Stand up for Skateparks- Tony Hawk’s Beverly Hills Bonanza

My husband Duke and I had the chance to go to the famous Green Acres Estate in Beverly Hills on Sunday to attend Tony Hawk’s “Stand Up for Skateparks” fundraising event.

When we arrived at the mansion Bill Walton the famous basketball player and announcer was towering over the press talking about his love for the Tony Hawk Foundation. I could listen to this man talk forever. It’s hard to believe that he had a speech impediment when he was young or that only a few years ago he had crippling back pain. I don’t even care about sports, but this guy is my new hero.

While the press had their eyes glued to the red carpet waiting for more fancy celebrities to glide past, the real stars of the show were sneaking behind almost unnoticed- first, Mike Vallely walked by with his family.

 I’m not sure how he passed unnoticed, considering that he had his own show on Fuel TV for 4 years and he was also in Paul Blart Mall Cop, Red Dawn and The Hangover. Mike does seem to keep all the bases covered. Maybe that’s why people love to hate Mike V. I certainly wasn’t a fan when I went to see Black Flag once and he was singing. But this was a skating event and Mike V is an awesome skater so here you go-a shot of him looking quite human and natural in this very unnatural habitat:

Rob Machado snuck by without walking the red carpet as well. I guess he is more comfortable walking on water than red carpets. According to Wikipedia, he is called “Mr. Smoothy” (spelled like that) but I can’t imagine anyone calling him that to his face. Duke and I call him “Master of Life and Hair”.

I have loved Jamie Lee Curtis since she posed in her underwear at 43 years old without the benefit of makeup or stylist. That was back in 2002 and she looks better than ever. She walked onto the red carpet and was perky and kind to everyone. The first reporter asked her if she is afraid that Mike Myers might still be chasing her and her reply was “No, because I’m gay.”

Jamie's face after being asked if she fears Mike Meyers is still haunting her.

 Foolishly the celebrity handler started to rush seasoned pro Jamie Lee off the carpet to bring on this years mini dancing group called Chi-town finest breakers who were quite adorable and apparently won a TV dancing competition.

According to the Dad/manager who was always close at hand, the girl in this video is in the Guinness book of world records for the most head spins. According to my extensive research (I typed it into Youtube) it’s not true. In any case, she is impressive.

Fancy Head Spin

Shawn White was there, smiling constantly as usual, but then he really doesn’t have a reason to frown, does he? 

 Iconic scater since the early 80’s; Kevin Staab and his hair made an appearance, he is super nice and his hair is just as amazing as Rob Machados.

Kevin Staab, Mike Vallely and Fred Durst hang out

Kat Von D was there, and said that she has secretly been filming a documentary that will be out soon as well as recording an album. When asked about the music she let it be known that she has been working with a voice coach for years and reminded us that she is a classically trained pianist since the age of 6.

Kat’s roommate; “Rooftop” (Mike Escamilla) was there as well, but that is no surprise since he got that name from flipping his BMX bike off the tops off roofs or something.

 I felt bad for Mat Hoffman and much worse for the interviewer when they asked him if he was going to skate on the ramp. (He is the worlds greatest Vert BMX rider)

DarthVader was there, and so was Chuck Liddel UFC “Light Heavyweight Champion” (I’m not sure how you can be a “Light heavy weight”, it’s kind of like “Plus size skinny jeans”, but my money is on Darth Vader in this fight)

 Tony Hawk gave Andy Adler a skateboarding lesson on the red carpet (That blue dress sure was a hit!) and she was a great sport and did remarkably well. 

There was a bit of swag for the kids to fill their complimentary backpacks with, and diet energy beverages with something called “Kombucha” in it that may or may not be good for your digestive enzymes. 

I am glad that Tony Hawk is giving back to the skate community and that he has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to build skateparks. I think it’s great he’s getting celebrities that don’t even skate to donate money to the cause.  I am a big fan and supporter of skating- I think that in a lot of ways it is much healthier than organized group sports.

Perhaps I’m just jealous that I was told about this party and then I was just there to hang outside to make the popular people feel more popular. better. The PR girl’s passes didn’t have the magical power that they should have. I got kicked out of the Jock party – I had been told I was on the list. I can’t believe they didn’t let me in when those other people don’t even know who the cool people are! Whatevah.