Exposure 2017 Lizzie Armanto

Skateboarder Lizzie Armanto
Skateboarder Lizzie Armanto

My good friend was performing at the Hollywood Bowl on the same evening. So I was only able to attend Exposure for a few hours. I managed to catch some of the Amateur bowl and all of the vert competition.







The evolution of skateboarding

The evolution of skateboarding
The evolution of skateboarding.

Although the basic physical aspects of a skateboard remain pretty close to your old roller skates nailed to a piece of wood, the evolution of “skateboarding” always amazes me.







John Stamos Universal Studios 1982

Ken Hada John Stamos Universal Studios 1982
Ken Hada John Stamos Universal Studios 1982

 

John Stamos text me this photo a few weeks ago. I had sent it to him decades back. I shot this when I was in High School with one of those plastic pocket 35mm film cameras. Probably had it developed at the K-Mart his mom used to go to. John would have auditions in Hollywood, and I would sometimes go along to hang out. On this particular day I remember we did not have enough money to get into Universal Studios. John Stamos and I used to like to watch the stunt show (because we were nerdy that way). At this time there was a huge ivy covered hill in front of Universal Studios (just above one of the parking lots) with a medium size chain link fence on top. Yeah you guessed it. Like most high schoolers we had a great time disrespecting authority.







1950’s, Japanese American life post WWII, Mobile Home Park, Southern California

 

Japanese American post WWII California
Japanese American post WWII California

My dad told me this story a long time ago, about a place  I drive by on the way back from dropping my kids off for school.

My mom and dad met in Colorado and were married a few years later. Mom’s version was that she gave dad a ultimatum. I guess dad caved? He originally went to school for engineering but couldn’t hack the study and having-two-or-three-jobs-while-going-to-school-thing so he instead became a teacher. Dad’s first teaching job was in Minnesota. He loved the job, people, fishing, and hunting. Although mom met some nice people in Minnesota she wasn’t crazy about the weather and the bugs.

After a fews years of teaching in Minnesota dad got offered a job in California. So they drove their Airstream to California. They went to a mobile home park in Cypress off Lincoln ave., but were turned away. They were told “we don’t take your kind here”. This was during the 1950’s (World War II recently ended). Japanese American’s lived with this type of pre-judgement. So mom and dad drove east of this location to another mobile home park. The man at this park said he was full and suggest they go to the mobile home they had turned them away. They told him what happened and he said “I know the guy who runs that place, lets go together and talk to him”.

The man got my mom and dad into the mobile home park that previously turned them away. And wouldn’t you know in a short time they became best friends with the man who originally turned them away.