Em Oh You Es E

My wife and I purchased Annual Passports a few years ago for the first time. I knew people who had the passes but never thought I would be that guy going to "the happiest place on earth" on the weekly. I was lucky enough to visit Disney at least once or twice a year for the past 20+ years, grateful indeed. My wife on the other hand was raised in Santa Cruz so she was not so lucky. Disney instantly became our favorite date spot and we enjoyed the experience a couple times a month. You really can't go wrong with a mid week dinner, a ride or two and then bounce home. Yep, those were the days, things were a lot quieter back then.

Now as parents, Disneyland is a totally different experience. We have been wanting to purchase passes but felt the kids were too young to appreciate it and/or not ready for the madness. Most likely my wife and I were the ones who were not ready. Eventually we caved and bought the passes once again. So far we have taken the Fam Bam a dozen times often just for a few hours and it has been awesome every time.

I am really trying to get motivated with this future Cavotu collection. Long over due to say the least but I am clearly my own worst enemy. Disneyland is super motivating with all the colors, artwork, magic, excitement etc. As your therapist, I highly recommend at least one Disney day a week. But non peak season and non weekends of course. With that being said, I think it is time for my fix. Let's go!

Skate(r)

Bob Dylan said it best...

"Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'."

And with that being said, I am rather bummed to write a blog announcing that San Pedro's favorite skateshop, Sunken City has permanently closed it's doors.

Shop owners, Brandon Zankich and Rick Plancich took a huge hit from the poor economic times and were forced to close their dream business. Sunken City skates established quite a buzz around town despite the fact that they relocated 3 times in the past 4 years. Pro riders like Daewon Song, Chris Haslam and Cooper Wilt called Sunken City their home away from home and hung out on a regular basis.

The good folks at Cavotu wish the Sunken City fam the best of luck on their next life chapter. The future is wide open. Keep on skating!

Check out a couple clips of Rick and Brandon doing their thing.

Bukowski Bluebird Birthday Booze Boy

San Pedro's own Charles Bukowski would have celebrated his 91st birthday today. Charles aka Hank was one crazy dude who definitely indulged in his fair share of booze, cigs and females. A poet, a writer, a novelist, a cult hero, the list goes on. Whatever title you want to roll with, the work of Bukowski will be praised for many years to come. I would never claim 'super fan' but I appreciate his skills with words/phrases etc. I can think of at least 2 or 3 people that I know who have a bluebird tattooed on their skin in his honor. I thought for a minute about walking over to Green Hills to look for his grave but then thought that was a bit much. Another day doggy. But thats what we have the Internet for, right? The "don't try" is pretty classic. Cheers!

denim and leather

I saw these silly bearded boys in concert a while back. I don't know anyone that can rock the denim vest look and make it look this cool. They have tons of energy on stage. A must see next time they roll thru your town. Enjoy the goodness that is Valient Thorr.

416 Broadway

The Hundreds is a clothing/lifestyle project that I follow on the regular. I'm part of the millions of people from all over the planet who read their blog and check their website every freaking day. The Hundreds dot com is a great source for all things street-wear, music, art, Cali life, etc etc. They are without a doubt 'thee' lifestyle brand to follow. I can't think of another brand that consistently hits the nail on the head like the Hundreds.

My daughter and I recently visited their new retail joint in Santa Monica which happens to be their 4th store. Not bad for a brand that just celebrated their 8 year anniversary. I have been to Rosewood a few times, their first store, located in LA's Fairfax district. I totally planned on going to Grand during my NYC visit this past June but never made it. Post is their San Francisco joint, Bay Area love and on my future visit list. Each store is completely different from the next and all offer the customer a unique shopping experience.

Pey is only 20 months old but she ran around like a kid in a candy store. The Santa Monica layout is pretty cool, a clean use of space which is only a couple blocks from the beach. I liked the shoe loft area and the overall white paint theme. I'm pretty sure they blogged about the concept on the website. The front window display has a turntable, old school boom box, and an original Nintendo console cemented into the ground to say the least.
The Hundreds founders and I were all born in 1980 so it's pretty cool to think that I can relate to everything that they are inspired by. It's amazing to see their achievements and successes in their 8 year history as a brand. Super motivating when I factor in that I started Cavotu back in 2005. Don't worry, we will breathe again. I could argue that these dudes don't have wives and babies so they have no clue what the life struggle juggle looks like. But they definitely got the drive and are not showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon. Time to kick it into high gear which really just means its time to change a diaper, haha. Let's go.

Fresh from the earth

You can't go wrong with a juicy seedless organic mini watermelon. Nature's candy, need I say more. These bad boys where organically grown in Orange County. Check out for Tanaka Farms for the 411. Boom.

New Blink

I have been a Blink 182 fan since day one (1990 something). I remember listening to my dubbed copy of Chesire Cat over and over. I knew it wasn't a musical masterpiece but it was catchy, fun and defined where I was at in life. I was hooked. Over the years I remained a fan of all things Blink whether it was their side bands, media projects, clothing companies, etc etc. Yes, this might sound a bit obsessive but I always felt connected in a way. Blink was the background noise during my teens and early twenties. I felt like they were into the same shit as me or maybe that's just what I told myself.

Mark called my college apartment at SDSU after my roommate launched blow pops onto the stage during their on campus show. I never knew exactly what she wrote but the G rated version was probably something like "for a good time, call Jaci." Unfortunately no one was home when he called but we had Mark's message on our answering machine for weeks after. I remember listening to Drop Your Pants and Jacket while I was living in Singapore. I remember winning tickets, rad seats by the way, from 91X (San Diego rock radio station). I have tons of Blink memories and could go on and on.

So now I'm 31 years old, married with children and I still get the chills when I hear Blink is recording a new album. Mad respect for Mark, Tom and Travis. Enjoy their new song. Stay stoked!

Blogs that I follow

This logo is easily one of the legends in the street wear game. I remember my first S shirt back in 1993. I was sooo stoked to wear it to my "free dress day" at catholic school. Life was simple then...

Shawn still carries the torch yet it burns a little different these days. His blog is one of my favs for its simplicity. Thanks for the inspiration.

Hello again

I once called myself a blogger...fail.

This was by far the coolest blog I wrote last year. Miss you Speed

Atak!

I'll be there shortly

I used to bleach one spot in my hair. I used to grow the sides of my hair long and then bleach the hair and call it my ear muffs. Bleach and I have a long history. Its not like I need to be taken serious or anything but I guess I just kinda forgot about the bleaching thing. I like this cat. Period.

Just because...

Don't wanna be just like you.

San Pedro Punx

Earlier today, I had an interesting conversation with Pete Romero while I was working at the shop. Pete drinks banquet beer which is cool. Most Coors drinkers get caught up in the hype/drinkability of the Silver Bullets that they often forget about the quality/taste of an ice cold Banquet. Pete dabbles in longshore life and punk rock music, hell of a combo if you ask me but then again I might be a little bias being that I do the same dance. Pete plays in a band, San Pedro punk rock, Plan A. The band has not made the switch over to FB but still have a dinosaur page up on MY_____ if you want to check out some of their anthems. Plan A is playing a show at the Whiskey in a couple weeks. I'll be rallying the troops to support local music. See ya in the pit!

Song of the Day

Railroad Revival-San Pedro

I had planned on blogging about this whole experience but...well let's just say I got caught up in the process. But this just wasn't any process, it was more like a challenge, to plan the greatest party EVER at the modern location of Utro's in San Pedro, CA. What is this Utro's you speak of? Well, Utro's Cafe was established in 1976 by my father, rather than go into the vast details of the history let's just say I have been carrying the torch for the last several years and yes this is probably the first time I have mentioned it publicly on the Cavotu blog. For the longest time I chose to keep certain aspects of my life separate but as I get older, I realize that everything I do really defines who I am and where I'm going in life. Ok so I run a restaurant. That in itself might explain why I tend to lag in the fashion apparel biz. But thats no excuse.

So back to the lecture at hand....this musical tour was a brilliant concept, 3 bands travel by train to 6 US cities. And yes they chose San Pedro as the location for the Los Angeles show. San Pedro is not known for a place where the hipsters gather for live music so the town really had no idea of the magnitude of this event. No one prepared, no one thought to capitalize on the fact that 6,000 people would be coming to this sold out concert. I saw the opportunity from the moment the tour dates where announced on the radio. BAM! Sure the fact that my restaurant was located directly adjacent to the concert venue had a lot to do with my motivation but in the end it was a really great idea.

Thanks to all the folks who attended the party. Thanks to the folks at San Pedro News Pilot for filming the video below. My hope is that the promoters will consider us again for another outdoor concert in the future. San Pedro is in desperate need of more youth and outsider money spent in our shops and restaurants. I pretty much summed it up best by saying "this is how you bring town's back to life" in the video below.