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JOUSTING WITH SEAN CLIVER

Last week we interviewed Sean Cliver for his upcoming collab with HMNIM. We tried to think of a place that would work for an interview but would also have some sort of special significance that would add to the interview experience. What we came up with was the skate ditch from the famous jousting scene in the movie "Thrashin". What? You haven't seen it? Well, go right out to a museum and ask to borrow a VCR, then go to your grandparents' house and see if they have a copy on VHS.

Now, for the famous jousting scene. Believe it or not, jousting was a big part of skating in the 80s.

Not very many people know the location of this ditch. It's a long-guarded secret passed down from one skater to another. If you do end up finding it, be sure to bring your jousting gear because just like in Indiana Jones 3, there's an old man guarding the ditch and you have to beat him to skate it.

Interview Sean Cliver at the famous Jousting skate ditch from the movie Thrashin'

Interview Sean Cliver at the famous Jousting skate ditch from the movie Thrashin'

 

HI MY NAME IS TIM ARITS

As part of our ongoing blog series Hi My Name Is, we bring you Tim Arits. Tim came to our attention after the HMNIM "wendy" chicken shirt. Tim is, besides being an entrepreneur, Google employee and drummer, a bit of a chicken expert, well, at least compared to us. He brought to our attention one of the rarest breeds, and one of the most bad ass looking chickens, which we know that statement is an oxymoron. Chicken? Bad ass? How can that be? Well, we will let Tim tell you all about himself and the chicken breed called Ayam Cemani.

Tim where how did you get into chickens ?

I grew up in a very small village called 'Swartbroek', which is located in the South of the Netherlands. Although I grew up on a farm, we didn't cultivate any land or keep livestock for a living. When I turned 9, my grandfather gave me a hen with little chicks that hatched a week earlier. This is when I got my first chickens. Together with my dad, I started to search on the internet for more chickens and we found a chicken breeder nearby. This guy I met basically changed my entire life. He showed me what it is to have a clear passion for something. The way he looked at things still inspires me everyday.

How did you come across the Ayam Cemani? 

I don't like the normal and I try to make a difference into the things I do. So after a while I decided to start searching for the rarest chicken breed that I could find. After spending hours on the Internet I found the Ayam Cemani breed. One of the coolest and rarest breeds I have ever seen! Because the Ayam Cemani breed is almost extinct, it took me years to find eggs from a pure breed coupleAfter I hatched the first eggs I started to breed more of them and I even won several prizes in the end. At that time, I already dedicated a large part of my time to save them from extinction and it turned out to be my first project which was driven by pure passion

the Ayam Cemani the rarest of chickens.
What are you up to now

Eventually, in 2012 I had to sell all the chickens because I accepted a job at Google as an account strategist. I had to move from the Netherlands to Ireland and sold the chickens to a Belgium guy who shipped them to America. The chickens I personally raised by hand are now sold in the US for $4,999 a pair (see: http://greenfirefarms.com/store/category/chickens/ayam-cemani/)!!! At Google, I now support small and medium businesses in their online presence and help them to further grow their business. Although breeding black chickens is completely different from helping companies with their online marketing, Google and its advertisers remind me of this incredible breed. It's the passion to reach a certain goal that remains the same!!! 

THE SCARIEST PLACE ON EARTH/CANADA

It's the first day of October, and you know what that means. Pumpkin Spice Latte's at Starbucks! NO, that is incorrect, well it's correct but not the right answer for this post (they are good aren't they?). October means that there will be a million ghost shows and specials on TV this month, and the scariest movies of the year will premiere. But to kick things off we are going to talk about the Nightmares Fear Factory who pride themselves on not how many have taken the tour, but on how many couldn't even finish it. Watch this video for the back story on the legend. 

It would be scarier if they didn't use the demon voice narration, and really just made it out to be a credible historic video piece. Sometimes authenticity can have a far more chilling effect. But they must be doing something right because the photos below show some very scared people. Try not to laugh. We're serious, look at these photos and just try not to laugh at those people, you can't do it. Laughing at someone else's fear is one of the greatest joys in life. So enjoy.

 

OUR LAST FILMAGE POST...MAYBE

We know, we know the site has been all Filmage for weeks now. So consider this a week end wrap up of a super fun time. If you were there, then you know it was an awesome film, made by a great bunch of guys about one of the best bands around. 

There are plans to release Filmage on iTunes and Netflix but those are still far out. Until then, be sure to follow Filmage for the latest news on screenings, events and all things Filmage. Are they doing East Coast shows? Yes. Are they coming to the UK? Maybe. How do we know any of this? We follow them on Facebook and Twitter and so should you.

And now to the main event, the "meat and potatoes" of this post, and if you are vegetarian or vegan, then let's get to the "potatoes and potatoes" of this story. A little over 3 weeks ago, we joined forces with Vannen Watches to put on a Filmage event in San Diego. We asked Mark if he could do the Q&A, and we waited for his response, and he said...wait for it...."yes". We invited San Diego's hometown radio hero, Mike Halloran to join in on the fun. Mike knows more about music than iTunes. And there the stage was set. Filmage San Diego was a go.

These fine people circled around the block to catch one of the 3 screenings.

The guys behind the film but in front of the poster. Meet Deedle and Matt.

A packed San Diego Digiplex house.

Can you find Waldo in this picture?

In between screenings, Mark mingled with the crowd. Nice HMNIM octo hat photo bomb.

None of this would have been possible without all these great people and that box of popcorn.

DESCENDENTS X HMNIM SHIRT

By now you've seen the best collab involving an iconic punk band and an octopus. We can all now thank the legendary Bill Stevenson for giving the Descendents' blessing. But what you didn't get to see, was the sweat, the tears, and the heartache that went into that shirt, sleepless nights, the missed birthdays, all in the name of perfection. Countless renditions and sketches were sent back and forth, back and forth, until one emerged from the rest. It was a hail mary, all our hopes and dreams resided in this one design. And it was all up to Bill. We sent the design. tick tock, minutes turned into hours as we waited judgement. And then it came. "yeah that looks cool" -Bill

descendents Milo collab tee with Mark Hoppus's company Hi My Name Is Mark

This shirt is available exclusively at this Saturday, the 21st, Filmage Screenings in San Diego. Limited Edition of only 300 shirts were printed. With a hand numbered hang tag authenticating the edition number. The shirts will be $30 and we will be accepting Cash and Credit Cards, unfortunately we will NOT be accepting bits of string.

limited edition Descendents X HMNIM tee hang tags for Mark Hoppus' Hi My Name is Mark brand.

To all of you that can not make it to San Diego, any stock left after Saturday will go online early next week. So don't despair there is still hope that you can own one of the best shirts to ever grace the naked body. Descendents X HMNIM.

FILMAGE CONTEST

San Diego screening of Filmage, presented by Vannen Watches and Hi My Name Is Mark, hosted by Mark Hoppus.

This Saturday (September 21st) we're hosting three screenings of FILMAGE: The Story of DESCENDENTS/ALL at the Digiplex Mission Valley theater in San Diego, CA. To make things extra interesting we've brought in Mark Hoppus (Blink-182) and Mike Halloran (91x FM) to moderate post-show Q&As with the filmmakers of FILMAGE.
To celebrate the occasion, we've teamed up with VANNEN and FILMAGE to give away some free stuff!  To win one of our prize packs all you have to do is tell your friends about San Diego screenings of FILMAGE.
To enter our giveaway, share the FILMAGE graphic above on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for a chance to win one of three prize packs containing:
1 - Hi My Name Is Mark T-Shirt
1 - Hi My Name Is Mark water bottle
1 - Hi My Name Is Mark hat
1 - Vannen x Descendents  "Coffee Time" watch
1 - FILMAGE T-Shirt
The rules are simple: Share the graphic above, tell your friends about FILMAGE: San Diego, and tag your post with #descendents and #filmage so we can find your entry.
The fine print:
• We'll give away one complete prize pack per social network: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Enter all three ways, and as often as you like!
• You MUST tag #DESCENDENTS and #FILMAGE for your entry to count.
• Enter as many times as you like, but only one prize pack per person. 
• Winners will be selected and notified Friday, September 20th 3pm PST. 
Thanks for sharing, and we'll see you this weekend in San Diego.
Enjoy! ( descendents reference intended )