of california skatelab hanni el khatib hermanas artigas

VOL 5
SPRING 2015
COST: Free in the free world
GARRET T LEIGHT CALIFORNIA OP TICAL PRESENTS
OF CALIFORNIA
FE ATURING
SKATELAB
LEGENDARY SKATE PARK, MUSEUM,
& CELEBRITY BABYSITTING
HERMANAS ARTIGAS
MASTERS OF SHAPED
BODY METAL
HANNI EL KHATIB
THE WHISKEY-GLAZED CO-FOUNDER
OF CHILLSVILLE
A N D MO R E FROM
RICARDO MEDINA, LUIGI DIAZ, ANA HOP, ALANNA HALE, MIKE SELSKY, IAN FLANIGAN,
ANA KARLA, JOSH SPENCER, LA ISLA BONITA, JOSH REED, ABE ATRI, BRIAN KENT,
OAXACA, MEXICO CITY, & BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR.
w w w .GA R R E T T L E I G H T. c o m
GARRET T LEIGHT CALIFORNIA OP TICAL PRESENTS
OF CALIFORNIA
GARRET T LEIGHT CALIFORNIA OP TICAL
COPY EDITOR
Patrick Sullivan
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Garrett Leight
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Mark Gainor
3 9 3 HAY E S ST R E E T
SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA
O P E N I N G S UM M E R 2 0 1 5
#GLCO
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
3 9 3 HAY E S ST R E E T
SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA
O P E N I N G S UM M E R 2 0 1 5
#GLCO
G A R R E T T L E I G H T C ALI F O RN I A O PT I C AL
393
H AYE S SS
T REET
393
HAYES
TR EET
SAN F RAN CISCO CAL IF O RN IA
SA N F O
R PE
AN
C I S C O C A LI F OR N I A
N IN G SU M M E R 2 0 1 5
OPE N I N G #SGL
UCO
M M E R 2015
#G LC O
I can still remember the first time I asked my mom the difference between Mexican and Spanish.
In fact, I think it was my aunt who corrected me because I was trying to argue that they were
basically the same thing. For some reason I was made to feel really stupid that I was trying to
say there was no difference from being Spanish and being Mexican (that’s probably because I was
arguing with my Mexican side of the family), but technically I wasn’t totally wrong, just mostly
wrong. Seeing how Spain conquered Mexico in the 1500’s, some people of Mexican origin have Spanish
blood running through their veins. I’m not all that passionate about history, which is evident by
the fact that this just dawned on me, I guess I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell my
mean aunt that I wasn’t entirely wrong. And most importantly, this leads me to the interesting
point that Mexican Americans aren’t all that informed about Mexico’s history.
It’s fair to say that California is an extension of Mexico, and, because of that, all things
Mexican dictate much of the lifestyle. We all know how and where to order our favorite taco or
horchata and we can even do it in Spanish if we want to. We even all might know who Pancho Villa
is, but do we know what he did? I don’t think most of us do. Californians, and Arizonans, New
Mexicans, and probably Texans too, aren’t all that informed about our neighbors to the south. As
a half Mexican and half Lithuanian Jew from California (I felt the need to mention the Jew part
so Hollywood takes me seriously), I’ve always really identified with my Mexican heritage. However,
the education system never gave me an opportunity to dive further into it. Did you know that 38%
of California’s total population is Latino? In fact the white population is 39%. Hell, I was an
ethnic studies minor in a California college, and I don’t recall one available course regarding
Chicano culture. There were options for the other three popular races (African American, Asian
American, & Native American) that make up almost 20% of California’s population, but nothing for
the Latinos. I guess it could be worse; in Arizona it is literally illegal to teach Chicano culture.
In this edition of Spectacle we dive into the Mexican culture and what it looks like from both
inside and outside of its respective “territory.” Fortunately for me, this edition took me personally into Mexico City for the first time. An experience that opened my eyes to the heritage,
which I often claim. We met with artists, musicians, chefs, and even Mescalero’s that are moving
Mexico’s needle, so to speak. All of this at an interesting time when Mexico may just be on the
brink of their next revolution. For the first time in 100 years since the original Mexican revolution, a complete revamping of Mexico’s political system does not seem impossible. But you won’t
find much of that in these pages. You won’t read much about drug cartels or the corrupt government.
No one paid off any Federali's to make this magazine possible. As always this publication focuses
on art, music, and culture because that’s what inspires us. And, if nothing else, highlighting
the talent and beauty of these Mexican creators is a positive step in the right direction for a
country on the brink.
39 3 H AYE S S T REET
SAN F RAN CISCO CAL IF O RN IA
O PE N IN G SU M M E R 2 0 1 5
# GL CO
3 9 3 HAYES S TR EET
SA N F R A N C I S C O C A LI F OR N I A
OPE N I N G S U M M E R 2015
#G LC O
w w w .GA R R E T T L E I G H T. c o m
PHOTOGRAPHY - RICK RODNEY
SPRING 2015
HANNI EL KHATIB
WWW.RICKRODNEYPHOTO.COM
VOL 5
PAGE 5
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 7
HANNI EL KHATIB
LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA
WORDS BY
YASI SALEK
MARGARET ATWOOD ONCE SAID, “We live in the gaps between the
stories.” Well, technically she said, “We lived in the gaps
between the stories,” and she was talking about a group of
female slaves in a future dystopian society, but that doesn’t
mean her profound words don’t apply to all of us. For example, if you follow the popular narrative, musician Hanni El
Khatib, a heavy-drinking, rabble-rousing, retro-loving cartoon character. Nearly every review of his early music used
the words “swagger”, “outsider”, or “whiskey-glazed” (I’d
like to take credit for that last one, as I wrote it into his
very first bio nearly five years ago). In fairness, Hanni provided some of the print-worthy catchphrases himself; his first
album, 2011’s When The Guns Come Out, proclaimed itself to be
“music for anyone who has ever been shot or hit by a train.”
And, as a lifelong artist, longtime designer, and a Creative
Director, he had specific ideas of how he wanted to present his
art to the world. It’s doubtful he knew how far people would
take his narrative, how narrowly they would define it, and how
much of Hanni El Khatib, the person, would exists outside of
that popular narrative. Even now, how much of Hanni lives in
the gaps between the stories? A lot.
For example: did you know that before he became a growling
rock star, Hanni and a friend ran a popular blog called
Chillsville, which was an imaginary town populated by only
chill animals? I did, mostly because I was said friend and
am maybe still holding on to our 2010 dream (we were going
to knock Farmville right out of the game!). What else don’t
we know about the 33-year-old garage rocker (that is more
pertinent to this story and not about me)? Let’s start with
8-year-old Hanni, a truly weird kid who loved drawing and
skateboarding, and who turned in a “what I want to be when I
grow up” paper in the third grade that expressed an interest
in a future in graphic design. “I didn’t know it was called
a graphic designer, but my aunt worked for an ad agency that
designed the Body Glove logo. I was so fascinated with logos,
like Gotcha, Rusty, and Stussy, that I just knew I wanted
that job.”
Eleven years later, he got that job, after enrolling in
Academy of Art in San Francisco and dropping out a year later
when he was offered a position at an ad agency where one of
his professors was a partner. “I was the youngest person that
worked there. I was 19 and a fully salaried junior designer.
It was fucking cool.” He worked there, making way more money
and having way less fun than a kid his age should, until he
up and quit out of nowhere a few years later to go on a three
week tour with his friend Marc Bianchi’s music project, Her
Space Holiday. Hanni had picked up the guitar at the age of
eleven, after a year of ill-fated piano lessons, and dabbled
in middle school grunge rip-off bands (“We did really bad
versions of Nirvana songs. Early 90s, you know? Which probably
would be hot on the blogs now”) before turning his interest to
making beats. Yes, Mr. El Khatib is a secret underground hiphop nerd. The two skills combined made him the perfect ringer
for Her Space Holiday, a band with both rock and electronic
components, and burnt out on his job and craving some fun, he
jumped at the chance to change up his life.
But playing with Bianchi wasn’t a full time thing, so, once
back in San Francisco, Hanni went back to the design world,
freelancing around for a while before a brief stint with
the Gap, which he eventually left to work with his pal, pro
skateboarder Keith Hufnagel. Hufnagel had recently decided
to take his successful shoe stores and launch a full brand,
and tapped Hanni to help him execute his vision. HUF is
the part of the story that everyone knows, with a slew of
articles painting Hanni as the skateboard artist turned indie
rocker, tying his slick image to his background in, well,
slick imagery, marveling at the fact that a designer could so
quickly 180 into making music like that. But the truth is, it
was no 180, and it was hardly quick.
During his six years at HUF, Hanni had not only been creating
iconic imagery for a fast-growing lifestyle brand, but he had
been quietly writing the songs that would later become When
The Guns Come Out. “I started working on my first album without even knowing it.” That’s where fate stepped in, in the
form of a chance meeting with Jamie Strong, who would later
start the label Innovative Leisure. His co-worker encouraged
him to pass on his demo to Strong, who then worked at Stones
Throw. At that time, Hanni didn’t have any aspirations for
his music past playing local shows and recording music for
friends. “I was selling my first record at gigs for $5 with
a zine and pins. I spent more money making that shit than I
received selling it,” he says of his early musical career.
“I just wanted to make a 7 inch and play some shows. I looked
at someone like Tommy Guerrero as a blueprint. TG, he’s the
coolest. He was a pro skater, now he owns a skate company, is
an art director, and puts out records. That’s what I wanted
to do.” So how did he go from a rock hobbyist to full-time
touring musician and partner in a record label? This time it
wasn’t fate, but Florence, as in Florence Welch of Florence
and the Machine.
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 9
“Within six months I was playing shows all the time, then all
of a sudden there was an opportunity to go on tour with Florence and the Machine, who I wasn’t familiar with. All I knew
was I went from playing bars like Kibbitz Room to playing the
Greek Theater.” Once Hanni’s touring schedule exploded and
interest in licensing his music picked up, he could no longer
balance his day-job as the creative director of HUF and his
life on the road. He made lists and crunched the numbers until
he figured out he had just enough money to quit his job, go on
tour, and live for a few months afterward. He took a leap of
faith, and it just so happened at the exact same time that he
left his nine to five, Jamie Strong and his partner Nate Nelson
were also leaving their full time gigs to focus solely on Innovative Leisure. Hanni joined them as creative director and
full partner which serendipitously paired his experience in
art direction and music.
Since then, Innovative Leisure has become a force amongst
indie labels. Billboard called it “a prodigy among young record labels,” and now, five years later, the label boasts a
robust roster with notable acts like Nosaj Thing, Classixx,
and Tijuana Panthers, amongst others. For his part, Hanni
has found plenty of success as well, touring the world many
times over and teaming up with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys,
who produced his second album, 2013’s Head In The Dirt. With
this success came a new twist to the world’s story of Hanni
El Khatib: the press began to find fault with his imagery,
with his look, and with his lyrical content. Questions of authenticity popped up, and that same “heavy-drinking, rabblerousing, retro-rocker” narrative that the press had helped to
build up, they now began to knock down. It didn’t help that
some of the real Hanni was lost in Auerbach’s heavy-handed
production, although the record was a clear extension of his
first. But Hanni brushes all of this off.
“There’s an aesthetic to me that I didn’t necessarily intend
on. Because of the black and white photography and vintage
instruments or whatever. I get it; it’s the first layer you
can scrape through. But if you really get past that, it’s not
really about that at all. I don’t eat pea soup and a steak
with milk and shoot guns every day, and only drive cars that
pre-date 1962.”
The layers under the surface have never been more apparent
than they are in Hanni’s latest release, January’s Moonlight. For his third record, Hanni took control back into
his own hands, producing the record himself and enlisting the
help of famed musicians like Matt Sweeney and Greg Reeves to
help him lay it down. The album is a garage rock record in
the very loosest sense. In it Hanni incorporates elements of
hip-hop and disco, and even taps the GZA to drop a verse on
the titular song, “Moonlight.” A rap verse on a garage rock
record might seem odd to an outsider, but to Hanni it makes
perfect sense.
“If you know me, the record doesn’t come off as weird. But
this is why I continuously try to do opposing things, both
visually and sonically, in my work. Precisely why on this
album we released a mixtape by J Rocc, who beat juggled the
whole record, or why I did a song with Freddie Gibbs. Because
right when people think they have it figured out or think they
have me pinned, I’m like nah, you don’t really know me.”
Between his role at Innovative Leisure, producing other
bands, his own hectic touring schedule, and his outside design work, one might think the obsessive multi-tasker may
have finally quelled his restlessness. One would be wrong.
“Right now I’m obsessively collecting cacti. I would say I’m
in the intermediate stage in knowing how to pot and plant
these things. I’m at the place where I’m going to cactus
farms… Other than that, I’m really trying to narrow my focus
to four or five things,” Hanni says with a smile. While that
all seems very practical, I for one hope he never narrows his
focus, or his story. It’s so much more interesting this way.
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 11
PHOTOGRAPHY - JOSH SPENCER
WWW.JOSHUASPENCERPHOTO.COM
THE
ARTIGAS SISTERS
AND THE CR AFT OF
SUBTLY SHAPING METAL
TO FIT YOUR BODY
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 13
I’M COZIED UP ON the same side of the bench
at Alfred’s Coffee in the alley on Melrose.
Next to me are Gabriela and Tere Artigas,
sisters from Mexico City who co-own a jewelry
line.
We’ve arranged ourselves next to one
another like Parisian flâneurs gazing at the
coffee goers, but, as our conversation continues, I find myself slowly rotating toward the
Artigas sisters.
I ask them both about the origin of their
jewelry, but there is no straight answer. There
are only answers that go a thousand different
ways. “We are not jewelry makers,” they
insist.
They both passionately take turns
clarifying how the intricately carved rings
that are stacked and illuminated on their
fingers were not conceived with the purpose of
making jewelry. Instead, the Artigas sisters
are “subtly shaping metal to adorn your body.”
As Gabriela continues, Tere dutifully, as only
a sister can, grooms her while she speaks, readjusting Gabriela’s necklace chain that suspends from a silver choker. They move in a
synchronized unison, many times echoing each
other’s sentiments. I ask them if they were
always close to each other while growing up;
Gabriela answers “Yes,” Tere “No,” and they
begin to laugh as they elaborate upon their
family heritage.
Their mother, from a well-educated and welltraveled family, taught them refined elegance and
the marvel of exploration. The Artigas sisters
credit her for her deep sense of celebration and
spontaneity, the one that sparked the creation
for their first jewelry piece. Their father
was the son of renowned Mexican architect,
Francisco Artigas, who applied both modern
and traditional philosophies of architecture
into his projects. Gabriela and Tere describe
him as unwaveringly meticulous and begin to
list the aesthetic rules of his house: crisp
white linens, strictly folded white towels,
and immaculate white carpet lining the house,
while the entire family wore a uniform of
white polo, khaki pants, and loafers.
This strict aesthetic regime initiated by
their grandfather has deeply rooted itself in
their jewelry line, or their metal adornments
rather. Now, Angelenos for nearly a decade,
the sisters have adopted the West Coast philosophy into their lifestyle.
“The jewelry
for us is a part of your body. We are very
clean in the way we dress, in the way we eat,
and our jewelry is also clean and modern and
matches our mentality.”
Despite the rules they follow aesthetically,
the sisters say there is no defined structure
for their design process.
Any time one of
them is stimulated with a new idea, they are
entangled by their wayward spirits and always
encourage each other’s passions. Yet they are
truly resolute about the aesthetic motif of
their collection, which is a true testament to
the dichotomy they inherited from either side
of their family.
As they continue to describe their daily
business, I realize both Gabriela and Tere
are building their own family legacy far from
where it began. They have always been close as
sisters, but now living in the same building,
blocks away from their West Hollywood design
studio and store, creating a brand that
reaches deep into their heritage, they have
grown a design sensibility that bridges both
worlds.
“The pieces are beautiful, but I
think it speaks louder the relationship we
have with the jewelry and every client. We
want to give you a part of our lifestyle.”
WORDS BY
ELENA DOUKAS
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 15
MEXICO CIT Y
PROUST
PREGUNTAS
FOOD
GABY Y LALO
MAXIMO
ART
LUIGI DIAZ
VENA2
MUSIC
ANA KARLA
MOMO
SPRING 2015
PAGE 17
PHOTOGRAPHY - ANA HOP
PROUST PREGUNTAS
1 of 3
GABY Y L ALO
M exico Cit y
GABY Y LALO
MEXICO CITY
WWW.ANAHOP.COM
VOL 5
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 19
GABY Y LALO
GABY Y LALO
MEXICO CITY
The power couple of Gaby and Lalo is just getting started, and a visit to Mexico City that
doesn’t include a trip to one of their restaurants is a big mistake, even if you’re full of tortas.
It’s safe to say that opening a restaurant widely considered to serve the best dishes in a city
of nearly nine-million people is an accomplishment that would procure satisfaction for any
chef. The New York Times affirms that by acknowledging that fans of Maximo Bistrot refer to
it as the Chez Panisse of Mexico City. Maximo has basically guaranteed a lifetime achievement award and eternal culinary happiness to its proprietors. So when you consider that
Chef Lalo and his wife Gaby have already moved on to establishing their second popular
destination restaurant in Mexico City in less than three years from opening Maximo, it’s no
wonder Lalo showed up in his apron, straight from the kitchen, for this 9am photoshoot.
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 21
GABY Y LALO
GABY Y LALO
MEXICO CITY
L A COMIDA MEXICANA ES ...
L AS PERSONAS EN L A CIUDAD DE MÉXICO SON ...
¿QUÉ ES UNA PAL ABR A PAR A DESCRIBIR
A LOS TR ANSITOS?
¿CÓMO DESCRIBIRÍAS A PANCHO VILL A?
SI PUDIER AS SER CUALQUIER PERSONA JE
HISTÓRICO MEXICAN O, ¿CUAL TE GUSTARÍA SER?
¿QUÉ COLOR REPRESENTA ME JOR MÉXICO?
¿CREES QUE CHEECH M ARIN ES DIVERTIDO?
MI CIUDAD HUELE A ...
¿QUE PIENSAS ACERCA DE L A GUERR A ENTRE
MEXICO Y ESTADOS UNIDOS?
¿CARLOS SANTANA O RITCHIE VALENZUEL A?
¿SON LOS BURRITOS MEXICAN OS?
MÉXICO ES ...
SPRING 2015
PAGE 23
PHOTOGRAPHY - ANA HOP
PROUST PREGUNTAS
2 of 3
LUIGI DIA Z
M exico Cit y
LUIGI DIAZ
MEXICO CITY
WWW.ANAHOP.COM
VOL 5
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 25
LUIGI DIAZ
LUIGI DIAZ
MEXICO CITY
It’s rare to meet a young artists who is a dad, a husband, is talented, inspired, driven, actively
producing work, and most importantly kind and happy. To meet with Luigi and get a glimpse
into his colorful lifestyle which doesn’t just include but highlights an amazing cast of characters
from his brother, friends, wife, and son, is truly something special. Luigi, aka Vena or Venado,
which is the spanish word for deer, is an inspired creative whose art results in a variety of
mediums but all begins with expression from his graphic design background. Luigi spent his
younger days creating t-shirt graphics for Barracuda on Melrose back when that was the go to
streetwear spot in Los Angeles. So even though you may not have heard of him yet, his work is
probably about to show up in your world, and what’s more refreshing than anything, you can
support this artist for a price most people reading this magazine can afford.
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 27
LUIGI DIAZ
LUIGI DIAZ
MEXICO CITY
SPRING 2015
PAGE 29
PHOTOGRAPHY - ANA HOP
PROUST PREGUNTAS
3 of 3
ANA K ARL A
MEXICO CIT Y
ANA KARLA
MEXICO CITY
WWW.ANAHOP.COM
VOL 5
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 31
ANA KARLA
ANA KARLA
MEXICO CITY
Ana Karla’s band Momo has more views on YouTube than the population of Tijuana. But let’s
not let that define Ana Karla. She spends most of her time surrounding herself with everything
she loves, most notably food, music, performing, and her two babies Coco and Heavy (a Pomeranian and a Chihuahua). She’s a trained chef, but she reserves her one of a kind meals for
her own kitchen when she’s not performing live classical jazz and blues music with her pianist
friends at her favorite local watering hole. While creating Momo’s second album (a self proclaimed departure from any previous releases) is her priority, she daydreams about “being
able to spend a lot of time in my future huge garden with my boyfriend and my 20 adopted
dogs and only go out for performing at my shows with Momo.” From the looks on Coco and
Heavy’s little faces, spending a day with their writer, composer, producer, performer, mama,
is a walk in the park, to say the least.
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 33
ANA KARLA
MEXICO CITY
ANA KARLA
L A COMIDA MEXICANA ES ...
L AS PERSONAS EN L A CIUDAD DE MÉXICO SON ...
¿QUÉ ES UNA PAL ABR A PAR A DESCRIBIR
A LOS TR ANSITOS?
¿CÓMO DESCRIBIRÍAS A PANCHO VILL A?
SI PUDIER AS SER CUALQUIER PERSONA JE
HISTÓRICO MEXICANO, ¿CUAL TE GUSTARÍA SER?
¿QUÉ COLOR REPRESENTA ME JOR MÉ XICO?
¿CREES QUE CHEECH M ARIN ES DIVERTIDO?
MI CIUDAD HUELE A ...
¿QUE PIENSAS ACERCA DE L A GUERR A ENTRE
MEXICO Y ESTADOS UNIDOS?
¿CARLOS SANTANA O RITCHIE VALENZUEL A?
¿SON LOS BURRITOS MEXICANOS?
MÉXICO ES ...
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 35
MEXICO
CIT Y, D.F.
LOCATION
MEXICO CITY
POPULATION
8,851,080 PEOPLE
ESTABLISHED
1521
COORDINATES
19.4333° N, 99.1333° W
WWW.ALANNAHALE.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY - ALANNA HALE
DAY TRIPPERS N o1
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
DAY T R I PPE RS N o1
MEXICO
CIT Y, D.F
THE SPRAWLING MASS that is Mexico City
has plenty of space to be everything you
think it is, and then it's still easily
a thousand times more. Ask any local and
they will say, “its not dangerous, you
just need to have your wits about you.”
So if you plan on wandering around the
city aimlessly trying to drink the worm
out of every bottle of mezcal, then sure,
you might end up in a bathtub short a
kidney. But, assuming that the audience
who lays their hands on this magazine is
significantly more mature than that, stop
putting it off and get your ass to Mexico
City.
To give you some perspective on what to
expect, I’ll put it this way, there’s no
three way marriage like that of Mexico
City, California, and Spain. Which makes
sense,
since
Mexico
was
originally
conquered by Spaniards, but is more like
a fraternal twin to the US that almost got
eaten in the womb. Nonetheless, Mexico
City is still Mexico City, completely
original and unlike anywhere in the
world. You can assume anything goes, but
just like any great city, the beauty lies
within the things we take for granted.
The people, the weather, the nightlife,
the landmarks, and most importantly the
incredible cuisine. From a 10 peso taco
that might not equal 25 cents on any
given day to a $20 plate of gastro pub
deliciousness, Mexico City has everything.
It’s no wonder the economy is booming, and
people are starting to take notice. Is it
corrupt? Sure it is. But it’s not like
you are going to do anything about it. So
quiet your fear, and go check it out.
Look, if you really have to, you can do the
suburban American thing (I’m super guilty
of this, so I’m just saying…) and plan a
week in Tulum, Todos Santos, Sayulita,
or any one of the bountiful destination
vacation havens Mexico offers. But any
respectable Mexican will tell you, the
only thing better than Mexico City is
Oaxaca. For most Mexicans the beach life
and the city life is complete with those
two cities, nothing more. But we all know
you want to party like a true goober, so
it’s inevitable you will frequent Cancun,
Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas, but
for god’s sake, spend some time in the
D.F. as well.
Words By: Alanna Hale
PAGE 37
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 39
DAY T R I PPE RS N o1
MEXICO
CIT Y, D.F
SPRING 2015
PAGE 41
DAY TRIPPERS N o 2
OA X ACA
LOCATION
STATE OF OAXACA
POPULATION
3,866,280 PEOPLE
ESTABLISHED
1532
COORDINATES
16.9000° N, 96.4167° W
WWW.ALANNAHALE.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY - ALANNA HALE
VOL 5
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 43
DAY T R I PPE RS N o 2
OA X ACA
IT WAS SPRING—early March—and already hotter
during the day than we expected, but the dry
heat teetered right there on the cusp; still
bearable with shade and water, but downright
perfect under the vast sky at night. Lanny,
Marjan and I had taken the overnight bus from
Mexico City to Oaxaca, hoping to experience
a different kind of Mexico, hoping to slow
down for a few days and wander without intent.
We arrived in downtown Oaxaca just
in time to see the sun rise over the mountains. I dragged the girls through the suburbs making pictures until the temperature
rose enough to send us inside for cold showers and coffee spiked with local chocolate.
We stayed at a friend of a friend's house our
first night, way up in the hills, at least fifteen minutes by car from the Zocalo. Though
it was a generous offer to house three unknown girls, we were not fond of the dingy
basement with its inflatable beds that leaked
air while roosters crowed incessantly outside. Day two, we profusely thanked our hosts
and moved into a simple but lovely bed and
breakfast named Las Golondrinas near the giant cathedral.
After the chaos and endless sprawl of Mexico
City, Oaxaca—with it's single and doublestory buildings, painted brightly in alternating pastels and bold colors, laid out in
manageable straight lines that neatly pool
into the city's center—was a welcome change
and literally a breath of fresh air. I loved
seeing the little gridded city nestled into
the stunning backdrop of these arid mountains. I loved exploring the colorful markets and the mezcalerías and the incredible
food—the many different kinds of molé and the
native blue corn tortillas in particular. I
loved zigzagging the streets and continually
stumbling upon such exuberant life and warmth
etched into the faces of the city's inhabitants, so many of whom seem to find being photographed both funny and flattering. It was
refreshing.
Most of my favorite portraits
from my Mexico trip were made in Oaxaca.
Oaxaca was modest and unassuming, but most
charismatic. Of all the travel we did and
sights we saw, it was there, at night, amidst
towering cactus and that stunning Cathedral lit up from below, that the memories
I will think on most were made.
Bottles
of white wine.
Tee shirts at night.
Old
friends. New friends. Wonderful places to
which we will surely return. It doesn’t get
much better than that.
Words By: Alanna Hale
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 45
DAY T R I PPE RS N o 2
OA X ACA
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 47
BA JA
CALIFORNIA
SUR
LOCATION
BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR
POPULATION
691,161 PEOPLE
ESTABLISHED
1888
COORDINATES
25.8500° N, 111.9667° W
WWW.ABMWEDDINGPHOTOS.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY - BRIAN KENT
DAY TRIPPERS N o3
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 49
DAY T R I PPE RS N o 3
BA JA
CALIFORNIA SUR
A FULL DAYS JOURNEY from Southern California
landed us in Pescadero, just south of Todos
Santos, a small town that is home to the sometimes playful, sometimes macking A-frames of
Cerritos del Playa and Playa el Pescadero.
There are few places as pure to a surfer as
Mexico. For generations small groups of surfers have escaped south of the border in search
of days filled with uncrowded perfect waves and
nights with tacos, tequila, music, and other
more meretricious hijinks.
We planned our trip with extreme haste after
seeing a massive WSW swell coming in from
Japan on the radar. We arrived in Pescadero to
find much of the town devastated by Hurricane
Marie with buildings either half blown out or
completely left in rubble. In order to escape
the destruction, we headed to the beach to
check the surf. The swell had hit. It was
around 8-10 ft. and pumping! We needed to
establish a base so we could get out in the
lineup.
We sought out a compound called San Pedrito
where Brian had stayed before, but, when we
arrived, we found what more closely resembled
a crack house with a weathered “For Sale” sign.
After getting rejected almost everywhere, we
landed upon Sierra de la Costa’s last available
room. Our hut was a little piece of paradise
that would now become our eat, drink, sleep,
and surf prep hide-out for the remainder of
the trip.
Mexico doesn’t just provide an escape but an
alternate experience. It’s a different world
down south. Even if the waves would have been
small and flat, we would have found an alternate adventure. There are only four things
that can ruin Mexico for any traveler: the
law, the bandidos, the cartels, or bodily expulsions from bacteria infested food or water.
Other than those potentially deadly obstacles,
Baja California Sur is a paradise waiting to
be experienced by anybody willing and able.
Words By: Scott McCourtney
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 51
DAY TRIPPERS N o4
TEOTIHUACAN
POPULATION
46,779 PEOPLE
ESTABLISHED
500 B.C
COORDINATES
19.4333° N, 99.1333° W
WWW.ABEATRI.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY - ABE ATRI
LOCATION
SAN JUAN TEOTIHUACÁN
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 53
DAY T R I PPE RS N o4
TEOTIHUACAN
THIRTY MILES NORTHEAST of Mexico City, in the
Mexico Basin, lies the epicenter of the cultural, architectural, and religious development of early Mesoamerican societies, the
mysterious city of Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan
was one of the largest and greatest archaic
civilizations in the Americas, and the world
for that matter. Some claim groups seeking
refuge from erupting volcanoes brought many to
Teotihuacan, but, regardless of what brought
them, the city became multi-ethnically inhabited long before multicultural communities
were a commonplace in society.
Teotihuacan is most well-known today for its
monolithic, alien-dream inducing structures.
It’s the perfect place to throw your next end
of the world party. The city is home to the
Pyramids of the Sun (one of the largest pyramids in the world) and the Moon, as well as
vibrant murals depicting the city’s environment and cultural perspectives.
Goddesses,
coyotes, and jaguars are painted right along
side warriors and sacrifices. However, what’s
even more intriguing is the organization and
layout of the city. As ancient as it is, it
truly has a modern feel. The layout is even
said to be angled so that residents could keep
track of the calendar, causing light to touch
certain places at certain times of the year.
The city is laid out in a unique geometric
pattern that people have compared to a computer circuit board with two large processor
chips. Silicon Valley Beta?
Like many of our ancient civilizations, the
decline of Teotihuacan is as much of a mystery
as its beginnings.
Its population dwindled
around the 6th century CE, possibly due to
overpopulation and drought and a short time
later, fires destroyed many significant structures. Some believe that there was an uprising
from within, and the inhabitants overthrew the
ruling class. When the Aztecs finally discovered the city, nearly a thousand years later,
they were awestruck, and it became something
of legends. They believed that the modern
world stemmed from it. While Teotihuacan may
have only thrived between the 1st and 7th
centuries CE, its pre urban design served as
a model for large-scale planning, which has
greatly influenced modern cities worldwide.
Words By: Ashley Parks Sullivan
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 55
The Succulent
Spirit of
Oaxaca
WWW.ABEATRI.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY - ABE ATRI
A TRIP INTO
MEZCAL COUNTRY
WORDS BY
PATRICK SULLIVAN
ALCOHOL, ALTHOUGH CONTROVERSIALLY, commands the attention of the masses in nearly every culture. Whether seen
as good or evil, alcohol is something most people either
want, want to stay away from, or both. It is powerful.
Alcoholic beverages have had more influence on civilization than most governments could ever dream to have. Beer
was the first drink humanity could count on to not be filled
with life threatening bacteria, so people were essentially drunk for centuries. Moreover there’s the widely
accepted idea that the distillation of spirits was the
catalyst for modern chemistry and even the current state
of science in general. So we won’t debate if alcohol is
good or bad because we all know that it doesn’t care what
we think. Instead we shall drink.
So, what is our drink of choice you ask? Mezcal. It’s all
the rage, and it has gained a ton of fans in the past five
years or so. Even Mexico City has recently experienced a
surge in the spirit’s popularity. A drink colloquially
said to go with “everything bad, and everything good,
too,” it’s no wonder cities around the world are warming
up to mezcal. New York City serves it with grasshoppers
covered in cheese, Los Angeles makes decadent cocktails
with small batch mezcal made from rainwater, and San Francisco bartenders claim that you’re not really even a bar
if you don’t serve it. Mezcal has gone from obscurity to
scarcity nearly overnight, and its repute is only improving.
Although the creation myth of mezcal is a godly one originating from a bolt of lightning flung by the gods at the
agave, it was more humbly served by its originators as
a sort of hooch combined with worms, scorpions, or rattlesnakes to increase the drinkers virility. Mezcal now
compares more readably to a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle in
both price and popularity. Rather than visiting a dirty
little palenque in a rural village to get a taste of the
Mexican fire water, modern connoisseurs flock to hip bars
that specialize in curating amazing selections of the
drink. Ironically, the mezcal selections can sometimes be
differently named and priced bottles that actually come
from the same manufacturer. Yeah, people are selling mezcal in bulk and then letting their purchasers slap their
own label on it. This might be why it’s important to know
how your mezcal should both taste and smell.
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 57
A TRIP INTO
MEZCAL COUNTRY
Mezcal, just like tequila (actually tequila is just a type
of mezcal), is made from the agave plant, specifically the
maguey. People are frequently confused about the agave.
It is neither a cactus nor a hallucinogen. There are over
a hundred species of the plant, and the vast majority of
them grow in Oaxaca. The process of baking the hearts,
or piñas, of the maguey in an earthy and large oven dug
into the ground gives the drink a distinct smoky taste and
smell. So, if your mezcal smells like sugar cane, you know
it’s not pure. I guess, like cocaine, the price mezcal can
fetch encourages a loss of integrity in its distributors,
but at least it’s not cut with baby laxatives.
The taste and quality of mezcal can both certainly vary.
Some tasting notes include acidic, citrusy, sweet, honey
scented, woody, and, smoky to name a few. However many
say that the smokiness and the fact that mezcal tastes
distinctly Mexican, exhibiting the same terroir as a fine
wine or specialty tobacco, are what make it so interesting. Those aspects coupled with its artisanal production
are what sculpt the drinker's new found fanaticism. Mezcal isn’t mass produced like it’s progeny, tequila, but
it’s instead made with care in smaller batches often embellishing eccentricities. Mezcal is like craft beer; it
is a delicious alternative to the commonplace varieties,
but it seems to give the drinker a certain je ne sais
quoi that they can’t resist about themselves. How people
drink mezcal might make it seem snooty like craft beer
too, except that it’s quite a bit sloppier. Mezcal get’s
you wasted. You can of course sip and savor the flavor, but
eventually you’re going to get drunk on a sampler of 80
proof spirits. And the hangover is nearly as famous as the
drink. That’s okay though. In Mexico, a hangover gives you
an excuse to eat something super toothsome, like menudo
and tacos de cabeza accompanied by a huge styrofoam cup
of jamaica (the perfect hangover cure).
Achieving celebrity so swiftly has been hard on mezcal.
Investors and more affluent producers have recognized the
clamor for more and are working hard to fill the demand.
This not only means that some are diluting their product,
but it also means that a strain has been put on the raw
materials, on the hundred-twenty plus varied species of
maguey plants. If the upswing of popularity continues to
grow the way it has, the cultivation of the plant will
have to keep up or certain kinds of mezcal might disappear completely. We can only hope that entrepreneurs
and investors don’t exploit the mescaleros and the more
rare maguey right out of existence. Thankfully there are
groups like Mezcaloteca that help to educate consumers
in order to “preserve the different categories and the
enormous biological wealth and culture this liquor has
developed in Mexico.” Hopefully the halcyon times of mezcal’s recent past do not become its demise. Nevertheless,
it’s here now, so raise a glass and don’t make plans for
tomorrow.
Special thanks to Yolanda Jimenez.
SPRING 2015
PAGE 59
THE CR AFTSM AN
WWW.ANAHOP.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY - ANA HOP
VOL 5
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 61
RICARDO MEDINA
RICARDO MEDINA
MEXICO CITY
THE FA MILY BUSINESS
RICARDO MEDINA MAKES BEAUTIFUL SHOES with his hands.
He fashions
sheets of leather and rubber that used to be tire tread into perfect
little loafers, laced sandals, and boots. This description is factually correct, but not enough for a man who wants to translate a lifelived through a pair of shoes.
Ricardo describes the “Botines,” low slip-on booties with no snaps
or laces, as an “homage to Native Americans in Mexico.” Like all of
his wares, the “Botines” have a hand-cut rubber sole. They’re made
with hand-cut leather pieces, held together with hand-shorn leather
laces, and shaped by Medina-made molds.
Sharing in a millennial context means everything from flaunting Kingworthy ass-cheeks on Instagram to posting gratitude memes (ugh,
don’t). It often has to do with eliciting a sense of envy about the
life you don’t have, about the life you wish you were living.
“Some shoemakers send out to have their molds made and don’t give
recognition to the people that have the skill,” Ricardo says, “My
molds are made one by one by me. It’s taken me years of dedication
to get them just right.”
There’s some room for envy here: Ricardo works from his sun-filled
Mexico City home. You don’t. His shoes are shipped and worn across
the globe. Are yours? Plus, Ricardo has better hair than you do.
He just does. But instead trying to stoke your jealz, he’s trying to
give you a piece of his world.
He happily puts in the extra time, hand-sewing the “Botines” with his
signature triangular stitching, leaving each shoe imprinted with his
techniques and his experience. His shoes weave together a sense of
the past and his present. In fact, it’s the shoes that brought his
family together.
As a young artist traveling and living off cash for drawings, Ricardo
was fascinated by indigenous culture. His designs are a convergence
of his continued love for Apache and Native American styles and
his aesthetic background as a National School educated painter and
lithographer. For example, his Nahuati Running Sandals are similar
to those used by the Tarahumara in Northern Mexico.
“My wife, Miriam, and I met one evening in Coyoacan when she stopped by
my shoe stand and was fascinated by my roman–styled sandals, the ‘Romanos,’ She ordered a pair... We have been together 11 happy years”.
“The laces are basically the same,” says Ricardo, “The pieces along
the arches that hold the laces are my own creation.”
That’s a hell of a meet-cute. Now, to add to the aspirational blog
post that is the Medina life, Ricardo and Miriam make shoes together
in their home studio. The collection is called Harebac, for their two
sons Hararec and Baruc. There’s not enough space in this article for
the thousand heart emojis required to describe this scenario.
The sandals are an almost delicate shape, a shape that begs to be
paired with bathing suits, and wide-brimmed panama hats, a shape
that begs for sun. The long ankle laces feel decadent, borderline
balletic.
Still, the hewn leather and simple sole reference an
historical functionality. Somebody used to run in these.
WORDS BY
OLIVIA PURNELL
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 63
WWW.JOSHREED.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY - JOSH REED
ROSE AVE.
TACO TOUR
OK. I’m a Mexican from Venice who eats Mexican food at least four days
a week. If you can’t trust me with this piece, then what the fuck,
right? Honestly, I’d prefer to make this piece less about how great
each of these establishments on Rose are, even less about how ironic
it is that nearly all of the good Mexican food on the Westside of Los
Angeles is on Rose Avenue in Venice, and more about the history of
successful Mexican restaurants and the emphasis that the best ones
put on family. But, if we are being honest, I don’t think I can help
myself. I’m so passionate about these places; I have no idea what direction I’m about to go in, but, more than likely, I’m about to rant
about what to order.
Let me start with some perspective. With all due respect to the nonMexican entrepreneurs who have taken on the daunting venture of opening a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles, if they’re not specializing
in drinks, they’re not convincing anyone that the food is the reason
to come visit their “Mexican” restaurant. I don’t want to sit around
with a bunch of yuppies and discuss which Mexican restaurant has
the best enchiladas, or tostadas, or burritos. Let's get one thing
straight, none of those things are actually from Mexico. Before I digress, let's point out some absolute facts.
WORDS BY
GARRETT LEIGHT
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
La Isla Bonita
ROSE AVE AND 4th AVE
First and foremost, La Isla Bonita, the
taco truck on Rose and 4th that has parked
there for over 25 years (yes you heard me
correctly; taco trucks are not a millennial
invention. They have existed before they were
considered mobile consumer experiences),
has the absolute best ceviche in the United
States. I understand that I write with
extreme opinion that couldn’t possibly be
remotely factual with such an outrageous
blanket statement, but this is the perfect
recipe. The Gonzalez family has been doing
it for 25 years with a recipe that their
father brought from Mexico, and it’s simply
the way it’s supposed to be done. I mean
this dude was making ceviche since before
crack was popular, so if that isn’t a strong
enough argument, I truly have nothing left.
And even though the following argument has
come with much debate, their carne asada
taco is amongst the absolute best in Los
Angeles. You must set parameters for a
perfect taco because La Isla Bonita’s taco
comes with white beans, onions, cilantro,
and homemade hot sauce, which puts it in
a different discussion from a perfect
pastor taco which only includes pastor, a
pineapple slice, two small corn tortillas
and nothing more. There are few carne asada
tacos that compete with La Isla Bonita’s.
PAGE 65
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
La Fiesta Brava
423 ROSE AVENUE
Now, to come down a notch, just in my tone, but not in my passion
for how special Fiesta Brava is. When you find a Mexican restaurant
that you can walk into and literally ask what’s off the menu that
I need to have, and they always have definitive answers and deliver
something special every time, that’s something to write home about.
When I walk into Fiesta and say, “Jasmine, what’s good today?” And
she says, “I’d go with the chicken soup.” I don’t question it, not
even for a second (if you think chicken soup is a ridiculous order at
a Mexican restaurant, your opinion holds no weight with me). Truth
be told, it doesn’t even feel like I’m at “Fiesta Brava.” I’m in the
Camarena family’s kitchen, and, whether it's Samuel or Jasmine or
Nancy or whoever taking my order, I want them to tell me what they
are serving today. Now, before I get ahead of myself once again,
the hard shell chicken tacos here are greasy as hell and mouth wateringly delicious, and ordering something as simple as a bean and
cheese burrito brings complete satisfaction. Just knowing that I
prefer to ask the proprietors what to order gives me a warm feeling
inside. To know that there’s a public establishment that is really
just a family’s kitchen shared with their patrons makes me happy,
and that’s enough for me. It should be noted that the gentrification
of Venice has lent itself to the sale of the property Fiesta Brava
is on, and you might only have two weeks left to ask Jasmine what
you’re having for lunch. (Unfortunately, this is the second time
we’ve covered a Venice food establishment that has been forced to
leave after 30 years of business not two weeks after our article:
see Spectacle 1; Glen Crest BBQ).
PAGE 67
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 69
Casablanca
220 LINCOLN BLVD
La Cabaña
738 ROSE AVE
I’d be lying if I sat here and wrote passionately about La Cabaña
or Casablanca. However, that doesn’t mean these places don’t make
a fantastic margarita. These are the two restaurants my parents
took me to as a kid. It wasn’t until later that I discovered
Fiesta and LIB. But, anyone who knows anything about drinking
margaritas on the westside of Los Angeles knows about Casablanca
and La Cabaña. However, it’s for two slightly different reasons.
While both places make an above average margarita, La Cabaña is
actually open until 3am, and, if you time a night out perfectly,
you're drinking a cheap pitcher with your friends and stuffing
your face with Mexican food until the wee hours of the morning, a significantly better option than Del Taco and warm beer.
On the contrary, Casablanca does not stay open til 3am, but the
“Tequila Time” sign attached to the outside of the building says
it all. They’ve got the goods and a Casablanca theme to boot.
So whether it’s the classic Cadillac Marg or a Bogart Margarita
which features Arette Silver and Cointreau in a “special” glass,
your alcoholic needs will be assuaged.
The point is, Venice is Mexican, and I’m a mexican from Venice
that grew up with these places and these families. Whether it's
the food, the people, the environment, or the all around nostalgia, I am not leading you astray. It has also just dawned upon
me, although not featured in these photos, La Oaxaquena taco
truck pulls up on Lincoln and Venice at 6pm and stays until 2am.
I can’t promise that you won’t get robbed at gunpoint there because I know two people that have. But I can promise that it’s
a full menu of proper Mexican dishes. In the spirit of honorable mentions, lets not forget this story is specifically about
Rose Avenue in Venice, and in the case that you can’t make it
over to Olvera Street for Cielito Lindo’s taquitos or Las Anitas
burritos, & enchiladas, then this is as close as you can get to
Mexican Narnia.
SPRING 2015
PAGE 71
S K AT E L A B
#NOTLIKEOTHERSK ATEPARKS
WWW.IANFLANIGAN.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY - IAN FLANIGAN
VOL 5
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 73
SKATELAB
SIMI VALLEY
The legend of modern skateboarding started on the rugged
coastline of Dog Town, California. Out in Simi Valley, a new
generation is writing the next chapter at Skatelab skate park and
museum. Spectacle pays a visit...helmet and pads optional.
SKATELAB IS WHERE the past, present, and future of skateboarding collide head-on, every single day. Entering the
20,000 square foot warehouse in a non-descript commercial
section of the urban cluster known as Simi Valley, California, the noise is deafening. The clatter of wheels,
grinding of trucks, and thunderclap landing of aerials
on masonite wood are battling it out against Metallica’s
“Damage, Inc.” roaring over the PA speakers.
Over in the deep end of the wooden bowl, local wunderkind
Tom Schaar – the world’s first skateboarder to land a 1080
aerial, at age 12 – is floating ceiling-smacking backside
airs. In the low-impact grommet’s section, newbies
are bumbling through their first kickflip attempts. And
upstairs, the world’s largest museum of skateboard history
shows the evolution from 1960’s “sidewalk surfing” into a
global phenomenon with over 5,000 vintage skateboards and
memorabilia. It’s all happening right here, right now at
Skatelab.
Behind the pro shop counter, thumbing away on his
smartphone is proprietor and co-founder Todd Huber,
who started the park in 1997 with major-league baseball
player and punk rock singer Scott Radinsky of Ten Foot
Pole fame. “Almost half a million people have come to
this place over the years. And we’re still here,” Huber
beams. He’s busy posting an Instagram video of a 4-yearold girl learning to drop-in on the beginner section’s
quarter pipe. Within minutes, the video will churn up
several hundred “likes”, as an army of park kids, the Lab
Rats, descends on the new content marked by Skatelab’s
own hashtag #notlikeotherskateparks.
The hashtag says it all. Because really, what other
skate park can count some of today’s premium A-list
professionals—who all cut their teeth here as Lab Rats—
or host concerts by the likes of hardcore punk band
Trash Talk, with skaters launching 8-foot airs straight
into the mosh pit. Not to mention, throngs of paparazzi
camped out on the sidewalk when celebrities like David
and Victoria Beckham, Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears, and
Will Smith bring their kids for a casual skate sesh. Or
when Justin Bieber posts a video “shredding” the Lab’s
street course to his 22 million followers.
It’s really #notlikeotherskateparks out here. “But we’re
not saying that because we think we’re better than other
parks,” Huber insists. “We’re just completely unique
compared to anyone else. In better and worse ways. We
charge people money to skate while other parks are free,
but then again, we also have employees, most of whom have
worked here for 15 years or more.”
STARTED FROM THE (FLAT) BOTTOM
The roots run deep. Over in the beginner’s section, where
one of Skatelab’s instructors is teaching a class, a
handful of today’s top-earning pros have worked their way
up from the flat bottom. “We’ve become sort of a catalyst
for their development. We tried to provide them with a
really cool place to go skate, where no one yelled at
them, there was camaraderie, and just a place for them to
spread their wings,” says Huber.
Big-ticket Skatelab alumni include Paul “P-Rod” Rodriguez,
Mikey Taylor, Mike Mo Capaldi, and also Torey Pudwill,
who recently released a Skatelab pro model deck on the
elite Plan B Skateboards label. “When we opened the park,
Torey and his big brother Jesse were the first kids in line
at the door. Now Jesse’s the manager of the skate park
and Torey is a major pro,” Huber says with a smile. Torey
still likes to get a few runs in at Skatelab when he’s
in town, stoking out a few grommets with free T-shirts
from his own company, Grizzly Griptape, while he’s at it.
Started from the flat bottom, he’s still here. Not like
other skate parks.
WORDS
DIRK VOGEL
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 75
MEET YOUR IDOLS
The Lab has served as the backdrop for the MTV series Jackass and
several music videos. Skatelab’s official Skateboarding Hall of Fame
counts among its inductees skateboard trailblazers such as Tony Alva,
Natas Kaupas, and Danny Way, together with cultural icons like Glen
E. Friedman and Black Flag. “We’ve made a lot of friends along the
way, including some of my own idols from back when I was a kid, like
Tony Alva. That’s been a major upside to this whole strange trip,”
says Todd Huber.
Celebrities also trust the park as a place to leave their kids for the
day. “That’s also where we’re different. You wouldn’t leave your nineyear-old alone at the Venice Beach skate park while you go shopping on
the boardwalk. No fucking way. Here, it’s no problem. You leave them,
they’ll have a blast and you can go do whatever you want. There’s a
comfortable vibe here and I think that our patrons also appreciate
that,” says Huber.
Every day adds new stories to Skatelab’s legacy. When a kid had his
iPhone stolen from a locker the other day, Huber posted surveillance
footage of the incident on Instagram, crowd-sourcing the case to the
Lab Rats. Come next day, the thief was identified and the phone returned. Hashtag Busted! “We handled it ourselves, and now people know
not to steal from us. We’re watching you! I guess that’s another reason why we’re not like other skate parks…”
SPRING 2015
T H E G R A N D E S T C A N YO N
PAGE 77
MIKE SELSKY
WWW.SELSK.COM
PHOTOGRAPHY -MIKE SELSKY
VOL 5
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 79
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 81
CALLING THE GRAND CANYON huge, enormous, gigantic, colossal, or any other size associated adjective just feels dull. We all know it’s big. Its
length spans 277 miles. That’s crazy; something
like the distance from LA to Monterey as the crow
flies. However, the Grand Canyon contains much more
than the vast chunk of earth that it displaces.
Civilizations are thought to have existed within
and around the area since 1200 BCE. Native American groups, mostly Puebloan people, have made use
of the canyon and its surrounding resources for
millennia, building their homes into its walls and
feeding their families from its plants and game.
The canyon remained virtually unhindered by European settlers until the 1800’s. A few did check it
out, calling it “profound,” but, in general, they
had little impact on the area. However, in the
1800’s, people started to abuse it, as they did
the people it housed, and not until 1903 did the
landmark start to fall under federal protection.
In the early 1900’s the Grand Canyon wildlife was
decimated. Predators such as mountain lions, eagles, and wolves had been wiped out of the area.
Miners created no pretenses of reverence for the
monument. It was merely another mine to them.
Today it is one of the most well known national
parks in the world, but it still bears the same
burdens. Uranium was mined there for a time, and,
although it could ruin the water supply for more
than 18 million people, some people are super
amped to get back into it (don’t tell Iran; they’d
be super jealous). Plus, more recently, it’s been
made illegal to teach Mexican-American studies in
the state, so who can really say that anything
precious should feel safe in Arizona? Hopefully reason and sensibility will prevail, but most
likely it will require action from the federal
government, as it has before. Maybe The University
of Phoenix and their NFL team will step in and
save the day. One can only pray.
WORDS
FRANCIS KILPATRICK
VOL 5
SPRING 2015
PAGE 83
G A R R E TT LEIGH T C AL IFO RN IA O P TIC AL
GARRET TLEIGHT.COM
#GLCO