Knee pain is the MOST common complaint of athletes of all kinds. Your body let’s you know when it’s uncomfortable, and something is wrong, so listen to it!

I have been experiencing knee pain for a good minute.. decided to get it checked out. After tha first visit, Doc told me he was over 90% sure that I was ok, and nothing was wrong with my knee. He sent me home with an appointment in a month.. told me to call him if tha pain persisted, and I could get an MRI. My body continued to talk to me. I was in pain day and night.. couldn’t sleep, I knew something wasn’t right, so I called in for an MRI, and to my surprise, tha Doc called me back the very next day and let me know that I had a tear of my lateral meniscus, and a meniscal cyst. Problems that required a minor arthroscopic surgery called a Partial Meniscectomy. It’s a small one in the world of knee surgeries, it was done on an outpatient basis, less than an hour of surgery, so I am thankful for that. They removed 15% of my lateral meniscus, and here’s me, “don’t I need that???” I am now in stages of recovery, and will be ready to roll before tha snow falls this winter.

So, bottom line, if you’re having serious knee pain, get an MRI, it’s about 1000$ if you don’t have insurance, but it’s the ONLY way you can see all those tendons and cartilage that can’t be seen with X-Rays. Addressing the situation at the earliest time possible ensures a speedy recovery, and creates a smaller chance of more permanant damage, as in my case.

The injury was caused by casing a really poorly built jump. It was about 50 ft. to tha knuckle, and tha lip pointed to tha sky. I dropped in and straight lined it with all the speed my lil body could generate. I landed about 10 ft. short of the knuckle! It hurt so bad, I knew I had injured my knee, but I was in contest mode, and continued to ride, earning myself 2nd place (1st place loser) and a 500$ big plastic check! Stoked! But not stoked. Not only did I tear my meniscus, but I put a good size dent in my leg bone from tha impact of the “accident”, as you can see in the 2 bottom left photos of this arthroscopic images of my knee.

The doc was very vauge about this. He didn’t know what it meant for me.. chronic pain, future knee surgery, or early arthritis. Either way, I am taking all precautions, and am ready for whatever happens. I am strong and young, and he was hopeful the bone cartilage will repair itself over time.

If anyone has any knowledge of this, or advice for physical therapy, or anything, lemme know. I am open to everything. Have you had or considered getting knee surgery? You need those things so take care of em, friends!

Just wanted to give a shout out to Dr. O’ Shea, at tha Portland Knee Clinic for taking exceptional care of me. If you are going to tha Doc for knee pain, check out a clinic specializing in knees, and knees of athletes.

Over n out from Halo!

MIKE YARISH / LIFETIME TELEVISION 2009
GIV family member and all around super talented guy, Logan Neitzel is coming into your house tonight. Logan will be a designer on the hit show Project Runway. After working in various jobs throughout the last few years (while always staying focused on his ultimate goals) we are glad to see Logan getting the attention he has always deserved. So take a seat tonight and turn on the tube at 10pm on the Lifetime network.

I might need to take another trip to the Museum of Modern Art. Tim Burton, the magical director and all around creative genius, has been given a retrospective of his work. Drawings, sketches, paintings, and even yes…all of his films. It would take more than a day to experience all of the works. That’s how prolific this creative wonder has been and still is.

One of my favorite Tim Burton projects is the oft looked over The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories. I tend to give it out to friends who I think would appreciate it’s dark humor and weird subject matter but I am now thinking everyone should enjoy it and much more of Tim Burton.

Here is a little preview of what you could see.

“Tim Burton” will show from Nov. 22, 2009 – Apr. 26, 2010. Should be plenty of time to arrange a flight.

Jones soda is offering people the chance at immortality and some nice tune listening while you drive.
“In honor of this great summer tradition, Jones Soda and Griffin Technology are giving away 10 Griffin iTrip AutoPilots to roadtrippers each week. Plus, your best roadtrip photos will be printed on thousands of bottles of Jones Soda from coast-to-coast. One grand-prize winner will win a $500 shopping spree on Griffintechnology.com.

Roadtrip Jones runs from July 14th to August 28th 2009. Your roadtrip can be whatever you choose – an afternoon cruise to the lake or 10,000 miles across the country. It’s up to you. Take a car, truck, bus, heck, even a bicycle counts.”  Check out the rules and reg and all the info you need >here<

As long time road trip enthusiasts we are excited to see people supporting the roaming habit. Best of luck to everyone on their voyages this summer!

As fans of art and cool things in general we are thankful to a friend who sent us the following link to: The Brinkley Girls: The Best of Nell Brinkley’s Cartoons From 1913-1940, edited by Trina Robbins (Fantagraphics, $29.99). Nell was an amazing illustrator. You canget the book and even a free 12 page preview from >>here<<.

For more info on her life and illustrations visit this wonderful site >>here<<.

If you didn’t know our family member Cary Judd put out a new album recently. The reviews are starting to come in as the album continues to gain momentum around the U.S.

Here’s the latest from the magazine Performing Songwriter.

Look for the mag at Barnes & Noble, Borders and where ever else has a good selection. It’s the June issue with Pink on the cover:

“When he’s not on the road, Wyoming artist Cary Judd hangs his hat at the foot of the Grand Tetons. The effects of that epic landscape can be heard on Judd’s latest release, Goodnight Human, permeating the lyrics of tunes like “The Apocalyptic Love Song” (”Time has never changed / And nothing ever came from the prophesies of hippies, and the world’s at war again”) and “See Through Rocks” (”I saw God / He was shaking his head at the foolish things we said”).

Bouncy New Wave-meets-melodic pop is the defining vibe here. Listeners will hear traces of The Cure and The Charlatans UK, but Judd puts his own high-energy stamp on the record, as well. This is especially true on the stand out track “Huang Shan (The Ah-Ha Song)”, which features soaring vocal harmonies and electric guitar over a hard driving bass line. If you’ve been longing for the perfect marriage of moxie and maturity, give this Human a listen.” -MW

You stay up late and watch Conan last night? Our house did. We got rocked by this.

Pearl Jam – New Album soon….very excited.