The best $200 I have ever spent!

So this past week, Esperanza launched the new line at the Breast Event Ever, and we killed it in Sales. We sold over 125 shirts in 4 hours of partying and boozin. The fashion show was a hit and I think there was about 600+ people that came. Next event will be at 6 Feet Under…..details to be ironed out by this Thursday.

So given we printed over 3 times the size of our normal print run in 3 days and pretty much have sold and delivered more than half of it in just the first 4 days after getting the print run, we thought we would do something nice for our printer, DANGERPRESS. Ed and his crew broke their backs for us and we just wanted to show some appreciation.

I did a little research and found a $750 Harleyesque Mini Bike for only $200 on Craigslist. I went up and saw it, and I think I bought it in 5 minutes from a guy who was 7 feet tall and lived way out in the woods. The bike is only 6 months old, barely used, dirty and muddy, and I loved it.

I got the bike home, filled the tank, and called Eric and Bart. We rode it all afternoon and did time trials in my neighborhood. I riegned supreme at 1:08 lap time. That night I thought I would make the bike a little more special of a gift. I painted it DANGERPRESS style, and I cant wait to see the look on Ed’s face. We will be racing around Dangerpress and putting up a leaderboard of time trails around the warehouse. The track is called the gauntlet. I foresee many more pics and videos in the future of this blog.

Oh yeah, Meri and I built all these walls from a pallet of stones. A little Green Thumb action for the Sunday afternoon.

This Weekend

It is a common misconception that “bigger” always means “better.”

Danny rocks the Mini-Hog, while EK rocks the new duds.

Stuntin’

Tinker session: 1.) Find governor. 2.) Remove governor.

The Mini-Hog runs on gasoline. We run on Red Brick Blonde.

The Soundtrack.

Daniel’s Angels audition.

The Hotness.

Sunday Morn-ING VaHi.

Look who I bumped into at Mile 8. Nic and Jess maintainin’

My Co-Pilot… who incidentally loves blueberry muffins and totally hogged mine.Overall, we had a great weekend getting our new line out to stores on Saturday and rippin’ it up on the Mini-Hog. Worked hard, played hard, word. Nothin too special Saturday night cause Nic and Jess ran the ING today, ended up having beers and watching the UCLA game at Taco Mac with Jorge and Meredith. Sunday morning I was up at the crack of dawn with Nicole and Jessica, drove them downtown to start the half-marathon insanity. Caught up with them in the Highlands and Ernie demolished my breakfast. Big week ahead finishing up production, ironing out a few kinks in the new gear and working on the new website. Stay posted!

Where in the World is Esperanza….Thailand!!!

Our buddy, Ryan, sporting the Esperanza in Thailand.

On Saturday, we took a ride up to
Ban Nam Khem which is a village about fifteen minutes
from my house. This area was absolutely destroyed by
the 2004 tsunami and was one of the worst spots in
Thailand. We drove around the village checking out the
local shops and markets there and around one turn were
two fishing boats that got taken one kilometer inland.
They rest in the same piece of land to this day, but
they were moved because they were initially in the
side of someone's house. The stories on the wall there
said that the blue boat is called "The Blue Angel" and
went through the village and killed nobody, but did
rescue a man and his daughter who held on to a tire
hanging over the side of the boat. The red boat is
called "The Red Demon" and it went through the village
and took more than one hundred lives as it snuffed out
people in it's path. Not sure how much truth is in all
of that, but it is certain that many people died in
those streets. It's really amazing to look at where
these boats are now and how far they are from the sea.
There is a memorial near the water that has plaques
for some of the victims on one side and a curved wall
of concrete on the other resembling a rising wave.
It's always humbling to stand in these spots around
where I live. Massive amounts of casualties that
occurred in the span of an hour or so. 

Blood, Sweat and Tees

As you guys have probably figured out by now, we are debuting our brand spankin new line tomorrow night at Park Tavern. I know that in your hearts, you would love to believe that what we do is simple and easy and that anyone could do it, right? WRONG! We are “professionals” and we put our all into our product. You better believe that with every shirt you buy, you’re getting a little bit of Bart, Daniel, and Eric with it. Now, I wouldn’t say that we have always done everything the “right” way. In fact, we have made a lot of mistakes along the road, but as we should, we have learned from those mistakes and they have helped mold us into the finely tuned machine you have come to recognize today. We just want you to know that we work our asses off so that you get the best possible shirts that you can get. We are so proud of this new line that it’s hard to put into words. It really is the culmination of what Esperanza started off to be and what it is destined to become. We, without a doubt, could not be where we are at today without the help of Ed, our printer over at Danger Press. He has taught us so much in this year alone, that we have wondered aloud how we ever ran Esperanza before we met him. He is probably ready to kill us by now and we don’t blame him, but he truly has helped put our shirts into a league of their own. THANKS ED! Check out these pics of the not so glamorous yet essential side of Esperanza. We like to call it Blood, Sweat, and Tees

EK

Where the magic happens……Danger Press

Daniel and Ed plan out another long night at the office

Ed has very strict rules

SEE YOU THURSDAY NIGHT!

Updates

1.) Head to Esperanza-Atl.com for the official “soft launch” of the new line. Shirts are still in production, but we’ve got rendered pics of what they will look like and are pre-selling to give you guys first dibs. We’ve set up a really easy to use BigCartel.com site that will replace our website for the time being as its being completely overhauled down in sunny Miami.

2.) Breast Event Ever this Thursday @ Park Tavern.  Get your tix / shirt / etc.  We should have most of the new line here for debut!  And you can save precious Boobs!

3.) Quick Photo-Diary of Easter 2008, Saturday Night at the Sasso Household, and a DANGERous Sunday Morn:

Notice how the mighty slab of prime rib dwarfs Brad’s normally huge head.

Mami Sasso did not think my Cholo-styled Easter Eggs were nearly as awesome as I did.  It’s a bit rough cause Sharpie’s don’t get great traction on eggs, but still wicked.

Donny-T making the transformation to Donny-Wii .

Depending on your relationship with your father, becoming better than him at anything is either seen as “passing the torch” or “being humiliated.”  After this score my father demanded to play every game on the Wii until he found one he could beat me at.

We did Easter Saturday night at the rents so my sis and Brad could hit the road early Sunday AM.  I hit it to… right down to the posh West End.

Tada, the new DANGER signage.  Nice.

Daniel and the EK are down there tonight pouring their precious blood, sweat and tears into the new stuff.

The Widow Maker

As earlier posts have noted, some of our friends have recently expanded their families by bringing a lovely child into the world. I would now like to introduce the newest member of the Wynn Household: a Remington 870 Super Magnum 12 gauge shotgun. She kicks like a mule and offers a massive payload downrange with the ability to fire a 3.5″ shell! I’m sure most of you don’t care, but Turkey season is no longer “looming” it is here and the Gobblers will get no rest after reading this column I assure you! While I can’t bring my new toy to the Tavern this Thursday, I will be happy to brag about it to anyone who accidentally shows interest. Mabry and I are looking forward to the big event this week. See y’all there.

-Banjo

www.thebreasteventever.com, THURSDAY MARCH 27th 6-12pm

Who wants to SAVE BOOBS and come to Esperanza’s 2008 Spring Line Launch Party? We have the whole Park Tavern rented out and teamed up with the Girls from The Breast event Ever to bring you a great party at a great price.

$25 ALL YOU CAN EAT DRINK AT PARK TAVERN.

Just go to www.the breasteventever.com to get tickets and be sure to grab a shirt. 35% of all profits of our shirts at the event will be donated for Breast Cancer.

See you there!

Turkey Season Looms.

In preparation for Turkey Season…

Deer Tick – War Elephant

Goes well with Harp, Bulleit Bourbon, an early morning, a shotgun, and big stupid birds.

Sprng Ln ETA 1wk + A Few of My Fav. ‘Tings.

So this is fun…  Because those DANGER dudes Ed & J constantly are lookin’ out for your boys, we’re makin’ like professionals this time around.  DannyBarbasol, EK, and I descend upon the WestEnd (100 yards from Neboner’s old residence!) two weeks ago with a ton of ideas and these guys bring the focus.  After in depth discussion of just how bad hangovers have gotten…

“Hey!”  says Ed, “let’s mock your new line before we print it and see how it looks.  This way we work a little harder on the front end… and you guys bitch less on the back end!?  What says yous?”

Brilliance.

Backstory: DannyBarbs and I have been doing this for almost 4 years.   WE HAVE NEVER MOCKED SHIRTS.  It’s basically us deciding art looks boss, burning screens, printing ‘ish, and hi-fiving.

Hardly what we owe you guys.

What you see in the header is stuff you’ll never be able to buy.

Instead, what you will be able to buy (IN ONE WEEK) will be of far superior quality, design, and wear-ability.

We’re psyched.

We have absolutely outdone ourselves this time around.  Gas-Inked prints, discharged fabric, water-based inks, huge graphics, oh me, oh my.

Arghh..   Okay, onto something else.

FINALLY, I get these pics up.  Talked so much about that Gate River Run we were doin and then never delivered on proof that I survived.  Well… not only did I survive, I finished first out of all these chumps in the picture.  Ha!  I chalk it up to Fat Bart Revenge… and so should all the losers.   I wore that medal for four days after the race to make a point.  9.36 miles.  yup.  and then a day later Nic and I ran another 10.  No Joke.

Not only did I prove myself to myself, but I got to catch up with good old Brou (friends ages ago, reunited through sheer chance, what a strange, awesome world).  Where are the Guitar Hero pics of Greg Nicholson already?!

Next!

My beloved sis, The Beckster, and her beau, Big Brown Bear Brad, came over to Nic’s for dinner last night and we put on our now famous SLIDER CHALLENGE!

Here’s the deal.

Invite friends over.  Instead of making a big stupid dinner, you and the sig-nif-oth compete on who can make the best mini-burger.  It’s that easy.  And totally based around the “Quick Fire Challenge.”

Results, if you’re crafty, are superbly delicioso as depicted below by Nic’s “Buffalo Bleu” slider and my “Hawaiian Thunder Punch: IV” slider. Nic won.  But only because Brad brought a sixer of Anchor Steam that resulted in my forgetting a secret ingredient (Black Pepper Pineapple).  Or maybe it was because Nic’s was as good as it looks.

Heading home tomorrow with the ball and chain, a Wii, and our block headed black lab.  Awesome posts to come.  Go buy the soundtrack to “Easter Parade.”

$25 ALL YOU CAN EAT AND DRINK AT PARK TAVERN FOR ESPERANZA LAUNCH PARTY

So for all you people out ther who paid $30 a person to get into Park Tavern yesterday and then paid $5 a beer, I would like to say that you all are a bunch of suckers. Esperanza has scored the best deal around for our launch party of the new 08 line.

Park Tavern is holding the Breast Event Ever(www.thebreasteventever.com) which we are a main sponsor, Thursday March 27th, from 6-12 with the best deal around of $20 all you can drink(Sam Adams and Tommy Bahama Rum) and all you can eat(Doc Greens and Flying Biscuit) for ONLY $20!!!!!

That my friends is how we roll.

See you all there.

Esperanza is tearing it up at Bill Hallman’s new store, Kintaro.

 

So I went by Bill Hallman’s new store, Kintaro, and checked on the Esperanza gear that he picked up.  Sure enough, 80% of the first order is gone is 2 weeks and he has the Enjoy Atlanta shirt on a manequin in the window.  Oh, and I saw a girl wearing Esperanza on the way there.  Very cool.

So the new stuff is on the last prototype run, and will be available on Tuesday on our new interim website…..location to be released on Tuesday.  Get ready for the new line which is a higher quality and priced lower…..we like to take care of our fans.

Atlanta gets hit with Tornado.

So a couple tornados ripped through Atlanta and I didn’t see a thing. I had about 50 people at my house and we had all the windows and doors open and didn’t see anything. I live 3 miles from the Dome and really only saw the damage online. Apparently, 2 huge holes are in the dome, trees are all down around the Dome, roofs off of houses were ripped off, and even the roof of the Cotton Mill Lofts is gone. Nobody was seriously hurt or killed, so thats a plus.

Atlanta cant catch a break. Did you know that the SEC games were moved from the Dome to Georgia Tech’s basketball stadium, but get this…since the dome sold 30,000 plus seats for the games and Tech can only hold 8 or 9,000 people so they told EVERYONE that your tickets are not valid and NO ONE can go to the game. Only friends and family are allowed. So Georgia is playing Kentucky at their rival school and the stands will be empty. Weird.

Our Friends are Multiplying.

After an incredibly competitive bidding war with UsWeekly, we finally secured the exclusive rights to publish photos of the newly released ALBERTO 3.0. I gotta tell you, we were extremely excited here at Esperanza with the prospect of an ALBERTO 2.0 upgrade and now that we’ve gotten our first glimpse we’re positive he was worth the wait. Nicole was there to get the scoop.

Congrats to Alberto and Fern! And welcome to little Beto.

p.s. Fern, did you just have a baby?? You look great!  When I heard about the pic I was expecting somebody ravaged by the throes of delivery, but you’re a positively radiant mom!  Can’t wait to meet the little guy!

Some things are worth saving

Hey guys! It looks like it’s about time to start prepping for spring.  That means that it’s time to start SAVING BOOBS.  Esperanza is again proud to be part of The Breast Event Ever, held March 27th at Park Tavern, right next to our city’s favorite green space, Piedmont Park. The night will include music, drinks, food, and fashion. All for a great cause, The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.  Attendees will be privy to some amazing fashion including, of course, our much anticipated spring line. OH! by the way, there’s a new SAVE BOOBS shirt too! Remember that each shirt sold at the event means more money for a great cause. See You There!

EK

Tickets can be purchased at www.thebreasteventever.com

Where in the world is Epseranza Clothing

So now we get pics from Alex and Sonia in Brazil. They are in the North of Brazil in a town called Natal(that means Christmas in Portuguese). There is a huge desert up there where you can take dune buggies and race around. I have done it before and it is a blast. Thanks for the pics Alex and Sonia.

THAT WOULD BE THE RESURGENS SHIRT ON ALEX.

A Non-American Idol Post!

Getting ready for a road trip down to Atlantic Beach, FL and thought I’d let you guys know what I was stuffing the iPod with to endure the 6 hour car ride and make it through the last two miles of that 15K we’re running on Saturday.

First off is the new collab between M.Ward and Zooey Deschanel called She & Him: Volume One. I was understandably psyched about this album as Me to M.Ward is as Daniel is to American Idol. His Post-War and Transistor Radio albums never leave the heavy rotation bin at my place and Zooey Deschanel is the current indie hotness. We first got a taste of her sultry pipes in the Will Ferrell movie, Elf and now she’s teamed up with a guy who can do no musical wrong by me. Well, I got ahold of the album advance today (release date 3/18) and its totally different from what I anticipated, but in a really good way. Seriously good listening, this thing is all over the map hitting country balladry, Phil Spector-y 60’s girl group pop, sunny 70’s folk, and more, including a brilliant Beatles cover thrown in just for fun. M.Ward really takes a back seat on this album, letting his music and signature production do the work while Zooey Deschanel’s voice gets strictly old school. She has moments that really recall Nancy Sinatra, but she’s far sweeter. The album is spot on for the summer I’m looking foward to and I’ll be listening to it religiously. Check it out.

Captain Obvious has some mp3s you can check out.

Next up is El Guincho – ALEGRANZA . This album has been all over the blogosphere as of late and it really lives up to the hype. If you loved Person Pitch last year, this is right up your alley. Definitely gonna be in the ear goggles during that run in the sun Saturday. The guy is from Barcelona and prides himself on tons of loops, worldly percussion, samples, breaks, and general positivity. He claims “Antillas” is his favorite track on the album, but we all know its actually “Kalise.” Check the vid below and enjoy some stylish windsurfing:

Picked up Earth’s The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull on Sunday and cleaned the house while listening to it. Really dense moody stuff that is better for chillin’ the f out to. Imagine Explosions in the Sky as big bearded dudes from Athens who drink moonshine and wear Pantera hats. Sludgey, soundtracky, instrumental southern rock/metal that you can really get lost in… but always leaves you expecting a shotgun to accidentally go off in the background. Don’t know much about these guys, but plan on finding out in the near future as I’ve been listening to this quite a bit. Love that title too. Gives a Silver Mt. Zion a run for their money.

Southern Lord, their label, has an mp3. It’s 9 minutes long, which is a deal for the price. Free.

I honestly can’t believe this album was not on thegoldbrick.net top albums of 2007. That means Neboner either a.) hasn’t yet listened to it or b.) has lost his mind. Phosporescent’s first album Aw Come Aw Wry was pretty good, but nothing spectacular. And his live performance before Two Gallants at the Earl a couple years ago left me wondering if the dude was in a walking coma. Pride was released last year and along with Person Pitch by Panda Bear, absolutely blew my damn mind. The only way I can explain this album is that you need to get a copy, get up one morning before dawn, and watch the whole thing happen with this album in the earphones. Sorry, that’s the best I can do. Just do it. If you get 30 seconds into the second song and aren’t feeling me, its okay, you just don’t have a soul.

Peace out kids, it’s bed time.

This guy could be Esperanza’s number #1 FAN

So I started watching American Idol because friends, family, and even past customers have been calling and emailing us like crazy because Michael Johns on American Idol DID IT AGAIN!!!! He wore Esperanza Clothing’s, I-85 RIDIN” DIRTY shirt, on last nights show. Esperanza is apparently seen on the intro of every episode(RESURGENS SHIRT), and then he wore Esperanza on 3 other episodes. I think we might need to send him the new line…..by the way we started production today and it is HUGE! Three times larger than our previous largest print run…..its going to go fast to because already half of it is sold. Don’t worry, we will have some for all the fans…..keep checking the website….we might sneak some out on the online store before the stores get them.

Cheers,

Daniel

THAT’s RIGHT, MIKE IS RIDIN DIRTY ON AMERICAN IDOL…GO ATL!!!

Michael Johns rips it up wearing Esperanza Clothing

Michael Johns has a dumbo feather on.  That dumbo feather is none other than all the Esperanza shirts he is wearing during his great performances on American Idol.  The Esperanza boys are not really fans of the show, but we have been watching it lately because the contestant, Michael Johns, from the ATL is sporting the best ATL gear on most of the episodes.  Check it out!!!!

 

That is the old school Little 5 points BRING BACK THE POINT shirt.  We currently only have a few left because people have been eating it up on our website, but email us at esperanzaatl@gmail.com to request more.  Looks like we might need to actually Bring back the Point shirt.

THEY STOLE OUR MOVES!!!!

Anyone who knows the Esperanza Crew, knows that we love to bust out the Double Dutch at any party. If you are playing music at more than 10 bpm’s than the double dutch will be in effect. Now, it appears as if someone else in Japan must have seen our world famous act and taken it to the streets of Tokyo. It’s alright I guess, but you have to give Esperanza props for paving the way…

ek

Virtual Tagging Is Kewl…..

Just when you thought that graffiti couldn’t get any cooler, this comes around. I found this video just pokin around on youtube today. This is so crazy that someone came up with this idea. It, in my opinion translates perfectly from the wall to infinity. Virtual Insanity…

ek