Chris Stout
Chris likes not having any free time. +Chris Stout Email: cstout76@gmail.com
Homepage: http://www.manjr.com
Posts by Chris Stout
SENNA and ESPN Films 30 for 30 Blu-Ray Giveaway
Sports documentaries are usually super hit or miss. Some just fill the air with simple storytelling and a type of play-by-play chronicling that comes across as uninspired as a bottom ticker update. Other sports documentaries just really get to you, man. Like goose bumps, I-can’t-believe-that-really-happened-style get to you. SENNA definitely falls in the latter category. The film is a study of the life of famous F1 racer Ayrton Senna. It’s already won awards at Sundance and the LA Film Festival. SENNA is setting box office records in the UK and it’s generating some real energy here in the States. Here’s the trailer:
The film hasn’t reached its full release yet. It’s already playing in New York, LA, DC, San Francisco, Berkeley, Irvine, San Rafael, Cambridge, Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, Miami and Philly. Here are the remaining release dates:
- August 26th Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Palm Springs, Palo Alto, Portland, San Diego, Scottsdale, Seattle
- September 2nd Charlotte, Knoxville, and St. Louis
- September 16th Kansas City, Milwaukee, Las Vegas
To celebrate the theatrical release of SENNA, ESPN Films has provided us with three Blu-ray sets of their 30 for 30 Series to give away to three lucky readers. Each set is valued at $74.99. Here’s a full list of all the titles:
Muhammad and Larry (1980)- Kings Ransom (2009)
- Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? (2009)
- Without Bias (2009)
- The Band That Wouldn’t Die (2009)
- The Legend of Jimmy the Greek (2009)
- Jordan Rides the Bus (2009)
- The U (2009)
- The Birth of Big Air (2010)
- One Night in Vegas (2010)
- Straight Outta L.A. (2010)
- No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson (2010)
- The 16th Man (2010)
- Silly Little Game (2010)
- Run, Ricky, Run (2010)
- Guru of Go (2010)
- The Two Escobars (2010)
- The House of Steinbrenner (2010)
- Fernando Nation (2010)
- Pony Excess (2010)
- The Best That Never Was (2010)
- Four Days in October (2010)
- Marion Jones: Press Pause (2010)
- Tim Richmond: To the Limit (2010)
- Unmatched (2010)
- Little Big Men (2010)
- Into the Wind (2010)
- June 17th, 1994 (2010)
- Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks (2010)
- The Two Escobars (2010)
- Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks (2010)
I totally love this series, and I try to catch them whenever they’re on. The U and Pony Excess are two that are worth watching again with all the scandalous Miami football headlines making the rounds. If you prefer gut-wrenching stories that’ll make any dude’s eyes water, check out Without Bias or The Two Escobars. If you enjoy playing fantasy sports, Silly Little Game is a must-see.
Aug 22nd
JT Holmes, Skydiving, and the Hotels.com Mobile Booking App
Last week, I went on a trip to Lake Tahoe, courtesy of Hotels.com. I got to hang out with some really cool people and I even got to try skydiving for the first time (more on that in a second). Hotels.com put me up at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa & Casino, and I totally enjoyed myself.
The trip featured a skydiving shoot with extreme sports athlete JT Holmes. If you haven’t heard of Holmes, he’s a guy whose idea of a thrilling weekend is like 10 times more hardcore than whatever you or I do with our spare time. Holmes is a skydiver, free skier and base jumper. He’s appeared in multiple skiing films, 60 Minutes did a pretty sweet piece on him and his wing suit jumping skills were featured in Transformers 3. So yea, this guy knows how to have some fun.
Holmes partnered up with Hotels.com as part of a larger effort to promote the brand’s entry in to mobile apps. Hotels.com is launching a high-speed mobile booking app next month. In addition to giving travelers the ability to book a hotel in under a minute, the Extreme Mobile Booking App will also feature 20,000 last minute deals at over 140,000 hotels across the world.
Users will be able to access previous and future reservation info online or offline, and the app makes use of your mobile’s GPS features so that you can locate the closest hotels with the best deals while you’re on the go.
The app will also support Welcome Rewards loyalty points. You can track your points and redeem them right from your phone. For every 10 nights that you accumulate in hotel stays, you get an extra night for free.
So in Tahoe, JT Holmes proved just how easy it is to use the new app when he took a 15,000 ft plunge out of the sky and booked his own hotel reservation in less than 60 seconds. Here are some photos from the shoot:
I got to experience tandem skydiving for the first time during the trip, and it was unreal. I mean, I thought I’d be freaking out or just so full of adrenaline that I’d yak or piss or lose my mind, but that’s not how it went down. I’m kinda afraid of heights so I thought I’d be trippin’ out a whole lot more, but the experience was surprisingly tranquil and calming.
The freakiest part of the whole thing was sitting in a closed room by myself watching an instructional video from this freaky, monotone-voiced dude who was telling me that tandem skydiving was awesome but I could die doing it:
Before I got in the air, I jokingly asked my tandem skydiving instructor if anyone had ever met the crazy bearded dude from the video. In a very serious face, the guy turned to me and said, “That’s Bill Booth, man. He invented all the equipment that makes tandem skydiving possible.” Whoa, my bad!
But back to the jump. Like I said I really thought I’d be freaking out at the whole thing. I did a 9,000 ft jump (I totally went with the bunny slope entry package) that featured 30 seconds of freefall and five minutes of floating. As soon as we spilled out of the plane, I was just in a total meditative state. It was just so serene and peaceful. After I landed, I felt like I had just been meditating for a week. Just super clear headed and borderline spiritually cleansed. I totally expected it to be a fear-filled exercise in extremeness, but it was kinda the opposite. And I really liked it.
Thanks again to Hotels.com for a great trip and good app. When this thing out when it comes out next month, give it a try. If an extreme athlete can book a reservation while skydiving, you can probably find a pretty sweet deal on a hotel while you’re on the road.
Aug 17th
LA Beard and Mustache Competition
The MANjr crew stopped by the first annual Los Angeles Beard and Mustache Competition at the Federal Bar in North Hollywood on Sunday. Leading up to the event, the competition was featured in the LA Times, UrbanDaddy.com and LAist.com, I mean this was the inaugural LA beard and stache bash, so we had to check it out.
The place was packed and there was a really open, festive vibe at the event. The competition featured five categories: Mustache, Partial beard, Business Beard, Full Beard Natural and Freestyle. Those who didn’t compete came to marvel at the bearding prowess of the contestants. And without a doubt, there were tons of sweet staches on display. And some seriously impressive beards that took years of effort to create.
Shawn Hasson took home the stache trophy and Jack Passion was awarded top beard honors. No controversy there. Both those guys looked like heavy favorites going into the finals. Take a look at some photos of the event and make sure to check out the video to see how the competition went down:
Check out the full list of winners at BeardTeamUSA.org.
Aug 16th
Great Hall of Fame Speeches Today
There’s just something special about watching grown men – men who have achieved the highest distinction in sport – break down in tears while expressing their love and respect for the game of football. If you have ever played the game of football, at any level, it changes you. Football’s all about personal responsibility and pride, execution and trust in other men. It’s a beautiful game that forces you to become more than you are, and to strive for something bigger than yourself.
The Hall of Fame speeches I saw on Saturday we’re fantastic. Watching Deion Sanders and feeling that guy’s passion was incredible. Hearing him explain how he was embarrassed by his mother and her job cleaning up at a hospital, but how he flipped that into motivation to make sure that she’d never have to work a day again in her life. Just great stuff.
Watching Sterling Sharpe trying, desperately and unsuccessfully, to choke back the tears after his brother Shannon gave him a Hall of Fame shout out like no other, you could just feel the weight and importance of that emotional moment for both of the brothers Sharpe. That shit was just real, raw, once-in-a-lifetime emotion right there.
Sure, football’s just a game. And yea, there’s all kinds of cliches about football being a metaphor for life and all that, but you just can’t underestimate how respected and beloved the game of football really is, and how deserving the game is of that respect. When you see football legends break down on an open mic while expressing their appreciation for the game, it’s the closest thing us dudes have to a perfect cathartic moment.
If you haven’t see this year’s Hall of Fame speeches, spend some time and get in touch with your man-emotions this weekend. You’ll feel better after you do.
Aug 7th
Marc Ecko Bedding Collection Giveaway
Fashion designer Marc Ekco founded eckō unltd. in 1993 when he was just 20 years old. The serial entrepreneur now oversees a billion dollar empire that includes top fashion brands like Ecko, Zoo York and Eckored (the flagship brand’s female counterpart) as well as Complex Media (which published Complex Magazine) and the guy even got into the video game space, teaming with Atari to develop a video game based on the Showtime series Dexter.
Now Marc Ecko is getting into the bedroom and home decor business with the launch of his new comforter and duvet collections. The bedroom collections are now available at Bed Bath & Beyond. Here’s a look at the complete collection:
Painted Love Duvet
Undercover Duvet
Platinum Links Duvet
Kickback Denim Comforter
Popover Hoodie Comforter
Zip It Comforter
To help promote the launch of Ecko’s new home décor collection, we’re giving away a Painted Love full/queen duvet cover (the first one pictured above) to one lucky reader.
Aug 4th
Randy Moss Straight Retires, Homey
Despite reports that he’s crazy fit, Randy Moss is calling it quits. And it’s probably for the best. Moss rejuvenated his career with the Pats, catching 250 passes for 3,765 yards and 47 touchdowns in his first three seasons with the team. That production dropped dramatically last year. After the first four games of the season, Moss put up nine catches for 139 yards and three scores. In his final game with New England, Moss didn’t even catch a pass. He wore out his welcome, and the Pats shipped him to the Vikings for third round pick.
The return to Minny didn’t last long. Moss played in only four games. He caught 13 passes, scored twice and acted pretty douchey. The Vikings cut him and 19 teams past him up on waivers before he was claimed by the Titans. In eight games with Tennessee, Moss caught six passes for 80 yards and didn’t find the endzone.
Moss was looking to go to a contender this season, but apparently he didn’t get any offers from teams with a chance to win. He didn’t want to the TO thing, bouncing from crap team to crap team on one-year deals, so he decided to hang ‘em up.
Moss exits the scene with some pretty sweet numbers (954 passes for 14,858 yards and 153 touchdowns). He set the single season TD reception record in 2007 (23), after previously setting the record for TD receptions by a rookie in 1998 (17). He’s second all time in career TD receptions (tied with TO), career 100 yard games (64) and 1,000+ yard receiving seasons (10).
The thing we’ll miss the most about Randy is his way with words. From “straight cash, homey” to smoking weed “every blue moon,” Moss had a knack for expressing himself. Sure he had run-ins with traffic control officers, caterers, water bottles and refs, coaches and players, and yea, at times he lacked effort and professionalism, but Moss was still fun to watch and always entertaining in interviews and press conferences.
Here’s a tribute to the this future Hall of Famer, courtesy of DJ Steve Porter:
Aug 1st
Robert McGinnis Gallery
Lately I’ve been binging on the artwork of Robert McGinnis. I even picked up a few of his movie posters at Comic Con. I just love this guy’s style; pulp realism with heavy doses of sexy sophistication. His work is extra-provocative without ever being low brow. His pieces are a throwback to a bygone, classy era when women were chic and men were dapper. Plus the guy’s really good at painting attractive women.
McGinnis packs personality, danger, flirtation and subtle exploitation into his paintings. These compositions come across as simple, visually-appealing works of playful, pulpy, advert art. I just love it.
You’ve probably seen his work before. Think of the classic movie posters for films like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Barbarella and the original Bond movies. In addition to his poster work, McGinnis has produced tons of pulp-crime paperback covers, advertising pieces, western paintings and even romance novel covers.
The thing he’s best known for is his women. McGinnis just loves painting hot, stylish, perfectly breasted women. Take a look at some of his work:
If you want to learn more about this great American illustrator, check out the film Robert McGinnis: Painting the Last Rose of Summer. It came out in 2000 and its solid introduction to the man and his work.
Jul 29th
