Track Mom

The driver in the video below has a track-prepped Corvette and is taking his mom for a little ride around the world famous Laguna Seca race track out in Monterey, California. I would LOVE to be able to do something like this with my car, and my mom riding shotgun. I can only imagine the screams that she would let out. Of course I'd have to have the GoPro camera rolling as well, to capture it all. In the meantime though, this mom/son combo will have to do, until I can make the track day happen. It's quite hilarious, and the mom has some really funny one-liners in there as well. [Oh and she didn't know the cameras were rolling!] Enjoy!

[Laguna Seca With Mom]

Cafe Cowboy

Here's a fantastic video about a guy named Dustin Kott, a California based bike builder who makes custom British style cafe racers out of older Japanese bikes. It's beautifully shot, and just listening to Dustin talk about his passion for the bikes and building them is quite poetic. Enjoy folks, enjoy.

Cafe cowboy from benedict campbell on Vimeo.

Kid On A Leash Series

"KID ON A LEASH!"

That's a text message I'll send or receive from time to time, and it always brings a smile to my face. It all started about 3.5 years ago, senior year senior week at college. One day we were going to Hershey Park in PA, and we had come up with a series of sightings worth different points as we walked through the park. Some of which included NASCAR apparel, flip flops with socks, a fanny pack, a mullet, kid on a leash, etc. Bonus points would of course be awarded if you could combo up and find someone with more than one qualifying trait. It was a great day and quite possibly more fun and interesting than any rides in that park.

Jump a couple years ahead, and 'kid on a leash' still lives on today! Anytime someone sees a kid on a leash we immediately text everyone else who still plays the game to let them know about our find. It's always completely random and always gives me a laugh. Sometimes I'm able to snap a picture. This is where the blog comes in. The first picture [seen below] comes from my San Diego trip in April, at the famed San Diego Zoo. I know I have more, and I'll try to dig some of them up and post them as well. But if you happen to snap a photo of a kid on a leash, PLEASE email me the photo and I'll put it up, with credit of course going to you. Without further a due, KID ON A LEASH!!

Mini Bikes

My buddy who I went to visit out in San Diego has a friend on his inter tube water polo team [yes, you read that correctly] that has a house about 20 minutes inland from the beach. He tore up his backyard and built a mini dirt bike track. On Sunday he invited us all out there to tear it up all afternoon long. I was in heaven. Even though I had never ridden a dirt bike before, this was right up my alley! I just pulled my mountain biking and [street] motorcycle experience together and let it rip! Probably some of the most fun I've had in recent history. This is pretty much exactly what I want to do with some land near my house in the future. I'm definitely gonna buy one of these....or three. There's really not a whole lot more I can explain except that it was an absolute blast, the pictures say it all. Enjoy. [PS, click any of the pictures for full view!]

The aftermath. I've got some sweet battle wounds!

California, Here I Come!

I've been waiting literally years, nay.....my whole life to sing this song and actually mean it. California. Here. I. Come.

California Love

Can you dig iiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttt?!?!?!

California Dreams

Simply Because:

Hawk Nelson - California

Tomorrow, Tomorrow

It's 7:12am, I got to work a short while ago, but my mind is clearly elsewhere:

Saint Diego Zoo

May try and hit up the San Diego zoo while we're out there, not sure though. I don't even remember the last time I was at a zoo. Maybe when I lived in Germany? Anyway, if we do go to the zoo, we gotta do it Ron Burgundy style.

Surf's Up

Don't know if we'll have a chance to get out into the water with some boards or not while out in San Diegooooooooo, but if given the opportunity I'd love to give it a whirl. I've only tried surfing once, and I never got up. However, to my credit I was on a 6 foot board (really short, not good for beginners) with no lessons......at the jersey shore. Some might say those were unfavorable conditions to try surfing for the first time.

Before he became famous for his music, Jack Johnson was actually a surfer and movie-maker. I have the dvd at home of his film 'September Sessions' - amazing amazing film. Beautifully shot and really makes you want to pick up your board and get out into the water. During the filming on this trip, Jack wrote the song 'F-Stop Blues' which is hands down my favorite Jack Johnson song. He wrote it with the help of his fellow surfers and was written about this particular trip that they all took. So it goes without saying that this clip from the movie is one of my all time favorite music/video clips. Enjoy.

Longboarding

While out in San Diego, I def. plan on hitting up the boardwalk to do some cruisin' around, whether it be on a longboard or beach cruiser bike. This is another activity that I can guarantee will take place. Stay tuned for for pictures of us actually cruisin around though.

IN-N-OUT Burger

It's no secret that I'm a food lover. I mean, how could I not be with one of the world's greatest chefs as your mom. That combined with the fact that I was always very active helped me to develop one of the worlds biggest appetites known to man. I've never been to California [that I can remember, 3 months old does not count] and this is the only place you can get some IN-N-OUT Burger! I'm stoked.....and getting hungry just thinking about it. I can assure you right now that this is one destination we will definitely be hitting up [maybe two or three times] while in sunny SAN DIEGOOOOOO!!!

A quick google images search produced these yummy pictures. Enjoy.

Wave House: San DIego

In continuing with this whole theme of totally awesome stuff to do while out in California; I present to you, The Wave House. How awesome does this place look?? Really I just want to go for the wave machines cause it looks like a blast to me, but after browsing around the rest of their site, it looks like there's a lot more you can do there as well. But really....I'll just be there for the wave. Any bets on how many times I wipe out?? Check out this nifty little video! Exactly 8 days from now I'll be en route to SAN DIEGOOOOO!

Kansas City Barbeque

Otherwise known as the Top Gun Bar just so happens to be located in sunny San Diego....where I'm headed in just over a week. As if I needed any more things to get me excited about this trip, I think I'll do a blog post a day about what my plans are while I'm out there, and then I can report back once I'm back in town about how much of it actually got accomplished. Today's post is obviously about the 'Top Gun Bar'. Delicious food aside, I can't wait to take pictures at this place and revel in all it's awesomeness. In case you didn't know [in which case you should be ashamed of yourself] this bar was where they filmed some of the movie 'Top Gun' [greatest movie of all time by the way] so it's no wonder that this is on my list of to-do's. Here's a snipit of the bar in action. SAN DIEGOOOOOOOO!!!

2 Weeks

2 weeks from this very moment I will be on my way to sunny Californ-i-a!!! I am 'super stoked' and felt the need to get my SoCal rock on this morning. The first clip is pure poetry; and the second was inspired from the first. It's like a PUNCH KICK COMBO!!!!!

SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!

Californ-i-a

Californiaaaaaa, here we come! Uh, correction. Rather, here I come! Just bought my plane ticket to head out to San Diego in a few months to see some friends from school. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will probably be one of my favorite trips of all time....also there's probably a real possibility I won't come back. CANNOT WAIT!

And purely for good measure: