Wake up
Drop the kids off
Call Kaiser, get brief low-down.
Into wetty
Run past Brett's house down to beach.
First glance disapointing but not horrible.
A pack of dudes a few blocks down, rest of the beach empty.
Begin to paddle out at empty area.
Quickly realize there are absolutely no rideables coming through.
Belly in and walk toward pack.
Paddle out a few hundred yards north.
Immediately stroke into a nice one, a fast right with a solid wall.
stoked.
Kind-of a bitch to get back out.
Quickly get another right. Overhead wall. Not quite balanced perfectly on the drop but recover for semi-sweet lip smack and then a drawn-out carve.
Again get punished for the long-ride.
Maybe 30 duckdives to get back out.
Get another ride.
But.. then.. waves keep breaking further and further out and i get sick of ducking under so i just keep paddling way out to sea.
Paddling and paddling west.
Waves keep breaking in front of me, big and mushy.
Finally get way outside and of course realize i'm too far outside.
Begin paddling back in.
Not much coming through.
Funky, disheveled junkiness.
Can't find any waves.
Sit there forever.
Try on the inside and get smooshed by some shorepound.
Belly-ride in.
Yay!

surfboarding

Teahupoo is my favorite ASP contest. Manoa Drollet and Liam Mcnamara place 1 and 2 in the trials and will advance.

Mexi posted some great photos that his friend took:
The following photos were all taken in Northern California by Matt Proehl

Matt is a profesional photographer that Mexi has traveled extensively with, for information on purchasing a print email him at mproehl@sbcglobal.net

Drove around but ended up back at pillow point.
A few peaks in the middle looked interesting.
Smooth sea-surface.
A handful of rainy-day enthusiasts.
Probably pretty fun once out there. but...
Kinda lackluster and dumpy for the most-part.

Riding waves for pleasure, and recreation
Each carve's a dissertation
You want to know my occupation
I get paid to surf the nation.
(thanks to Kool Mo Dee)

Yesterday Pez asked people to describe their most memorable session of the season. Here are a few responses:

Another best day, just last Sunday. Raining all morning, onshore wind. Go to see some friends Westside SC to chill. Some time after 3pm the five of us finally decide to drive up north for a look. We find surprising glassy conditions, with low -tide and no one out, sun just beginning to pop-out from behind clouds. Run down to the beach and see a grey whale in the lineup that I thought was a rock? Wedging, lefthand rebounds, up to head high. I couldn't believe our little crew had this all to our heads. Later, one guy paddled out down the beach. Evryone smiling, I hurry back to SC just in time to meet mom and the in-laws for dinner at Cafe Cruz (BTW is the best food in SC!).
Ites,
- AS

--------------------------

Sad and glad: Good sized swell that hit the coast after that Conchita mudslide. Hit a F-U-N! recently formed sandbar that peeled right with some throwing speedy sections with only 2 others, some dude and a cool girl who semi-ripped and smiled the whole time. Surfed 2+hours on the Dp before the long commute back to LA for work.

Damn, that morning was eye-opening in many ways. Hope every surfer in Conchita got those waves somewhere to help deal with their pains.
- HB

--------------------------

BUT....I gotta roll with CK on this one! North Shore, steps away from The Little Grass Shack, swell pumping and building. He on a 6'8'' shortboard, can't remember what I was riding. Scored some of the most quality waves this day. Paddling back out UBBER stoked from a long-ass left, I see someone drop into this beast of a wave, easily DOH (can't claim more but I am sure it was). There is no way it is CK, his board isn't nearly big enough to get down the face or get into the wave. Sure enough, wave of the trip in my book and all I saw was the drop! We surfed this place like 5 times in 3 days and scored probably some of the best waves I have had there. Casulties: blown fin box, lost Quik watch....Didn't matter, we were off to Kauai.

Never travel over Thanksgiving, you never score better waves then at OB..............

Fuck that!
- Kaiser

--------------------------

a good day: december 21 last year. prett sure it was a fading 4-5ft, 12-14 sec swell. bars on the north end were in great shape. my friend (who i will be visiting in mex in 2 weeks) was just back in town and i was leaving to visit family back east that night. surfed midmorning so barely any crowd. the lefts were connecting to an inside section that was throwing with a bit of concave to it, sooo speedy.
- loon

--------------------------

Best day, Oregon, last fall. We get up there, it's a bit stormy but I check the forecasts and Thursday is calling for surf to 6 feet and 15 mph east winds, low tide in the am. I get there at dawn, it's about a quarter mile walk from the highway, when I get to the beach there's a perfect head high peak in the middle of the cove and no one around. I'm out for about 2 hours, don't see anyone, except for a seal checking me out at one point from about 50 yards outside. I actually get the creeps wondering where anyone is, I mean I know it's Oregon but I've always seen people at this spot, sometimes a lot. Finally two guys show up and they do something so un-Californian, they actually paddle out to another peak instead of the one I'm on. But I'm exhausted and freezing at this point, so I waved at them and headed on in.
- con

--------------------------

best session last year: Humboldt sand bars
- cosmo

--------------------------

Favorite day/favorite surf trip:
Central America, righthand pointbreak, sand-bottom, no crowds, warmest water ever, big south swell, late may/early june 2004. One day, I met some bros from SF. One guy said he is know as pez... PEZ is that you? Jose was chopping coconuts and I was drinking the milk. Boatload full of fresh fish.
Best surf trip ever!
- AS

--------------------------

best day of the winter for me: november 5th, day before i got married, my two brothers surfing with me as well as a few other friends. really fun, peaky, hollow kelly's. not the best waves i got all winter by any means, but it's always memorable to get fun waves with your boys in town.
- bbr

--------------------------

as for me...my favorite wave of the season is an easy call...and it's likely my favorite wave of all time. North Shore with Kaiser last November. the swell was big (for me anyways), kaiser had already caught a couple, and i one or two. suddenly, this dark mountain of a swell appeared outside. i took a few strokes further out to position and then, without really even thinking or worrying about it (unlike my usual approach) i simply turned and went. i ended up dropping in on what is most certainly the biggest wave i've ever ridden! the drop was rampy, so it wasn't big stress, but it seemed to go on forever and the speed was unbelievable! i pulled a long, drawn-out bottom turn and watched in awe as a sweet, roping (yet makeable) wall stretched out before me. a few face carves later and i was cutting out before getting caught by the inside closeout destruction. then...the icing on the cake...a duck-dive free paddle back around to the line-up. i can still feel the stoke coursing through my veins.
- CK

--------------------------

Best OB day this last season: Early September, late afternoon. Several people in the water. Backlit so I couldn't really see to judge the size. Took out the single-fin log. Noticed that Judith, the radical body-surfer, was also heading out, just down the beach from me. Within seconds she was 20 - 30 yards ahead of me and gaining distance fast - that woman is UNREAL. I finally got past the inside churn and got my first clear look at someone on a wave; that's when I realized it was nearly double-overhead - SOLID 8 to 10 foot faces. But it was highish tide at Sloat, so it was mushy enough for me on the log - still my 7'4" would've been the better call. Got some big, suprisingly fast rides. Those waves had plenty of juice! Saw Mark from Surfline, as I was paddling back out after a wave, he looked at my board like I was CRAZY. Saw Juan just after that, with that big-toothed grin, "Fun, huh!?" Lot's of semi-biggish waves with no drama. My favorite kinda deal.
- Jimmie

--------------------------

best day: checked the cam/conditions at work: overhead glassy waves, hot and sunny, minimal crowds....left the office with a buddy and got some of the longest waves all year at ob - outside peaky bombs all the way through to the inside shore-pound. went back to the office with a big smile and tons of stoke. and no one suspected a thing.
- RZA

--------------------------

fav day last year, meaty day in baja, where e's planning on going. out by myself on a bending sucky shallow bowl. pushing myself to personal (read low) limits of bravery and skill.
- steamwand

--------------------------

favorite day of last season: with lucky timing and some knowledge scored a normally very crowded "secret" point all to myself for about 45 mins before a big crew showed up. 6-8ft+, long rides, one after another. awesome. stuck around for a while and caught a few more despite the crowd, overall a glorious day.
- vons

--------------------------

and for best day....this season...at some point in the
fall(?) i had a lot 2, south of showers sunny afternoon
glass with ck, kaiser, [a very pregnant mrs. kaiser (on the beach), ck's lady (in the water, catching muchas olas) and my lady
(on the beach runnin' and sunnin')] session. g-l-a-s-s-y,
fun peaks. long session. good times. ice cold bud in a can; drunk with noodle arms, sitting on the guardrail of the great highway afterward.

aloha.
- korewin

--------------------------

Favorite day all time. A Saturday morning. Mysto south swell arrived. Friend called me up, wanted to trip out to check a mysto south spot that requires some driving and some hiking. We go.

Get out there, and it is working big time. Long long long rides, no closeout sections or mushing, just a long superconsistent wall. Maybe shoulder high. But perfect shape. Surfed for hours, laughing most of the time, just us two. Haven't scored there since.
- blakestah

--------------------------

Lerm and i scored a solo bombing point break session in Central America that will probably go down as one of my all-time most memorable sessions. Nobody for miles. Hitched in the back of a truck with chickens and bags of rice down this winding dirt road. Long-ass hike out there through palm-trees and beach. Mysterious wave nobody around. Huge swell. Scary paddle-out. Gigantic boulders jutting out of the water. Inching our way deeper and deeper into the lineup. Getting lauched over the falls on one. Some long rides. Fires on land. awesome.
- e

--------------------------

For conversation....my favorite wave last season was at Scott Creek on a day when the beach was a burly 12ft+ with no takers. Jaun let me in his truck and we were off to SC. Such a fun ride and it was cool to see Juan on a 5'8" rip 10ft+waves. Anybody else comment on a favorite day?
- pez

Teahupoo Trials going off

Michael Ho charges charging chargeables

thick grinder

deep

Judith?? (seandavey.com)

One of those sessions where the object is simply to catch waves, not to shred them.
Crazy, disorganized thumpings on the inside.
Didn't really investigate the outside.
Parades of anvil-like, scrotum-scrunching explosions followed by lazy languid lags in wave activity.
Found a few amongst the myriad of ugliness.
Enjoyable to enter into hunt mode and try to sniff out possible rideables.
Watched some mesmerizing, cylindrical, roaring, spitting, sandy barrels churn and grind. Damn!
Destructive beauty.
Many waves stood up vertical on the inner bar.
Strange backless morphologies
Long walls of syncopated contour.
Studies in liquid geometry.
Serious rippers could find shacks, no doubt.
Nobody around, save for one other guy a block north.
Backside drop, no pig-dog, off-the-bottom, up into the lip, flick a mini turn. Attempts to shredify.
Bad but fun.

FYI it was surfable after work yesterday

I want to give a shout out to my girl CJ. We've been flowing so smooth these days. I'm grateful and psyched! Our relationship has been a slow, steady growth that continues to become richer and more profound.

images from surftravel.com.au

Fuck yeah!

No wind
Plenty o' peaks.
A bit dumpy
Two guys on green fishes snagging long ones
Relatively glassy
Smallish
Inner-bar hollowness.
Some quick, squirty rides.
Very very nice for late April.
But not immaculate celestial nirvana.
Thanks to the guy on the HIC board (?) for giving me a wave.
Good vibes in the water, though about 30 folk congregated on the same peak.
It was fun to watch the show as surfers jockeyed and took-off on top of each other.
30 yards north or south empty peaks.

Weekend in Jersey/Philly
Beluga whale swam up the Deleware river.
Sis opening a restaurant/bakery in Millford NJ. (The Lovin' Oven)
Scrabble.
Soccer with the groms.
Wedding dancing with the oldies.
Hearing about people stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Travels in Qatar and the U.A.E.
CJ charming everybody, including me!
Family dog getting old.
Cheesesteaks!!

Al Arab hotel

Jonothan Hoover LBI photo

african jetty juice

North Cackalack

Ahhh.. April 20th. A special day for those who enjoy the herbal refreshment.

Roll a spliff and let your mind drift.
Roll a cone and get in the zone.
Roll a dooby and dance the shooby.?

One 4/20 during college a few of my friends were studying for the MCATs. They stopped puffing January 1rst in an effort to prepare for the exam. They continued to collect little nugs of various strains of ganja during their 4 month hiatus. The MCAT was actually on 4/20, which also happened to be the weekend of this huge Spring Fling party. My friends rolled this humungoid 7-paper cone with about 15 varieties of kind bud and at around 4:15 on 4/20 the MCAT-ers came sprinting out of the test to the field where all the heads were gathered for 4:20 4/20. We blazed that sucka! About 150 people right in the middle of campus puffed freely. Stony. Then a bit of Love for Son and Daughter and an evening of reality pulsing exploration.

This morning's surf conditions, however, were the polar opposite of stony surfing. Messy, topsy-turvy, angry, FREEZING, up-chucky ugly-ass waves. Man. really bad. Lerm and i hit it for no good reason and got basically denied. It looked farking shitty from the lot but we just suited up and went for it. SSW onshores blew pretty strong. It turned out to be even MORE shitty in the water than it looked from the beach. After about 20 duckdives and some brain-searing ice-cream headaches we decided to just surf the inside reforms. There was this impenetrable wall of close-out doom before getting to the outside that we couldn't get past. So.. we kind-of lolled about in the middle for a spell, not catching much. Lerm caught a little belly ride. Then i just got it in my head to keep paddling out.. and somehow found a hole in the wall of mayhem and made it outside. A few minutes later this nice-enough right reared up and i stroked in, took off, bottom turned, cruised down-the-line, pumped a little and then kicked out. Then of course i got punished by the dark, brown spitting gnarly wall of death while trying to get back out, unsuccessfully, and just turned around and bellied one in. 1 ride session!! kinda psyched though.

anyway. enjoy your 4/20.

--------------

Aqua Fashion show tonight:
Aqua Surf Shop is pleased to announce the arrival of their new women’s buyer, Consuelo Moreno. This spring, Consuelo brings her experience in fashion merchandising and fashion show production to "Playa Aqua" -a summer fashion event showcasing the season's hottest trends in swimwear and sportswear.

Grab your friends and head out to the new Park Chalet for a drink and music from Toph One, and to see the killer collection that Aqua has put together for spring and summer. The event also supports and introduces- "Friends of Ocean Beach", a new foundation that will help keep Ocean Beach enjoyable for all.

Come see gorgeous bikinis from L.Space, Vix, and Salinas, eyewear from Electric, exclusive pieces from Volcom's P.O.V.D. collection, and a great new sportswear line from Aaron Chang.

Whether you're headed to beaches beyond or hanging out in the city, you won't want to miss this event. Be transported from the fog and into paradise at "Playa Aqua" at the Park Chalet.

Brought to you by Aqua Surf shop, SF Bay Guardian, Stoli, L-Space, And Cowboys and Angels.

Wednesday, April 20th, doors open at 7pm
The Park Chalet, 1000 Great Highway, San Francisco CA
$8 at the door
For more info call 415.242.9283 or visit www.aquasurfshop.com

--------------

Also, there's a party at 2-mile surf shop in Bolinas this weekend:
All day sat, surf and beach debauchery till late aft then BBQ at shop 3-6pm, then more surf(?), THEN it kicks into high gear at Smiley's bar w/Jenny Kerr band OR BETTER yet at the Community Center it's Jr. Reid (of Black Uhuru), 'nuff culture in the house!!

Jack Herer

It's beginning to sink in.
Spring is really here.
Wake up - onshores
Go to bed - onshores
wake up - onshores
go to bed - onshores.
The wind creates the waves
the wind destroys the waves

Get back to your yardwork.
maybe back in the shaping bay.
hang with you mom
twiddle your thumbs.
Whatever it takes.
or just go to New Zealand.
South Island point break sojourn.
Hang with Tom in Bali.
Be his wingman as he flirts with jon-jon's mom.

Sounds like Hawaii is getting hammered.
Check out this surf report from the North Shore:
The North Shore is 6- to 10-feet plus, the west shore is 3- to 6-feet, the south shore is 1- to 2-feet, and the east shore is 1- to 3-feet. GOOD SURF ON THE NORTH AND WEST SHORES... BIG/KNARLY/INSANE/SCARRY CONDITIONS AT SUNSET, AND ESPECIALLY THE PIPE...CHECK DA PICTURES BELOW... IT WAS FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS TODAY DOWN THE 7- MILE STRECH WITH PLENTY OF 10 FOOT SETS DRILLING THE NS THIS AFTERNOON... KEEP THE BIG GUNS OUT BECAUSE THE COUNTRY AIN'T DONE WITH YOU YET!... NEXT SWELL ON FRIDAY!... MAKAHA , GOOD @ 3-5 PLUS...BUT WATCH FOR DA SNEAKERS AND ALSO THE SEABREEZES LATER...
mililaniguy photo

(photos from http://www.surfnewsnetwork.com)

nautica and surly pics of bali

Long shadows cast in the ripples of the dunes.
A cold wind parading down from the north.
Warriors amass as the tell-tale signs arise.
A crimson sunrise while the Ravens caw.
Three parallel meteorites across a sliver of moon.
A thick fog waning to the west.
Along the ridge-line gathered battle-tested mercenaries.
A clash of judgements imminent.
The taste of blood anon.

The war cry sang out.
Blade against blade.
Shout against shout.
The earth drank the blood
Trickling down her pours.

Under an Oak Tree a child sat.
She heard the bludgeoning cries.
Tears leaked down across her cheek.
She turned within to hide.

Human garbage blends with the natural sculpture.
Victory at Sea in the violent Pacific.
Wind-assisted wave-riding on offer.
Sizeable waves propagating toward shore.
With the right mindset enjoyment could be found.

JJR made this from an awesome Bruce photo (which made the back-cover of Longboarder Magazine??)

kirra

fanning

jake Paterson backdooring Backdoor

No checking just surfing.
The blind go-out.
Met Robme and Lerm.
Waves on offer.
Kinda funky
Kinda fun.
A few speed racers
A few dumpy barrel-type situations.
Arctic-Ocean temperatures.
Still itchy from the thaw.
Robme scored a few stylish top-turns.
Lerm made due with minimal neck movement.
Give thanks we have a gigantor beach break.
We're not forced into Santa Cruz crowds.
Surfing is fun as shit.
Takeoffs rule.
The art of catching waves is unreal.
Waves physically manifested through water.
Purely translated natural energy.
stoked.

Some interesting words from goodmorning about SF history and the etymology of Kelly's Cove:
Just got in from a long day of work and thought I'd add some more info about kelly's- the old local surfer is a go I bet, I've heard that before. But I have also been told that Shanghai Kelly used that end of the beach to occasionally load drugged marks for his East Asia crews. According to a knowledgable SF historian (he taught SF history in the PS & was second generation when he was born in the late '30's) people began to get wise to Cap'n Kelly's ways and would watch his ships as they left the docks to be sure that he was only loading cargo and not unwilling crew. To thwart this he would sail around to Kelly's Cove and send a rowboat to the beach where it would be met by a mule driver who had hauled a cargo of drugged and unconcious sailors from Jackson square to the beach where they would be loaded on board ship. They would come to well out to sea and be defacto crew on the way to Asia. Kelly would have free labor, the mule driver would get paid for a rough trip from North Beach to OB and everyone was happy- well probably not the shanghai'd.

I did a job in the old Hippodrome theater that was supposed to have been one of Kelly's "hiring halls". We uncovered the original dance hall mural on the wall- can can dancers doing their thing- and it was like walking into a small time Tut's tomb. Unfortunately it was too fragile to do anything with and we just covered it back up. This was before the digital camera was really around- we didn't even get a picture of it. We aren't Europe old here but we aren't Phoenix either...
- goodmorning

just back from the skate park with my boss.
Alameda
some surfy lines
beautiful view

sounds like people scored waves this morning.
nice.
ocean looked fabulous at 7:15.
Slight offshore
Deep, seductive rich blue
didn't see the waves.

thanks for all the comments yesterday!

Life.

danny way

Did the drive.
Skunked.
Minimal wind in the city.
VFers frumpy and uninspired.
Bigger with potential in the middle.
A bit harrowing.
Southern-fringe with some beaut sections.
Nobody looking.
Probably should've powered it at second-lot.
Thought maybe Smoke-a-j
Drove down.
Denied.
Saw some attractive happenings on the way home near the zoo.
It's out there if you're hungry.
Warm glassy reefbreak surf sounds good right now.

1/3-life crisis
long-term goals?
Career ennui
Life spinning wheels
resting on laurels.
more passion desired
teaching?
reporting?
school?
business?
music?
life?
what?
how?
why?
huh?

Tom is here right now

No wind and a smooth surface out there this morning.
A wee nip o swell showing itself.
But.. shit just wasn't working where i checked.
Smallish, longboardy, mushy peaks toward the outside.
Dumpy, closing-out, disgruntled shoredump on the inside.
It's probably more fun than it looked.
It's glassy in April!
I didn't see any takers.

I might go skate Alameda skate park on thursday morning. I've never skated a park before. I know most of you rip.. any pointers for a first-timer?

Sorry if i offended any strippers or stripper-fans with my anti strip-joint tirade yesterday. One of the things i did really enjoy about the strip club was the way the ladies can dance. Holy Bejeebus. This was in Miami so it might have been a Latina thing as much as a stripper thing.. but.. the girls in Miami (not just the strippers) can all do that Butt-popping, rapid-fire-butt-jiggle dance that has got to be the greatest invention in the history of the world. That's all i'm gonna say about that. I've actually attempted to move my butt like that and it's freakin'difficult. Skillz.

When's the Teahupoo contest??

Tom is probably sitting at the peak at Balangan right about now. Scoring 4-6 foot reeling, glassy early-season Bali succulence.

Ian, when do you leave?

Who's going on Spring/Summer surf trips?

A couple of RZA photos

A few possibilities out there.
for the most part lackluster.
Onshore scruff.
A few guys up north.
Dinky gutless wedges.
Bagel surfed rincon the other day
Tom surfed Ulus.
Surfboarding.

Sick friday and saturday.
Friend had bachelor party saturday night.
We went to a "gentlemen's" club and i ended up bugging out.
Sick and sober, my perspective was maybe a bit too analytical and realistic.
This place was supposed to be "higher class" but the scene was depraved.
These girls work all night, parading around the joint in next to nothing.
Constantly oggled and groped by drunk, lecherous men they are forced to smile, coo, flirt and show interest. I kept thinking that each of the girls was somebody's daughter, or the mother of some three-year-old kid. I also kept imagining the circumstances that led each women to end up stripping and grinding and false-smiling and slutting themselves out like skanky vampires all night long. Maybe they were addicted to coke, supplied to them by the owner of the club? Now enslaved by the debt they owed to him? Maybe they came from some fucked-up, abusive childhood and found some kind of tweaked satistaction by stripping and sleazing with any and all men who walked in the door and had $20 in their pocket? Maybe they were just college-girls with nice bodies who wanted an extra $1000 a night? I think if i would have been drunk and horny i would have maybe got caught up in it.. but being sick and sober and a bit tired i saw the frailty and sadness in some of the girl's faces and it made me feel miserable. I had to get out of there. Then the strippers would approach and brush up on you and waft their perfume smell and ask if you wanted a lap dance. At that point i cringed and shirked back. Eventually i was crouched in the corner of this room, basically the only place to evade the hassle. My friends seemed to be having a good time and i think i was bringing them down by obsessing over the negative vibrations i felt. I went outside to escape for a few minutes and ended up not being allowed back in. Sitting outside the club i had a better time quietly observing all the happenings on this little seedy corner of town. To my surprise there were a ton of groups entering the club with their girlfriends in tow!

It was a weird night. Made me REALLY appreciate having a beautiful, solid, happy, smart low-key girlfriend! CJ ROXX!

Some Jeremy Fish art from fecalface.com

What exactly does it mean to have a "session"?
Music session, skate session, painting session, bowl-smoking session, philosophical session, chess session, programming session. The first time i came in contact with the word was in Junior High when my friends and i used to go to the Pocono mountains for ski trips. One of my friends used to say that we were having a "session" when we'd all rat-pack together and bomb the same little Big Boulder mogul run 800 times in one day. The idea of a session meant something akin to an uninterrupted chunk of time during which you practiced or performed something you enjoy doing. We'd have ski sessions all day and then come home and have ping-pong sessions at night. I loved sessions. Then in college weed came around and the idea of "having a session" took on an entirely new meaning. After studying or whatever someone might say, "Let's go back to my place for a session." We'd cruise back to his/her place, take bong rips, listen to Zappa or Phish, kick back and relax. By the end of college my friends and i were getting together for a "sesh, sesh, sesh, sesh and sesh." Puffing, footbag, musical jam, burritos, chess. To this day the idea of a session has a special place in my heart. It means burrowing down and working on some discipline or art that you love. Telling yourself that you're going to have a session forces you to chisel out some quality-time for whatever that activity might be. Something about the idea of a session also connotes that the activity will be intense and full-on. If you're just going to "play a little music," you might pick up your sax or cello or whatever and dittle around for 10 minutes and play a song or two then put your instrument down. But if you're going to have a session then you'll pick up your sax and commit yourself to pushing it, working through shit, developing.

Many fulfilling sessions to y'all.

Josh Mulcoy interview

Peter Mel

pancho

Watched Lewis get barrelled right in front of me. Nice.
A few waves.
Not many takers.
Classic chilled-out mid-week dawnie.
Looked pretty wild and wooly from the highway.
I had a few chances for barrellage but didn't work it correctly.
Got caught in a fishing line on the way in.
Dogs digging for bones.
Butt-cold water.
Lineup craftiness pays dividends.

Session.

Zone-outs
- The whorls and breath of a campfire
- Clouds marching across the sky
- Waves lapping onto a beach
- Gentle trickle of a stream in the forest
- Coyote's baying in the night
- Your girl's beautiful face
- 10 minutes into a sick Tweezer
- Looking to the horizon for waves
- Watching a hummingbird in the garden
- Thunderstorms
- Old Delhi
- Dogs going crazy in a dog park
- Tuvan throat singing
- A sea of people at a big gathering

First off.. there is sure to be a new ripper coming up the ranks in the next few years, Jersey style! Jackson Kuster was born this week. Look out for the kid shredding micro-barrels in all Point Pleasant area locations in the near future. D & D Kuster are proud and happy parents. Congrats!

Kids, man. The second stage in life. Kaiser, Robme, JDZ, Christian and Blakestah all know what's up. Kaiser telling me about tar-like anal effluence and 7-day constipation spells. Robme's kid Silus catching tiny Waddell-creek peelers, a gigantic grin on his face. Christian's son Neco jamming-out sing-along songs on his guitar. I'm sure kids teach you a ton and are manic zany insanos much of the time. I love going over a friend's house who has little kids, riling them up to a screaming/frothing frenzy, and then scooting out of there to retreat to my quiet, soft, mellow cottage. I'm sure it will come back to haunt me. Hee hee.. It's kind-of cool to imagine what the genetic mix between you and your main-squeeze will produce. You hope they get all the good stuff. I think the toughest part for a dad would be the teenage girl thing. When your daughter starts sprouting and the boys come sniffing and your daughter wants to dress all sexy.. Whoa!! and as a guy you know what other guys are thinking. that's gotta be tough.

Anyway. cheers to all the parents.

Offshore wind today. Funky junk at the beach for the dawnie. P-town looking not too bad. A crew near the showers getting a meager few. The surface looked spectacular but most waves were, of course, closing out in typical lackluster lindy fashion. I saw Yeskai (sp?) get one good ride. Watched two rides total in about 15 minutes of spectating.

Mid-day southern roadtrip might produce some good times for the non 9-5ers. enjoy.

Tom posted this last night from Kuta, Bali:
Uluwatu has been cooking...bali people extremely friendly. Sunday's set waves were 12 foot in the face and throwing!
- Tom

Some recent Jersey action (posted in honor of Jersey future-star Jackson "Jazzy" Kuster)
photos from snapwater.com (thanks to wickedquiver.com for the tip)

We've lost our dawn-patrol sunlight
The offshores are over.
Spring has arrived.
Hopefully you have a trip or two planned between now and September.
South America? Indo? Reunion Island? The Tuamotus? The Marquesas? surf.

I drove down to SC this weekend. Probably cruised right past Loon's car being looted at the southern parking lot of Ano!! grr!! Watched 8-billion surfers scrap for a few waves here or there at 4-mile. 8-gazillion cars in the lot at 3-mile. Lots-o-surfers on a sunny saturday morning at 8:30. Drove into town. Glassy, small, sunny, beautiful. Drove west-cliff-drive. Watched two guys trade waves at an unreal, picture-perfect little right-reef. Probably the most localized wave in town. The thought of paddling out flashed through my brain. Naww.. i'll get hassled. 5-minutes later the two guys paddled in. Empty lineup. I jammed into the wetty and scampered down the super-sketch boulder-field down to the cove. Paddled out and scored 2 uber-glass squirty wedges all to myself. Then the pack of local ripper-dudes descended. Scowls. Barrels. Airs. West-Side airbrushes. I was happy with end-of-the-line scraps and leftovers. Then the head alpha-ripper starts jawwing at me, "Hey! don't even paddle for waves that we're taking off on. It ruins the wave." They'd been taking off way too deep on a few and i'd taken off down the line. On one of his waves he made this amazing barrel and i watched from the shoulder and then pulled back when i saw he made it. He kind-of had a point in that shoulder-hoppers can cause the lip of the wave to crumble prematurely.. but his intent was obvious, "get the fuck out of here." I did. Sucks to get hassled and stink-eyed but i was psyched to score a few. and I guess i'm a kook for not sitting at the main peak and for shoulder-hopping. Also i respect the sanctity of at least one wave reserved for the local ripper community.

Then picked up a new board and surfed the Lane for a bit. Good vibes through middle peak and Indicators. Some solid waves. Lots of them. 6'8" shortboard from Ward Coffey. Feels big compared to my other board but also feels responsive and light. Got one good full-rail turn.

Waves.

Saw Sin City friday night. That movie RULED!!! Loved it! If you enjoy creative, original, stylized, sexy, bad-ass, plot-twisting, fast-paced, poetic beautiful cinema go see it. Also a bit gruesome and over-the-top.

Sailboat capsizes at surf break. Boogie rescues sailor.

photos from cinnamonrainbows.com

what the heck!?! I thought it was going to be all nice and mellow this morning, but instead some gnarly storm front moved in and caused all sorts of craziness to go down. I ended up surfing anyway, though i don't know why. I ran down to the beach and the trippiest shit started happening. First off there were these llamas grazing in the dune grass. As i walked by i watched one alpha-male llama get pissed at another llama and charge him. Just before they collided this whacked-out, insane-looking Bedouin sand-dweller person lept out of a trap-door in the sand and tackled the charging llama. He hog-tied the llama faster than i could blink and then stood up and shouted at the darkening sky, "I am the Llama keeper, all Llamas must live in peace and harmony!!" Then he looked at me and i realized the dude was a fucking cyclops. One giant orange eyeball in the middle of his head! He looked at me in my wetter and said, "Go surf the waves my son, surfers are friends of the Llama." He then cracked his wooden staff against a rock and a huge bolt of lightning erupted from the sky. I looked out to sea just in time to watch a huge flying fish leap out of the water and get struck by the lightning. The flying fish miraculously transformed into a huge vampire bat and flew over our heads cackling and sneering. Umm.. yeah.. so i ran down to the water's edge and paddled out. Nobody around as the wind whipped like crazy from the SouthEast. Gnarlzville inner-bar barrels cracked and panicked all over the joint. HOly shit! this is going to be nutty! I somehow squeaked out with minimal destruction and then waited for a good one. Soon this frothy, swirling, backless spine-bender rolled in and i locked in under the lip. The thing sucked-out like mad and i could see bare sand underneath me. I stood and plastered myself to the wall.. speeding down and sideways in the pit. Huge black stormclouds rumbling above. This mighty wall presented itself and i arced a turn with all my might off the top. But something didn't feel right. My board didn't come around like usual and all of a sudden i was crashing and burning. Then an exruciating pain eminated from my shoulder. I looked over and this huge fish-hook was locked into my upper arm! I was being reeled in. Fast. I quickly got to shore to see the maniacal cycloptic Llama Keeper reeling me in with his huge fishing rod made of what looked like human femurs. He was laughing grotesquely and the edges of his eyes were bloody. I heard him mumbling, "Need salty human flesh for Llamas. Need salty human flesh for dinner!" Then he came at me with a giant ax. That was the end.