The Man and His P-Bass

One of the greatest ever. Hard to find a lot of live footage with him, but here's one classic to check out. And, if you can deal with one of those music/image montages that people like to do, check out the music (not footage) of the Jackson 5's "Darling Dear." Damn, it's nice.

Enjoy your Friday.

The Man and his Telecaster

The Stylist

Can't remember where I stole this from, so apologies to the photographer. I love shots taken from the back, and this little zipper with Hamilton and his familiar hand jive is just one of those simple gems that makes me want to surf. I'm pretty sure this is from a slide show at the Surfing Heritage Foundation.

The Other JB

I'm pretty sure John Belik has been mentioned in other blogs, but I heard a good interview with him a long while back on Surfer radio. It's worth a listen for some good Cliffs/design history, and Bird Huffman is there too. I'm sure many of you have already heard it, but thought I'd put it out there just in case. Scroll down to the Aug. 16, 2006 show and listen as an MP3 or as a podcast. Enjoy if you haven't already.

Thoughts on Extras?

I read Pezman's take on One CA Day in the most recent TSJ. I always dig his thoughts on things and I thought he raised an interesting question as to whether or not the film lived up to its amazing trailer (and even better "Making Of..."). In the end he liked the result. It's hard to complain too much. Nice soundtrack, crisp CA color on 16 mm, and some nice surfing. Yeah, it wasn't a perfect piece, but I too enjoyed it and ended up buying it. Not to be on Thomas Campbell's jock, but I still think he has that corner of surf films on lock; better than any others I think. I'm talking just overall effort of music, footage, aesthetics, etc. Still, one thing that still seems to be hurting in most surf films is good narration. Anyway...

Does 1 CA Day live up to the trailer? Like I said, I like it, but those sneak peaks were especially hot. Nothing new as many trailers can be "juicier" then the end result. My question to those of you who have it is whether or not you feel the DVD extras lived up to expectations. Undoubtedly some good stuff, but it isn't a substantial extra offering. Did it actually warrant a 2-disc package? I felt like I either wanted more in-depth extras or everything on one disc. What do you think? I don't want to be all suspicious, but I hope they didn't just beef up the package to sell it. Sprout seems to have more overall extras on one disc. But, I don't really know anything about DVD production and there could be a good reason. Any info. out there?

Damn!!! Pete Rock and CL Smooth just came on at WeFunk (I-Tunes radio) as I'm typing this.

Back

Man, it's been two weeks. Way too long. I think I've apologized enough and won't get into excuses. Though I have been cheating and started another blog related to the business we are in the process of launching. The business has been taking quite a bit of my time and I've basically put surfing aside in a big way. You think I would have learned not to do that by now; that's never a good thing to do. But, even worse is not knowing exactly WHY I've cast it aside and I'm beginning to feel like a kook. No matter how busy you get, you can always make time for a session. Now, if the weather and water were nice and warm would it be an issue? Am I, at nearly 38 years old, becoming somewhat "fair weather?" My gut tells me no, but why haven't I been out for an early morning session in a while? "Because it's fucking freezing" you say? True, but that never stopped me before.

Anyway, I'll stop. But I realized that by pushing myself to get back into the mix with the SB1000, it forces me to reconnect with surfing no matter what. It also gets me back to visiting all of your great blogs (which I've been missing). By not being in the mix, I missed out on Andrew Kidman at the Pod Room, or again tonight with Richard Kenvin at Patagonia Cardiff. So, no more. I either jump back in full-force or pull the plug entirely. I don't want to be the guy with one of those blogs that languishes forever (that I still check anyway?).

Hope you're all doing well and getting waves.

jb

Brian Blade

One of my favorite players. How many cats have this kind of feel? Any volume, any tempo, the guy is a master. If the mellowish intro. is too mellow for you, fwd. to around 2:20. But, better to watch the whole thing if you ask me.

Supa Busy

Minor hiatus for the rest of the week due to heavy workload. Luckily the workload is all stuff I love doing, there's just a bit too much at once. As such, haven't been able to put in the real time here at SB1000. Hang tight, I'll get around to doing it right again. Thanks.

jb

Let the Sun Take a Holiday

Rainy day, rain all day
Ain't no use in gettin' uptight
Just let it groove it's own way
Let it drain your worries away
Lay back and groove on a rainy day
Lay back and dream on a rainy day

Fogged in, rainy and windy here in SD. A nice to day to hang indoors and drink plenty of tea.

Cold

Is the water the coldest it has ever been in San Diego? Saturday was incredibly cold! I have lived here my entire life and don't remember it as cold as it was that day. When I waded in, it felt pretty damn cold on the feet, but when I began paddling I had to catch my breath. I looked over at my brother-in-law and his expression was a clear "Holy shit!" I hate wearing booties, but I will have to bite the bullet.

On that note, I wrote about the wetsuit search in the early fall. I tried my absolute best to get the best suit while adhering to my eco-minded intent. Obviously, the Patagonia and Matuse suits didn't pan out. As I mentioned, the Matuse wasn't cut for my tall self. And Patagonia never got a Large Tall in stock; I'm still on their waiting list. I put in two calls to small surf shops and they told me they'd call when some other suit options (Nineplus, Hotline) arrived in-store. I called back and then never heard from them again. As such, I utilized an O'neill hookup and ended up with the Psycho 1 for $104 brand new. Hard to beat that price.

This is the first O'neill I've ever owned. Overall, it's an alright suit. The flex is fairly good and the sealed seams are nice. Still, it isn't the warmest suit I've owned. Not bad, definitely dealable, but I don't know if I'd buy another one. I know a lot of people love these suits, this is just my own opinion. Also, the velcro on the neck is from HELL! That is the meanest, stickiest velcro I have ever seen. It loves to attach itself to every part of the wetsuit when you're trying to get it on or off. I always cringe when I have to pull it apart from the skin of the suit. Still, as an anti-flush deal it does work fairly well. The suit is 3/2, which is what I have always owned. Either I'm getting old or the suit feels a little thin-skinned. I can actually feel the coolness of the water through the suit, and I've never had this before. This is the first suit I've had with material that is almost spandex-like (this is an approximation, not an experienced comparison). It makes it kind of interesting getting into the suit as it's really grabby.

Alright, I'll quit my whining. Overall, it's a good suit, but I'd love a cozier option for the morning sessions.

Hope everyone had a fun, safe New Years. Thanks for checking in and sorry for the infrequent posts.