Like too many cats and dogs in Nicaragua, Office Kitty’s life started off hard. When Flor rescued the little orange furball and brought him to the office, he was undersized, undernourished, unwanted and covered in dirt and fleas. We cleaned him up and tried to come up with a name, KittyZompopo and Handsome Tiger were some early options, but finally we settled on Office Kitty. I’m not sure what kind of things Kitty went through before he found us, but as he grew older he was always kind of a mean little bastard, but that was just Kitty. He played rough, because his life was rough. But we always loved him because he was our mean little bastard.

Kitty had always been mischievous, but when the Hecho office moved to its current location in Los Robles, he started getting in to more trouble than usual. The neighborhood cats didn’t take kindly to the new kid on the block. One day we found him covered in blood with scratches so deep on his head someone’s first reaction was “Oh my God, you can practically see his brain!” We got him all patched up and he was healing fine, but a few days later he showed up again with fresh wounds joining the old ones that had been ripped back open. We tried to keep him inside, but Kitty had always been stubborn, too independent for his own good.

As time went by, the fights died down, but we started to notice that he was losing a lot of weight. He would only eat his food if someone was watching him (or if it was chicken from On The Run…) and he barely drank any water. After the vet again, Kitty came home and just sat on a shelf in the bathroom and wouldn’t move, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t do anything. He was taken to the vet one last time and kept overnight, but in the morning he passed away. Poor guy. Even though he was an asshole a lot of the time, peed on all of our beds (multiple times in some cases) and scratched everyone who petted him, Office Kitty will be missed. He was one of those family members who was far from perfect, but at the end of the day, despite all his fucked up idiosyncrasies, he was family and he was loved. Rest in peace, Kitty.

Dope video from Joe Brook and Scott Cooper of Slap Skateboard Magazine featuring footage of Chico Brenes, Rob G, Jose Rojo, Steve Nesser and Kenny Anderson in Nicaragua. Includes a great clip of Rojo dancing like a maniac at the Hecho 05 launch party. The whole piece, including exclusive photos can be found here.

And if you still haven’t, you can check the article on the trip in Hecho here.

Download a gang of mp3’s from La Cuneta Son Machín, including their new track, El Zafarrancho. The group has just finished filming a video for the song featuring Chayán de Pochomil (also known to youtube fans as the “Michael Jackson of Pochomil,” and to clarify, he is called that for his tuani dance moves and not all that other Michael Jackson stuff…).

El Zafarrancho and other songs – mediafire
1 Güegüense
2 La ROCKonola de Caregato
3 Catalina de mi vida
4 El Santo Cachón
5 Suenan los Tambores
6 Qué le pasa a Lupita
7 Fuego y Candela
8 El Zafarrancho
9 Cangrejito Playero
10 La del Moño Colorado

La Cuneta Son Machín en Facebook

World Cup fashion statements, “so-bad-they-are-good,” never go out of style. For many competitors, if you can’t be one of the most talented players on the world’s biggest stage, at least you can be recognized world-wide for looking like a weirdo.

Rigobert Song – Cameroon

Alexi Lalas – USA

Jose Perlaza – Ecuador

There is however a special breed of footballer who can manage to capture the imagination of the world, as much for their incredible play as their “eccentric” sense of style.

Carlos Valderrama – Colombia

Roberto Baggio – Italy

Ronaldo – Brazil

And then there is this ridiculous douchebag, who defies classification…

Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal

The crew got some skating in for sure but made time to enjoy a little of everything Nicaragua has to offer. Here are some exclusive pics from the digi cam of the man himself, Mr. Rob G. You can read the cover stroy on Chico Brenes and his skate trips to Nica here on the website, or better yet, pick up the new copy of Hecho and get zorched live and direct (plus the real copy has even more pretty photos).

- GP

rob g, kenny anderson, steve nesser, chico brenes, jose rojo on Efecto X channel 23 in Nica, son


jose rojo y steve nesser meditating en la calle


rojo soaking up el sol in san juan del sur


toña time


rojo, rob g, kenny a – “playas” en la playa


tearin’ the roof off Chaman

Read the Chico Brenes feature here.

Peep Rob G’s blog, Everyday Real, here.

Had the pleasure of catching Smalltown Romeo DJ the past couple weekends in San Juan del Sur, the dude comes correct. He had the dancefloor popping and girls up on the tables. Can’t hate on that.

This new video is for a song he produced and it’s just as dope. Peep www.smalltowndjs.com for more on Smalltown Romeo and his crew. I’m hoping we see a lot more of him in Nica. Managua show anyone?

- GP

World Premiere: Give Me My Money Chico Trailer from LRG on Vimeo.

LRG is set to release their first full-length skate video, “Give Me My Money Chico,” starring the Nica Don himself Chico Brenes, along with Rob Gonzalez, who just finished his third skate tour of Nicaragua, and the rest of the LRG crew. The movie was shot in HD and judging from the trailer and what I’ve heard from people who have seen the footage it surpasses all expectations.

The film premieres March 31st in Los Angeles with an April premiere scheduled for Managua. Peep the trailer below and also “Dame Mi Dinero Chico” a short video shot when Chico was here last week.
- GP

DAME MI DINERO CHICO from Jonathan Jackson on Vimeo.

The Hecho-sponsored flag football team, Beer Bellies (I refuse to spell it “Bellys”), is in the playoffs for the first time thanks in large part to the defensive heroics of Sean “He’s like the wind” Porter, who picked off three Youngblood passes (and almost had a 4th), including one for a touchdown to seal the 12-0 shutout victory.

Wearing a light blue tank top, with shoulders so wide it is rumored he can’t even fit into a jersey, and despite playing with a tweaked hammy, Porter was a beast on defense, wrecking havoc in the secondary like an out of control wind turbine off its hinges, sending the veteran Young Blood squad into fits and also to an early vacation.

One of the keys to a Beer Belly’s victory that the average fan might have missed was the superb center play of Gabe “Gabo 9000” Vargas. He hiked the ball like there was no tomorrow – and if they had lost the game there wouldn’t have been. Vargas snapped the ball with the finesse and precision of a men’s figure skater, always sending his brown load right into his quarterback’s wanting hands.

The crowd may have been a factor in the game, as the Young Bloods seemed visually shaken by the Beer Belly fans incessant cheering and heckling with their drunken demeanor and colorful signage.

Next Tuesday in La Mecca the Bellies will kick-off the playoffs as the decided underdog. Come by, crack open a bicha and check it outtttttt. First game is at 7:30pm

Chico Brenes sanctioned underground skate racing in Managua.

PRECAUCIÓN: may be un poquito rapido y furioso!

DAME MI DINERO CHICO from Jonathan Jackson on Vimeo.

Check out the new video for the song “Pressure” from Bang Data’s EP Maldito Carnaval, featuring Nicaraguan lead singer Deuce Eclipse who is interviewed in the latest issue of HECHO. Pick up the EP on iTunes.

Bang Data : Pressure from Miguel A. Osorio on Vimeo.