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

667 new Gadget Images and a Solid Swell

Just added 667 images to the surfing gadget. The gadget is those changing images to the right of this blog. These cover south side HB pier, San Onofre, San Clemnete Pier, and some Blackies beach. You can add this gadget to your iGoogle page. You can also add it to your web site. Read more about the BuiltForSurf gadget here.

Oh, and the swell this week has been killer, with SoCal wave periods (Tp) consistently between 17 and 20 seconds for 4 days.

Laird Hamilton's Clothing Line: Wonderwall

Finally made my way to the *exclusive* retailer of the Wonderwall clothing line, Steve & Barry's. As I stated earlier, the nearest store is pretty far inland, so an odd choice for an exclusive retailer of a clothing line associated with a well-known surfer. I knew this chain was (is) in the dumps financially. Sure enough, the "$4.98 going out of business sale price" was plastered all over the store. However, it seemed that most everything in the store has a standard price of $8.98.

Using stealth cameraphone technology, I captured these shots of Wonderwall clothes and signs in the Steve & Barry's store...



If you cannot see the images above or would like to see larger versions, please visit the Laird Hamilton Wonderwall at Picasaweb.

Based on what I saw, the Wonderwall clothing line certainly falls into the category of "comfort" clothing. It includes polo-type collar shirts, lots of t-shirts, some decent flip-flops (aka go-aheads, thongs), and cargo pants galore in khaki and camoflage. Oddly, the shorts are rather limited in selection. I only found a few shorts made of sweatshirt material and what appeared to be hacked up cargo pants. Most everything seems to be made of cotton, and much of it has a worn-out look to it (not sure if this is intended).

My overall thought is this: Laird licensed his name to a company that achieves success (or failure) in finding dirt cheap clothing and associating a celebrity identity to a line of clothes designed by someone other than the famous celebrity to which the line is associated. I could just as easily have been looking at clothes in a Target, wal-mart, or Marshalls. Main difference being that everything is $8.98 (no, Wonderwall, at this time, doesn't seem to be caught in the $4.98 chapter-7 inventory firesale). I'd once heard some radio show dj in San Diego state "Laird's line offers high quality and durability at a low cost".

Sure, the clothes might be durable (most cotton is) and low cost ($8.98/garment), but I don't agree with the "high quality" comment. I kind of associate high quality with some degree of style and certain fabrics. I'd never be caught hanging out in shorts made of cut-off sweat pants and I don't wear any camo. Maybe I would if I were getting foodstamps and drinking Schlitz in my doublewide. None of the clothes push the envelope. There is an absolute difference between the generally mundane look of Wonderwall and things you'd see from Volcom or Lost (both of which seem way overpriced). I think Laird has good intentions of supplying durable surf or activewear at a competitive price so that real surfers can afford it, but something seems to have gone amiss here. Likely, the core issue is probably the lock-in with a chain like Steve & Barry's, which is NOT frequented by surfers. Or, is Wonderwall just another case of celebrity sellout to cash in before it's too late? Will we be seeing endless bottles of "Laird" cologne line the shelves of Big Lots anytime soon? I hope not, as this might be a weathervane for the direction of the surf clothing industry. Then again, my name isn't associated with anything, so who am I to judge. I'll say the beach and surfing photos in the store were kind of cool, especially considering the store.

History of Surfing in Orange County at John Wayne (Orange County) Airport (SNA)

The Surfing Heritage Foundation puts forth a lot of effort to keep surfing history alive. Often, they do it through live events with famous and/or key figures from surfing's history. Their historical board collection is insane. So, I was stoked when I was at the SNA airport today and found the exhibit that's all about the history of surfing in Orange County. A lot of sponsors (or donors) contributed some absolutely historical memorabilia. The exhibit occupies 5 or more glass presentation cases along the wall. The one drawback is that it's on the secure side of secuirty, meaning you can only see it if you have a ticket to fly. Seeing this history makes me super proud to have grown up in OC. Ends Oct 20.

Summer's Gone, and so is the blackball

Ahhhh, the day after Labor day. Always one of the best days of the year. This means the fairweather tourists are gone and the BLACKBALL IS DOWN!