E's Surf Report

i am moving to a place with year round waves. call me a trannie but i hate spring in sf.

Tom is here....

nice tom!

j is here...

(think elmer fudd in "flight of the valkyries" with bugs)

"norf winds bwow!"

"norf winds bwow!"

"norf winds bwow!"

i think i see a pattern here.
(sigh)

J, that is a sweet setup, is that a left and a right there?

Impossibles, the picture at the bottom, made me drool on myself......

I miss Bali....

I am here

I've gotta go to Indo someday. My friends in Hawaii tell me Indo is better than Hawaii.

Nice one J!!!! I am there too......

so, the video game ive been working on when i have a break from checking the blog is finally coming out THURSDAY! stoked! anyway its an awesome game and we've been working on it a long time. you should buy it..its called psyconauts and its rad and theres even hidden waves in it in some places that people will probably never see..

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050419/nytu146.html?.v=8

thanks for the plug e!

....I bet the waves in Santa Cruz are perfect right now....

it's a nice little lineup, can go left or right, but it does tend to get windy late in the day....

I'm not one to complain about this winds. There were a couple of days last year I was out surfing on the longboard sloloming between kites and windsurfers. It's a different kinda fun. Also, the crabs are out again.

This past Saturday was the first time ever I drove to the beach (in someone else's car) at sunrise and didn't get in the water. Instead I pulled out the training kite. I'm not one to plug another sport, but there is a kite/windsurf swap meet at the St. Francisc Yatch Club this Saturday from 11 to 1. I'm just saying.

ALL HAIL POPE HANNIBAL LECTER I !!!!

I don't play vid games but congrats on that Bagel. Always feels good to see something finish when you have been working on it forever.

After i posted that jetty shot, i went to one in LA. Oh my god it has never be on like last night. Head high plus long walls with just one other cool head out. Pumpin and pumpin down the line, perfect and fast for an hour then the tide changed. At least i now know the perfect tide for it. mmmmmm.

Desmond Dekker tonight, the original rocksteady. Iiiirie!

Go with the flow!
I think Andrew has the right idea regarding what to do in the spring. Yes, wind can make a mess of the surf, but it does make for good windsports.
The weather is a 2-sided coin and it's up to you to decide whether you are going to be bummed about the wind, or decide to make the best of it.
Just like waves, the wind has a lot of energy to tap into and figuring out how to do so can provide a lot of stoke.
The next thing you know you'll be drooling for windy days just like you now do for calm/offshores...
Sander

the getting ain't so bad right now...something to consider wind lover/haters

Hb- make a note of the wave direction and period too. It's all part of it.

what is the bare-minimum cost of getting into the kitesurfing game?

Loon-
From what I hear it's one of the most expensive sports around, unfortunately! You really need a whole quiver of kite for the winds and a quiver of boards (wakestyle waveriding etc.) I've seen a lot of gearheads, but none like the kiters I've meet. You might think you will get away under a $1000 bucks but that may be more like 2K when you factor in everything for the first year.

Also a very expensive set of lessons is mandatory. There is really a lot of different dynamics going on. The kite is sooo powerful- a loaded gun, that will hand your ass to you in an instant.

I have already heard so many gnarly stories from the small community of kiters here. This one guy at W.....l showed me his arm where the kiteline sliced his biceps in half to the bone. The lines are really dangerous

People are obviously concerned as only a few accidents involving beachgoers vs. kites and the beach access will be taken away. You have to ride- (switch half the time) and fly your kite going really fast- so it gets dangerous when there are too many heads in the water.

Not that I'm trying to disscourage anyone (OK maybe I am since I'm already bitter at surfing crowds) but other than that it looks pretty rad. Watch out for some of the older used gear (at swaps) as the safety systems aren't as developed- which is probably the most important thing

New kites retail for $700 - $1100 each. When you get into it for real, you'll need 3 kites (it's not uncommon to have 4 or 5 kites). Boards run $400 - $700. Harness around $100. Helmets are a good idea - $50. You already have a wetsuit. Lots of used stuff on the market as technology and quality has improved over the past couple of years and kiters have traded up for the new stuff. Although the older kites work, don't consider anything older than about 2 years old. Safety and water relaunching systems are the greatest change, but some older kites also have flying characteristics that aren't very helpful when you're learning (like they may just fall out of the sky during lulls or gusts).

By all means, take a lesson. They may seem expensive to start with, but it's really important to understand how these kites can kill you. Literally - quite of few people have died. If you're not scared of dieing, then please think of the rest of us. If you screw up and hurt yourself or someone else, you could end up getting a good spot shut down.

Great sport, lots of the same sensations as surfing and a great way to make sure you're on the water at all times, but definitely not to be taken lightly.

Lessons - ASD Windsurfing at Coyote Point. Ask for lessons from Jeff. Awesome kiter and hell-charging surfer. At Alameda, check out kitewindsurf.com. They're over on the coast surfing when there's no wind, so you might see their van around town once in a while.

Dennis: absolutely right. I think it had to do with the swell combo that hit down here. It added up to 500 so maybe that is the magic number!

Oh man i wish i was out there again right fuckin' now.

Get OUT THERE.

If you want.

Scrambly windswell but locally-clean waist to head zaniness. Barrels, peaks, faces, close-outs, a veritable wave zoo. A little crowded north (hot-shots aplenty on the inside landing airs, getting tubes, etc.) but the rest of the beach looked empty with ridables everywhere.

Apologies to those stuck inside, but damn it was nice just to get a few waves.

WISE SUCKS!!!

Congrats, bagel! Is it just for Xbox?

kloo...

how's about a radio city review?

thanks kloo :)

thanks for the kiting 101, confirmed my suspicions. i'd hate to upset my love/hate relationship with the wind anyway...

Never mind, bagel; I just ordered it for PC. My kid's 11th bday is coming up and HE'LL love it. (Yeah, that's the ticket!)

Korewin, are you thinking of kookdom?

not sure if kloo went to radio city but I did and boy what a smoker of a run.

venue is insane. once the lights went down it was a free for all. lots of stubbing down to the front and such. I had great seats all 3 nights so we stuck to them.

thursday night was good but Panic was just warming up really. from Stop-Go on to the end of first set they really started to cook. since it was JB's birthday he came out solo and played "longer look" for the first time ever to open up second set. really sweet. he said something like "this is no commercial advertisement, I personally think this place is amazing." Wrangler was huge acoustic version. Guilded > Parsons was straight heat. hard to listen to a TPOT without Mikey for encore.

second night was my favorite by far. the sound was dialed from the beginning and it was noticably louder than the previous night. Radio Child opener like I thought. 1x1 was a treat for my crew since we were taking them down 1x1 ourselves. the set really started to take off during Papa's Home though, incredible jams in this one bringing it back down to the end. second set JB must have talked the band into doing the Al Green "Love and Happiness" tune and it was sweet. But the true song of the entire run came in the form of a nasty Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. I mean this is one of the best versions I have heard them do and this was the best I had heard them sound since 2002. Tie Your Shoes was insane, the jamming was out of control at this point. Greta > Conrad to finish the set out in really loud, high energy fashion. No Sugar encore was really rocking too.

third night was kinda off and on for me because the night before was just incredible. but the Chilly > Use Me > Chilly really started the place off in a loud, rocking fashion early on. Usually they were getting warmed up towards end of 1st set but this night they just started right off. Run for your Life by the Beatles was sweet to hear as well. I wasn't super stoked on the second set but the Red Hot Mama was rocking as was the Driving Song. Let Her Cry is a new tune and I thought it just took the energy out of the night fast. So of course they brought the energy back with Fishwater and Imitation Leather Shoes. These were super duper rocked out from start to finish and loud as hell. Encore? Don't Be Denied! Pretty tight I must say.

I have seen only a handfull of shows since Mikey passed and really wasn't into any of them. I thought the band was really hacking up the tunes and the new Guitarist just didn't have a really big range of tones or enough distortion to play over everyone else. But with this Radio City run I think the band is capable of doing what it used to do, those incredible moments of unrelenting sound and chaos then quiet and beauty. I really think Panic is back as did most other heads I was hanging with. The Greek Run is gonna go off.

Sorry for the long post non-Panic heads!

Banzai Monday at the Pipe
>

Who can tll me how to post pics?

your the man, thanks Kloo! hope the little fella likes it..let me know what he thinks if you remember its made for young and old so give it a go if you have a chance..its also coming out on the PS2 in early may...thanks hb, ya it was like giving birth after a 4 year pregnancy..i suppose. wow, so maybe surf tonight..

Bagel, congrats on the game! Just think, version 2 will be easy in comparison. You just need to sell it now!

Seriouly, nice work with the game!

Now, how about a look at E's new LIVE CAM:

to post a pic:

<img src=http://www.site.com/pic.jpg>

uhh yeah

img src=http://images.wickedweasel.com/skins/white/contributors/galleries/2005-2/round3/cornelia/thumbs/6.jpg

Wise sucks. Yes, Wise sucks.

to post a pic

<img src="http://www.blakestah.com/surf/bigone.jpg" width="400" alt="Jan 19 2005">
</img>

The width tag keeps the image from over-running the screen.
And, it is xhtml coding, it likes the </img> tag too.

Artist: Buckethead
Album: Giant Robot
Song: Aquabot

this song farking RAWKS!!

i'm on a month-long trial with Rhapsody.
www.rhapsody.com

my friend started this online streaming music service while at Jambase. It's pretty fucking cool. Gigantor database of music. huge range of stuff. Classical guitar, avant-guard electronica, jamband, metal, whatever. $10 a month. you can download mp3s or just build radio stations, etc.
rhapsody.com.

awesome review kookdom! thanks for that.

what's 1x1 mean??

yeah that k-o-o or k-l-o-o guy that went to widespread...
sorry my memory is failing me.

thanks kookdom!

got my greek tix!

I agree that rhapsody is really cool. Incredible selection of music. Jambase dudes are super chill.

1x1 is a song that has interesting lyrics...

For any guitarists out there, here is the tab for most of Panics songs and a bunch of covers as well:

http://www.everydaycompanion.com/chords/all_songs.asp

fyi onshores started but only 1/5 what they've been the past few days.

Good work bagel! Wowzers.

congrats bagel! is your work acknowledged anywhere that game players can see?

god damn Metallica Master of Puppets is a fucking awesome album!!!

Sanitarium!!!

Can't wait to play the game, bagel. Rad!!

Dave Keagy:

You can always go windsurfing. Used gear is cheap or free. Death rate is a little lower than kiting too.

Cycling is pretty killer too. I just did a downwind run to Gazos Creek and back over 84. Checking all the sandbars, mysto reefs and whales at a perfect 20 mph along the way. I'm getting nice and lightweight at 165 lbs, 6'11" from these rides as well.

make that mild onshores only. Looks windier than it is, but not hopeless if one must make the search. Also whale spouts?

sorry that's 5'11"

sorry that's 5'11" ladies, size 11 shoe.

get out there sharkbait!

Rhapsody rocks E. I use it everyday. You essentially don't need anything anymore once you get it and hook it up to your home sound system. CD quality sound with no lags as it streams. Serious stuff.

The other "no wave" fun thing to do is paddle boarding. The lifeguards in Santa Cruz will do it, but no one else here in NorCal seems to know about it. Not much in SoCal either...though there are shapers down there. I did this race last year in Santa Cruz just to get a feel for it. It was plently fun, though the boards start at a grand and take up a ton of room in the garage. There are no rentals either, as far as I can tell. I did the short course at this race, and they'll hook you up with paddle board from the people who just finished the long course.

http://www.scsla.org/paddleboard/

if the likes of metallica and buckethead are rockin'
you, you've got to check out Queens of the Stoneage.
Man, the show last Sat. night at the Fillmore was
incredible. Being somewhat a hippie, I'd not seen
crowd surfing and mosh pits in quite some time.
Nothing like a little Queens to get your blood
pumping. Highly recommend them!

yeah. my friend went to that Queens of the Stone Age show and was raving about it. Said that they brought down the MF house. Nice. I haven't really checked them out but will post haste on this new-fangled interweb music service Rhapsody thingy.

ROCK!

I really wanted to go to the QOTSA show but couldn't get tix. I love that band.

ya loon, its in the credits at the beginning of the game and i think they play at the end of the game too..if you can finish it AHAHAHA thanks dudes. is it time to go to mexico yet?

Anyone out there concerned about skating Ulloa, there may be some issues:

From the current BOE agenda:

Item #050669-
From Florence Fung, requesting a new "No Skate Board" sign at 910-970 block of Ulloa Street. Copy: Supervisor Elsbernd (16)

http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/bosagendas/a041905.htm

Me thinks me be surfing this....

WED
NW WINDS 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT.
NW SWELL 5 TO 7 FT AT 8 SECONDS.

WED NIGHT
NW WINDS 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT.
W SWELL 4 TO 6 FT AT 14 SECONDS.

THU
NW WINDS 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT.
W SWELL 3 TO 6 FT.

THU NIGHT
NW WINDS 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT.
W SWELL 3 TO 6 FT.

FRI
NW WINDS 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT.
W SWELL 3 TO 6 FT.

SAT
S WINDS 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT.
W SWELL 3 TO 6 FT. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

SUN
S WINDS 5 TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 2 FT.
W SWELL 3 TO 6 FT. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

I got some Xavier Rudd jamming right now. Live show from Archive.org. Gotta love that site....

I am finally banned, my computer at work, filtered niceness out and labeled it a "porn" site. Bummer, but I'll probably work harder now.

Xavier Rudd is killer, is he from Australia??

Nice on the Rudd. Got the same show from archive.org. And yes he is aussie and rips the didgeroo, or however it is spelled.

stuck at work is not the place to beeeee....

WISE SUCKS

I love QOTSA but I missed the show. Highly reccomend Fu Manchu " the action is go" incredible album check it out

Primus Sucks!!

2nd on the fu manchu. fun stuff.

Sometimes, when i'm out at O.B., sitting on my board, looking around at the murky dark brown water -- can't see shit, this is what I think of:

No more cold fingers... payback time...

sick ones last night...rizal was getting stand up barrels and his crew was blowing up.

waves were the same as the eve before and i had tons that night but only 5 when the rippers were on it.

people in kuta talk too much or the "cell phone gang" is in effect over here too.

but the a.m. session was just as good as the eve but with less people....so it pays to stay where it is and be on it early.

10 more days on the visa.....