Legendary

Got in the car today to have lunch at Mitsua in Venice and briefly heard the VJ say something about Michael Jackson. I couldn't believe my ears so I took out my iphone and googled "michael jackson dead". Got nothing. A few minutes later I refreshed the search to find out that the news were true. The King of pop died today of cardiac arrest. Shocking, shocking. The greatest entertainer of all time. There will never ever be another Michael Jackson. I was really looking forward to see him in concert after announcing an upcoming world tour because I had never seen him in concert and was just talking about the subject with my room mate. Such a bummer that I wasn't able to experience the most fascinating, amazing, talented king of pop. Rest in peace Michael. You will be missed and you will always live through your music that will never die.

Most Expensive Skate Shoes of All Time!!

A few weeks back, skate shoe company Supra released the newest sneaker from Supra rider Terry Kennedy. The high top called the TK Society comes with with an MSRP of $140 coming in as the most expensive skate shoe of all time (skate shoe in that it is manufactured by a skate shoe company but I doubt you can actually skate in this thing).

This is a ridiculous looking shoe to me. The soles almost look vulacanized although the uppers look pretty nice. I wouldn't shell out $80 for these let again $140. However, this brings up up an interesting topic that I wanted to post up. The industry's most expensive skate shoes of all time! (Not including any Nike SB in this list) Check it.

Coming in at #1 as the most expensive skate shoe to date, is the Supra TK Society at a whopping $140. (Supra and TK did a tour through a few cities across the U.S. A few cats even lined up for em', but beyond that I wonder how many units they pushed?)


At #2 is newly transplanted PJ Ladd shoe from DC Shoe Co. With an MSRP price of $120, this actual skate shoe (meaning you can actually skate in them) comes in at second place. Like the Supra TK Society, the shoe was released recently in 2009.


The #3 most expensive shoe of all time is tied with #4 as they both come from the same skater. However, I list this shoe as #3 because of its significance as the first skate shoe to ever hit the $100 mark (like the Nike Air Jordan III). In the late 90's (and the pinnacle of my skate career) the skate shoe game belonged to Es footwear. With riders including Tom Penny, Eric Koston, Chad Muska, Ronnie Creager and Sal Barbier, Es produced some of the most legendary skate shoes of all time including the Koston 1 and SLB. In 1998, Es rider Chad Muska gets his signature shoe called the Es Muska and topped as the most expensive skate shoe at $100.


Shoe #4 also comes from Chad Muska but now with a new skate shoe company in 2000. the Circa Muska CM901. With a box price of $100. This technical high top equipped with visible "air max" air bubble padding in the forefoot and heel. The best part of the shoe? Fat tounges with invisible stash pocket!!


I have no idea which shoe would come in as #5 because there were and are so many skate shoes that are in the $80-$90 range. Some noticables include The Eric Koston 1,2 and 3, Kareem Campbell's Axion's, the DC Williams, and the list goes on and on.

Excluding the Supra and DC Ladd's, I did own most of these shoes I listed for the post. I wouldn't consider myself a shoe head but I wish I would have saved all the skate shoes I've ever owned since I started skateboarding! If anything for nostalgic reasons. These shoes all have significance in my life as I can look at them and tell you exactly what was going on in my life, what I was going through, what was the trend, who I was hanging out with or what I was getting into, etc. All of my shoes like your shoes should have personal meaning but sometimes are clouded on having the most exclusive most expensive shoes which are meaningless and insignifant.
Remember, It's all about having fun and shoes are your transport. Have fun!! Skate, and support your local skateshop. Peace.

World Champs!

I gotta tell ya, it was a long journey since last October but it's finally over. Today the Lakes take out Orland 4-1 in Orlando to give the Lakers their 15th Championship title! Long awaited after the humiliation against Boston in the Finals last year (we got blown out by 39 points). Followed the Lakes all the way this year. This was definately the best championship for me personally MVP Kobe Bryant! We made it baby! Let's do it again next year!!

And the 2009 ugliest skate shoe goes to....

The Omar Salazar signiture Nike SB! Please tell me this is a joke and Nike is not really producing this shoe. Surprising to me that Omar would even get his own signature shoe from Nike being he was just an AM for Nike not too long ago! (It's just my opinion). I don't care for his skateboarding and I definately do not care for this new signature shoe. Out of many models of shoes that can possibly be produced by nike, how is it possible to conjure up such a hidious shoe? Beets me! The Janoski was borderline bad, this is an all time low. Nike, do you remember what happened in 1998? Looks like you're headed in that direction now. Down.

D-Finish Thursday

Today was a good day. Laker game 4 against Orlando, who I must give mad props to Superman Dwight Howard. This guy is a world class player and a force to be reckoned with. All Defensive NBA defensive player of the year. Outstanding. Definately made his presence in the game with his rebounding and block shots. Intense all the way up the very last second of the game.


We rolled up to Mu Dung San Korean BBQ in K-Town for the my weekly fix and got a spot right in front of the flatscreen they had. What else could I ask for? Great company, great food and a fucking awesome game. D-Fish and Ariza killed it. Kobe with some amazing shots but the player of the game had to be Fish with 2 clutch 3's in the heat of all the suspense....

Went to the Korean market after the game to pick up some soju, Hi-chew and milkis (what you know about milkis? all my karaoke idol ppl know what's up) hahaha and came up on some real sh*t. Check this out. Ol' Glory Energy Drink. God Bless the US of A!! Oh, and in case you don't know the pledge of allegience, its written on the side of the can. Awesome! Taste wise? I don't know. I didn't pick it up. Even with the unbelievable low price of 99 cents!! What a cheap ass huh? yeah. I'll pick it up next time I promise. Here's what the table looks like after I wreck shop.... the aftermath. hahaha. Peace.

Ridiculous

It's been a quick minute since the last entry. Been out of it for a second but now I'm back. With the skateboard shoe industry where its at right now in this economy and the un-popularity of skateboarding in general, it seems to me that the big corporate giants ie, Adidas, Nike, Cons, etc are the only companies in the skateboarding shoe industry that can stand a chance and stay up in business.

A few days back I was at the Apple store in the Brea Mall and saw a popular sneaker chain disply a few models of Lakai's in the store front. Back in the day it was cool that they only sold skate shoes at skate shops. There was a sense of exclusiveness and belonging that skaters had but I guess that doesn't exist anymore. But you know what, It's okay. I can't imagine that its probably hard as fuck to sell anything anymore with the economy like this. Lakai probably had to do what they had to do, which is sell their shoes in the mall. I ain't mad atcha. I know that if Lakai wasn't forced into selling at the malls that they wouldn't. Remember L-R-G? That's a whole other entry.

Since we're on the issue of skate shoes and the industry, some ground breaking news. The rumors that have been circulating over which shoe company pro Girl rider and The Berrics co-owner, Eric Koston will end up on. After leaving Lakai a few months back, speculations were made of which shoe company had the $$$$ to pick him up. Eric Koston is officially on NIKE SB. As if the ridiculous prices of Nike were'nt high enough,in comes one the industries most prestigious skateboarder.

Nike sb now uses words such as "Premium" and "Elite" to bump up the prices on such shoes as the blazer or dunk. The cost of a Nike Dunk is $35, the blazer, even less. The box price of a dunk sb is now $80, add the "premium" label and you're up to $99.99. No nice material or special box or anything. Only popular colorway. One word. Riduculous.