Surf videos, beer, and burgers

Ok, so today the weather finally hit like 70 farenheit. I'm still recuperating from that cracked rib. I think 2 more weeks and I'll be in the water. I'm friggen dying of this waiting period. So, it's LENT, and I swore off alcohol. My wife said that some technicality with regard to Lent implies that for each Sunday during Lent, you can partake in the thing you gave up. It's now Sunday, we had a nice walk in San Juan Capistrano, it's sunny, and I want to drink beer, surf, and eat some meat. Since I can't surf (due to cracked rib), we whipped up a batch of Harris Ranch blue-cheese burgers on the bbq and some margaritas, in the sun. And, since I can't actually surf, due to the rib situation,we watched surf flicks. We dropped in on 3 flicks, with margaritas, Tecate, and Pacifico. We watched Bustin' Down The Door, Momentum II (or Momentum 2), and A Broke Down Melody. I love all these movies for different reasons. We had a great lineup of surfing flicks, mixed with a sweet electro channel on Pandora, and the best Mexican beer - Tecate in a can (and when that ran out, Pacifico). I have such a forgiving wife, thank you! We turned up the subwoofer and watched surf movies for 3-4 hours. For music, I always like Uberzone (OC, hell yeah!) and Klute. But, this time, I also really liked Stanton Warriors, Pump DJs, Hyper, and The Rogue Element. Anyway, my niece and her mom were hanging out, and my niece, who is a surfer, also dug the flicks, though she drank hot chocolate and not beer. So, Bustin Down The Door is special to me, as it replays soooo much of what I watched in my teen years. The OP Pro and all that tight-shorted craziness... warren miller and storm riders. I LOVE the 70s - all about hanging loose, short cord shorts, and the REAL huntington beach with real shapers and glassers actually existed on main street (none of which exist now...a thought for another day). Momentum II, the 10-year anniversary collectors edition, is sick. This movie (but not specifically the anniversary version), a Taylor Steele prod, truly highlights a CHANGE in surfing technique and approach. Back in college in PB (San diego), we'd watch the original every night almost, drinking beer, and gearing up for the next day of surfing (and class). This movie was a fav of mine back in the day, seeing unknowns (back then, at least to me), like Rob Machado, Kelly Slater, Kalani Robb, and others. Momentum, IMO, documents the transformation of surfing as we know it now, from the 80s to the 90s. From the classic potter, curran, and occi, to the slater, machado, robb. It went from artistic and powerful to artistic, powerful, and gravity defying. That's in no way intended to diminish Curran, Potter, Occy, and others from the 80's. Those guys, and many others, laid a foundation, on top of the foundation laid in the 70s and 60s. A Broke Down Melody is all about the good things that come from surfing, and a lot of KICK ASS barrel rides ( really!). The Malloy Brothers hit it right on with this one. Hey guys, is there a foundation we can donate to or volunteer our time to? I like how the Malloy Bros brought North and South Ireland together for surfing in Step into liquid. Well, this Sunday was special, cracked rib and all...Tecate and surfing (on video), and good electro on Pandora. Sharing it with my niece. See an example here, good waves (a broke down melody) and electro from pandora (pump djs i think). Go surf and have fun, and keep it about that and nothing more. I love that surfing, the sport, gives no matter what. Oddly, I don't feel that way about any other sport.

Cracked 6th Rib While Surfing

Ok, this seems really stupid. A bit of swell finally started to hit on Sat, Feb 7, 2009. It had been raining for a few days and it finally tapered off. The conditions were nice: semi overcast, glassy at 3PM, and some chunky NW coming in, making for some nice rights. So, into the post-rain, feces and hepatitis-laden sewage. I don't care, I'm sick of waiting for something to surf on. I think it was mid-tide and flooding. It was a bit walled. Super warm water for some odd reason.

wave 1: take off right and it held up pretty well. nice size wall.
wave 2: take off left, nice size wall, but kind of open. My better sense said to pull out, but I figured a good whomping will be good for me. So, it caved on me, no issue. Done that 1001 times in our typically closed-out beach break. Went underwater for a bit with the wave suction. Then 2-3 seconds go by and my board smacks me like a friggen torpedo in my lower left back, right near my kidney. I have no idea what part of my board hit me. I got very dizzy and nauseous. I just kind of curled up under water, figuring my entrails (guts) were pouring into my wet suit. After some thought, I figured I should doggie paddle in and peel off my suit to have a look. I figured it would be a blood bath and that my suit is serving to hold me together. Got on the sand, rolled my suit down, and YES!, no blood. Anyway, 5 hours later I went to the ER for an Xray since the pain was only getting worse. Sure enough, my 6th rib is cracked, but not compound, so no risk of any punctures.

Well, nearly 2 weeks later and this is still the most long-lasting painful injury I've experienced. I can't do any basic thing...cough, breath deep, sneeze, get up after sleep...without major pain. I take Codone before sleeping (though it seems to stimulate my mind and keeps me awake). The only similar pain I've experienced several times is shoulder dislocation.

Volcom Crustaceous Starfish River Jetties Video, Jan 31, 2009

I watched the Volcom Starfish Surf Series contest on Sun, Jan 31. As usual, the waves were still small. Nonetheless, the conditions were pretty nice (sunny, slight texture). So, since the waves were so small, I chose not to video. Rather, i just took bunches of high-speed continuous still images. It totaled around 4000 images in the few short hours I was there. Anyway, I strung them all together as a fast slideshow (like 4 images per second I think). Overall, kind of a different take on "surf video".

By the way, the contestants really did a great job in the small surf. Congrats to everyone who showed up and competed. RJs holds a special place in my heart as that's where I grew up surfing.



You can check out the bigger sizer (640x480) video at the builtforsurf youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/builtforsurf

Check out the Volcom page for the Jan 31, 2009 Starfish Surf Series at river jetties.

Results (borrowed form the Volcom page):
RESULTS

PRO-AM
1. Michel Flores $500
2. Macy Mullen
3. Matt King
4. Kyle Kennelly
5. Teddy Navarro
6. Brandon Tipton

Juniors
1. Jared Cassidy
2. Christian Saenz
3. Luke Davis
4. Ford Archbold
5. Doug Van Mierlo
6. Chase Wilson

roms
1. Kolohe Andino
2. Taylor Clark
3. John Elles
4. Brenden Taylor
5. Kevin Shulz
6. Ian Crane

Girls
1. Meah Collins
2. Charlotte Dellea
3. Shelby Detmers
4. Tammy Mowery
5. Keshia Eyre
6. Caroline Loose

Electric Volt Thrower
Macy Mullen $50