It’s that time of year again and SEMA is already next week. Scion invited to check out the latest vehicles that will be displayed in their booth at the tradeshow. In usual Scion fashion the event was well presented and was held in their art gallery in Culver City. Plus with free Honest Tea, Singha beer, and Kogi tacos you can’t go wrong. Here is a sneak peek of the cars for SEMA.

Jeremy Lookofsky and the Cartel XD was as always very impressive with tons of detailing.

After partnering up for numerous events Scion and Kogi tacos came together and built an XD Korean BBQ car.

0-60 magazine and Sparco built this rally inspired xD

The Scion DJ vehicle #1 was in full effect as well…DJ vehicle #2 is supposed to be at SEMA built by Troy over at Five Axis. I’ve always been a fan of their work, but man it must be nice to have the budget they have for the builds.

Seems like just yesterday that Mark and I were able to participate together in the Scion Tuner Challenge. This year the build was with XBs and I think it will be pretty close. Who do you think will win?

My homie Eneri Abillar from Vapor Studio built this XB complete with custom turbo, widebody, and lounge interior.

Brandon from Bowls built this sick truck version XB…let’s see what’s in store in the rear of the car at the show.

Pete Collelo built this tuner style XB with lots of mods.

I know first hand the stress and the work it takes to build one of these vehicles and with a limited budget and even smaller amount of time for the build it takes a lot of dedication and sacrifice to pull it off correctly. So congrats to all the guys and good luck…once its over let’s all grab a drink!

Keep posted for daily updates from SEMA from Mark and I…

This aired during the BET Awards last night and bringing 4 hip hop heavyweights together is very special. This brings back memories of good hip hop from back in the day (even if I’m dating myself).

To keep the good hip-hop going download the homey DJ Bandoma’s Golden 90’s Era Hip Hop Mix. Great mix with some awesome tracks…the good old days.

The championship Lakers were given their rings tonight and start the season with a victory over the Clippers…it’s showtime!

Here are some of the ring’s details:

The gold is of limited edition 15 karat variety to represent the 15th championship earned by the organization.

Per the request of Dr. Buss, there are 14 diamonds surrounding the top of the ring symbolizing the previous 14 franchise championships, with the Larry O’Brien trophy in the middle to represent the 2008-09 title.

On the inside of a Player ring rests an etching of their respective jersey number. In addition, as requested by Fisher and Bryant, there is a player image on the side of player rings.

The Los Angeles skyline is an element unique to non-player rings in place of the player’s image.

The ring is two toned, with white gold representing the Lakers Sunday whites uniforms that honor legendary broadcaster Chick Hearn.

Each ring is authenticated by a serial number, and to further protect the authenticity, there are hidden etchings of the Lakers logo.

Kupchak contributed the idea to include the varying records of every individual playoff series on the side of the ring, which was done in addition to having the season record to capture the journey of the entire season.

Now on to another back-to-back championship!

We hosted the Forza Motorsport 3 Launch event at the CEC showroom in Santa Monica. The showroom became the perfect setting for this game’s launch as it was filled with high-end cars including a very sexy Ferrari 559 and a Techart Porsche, many wheels, and motorsport memorabilia on display.

The focal point of the evening became Forza Motorsport 3 itself with multiple consoles and flat screens in the showroom that allowed guests to play the yet to be released game. Guests included media, VIPs, a couple celebs, and of course a few drivers.

From Formula DRIFT we had Ryan Tuerck, Rhys Millen, Daijiro Yoshihara, Stephan Verdier, and judge Tony Angelo drop by.

It was great to catch up with everyone and it reminded me of a SEMA event with the high level of industry attendees. Good to see some of these guys out of the “work” environment as well.

We even had a few friends from the fashion scene come out to check out the event including James Bond (UNDFTD), Jon Chase (DSTRYR), Chris Hull (Alpinestars), Ryan and Kingson (Meister), Veny (Famous Stars and Straps) and even the Attic boys came by.

Even a few random celebs stopped by including actor Shemar Moore, Paulie from LA Ink, and the one and only RJ deVera haha.

Another season has passed for Formula DRIFT. Congratulations to Chris Forsberg and the team for a very well deserved championship. This event was one of the largest events ever with a sold out crowd of over 10,000 attending. I had over 250 media members alone apply for credentials…just crazy.

It was a very long and busy week from pre-event to event to post-event the work never seems to end. The Hundreds came out to check out what drifting is all about (showcasing the cross-over appeal of streetwear and motorsports.) We also brought out the Famous Stars and Straps stunt bike team and they did a demo for all the fans.

All of the FD drivers autographed a custom Sparco suit for the family of the late Shaun Carlson.

Some jumbo branding on-site

Ernie from NOS Energy looked nervous as Chris battled to make it into the Top 16, which would clinch his title. Even though Ryan Tuerck who was sitting in 2nd place would take the victory, Chris had enough points (just 6) to win the championship (there was a scenario that with some magic turnout they could of both potentially tied – glad that didn’t happen as it would of stirred up some controversy.) So from the judging tower I decided to text Ernie with, “Nervous?!” as he anxiously waited for the results of the battle. I don’t blame him for his anxiety as he has backed Chris Forsberg for years and it finally all paid of. Congrats to the NOS team.

Tears of joy…(sorry bro I had to post this shot…way too good)

Now that the season has officially wrapped up it’s time to head into SEMA, which should be very interesting.

NOS Energy Drink brings you behind the scenes with Chris Forsberg for a one on one experience. Chris walks us through the history of the sport and the trials and tribulations that he, Kevin, and Sergio endured to become the first private team in the Formula DRIFT series.

Chris is now leading the points in both the Formula DRIFT championship and the Tires.com Triple Crown. If he wins he will be the first driver to do both on his way to his first Formula DRIFT title. This will also be the first time that a “pure” drifter with no other motorsports background will become the champion. We will find out if Chris will make history this weekend Oct. 15-16 at Round 7: Judgment Day of the Formula DRIFT Professional Championship at the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.

Thursday evening after work I went to check out Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk. Art Walk takes place every 2nd Thursday of the month and after working in downtown for months I finally went to check it out. Part of the excursion was for work and this will be revealed later on, but after walking around the few blocks and checking out the various galleries I think that I will make this a monthy routine. Bars, cafes, and galleries were open to see some new artwork and of course have a few cocktails.

Thousands of people head down to DTLA for this event and crowd the streets.

Live performances are common

Of course we stopped by the Last Laugh and checked out Cartoon in action and Estevan’s gallery of photos

“The Must” is a must stop by for happy hour and wine. I highly recommend the butternut curry soup and mac and cheese!

Friday I went down to Venice to visit the Rogue Status x DTA crew. I have worked for months on a story idea with Super Street magazine and finally a few photoshoots and interviews are taking place. The article comes out in December for the January issue and should be very interesting. Be sure to pick up a copy as it will have some very close “friends” featured.

It happened to be the day after the RS guys were featured on “Fantasy Factory” and they showed me the clip of them with Rob and Travis.

More importantly were did they get the leg lamp!

The photos by Estevan Oriol on wall have inspired me to finally start decorating my place…

Finally check out this quick vid from the infamous bench outside the shop.

Saturday I found myself at an engagement party. As I get older the more grown-up parties I find myself attending. Alcohol is always flowing at these things…

Someone can always be found on the dancefloor and the star of the show was this breakdancing baby.

The unofficial teaser trailer to the documentary “Electro Wars,” by Stephen Vasquez. Looks cool and I want to check it out when it’s done.

Fatlace friend Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has announced his retirement from the UFC to pursue his acting career after taking the role as B.A. Baracus in the upcoming A-Team movie. This is sad news for MMA fans as Rampage is still one of the top fighters in the world at the Light-Heavyweight class and was set to fight Rashad Evans to settle a beef the two have. Both are coaches on the current “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show and this season is one of the most anticipated with all heavyweights fighting for a UFC contract including Kimbo Slice (if you don’t know Kimbo by now then look his name up on You Tube and you’ll see some awesome backyard brawls).

According to Rampage, “I reinjured my jaw in the fight with Wanderlei (Silva) & Jardine,” wrote Jackson. “Frank Mir gets hurt so they wanted to switch my fight from UFC 100 to the fight Frank couldn’t make (at UFC 98) but I couldn’t fight cause I needed jaw surgury. So they give Machida the fight against Rashad and they told me they want me to coach TUF season 10 against Rashad. That’s why I wanted Rashad to win so bad but when Rashad got knocked out I told them I wanted to fight Machida for the belt but Dana told me if I coach TUF against Rashad that I could fight Machida afterwards cause this was a different type of ultimate fighter show they were doing.

“After I signed the contract Dana then changes his mind & says I have to fight Rashad and even told me what to say in the press & so my fans think I was scared to fight Machida. After all that I still never complained and I did it all.”

More details can be found here.

Rashad on Rampage’s Retirement

I personally hope the best for Rampage as he is a great guy and I’ve had the opportunity to hang out with him a few times and he really is as funny in person. I do understand his point and he is afterall looking after his own future and Hollywood pays a lot more with a lot less wear and tear than MMA does even with endorsements. I hope after the movie is done with filming he reconsiders this retirement choice and comes back swinging. I know his fans would love to see a fight with him and Rashad, Machida, Shogun, and eventually a re-match with Forest Griffin. Who knows maybe his acting career will take off…let’s just hope it’s not another Shaq and “Kaazam”.

Steve Aoki and Zuper Blahq (the top secret identity is still to be officially revealed but it’s really Will.I.Am) released this video a few weeks ago. For some reason I keep coming back to watching it. I’m excited to hear more stuff coming out of this side project and from Dim Mak in general.