After maybe 4 hours of sleep, it was double alarm action, a shower and full lathering up in sunscreen, throwing on my old Cheffey's and we were on our way. Natalie picked me up and we headed off to MTV's "Scarred:Live" taping at the Len Moore Chula Vista Skatepark.
Despite growing up in Chula Vista, this was not there when I was growing up, so I had to mapquest the place. It's kinda near where I grew up, all I really remember is that people used to grow weed in those canyons behind Oleander (when they were still canyons). It's funny now that when I go to CV, it's usually just to my parents' house, and when it's not, I'm amazed (and sometimes sad) at the growth, but this skate park is really cool and I think it's definitely a plus for the community.Since Natalie pretty much covered the actual event here and here, I'll try not to duplicate her recounting of the events. Even though I actually watch the show on tv (like I'm crazily addicted to it), so many of the tricks on this day were anticlimactic. Proof that it doesn't take a really difficult trick to really, really hurt yourself, but when you see 9, 10, and 11 year old kids pulling tricks harder than those featured on the show, you gotta wonder why there aren't just perma-cams constantly recording at the skate park. Anyway, that is not to say it wasn't a fun time. This is my third MTV event in my lifetime (Spring Break '94 and SuperBowl XXXVII in '03 were the others) and there's something so interesting about the enthusiasm of the crowd (or sometimes lack, thereof) for being on tv. Getting a behind-the-scenes look at how a 3 hour live production moves was really impressive to this former a/v geek.
We arrived and had no problem getting our media passes and wandering around. I'm of the belief that it's easier to ask forgiveness than to beg permission, so we just sorta went anywhere we wanted. This is the shark tank used in the final trick of the day.
We were only ever asked to move so we were out of camera shots, and once when they were setting up Kenny's airmattress alongside the rail he was sliding. There was an MTV guy...an intern? I don't know... I kept calling him the fluffer, because it was his responsibility to hype the crowd between commercial breaks and live shots, host little dance contests, etc. There were supposed to be between 300 and 500 skaters there as wallpaper, but as far as I could tell, they were far below that number so it was also his responsibility to get groups of people and move them around, so there was always a group of screamin people behind the MTV hosts. I think maybe one thing that wasn't accounted for is that this crowd was 95% males who probably all consider themselves somewhat counterculture, so even if they like MTV, the skate park, the event, etc., getting them to scream and howl here is a lot different than a TRL or Spring Break crowd. The format of the show was pretty consistent. Show the burly clip of the person hurting themself, then if they were present and the trick involved skating or bmx riding, they reattempted it at the skate park. A couple people were just contacted live via telephone, like the kid who hurt himself by trying to get launched on a see-saw like plank of wood and who was crowned "the biggest idiot" (and was proud). Relying on MTV and Natalie to capture those things, I was more interested in the skate culture and chatting with the kids at the park. 
I liked his "white trash" t-shirt.
Chicks skate, too...
Each of these kids was between 9 and 11 and all claimed to have been skating for two and half years. One of them was visiting from Vegas, another was from north. My childhood vacations would've been loads different had there been a skatepark around.Anyway, at one point Natalie got on camera. I think she was just pictured in the corner of the screen and was supposed to have a dramatic reaction to one of the Scarred Top 10. Instead, the camera guy had to tell her not to smile or laugh.
We bumped into Eric (blogsandiego.com) and his son and hung out with them the rest of the time we were there. 
Wee Man (Jason in real life) kept messing up his cue cards which was pretty funny, because the show really was live (at least on the east coast). We were teasing him a little bit, and he was cool about it. I mean, really, what a choy job, right? 
Kenny was the one who had ripped his...well, read it on Natalie's, but he reattempted the trick several times, until he hurt himself again, though he attempted to walk it off and smile through the pain, he ended up sitting by us for a while with ice on his knee.
Finally it was time for the big shark tank jump. I've never really been a fan of motocross, it seems to defy my attempts at being eco-conscious, and this day was no different. The noxious fumes were so strong, especially because we were right next to the bike. I know it looks cool, and it's all probably fun as hell, too, but I definitely appreciate the skating and BMX stuff more.
The culture of it also is something I will probably never understand:
This is the "Metal Mulisha"
Anyway, Brian Deegan safely made his jump over the shark tank, and all was well with the world. Natalie and I were off. She dropped me at my mom's for my sister's 9th birthday party. After 4 hours of sleep, being at the skate thing from 10-2, then being at a kids birthday party until 8, I was in no condition to go out that night. I tried. I thought I'd take a nap and rev up, but I didn't, and that was just fine by me. I promise to get back to the music...
