SXA Backyard BBQ in Mililani

Mililani is to Hawaii what Long Beach is to So Cal. Especially when it comes to skateboarding. There's a lot of humble underground talent who have quietly made an impact far outside of Hawaii whether it be from skateboarding, music, building motorcycles, surfing, or whatevs. Some of my favs that come to mind are Dyson Ramones, Jarold Webb, Sancho, Darin Lee, Ian Okui, Emil Lacuesta, and Willy Fruean. This past Tuesday we held an SXA BBQ at the Mililani Skatepark for my friend Rex Sakamoto who now lives in Oregon as well as for Marshy as he makes his way to the OC to further pursue his tattoo career.

Dyson and The Marsh Man!

The BBQ was just to be a small kine midweek pupu kine shin dig for these guys but it ended up being a little bigger than we thought. When I showed up to the park it was completely full and there was no parking. When I asked what was going on my friend told me that everyone was here for the BBQ. WTF? I wasn't prepared for this! It seems that some of the younger homies got excited and spread the word via FB and other social media avenues. In the end we were able to feed almost eveyone. Some more than others but it's all good. I heard the term "No aku birds" yelled out at one point and had to laugh! Goodtimes as usual!

SXA Delroy!

SXA's newest member Braddah Keegs aka Keegan Sakamoto. This braddah is gonna rip on a skateboard or maybe even a surfboard when he grows up. His daddy and his Uncle Basil are both rippers!

This was all I prepared for the hundreds of people that showed up for the BBQ. Everybody had to share one stick!
It almost turned out to be an SXA camping sesh as you can see by the blankets in the background. Big mahalos to Kellie Cabral for showing face. Kellie was visiting from SF and heard stories about how ono the food was from the SXA BBQ so she decided to stop in and see for her self! Have a safe trip back Kellie!

Russ Pope / SXA / New York

Lucky to have good friends like Russ!

SXA needs one more grill!!!

SXA "Pre Labor Day Backyard BBQ"

Had some friends in town this past weekend so we had to give them a Welcome to Hawaii BBQ. Nick was back from Long Beach for the Labor Day weekend and my friend Andy Davis was here for his artshow at the Greenroom Gallery. On top of that it was going to be way to crowded to BBQ the next day (Labor Day). Didn't matter though because it was crowded anyways. Regardless everybody had a goodtime. A bunch of friends showed up late but we managed to feed everybody and send em home happy! Mahalo to my sister Nicole for bringing the sangria! Also mahalo to Andy for stopping by and hanging out for a bit. I know you had a busy weekend with your show which was GREAT by the way. "Tanks eh to all da boys for packing everything up and putting em in da van! First time I nevah have to lift a finger aftah I pau BBQ all da food!"

Andy Davis watching over the chicken and teri beef while talking story with Val from the Greenroom Hawaii!

Couldn't BBQ the chicken fast enough. Gotta buy bigger grill I think so!

The groms Darian and Shilo

Actually had waves, Marsh Slater, Nick, Dyson, Dennis, and Sancho wen "Pu in Sai!"

Pat from Ohio and Braddah Ed stopped by to sample some of the SXA BBQ!

What! This was a first we actually had a wahine (Jordain) running the grill! Bacon wrapped mushrooms were ono from what I heard!

SXA all time favorites Marlon and Maria Warren!

SXA Ohana!

SXA Backyard BBQ at the Sand Box BMX Track

Back in 1999 I had spent the majority of my time with my two boys Kai and Mikala and our family along with my friends Marlon and Maria their son Peanut at the Wheeler BMX track. We were a bunch devoted BMX junkies who were committed to going to the track on a daily bases to watch our 5 year old kids ride around in circles. This eventually lead to trips to the mainland to compete in Nationals and race other local tracks from California, Las Vegas, and Florida. It was goodtimes and we made a lot of friends along the way. In 2001 due to 9/11 the Wheeler track had basically shut down to civilians due to it being on an Air Force Base that had to implement tight security measures. So basically most of the racers had to move on to finding some other hobby to move on to because there was no local track off base. Everybody went there seperate ways except for Marlon and I. Here we are again 13 years later at a new track with his now 5 year old son Chug ready to do it all over again! BMX fever has struck again!

Marlon III aka Chug aka Bubs aka "Ricky Bobby Racing"!

Sand Box BMX Track

These three kids now young men were the center piece for the 5 and 6 year old Expert Class back in 2000. Mikala (left) was the 2000 State Champ in 6 Expert, Peanut (middle) was Mikala's main nemesis and eventually took over the 6X class, and Jordan (right) was the 5 year old National Champ which I believe he won in Oklahoma in 99' or 2000. All three of these kids traveled to the mainland and raced numerous BMX tracks against back then the best riders in the US. Jordan was the first racer on the island to ever use clipless pedals (pedals and shoes used by road and mountain bikers to lock your feet on to your pedals). His father Karl saw what the other racers on the mainland were using and found that it was a big advantage. Because Jordan was so small Karl had to modify a pair of soccer cleats to fit the clipless cleat on to the bottom of the shoe. Now you look around and everybody in Hawaii is using these clipless pedals. You can thank Jordan and Karl for bringing the idea back to Hawaii!
And here we are today back at the track doing what we now do best which is manning the grill and keeping the beer cold! Back then you could say Marlon and I were a bunch of crazed BMX parents screaming and yelling for our kids to PEDAL! Knowing what we know now it's time to relax and just enjoy and have fun (at least that's what I keep telling Marlon)!
In his first race 2 weeks ago Chug got 2nd place in the 5 novice Class. This past weekend he got 1st place! Not bad for a 5 year old who has only been riding bike without training wheels for a couple of months!
The Sand Box BMX Track is located on Sand Island sandwiched between the Honolulu Airports reef runway and Keehi Lagoon as well as Kalihi and downtown Honolulu. It really is a beautiful sight all the way around. The track shares property with a mini bike track (seen in the background) as well a harbor where all the canoe clubs race. There's also a couple of good surf spots straight out from the track.

Back to serious business. Instead of pedal it's cook faster we stay hungry! And no burn da burgahs!

Team Shake & Bake! "If you ain't 1st your last!" Hey I'll take last as long as there's some ono grinds on the grill and cold beer in the cooler!

Check out our Hawaii x Destroy blog for more photos of the Sand Box BMX Track.

SXA & Pakajunk Tee

If you like to BBQ or just a fan of good food in general, are from Hawaii or appreciate the local culture, and like to putt around on scooters then you can appreciate the this lil' project that Braddah Nelson and I did.
About 6 months or so he faxed me over a drawing of a bike with the saying "Loud Aloha Saves Lives"that he sketched out on a napkin. With some help of some good friends we turned Nelson's sketch into a tee that you can wear while out at your local BBQ or when you go out fo grind with your chic at Zippy's!

Braddah Nick thinking about where fo' eat after pau skate!

Nelson has a blog called Pakajunk which features a lot of good mom and pop style places to eat that most people would never notice but are amazingly awesome. His blog also covers motorcycles that his friends own, as well as his passion for jiu jitsu, MMA, and random stuffs from Hawaii. Lot's of funny kine stuffs he get on there regarding his homeys as well as home videos of local braddahs scrapping in a gravel parking lot somewhere in Hawaii. Oh yeah and did I mention the 411 on all the ono spots fo' grind in So Cal!

SXA / The Speed Merchant BBQ #2

So approximately 3 days after our first BBQ at The Speed Merchant shop Brawny and I decided it was time for round 2. We had about 20 pounds of meat left over from the first BBQ and a bunch of hungry local braddahs who never made it out to the first BBQ. We also had a bunch of hungry braddahs who did make it out to the first BBQ! After a long day of work on a Wednesday we all rallied and met up at Brawny's spot for a hana hou BBQ! I gotta tell you I thought the first BBQ was a good time but this one was extra special. When I took a look around at all the braddahs that were here I couldn't help but smile and think about how fortunate I was to be able to be in these guys company. Here we are in the middle of Long Beach a group of local braddahs and friends BBQ-ing on a Wednesday night as if it was "Pau Hana Friday!" Everyone had to be up the next morning for work but nobody wanted to leave knowing that this was the final BBQ until the next time. Big Mahalos to Brawny, Dustin, Jose, Mark, Len, Jensen, Alf, Nick, Jesse, James, Nos, Oblow, Kingman, Nelson and all that showed up to help make this gathering a goodtime!

Some good local braddahs in this pic: Braddah Jensen, Alf, James, Brawny, Nos, Len, and Nick

Jose's Knuck is sick!

Local style no mo' t-shirt, just gotta wear da slippah!

Oblow holding down da cooler!

Goodtime braddahs in this pic!

Talking story in the L.B.C.

Mahalos Nelson, Dustin and Brawny for making a braddah feel at home. Aloha!