More Apples on the way

We just received two new hoodies from GrnAppleTree this week. If you thought that was it for spring...think again. Here are a few pieces due to drop in February.

For more photos visit: www.grnappletree.blogspot.com or www.grnappletree.com

Orisue spring preview

Orisue is set to drop in the shop some time next week. Here are a few appetizers for the sampling.

For more pictures visit: www.orisue.com

Sale, Sale, Sale

From Jan. 31 - Feb. 2.

All holiday/winter apparel, buy 1 & get the 2nd for 50% off

- 10.Deep
- Franco Shade
- Freshjive
- GrnAppleTree
- Mighty Healthy
- Orisue
- PFK
- Triumvir

Groundid
2805 E. Pacific Coast Hwy.
Signal Hill, CA 90755
562.986.1720
Hours: 11 am - 6:30 pm

No cover + free drinks

Our friend T-Money is hosting his birthday party at Khoury's in Long Beach. It doesn't get any better than free cover and drinks. Click on flyer for details.

Green Grn

Today we received two new spring hoodies from GrnAppleTree, including the Sage hoody, which is the green-colored version of the Ornate. Both hoodies are light and comfortable.

Keep keepin' on

Earlier this month, we made a post about physical fitness. We don't know how many of you made a new year's resolution to get in shape but we hope you stuck to it. For those who have yet to start, it's still not too late.

More and more, adulthood diseases like high blood pressure, cholestorol and diabetes are found in children and teens. Poppin' pills is not the way to live. Fitness and prevention is key.

Look, we all have busy schedules, but we can all spare 30-minutes a day. You will feel better about yourself when you work out and you will have more energy.

We will post follow-ups to make sure you all are keepin' on course and not falling off. Aight?

Stay healthy, stay fit, stay groundid.

Triumvir spring sneak peek

Whoa! Gold Digger tee with the Leaflet hoodie from Triumvir scheduled to drop real soon.

Quality over quantity

We are pretty excited from what we saw at the Agenda Tradeshow. Our existing accounts took their summer and fall lines to another level. We can't wait for the new stuff to hit the shelves.

As for getting new accounts, we decided to go with quality over quantity. We talked to only one new label and it should drop in the store in March. What we can say is that they're "the new royalty" of streetwear, and just like us, they believe that "family matters."

Off to S.D.

A few of us are headed to the Agenda Tradeshow today. The store is open as usual. We're going to try to get all of our orders and everything else done at Agenda in one day. It's not a fun commute from Signal Hill to San Diego. We'll let you know how things go.

Didja know?

Did you know that Jan. 22 was the saddest day of the year in the U.S.?

Here are some of the reasons why:

1) The weather is terrible nationwide

2) New Year's resolution begins to fall apart

3) Credit card bills from holiday spending start coming

4) The economy is at a standstill

5) Winter sickness and flu season is in full swing

You probably have some personal reasons to add to the list. Look on the bright side, though. Jan. 22 has past and you are still alive and kicking -- so let's start a-new together. We hope this post did not bring you down further.

New year...new face

Yea...I know most of yall tired of lookin' at us in the tees....so here's Ashley...if you need a phone, holla @ her next door...

My dude?!?!? Whatcha lookin' at?

I've loved Jessica Biel since 7th Heaven, but I didn't know Diddy had a thing for her too. First, this dude steals designs from 10.deep, and now he tries to steal my woman. This guy is three much.

Winter head wear by FJ

Is it cold outside or what? Must be global warming. For real, for real.

We just got in some beanies, skullies, knit caps, whatever you wanna call them, from Freshjive. Take them snowboarding or if you're like us, wear 'em around the house when it's below 60-degrees. SoCal folks can't take the cold.

House Industries x Freshjive

We are proud to introduce the collaborative project between House Industries and Freshjive. The collection includes several tees and wool caps. The products are now available in-store. We will post more detailed pictures of the shirts soon.

Magic at Groundid

A friend of ours, Victor, painted this amazing portrait of Earvin Magic Johnson. The painting is currently being displayed at the shop so come and take a look.

We at Groundid support the arts, so if you have any work you would like for us to display, please send an email to info@groundid.com.

MLK stays Groundid

Today we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We don't have to tell you the impact he made by staying humble, staying true, and staying groundid. Thank you.

High-end fashion meets streetwear?

With some free time on my hands, I decided to take a comprehensive look into what was forthcoming in high-end fashion. The collections that I examined were: Missoni, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Jil Sander, Vivienne Westwood and Burberry. I was trying to gauge whether there were any influences or similarities between 5th Ave. and street.

The conclusion I reached...not much.

If there were any bites one way or the other, streetwear probably did more of the biting. But actually, in all fairness, the two worlds just do not but-heads. You really can't compare the budget of a built-from-scratch streetwear brand to a Versace.

High-end fashion is high-end for a reason. The materials used are the finest grade, whether African cotton or highway road kill. The cut and sew pieces are flawless -- and if there were any flaws -- it was probably done intentionally. The time spent on samples and re-doing a piece to specification is another luxury glamour fashion can afford.

So in conclusion, I just wasted my time comparing the two because streetwear just got "knocked the fuck out." I am stupid for putting an amateur into the ring with Muhammad Ali. If it is any consolation, I did find two examples of high-end meets street.


Vivienne Westwood tee (straight comedy)


Missoni all-over print hoodie

Franco Shade X Blends warehouse sale

Grn Spring

The first batch of GrnAppleTree tees for spring have arrived. This is probably the best that we've seen from Grn thus far. More tops are scheduled to come as the season goes on.

Long Beach's own

Congratulations to Long Beach Poly's own, Tony Gwynn, for being inducted into MLB's Hall of Fame, class of 2007.

I had to opportunity to meet Mr. Gwynn at the Southern California Baseball Media Day when I was the sports editor for Long Beach State. I was so in awe of this gentleman that I couldn't even walk up or utter a word. Truly a groundid role model for any one to look up to.

Winners never quit...

Winners never quit, but quitters never lose. We just got the new Franco Shade Quitters tee in mint. Got it? Good.

Lazy Monday

Mondays are lazy days. First day back at work or back at school. Here's a view of the life at Groundid when we get bored.



We were chillin' at the store. That's me on the couch in my usual spot. Rortha was trying to watch She's the Man on YouTube. He's playing with our new Sony Cyber-shot camera. We got hungry...



...went to El Torito for happy hour. We ordered a whole bunch of appetizers. Tried to watch the BCS Championship Game, Florida vs. Ohio St., wasn't much of a contest.



...ate all the food. Yea, that's pretty much it.

We try to fill this blog with valuable content, but sometimes...*sigh*

Check back soon. We'll try to post more exciting pictures rather than just chicken wing bones.

A real hero story

Smoking Kills

Smoking kills, hype does not.

While going through some of my old photos from Sneaker Pimps in L.A., I came across this one in particular of a lovely girl in the Smoking Kills tee. It's pretty coincidental how I found this picture just as GrnAppleTree is about to release its own version. The message is awesome, but isn't it ironic how she's sipping on a beer? Drinking kills, too, ya know.

The reason for this post, actually, is to find out who made the shirt that she's wearing. Holler at me if ya know.

L.A. from the freeway

I've been getting good, lately, at driving and taking pictures at the same time. Here's a random picture of downtown Los Angeles from the 110 freeway on my route to the Freshjive warehouse. Sometimes I get confused between the 101, 105 and 110 freeway. Anyways, not too much smog or traffic on this particular day.

908 Gallery Decks

Our friends from Gallery Boardshop just released two new skate decks with the Gucci pattern nicely embedded. The "908" on the board refers to the first three digits in Long Beach's zip code.

For more info on the deck and their store location visit www.galleryboardshop.com.

Quitters sneak peak

Big things are expected from Franco Shade in '07. Here's a look at the first piece due to drop later this month, the Quitters tee in mint. This shirt was dyed to achieve the proper color, thus it has been pre-washed and pre-shrunk.

Tra-Tra Tri-UM-vir hoodies arrive

Both of the new Triumvir hoodies, Stoned Paisley and Flying Tiger, will be up for sale beginning tomorrow.

Dedication

The Groundid Blog is not your typical streetwear/sneaker/hip-hop culture blog...but we already told you that from our very first entry.

Today we are focusing on physical fitness. What better time to start than the new year, right? Lay off the fast food and lift some dumbells -- it's time to get back to the gym. We know that it's gonna take a lot of self motivation and dedication, but you can do it. We'll keep you updated on our progress and you do the same.

Fergalicious straight bitin'

Watch the original version of Fergie's Fergalicious called Supersonic by the super-'80s-girl group J.J. Fad (Just Jammin' Fresh and Def). Check out their loud and vibrant jackets, also. Dare I say...niiice.

Gambling addiction, a sickness

So I spent my New Years at a casino and did a lot of observing.

(CNN)

Millions of people like to gamble, whether it be casino-style games or lotteries. For some gambling is an addiction, a sickness just like alcoholism or cancer, that can destroy lives.

It is hard to cure a compulsive gambler, but there are doctors and counselors who work with people whose lives have been turned inside out by their quest to win the big one.

Arnie Wexler is a reformed compulsive gambler who now runs a hot line for addicted gamblers. He says gambling nearly destroyed his life.

"I was running around at that time of my life wishing and praying I had enough guts to kill myself. I thought that if I killed myself and left my wife with $5,000 of insurance money and two kids in the house, it was the only way out of this mess," Wexler says.

Experts say compulsive gambling is a real illness.

"The addiction to gambling is different in that it's purely a behavior. It's not an addiction to a chemical or substance, but it involves a similar process, in that it's a compulsive behavior that the person has no control over," says Maimonides Medical Center clinical psychiatrist David Yamins.

Because there is no chemical or substance, gambling is an invisible addiction. There are no telltale physical signs, no track marks, no smell of alcohol. Wexler says that is what makes the compulsive gambler so elusive.

"I'm gonna tell you that I'm recovered 31 years, and you don't know I just didn't come from buying 1,000 lottery tickets or calling my bookmaker before you walked in here, or I just didn't get back from Atlantic City an hour ago," says Wexler.

What drives the compulsion to gamble? Yamins says it is the thrill. "They're holding onto the myth, the idea that they're gonna hit it with one big turn of the wheel, or one big play of the slot, that they're gonna correct all the trouble with their life."

Many compulsive gamblers do occasionally have large paydays. Wexler had a few, but that only made his problem worse. "I chased that big win every day of my life, figuring that I can do this again," he says.

Even though compulsive gambling is a legitimate medical diagnosis, treatment is not covered by insurance. Society views gambling as a behavioral problem that people should be able to control. Experts say this policy is unlikely to change until society accepts compulsive gambling as a real disease.

Happy New Year

Hope you all had a blast celebrating New Years. The entire Groundid family wishes each and everyone a prosperous and healthy 2007.

The store is closed today but will reopen tomorrow, January 2. Take this time to recover from your hangover, watch some football, and pig out today. Make a list of what you want to accomplish this year and check the list at the end of 2007 to see what you followed through on. Other than that, spend time with your loved ones and let's make this year the best year yet.