THE IDIOT

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Finally got in the water today after what felt like a long time. All the time spent indoors over the last week made me think of this scribbley piece I made some many years ago. I've always called it The Idiot. Probably passes as a self portrait from time to time.
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A SLOWER LOOK AT THE ALIEN

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A slowed down examination of two of my favorite Gavin clips from the CREEPY FINGERS excerpt in the last post.
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SENTIMENT & FLOATING

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Below are excerpts from a couple of the Volcom films I've made.
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In carefree moods I sometimes feel like I let this part of CREEPY FINGERS (2006) end up a bit "much" and a little overboard with the time synced score of the cymbals, but since I made it while in a sentimental frame of mind and since I'm presently feeling sentimental... I'm goin' with it. Plus Gavin Beschen's surfing is... well... there's a reason why people have called him 'The Alien' all these years.
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And an effort to lighten the load with Bruce Irons making the subject of passing away sound as trouble-free and easy as he makes critical surfing look in THE BRUCE MOVIE (2005).
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BUILDING TO LET GO (Andy Goldsworthy)

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With the recent storms and the heightening of the senses and cleansing by way of chaos that they can bring, along with my pondering of Daniel's Freedom To Roam and Cycles posts at Wine And Woodsmoke this morning (who, like me, also seems to appreciate the work of Andy Goldsworthy), it is only natural that I post the following excerpts from the documentary film by Thomas Riedelsheimer about Goldsworthy's work and relationship with his surroundings called RIVERS AND TIDES (Working With Time).
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FREEDOM TO FALL

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Behind the blood and fangs Ozzie Wright is one of the nicest chaps you could ever come across. I've always appreciated the fact that he doesn't try to overly edit out the act of falling in his sections of surf films... Always a refreshing take of reckless abandon and freedom when most surf flicks bend towards showcasing an illusion (which in my filmmaking, as hard as I try, I'm also guilty of) of athletic "perfection".
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Below is a recent interview with Ozzie about the ongoing kickflip contest thang:
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Some 2007 tube time:
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And some reckless abandon (excerpt from the older film Doped Youth made by Ozzie and friends):
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REMEMBERING ONE OF THE GREATS

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Today marks three years since surfer/shaper/father/husband/Surfers' Hall of Fame inductee CARL HAYWARD passed away from a brain aneurism while surfing the south side of Huntington Beach pier on January 21, 2005.
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My very first board was a 4'11", double wing, pintail, single fin Hayward that my mom bought used off Carl's shop rack (at the Huntington Beach location in above photo) for me when I was just a little grom. My next board was a custom order and Carl had my mom drop me off at his shaping "shack" so I could watch the process of shaping it. Between then and the time that Carl died there were only five boards I periodically owned that weren't custom Haywards. Carl knew I had a liking for his original logo lam, and sometime around 1996, in a period when he was running low on them, he gave me a stack of them to insure I always had my preference available for my board orders. Below are the remaining lams of that stack that didn't have a chance to make it on a board.
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Another personal testament I have of Carl's giving nature was when I met with him to order what ended up being my last board from him. It was to be a twin with little rear "stabilizer" fin all set in Future boxes. At the time, Future didn't stock the fin templates I was looking for, and the next thing I know, while saying "I think I know exactly what you're looking for... Here, take these," Carl's handing me a custom, unused, twin & stabilizer set of Future fins that he just received for a personal board of his own. Seems there are endless stories from other people of Carl's giving.
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Note:
Carl was an early embracer of the rocket fish board design. Reissues of Carl’s version of the rocket fish are available. Using a board shaped by Carl for himself as a model, the reissues are computer shaped and hand finished by the same craftsmen that worked on his production boards.
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Profits from the sale of the boards benefit his widow and children. The boards are available through Pro Glass in Costa Mesa. For further information contact Mike Ochsner at mochsner@bellsouth.net or Dane New at 949.574.0014
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Hayward shop and surfing photos by unknown.
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More about Carl Hayward at http://www.carlhayward.com/index.asp?ID=1
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FRONTIERS EXPANDING... TRACK BY TRACK

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Amid protests by my 20 month old girl to watch my least favorite thing, Barney, I put Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain (arranged and conducted by Gil Evans) on the turntable anyway, she quickly forgot about the purple dinosaur and started to bob and weave her head in curious approval. Inspired me to search YouTube and post whatever I could find... the track Concierto De Aranjuez:



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SWEET SURRENDER

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Rest In Peace William Michael Fraser
August 13, 1960 — January 15, 2008
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1/10 OF 1% = 1/10 SHY OF ZERO% = ZERO EASY ANSWERS (State Parks/Beaches Info)

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For those that haven't seen it yet, and are interested, there's a map on the Irresponsible Politics post at the Everyone Surfs blog that shows which Southland beaches/parks face proposed closure, and which ones face proposed lifeguard cuts. Looks like the beach I mentioned in the LAST ACTION ZERO? post is not on the closure list, but faces lifeguard cuts. Which brings me to one of earliest thoughts about layoffs...
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If there is a decrease in lifeguard presence on the state beaches during the summer, will there be increased areas and hours of blackball to compensate for the state's interpretation of public "safety"?
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Some additional notes cited from a January 12th article, by Paul Rogers of San Jose's The Mercury News, that can be linked to from the Everyone Surfs post:

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The gates of closed parks would be locked in 2009, and would reopen someday when the budget improves.
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The plan would shutter nearly one in five of California 278 state parks - from the towering trees of Del Norte Redwoods State Park near Oregon to the wide sandy beaches of Silver Strand State Beach in San Diego.
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State Senate President Don Perata, D-Oakland, said Friday....
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"While lamentable, park closures must be weighed against the many other immediate difficult choices we have," he said, "such as reducing funding for education, giving early releases to prison inmates and taking dental care away from the poor."
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Yet those closings, along with the proposed elimination of the jobs of 136 rangers and other parks staff, would only eliminate one-tenth of 1 percent of the state deficit, critics noted.
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WAY OF THE TWENTY-SOMETHING

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As long as I'm on the subject of biking, I figured I'd jump to August of 1993 in the photo archive— The nearly 500 mile ride down the coast with boards from southern Marin County to northern Orange County I took with my good friend Sean.
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My rig the moment before heading off on our way.
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A look before crossing south over the Golden Gate.
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Sean, first night's camp.
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Days later, lookin' back at the miles behind us after a fun morning session.
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Entering another realm. My favorite stretch of coast on the ride.
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Sean's balancing act on our way into one beach.
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Me about to pull into a closeout section at another.
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Sean stoked after a night slept on a turn out.
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Another look back to the north behind us.
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A large driftwood dwelling down below. Something I'm sure we would have missed if traveling by car.
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Central coast color. Marigolds, if I remember correctly.
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Sean and his imitation of a fabled species known as the Mexican Blanket Flying Squirrel.
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The day after the above photo was taken, a pedestrian in SLO walked out in front of us without looking and Sean jammed his knee into the gooseneck of his bike while avoiding impact with the kid. Together we moved on to a few more beaches south. But by the afternoon we made it to Santa Barbara Sean's knee was done. He crashed out at someone's house in Santa Barbara that night and I rode on and slept on the beach in Carpinteria. The next day Sean took the train home while I kept riding. By the time I made it into L.A. County, that same day, I could see a building south swell in the water. I kept on truckin' and made it to the Orange County beach pictured in WAY OF THE GROM in time for a late afternoon session of overhead sets with a 115 mile day under my belt. Later that night Sean and I were drinking beers together at a friends party, and the next morning I found myself day-dreaming through day one of a junior college chemistry course lecture.
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WAY OF THE GROM

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The last post had me thinking about the pre-driver's license era of always biking it to the beach. Made think of this photo taken by my dad, circa 1983-ish...
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of my Webco 'Replica' (low end frame model piecemealed with alloy parts from a couple other bikes) phased out of its use for clandestine kid built dirt tracks and jumping over lined up trashcans on the house-front street into grommet dawn patrol transporter. Seen here at the north end of the "listed" beach mentioned in the LAST ACTION ZERO? post.
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LA$T ACTION ZERO?

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I altered this Last Action Hero movie soundtrack tape cassette cover back when Arnold was first elected head honcho of the Golden State. A bit dated with the Bustamante incorporation, but still worth posting as people start talking about state beach closures and lifeguard layoffs.
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Yesterday a good friend told me that our local beach is on the list of possible closures. Later while checking the surf there I asked one of the state beach employees what she knew. All she could say was, "Yes, it's on the list of possible closures, but there's no confirmation of when, or if it will even really happen to it."
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By the high number of $ummer visitors this particular beach gets, I doubt it will end up being closed. But, while I really don't wish layoffs on anyone, the thought of Summers without the hoards (plus a likely year round thinning of the lineup) has got my selfish side in a "Whatever happens, happens..." attitude about a closure at the beach I grew up on. Not to oversimplify the issue, but... If it doesn't close I'll be super stoked for the folks that keep their jobs, if it does close I'll find some stoke in getting back in the habit of riding my bike in. But like my good friend reminded me, "Gotta commit to one board... no decadent packing of the quiver, ready for any conditions on a bike." —Sounds like the days before I was board spoiled... back when I was a kid... back when public schools had more funding for music and art, etc...
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RESIN-X AT NINE LIGHTS

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Matt, the chemist, swung by Nine Lights Surfboards today to demo Resin-X.
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He also had some of what can probably best be described as 'direct-to-wood tints' that he airbrushed onto the balsa bottom of a Nine Lights board before any glassing. It's pictured below after lamination with Resin-X (pre hot coat).
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Matt to the left, and stoked Nine Lights shaper Jeff Beck hidden behind his brother Peder on the right.
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I'm really lookin' forward to riding a Resin-X glassed Nine Lights board soon.
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FAT FUN

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This afternoon.
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GREEN FADES TO GREY

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Photos of timescape (mural painter unknown) quickly snapped from a car while in traffic underneath an overpass in Tokyo, Japan.
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THEY'VE LANDED

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Are these things from outer space, or have I just been too long in my own little bubble? Anyone else out there have these towers at their local beach? Rumor has it they come complete with android lifeguards with automated laser beam eyes to disintegrate hardboards in the water during blackball.
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All jokes aside, while my first instinct is to resist removing the simple old wood style towers I grew up with, I think I could actually get use to these new modules. They kinda remind me of some of the architecture of Antoni/o Gaudi.
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The top of Gaudi's Casa Mila in Barcelona, Spain.
Casa Mila Photo: David Barnes
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CALIFORNIA SUNSET...

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As I painted it in 1995 for one of my best friends that was stuck, and still is, in the cold winter of Ohio.
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WOMP ON DOWN THE LINE

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A warped look back at December 5th, 2007:
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