Friday, February 25, 2011

TGIF...Too Bad It's Raining!

What up guys…chillin on a wet Friday afternoon in beautiful “sunny” Southern California…haha! Having a bit of writers block, so I thought I would blog about my day so far. Woke up this morning to a killer cup of coffee my pop’s made for me, sat for a morning meeting with some of the fam. My older sister Britney has been hiking lately and decided to go check out the Hollywood sign this morning, you should be able to see the pic. up on our Facebook  page.

Pops and I spent the morning talking about strategy and what our next moves would be as far as A2R business, as well as other pending business we’ve got going on. That “other” pending business…when the time comes were gonna make an announcement…that shit is really exciting and I feel very fortunate to be a part of it! Stay tuned, more details coming soon!

Trying to get some blog ideas off of the internet, and I just got done posting some sick RedBull Xfigthers video as well as a Sno-Cross video where one of the officials got taken out by one of the riders, really hope he is doing well after having both of his legs broke.

Always looking for fresh ideas and content for our internet sites, so if you got any I’d like to hear about them. Heads up...as our boy Scott Ochs is working on a new website and cart for A2R…that was actually part of our meeting this morning…reviewing artwork and content, and I gotta tell you guys it looks sick! Talk about a guy who has totally gone way out of his way to teach himself graphic art on Adobe Illustrator and Web Design on Adobe Dreamweaver…Scott is the man! So here’s to wishing everyone a great weekend…hope it dries up a bit, as for us…we might be heading out to Wrightwood, Ca...over off of the Cajon Pass, for some family snow sledding! 

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Magic Las Vegas – Mandalay Bay Hotel Convention Center 02.14.11 – 02.16.11

Rolled out to Vegas, on Tuesday morning to go check out Magic. My pops, little sister and I hopped into our Excursion and drove the 250 miles plus, it took a little more than three hours to get there as I was pushing 80 to 90 miles per hour against that Triton V-10 engine in our truck! Drive was cool, watched Orange County with Jack Black and Austin Powers movies there and back all the while keeping facebook updated as to where we were and what we were doing…mobile technology…amazing! We stayed one night at the Excalibur Hotel. It’s real convenient to stay there, you park valet, and take the tram over to Mandalay Bay!

We pulled up to the Hotel at like 1:00 pm or so, valet parked and headed straight over to Mandalay Bay…we had one goal in mind and that was to hit the TapouT booth where we knew our boys TapouTSkrape and TapouTPunkAss would be. As we walked into “Slate” we walked by the new TapouT NASCAR Race Vehicle…it was sick!  In my opinion the race car is a smart move on the part of Skrape…he is the one that put that whole deal together, and has said that TapouT is about EXPANSION…expanding into NASCAR in order to draw a large majority of those fans into MMA…there probably are a grip of them already. Skrape told us that he is a big fan of Moto-Cross, Off-Road and of course NASCAR, he used to race when he was younger...my boy is the man!

As we made our way over to the TapouT booth We ran into the crew from the MTV show “The Buried Life”…my little sister went absolutely nuts when she spotted those guys! Pops really didn’t know what was going on, and was just there taking it all in, looking forward to shaking hands with PunkAss and Skrape!







When we finally made it out to the TapouT booth…low and behold, both PunkAss and  Skrape were right there working their “magic”. These guys are incredible to talk to. I mean they are so successful, they have over come great obstacles, from people questioning them and their dream in the beginning to being homeless, sleeping in cars at times! Anyone would be in their right mind to think, these guys are too good for a lot of people…but to talk to both of these cats, they are the humblest, most approachable guys you will ever meet. They are full of inspiration, and will do anything to make you feel good about meeting them…and it is a real genuine thing with them too. I mean these guys get off on doing whatever they can to make you feel good about you!

While I was there talking to Skrape, pops asked him “dude I sometimes feel sorry for you, cuz every time I run into you, you’re always out here doing the PR thing, big smile, happy, totally approachable, don’t you ever get tired of this?” Skrape responded… "I’m just being me, this is how Charles, PunkAss and I have always been...we don't know anything else but this!"…no wonder these guys are so successful. Always so positive, always looking for the good in everything…these guys give the true meaning to “don’t judge a book by it’s cover!”

Much love and respect from the A2R family to PunkAss and Skrape!

Mannie Jr.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Volcom Stone – Transworld Business December 2010 Edition




Okay, so I know I’m a little late on this one, things have kinda been a little hectic for me lately, trying to get our act together with our “books”. I’m sure a lot of you know what’s up trying to organize a bunch a receipts. Anyway I wanted to get away from all of that and write a little about this cat Richard Woolcott who created the Volcom Stone brand, what a story!


There has been a Transworld Business article that I have been wanting to read for a little while now. I’m not a big fan of reading but when I saw "THE MAN BEHIND THE STONE" in big bold letters, I knew I had to read up on Richard Woolcott the CEO of Volcom! Article was written by Josh Hunter, photos by Gary Copeland.


I started reading this article and my eyes were glued from sentence to sentence! Richard back in 85 was in a crazy surfing accident, he bit it hard and crashed head first into a sandbar, somewhere in Baja! He snapped his c1 and c2 vertebrae in two places, which caused a fifth break in his c3 and fractured his c4. Woolcott had a 2% survival rate is what the doctors said once he got to them, he talks about how he was driven from Ensenada, BC in the back of an open truck into the states!


Woolcott is one hell of a strong guy not only pulling threw but making a full recovery! This dude was trying to be somebody in the surf world but now all he had was time on his hands…time to do what…”think”…he says “looking back at, breaking my neck was kinda cool, it made me change paths”


He couldn’t surf anymore, so once he healed up he went go to work for Quicksilver. He began to notice the opportunity that existed in the clothing brand arena. While working for Quicksilver he started to really miss competing in surf competitions so much that he had this strong feeling that he had to some how influence the sport, he also took on the nick name “Malcom” as in Malcom Forbes while working at Quicksilver. The year was 1991 (my birth year) and “vert” skating was starting to slow down and the whole street scene was starting to come alive! At the same time Snowboarding was starting to become popular too.


Right around the same time Woolcott ran into some cat named Tucker Hall, at a party,  Hall had just been laid off from his job and was bumming big time. Woolcott told Hall that he was headed to Tahoe, and that he…Hall should come with him.  In March of 1991, they both took a trip to Tahoe, and when they got there, Tahoe totally blew their minds, it was sick as far as all of the action and not to mention the attitude that everyone had, kind of a rebellious attitude, anti-establishment attitude. The cops were giving the skaters a hard time, cuz skating wasn’t allowed in public streets, the slopes didn’t allow snowboarders on their mountains, it was kind of like a revolution. Woolcott called his boss and told him that he was not going to be coming back to work for the next few days cuz he wanted to check out all of the action in Tahoe.


For the next few days, he rode fresh powder, taking it all in, and on that trip is when Volcom was born in the parking lot of Kirkwood Ski Resort. By the time Woolcott and Hall came back to So. Cal. the idea of a Stone, was already starting to take shape. The stone idea came from a book, where it looked like a diamond, only these guys flipped it upside down, next came the name Volcom…it came from the name “Malcom”, if you look at the “M” in Malcom there is a “V” there, they got rid of the “a” and added an “o”…in place of the “a” and boom…the rest is history.


Now get this…these guys started out by “sticker slapping” the Volcom logo everywhere in the Newport, OC area…they would visit their neighborhood surf shop, and drop off free stickers…they did this before they created one single article of clothing…once they began producing clothes, they stopped producing  stickers…this created a frenzy as far as getting your hands on a Volcom sticker…people say that back then there were Volcom stickers selling on EBay for $100 bucks…talk about some sick marketing tactics…dude killed it!!


By 2004 Volcom had done $113 million in revenue, today it is somewhere in the $320 million dollar range per year! As of September 2010 it had a cash reserve of $105 million that Woolcott calls…the company’s “war chest”.


This dude is badass, I have a whole new look at Volcom, much respect to Woolcott, Hall and the rest those cats out at Volcom…they did it right, I for sure someday hope to be like them!

Friday, February 4, 2011

One dead, another severely injured, drunk driver racing with 2 prior dui’s 9 years in prison???

Just got back from Santa Ana today, where my pops, my little sister, and I went and sat in on the sentencing of the guy that was involved in the death of the founder of TapouT, Charles "Mask" Lewis. As I sat there and the deputies brought the defendant Jeff Kirby in, I couldnt help but feel sorry for the guy. He looked beat, he looked like he was really sorry...an opinion on my part that would haunt me later as the proceedings went on. As I began to hear the friends and family of Mask start to speak, my feelings toward the defendant began to change quickly, as I heard Punkass talk about how Charles was such an inspirational figure to him, how Charles always seemed to find the good in everything, and then as he cleared his throat, barley being able to get the words out he said, "No matter what happens here today, nothing will ever bring back Charles". I looked over at my pops, and I couldnt help but notice a tear run down his face. Charles' brother, sister, and fiancee then spoke all telling wonderful stories in regard to who Charles was and how he impacted so many lives. I can tell you speaking for myself, in which I never had the privilege of meeting Mask...he inspires my family and I everyday, as we sit and watch his videos on youtube...we cant help but "BELIEVE"! All because God blessed us with Charles' brief...yet very profound life here on earth.


When the defendants family got up to speak, once again I couldnt help but feel sorry for Jeff Kirby's family, they looked as though they were really sorry for what Mr. Kirby had done to the Lewis family and friends. It wasnt until the prosecuting attorney began to speak that I really started to get an idea as to what really happend in regard to Masks' death. This guy Jeff Kirby, the defendant, had had two previous DUI's, he had been on probation before, on the night of the accident, he had left one place after drinking and went to another to continue drinking, and then on that night of the accident, Mr. Kirby was well aware that the "spacers" on his car would make the car vibrate violently at a high rate of speed!


I dont mean to talk shit, but in my opinion this guy got off easy...9 years...thats it...9 years...for the death of a man, that had such an impact on so many millions of lives. 9 years for severely injuring the passenger in Masks' car...9 years for robbing all of us...including myself from ever knowing such an inspirational figure like Mask. Well Judge Tuhey...heres to you...when Mr. Kirby gets out of prison for good behavior in the next 5 or 6 years, and he does this again...I hope it is not one of your friends or family members that he does it to, and if he does kill one of your friends or family members while driving under the influence (which he will drink and drive again)...you will only have yourself to blame!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Definitely a Gym NO NO!

So i was on the treadmill at the gym trying to get in a quick little 15 minutes of cardio. Everything is going great for about 12 minutes. Then this guy comes on the treadmill next to me and takes off one of his shoes! Holy S**t his feet smelled like @$$! ahahaha I wish I could have gotten a picture of him. Hes a short lil chubby dude that walks like hes Jay Cutler ahaha

X PLAY NATION...A2R Success Manual??

Just got this in the mail! I'm not really a big reader, but I can say I'm pretty damn stoked to start reading it! X Play Nation by Alex Striler explains how the big dogs such as Volcom, Hurley, Quicksilver, Rockstar Energy, Fuel TV and X Games have impacted, influenced, and basically molded a 20 billion dollar per year Retail Action Sports Industry....definitely gonna be an inspirational read!


So that leads me to think as I'm sitting here typing... my imagination, running wild!!


I start thinking of gnarly images of Shaun White hitting 40 foot jumps off a freshly covered snow bank in Tokyo, Japan.


My boy #99 Pro 4 Racer Kyle LeDuc at a LOORS Race, during the final rounds when every lap matters, banging it out side by side with someone like Adrian Cenni or Carl Renezeder...that fierce competition, the adrenaline rush that both drivers must be experiencing as they put their driving skills to the test, tires spinning... spitting dirt as they round each corner, feeding fuel to their 800hp racing machines and pressing down on that gas pedal, with nothing on their mind but crossing that checkered flag first, with a crowd of 2,000+ adrenaline filled fans cheering them on.


Then I start to think of Danny Way. I can see him standing on the top of that mega ramp at X Games... fear is NOT a factor! Broken bones?...what does that mean?? But in his mind, as I see him, that almost free fall drop is his whole reason for being! It says who he is, it says what he's about....ADDICTED 2 RIDING!!! As he finishes out his back flip to a melon 540, the X Games crowd standing there, up out of their seats in absolute disbelief as to what they have just witnessed...man's defiance of gravity! Danny Way standing up to the forces of nature... saying "You're not going to hold me back, you can't stop me!...I am Addicted 2 Riding!!"


 In conclusion, I begin to think about all the extreme sports athletes, professional as well as amateur, the casual spectator to the the avid fan, from the dirt, snow, water and street, I can't help but think what do all of these guys have in common? Its the same for each and everyone of them. Its my passion. Its what I live for day in and day out...my Addiction....Addicted 2 Riding.