ASR January 2008 Lurk Nasty
Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2008 by Rob
Words by Ryan Clements
Photos and Captions by Rob Meronek
I can’t say that I was too excited about the weather in (usually) sunny San Diego, which was less than desirable. Upon landing and waiting for a cab, we started to get rained on and the temperature was in the mid-50’s. It didn’t look like we would be skating around too much.
However, ASR was kind enough to put us up in a pretty bangin’ hotel this time around. As a matter of fact, I’m on the 31st floor of the Manchester Hyatt watching the sun rise over the mountains as I type this. So the next time you hear me complaining, please remind me of this moment.
Since the crew was running deep, we had to find some cheap grub…and by chance cabbed it and ended up at a bar called The Local. They had cheap beer, pool tables, and good food, so what more did we need to waste some time on a rainy San Diego night?
I crashed early in anticipation of the Trade Show because that’s what I do, and the last thing you need the first day of any trade show is a hangover. Although the morning came quickly, it’s always easier to get up early when you’re on the west coast and your body is adjusted to east coast time.
Jorge, Rob, and I met for some breakfast and spent too much money, but trying to find a cheap meal in the Manchester Hyatt is pretty much impossible (good thing the rooms are comped). It was Jorge’s first trip to both San Diego and ASR, so it’s always cool to see a new person’s reaction to what’s going on around them in the trade show environment.
For me, both Thursday and Friday of the Trade Show were pretty much the same. Our main purpose was to hang over by the mini-ramp and run the demos. There are definitely some kids that skate in these things that are demo-material and really fun to watch rip, but at the same time there are way too many kids on the ramp trying to get theirs that just don’t belong up there.
I’ve probably said this before and I should have said it over the mic, but people don’t travel from all over the country to come to ASR to watch your dumb-ass-self learn axel stalls.
Throw in a few meetings about Tampa Pro, Make-A-Wish, Tech Decks, and Lord of the Lines, Muska and Smolik sightings, and general talk about Skatepark of Tampa and skateboarding in general, and you can pretty much figure out what I was doing from 9am – 6pm on Thursday and Friday.
When the evenings roll around you have your choice of parties to attend. But the clubs in Downtown San Diego, for the most part and from my experience, suck. They hold the lines out front to make it look like the place is packed, and then when they finally let you in you realize that the place is half-empty and the drinks are over-priced.
So I opted to chill solo one night and head over to this fancy sushi joint called Nobu located in the Hard Rock Hotel. The Hard Rock is amazingly nice and I have a friend that’s a manager there at Nobu, so I figured I would sit alone and have a mellow meal, but I was way off. That place was full-on LA status with Metal Mullisha dudes acting tough and chicks with their boobs hanging ¾ of the way out all over the place. I’m not complaining and the drinks and sushi were amazing.
The next night after the ASR Party, I did “try” to get into the Dekline/Stereo/The Skateboard Mag Party, but once again the door guys weren’t the friendliest and I wasn’t feeling it. So Schaefer and I took a stroll to the grocery store down some really cool streets. They’ve really laid out Downtown properly in SD. It would be like mixing Ybor City, Downtown, and Hyde Park all together back in Tampa, which would make for a pretty cool neighborhood.
Okay, so you get the point. I was a super-kooky-industry-guy for two days. Now click the other link and read about some great skateboarding.
Photos and Captions by Rob Meronek
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However, ASR was kind enough to put us up in a pretty bangin’ hotel this time around. As a matter of fact, I’m on the 31st floor of the Manchester Hyatt watching the sun rise over the mountains as I type this. So the next time you hear me complaining, please remind me of this moment.
Since the crew was running deep, we had to find some cheap grub…and by chance cabbed it and ended up at a bar called The Local. They had cheap beer, pool tables, and good food, so what more did we need to waste some time on a rainy San Diego night?
I crashed early in anticipation of the Trade Show because that’s what I do, and the last thing you need the first day of any trade show is a hangover. Although the morning came quickly, it’s always easier to get up early when you’re on the west coast and your body is adjusted to east coast time.
Jorge, Rob, and I met for some breakfast and spent too much money, but trying to find a cheap meal in the Manchester Hyatt is pretty much impossible (good thing the rooms are comped). It was Jorge’s first trip to both San Diego and ASR, so it’s always cool to see a new person’s reaction to what’s going on around them in the trade show environment.
For me, both Thursday and Friday of the Trade Show were pretty much the same. Our main purpose was to hang over by the mini-ramp and run the demos. There are definitely some kids that skate in these things that are demo-material and really fun to watch rip, but at the same time there are way too many kids on the ramp trying to get theirs that just don’t belong up there.
I’ve probably said this before and I should have said it over the mic, but people don’t travel from all over the country to come to ASR to watch your dumb-ass-self learn axel stalls.
Throw in a few meetings about Tampa Pro, Make-A-Wish, Tech Decks, and Lord of the Lines, Muska and Smolik sightings, and general talk about Skatepark of Tampa and skateboarding in general, and you can pretty much figure out what I was doing from 9am – 6pm on Thursday and Friday.
When the evenings roll around you have your choice of parties to attend. But the clubs in Downtown San Diego, for the most part and from my experience, suck. They hold the lines out front to make it look like the place is packed, and then when they finally let you in you realize that the place is half-empty and the drinks are over-priced.
So I opted to chill solo one night and head over to this fancy sushi joint called Nobu located in the Hard Rock Hotel. The Hard Rock is amazingly nice and I have a friend that’s a manager there at Nobu, so I figured I would sit alone and have a mellow meal, but I was way off. That place was full-on LA status with Metal Mullisha dudes acting tough and chicks with their boobs hanging ¾ of the way out all over the place. I’m not complaining and the drinks and sushi were amazing.
The next night after the ASR Party, I did “try” to get into the Dekline/Stereo/The Skateboard Mag Party, but once again the door guys weren’t the friendliest and I wasn’t feeling it. So Schaefer and I took a stroll to the grocery store down some really cool streets. They’ve really laid out Downtown properly in SD. It would be like mixing Ybor City, Downtown, and Hyde Park all together back in Tampa, which would make for a pretty cool neighborhood.
Okay, so you get the point. I was a super-kooky-industry-guy for two days. Now click the other link and read about some great skateboarding.
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