still Magic

IMDABES

2012-01-22T22:54:00.000-08:00

Yo... Kobe is THE MAN.

I Just Wanna Love U

2012-01-20T23:10:00.000-08:00

Maestro Knows - Special Edition (Kevin Love) from Maestro Knows on Vimeo.

"And with all this cassshhhh... You'll forgetcha man."

MAN! The T-Pups are doing work! They topped the Clippers tonight on a buzzer beater by my dude Kevin "Spread" Love. I've kept a close eye on the Timberwolves for the past two seasons because of my terrible love of stupid but gifted athletes like Mike "Super Cool" Beasley. And on top of that, the T-Pups are my favorite team to use on NBA 2K12 because Super Cool Beas and K.Love are automatic from anywhere on the court. It's good to see them get some shine...

Even if Beasley is still stupid.

Me Myself and I

2012-01-18T15:11:00.000-08:00

Really really jealous that I didn't come up with this logo first. Amazing.

Never Let Them See You Sweat

2012-01-17T22:54:00.001-08:00

Even though I have a naturally high body temperature thus making it easy for me to sweat.

Really.

Crew Love

2012-01-09T22:26:00.000-08:00

Busy weekend. Kuya Vic came down from Sacramento and we swapped shoes. He got my BG Hyperdunks and I got two of my favorite shoes of all time in return. The Orca Nike Zoom Kobe 2 ST and the Cool Grey Zoom LeBron 2. We went to the Clipper game against the Bucks and we just talked about life and girls for a good while. It was pretty refreshing. I made a promise to not be such a simp anymore. Sorry ladies. New year and new goals.

And of course new shoes.

OH and the Nike Vault is AMAZING.

Club Paradise

2012-01-08T14:42:00.001-08:00

"And this'll be the year that I won't even feel shit."

Unleash the Dragon

2012-01-04T23:02:00.000-08:00

I called it RIGHT when the first images of the Nike Zoom KDIV leaked, the Year of the Dragon colorway is AMAZING. Nerfs were cool but THESE right here are my favorite KDIV so far.

Little Brother

2012-01-03T23:23:00.000-08:00

?uestlove's story on how the "Little Brother" beat was made. RIP Dilla

Little Brother Live

Old English

2012-01-02T22:53:00.000-08:00

Go download Chuck Inglish's new beat tape, WRKING. It's the best thing to describe what I've been doing all Winter break.

Wake Up

2011-12-26T00:34:00.000-08:00

Before the Madness

I haven't blogged much even though I've been on vacation for the past two weeks mainly because I've been working so much and I've been dead tired by the time I get home. The biggest day I worked was easily the release date for the "Concord" Jordan XI. They're easily one of the most sought after Jordans ever and were released in somewhat limited quantities. So you can imagine that by the time the release came, things got crazy. An insane amount of people called/came into the store the day before asking if we're releasing the shoes, what time we're opening, how many pairs they have, and if they can get pairs on hold. Ridiculous. There were stories of riots popping off all around the country over the release with people getting stabbed/shot/mobbed for them. Luckily, I got my pair with no problems other than having to deal with all the phone calls the rest of the day from people asking if we had any pairs left. I was annoyed by the calls but at the same time, I felt sorry for them. It was either they were new to the whole shoe thing or they were just so desperate for the shoes that they called around looking for their shoes. It's releases like these that make me question why I still do this shoe thing. They're hot shoes, regardless but I just don't know. It's getting a bit tiring. They're not even comfy like my 2000 space jams. Oh well, I got my pair and thats all that matters really.

Livin Off the Wall

2011-12-15T19:57:00.001-08:00

My man Levi Maestro got a collabo done with the Vans Vault. Loving the grey with the suede toe. I hope i can pick these up.

T.R.O.Y.

2011-12-13T23:53:00.001-08:00

Daps and Pounds

2011-12-11T02:40:00.001-08:00

The Landscape: Ira LaFontaine of Compound Gallery from Sole Collector on Vimeo.

A look into Portland's Compound gallery. It's a boutique based in Portland that carries tons of streetwear and art. The video features an interview with Ira Fontane, aka NT's own A-Powers (rap icon, lyrical legend), who is also the main footwear and clothing purchaser for Compound. It's an interesting look into streetwear and the boutique scene.

While we're on the subject of Portland, Brandon Roy retiring is mad depressing. He's way too young to be retiring. But his damn knees have know cartilage and well... he's done.

On another depressing note, the Lakers traded Lamar Odom... for basically nothing. We got cap room and trade bait.... I'm not happy about it. Lamar was one of my favorites. Sad to see him go.

Shine Blockas

2011-12-08T19:08:00.001-08:00

For a good hour, Chris Paul was an LA Laker. I was unsure how I felt about the trade since Lamar Odom was part of it. He's a big part of the team who does the intangibles and I didn't wanna lose that. But when I found out they cancelled the trade, I was heated. That's some BS. How are the owners gonna veto the trade just cuz they think it's unfair? Haters gon hate...

Cashin In

2011-12-06T22:34:00.001-08:00

I will forever be a believer in JR Smith.

The NBA IS BACK! and well... I'm still a huge JR Smith fan and it just so happens that he is an unrestricted free agent! Dude can sign wherever he wants. I keep telling people that he is one good mentor away from being crazy good and everyone laughs in my face. There are so many JR nonbelievers its ridiculous. I'll admit that he hasn't exactly shown his smarts or been the best role model but I think he just hasn't been around the right people. He's always been on unexperienced teams filled with young ones (Hornets) or surrounded by goons (Nuggets.) Give him a good shot and I bet you he'll succeed. He has all the tools to be great. 6"6 shooting guard with unlimited range, crazy athleticism and decent defensive skills? He's the prototypical 2! I bet you if he lands on the Bulls or the Lakers, he can do great things. Mark my words....

Or he can continue doing hoodrat things and still be dope lol

We Can Get Down

2011-11-30T23:04:00.001-08:00

"It's About Time"

This is the final project I put together for my printmaking class. Prints like these are the reason for my lack of sleep. I've been staying late at the CPP art studio working on printmaking projects, making multiples upon multiples of these prints. The whole quarter, I felt like I was kinda struggling. Up until this point, I had never been pleased with how my prints turned out. There was always something wrong with them. This last one right here turned out just right. It feels good to finally get it right. My very first print in the class was of the Nike MAG and it was pretty much terrible. It was bad in critiques and it just wasn't what I was hoping for. I kind of half assed it seeing as how I thought it was just the first print and it wouldn't matter much but bleh, I was wrong. When the time came to do my final plate, I told myself that I wanted to redo the MAG plate and do it right. And after hours of work, I can finally say that I'm pleased with the outcome.

Look What You've Done

2011-11-26T18:57:00.001-08:00

These just came into work the other day.

Houstatlantavegas: Kim Lee

2011-11-21T01:27:00.001-08:00

My affinity for Asian models can't be healthy.

Take Care

2011-11-21T01:01:00.001-08:00

I heard once, that they would rather hear about memories than enemies. Rather hear what was or what will be than what is. Rather hear how you got it over how much it cost you. Rather hear about finding yourself and how you lost you. Rather you make this an open letter about family and struggle and taking forever. About hearts that you've broken and ties that you've severed. No doubt in my mind, that'll make them feel better.

I haven't forgotten about my blog. I just don't have the time to post.

The Ride

2011-11-21T00:49:00.001-08:00

I've been a huge fan of Kevin Durant since day 1. Same goes for his shoe line. The KD2 was the first pair I owned and I was in love. I still play in them to this day and they might be my favorite shoe to play in of all time. They're that good. The 3's? Even more appealing aesthetically but they just don't perform the same for me. Later this month, we'll see the release of the Zoom KD4 and it seems like I'll continue to be purchasing these KD sneakers. These ones are amazing.

I'm Coming Home Again

2011-11-18T00:16:00.001-08:00

I've been so busy lately, that I haven't been able to blog, yet alone breath. From printmaking to digital image design, my mind has been everywhere. I finally got to clear up a little bit of time after working myself like crazy for the past week all so that I can spend the weekend with my family to celebrate Izzy's birthday. With all this stuff going on, I never had the chance to write on my day out in Eagle Rock.

A few weeks ago, I went out to Eagle Rock on my own to get an oil change for Bonita. I decided to just roam around the city for a bit to just take a look at everything. I hadn't been there in a while and it was so refreshing to just walk around the same city I used to walk around when I was younger. I took the opportunity to sit in the St.Dominic's church and just think about everything. It had been years since I was in that church for mass and it was just crazy to me that I could go from being there every Sunday for 9+ years then just disappearing from it all. I really do miss it. I sat there in church just thinking to myself and reflecting on everything, hoping to find some new inspiration for the last stretch of my classes. Lord knows I needed it.

Roc Boys

2011-11-14T10:37:00.001-08:00

Toast

2011-11-05T22:03:00.001-07:00

"Aye man! Put a shirt on! You're not even buff! My dick is bigger than your chest!"

Vic Truong

HiiiiPower

2011-11-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

The Inspiration

The Finished Product

The goal of the project was to create a magazine cover for the now defunct OMNI magazine and using Photoshop to create a cyborg type figure. We had to figure out how to make our audience feel bad for the cyborgs. There has been a lot of LeBron related stuff around me lately so I wanted to do my own take of LeBron's old Sports Illustrated cover. Originally, I was going to just have my model pose with the same stoic look LeBron displayed on the cover, but I wanted to give off more emotion to get the thought of pain across. So I decided to show more expressions and to have it seem like wires were digging into him and wrapping around the neck, pulling him back. I wanted to do more, and have a ton of wires on and around him but I kind of got lazy. The end product turned out pretty good. Like I am going into every crit, I was kinda worried that everyone else in the class would out do mine but to my surprise, I did pretty well compared to everyone else. I do that to myself a lot. Set low expectations so it's easy to surpass them haha.

Got a Dark Skinned Friend...

2011-11-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

Look like Michael Jackson.

Happy Halloween

If You So Gangster

2011-11-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

The bowl cut.
The rainbow circle framed glasses.
The Power Rangers hoody.

Stylin'.

Make Me Proud

2011-11-01T23:58:00.000-07:00

Kuya Vic usually finds weird ways to inspire me or give words of wisdom. Last time it was "You don't want the type of girl you find at the club anyways. I'd rather find a girl at the library reading a book or something." This time, he told me about how proud he would be of me if I were to graduate with my degree in Graphic Design and get a job in the creative field. He wants to see me do what he hasn't been able to do just yet. He didn't want to see me go to "the dark side" that is the medical field. I really didn't know how to react. I was just quiet... sitting in the driver's seat, driving on. I don't think I've heard anyone tell me that they're proud of me in a long ass time. It was a good feeling and it motivated me to keep my mind right and keep it all together. I'll finish this design stuff. I have to.

Big Brother

2011-10-24T22:52:00.001-07:00

Kuya Vic showed up by surprise last week and it couldn't have been at a more perfect time. Always a great source of inspiration to keep my creativity flowing.

Tricks Up My Sleeve

2011-10-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

Trying to find inspiration for my next work.

I'm On One

2011-10-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

I was about at this stage last week.

Sup, my sunglasses too small.

I'm at about this stage right now. Minus the full on cheek hairs.

Now the question is, can a brotha get HERE by Halloween?

4 page letter.

2011-10-16T12:25:00.001-07:00

I miss Aaliyah

See Me Now

2011-10-15T01:19:00.001-07:00

When my professor told me she would display my work in the Cal Poly Pomona library, I imagined it to be a lot more glorious. But I can’t be mad. If you’re around CPP go check out my work!

Go DJ

2011-10-13T23:01:00.000-07:00

Man, I miss Mannie Fresh and Juve. I could kinda do without Mystikal.

Freshly Snipes is that dude.

Trying to Decide Which Way to Go

2011-10-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

"Think I made a wrong turn somewhere back there."

Classes have started and I'm really still trying to find a good way to balance everything out. I've got a pretty packed schedule now that I'm taking Printmaking (dun dun dunnn), the most dreaded class in the art department. Right from the start, we were thrown in to a project and had to get a design done quick. I was looking over past work and found a theme in all of them. I'm not gonna out it on here just yet but where do you go when your source of inspiration is gone? Really. Gone. I'm stuck in limbo trying to find a new source of inspiration right now. I did this quick Nike MAG themed joint that I thought would be a good start, thinking that it was just the first project and she wouldn't really care too much. After all, she didn't even explain exactly what Printmaking is. Welp, it got destroyed in critiques and I really wasn't pleased with how it turned out. So here we are again in search of something new. I'm pretty confident in my next one though. It does take from the old inspiration but I think I'll use it to finish it off. Coming full circle and having a last design based off the first design I did. We'll see how that goes.

On a brighter note, I've been playing the best basketball I've played in a long time. Ever since I came back to play after passing out at the gym and finding out I've got minor scoliosis, my game has been gravy. No major fatigue, a lot more energy on court and best of all my jump shot has been showing signs of its old self. I'm having fun out there. The most fun I've had in a while. I try to downplay it like it's nothing great, but no matter how packed and busy my schedule gets, I'll always try to find a way to play basketball on Saturday mornings. It might be my only source of airing out these next few months.

Love Song

2011-10-06T00:53:00.000-07:00

Photoshop tutorials took forever and a day. I shoulda just cheesed off of em like everyone else did. Anyways, this next project should come full circle with the things that have been going through my mind lately.

Soundtrack to tonight:

Between Syd and Frank Ocean, Odd Future really aint no joke.

Don't Save Her

2011-10-04T23:31:00.001-07:00

Cudder Back

2011-09-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Cudi on Conan, showing off his Nike Mags.

Yeah... I'm jelly.

I'm excited to see season 2 of How to Make It in America. I was really into the first season. It was just really inspirational and made me want to hustle. Not drugs or anything but you get the idea haha. I'm really interested to see how Cudi's new music turns out now that he's not doing drugs anymore. Should be interesting...

21

2011-09-21T14:14:00.001-07:00

Greatness is all about maintenance of a high standard. Never get caught up in the pitfalls of mediocrity.

-Victor Reyes

Flow Shows Promise

2011-09-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

"China" LeBron IX

"...like LeBron James."

Lord Willin'

2011-09-18T00:15:00.001-07:00

Cot damn.

Yeah I Got a Big Ego

2011-09-14T22:02:00.001-07:00

Such a big ego.

Back From the Future

2011-09-14T22:00:00.001-07:00

Seen it with my own eyes. And yup, I'm still ~~the future of the Chi.~~ crying

Free Spirit

2011-09-13T01:52:00.000-07:00

"Damn, my biggest fear is losing it all."

On Friday at around 12pm, I hit the gym with Adrienne after not going to the gym for a while. I felt way out of shape especially after going to the LA county fair and eating tons of fried food (I aint even mad.) My plan was to go run it all of since my lower back had been bothering me for a few weeks and I didn't want to put too much pressure on it by lifting weights. So I ran. And ran. Like I was Forest Gump or something. It was normal for me to run on some machine for about 30minutes or so and just move on to lifting weights. But I guess this time, something went wrong and I ended up passing out at the gym. It all happened pretty fast and its sort of a blur, but I could patch parts together.

I remember getting off the treadmill and feeling a bit wobbly. At the time, I thought my legs were just getting weak on me but that quickly turned into me being dizzy. I held on to the machines next to me and tried to gain my balance. I honestly felt fine. I remember looking around and seeing my old coworker from GNC, Rodrigo, walk by and thinking "Yo, its Rodrigo. I should say whats up." all while Watch the Throne was blasting threw my headphones (N*ggas in Paris makes you do crazy things.) Then from there, I remember closing my eyes to regain my balance and focusing that alone. I can still hear Ye and Hov rapping through all of this but things were just blacked out. Things were dark but I could still make figures out (Maybe it was just Adrienne?) like a woman tellling me to drink water from her water bottle and someone calling my name out. Next thing I know, my eyes are open and I'm being laid down by some trainer and a white woman. They ask me if I'm alright and shit, I feel fine. I'm smiling and joking around like shit, did that just happen? Adrienne is on the side, scared out of her mind. And I'm ready to get up and walk away but they tell me to stay down so they can make sure everything is ok. The way I see it, I was either dehydrated, didn't eat enough in the morning, or I got off the treadmill too fast without doing the cool down and all the blood rushed to my head.... or a mix of all three.

I felt fine. I checked out just fine with all the staff and I'm free to go. After lunch with Adrienne, I headed home and started feeling the effects. Massive headache, slight dizziness and I'm light headed. I feel terrible and try to sleep it off, but this headache is killing me. The right side of my head is throbbing like no other. I was honestly scared. I was afraid that I might have had a brain aneurism like my grandmothers had and shit could get ugly. I didn't tell anyone but that was the biggest thing on my mind. The fainting, the massive headaches, it all sounded way too familiar. In those few hours of not knowing what was going on, all I could think of was the shit I didn't get to do. And you might think thats realy cliche' and all that but its the damn truth. What bugged me out was that it wasn't even like "I never got to see... blah blah." It was the simpest shit ever. I was bugging out that I never did what I said I would do.

This whole scare is over now. I'm feeling good, feeling great. Feeling great, feeling good. How are you? I'm fine. Had a few X-rays for my lower back, a CT scan to make sure my brain is alright and I'm almost back to 100%. But it still left an impression on my life. I feel like I have a lot of shit to do with my life to get to the point where I won't feel like I had underachieved with the time I had. I had this big master plan I wanted to get done for quite some time now but just never pulled the trigger. I've gotta get it done now. It's what bugged me the most during those two days. I don't want to regret never getting it done. Yeah, it's been said before but life is too short man... I'm just gonna live fearless. Life is too short to be afraid to do something.

~~Now excuse me while I collect my life savings to place a bid on these Air MAGs...~~ LOL right... But really though, I think I'm about to do something ridiculously outlandish and wild. Hope all the blood doesn't rush to my head and mess me up again. Can't stop. Won't stop. Eheh eheh.

Heavy Hitters

2011-09-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Yet another MAESTRO Knows episode that I love. This one follows Hit-Boy of the Surf Club x GOOD Music. He's the genius behind the N*ggas In Paris beat and it turns out he lives right around my way in Fontana. Who woulda thought?

Back From the Future

2011-09-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

So the NIKE x Air MAG coverage has been non stop since the big unveiling. Never got to post it on here but Nike produced 1500 pairs of the shoe and pairs will be auctioned off every day til the 18th of September. The highest bid so far was the Live auction that went for around $35,500 with the Google CEO matching every bid as a donation. So in a sense, the first pair went for $71,000. Crazy right? All the proceeds from the auctions will go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's disease research. It seems amazing to me that Nike can put together such an inspiring project. The insane part is that Tinker and Nike developer Tiffany Beers put the project together about 6 or so years ago, without even telling Michael J. Fox. Interviews say that they didn't tell Fox about it until about 2 months ago.

Things like this are the reason why I can back Nike as much as I do. A lot of people find it strange that I'm so nuts about footwear. That I can be so excited about a pair of shoes. They even go as far as to bash Nike and call it some kind of monster that does little or nothing for society. They say yo theres no difference between Nike and Adidas or any other shoe brand. People always bring up sweat shops and all that stuff. But look at this. LOOK AT THIS. Nike, in secrecy for years, put together a project that took years to develop and produced 1500 pairs of shoes. All of which helped bring money together and awareness for a good cause. As Bobby Hundreds put it, its a pure passion project.

Tinker Hatfield, the designer behind TONS of legendary Nike and Jordan basketball shoes, didn't do all of this for the money or the recognition it'd bring. It's all passion. "It’s a project that touches so many different people’s lives in so many different ways, leaving all with positive vibes." It reaches out to everyone. The sneakerheads who have been fiending for the shoes since it's appearance in Back to the Future II, the fanboys who love Back to the Future, and the people suffering from Parkinson's who are in need of a cure all come together to help support a good cause. Nike did it again for me. They put together great work.

From putting together the build up, creating a sense of secrecy, a great reveal and the press coverage was all executed perfectly. There's more going on here than creating the lightest basketball shoes possible. Where is everyone bragging about 9.8 ounce bball shoes now? We're out here doing better things for the world. How can you ask me to turn my back on that? To me, Nike and shoes in general are more than just pieces of leather and rubber put together with some shoe laces. The footwear world is something that reaches out to me. Its a way to express yourself, through fashion, art and performance. And as it has been shown here, it can help bring change to a lot of people's lives.

I was a little unsure of how to really react to Nike bringing so much press and exposure to the shoes. The fiend for shoes in me was upset because it would only make it more difficult for me to obtain these shoes. The sneaker aficionado in me was just excited that Nike was finally going to release the Air Mags and was about to get more shine for doing such a good thing. The human in me convinced myself that auctioning the shoes off for the MJFF was the best thing possible since it's a great way to make the world more aware of what's going on. It's a great cause.

It's all about passion.

It's about time.

They Say

2011-09-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

...that all your old girls got somebody new. I said, "Damn, really?"

LOL damn you Drake.

It's About Time

2011-09-09T01:06:00.001-07:00

Your Fly Is Open McFly

2011-09-08T00:12:00.000-07:00

Nike has always had a way with the theatrics. But they really topped themselves with this one. In a move that no one saw coming, tonight, Nike released a viral video titled "McFly's Closet" which showed a room of shelves filled with pairs of the Nike Air MAG. For those that don't know, the Air MAG is the shoe that Michael J. Fox wore in Back to the Future 2. For that reason, most people refer to them as the McFly's.

A few years ago, it was revealed that Nike filed the patents to the mold for the McFly. People were buzzing but that soon died down. I personally thought that they were just the patents they filed for when they made the MAGs for the actual movie back in the 80's. Then there were rumors that the Nike Team was spotted around the Puente Hills Mall, filming a commercial. (Random fact: parts of Back to the Future 2 were filmed there). To find out that this was all true, surprised me. I'm really excited about this. This is HUGE. People thought the Air Yeezy 2 release was gonna be crazy, but THIS is gonna be insane.

Nike even pulled all the stops for the special invites for the unveiling:

Crack Music

2011-09-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

My latest pick up: The Blake Griffin Hyperdunk 2011

Really really considering swapping these for the cool grey pair tho. I don't need all the attention that comes with "Bright Mango and 3M" all over my feet.

King

2011-09-04T00:39:00.000-07:00

This is a blog post I took from my Uncle Victor's Tumblr..

So I’ve always been an all or nothing kind of guy. At the age of 17 I made the rash decision to get a tattoo because I wanted to be like The Rock and Allen Iverson. Since then, I’ve kind of regretted my choice due to the image that tattoos portray among professional folk. But because I’ve already gotten started on marking my “temple”, why not finish the job, right? I didn’t want to continue with just anything. I needed somthing personal. Something unique. I decided to go with a family crest, but I didn’t just want to take on the Spanish Reyes family crest of the country that “colonized”(raped) my homeland(Word to Mexico). That would defeat the purpose of being unique and creative as well as what myself and my family represent.

I started off by looking at the meaning of different animals on family crests. I then separated the body into 3 separate portions to show right-off-the-bat that this is a FILIPINO family crest. I looked at a ton of family crests and played with a lot of different embellishment arrangements like banner placement. With the strong heritage ties, I looked up the Alibata(Baybayin) alphabet and tried to come up with different meanings that I wanted to display on the banner.

This next round of sketching just had me pushing the arrangements further as well as refining the detail in each portion of the crest. When I thought about my family the first thing that came to mind was Love and Loyalty. Love represented by the dove on the left and Loyalty represented by the Lion on the right. It was only fitting to add a crown in there to embody the translation of Reyes-Kings.

After a few more thumbnail sketches I decided to ditch the banner and words all together because I felt that symbols should be descriptive enough for viewers to see the meaning that the owner of the tattoo intended. I took the animals out of the crest to add an element of balance and symmetry and replaced them with 23 sunrays. 23-being the number it takes to turn a certain repetitive act into habit. I also decided to use an Aesop-type script for the R(the kind that children’s story’s always begin with.) to represent the imagination/creativity that my family exudes. I replaced the dove with another Lion to represent myself and my brother Cedric.

For the final piece, I decided to scrap the Lions because this crest isn’t just about my immediate family, its about our family name as a whole and what we represent. I replaced it with a pair of wings that signify aspiration, drive, passion and good will. I have a few more details to iron out but this is pretty much what will be going on my left forearm in a couple of weeks. REPRESENT!

This blog post was from months ago, so here's the finished product:

I love my family, man.

I also decided to use an Aesop-type script for the R(the kind that children’s story’s always begin with.) to represent the imagination/creativity that my family exudes.

Truer words have never been spoken. As the Reyes Creative Team rolls along...

I Hate Summers

2011-08-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

As of July 1, because of the collective bargaining agreement, the NBA has been in a Lockout. Meaning the players can't use their facilities to practice, they can't talk to coaches, and the NBA can't use any images of current NBA players, leaving NBATV almost useless. Well in all of this terrible bargaining, one thing has shown up to save the day: Summer League Basketball.

Players like Kevin Durant, Brandon Jennings and James Harden have been putting in WORK over the summer, playing ball all over the country, and even over seas. Every now and then, you'll catch an appearance from LeBron and Kobe in these random rec leagues too. I guess these random videos will have to hold me off until the NBA comes back.

Melo League (Melo, LeBron, Chris Paul +) vs Goodman League (Kevin Durant)

Drew League (LA) vs Goodman League (DC)

Kobe at the Drew League in LA

Jennings vs Selby pt.2

Jennings vs Selby pt.1

KD at the Drew

KD at the Rucker

Base For Ya Face

2011-08-31T11:13:00.000-07:00

My favorite Lil B Cookin' video was deleted off facebook a few months ago and I was left with an empty void in my soul. Then I found this video and I feel complete again hahaha. My goodness, it's a terrible song but this video makes me laugh every time.

Finally Famous

2011-08-25T17:08:00.000-07:00

2 thoughts while watching this video:

1.Theres no way Vic is gonna be able to do this interview with a straight face.
2. Damn I'm gonna miss getting hair cuts from Ray :/

Hate Me Too

2011-08-24T01:46:00.000-07:00

My reactions to finding out Brenda Song was pregnant with this man's child:

Ruined my whole damn day.

Mighty Mighty Titans

2011-08-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

Theres a boutique out in the Philippines called Titan that I've been keeping an eye on for a while for when my aunt goes out there to visit. They put out a line of polos, caps and crewneck sweaters (why you would need a sweater in the Philippines is beyond me) that are pretty dope so I asked my aunt to pick up a few things. She came back with the polo but cot damn I want that pocket pull over.

It's a Secret Society

2011-08-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

Things have been poppin on Niketalk...

NTFL vs. Wale

Little known fact: Wale is an NTer and has been before he even blew up. So of course, NT being NT, we hate on our own just for the fun of it. We don't mean anything by it. It's just fun and games. But Wale gets offended real easily and is known to fire back with a quickness. This weekend, a bunch of New York NTers decided to go on a trip to Florida together and just chill. Welp, out of all the celebrities they coulda run into in Miami, who do they run into? Wale hahaha. After running into them, Wale confronted them about talking shit online but never saying anything to his face. What did the NTFL coalition do? Nothing lol. NT I haz disappoint.

MayorNYC vs Stephon Marbury

I'm on twitter quite often and people ask me how I can be on there for so long but hey, you guys would be on there a lot too if you followed NT twitters. People on there are full of jokes and the trolling is epic. This dude MayorNYC likes trolling celebrities to see what kind of replies he can get. Well, last week, he went at former NBA All Star, Stephon Marbury. He called him garbage for playing in China and not even being a starting point guard and playing in $15 shoes. Welp, Steph told him to meet him at JFK airport on friday to see who's really wack. And later on put out a hit on Mayor, offering $10k to anyone who would give him Mayor's info lol After NTers pretended to snitch, things blew over and nothing popped off... in traditional NT fashion. The disses thrown back and forth tho were amazing. I'll screen cap later.

Business Man

2011-08-21T01:05:00.000-07:00

So I worked hard to get Adrienne outta hibernation so we could go shoot some hoops at 24hr fitness since she was bugging me to go play ball and after failing to find an empty court, we headed to the Donut Man...

Talk about counter productive.

That Shit Cray

2011-08-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Otis

2011-08-12T00:34:00.000-07:00

*Chops up my Accord “Bonita” and does donuts while wearing my Banned 1s and a snapback with my brother riding shotgun and hella fine bitches in the backseat*

Watch the Throne came out Monday and apparently went platinum off of pre-sales alone? Goodness... I didn't like it at first but after a few spins, I started to like it more and more. The first track to really jump out at me was "Gotta Have It", probably because the Neptunes stan in me found out they did the beat. Soon after that, "Niggas in Paris" became my favorite song off the album. Lyrically, the album is great. Production wise? I was kinda expecting more.

1.No Church in the Wild: Its a good song to kick off the album with. Sets the tone I guess. I'm just kinda tired of the Frank Ocean hype train. Good to see dude getting his shine though.

2. Lift Off: One of my favorite songs on the album. The outro to the song where the beat changes up is BANANAS. x____x

3. N*ggas In Paris: Song is straight Gorillaz (I don't even know what that means.) This song is gonna get crazy play everywhere. Hitboy is crazy for this beat.

4. Otis: As the first song off of WTT that wasn't HAM, I was disappointed at first. I was expecting so much more but it has really grown on me.

5. Gotta Have It: Ye + Jay Z + the Neptunes. Nuff said.

6. New Day: This is a song that'll probably fly under a lot of radars but I liked it a lot. It gives a small view into Kanye's mind. He points out his flaws and talks about raising his son to be his exact opposite. Hov does the same. I could go deeper into it but I'll just leave on the fact that it's a RZA + Kanye collabo.

7. That's My Bitch: This was my shit when it first leaked. Of course back when it first leaked, the drums hit a little harder, and Ye was mumbling over the chorus just to get some kind of rhythm down, just showing that the song was unfinished. The album version has reworked drums and a new hook, which is cleaned up very nicely.

8. Welcome to the Jungle: It probably is a much better song than I take it to be but I can't get past Swizz Beats -___- "SHOWTIME!"

9. Who Gon Stop Me: It's aight. It gets you hype when the time calls for it. But it's just alright to me.

10. Murder in Excellence: Another introspective track with another sick beat change up towards the end.

11. Made It in America: My brother loves this track, and I've already expressed my thoughts on Frank Ocean. The song is cool but I never latched onto it like my brother seems to.

12. Why I Love You: I wasn't expecting this song to be so high paced. When I read the title, I was expecting a slow song with 112 or Jagged Edge on the hook.

(The leak I DL'd wasn't the delux edition so it didn't have Illest Mother Fucker Alive or The Joy so I can't say shit about it. Well actually, I loved the Joy from GOOD fridays. It was actually my favorite GOOD friday song.)

Overall, it's a good album. I'd suggest anyone to go buy a copy.

8.

I'm Liable

2011-08-07T02:07:00.000-07:00

to go Michael.
Take your pick:
Jackson,
Tyson,
Jordan,
Game 6.

KD Interlude

2011-08-04T00:04:00.000-07:00

During this past Spring quarter, I was given an assignment in my Marketing class that required me to develop a marketing plan for any product I choose. Luckily I was thrown into a group with people who didn't really care what product we used so I was given a lot of creative control. Me being me, I gave out the idea to market the Nike Zoom KD3.

The main goal I wanted to reach with this project was to make our campaign stand out from everyone else's. That, and to destroy the other group in the class that chose a Nike product to market. I figured that most people would just throw together one simple print ad, and talk about distribution of ads and budgets and what not. So I wanted to really go into detail about our ads and have a strong purpose with it all. Above all, I approached it like it was a real Nike ad. You all know that I love the brand. So I wanted to do the company justice.

I looked at past and current Nike ads and dissected them all to see how I could improve them. I noticed that after a while, most people get tired of commercials and ads that they see all the time. To fix this, I wanted to market the KD3 with a campaign that was split into three separate parts to represent different parts in the NBA season. The NBA season spans from around October all the way to June. Thats a long 9 months. So to have the same commercials and same print ads ran for such a long time, would lead to many people getting bored and uninterested. The ads would be split up into three sections: The beginning of the season, (which is more playful and fun) the middle of the season, (around Christmas time and the All Star break) and the postseason, (when things get really serious).

The first campaign would be really fun and playful seeing as how its the start of a new season and people are excited to play. We wanted to play off of KD's alter ego "Velvet Hoop", who was introduced in Nike's Hyperizers commercials. We'd have KD rapping and tweeting thru a twitter account attached to Velvet Hoop to gain the attention of the audience and especially the attention of little kids who could be new fans of Durant. The main point we wanted to push was that the shoe was affordable and cheap, yet great on the court.

Towards the middle of the season we wanted to use All Star weekend to push Durant's product by showcasing the shoes along side Kobe and LeBron's shoes. Feature special colors and hold contests and what not just to get people buzzing about the shoe. All Star weekend is a time where

Lastly, we wanted to switch up the tone towards the end of the season around Playoff time. The NBA playoffs is when things get serious. Teams get locked in and begin their quest to win that Championship. To reflect this mood, we wanted once again showcase Durant as a player and his shoes by throwing him in a joint campaign with Kobe and LeBron. The ads would be titled "The Hunt" The way I saw it, during the playoffs every team involved is in the hunt for the championship. In the same way, Kobe, LeBron and Durant are part of that hunt. That, and the three also have nicknames that have to do with animals that are predators. Kobe the Black Mamba, LeBron has his Lion logo and Durant as the "Durantula." What better way to showcase them hunting for the championship than by showcasing their animals and their killer instinct?

Clipse and J Timberlake

2011-07-29T23:35:00.000-07:00

Now how heavy is that?

FINALLY got myself a pair of Nike LunarEclipses with the 50% off.

Believe me when I say that I've worn plenty of shoes in my lifetime. All kinds from all brands. So when I tell you that these are easily the most comfortable shoes the I've ever worn, that speaks volumes. I'm geeked about getting these. GAHHHH

Pull Strings like Geppetto

2011-07-22T11:15:00.001-07:00

Trouble On My Mind- Pusha T feat. Tyler, the Creator

2011-07-21T18:35:00.001-07:00

Luxury rap, the Hermes of verses. Sophisticated ignorance I write my curses in cursive.

By Your Side

2011-07-19T23:46:00.000-07:00

During the days where I would scour youtube/myspace for any Neptunes produced songs that I could, I would always run into this clip of Pharrell called the "ecology of love" and it'd be a random acting clip of P with some girl in a room with the Neptunes remix to "By Your Side" playing in the background. Well... YEARS later, here's the full clip.

Sweat...suit.

2011-07-18T22:53:00.000-07:00

Shout out to Natasha, Trang and Adrienne for answering my many questions before Manika's debut.

-Blue shirt/black slacks/ silver tie? Blue shirt, khaki slacks, gold tie, black vest? Blue/black/gold tie? Vest? No Vest?

Part 2 of my brother's COD videos:

Oh, and my brother? He "chokes bitches."

Mad on the phone

2011-07-16T13:16:00.000-07:00

Can't hang up. But I'm hung up on you.

Damn, I love this song.

What You Need

2011-07-14T21:56:00.000-07:00

Did I mention how much I love the KD3? I'm way behind on this but here are this year's "Scoring Title" edition of the Kevin Durant's shoe. Theres also a home white version but for some reason, this matte grey just sticks out to me. I love it way more. I liked the shoe so much that I chose to use it as my product for my marketing class. I made a whole ad campaign for the KD3s and presented it to the class. I'll post the ads up later on.

B#$%& I LOOK LIKE GOKU

2011-07-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

:[ It's ok Jamie Chung, I still love you. Even after this and the live action Dragon Ball movie.

Just Be Cool

2011-07-13T02:18:00.000-07:00

Just Ride or Die

2011-07-11T00:40:00.000-07:00

Til we get high. Together til the world end.

Last night was kind of a weird night for my family. We all went to separate parties and each marked different points in our lives. Me and my brother went off to Manika's debut. My sister went to Geoff's baby's baptism and my parents went to their friend's 65th birthday. It's crazy how life works out sometimes.

Getting More LA and Valley Girls

2011-07-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

"...than Cal States. Duh."

Fireworks

2011-07-04T21:06:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July everybody. To celebrate America day, I'm gonna show off some of my favorite Olympic/USA colorway shoes. Oh, and there's VC's dunk over (and I mean OVER) 7"2 Freddy Weis. One of the greatest dunks ever. It still amazes me 11 years later to see a dude jump over a dude during a game.

Nike Air Zoom Kobe 1

Nike Zoom Kobe 2

Air Jordan VI Olympic

Nike Air Force 180

Nike Air More Uptempo

Nike Zoom Hyperfuse

Nike Zoom KD2

Air Jordan VII USA

Don't Be Mad

2011-06-29T14:41:00.001-07:00

UPS is hiring

Deconstructing Biggie: UPS is Hiring from jeff on Vimeo.

With "God's Son"

2011-06-25T00:30:00.000-07:00

"...tatted across the Belly."

Sugar Ray

2011-06-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

I hate he Celtics. I don't even wear green because of them. But I love Ray Allen and the Jordan XIII was one of my favorite Jordans growing up. So when I found out that they're releasing Ray's XIII's to commemorate his 3 point record I was GEEKED. I was saying no more shoes besides Lunar Eclipses until next year's white/cement IVs but DAMN. I need these .__.

The Lights

2011-06-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

"..., the love, the rights, the wrongs. They told me it wouldn't be night for long."

Summer has been something else so far:
-MOCA/DTLA/Santa Monica con Rachel
-Big Sean album leak
-Tita Cecile's bday in Glendale
-Josh's Birfday at BJ's
-The Qwelf game that followed x__x
-Izzy's recital
-Baking crack cocaine with Adrienne
-CHUCK INGLISH! .__.

All pics courtesy of Rachel

Grindin'

2011-06-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

Grindi'n- Dom Kennedy

Never feels like summer until I'm bumping some new Dom Kennedy tracks in Bonita with the windows down and my speakers up.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

2011-06-16T00:29:00.000-07:00

All I wanna do is ride around shining while I can afford it.

My nieces are growing up so fast. Izzy's got this crush on a boy in her class named Jerimiah. Sooner or later me and my brother/cousin/in-laws are gonna have to be on some Bad Boys 2 steez.

I'll Say

2011-06-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

"I think I'm addicted to naked pictures and sitting, talking bout bitches that we almost had. I don't think I'm conscious of making monsters out of the women I sponsor till it all goes bad."

Lol at Drake having a song called Marvins room. Cmon son.

"But shit its all good."

I Go to Work

2011-06-09T23:50:00.000-07:00

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

"You can't do it til you cat daddy."

I went to CPK with my family tonight and they got our order messed up and it took forever and a day for them to get Alexa her order. Turns out they made the order and accidentally gave it to someone else. So the manager was nice enough to give us a big discount and on top of that, we asked our waitress to do the cat daddy/dougie with Justin. Enjoy.

Tatted Up

2011-06-09T01:19:00.000-07:00

Random: Browsing through the NT tattoo thread and DAMN this girl is pretty.

More random: I'm still mad that Nike didn't release ANY of the Nike LeBron 7 HWC colorways. ALL of them were amazing. And 0 released? Messin up Nike.

Party

2011-06-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Yeezy

It Ain't Safe in the City

2011-06-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

Breaking News: Hov cut his hair! Watch the Throne is DONE! WOOOOO DROP THAT JOINT ALREADY!

Fact: Jay Z grows his hair out when he's recording an album. When it done, he gets a cut. It's like smoke at the Vatican! LOL

One in a Million

2011-06-05T22:16:00.000-07:00

Good LORD. I'm glad I was able to get my pair without having to go through some BS like this. Truly blessed. I mentioned on twitter that these were the first Jordans that I've wanted in a long time. I don't think there was a pair I've wanted more since the Grape Vs. I NEEDED these. Ok well if you want to get all technical, I WANTED these. Bad. I was ready to wake up early and camp out for these quick. I had a 5am wake up call so I could get there early. Too bad I found out that there were already 100+ heads in line at Ontario Mills. After Josh got rejected at Ontario, we zoomed off to Cabazon, where no one really knew that they would release and found a spot in line. Neither of us had ever driven so far to get some shoes, so it was an adventure for both of us. Luckily we were able to get in line and get wristbands so we could get our pairs. No running, no stampedes and no crazy waiting in line for hours with hella people. I got my size, the last one as a matter of fact. Unfortunately, Josh was left with a size 11 as well when he's a 10.

I know, the black/red Jordan 1s have released around 3 times in the past two years but theres something different about these. Story is that Jordan Brand was supposed to release these around last November but they scrapped them after they already put them into production. They say this was done because Jordan brand didn't want to give everyone hope that all their shoes would have Nike Air on them like these 1s did. Another thing that separates these 1s from the rest is the type of leather used. Jordan brand received a lot of complaints over the past few years about using cheap quality leathers that were like cardboard, but for these, they used a tumbled leather that was a lot softer than normal and had a weathered looked to them. People claim that the quality is way better but I'm not too sure about that. I just like the feel of it haha. After scrapping these, Nike decided to release all of them through the outlets as B-Grade shoes seeing as how they will still release these with a few changes. One was the leather used, another being that there would be black rubber X's across the heel as opposed to the red painted X's on these versions. There would also be X's over the Jordan wings logo and a Jumpman on the tongue instead of a Nike Air logo. Needless to say, people went crazy over these versions over the ones that should be releasing. I'm just happy I was able to get my pair in my size. I'm not looking to flip them like a lot of people who got them to resell on NT/ebay/ISS. I mean, they were going for $300+! I'm just looking for a good shoe. I've worn them every day for the past 4 days lol. Here's to loving a good shoe. *toasts*

Not Think So

2011-06-05T20:34:00.001-07:00

Highsnobiety TV – A Set Free Minute with Mos Def from Highsnobiety on Vimeo.

Better We Can

2011-06-04T22:03:00.001-07:00

I'm On One

2011-06-02T00:21:00.000-07:00

Got em coach. Really lucked out today.

Warning

2011-05-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

Nurse: Who's gonna be helping you?
Sister: My brother.
Nurse: Your brother?
Sister: Yeah, my brother is a nice guy.
Nurse: Oh, he should be careful. Girls are evil. They'll take advantage of him or something.
Sister: Pshh we know that.

I think we figured that out 3 girls ago.

"I want women to cry and pour out their heart for me. And tell me how much they hate it when they're apart from me."

Grown Simba

2011-05-31T21:03:00.000-07:00

The LeBron Lion logo that I etched into a mirror for Cancino's Advanced Art class that I took sophomore year of high school. Probably can't tell from my blog but I've always been a LeBron fan. And when I saw the lion logo laser etched into the LeBron 2's (my personal favorite out of the LeBron line), I fell in love with it. When the time came for me to get something etched into a mirror, I knew what I wanted right away. This was probably the first time that one of my ideas that I had in my head came out really close to how I envisioned it.

I loved the whole lion/king theme that went with LeBron's shoes because it flows well with the whole Reyes last name.

2011-05-31T13:18:00.001-07:00

"Teamwork makes the dream work."

All Over the Hood

2011-05-31T12:51:00.001-07:00

"Like LRG"

It's crazy that a day after I post that line, the owner of LRG passes away. I don't know too much about him other than the fact that he was cool with Ben Baller. I remember him and Ben always posting on NT back when I first started roaming the forums. Rest in Peace.

"Education through Imagination"

I Can't Stop Til We All Ball

2011-05-30T15:33:00.000-07:00

"And walk around with gold in our mouth like Paul Wall.
Homie F all yall.
I just stay on the grind and act artsy.
Til we all over the hood like LRG."

I unexpectedly had to tell a Sparknotes version of the Vanessa Hudgens story at Dube's birthday party. I was kinda rusty with my public speaking skills but I guess it was great to sharpen em back up before my IBM final presentation wednesday. It was funny hearing Bowen say "Yo, I read about it on the blog but I never heard it like this. It sounds so much better in person." I guess the Vanessa Hudgens story really is something else. That story had Kevin on the edge of his seat. And although I wasn't able to tell him the story book ending he was hoping for, it still amazed him. I really should sell the rights to this story to movie company haha.

Kill These Lows

2011-05-30T10:36:00.001-07:00

The one song that I actually liked off Wale's last tape. People praised it but "A Mixtape About Nothing" was better IMO

Honda Accord Music

2011-05-29T18:24:00.001-07:00

RAPSODY - HONDA ACCORD MUSIC (REMIX) from Pricefilms on Vimeo.

Well...

2011-05-29T00:53:00.000-07:00

"Imagine punching somebody so hard that they turned into a door. Then you found out that’s where ALL doors come from, and you got initiated into a murder club that makes doors. The stronger you punch, the better the door. So there are like super strong" murderers who punch people into Venetian doors and *++#.

Probably the most random reply to a post that I've ever seen on NT.

Walkin' On the Moon

2011-05-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

DJ Greg Street's sneaker collection brought to you by the good people at TheShoeGame.com

There are a TON of random, obscure shoes thrown in there that most people forget about like those purple toe'd Purple Devil New Balance's from way back when I first started hitting up Niketalk. I remember everyone going crazy for those back then. I was always a big fan of those. Add in the fact that he has original Air Force Ones and Bo trainers from the 80s all looking ridiculously fresh and brand new? This stuff really is ridiculous. I've seen some crazy collections but this is something else. I'm not even gonna mentions how crazy those black/infrared Jordan VIs are... straight disgusting yet absolutely beautiful at the same time.

Yeah I Got on Sneaks

2011-05-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

"But I need a new pair. Cuz basketball courts in the summer got girls there."

^Thats a damn lie btw, Will.

For a second, I totally forgot I had a pair of grapes.

The ills

2011-05-26T01:56:00.000-07:00

I think I'm gonna have to make some power moves, and revamp the team. Maybe even trade away a few players on the roster I don't want to.

And Then... You Realize

2011-05-26T01:44:00.000-07:00

~~That life is but a joke. And the laugh's on you.~~

That Melyssa Grace unfollowed you on twitter and you can't DM her anymore. ( ._.)

Why you gotta go and do that, love, huh? #FirstWorldProblems