachella Day 3: Do You Think You're Better Off Alone? Here's one more to finish up the aren't-you-jealous-rub-it-in posts from Coachella 2010. Hope you liked all this goop. It was sure fun. One of my favorite shows of the weekend was Matt & Kim. They are smiling so much each time they perform that it makes you smile, too. Splash in some Deerhunter... Do not pass go & straight to montage: Local Natives, Matt & Kim, Infected Mushroom, Miike Snow, Pavement, Thom Yorke & Charlotte Gainsbourg. Alexis Allan, the lil' lady posting for VANS GIRLS AT COACHELLA sent over this clip yesterday from the Tiesto set. Its a crack up. She got so excited after the build that she screamed, started dancing, & I guess, forgot that she was filming. For the full gallery of pro photos from our friends Jared & Mitchell have a look at VANS FLICKR GALLERY.  Alex Olson & Birdman skate Quiksilver Quiksilver has a new park. Alex Olson rides for Quiksilver. Birdman rides for Quiksilver too. They both ride parks. 1+1+1+1=FOOTAGE HERE  Hosoi at Venice ramp Hosoi stopped by the Streets Of Venice Ramp. Check the footage here.  Jlay Photos at Furnace  Johnny Layton's new shop sponsor, Furnace, posted some photos of him. Check them out here.  Rowley gives Maloof Course preview Check out Geoff Rowley as he gives the Maloof Money Cup Course preview:  Coachella 2010 Day 3: Redder Shade of Neck Pavement  Owen Pallett  Miike Snow  Mayer Hawthorne  Matt & Kim  Infected Mushroom  Deerhunter  Club 75  Charlotte Gainsbourg  Photos by JARED EBERHARDT. See more on VANS FLICKR PAGE.  Coachella 2010: Rave or Die. Tiesto  Cubetron  Kaskade  Erol Alken  Thom Yorke  Little Boots  Wolfgang Gartner  Light studies with bonus acid guy by Alexis Allan. See more of her Coachella coverage on THE VANS GIRLS BLOG.   Coachella 2010 Day 3: Postcards from Hell Yes.                       The Combi ... it's getting hot. Take a look at pics from a session the other night.  PHX Am Footage Some footage of the Vans riders ripping Pheonix Am. Click lower right corner to watch full screen. In order of appearance: Gilbert Crockett, Daniel Lutheran, Taylor Smith, Andrew Langi, Chris Pfanner, & Curren Caples.  King of Spring Recap from Saturday King of Spring Contest went down Saturday at Jefferson park in NYC. and 48 Blocks have the footage.  Do it or Don't! Do it or don't from Yaje Popson on Vimeo.  Coachella 2010 Day 2 - You're Never Too Amazing. Muse  Major Lazer  Paris & Nikki Hilton  Golf Cart VIP  Dirty Projectors  The Gossip  Purple Balloon  Photos by Mitchell Tomlinson of LIFE WITHOUT ANDY. See more on VANS FLICKR PAGE.  Coachella 2010 Day 2 - All I Want Is Everything. Major Lazer  Hot Chip  Faith No More  Die Antwoord  Devo  Ian MacKaye & The Gossip  Photo Pit  Photos by JARED EBERHARDT. See more on VANS FLICKR PAGE.  Vans Takes On Tasmania!  TNT Threads the needle over a fence and on to the cover of the June issue Transworld Magazine!  Keegan Sauder Doing It Baja on Vice Keegan Sauder, Heath Kirchart, Arto Saari, and Patrick O'Dell went on a road trip through Baja. The result wil be airing on VBS this June. For now check the trailer for Doin' It Baja. This is the trip Keegan was telling ESPN about where he nearly killed himself in a motorcycle wreck.  Hassan & Schaaf Fresh Crops at TSM The Skateboard Mag has a fresh crops by Jon Humphries featuring Omar Hassan and Max Schaaf. Check it out here.  Vans am team Sings The Hits  The Vans Am team just finished a week long road trip from Vegas to Phoenix Am. Along the way they laid down some sick tracks for their demo tape. Nieratko captures some of the magic here. Check out the rest of the tracks here.  King Of Spring in NYC Saturday  Billy Rohan, Vans and the NYC Parks Dept. are hosting the annual King Of Spring Contest This Saturday in NYC at Jefferson Park. Check out the video trailer here.  Ray Barbee Commentary on SLAP Whiteley informed us that, "long-time SLAP homey and decades-deep flow master, ray barbee came through with a Commentary feature where he talks about three of his favorite parts from over his long career: powell peralta's "public domain" (1988), the firm's "la buena vida" (1992) and the firm's "can't stop" (2003). " Check it out here.  More PHXAM Coverage Check out vids from the contest over at the Transworld,Thrasher, and The Skateboard Mag,  Chima Check In At ESPN  Chima checks in with NieratkoCards and a bunch more. Check it out here.  AVE early Mind Field edit on Thrasher  An early edit of AVE's Mind Field part cut to a different song is up now at Thrasher. Cardiel Rips At Whatever He DOes  Curren Caples Takes 2nd AT PHX AM JAM The 9th Annual Cowtown PHXAM Junk Jam presented by Vans went down at RioVista Skate Park in Peoria, AZ this weekend with more than 100 top amscompeting for over $8,000 in cash and prizes. Ishod Wair claimed top honors and $3,000, while Curren Caples pocketed $2,000 for his second place finish and CJ Dixon scored $1,000 for third. Heres a break down of the best performances of the day: 1. Ishod Wair - $3,0002. Curren Caples - $2,0003. CJ Dixon - $1,000 Best Trick presented by Skullcandy: 1. Jeremy Peckam - $1,5002. Aaron Jaws Homoki - $500 3. Jordan Maxham- $500 Check out www.phxam.com for a complete list of results.  Lutheran & Pfanner on Thrasher's FIVE Check out two gnar sequences of Daniel Lutheran & Chris Pfanner on Thrasher's FIVE. Click here.  Rowley Stops by the Upland Shop   This blog has moved This blog is now located at http://vanssurf.blogspot.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://vanssurf.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.  This blog has moved This blog is now located at http://vanssnowblog.blogspot.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://vanssnowblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.  This blog has moved This blog is now located at http://vansmusic.blogspot.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://vansmusic.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.  Film shots from Aus         Bells upsets So both of the boys have been knocked out of the bells comp, but I will say that both of their last heats were pretty darn close. Pat was matched up against Freddy P for the second time since snapper & Tanner went up against Bede Durbidge. There's no rookie love from the judges, but what can you do. so the boys are just gonna keep knocking on the door, here's some shots from the comp!           DJ JAYCEEOH Presents: AVANT-GUCCI  DJ JayCeeOh is back with his latest release 'Avant-Gucci". This time around JayCeeOh stepped away from the party and flipped an all out Gucci Mane mixtape. Instead of simply playing the latest and hottest Gucci tracks JayCeeOh went the extra step and remixed every song over a wide variety of beats that you normally never hear him on, hence the avant-gard reference in the title. People have grown to love Gucci's voice and cadence as a rapper but his beats are not always vibe friendly. With "Avant-Gucci", Jayceeoh has made Gucci like-able to people that may have previously been turned off by him. This mix will convert Gucci haters to the other side. The artwork was done by Rhek and is a flip of Picasso's 'Three Musicians" painting. Picasso is historically known as one of the most avant gard artists so naturally this came to mind when designing the artwork. This mix is in perfect time for Spring. Enjoy! Please Download, Blog , Review, and Share. Artwork By: CONTACT & BOOKING  Warped Tour Kick-Off Party   Warped Tour Kick Off Party April 9th Key Club in West Hollywood -with- Andrew W.K. Death Punch The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band The Pretty Reckless Pierce the Veil  (Psssst! Not in LA this weekend? No worries! You should check out MusInk in Dallas, TX!)  Vans Team Riders at The 2010 Ride Shakedown in Canada  Eric Willet. Photo: Crispin Cannon Eric Willet and Hana Beaman competed in the 2010 Ride Shakedown main event in Quebec, Canada last weekend, placing 3rd and fifth, respectively. The contest was the biggest one yet for the long running Spring tradition, hosting a huge crowd and more competitors than ever before. After winning the event last season, this year Hana has been focusing on filming, trying to put together her first video part with Standard Films. We caught up with Hana to get an update on how things are going so far... You just finished up at Ms. Superparkhow'd it go and what most do you like about this event? It went great, Megan (Ginter) and I arrived on Monday and took a few runs in the sun and slush. It reminded me of why I loved riding here so much as a kid. Regardless, it's always so fun to ride with all the girls. I haven't been able to see a lot of them during the year so it's cool to see friends and have fun riding my home mtn. You've been filming with Standard Films this seasonwhat has that been like? It's been cool. All the people we've been working with are rad and our crew is super fun. There has been a lot of snow chasing going down and lots of down days, where I think I might go crazy, but once we get the sunny days it's good. I've been up in Canada a lot and hit a lot of new things this year. It's def been a lot of input for not quite as much output as I would like, but I'm just hoping things all come together at the end of the season. What were some of the highlights this winter? Any memorable trips or days? I had an amazing time out in the Kootenays right after New Years, but the weather wasn't really on our side.... that doesn't mean we didn't ride tons of pow and have a blast though ;) it was our first crew bonding trip and it was super fun. You competed and did well in a few contests this year (Grand Prix rail jam, Shakedown, etc.). Has this year been less contests than usual or about normal, and what does winning an event mean for you? Def trying to do less contests, and focus more on filming, but there are always gonna be some that I'll probably end up doing. I usually have a good time at contests. It's a different way to push myself and the money is always a bonus, but I feel myself being pulled away from them for sure, getting more into the mountains. What do you have planned for the rest of the season? Well, more filming... we are headed to AK in a week or so and that is gonna be awesome! I keep hearing how sick it has been there this season and i'm looking forward to epic riding. Then just some other park shoots and filming.... then it's Summer! What Vans Snow products do you use and why? I use the boots and shoes obviously... the Hi-Standard because it is the best boot, so comfy, and I try to make it unique looking so it's stylie as well.  Mastodon + Tool Drum Battle  However! Thanks to a film crew and the where-would-we-be-without-the internet, all of us who missed it can now see what could be the greatest drum battle and/or collab of all time. I don't know what to call it only because this was technically a jam session, yet happened during a drum off. Doesn't matter anyway. Because it rules. Behold as Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor and Tool/Volto! drummer Danny Carey combine their forces for the masses (and with a keyboard solo so intense it requires a sweat band):  Damus-Vision fish eye lefty footage from Tanner Gudauskas on Vimeo.  Malay Day at Beaver Creek  Malay Day  Easter Weekend Ok wow, Happy Easter! a lot has happened in the last couple of days, Steph Gilmore won the women's competition here at bells! Pat & Tanner surfed their first heats. Tanner had a rough heat coming in 3rd, but still had time to sign some autographs for the youngsters, and Pat placed 1st in his heat defeating Jordy Smith & Jay Thompson! Making him the first rookie to make it past round 1 this year. We had a great day on the golf corse, and hit the Tracks party at the pub, complete with an ACDC cover band.           Almost Doesn't Count  ESPN Facetime | Mark Landvik  Serj Tankian's Solo Stuff Serj Tankian has had a solo project going for a while and he's well into his newest release. Some details about the album are just now getting out.  The new album will be titled Imperfect Harmonies and is currently in the mixing process. Tankian is referring to the sound on his new record as "electro-orchestral-jazz-rock" He continues: ...the majority of the songs have this huge wall of sound presented in a way I have never heard before. Its not common to have a song that is both electronic and orchestral since one is synthetic and the other organic, but I found a way of meshing a lot of these colors together.Tankian also says his lyrics are more social, political, environmental and personal and are much darker with urgency. He sums up his solo efforts below: My intentions have always been to make music that is creative, quality, and moving. I have never learned the static method of repeating myself musically whether in System or now. Each record I have made has been different musically, yet they all carry the same integral spirit.There is no release date slated yet, but we are promised more info over the next few months.  FUEL TV Airs "Vans Triple Crown of Surfing 2009 Recap Show"  A look back at the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing with the first $1,000.000 total prize purse, and the two months that can make or break a surfers career. Theres also plenty of free surfing and hanging out with all the best surfers in the world including Joel Parkinson, Sunny Garcia, Dusty Payne, Stephanie Gilmore, Sofia Mulanovich, Taj Burrow and more. Airing Monday, April 5, at 8:00pm ET/PT in Meet & Brotatoes, and re-airing several more times over the next month, FUEL TV will showcase Vans Triple Crown of Surfing 2009 Recap Show. Vans Triple Crown of Surfing 2009 Recap Show Air Dates: Monday, 4/5/2010 - 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT in Meet & Brotatoes Monday, 4/5/2010 - 11:00 PM ET / 8:00 PM PT Wednesday, 4/7/2010 - 12:30 PM ET / 9:30 AM PT Friday, 4/9/2010 - 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT Saturday, 4/10/2010 - 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM PT Sunday, 4/11/2010 - 11:30 AM ET / 8:30 AM PT Monday, 4/19/2010 - 8:00 AM ET / 5:00 AM PT Wednesday, 4/28/2010 - 12:30 AM ET / 9:30 PM PT  Snowboarder Magazine's Facebook Friends  SNOWBOARDER realizes that a lot of people looking at this gallery are basically cyber-shred stalkers who oogle their monitors at each glance of a female pro snowboarders backside. We have decided to make creeping out a whole lot easier by including a link to each featured female riders Facebook page. No need to thank us. When you are done friend requesting these ladies be sure to so the same at our Facebook page. From Snowboarder Magazine's Ms. Superpark Day 2 Update. Just another day in Jan Juc Surfboards, 3 wheel motorcycles, and oh yeah, the World Champ stopped by to jam with the boys!     Snowboarder Magazine Ms. Superpark Update  Hana Beaman. Photo: Espen Lystad. Snowboarder Magazine's 6th Annual Ms. Superpark event is going on this week at Snow Summit in Southern California, and Vans team riders Hana Beaman and Cheryl Maas are out ripping it up with the rest of the world's most talented female snowboarders. Snowboarder brings the best girls, photographers and film crews together to get a ton of crazy good shots for the mag and help push the personal progression of each individual riders. To stay on top of all the action, check out the daily updates on www.snowboardermag.comto read the first installment CLICK HERE.  Covers Baby Covers John John Florence scores this months cover of Surfer Magazine! be sure to grab this one off the shelf   Day in the Life of Dylan Graves A look in at life in Puerto Rico with Mr. Dylan Graves himself!  Vans at MusInk: Dallas! If you haven't heard of MusInk, it's both a music festival and tattoo convention! Vans took part in the Orange County location earlier this year and we're excited to say you can join us again at the upcoming on in Dallas! Come out if you want all sorts of free stuff from Vans and have a generally awesome weekend.  As a bonus, you can meet Shooter Jennings at our brand new Vans store on Saturday, April 10th...were we will be giving away even more stuff!  See you there!  Hana Beaman Competing At Ms. Superpark  San Juan Capistrano, CA (March 29, 2010) SNOWBOARDER Magazines sixth Annual Ms. Superpark kicks off Tuesday at Snow Summit. Snowboardings top female talent will converge on a custom terrain park; sessioning day and night for four days straight in the hopes of catching a few jaw-dropping moments on film. As the single largest event open exclusively to females, Ms. Superpark has become a favorite among the athletes. To Hana Beaman, Ms. Superpark is one of the highlights of her year. Nowhere else can I ride such a sick setup with all my friends. This year is gonna be even better because it is happening on the same Snow Summit trails I grew up riding on! Bring it! Joining Hana on her home turf will be fellow heavyweights Bryn Valaika, Alexis Waite and Tara Dakides alongside up-and-comers like Sarka Pancochova, Spencer OBrien and Raewyn Reid. This event is about camaraderie, progression and fun, says Kenny Mitchell, Action Sports Team Manager, Gatorade. But it requires long days on the mountain and having Gatorade on hand helps the riders stay fueled so they can go all day. At Ms. Superpark the goal is not the podium and the other riders are not competition. Instead, the goal is to push the limits and the riders are there to inspire and support each. It is for that reason that Ms. Superpark attendance is by invitation only. SNOWBOARDER Magazine hand-picks the best-of-the-best in the sport to take part in this exclusive editorial park shoot. Similarly, the photographers and film crews on site also represent the most renowned in their field. Shooting the event this year will be Espen Lystad and Ashley Barker among others. SNOWBOARDER is proud to facilitate collaboration among such an elite group of athletes and filmers, says Chris Engelsman, Publisher, SNOWBOARDER Magazine. Each year the girls push the envelope and were excited to see what theyre going to do tomorrow." For more from the one event extreme enough for the men, but made for the women log onto www.snowboardermag.com for daily recaps, photos, videos and more. About Gatorade  As I Lay Dying New Album Info As I Lay Dying has been working on their 5th album release over the past few months that can invade your CD player or iPod on May 11th. The album is called The Powerless Rise and we finally have the album art and track listing revealed!  And the track listing: 1.Beyond Our Suffering 2.Anodyne Sea 3.Without Conclusion 4.Parallels 5.The Plague 6.Anger and Apathy 7.Condemned 8.Upside Down Kingdom 9.Vacancy 10.The Only Constant Is Change 11.The Blinding Of False Light  Johanna It went flat here in Torquay today, so we decided to venture down to Johanna beach, it was a 2+ hour drive. Full on road trip, it was pretty cool to get out of our zone for the day. It wasn't the greatest surf, but it was better than anything near bells.        Miss Mountain High  Mountain High put on their version of Spring Break over the weekend with a pond skim, a high ollie competition, and of course the Miss Mountain High bikini contest. If you like your snowboarding mixed with babes, served SoCal style, head on over to www.snowboardermag.com to check out tons of pics from the event. Little Louie Vito flipped the script on his critical DWTS judges and got a front row seat as he picked the best of the breasts, and even Super Mario was there! Good times all around...   6 new boards, 0 waves The boys went to pick up some new boards from Travis. He was ichating the St. Piere fight with slates. After they got their new sleds we hit the Thirsty Camel for some cool suds, then arts and crafts time!         Need some free shoes? Good. Because everyone needs more Vans.  This is the 100th post of the Vans Music Blog! Hooray! So I want to celebrate by giving you the chance to win a $50 VANS GIFT CARD! This contest is only open to US residents and this gift card can only be used on a Vans Off The Wall store. This means you cannot use it online or at a store like Journeys or Zumiez. Now to the contest! You know Vans rocks some pretty sweet band collabs. We have Iron Maiden, Slayer, Ramones, Rise Against, Kiss- you know them well! Now I want to know who YOU want to see on a Vans collab. Maybe some Every Time I Die or Gallows New Eras? How about Micheal Jackson Sk8 Hi shoes? Can you imagine red leather ones!? You could even want some Hannah Montana or Lady GaGa slip-ons. It can be anything your little heart desires. The only limit is your creativity on this one. How to enter: Just leave a comment of the band, shoe style and what you'd want it to look like! Do you want album art? Do you want the band's logo? Perhaps jewel encrusted soles? Feathers? Speak up! All you have to do is tell me your dream band's shoe and you are entered to win. Make sure to include some sort of contact information (like your Twitter name or e-mail) so we can contact you if you are the winner! A winner will be picked randomly from applicable entries. Contest ends on Sunday, April 4th at 12pm PST.  So....what's it gonna be?  Post Coffee Activities Woke up straight into a fresh batch of coffee, then we headed down to check the waves at Bells, Winki looked like it had some fun ones. We ran into Dusty & Bam. We then continued out journey back to the house, where the boys decided to throw down a quick hack sesh, followed by some more nonsense - then a BBQ to finish off the evening       The Jingle Jangle of the Bell The boys arrived into Torquay late tuesday night, slept in wednesday, and were shredding Bells thursday! Everyone is starting to arrive into town, Torquay is slowly being consumed by the ASP Tour... i saw a snickers ad today with Mick Fanning. Stay tuned for radness...      The History of Vans with Steve Van Doren  Since it's Spring, unfortunately snowboard boots will soon give way to Half Cabs and Slip Ons. To get in the spirit of skate season, check out this rad interview with Vans Head Honcho Steve Van Doren that Sneaker Freaker Magazine did a while back. It takes you through the Vans story from the very beginning, starting with Van Doren's early roots in the shoe biz. To read the full story CLICK HERE.  Snowed In At Mont Bleu  I AM SNOWBOARDING, art exhibit in honor of Jeff Anderson, will be displayed on both coasts this coming weekend - dual benefit events for the JLA Memorial Fund & Brothers Skateboard park. Friday, March 26th - the original paintings will be on display at the Burton Snowboards Flagship Store in Burlington, VT while on Saturday, March 27th - in Lake Tahoe, CA, a full set of I AM prints made by ASYMBOL gallery will be shown and available for purchase at the first annual Snowed In at Mont Bleu rail jam and concert. The Burlington reception features music by DJ Luis Calderin of OKAY!! OKAY!! and Allison Pacelli of Bonjour - Hi. It also features two new art pieces: a handcrafted sign from Dave Seoane and a collaborative painting by photographer Susie Floros and Shawn Webber of San Francisco art collective The Oyster Pirates. Snowed In at Mont Bleu will feature the complete set of I AM art prints, made by Travis Rice and Mike Parillos new gallery ASYMBOL. Additional original art on display from I AM artist RYN o. Gallery will be open to the public starting at 4pm - keep an eye out for artists Mike Parillo, Robert Sticky Shaw, 2jaws, and Jamie Lynn whos band Kandi Coded will be playing later in the evening with Thrice. After party features DJ Greyboy.  OFFICIAL ISENSEVEN 2010 TEASER Isenseven 2010 - Welcome Teaser from Vincent Urban on Vimeo.  Dylan Graves Innersection Interview  iPod Takes 3rd at US Open and 2nd in the TTR World Tour  iPod double corking his way to the podium. Photo: Nick Hamilton. Vans Team Rider Iouri Podladtchikov capped off his amazing season over the weekend, finishing 3rd at the 2010 U.S. Open Superpipe, 2nd overall in the TTR World Tour standings and 2nd in the BGOS (Burton Global Open Series), netting him a rather larger payday of around $60K. Add to that a Winter X Games 14 silver medal, a gold at Winter X Games Europe and a fourth place finish at the Olympics in Vancouver, and iPod clearly had the season of his life. At the US Open, he put together an insane first run with two double corks including the elusive Double McTwist 1260 that earned him his third place score, even though his next run combo-ed three double corks with the massive double Micky mid-run! It was clearly one of the best runs ever in competition history and the controversial low score drew criticism from the crowd, but it was a great day for the snowboard superstar nonetheless. Congratulations to iPod for his successful year and his mastering of the halfpipewe can't wait to see what he has planned for the future.  Gifting at SXSW Check out who we caught up with when we did our massive gifting at SXSW: Ninjasonik, Tumbledown, Hey Monday, The Cab, Zlam Dunk, Riverboat Gamblers, Rise Against, The Death Set, Shawn Fisher, Hill Valley, Conditions, Title Fight, Every Avenue and of course, Oliver Peck.  Torquay Landed in Melbourne airport yesterday, took a shuttle to Geelong, and got picked up by my buddy Heywood. Im staying with him for a couple days before the Gudangs get here. We had a surf at Winkipop last night, uncrowded and fun. Now its a matter of time before the circus comes to town. Maybe a Wayne Lynch sighting if im lucky.        AP Showcase at SXSW Saturday was a big day for us. We sponsored a stage with Alternative Press for their massive, free and, dare I say, amazing showcase at SXSW. I talked to some kids who were waiting until 3am to get in- and some camped out the night before. It may be one of the biggest things that happens during the festival because it's free, all ages and on the weekend. Kids take this stuff seriously. Take a look at the line up and you'll see why:  Our stage featured Sum 41 as our headliners. Keeping in mind that I've never seen Sum 41 ever and that I've listened to them since 2003, this was a pretty big deal. To me at least. The set was so, so good. I cannot believe they are playing Warped, too. It will make my summer for sure. I snapped what pics I could while I was there- because I was kinda busy jumping around and singing. After they finished, Brandon and I took some shirts and sunglasses we had left over from the gifting suite and threw it off the stage. Those kids went rabid! I wish my camera was up there, but we had no idea it was going to be that intense. Despite the cold, it was an awesome show!  SXSW Gifting sneak peak If you've been following along via Twitter, then you are well aware that we've been giving stuff away to bands all day long. For those who don't know, check it. The Alternative Press showcase was today at SXSW and we sponsor our own stage as part of Emo's. As a massive thank you, all of the bands playing the showcase had the chance to pick up some free Vans gear. I wanted to give you a glance at what the place looked like before you get to see the epic video that will soon follow. Of all this stuff, what do you think you'd want!?        Night 4 at SXSW: Sets galore! Friday was a rad day for us. Earlier, we decided to head out for lunch with Zach (Rise Against) and Ben (Dillinger Escape Plan) for some ridiculously good tacos away from the chaos downtown. Got to hear the full, in-depth background about GWAR. Little did I know Zach used to be in it! We found a sweet store close by, too. Check it:  First up was The Death Set. Or should I say The mutha f**kin' Death Set! I can NOT get this out of my head. At all. Even if I wanted to. Which, honestly, I don't. They have to have the best time ever on stage- you can just tell. I absolutely love these guys. And I think you should too.  We hopped over afterward to see Foxy Shazam. I saw them in '08 so I was amped to see them again with their new songs. This is going to be their year. I knew anyway, but by the amount of older, industry people there, you just know. They have to keep their pulse on stuff like that. So look out for Foxy in 2010 because they'll hit you in the face. I guarantee it. Get familiar with them now so you can tell your friends you already knew. And thanks, Eric, for giving me a freakin' heart attack with your dead on water shot. But at the same time, thanks for the photo op!   We wrapped up at a small bar with Huecco. These guys came all the way out from Spain. Fantastic show, great people. I wanted to dance really bad...and I don't normally dance.  VIEW ALL PHOTOS  Noosa! Noosa! Noosa! Our hotel didn't have internet, so im sorry the blog has been lagging, but im heading out to Torquay tomorrow to meet back up with the Gudangs! Here's a couple shots from our last days in Noosa. Joel went down to hang with Beau Young and surf Byron Bay. And Alex bought a Volvo off some dudes from Byron. But stay tuned for some action at the Bells Competition. I'm gonna try and meet up with my good friend and excellent photographer Ryan Heywood, He is also the Founder of the critically acclaimed Web-Zine "Bodysurf", and you can check out his work here at ryanheywood.com       Interview: True Widow Meet True Widow. Find out who they like at SXSW and what 2 things go best with their music.  Night 3 at SXSW: Scoping the bands On our third night in Austin, we didn't have a showcase or anything sponsorship related, so Kurt and I took off to check out some bands we had heard of and catch a few of our buddies play. We wound up at 4 or 5 different venues throughout the night and ran into the same crazy, wonderful people that I've met since I've been here. We had a good time despite the fact very few things went according to plan. Early in the day, we took a peak at Fair to Midland, a band on Serjical Strike. You want to talk about some pipes and range, I tell ya. And this guy is really strong live. He's got an interesting tone to it as well. They are metal-sih, progressive-ish, rock-ish and just a little screaming mixed all together.    We rolled out to catch a band that for whatever reason is no more, so there wasn't a set. We took off to see our friends Ninjasonik, but their showcase was running really behind as well! However, we stayed to check out a little bit of a hip hop duo called Hollywood Holt. Full of energy and check it out! Vans represent!  I think the highlight of my night was getting to watch Man Man later at the Billboard Bungalow. I haven't seen these guys since 2006 at MacROCK that went out at my college. I like, don't even know how to describe these guys other than phenomenal. Really- how many other bands do you know that put on war pant before their set? Simply amazing.  A little later we headed off to Red 7 to check out 2 bands: Off With Their Heads and Riverboat Gamblers. Off With Their Heads recently signed to Epitaph in December of last year. Those guys are going to be in good hands over there and after watching them, are going to find their way to your ears- I have no doubt. Such an old school punk feel. As for Riverboat Gamblers, this was my first time really seeing them play. And they are my new favorite band. I am SO glad they are on Warped this summer. It makes me happy that bands like these remind me that punk rock isn't dead.   VIEW ALL IMAGES  Interview: Mariachi El Bronx Matt from The Bronx, and maybe more importantly Mariachi El Bronx, is sad you aren't at SXSW with him! He tells us how El Bronx got started...and he wants Vans to make what!? Shooo you crazy!  VANS presents IUTER GAMES 3 Those crazy Euros...  She Wants Revenge goes shopping Since She Wants Revenge was headlining our showcase, we decided to take them out to a local Vans store to pick up some new gear. (And you can also meet Brandon who is out here with the Vans crew and was upset that he's not been mentioned. As well as our buddy DJay who's been with us because we are just cool.)  Interview: Year Long Disaster Catching up with Rich, bassist of Year Long Disaster, about our showcase, his favorite bands, Vans and some silly face.  Night 2 at SXSW: The VANS Showcase Yesterday was our Official SxSW Vans Showcase. Let me tell you, it was mental. We had our party at Emo's in the middle of all the St. Patty's Day chaos and hit capacity really quick. I couldn't believe the line to get in...well considering the line up, maybe I could! First up we had Goons of Doom. This set was so fun and I appreciate the gnarly sweaters. In the middle of the show, one of the guys jumped into the crowd fake-swimming while another fake-swam around him like a shark to the Jaws theme. My favorite part was this little kid trying to attack him with a toy dinosaur while he was on the floor- haha. Give these guys a listen because any band playing a tambourine in 2010 is worth it.       ALL PHOTOS FROM THE SET VIDEO RECAP OF THE NIGHT  Preview from last night: DEP Here's a clip from last night's showcase. Full post later, but you have to see this:  I Am Snowboarding at The US Open 
 Night 1 at SXSW Last night was our first night in Austin for SXSW. Keeping in mind that I've never been before, I'm sticking close to everyone from Vans- espeically Kurt since we're the music duo. Team Soto-Mink ftw! We pick up all of our badges and caught up with our friends from Epitaph which is always a good time. Since the music section of SX didn't start until the following day, I was surprised that we were already to some shows! Our first was Motorhead. How's that for an opening night? The place was packed and the show kicked ass. Of course.   Afterward, Kurt and I spent the rest of the night at Red 7. Our friends True Widow were on the stage when we got there. Mike Herrera's newest project Tumbledown played not too long after. Holy. Crap. So good! Oliver Peck even jumped on stage to sing a little.   But after Tumbledown was when it got really crazy. Mike Herrera of MXPX, Zach Blair of Rise Against, Luke Abbey from Gorilla Biscuits, members from Riverboat Gamblers and Scott Renyolds of All banded together to play an entire Descendants cover set. Yes, you read that correctly. The crowd was gnarly! I got thrashed around a bit while taking some footage for you guys, but it's all in the name of reporting, music and freaking punk rock. Enjoy!    Message from us girls at SXSW  Me and Amanda tell you what you can expect from us while at SXSW....sorta....  Vans goes to SXSW  For all of our news, be sure to keep an eye on http://www.vans.com/sxsw We'll be bringing you photos, videos and updates about the crazy things we'll be getting into. The official kick-off is Wednesday and from there on out, it's non-stop shows. Wish me luck, seeing as this is my first SXSW ever!  Last Chance to Register For Camp Academy  APRIL 2nd-3rd ADV FREESTYLE SESSION ONLY www.kingvaleterrainproject.com MARCH 27th-28th BEG - INT - ADV SESSIONS www.rideboreal.com PRIVATE COACHING BY ACADEMY TEAM RIDERS: JONAS MICHILOT, CHAD TARBELL, RYAN TARBELL, MELISSA EVANS, WILL BATEMAN, JORDAN MICHILOT AND NICK POOHACHOFF BOREAL SESSION Beginner - Intermediate - Advanced Sessions DAY 1 (sat) 8:30am - 9:30am // Registration 9:30am - 10:00am // Welcome meeting / Divide into smaller groups according to skill levels / warm up - stretch 10:00am - 1:00pm // Hands on coaching in park / Hiking features with your group / park riding and jibbing tips 1:00pm - 2:00pm // Lunch / Waxing-Detuning technique / Sticker giveaway 2:00pm - 4:oopm // Shred Ville. Mini groups can session with other groups / Coaches show off time 4:00pm // End of day 1 photo / prize giveways DAY 2 (sun) 9:00am // Meet up / divide into smaller groups / warm up stretching 9:30am - 12:30Pm // Hands on coaching in smaller groups / learning basics and fine tuning style 12:30pm - 1:30pm // Pizza party / Learn to tye die your t-shirt session 1:30pm - 2:30pm // Free shred with all groups - last minute coaching techniques and learn to dial that trick 2:30pm - 4:oopm // Contest / Jam Session 4:00PM // End Of Camp Group Photo 4:30pm // Awards and Prize Giveaways - Including Snowboards, boots, and goggles KINGVALE SESSION Advanced Session ONLY. No Beginners Private park set up just for filming. DAY 1 (fri) 9-9:30 AM // Registration 9:30-10 AM // Stretch and divide into jump or jib group 11-12:30 PM // Focus on tricks you want to learn 12:30-1:30 // Barbecue Lunch 1:30-3:00 // Switch Tricks 3:30-4:00 // Best Trick Contest 4:15-5:00 // Prize and swag giveaways DAY 2 (sat) 9-9:30 // Stretch and organize into groups according to tricks 10-11:30 // Dial your trick you want to learn 12-1:30 PM // Lunch and Board Detuning clinic 2-3:30 PM // Learn combination lines and how to get the shot 4:00-4:45 // Triple Trick Contest / Boards awarded for winners 5:00 // Prize giveaways ACCOMODATIONS. Campers will receive 15% off at Sierra Woods Lodge (15 minutes WEST of Boreal) if they mention they are with the camp. Please contact 530-389-8900. ADVANCED RIDERS CAN ATTEND BOTH CAMPS FOR $329 MORE INFO: www.ACADEMYSNOWBOARDS.com  Fly With Mark  NOOSA Noosa Heads has a lot of points to make, and Alex & Joel make them all... I arrived into noosa the other day, when we went to pick up joel from the airport we ran into mr Mike Hynson. Joel offered him a ride into town. when we got to the beach there was some perfect little peelers wrapping all the way down. After the sesh, went for a schooner beer with Al & Jared      Listen to all of Brant Bjork's new album  Brant Bjork, of both Kyuss and Fu Manchu, is releasing a new recorded titled "Gods and Goddesses" on March 30. But! Thanks to some team work, we have the full album available to stream over at http://vans.com/brantnjork. You can also download a totally free track from the CD! Vans.com is the only place to pick it up, too so spread the word!  Jib City Nights At Mountain High   iPod's Double Micky Run at Europe X Games U.S. Open here we come...  Eric Willett's Gold Medal Run From Europe X Games This kid is BANANAS!!!  Van's Triple Crown on Fuel TV Not all of us could make it to the North Shore for the 2009 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. No worries... you can catch up on what went down when FUEL TV debuts the highlight series starting Monday at 8 pm ET/PT and running the next 3 Monday nights plus other airings. Get more details and watch the trailer!   Iouri Podladtchikov Wins Snowboard SuperPipe Gold  iPod throwing down his gold medal run. Photo: Dave Lehl. Tignes, France Switzerlands Iouri Podladtchikov returned from Winter X Games 14 with a silver medal, a fourth place finish from the Olympics in Vancouver, and can now add gold to that list from his win today at Winter X Games Europe. Frances Mathieu Crepel, who finished tenth at the Vancouver Olympics, was close behind to land the silver. The Double McTwist 1260 is a trick I started training for last week, Podladtchikov said about a trick that won him the competition. After the Olympics, I took one week off to rest, and started to practice the McTwist, so landing it tonight was a gift. Crepel was at the top of his progression in 2007 where he landed the first ever frontside 1260 in Big Air history, and he pulled it out again in tonights final. USAs Louie Vito took home the bronze with the first ever double cork 1080 done three times in a row. Being in my home country of France does add some pressure, Crepel said about performing in France. All the media and fans here in France has been amazing, and you want to do the best you can in front of them. In the eight-man final, seven of the riders have been to the Olympics. Four countries were represented: Finland, France, Switzerland and USA. Winter X Games Europe concludes today where the crowd attendance for today was 20,200. Including the crowds on Wednesday and Thursday and both night concerts, this brings the three-day event and final attendance total to 66,200. WINTER X GAMES EUROPE 2010  Day in the Life of Tanner Gudauskas Right now on Surfer Magazine's website, Tanner Gudauskas takes you through a typical day for him. Check it out here   Arch Enemy Tour Blog #3 Feb. 05 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom Feb. 06 Seattle, WA Showbox at the Market Feb. 08 San Francisco, CA Regency Center @ The Grand Feb. 09 West Hollywood, CA House of Blues Ladies and Gentlemen, My final tour blog! It has been cold the last couple of days in Canada:  Vancouver, baby! Love the city and the Commodore Ballroom is neatly situated in a good shopping part of town. We all rush out to buy comfort foods. The show in Vancouver is just awesome!!! Vancouver My Apocalypse live (btw Why did Metallica recycle our song title on their latest record? Great for us all the kids searching for the Metallica song get Arch Enemy instead):   Do you ever wonder what we do all day before we hit the stage at lets say 11pm? Well, it depends on the person and its responsibilities. We all sleep pretty long, then sound check, then interviews, then jam backstage..  I am stuck in front of my laptop most of the day as I manage Arch Enemy. On this tour I had to advance 2 tours in Europe: A run in France, one in the UK and some early festivals. Go to http://www.archenemy.net/tours.php for info! I also keep a very close eye on the current tour and its budget. We are self-managed since 2008 and it was the best decision we have ever made in our career. Suddenly we are not piss-poor anymore. The music business is full of leeches and cockroaches. They all take their percentage of the gross income and suddenly there is a big minus at the end of the budget after everybody else got paid. I am watching out for Nr. 1: Arch Enemy. These boys are my brothers and my family wont get ripped off ever again. Power to the people!  Arsis had their van broken in twice. Total cost of the damage done about 1500 $. Not funny. Arsis really add value to the tour (I love them), so we decide to cover their damage. For us its a tax write off, for them its either eat or not to eat. They are my brothers too. We got some awesome gear with us on tour. Sharlee is trying out Aguilar equipment such beauties.. And if you are a gear nerd and wondered what we are hiding behind the scrims here you go:   Border crossing again after Vancouver into Seattle. The 4th time. We are getting used to it and are all pretty much stoned out of our minds. I mean, you cant waste any herbs, can ya? Well, the border patrol is cool, just wants to see our faces quickly and spares us the dogs and sticky little fingers through our bags bullshit. We are not stupid. They know that. Our history is as clean and smooth as a freshly powdered baby bottom. Never ever had any trouble. Seattle, San Francisco and LA 3 awesome shows left to play! Seattle absolutely raging show:   I recently saw a documentary about the likeliness of an all-destroying sea earthquake plus tsunami in Seattle. Beautiful city. Lets hope mother nature has mercy and it wont ever happen. But its so very likely.. How does it feel to live at the edge of total disaster? I guess it feels like boarding a plane in Venezuela.. haha. Mint-coloured 70ies interior and you know that routine inspections havent been done since then. You also know you will be flying through at least 2 thunder storms with lightning bolts and heavy rain. So its not quite sure you will land in Colombia. But still you board that plane.. All 3 shows are raging. Lots of press and familiar faces. We got average a 1000 kids per show, the House Of Blues in LA is sold out. Michael hangs out with his buddies from Proudflesh in SF:  Exodus get Zetro up on stage in SF. Awesome stuff! Both Zetro and Dukes are awesome front-men. I love it when people dont hold a grudge, but move on and remember the good times they had. Life is way too short to waste one minute on negativity. Have your revenge if you must have, but dont look back. Usually, living a happy life is the best payback anyway. Check out Exodus with both Rob Dukes and Zetro in SF: And Arsis tearing it up: Go and pick up Arsis just released CD Starve For The Devil! It is worth the money! We have a killer show in San Francisco:    As usual, we end our tour in LA. We get all the insanity that is Hollywood. The biggest display of oversized plastic-ones. Those ladies.. when they turn a corner, their bosom shows up first, the rest of their usually tiny body about 5 minutes later. Is that fun? The triple Ds? Whats wrong with the modest B or C cup? I run every day for 90 minutes. Imagine I would have 5 pounds in front of me, bopping up and down. My back would kill me. F**k no. The Hollywood show is a fantastic ending to an uber-fantastic tour!     After the show its time to say heartfelt good-byes to our friends in Exodus, Arsis and Mutiny Within.   Too many strangers backstage, people from the business with AAA passes who really are just in the way.. All I wanna do is hug my brother ins metal, instead I get pulled left, right and centre for some stupid pictures with folks I really dont care about. I hate being a facebook / myspace profile pic trophy. And we have to mark all our gear for shipment, get that sorted and then get thrown out of the bus by the company at 4am, because the driver wants to pick up another job the next day. That was not nice and not very funny, kewl comfort! Not so very kewl. Fuck you very much. What comes around, goes around.. We all made it back home safely despite snow storms and delayed flights. This was by far the best US Tour we have done in the last 10 years! A huge Thank you to Exodus, Arsis and Mutiny Within for being so easy going, professional and kick-ass on and off stage! Also our crew Beau, Shawn, Eddie, Clem, Josh for keeping the wheels running. Our FOH Clem provided me with pretty much all pictures for this blog! We love you and we will miss you terribly til the next tour!!! Our label Century Media, Steve Joh, Brian Rocha and Ryan for an overkill of press It helped a lot making this tour such a success! And Gerardo and Loana from Nuclear Blast for working their butts off for a band, that is not even on their roster Arch Enemy! You both rule! And last, but not least, the good metal heads at Vans for an endless supply of awesome sneakers and clothes and promo support! Lets just do this again end of 2011 ok?!?!?! With a new Arch Enemy album and the will to kill. You all stay pure fucking metal until then, Yours truly, Angela  Colorados Willett Takes the Gold in Snowboard Slopestyle at X Games Europe  USA Takes One and Two Spots with Full International Field Tignes, France Last month, Breckenridge resident Eric Willett took home a silver medal from Snowboard Slopestyle at Winter X Games 14 in Aspen. Today in the mens final in Tignes, France, Willett upgraded and will bring gold back to his hometown in Colorado. I wasnt really landing my tricks in practice, but somehow it all clicked and came together for me in the final, Willett said about his win. After his second run put him in the lead, he said, I had no idea what I was going to do, and Im so stoked right now. The course is perfect and the riding level is insane. Willett threw down a solid second run that put him in the lead for the gold medal with his mixed tricks of backside 720, frontside double cork 1080 and switch backside 900. USAs Sage Kotsenburg followed close behind to win silver. Marko Grilc of Slovakia took the bronze. Winter X Games Europe has lived up to my expectations, said Grilc. It is so great to see the biggest event in action sports come to Europe. There were four previous Winter X Games medalists in the final field: Travis Rice, Iouri Podladtchikov, Eric Willet and Chas Guldemond with seven medals among them. Podladtchikov and Christian Haller of Switzerland competed at the Olympic Games in Vancouver. WINTER X GAMES EUROPE 2010 The inaugural Winter X Games Europe will feature nearly 150 men and women from across the globe competing for medals and prize money in the sports of Skiing and Snowboard. Additionally, there will be daily Snowmobile Freestyle demonstrations. The event is the first Winter X Games held outside the United States and brings together ESPN's world class X Games franchise with Canal+ Events and Tignes Ski & Snowboard Resort. Together with CANAL + Networks (CANAL +, CANAL + SPORT, Sport +) and ESPN International, Winter X Games Europe will be broadcast live in eight countries, including France, and distributed to 166 countries and territories, including Latin America, Middle East, Pacific Rim, sub-Saharan Africa, Brazil, Israel, Caribbean, North America and Europe.  Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego Erica Hosseini stopped by our apartment to interview the boys for her new website, whereserica.com. I must say, Tanner's interview skills are through the roof, I mean... the kids got talent. Just watch!   Matix Party in France at European X Games   South Straddie This place was kind of a mission to get to & back from. Pat & Tanner paddled across a big channel, to the island. Dont worry about those bull sharks. And those with camera gear took a small ferry to the backside of the island, then a simulation of what it would be like to cross the mexican border. I felt like i was gonna: 1. pass out from heat exhaustion 2. get bit by a poisonous snake 3. get totally barreled like the gudangs! On the way back after the death march back to where the ferry was suppose to pick us up from, it was nowhere to be seen, he left us there. Some kids offered to give one of us a ride back over to the other side. Then Nelly comes speeding around the bend on a boat to save the day! Check out all the action RIGHT HERE        JLA = LOVE = FAMILY I AM SNOWBOARDING - TOKYO  Seven years ago on February 23, 2003 snowboarder and friend Jeff Anderson was taken from us in Nagano, Japan. This year on February 23, 2010, friends and family of Jeff came back to Japan in celebration of his life and the power of art, family, and friends which Jeff so much believed in. I AM SNOWBOARDING, collaborative art exhibit in honor of Jeff was hosted by Volcom Japan - an opening reception in their Tokyo Harajuku flagship store, and a week stay at the ART-IN-GALLERY Harajuku. Volcom Tokyo store manager, Masahiko Sano and Volcom Japan Marketing Manager, Iceman transformed their flagship store into a gallery space for the party on February 23rd. A few hundred VIP guests, media, friends of Jeff came to help celebrate including a few people who took lengthy train rides to purchase prints of the artwork. I AM... artists/photographers Robert Sticky Shaw, Ryan Boyes, Bryan Iguchi, Jamie Lynn, Jane Baer, Mike Parillo, Peter Stow, Devon Weniger and her family and Brian Cook with family were there, as well as Volcom team members Tyler Flanagan, Luke Mitrani and Neil Goss. And Jeff was there... through the artists and photographers whos love created the works displayed proudly around the room like embracing arms giving the best hug youve ever received. After the party, the paintings were moved to the ART-IN-GALLERY for one week. Jeffs mom Jane Baer said, The gallery space was perfect Jeff. Small, quaint, but very modern. Jeff would have loved the stark white, modular space. Precise and clean, the sun shining in through the front window. It is a gallery that Jeff would have picked. A place where Jeff would feel honored to have his first show. Thank you to Volcom Japan and Volcom US for hosting I AM SNOWBOARDING in Tokyo and to Vans, Burton, Asymbol, ELS ASF and every friend around the globe for the continued support. Next stops: March 18 - 20, 2010 @ the Burton US Open of Snowboarding,Stratton Mountain., VT. 22 paintings are currently traveling the world. The 23rd art piece by Dustin Del Giudice is on display at Wave Rave Snowboard Shop, Mammoth Lakes, CA.  Transworld Snowboarding Mark Landvik Interview  Mark Landvik. Photo: Ryan Boyes Lando is a riders riderwhat the hell does that even mean? He wallows in snowboarding to the corewe ran into him at Baldface Lodge riding with the Volcom crew. In those few days, we witnessed feats of riding, feats of drinking, one-liners for days, and general full on awesomeness. Sometimes he rode in a gorilla suit, sometimes he wore a six-pack belt and fired beers across the lodge, sometimes he made the round of Irish car bombs mandatory, but he always put a smile on your face. He comes from Alaska, lives in Bellingham, and damn can he ride a snowboard. Heres what hes up to right now To read the full interview from www.twsnow.com CLICK HERE.  VOTE FOR DYLAN GRAVES! Dylan Graves has entered a video into the Innersections video contest. For this contest, surfers work with filmmakers and editors to create their own 2-3 minute surf movie. Be sure to vote for Dylan, so he gets into the next Taylor Steele film! Watch his video section right HERE!    The Wild Life While the waves were sub-par, we decided to hit the Currumbin Wildlife Park, it was pretty cool. We ran into Slater and Damien hobgood right when we got there. They psyched us up on the Park, We held Koalas and pet Kangaroos, then a crocodile bit off Pat's hand... just kidding.      New sleds & more waves Dylan Graves has made it to the Gold Coast. After he got here, we went over to the JS Factory and picked up some of his new sleds. Then the boys went for a quick session out at DBah. Weather hasn't been very good over here. We're hoping it gets sunny and nice again before we head to west oz. Gudangs all have twitter accounts: Patrick, Dane, & Tanner. We're gonna get Dylan on board soon      |
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