New Deck

Kinda dorky, but I'm stoked on this new deck I got for my birthday. I had this same board when I was 15 in a different colorway. I must confess I fell to the resurgence of old(er) guy skaters a couple of years back and got a deck, new 151s and a set of original NOS Santa Cruz Bullets. It has been fun! But that's been on a Mike Valelly reissue, and his model was just after my time. I mellowed on skating when I broke my finger and drums were more important to me at 17.

Anyway, we used to dig watching Steadham in the keyhole at Del Mar. Other skaters may have been more technical, but he had great flow. Check this recent video of him at Encinitas. 45 years old and still pretty damn tight. Nice railslide at :15.

Truth and Soul: The Podcast

Not only an insanely good label and online record shop, but absolutely one of the best podcasts for soul/funk heads. Check the site and it will take you right to the podcast. The featured show from the above image is by DJ L Michel and features some obscure latin soul/funk gems. I also have to recommend show #7 with El Michels Affair playing live Wu-Tang cuts with full band and the MCs. This band is connected to the whole Daptone, Budos Band, Antibalas, Mighty Imperials, etc. scene. A lot of the same players. Check the feel on drummer Homer Steinweiss in this little live snippet. So nice.

From the Stacks

Yeah, the B-52's have had their day. They're still out there playing, but I'm talking about 1978–1981 or so. This first album is so damn good! I'm not thinking Rock Lobster (which was endearingly quirky in 1979), but cuts like 52 Girls and 6060842! I broke this record out after not listening to it for years, and I forgot how good it was. For a combo out of Georgia in the late 70's they were tapping into the right stuff. Throw in the old keyboards, cheap guitars, and you got a signature foundation that worked very well with the vocals of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson. Funny, when I first saw this as a 9 year-old kid the album cover kind of freaked me out in ways my early Kiss records never could. Not sure why. But New Wave Theater and the Dead Kennedys soon took care of that.

Have You Seen This?

If so, can you give me the rundown? I know it's been around for a while, but I haven't seen it. How is it? Worth getting? Seems like it has to be good; you can never get enough Greenough as far as I'm concerned. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

Hell No.

I know, bad choice of images for a surf blog.

Over Head

PACIFICA — A Brazilian teen who misjudged the movement of the tide on Sunday had to be rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter as he sat on his surfboard at sea, according to officials.

Eric Urban, 17, a surfer visiting local relatives, was out in the water off Sharp Park Beach around 2:25 p.m. when he realized he couldn't get back in, he said Sunday. Although the waves were not quite 10 feet high, the tide was dropping and he got pulled away to a point about 200 yards south of the Pacifica Pier.

A distress call summoned the Pacifica Fire Department and a Coast Guard boat and helicopter, which arrived at 2:30 p.m., according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Russell Nagle.

The helicopter sent a rescue swimmer into the ocean who helped attach Urban to a cable.

Fifteen minutes later, the helicopter deposited the chilled, but healthy, surfer a short distance away on land.

"He was inexperienced and couldn't make his way," said Nagle. Urban said he was the only surfer in the area when he first paddled out.

Summer in February

With some surf! Had a lot of fun today and yesterday. Decent amounts of people in the water, but the little nooks were out there. In the midst of the throngs my brother-in-law and I felt like we were surfing by ourselves for parts of the session. Last wave in, paddled away from the pack again, down to where I could feel something wanted to pop up (know that feeling?), and sure enough, nice shoulder-high corner all the way to the beach. Good way to end it.

Too Many Orders Pavel

We all know Toby has blown-up over the last few years as a designer/shaper. The picture on the left is from a custom shape session he did for me in late 2003; the one on the right is the bonzer he did for me a few months back. Notice a difference? Yeah, we all age over four years time, but damn! Even with machines and ghost shapers, he has an intensely formidable list of customs. I hope he's able to pull it off. Good luck, Toblerone.

I Want to Like This

But I can't say that I do. I know there was much more to the guy than surfing, but I guess I wanted less debauchery and more surfing—especially the early days of him on the super-short space sticks. It is cool to get some info. via the interview with him, but even that gets hard to read. I still haven't bought the book and don't know if I will. I've picked it up and put it back several times. I do like Brewer and Stecyk. Any differing opinions? Anyone have it? What do you think?

The Old Ludwigs

Sold these a few years back to get the custom Paul Bleifuss kit I'll have 'til I die. This was a mid-60's era Ludwig in the ubiquitous blue oyster pearl finish. It was a really fun kit, and I used it as my go-to for nearly 10 years. Nice warm tone, and I found it in great condition. Just a shot I found while rummaging around. Thought I'd post it since there are a few drum/music heads out there too.

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.