i'm soooooo STOKED!

If you live in the LA area, actually... even if you don't, you should be at the Stoked Spirit of the Holidays event this weekend. For those of you unfamiliar with Stoked Mentoring I suggest you head over to their website immediately. It's a program that matches at risk teens with a mentor and together they learn an action sport. Co-founded by E!'s Daily 10 host Sal Masekela, Stoked takes these teens into a one year program where they learn to skate, surf, and snowboard. Anyway as I said, go to their website, back to this weekend. On Saturday December 5th, Stoked will be holding their inaugural Spirit of the Holidays fundraising event at Milk Studios in Los Angeles. The event is hosted by Masekela and will honoring pro-skater Rob Dyrdek. A collection of bands and djs will be performing and Greg Lutzka, Lacey Baker and Paulo Diaz will be riding a mini-ramp set up for the event. If none of those people do it for you, I'll be there volunteering so be sure to say hi! :)

So check out the invite below and go to the events website for ticket info and rearrange your plans to be there or at least make a donation, tis the season after all!

Links!

woah! So much going on in the world of FMX this weekend, mainly due to the Gladiator Games. Aussi Kain Saul flipped a Harley over in Oz, Chuck Carothers flipped a Harley in Prague, and Petr Pilat (along with the Mayor of Prague) landed the first tandem backflip to dirt. Crazy crazy boys. Since I was neither there, nor do I really have the time to do a full post right now, head over to these sites for more details and video!

Chuck's flip @ ESPN Action

Kain Saul's flip on YouTube

Pilat's tandem flip @ Moto Magazine

One-Eyed, One Horned, Flying Purple People Eaters??

So I know I said I wouldn't be posting this weekend but I couldn't resist this one!

For those of you who actually sat and watched the full 3 hours that was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, you probably caught some of the more ridiculous (and therefore AMAZING) moments. I think my good friend Laura McKee put it best when she texted me saying, "I would actually love to meet the planners. haha they sound funny." I mean who schedules a float with a greasy pop singer with a rather plump boy scout as his backup dancer, a float full of costumed people singing and dancing "there's a party in my tummy!", and most impressive, the choice to include the Purple Peddlers from Ohio...

These ladies don't ride the typical kind of bikes I cover here... in fact they don't ride bikes at all, they ride tricycles... but I just couldn't pass up something this hilarious. These ladies are all grandmothers, wear purple jumpsuits, and do synchronized tricycling... that's right, your eyes do not deceive you, I indeed said SYNCHRONIZED TRICYCLING...IN PURPLE JUMPSUITS. It's an amazing concept. I wish I could have come up with something as epic as this!

Thankfully, YouTube user jevery1 posted a video of these ladies MINUTES after they had their national debut. If anyone stumbles across a better quality, longer version of these tricky tricyclists pppllleeeaaassseee send it my way! I would love to see them in full blown action. Until then, enjoy the glory that is the Purple Peddlers...

Until next time...

photo credit: The Zanesville Times Recorder

video credit: YouTube user jevery1

Happy Turkey Day

Nothing says Thanksgiving like oversized balloons parading down the streets of New York City and undersized dogs prancing in circles at the Purina National Dog Show (yes, I actually watch this, but only because it comes on right after the parade and I'm usually too lazy to move and now it has become somewhat of a tradition)

Anyway, while I plan on stuffing my face tonight, spending time with friends and family this

weekend, and working on two daunting term papers, some of the best in FMX are rippin it abroad. Since, as I said, I plan to fully immerse myself in all that is Thanksgiving and couldn't be farther from Prague, where Gladiator Games are being held right now, head over to the ESPN Action FMX blog, where my buddy Ryan Leyba will be bringing you news and updates on location in Prague!

But stay tuned! I have some rad content coming your way for the holidays. Lots of cool wish lists and gift ideas and some cool events I'll be covering to boot!

Okay, now back to Thanksgiving themed TV programming and digging through stacks of movies and books for my term paper on 1950s teen movie culture and scanning science journals for a paper on cognitive dissonance....

Have a happy and safe holiday everyone!

Until next time...

PHOTO CREDIT: Ryan Leyba for espn.com/action

One Week Old!

Lil Miss Moto is but one week old and coming along nicely! Today I present to you after much hard work and deliberation my logo!

This you can now see at the top of my blog, the full name and logo in all it's glory.

The bow can also stand alone:

So I can do fun stuff with it like this:

Don't be surprised if that bow keeps popping up places, I plan to stamp it and play with it in all sorts of ways and places!

So Lil Miss Moto is now covered in pink bows but will still be bringing you super gnarly content on the industries toughest riders.

So with that, I'm super pumped about revealing my bow, spruces up the site a bit, hope you like it!

If you've been enjoying my blog please spread the news! And don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @lilmissmoto ! If you already follow me on Twitter spread the news there too! I've gathered 20 followers last week, let's try to double it with another 20 this week!

Until next time...

You Can Do It. We Can Help. @ The Home Depot

Hey moto people! So this doesn't have too much to do with moto but it's still cool and slightly relevant. Today I headed down to Carson to visit the Home Depot Center and meet with an alumn of my school who I was matched with through a mentor program (she's awesome by the way!) Any way, as a result I got a behind the scene look at the home of the LA Galaxy Soccer team and (as you motoheads probably know) home to part of the summer X Games.

I've been to the Home Depot Center four times now, and twice I have had the opportunity to see the main stadium completely empty, no one on the field, no one in the stands. It's a pretty cool sight. However, this view was completely different from the last time I saw it when it was all geared up for X Games moto events. Soccer season just ended so they were getting ready to replant the grass and make it all pretty again.

The field last time I was here, hard to believe this is the same place!

Here are their tennis courts, which, as I learned today, they also hold boxing matches on!

It too looked different from it's X Games state:

Any way, then I got to go through the under ground locker room areas and see where every one spends their time when they aren't playin their sport.

Galaxy locker room doors. Beckham are you in there?!

Alright, if I had a gym near me that looked like this I would probably reconsider my anti-workout policy... although there is no guarantee... this whole gym is run by Arizona based fitness company Athletes' Performance.

Time for my big moment! Walking onto the field! I never thought I'd be running onto a pro field anytime in my life...

The look back..

Take a good look people, you'll probably never see me on a soccer field again!

A little kick. She shoots, she scores, GOOOAALLL!!!

Gotta love Wooden quotes...
Here's the workshop... pretty snazy and CRAZY ORGANIZED! Gosh, I just love organized spaces and a super neat and organized workshop is no exception!

So that's a little behind the scenes look at where the magic happens. The facilities there are just so massive, it's hard to explain. It should have it's own zip code (actually as far as I know it very well might). Any way I would like to thank my Annenberg Mentor Alison Salcedo for taking time out of her day to give me the tour and letting me take pictures and sitting down and talking with me. Can't wait till our next meeting!

Until next time..

peace, love & bend it like beckham

Moto Movie Maddness

Wow. What a week this has been! Two moto film premiers in a matter of days! Check out my coverage of the Larry Linkogle Documentary Mind of the Demon for FUEL TV here and my interview with Travis Pastrana over on ESPN Action here.

Sunday night at the Linkogle premier was a night of legends. I, Jennifer Zoe Kalban, met and

talked with the man that CREATED freestyle motocross. It was truly surreal to be surrounded by the God Father Mike Metzger, Trigger Gumm, surfer Christian Fletcher and skateboarder Duane Peters. I mean just look at this crazy crowd, these boys are the definition of gnarly. The film was great and really deserves a lot of attention. It's already won one award at the Bel Air Film Festival and I can't imagine it won't be winning a slew more. I want to thank John Stouffer at FUEL TV and Mind of the Demon producer Heather Santora for making this all happen. Again, check out my full review that I wrote along with Jenna Siriani at fuel.tv

Tuesday night's premier couldn't be more different. Travis Pastrana's 7th Nitro Circus film

Country Fried premiered at the Red Bull Headquarters which was packed with a DJ, bar tender (serving vodka and Red Bull, what else!) and a spattering of young industry folk and talent, including recent AFMXA Pro Am winner Lance Coury (pictured right with Travis Pastrana). The film itself was an action packed blast and will def be added to my DVD collection. I was lucky enough to sit down with the man himself and pick the mind of the craziest dare devil around. The full interview is currently on ESPN Action so check it out! For this event I'd like to thank Ryan Leyba for getting me there and letting me do my thing and blog for him. I'd also like to give a shout out to Mark Sperling and Danny Evans, great catching up with you guys!

And just because I'm still in shock that this all just happened. I've included some screen grabs of my stuff on the websites at the bottom of this post!

Until Next Time...

Peace, love and moto!

and don't forget, you can follow me on twitter!

On the ESPN Action FMX homepage!

FUEL TV Moto homepage

My article on fuel.tv

Hello Moto!

Two years ago if you asked me what I was going to be when I grew up I would probably be telling you that I want to do advertising or pr for movies or fashion designers. I had a fashion blog and a love for Perez Hilton and was heading in the right direction.... then something happened. The 6th grade sk8er gurl I used to be made a sneak attack and I found myself revisiting my long lost past. I returned to X Games, dragged my friends to the Maloof Money Cup and surrounded myself with all things skate. Maybe it wasn't too much of a stretch that I came back to this world, I was always, even in my highest fashion stages, a huge Jackass fan (yes, I own all the movies) and spin-offs (WildBoyz, Viva La Bam, Dr. Steve-o...). I also had a love for Rob & Big and Life of Ryan and upon transferring back to a school in LA, I decided to pursue this seemingly random passion. But, while reading ESPN Action (at the time still EXPN) to get my fix of skateboard

news I stumbled across The Brap Haps. I didn't know much about Freestyle Motocross but Ryan Leyba's writing style and wit sucked me in and I was hooked. I couldn't get enough moto moto moto. I checked the site hourly for updates and when away from my computer I was constantly refreshing my trusty blackberry. I had always been aware of the Metal Mulisha and quickly grabbed on to their blog to follow what they were up to as well. Any So Cal FMX competition was something I had to attend. I wanted to be where the action was. My FMX dvd collection grew considerably over the months and my Netflix queue was filled with even more. In fact, (and my roommate can attest to this!) I fell asleep every night watching Crusty videos for awhile. But I wanted more. I had to get on a motorcycle. But my lack of skills on a good old fashioned bicycle put a dent in that dream. However, I was lucky enough to meet a guy who gave me a chance, got me the gear, got me out to a dry lake bed and threw me on a three wheeler... aka a glorified tricycle. A few hours later in 108 degree heat it was clear my destiny wasn't to be a speed demon or a freestyle pro, but I still loved just putting around and wasn't going to quit. I'm still not on a dirt bike yet but you'll be following my slow and steady progress on trying to get there on this blog (and if anyone would like to volunteer some lessons they would most def be accepted!)

So that's my growing love for FMX, now onto the career part. I'm a college senior who has done

more free, unpaid internships than I can count. This summer I worked for FX in their PR department, Rogers & Cowan in their sports department and Quiksilver's PR department as well. While at Quiksilver, I was introduced to Mark Sperling, founder of Group Y, and couldn't believe me luck as he helped pull me farther into the world of action sports. I started interning at Group Y networking events, where I met my current boss and head of PR over at FUEL TV, and worked a conference at X Games with them. As I mentioned, I'm currently interning over at FUEL TV, where thanks to their involvement with the AFMXA, I entered what will be from here on out be referred to as the FMX Twighlight Zone. This was the first FMX event I worked. From handing out stickers to taking pics with the pros for the FUEL TV twitter it was a whirlwind of dirt bikes, fans, dust and excitement. From there I was lucky enough to attend the awards ceremony and after party and meet pretty much everyone I had ever looked up to. From bloggers to gold medal riders. They were all there.

This blog is going to follow my path in this industry, my plight to go from unpaid intern to CEO by the time I'm 30 (a girl can dream can't she!) and I'll be covering any events I'm lucky enough to attend, log my riding progress and showcase any other work I've done or products I like or well whatever I want, it's my blog.

So hop on, let's roll.

Oh ya, and you can follow me on twitter here: http://twitter.com/LilMissMoto

COMING SOON....