Last night's ABDC

America's Best Dance Crew: Quest Crew's Decathalon (11:17 - click the first "mark", also 34:21)

The challenge last night was a dance-move decathalon utilizing specific dance skills into the night's extended routine: Threading, Tutting, Krumping, Housing and Waving. The Beat Freaks won the most votes for last week's performance so they were moving onto the finals, meaning the last spot would be fought for between Quest Crew and Fly Khicks.

Quest Crew

Beat Freaks

Quest dropped a solid piece, performing all required material extremely well (except Krumping, because I'm privy to it) and took the championship, in my opinion. Beat Freaks (WHAT UP USANA!) had last week's competition, but there is no doubt in my mind Quest is capable of being a better dance crew. I mean, did you see that last performace? Someone shoved Steve midair while he did a back tuck. WTF.*

Season finale next Thursday @ 10pm on Mtv.

ps
Quest on BakitWhy.com

* I was introduced to Steve Terada of Quest Crew waaaay back in high school when I got into tricking by way of the former version of bilang.com. He was one of the leaders of the movement and is still one of my tricking heroes.

Watching the WATCHMEN

A week from now we'll be treated (FINALLY!) to a big screen adaptation of one of the most celebrated pieces of contemporary literature in history. This is no action film- it's a character drama using superheroes as the chess pieces.

Beware spoilers below! If you haven't read WATCHMEN yet, two things: 1.) you're lame. 2.) you really need to read this asap. Skip these videos if you don't want anything spoiled:





The story elements and situations by Alan Moore (who also wrote V For Vendetta amongst many more comics and graphic novels) were ahead of it's time and posed many thoughts about we would do in these certain situations. Some might even draw comparisons between events in the graphic novel and events in recent American history (9/11 anyone?). If you don't believe me, would TIME Magazine change your mind?

WATCHMEN is directed by Zack Snyder, written by David Hayter, Alex Tse and Dave Gibbons, stars Malin Ackerman, Billy Cruddup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson and Carla Gugino. The film runs at 2 hrs 34 min. If you know about Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood, those sections are already available on DVD and Blu Ray. There's talke of a super big director's edition that's coming to DVD and Blu Ray. Oh Shit.

• 03/05 Seattle evening midnight showings
• 03/06 Seattle opening day showings

I'll either see it at the Southcenter IMAX or the Cinerama.

PS
Buy some Nite Owl Coffee!

VCR Treasures

I couldn't believe it! I have about four VCRs back at home in Bremerton. Goodies when I get back!

Out for blood.

The war between Apple's iPhone and RIM's Blackberry phones (or is it Blackberries?) has officially reached a boiling point!

Poncho!

I was just on my Twitter and I see Tonedeff say something:

As a designer, I can appreciate a good ad layout [with a link that led to this picture...]

Saber Wars

Hahaha @ the Today Show crew inadvertantly offending all STAR WARS fans. Gowns?! FUCK YOU MATT LAUER! Al should eat him.

for more info on the group, SaberWars.com

Spirituality.

So earlier tonight I went to church for Ash Wednesday. I was born and raised Roman Catholic, but about two years ago stopped practicing. I became quasi-agnostic and lived life without the regular visits to church.

Having been through some rough times recently (and after plenty of reminders from my moms and select friends) I started going back to church to see if spirituality was the thing I was lacking. I'm still in the process of checking.

Tonight I attended the evening mass at St. Mark's Cathedral in Capitol Hill. The gospel was done by a lady of small stature, but her choice words rang in my head. She started off talking about Ash Wednesday and what it means. She spoke about the Oscars and in particular, two different scenes in two different winners: the ending dance number in Slumdog Millionaire and the candlelight march in Milk. The preacher talked about how she felt when watching those scenes; how she felt like although her body didn't know how, she wanted to dance to celebrate and be happy along with Slumdog and she felt the solemnity, sadness and honor of Milk. She explained that humans, regardless if we're taught or not, know how to do these rituals. The circle was complete when she said that even if we don't go to church often, we know that we had to be there, like this was a distant memory (it was with me) from the past. Without being too religious, the lady explained how we need to practice rituals, whether religous or not, to be in touch with ourselves. With our spirits.

Blabbering, I know, but I needed to spew it out.

Definition of Filthy

Exile and DJ Day gettin nasty on some MPC's:


Exile ft. DJ Day Practice Session Video from Jonathan Kim on Vimeo.

from 2dopeboyz. Check out the other Exile/MPC videos here.

Red Bull 45's

Heard on Hyphen's Sunday Night Sound Session. From Seattle Weekly:

Part DJ competition and part history lesson, the Red Bull 45’s pits four jocks against each other spinning only seven-inch 45 rpm records for a max of four minutes at a time. The goal is for each jock to match the beat of the previous performer so that, in theory, the music never dies; rather, the DJs feed off of, and build on, one another’s methods. This is no easy task, especially in an era when many DJs rely on programs such as Serato Scratch Live to do most of the heavy-lifting, like matching beats. Set to do battle are Seattle’s Supreme La Rock and Jake One, Las Vegas’ John Doe, and Spokane’s James Pants, with special guest DJ Nu-Mark of Jurassic 5 on-hand to spin, too.

WHAT: Red Bull 45's
WHEN: 9pm. Thursday, February 26th, 2009
WHERE: Trinity Nightclub, Pioneer Square
WHY: For music heads to have a good time.

Before I forget...

I had one of the best laughs in a long time Saturday afternoon after someone had an "anger outburst". Good times.

"The lonely loner seems to free his mind at nite"

WOD 19FEB09

for time:
50 double unders
15 thrusters, 60kg
30 pullups
800m run
30 OHS, 40kg
15 deadlifts, 100kg
50 wall ball, 20lbs

21:17

I've never met Pukie, but today I was THIS CLOSE to. Great workout. I'm literally shaking still and I finished about 40 minutes ago. I'll update this in a bit. I need to eat and enjoy a siesta.

Ron Burgundy

This Skytop colorway is so sexy. Check the Strapped and Trinity models @ Hypebeast

Dilla x OBEY

Fairey's work is finally being appreciated amongst the normal population, thanks to his Obama print. Here he honors the late great J Dilla


via Hypebeast

WOD 17FEB09

@ Urban

5-3-1 min rds for max reps:
hang power snatch, 75lbs
box jumps, 30"

194

The breakdown as follows: 59/55, 25/30, 14/11. I can murder the normal 20" or 24" box, but when it's the high, it hurts. Snatches felt good, the breathing just became difficult.

I WANT TO START FENCING!

AHAHAHA

Damn. Look @ what I did back in 2002. Oh the memories.

Props to Sheena for inadvertently finding it.

Sammee Baby Tell 'Em Day

Tomorrow! All Day, Ey WednesDay!

to do:

• wake @ 7am and eat breakfast (3 eggs, 1 tbsp butter)
  
• workout @ 9am
• work on business plan
• watch Ellen
  
• talk to Nancy from CrossFit HQ
• Coraline in 3D with Sam
• get a phone/simcard?
• AotS on G4
  
• teach evening class @ 6:30pm
• din din and LOST!
  

Business plans

ARE DIFFICULT TO WRITE!

I'm back on my way. Brewing something for the immediate future. Hopefully I do this properly...

Dope themes

FONTS!

The 14th of February

Haven't had this much fun since 2007. Planned on seeing The Lion King @ The Paramount, but it was sold out (something I obviously should've thought about)

• Lazy morning.
• Breakfast/Lunch @ 1pm.
• Lazier afternoon.
• TV = brain mush.
• Greenlake run, chillin on a rock afterwards.
• Safeway
• Dinner by candlelight- spaghetti & meatballs, Beringer White Zinfadel
• music
• Vegas pictures
• No Reservations
• bedtime

Thanks Valentine.

WOD 14FEB09

2.8 miles = 34 minutes.

This was difficult. I had two breaks, one of them being 20 box jumps onto something that was to about the height of my chest (3.5 ft.) at the stadium. Sad time seeing that a year ago I could run the outside perimeter (5k) in about 20 minutes.

My knees were dying halfway through, but I kept on until I finished. I had to ice my knees afterwards.

Sounds a bit like CrossFit

"Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it."


- Bruce Lee

AY YO!

I took a Berry 5 Hour Energy at 7:20pm and I'M BUGGING THE FUCK OUT RIGHT NOW.

Heart palpitations = toooooo much right now.

Let's Get It On... for free!

Just heard on G4 that Amazon will be giving Marvin Gaye's hit "Let's Get It On" for free tomorrow on their site. If you don't already own this classic (or any other MG albulums), I frown upon you.

----

Damn. This whole Rihanna/Chris Brown controversy is kicking his ass. He basically lost all his endorsements, no one nationally wants to play his music and on top of all that people hate him. Dan and I agree that hitting women is up there right below murder, so the allegations against him are making dude look bad. Jay-Z apparently is going to bring him something...

----

God of War 3 looks BANOODLES! The first two games were amazing and I have no doubt in my mind that this will be a proper ending to the story of Kratos.

----

Speaking of that how does Kratos CrossFit sound? Or Hulk CrossFit?

----

I'm going to try one of those 5 Hour Energy joints tonight. Maybe a workout at King CrossFit tomorrow?

Peacoat Chukka

These are so dope and come in three colorways: black, navy blue and the grey pictured below:

Thanks Hypebeast!

"Losing Out" video

My other favorite cut (see: "The Matrix") from Black Milk's The Tronic, feat. Nickel Nine:



DIE.TROIT CITY.

WOD 12FEB09

@ Urban CrossFit, the mainpage WOD from yesterday

for time:
45 double unders
45 squat cleans, 135lbs
45 ring dips
45 double unders

15:51

The cleans were the most difficult part of this workout. My back felt weak and I know I lost my midline a couple of times as I was moving forward and front squatting on the balls of my feet. Haven't done ring dips in a minute either- my chest felt like it was going to rip.

Ate a club sammich @ Which Wich afterwards (boo!) because it was the closest thing to my barbershop... and I felt like it, dammit.

10.4 Roger's Dilla Tribute

The homie 10.4 Roger drops new mix entitled "Dippin On the Lawn- Doing Donuts in the Dillalade: A Jay Dee Tribute Mix". Dilla was born on February 7th, 1974 made classic music, influenced many of your favorite producers, lived with Lupus and passed away after suffering a heart attack three years ago on February 10th, 2006.

Rest in Peace

Get familiar. Download the mix.

WOD 11FEB09

Warm-up was 2 rds of: 500m run, 40 squats, 30 situps, 20 puhsups, 10 dead hang pullups.

5 reps each, all with 135lbs:

• press (min rest in between reps since it's close to my 1RM)
• low trap back squat
• high trap back squat
• low trap back squat
• OHS
  
• squat clean
• hang power clean
  
• SLDL
• low trap back squat
  

30 min later:

Tabata Pushups (+ planks) = 15
Tabata Pistols = 10-10-10-10-10-10-11-11
Tabata Full-arm Plank (Superman during rest)
Tabata Ebert & Roepers 30-29-30-29-29-29-28-28

Acousticness

The homies Lamberto, Francis, Micah and Bryan performed this at Tanghalan Open Mic:



Include the other dudes like Randy, Ferdinand, Oliver and Roland and get a dope R&B medley including "Single" and "Mrs. Officer":



These recieve AB's Stamp of Dopeness.

Spaghetti, Meatballs and Tomato Sauce

Recipe by Bobby Flay, courtesy Food Network:

Ingredients

Meatballs:

• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound ground veal
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped and Sauteed
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup pure olive oil

Tomato Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large Spanish onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 (28-ounce) cans plum tomatoes and their juice, pureed in a blender
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 small bunch parsley
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 6 basil leaves, chiffonade

Spaghetti:

• 12 cups water
• Salt
• 1 pound #8 or #9 spaghetti
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Garlic Bread:

• 1 stick soften butter
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 country loaf, cut into 3/4-inch slices

Directions

For the Meatballs: Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl, except olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat the oil in large saute pan over medium-high heat. Roll the mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls and fry until golden brown, but not cooked through completely. (remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels.) For the Tomato Sauce: Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add pureed tomatoes and juice, bay leaf and parsley, pepper flakes and salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add meatballs and let simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. Remove the bay leaf and parsley, add the basil and serve.

For the Spaghetti: Bring salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook until al dente. Drain well in a colander, toss in sauce, serve with meatballs and Parmesan cheese.

For the Garlic Bread: Combine butter and garlic. Spread evenly on bread and broil until browned.

$13

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/voracious/13_dollars/

Great blog.

WOD 07FEB09

Headed over to Rainier CrossFit for what I originally heard was a "Helen" fundraiser/challenge, but turned out to be a big team WOD fundraiser. Everyone was broken into teams of four- my team, Level 4 Foundation, included Marc, Ann Marie and Derek (of CFS).

"Build a Dream" Team Workout:
in any order for time:
400m run as a group
20 bachar ladder climbs
200 situps
200 medicine ball throws, 20lbs
answering a trivia question about Mexico

After each task was completed your team would grab a corresponding bag. At the end of answering the trivia, you were allowed a hammer and three keys to open four bags with different padlocks. If the workout was just the workout we would've been done first (our order: ladder, situps, med ball, run, trivia), but one of locks gave us trouble for 6 minutes. We probably had the best looking birdhouse on the first attempt.

Our total team time was 28:41

For Sheena

Hahahahaha

Watch the original video here.

Incredibad

I've been tellin y'all about the dudes and their music extension Incredibad. Album comes out tomorrow the 10th.

Picture of the Day

EVE!

The Network

I've always been a Cingular AT&T person, but damn this is dope.



via BGR. Monday- can't wait.

"Failure is a gift, welcome it."

totally bitten from YOsis, but we could all put this to use. I need to.

"... Be bad at things. Be embarrassed. Be afraid. Be vulnerable. Go out on limb or two or twelve and you'll fall and it'll hurt, but the harder you fall the farther you'll rise. The louder you fail the clearer your future becomes. Failure is a gift, welcome it. There are people who spend their whole lives wondering how they became the people they became, how certain chances passed them by, why they didn't take the road less traveled. Those people are not you. You have the front row seats to your own transformation and in transforming yourself you might even transform the world and it'll be electric, I promise you. It'll be terrifying, but embrace that. Embrace the new person you're becoming. This is your moment. I promise you it is now. Now - not two minutes from now, not tomorrow, but really now. Own that, know that deep in your bones and go to sleep every night knowing that and wake up every single morning remembering it and then... keep going"

Thanks YOsis- I love your blog.

WOD 05FEB09

@ Urban

5 rds for time:
10 overhead single KB lunges, 24kg/52lbs
15 KB swings, 24kg/52lbs

(IIRC) 7:25

This is an HQ workout, but I've done a lighter, "remixed" if you will, version. I thought that the lunges would've toppled me over as I haven't done any OH lunges with a weight that heavy. Need to get back into swinging- that shit tired me out QUICK.

The Keene Act & YOU

Watchmen arrives March 6th.

WOD 04FEB09

I ran an impromtu CrossFit Total at the gym today and after the backsquats took too long, skipped out on the presses and deadlifted.

I joined in on the deadlifts and PR'ed!

Deadlift 1-1-1

315-360-370


Foundation CrossFit: Andrew's 370lbs deadlift from ABueno on Vimeo.

The last attempt was ugly and definitely a "post-max" lift. Need to work on form for a true one-rep deadlift max.

*Edit. Added video. My back is sooore.

SWV factoid

from Wikipedia:

SWV (an acronym for Sisters With Voices) was formed by three friends: Cheryl "Coko" Gamble-Clemons, Tamara "Taj" Johnson-George and Leanne "Lelee" Lyons. SWV got their start when they sent a 5 song demo to over 15 major record labels in the U.S. They scored a record deal with RCA Records after producer Teddy Riley, a former member of Guy, heard their demo. With Riley's help, the group's 1992 debut album, It's About Time, went double platinum and produced several Top Ten hits. Initially the girls had named themselves TLC (Taj, Lele & Coko), but were beaten to the name by R&B girl group TLC just 2 weeks earlier.

SWV could've been TLC?! Weird.

WOD 03FEB09

@ Urban CrossFit

3 rds for time:
400m run
12 ohs, .75 BW (95lbs)
21 pullups

12:53

I messed up during the WOD and in the first round I only did 12 pullups and started my run again. I realized what I did after 200m or so and after return from around the block, I finished my pullups. Good times- I need to run more.

Anyone longboard around Greenlake? Today was a beautiful, but unfortunately I was too busy to go. If this weather remains I'm going to do it on the regular!

WOD 02FEB09

Tabata Pullups

9-8-8-8-8-8-8-8

Score = 8

Never Come Down (The Brownie Song)

The first single from the CunninLynguists upcoming double-LP Strange Journey


Click to download!

WOD 01FEB09

Late night workout

Tabata intervals of:

• Stretching
• Superman hold
  
• "Ebert & Roepers" (22)
  
• Half Situps (12)
  
• Reverse crunches (19)
  
• Pushups (15)
  
• Full ROM squat hold (ass to calves)

Could've done better with the pushups and ab work, but I don't feel I can push too hard. I'm feeing yesterday's workout in my quads.

If you haven't checked it out yet I posted up some new tabata music for y'all out there!

WOD 31JAN09

Last workouts of the month.

12:00
Tabata Squats = 21

Did this @ The Ashworth Estate w/ Chris and Ammery.

23:00
Clean & Jerk 5-5-5-5-5-5, 135lbs

The C&J workout was essentially "GRACE" broken up into six sets to work on form. I've wanted to do this for a while, but I wasn't confident in my skill until visiting Thrush.


Foundation CrossFit: Andrew C&J from ABueno on Vimeo.

Great workout.