Capital City Film Festival, Round 2

We’ve been a part of some pretty amazing events over the last few years. Pro surf invitationals all over the world, Sasquatch Music Festival, Treasure Island Music Festival, SXSW… we get around, and yes; we’re crafty and we’re always down.

It’s also really nice to support the up-and-coming events, especially when they are practically in our backyard. That’s exactly why we took a short trip down the road to the capital city of America’s High Five - Lansing, Michigan, for the second annual Capital City Film Festival.

The CCFF, which took place April 12-15, is an upstart festival that brings together movies, music, and ideas. This isn’t what you’d traditionally think of when you think film festival though. It’s much more rock n’ roll, and that is definitely reflected in the content they bring in during the four days.

Since we sponsored the music venue, the Cushe crew hit the road to spread the good word on awesome footwear, and to hear some amazing bands.

The kick-off was Michigan’s own Greensky Bluegrass, who really bend the genre of bluegrass when they dive into a jamming cover of the Beatles “Help”. Murder by Death (pictured above) put on an amazing Friday night show, and William Elliot Whitmore took us down the Americana road on Saturday night. Whitmore also had the most epic encore we’ve seen in a long time, which involved exiting the front of the stage, wielding a guitar, and a shot of whiskey (we’ll explain more over a beer sometime). The closing night was no slacker either, featuring a fantastic performance by LIGHTS, who is absolutely blowing up right now.

When it was all said and done, the festival boasted 72 films, a full day of fresh ideas shared by people who are WAY smarter than us featuring reps from Google and the New York Times, and four straight nights of top flight shows to close each day down.

Whew. Not a bad way to spend a weekend. We’re looking forward to seeing where the CCFF goes in the next few years.

<3 Cushe

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Cushe and KEXP at SXSW

Remember SXSW a few weeks ago? That was awesome.

We really enjoyed spending time hanging out with the KEXP team at Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop during SX, and we double enjoyed taking in amazing live performances from The Wedding Present, Shearwater, Nada Surf, Allen Stone and Imperial Teen just to name a few.

If you dig the ability to relive a little bit of the good times through the magical power of digital media, then heading over to KEXP’s website is gonna make your day! Clicking the SXSW Link on KEXP.org will automagically transport you to a land of exclusive photos, videos, and audio from the broadcast.

Go forth. Click. Share. Enjoy.

<3 Cushe

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SXSW Day One

What a great start to our time at SXSW. Along with our pals at Whole Earth Provision Company we hitched our trailer / photo booth / den of awesome (den sounds creepy until you add awesome) outside of Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, and ominous clouds be damned, tons of cool people came to hang out. We handed out plenty of free (and rad) swag, hooked some lucky so-and-sos up with free kicks, and caught some amazing performances.

By who, you may ask? And we’ll answer with: The Barr Brothers, Allen Stone (blowing UP right now! Check ‘em!), and Of Monsters and Men.

Day two has a lot to live up to, but with all of the amazing performances and people in one town, we know it will. Don’t forget you can stream online from KEXP if you can’t make it to the shows… or Austin in general. We’re keeping you up to date as well on Twitter and Facebook, so stick with us, and we’ll show you the Cushe Life.

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Cushe at SXSW

We’re packing our bags for Austin, y’all, and we’re rolling in hot!

Not kidding. We will actually be rolling around the city with our buds from Whole Earth Provision Company – the mecca of cool stuff, who is now carrying your favorite Cushes. Whole Earth will be giving our custom trailer / photo booth a tow around town courtesy of their wrapped van, so come hang out and get your photo taken.

We only have two rules about the photo booth usage.
1.    No “duck face”
2.    See Rule #1

So, aside from taking an awesome photo which you can later use to rub in your friends faces about how you were at SXSW and they weren’t, we’ll also be giving some super bonus extra sweet swag out. Also some discounts on your next pair of Cushe shoes, and possibly – if you’re good – we’ll have a way for you to win free kicks. IF you’re good (refer back to Rule #1 if need be).

So, where can you connect with the Cushe and Whole Earth Provision Company crew? We’re glad you asked, because we really dislike hanging out alone, and while most of us are very pretty, we have enough personal portraits. Find us at these venues, and discover some amazing shows going on too:

3/14 – KEXP Concert Venue | Mellow Johnny’s
3/15 – Matchbox Showcase | Dirty Dog Venue
3/16 – KEXP Concert Venue | Mellow Johnny’s

In summation: Whole Earth Provision Company + Cushe = BFF’s, Photo booth, Amazing music with KEXP and the Matchbox Showcase, free stuff, grand times.

Got it? Good. See you there! Can’t be there? Bummer. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay in the know of what’s going on at SX and with Cushe.

<3, Cushe.

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Enter the Super Frenchie

Life adventurer extraordinaire Matthias Giraud, AKA Super Frenchie, is joining the Cushe team this year. We have two things to say about this:

1. Awesome. We love this guy and his attitude toward life. In so many ways, he IS Cushe.
2. We wish we could claim that we came up with the name Super Frenchie.

We're looking forward to seeing what Matthias has in store for us this year - in the meantime, check out the video below to see what he got up to in 2011.

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Cushe Stocking Giveaway

At Cushe, we are all about the holiday spirit. It's a great time for great times.

Last week we put together a very Cushe gift guide and it got us to thinkin'... We should hook up some of our favorite people in the world - our fans and followers - with a start on that list. Namely the Cushe shoes part.

So we put together five stockings stuffed full of goodies including a bunch of Cushe swag and a coupon for $100 to spend at our online store. That’s right - 100 buckeroos to go toward any pair of Cushe kicks you want!

Entering is super easy and there are a few ways to do it.

Post on our Facebook Page:
“All I want for Christmas are my Cushes.”

Or follow us on Twitter and tweet:
“All I want for Christmas are my #cushes. @CusheUS”

It really is that simple. Winners to be announced Monday December 19th,2011.

One thing: though we love all y'all, this is a Cushe US contest, so you gotta be in the US to win. It doesn't change how we feel about everyone else, but rules is rules:)

Get at it!

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A Very Cushe Holiday Gift Guide

While the holiday season claims you should be having dreams of sugar plums, we think that’s slightly outdated, and we have no idea what the hell a sugar plum is anyway. So we put together a short list of items that would compliment a Cushe Life – whether it is an urban or rural adventure you seek. If you don’t know what to ask for this holiday, anything on this list would be a great place to start…

1. Osprey Stratos 24 Pack
You need something to hold the stuff on the rest of your list, right? Osprey bags are rugged, lightweight, and feature plenty of pockets for a good volume to organization level. Not a lot of us will have use for a single ice axe attachment, but we have faith you’ll be creative in its use. ($99.00)

2. Merrell Mid-Layers
Super comfortable for anything from work outs to coffee runs as well as ideal for layering when the weather gets all weird on you. We dig the Tazlina Hoody for the ladies and the Cairn Hoody for dudes. ($89.00 - $99.00)

3. Aqua Vessel Ultra Lite Tritan Filtration Bottle
With the amount of water we’re all supposed to drink, it’s always a good idea to have a bottle by your side. This model from Eco Vessel has a plant based filtration system attached to the straw top… which means every sip of water gets cleaned on its way to your mouth. We can’t help you clean what comes out of your mouth, but we can help clean what’s going in. ($24.95)

4. Diana F+ Camera
We think one of the most important things in living a Cushe Life is making memories by doing what you love. It’s always a good idea to have a camera nearby to document the times and the people of your life. Digital is easy, but film in a plastic 1960’s designed camera has flavor. Embrace the variety of results caused by this perfectly imperfect beauty that inspired apps like Instagram. ($89.00)

5. Klipsch Image S5i Headphones
Your Cushe Life has to have a soundtrack, and these are great in-ear headphones to plug into your favorite iDevice and enjoy. Klipsch makes a great sounding product and the durability of the S5i’s is an added bonus. A great upgrade over the stock headphones that come with any music device. ($129.99)

6. Sun Bum SPF 30+ Sunscreen
Hey, there is a reason we support the Slater Brother’s Invitational and the World Skin Cancer Foundation each year. Protect your skin with this oil-free, Paraben-free, Vitamin E enriched sunscreen. And thank the sweet monkey logo for helping protect your hide. ($14.99)

7. The Cushe Shoes You Don’t Have
Wait, what? You need new pair of Cushes? How could we forget! This list wouldn’t be complete without your new favorite shoes. While we love all of our styles equally, we recommend the Surf Slipper Chuka for guys and the Wildtrip WP for gals. Both are Cushe takes on classic styles. ($90.00 - $160.00)

What’s in your Cushe Life holiday pack this year? Share it with us on Facebook and Twitter – as always, we love to hear from ya!

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ISA and Slater Brother's Recap

We just had an amazing October featuring two great pro surf events the Cushe team was proud to be a part of. Let’s recap, shall we?

The ISA World Masters in El Salvador bounced back from a bout of terrible weather to deliver the goods. Team USA, who made their debut in the ISA World Masters, did it up in style and took the gold! We’d call that a pretty successful start. Not only did they win the team trophy, but the USA had some stellar individual performances by Tom Curren, Jim Hogan, Allen Sarlo and Alissa Cairns as well.

Puerto Rico and Cushe team member Gustavo Betancourt had a solid showing too, taking the copper and 4th place! All in all, a great tournament with top kick competition. Hats off to all the riders and champions from the 2011 ISA World Master Surfing Championship.

Bonus – Cushe got to leave its mark on one of the most legendary surf spots in the world, Punta Roca! Check out the amazing graffiti mural in the picture below.

After the ISA's, we dropped in on Cocoa Beach, Florida, to set up shop at the Slater Brother’s Invitational. This event doesn’t just provide some great entertainment; the proceeds benefit the World Skin Cancer Foundation, so it was awesome to be in the company of our friends at Volcom, Oakley, Quiksilver and Go Pro supporting the cause.

Mitch “All the way from the UK” Corbett and Nolan Tyler were both representing for Cushe, and both had great showings. Mitch went on to the quarters in the longboard, while Nolan matched him and made it to the quarters in the shortboard. We’re definitely looking forward to the 2012 Slater Brother’s Invitational!

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Cushe Hits the Road to Waves

October may not seem like a big surf month if you don’t live near a coast, but trust us, it is. Cushe is a proud sponsor of two events on the waves this month – the ISA World Masters and the Slater Brother’s Invitational.

The ISA World Masters Surfing Championship is scheduled to start October 18th at Punta Roca El Salvador. The start of the event was postponed from the 16th due to the monster storms that hit El Salvador with several days of torrential rain. The ISA and the teams involved are committed to helping out the town of La Libertad, as Mauricio Funes, President of El Salvador, declared a State of Emergency.

This is a seriously stacked event with talent streaming in from all over the globe. In fact, a record 124 competitors signed up before registration closed. Our own sales rep, Gustavo Bentancourt (pictured below), will be representing Team Puerto Rico! We’ll be supporting Gus, Team USA, and hoping for better weather not just for the comp, but for El Salvador as well. You can check the live stream and catch all the action as soon as the event kicks off here.

Now onto the famed Slater Brother’s Invitational. This is our second year sponsoring this great event, which takes place October 28th – 30th in sunny Cocoa Beach, Florida. The Slater Brother’s don’t just put together a kick-ass competition; they raise awareness and money for the World Skin Cancer Foundation. That’s all kinds of cool we at Cushe are proud to be a part of. We’re bringing in our very own Team Cushe rockstar Mitch Corbett for the event, so if you are anywhere near Cocoa at the end of this month, don’t miss this.

Can’t make it to Cocoa? Don’t sweat it – you can tune in to a live webcast and see Kelly, Skippy, Sean, and all the competitors once the event starts. We’ll be hanging out taking some photos for your ocular pleasure as well, so stop by and see us!

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