With June passing, July brings excitement with the second annual Maloof Money Cup to hit the OC Fair & Event Center. Brothers Joe and Gavin Maloof founded this event, and for those of you who don't know, these brothers own the Sacremento Kings and also the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. But that is besides the case, because the event they are putting on is 100% skateboarding.The second annual contest is taking place July 10-12 during the opening weekend of the OC Fair. This is all really exciting because the duo putting this on is offering an amazing prize purse of $450,000 total. This is the biggest amount of money any skateboarding contest has ever seen, and they made sure of it. This large sum of money is definitely incentive to push the skaters to the limit this year, which will be nerve-wrecking and so exciting to watch. A quick recap from last year's top contenders are: Paul Rodriguez Jr. ($100,000 for Pro Men's Street), Pierre-Luc Gagnon ($75,000 for Pro Men's Vert), Lacey Baker ($25,000 for Pro Women's Street).No one can deny how much skateboarding has infiltrated to the mainstream, as skateboards replace footballs and baseballs around the nation. Maloof Bros. are aware of this, and with this being the second contest, it will hopefully be back year after year and stake their claim for the highest paying skateboard contest. They see a bright future for skateboarding and they definitely want to continue the support and involvement in it.Of course, running an NBA team and owning a Las Vegas resort and hotel does not account for all the skateboarding details. This is where the brothers called in the help from professional skateboarders such as Rob Dyrdek, Geoff Rowley, Jake Brown, Dave Duncan, Andrew Reynolds, and other skaters for their advice and most importantly for all the design aspects. With big business money and sponsers supporting this event along with the helpful advice and involvement of big name skaters, this is one event that should not be missed as it only comes once a year!   If you can't get down to the Orange County area and purchase a ticket, fear not. You can catch the madness on CBS, and I believe Fuel TV is covering the preliminaries. Also you can view the MMC on the web as well. With the involvement of Rob, I'm sure you kiddies can also catch it on MTV. With all the hard work and dedication skaters have put forth to their craft, it is nice to see them compete for a chance to win six figures.  For more information check out these links:http://www.allisports.com/tours/maloof-money-cuphttp://skateboarding.transworld.net/2008/5/5/money-talks-web-exclusive-j...

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Hello Earthlings,And thanks for reading P.B. (Poseiden Blog). This is the hopeful debut of what is to be a whole new genre of blogging, there’s no describing it really, it is what it is. At times there will be great composition and at other times there will be run-on sentences that parallels a schizophrenic on a rampage, full of half thoughts and half answers, probing at issues but not really caring enough to dissect them thoroughly. I suppose by this quirky introduction I am trying to relax the audience, whoever you may be, behind the computer screen to just have an open mind and of course I expect you to be critical. I expect to hear some of you, if not all of you to reply in some sort of stirred emotion. Whether it be support, applaud, admiration, angry, confusion, or indifferent, I am just not about neutrality. The days and daze of being listless, melancholy, lethargic, and numb are over. The world hits me hard, and now I am ready to write about my take on things. One of my teacher’s still says to this day, and I take it to heart fully and openly, that “everyone has an art to share with the world, and more importantly in your own way it is a journey of self-exploration”. So yes, the cheese factor will also be present in this blog. Honestly I think it is good to cheese things up now and again. It keeps everyone humble and that is of course the most important characteristic to staying true to yourself. Here at P.B. we keep our grass and our roots green. I will be blogging later tonight on my dilemma with being left handed in a world of right handers. Stay tuned for some random insight or at least some interesting pictures. Remember it’s as if reading this blog is a mere sketch of what I think and feel on a bi-weekly basis. I share with you introspective thoughts from a mind that obsesses over any instantaneous spurts of the mind. Sometimes you will read it and ask yourself, “Well, that was f*ing random . . .” I hope to inform and I live to share. Do what you are and be free. 

I SOON REALIZED THAT NO JOURNEY CARRIES ONE FAR UNLESS, AS IT EXTENDS INTO THE WORLD AROUND US, IT GOES AN EQUAL DISTANCE INTO THE WORLD WITHIN. ~LILLIAN SMITH

La Virgen de Quito

Today, I took a taxi to Centro Historico, the old town section of Quito. I´m staying in La Mariscal which is where most of the hotels are located and everyone warns you to not stay in the old town.  My taxi driver, Ivan,  was very nice and asked if I wanted a tour of the city for 2 hours.  I declined but I did let him take me to El Panecillo.  It´s at the top of a hill and is a huge statue of the winged virgin.  It´s 148´ high and is a copy of the sculpture, La Virgen de Quito, that is located on the altar in one their church`s. The hill is significant because back in Inca times, the local people used this hill as a place to worship the sun.  After the Spanish arrived, they built a fort to watch what was going on down below. It provided 360 degree views of the city.  Ivan, took my picture and was a great tour guide. He also warned me to be careful and gave me his card in case I had any problems. So far, the people have been very nice.  It was an incredible ride, the driver´s fly through intersections and just honk their horn to warn people they are coming. If there is back up then they just lay on the horn.  They love their horns.  In one section, there was a market and people were carrying all this furniture on their heads up this hill.  Just amazing!  Ivan dropped me off in the old town and I walked around.  It was much larger than I expected, I had lunch and they had straps on every chair to hook your purse on.  I guess Ivan wasn´t kidding about holding on to my belongings.  I had a potato and cheese soup with slices of avocado for $2.  Another item, that is very popular here. It then began to pour down rain so I headed back to my hotel. Of course, I couldn´t find a taxi but until then, they have been on every block. 

We had a meeting with our GAP representative and the people from our group going to the Galapagos. I went to dinner with two of them, Mady and her son Gabriel from Sydney, Australia.  We took the trolle’ for 25 cents to the old town and went to La Ronda Street. This street had been re-stored in the past year to a traditional neighborhood.  In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this neighborhood was home to musicians, poets and historians.  They have done a very nice job with placards about where each person had lived.  But the best part, were the two young men playing guitars and the locals dancing and clapping their hands in the middle of the street.  We were the only tourists there and it was a unique moment to watch. Thanks to our bell captain for telling us about it and then the restaurant, Vista Hermosa.  It was on the rooftop on the 5th floor and had incredible views of the city, especially after the rain. All the churches were lit up. Again, we were the only tourists among the locals. It was a wonderful evening, my best one yet.   

   ~LILLIAN SMITH

Check out the Website: http://journals.worldnomads.com/sregevig/post/15904.aspx

Skate Con Gusto!

-Poseiden