Wednesday, January 30, 2008

More Hynson Black Knight Quad

I received these nice pics recently. This is one of the newer twists to this model. Bamboo fins 101 in the BKQ template. Tapered stringer. The second board pictured is an EPS BKQ with airbrush by Brew Brophy. This still probably my favorite all around quad fish models out. I haven't found many that have tried it, that haven't liked or loved it.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Ice 9 Foam Works

Grubby Clark is my Hero. Most of us were saying he was the Devil just 2 short years ago. Now days there is so much good foam available, that I can only praise Grubby's actions. Sure it was a rough year, but I think the benefits far outweigh the costs. One of the new upstarts is ICE 9 Foam Works. I have scoured their website and heard lots of good things about them, including glassing the deck with one single layer of 4 oz. I'm excited to be trying thier blanks on my next project and hopefully many more to come. I am really impressed with thier operation and am stoked to be buying blanks that are not only made in the US, but also with a little environmental thought.

http://www.ice-ninefoamworks.com/

Saturday, January 26, 2008

The BrownFish Experiment (BFE)

Here's some pics of my second shaped board. It's pretty much a copy of "My August Project," but I tried to give it a little more rocker and clean up a few areas. I've still got to put it under the lights, but I'm confident that I'm greater than 95% done.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Head High Glassy Blog

While cruising Blogs last night, I came across Jamie Murrays "Head High Glassy." I really like the feel to his blog, so I figured I'd link it up and hopefully some of you will check it out (if you already haven't). Here's a recent excerpt from Jamie that I thought was pretty inspirational:

Up here in Sonoma County, we think about wine a lot. When asked about the impending recession, a local grower told me not to worry. "When the economy is bad, people want to have a drink," he said. "When the economy is good, people want to have a drink." He was old and wearing the crustiest Wranglers I'd ever seen, so I took his word for it. This was not the first time I'd heard this argument.
Some of us spend a lot of time up here thinking about surfing, and a similar logic can be applied: we surf to heal, to mourn, to express frustration or anger or fear or love or joy, we surf to celebrate, and we surf to feel connected to something greater than ourselves. A lot of people surf because they want to, but most surfers surf because they have to. It is how we make sense, and it can't be slowed by lagging economies, or falling housing markets, or births or deaths or aging bodies.
So, as another recession gathers energy and surges up behind us, it's our responsibility to put our heads down and paddle, drop in, and point it to the shoulder. And, as we paddle back out for more, it's our responsibility to hoot for the next guy or gal dropping in. What else are we going to do?


Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Bust IT

During the winter of 1975 in Hawaii, surfing was shaken to its core. A group of young surfers from Australia and South Africa sacrificed everything and put it all on the line to create a sport, a culture, and an industry that is today worth billions of dollars and has captured the imagination of the world. With a radical new approach and a brash colonial attitude, these surfers crashed headlong into a culture that was not ready for revolution.

Screening January 27, Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara 7pm

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

School House Rock

While discussing a certain Purple Dinosaur on Warbles, I've come to the conclusion that by far the best DVD we have for our kids is School House Rock. Our friend Eve got it for our kids a couple years ago when the boys were 3 and 1. Now, 5 and 3, with a 15 month old sister, it's still in the top five and holds thier attention, well, we won't go into how long. How can you miss with "Conjuction Junction" and "3 is the Magic Number." Also a great gift if you don't have kids and just can't think of what to get for your buddy's kids birthday. I'm still learning stuff from this amazing 283 minutes of animated wonder. Available at Amazon for $14.99.


Monday, January 21, 2008

Curren - Russia

I'm sorry but I really like the song. Reminds me of being a freshmen dork in High School. Oh yea, I kinda think Curren's all right too.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

My BFF's First Board

I grew up surfing with this guy. He was my best man in my wedding, and has been my best man through out most of my life. His wife bought him a Hollow Wood Surfboard Kit last winter as a present. He's been tinkering around with it for some time (he's a busy guy), but finally sent me the finished pictures yesterday. He put it together, made his own fins, and glassed, sanded, and polished the thing all by himself. Strong work Joey, strong work.


Neoclassical Surf Style

Tara, a cool Japanese guy sent me a link to his site. It's pretty neat to look into what others are doing in a completely different part of the world. The site is in all Japanese, so translation is required. Enjoy.

http://www.geocities.jp/neoclassicalsurfstyle/

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Mavericks Won on CC Gun

Congratulations go out to Greg Long for winning the Mavericks 2008 contest. What most don't know is that Guru Shaper Chris Christenson has been shaping Gregs guns for more than a few years now. Props to both. On another note, CC has just recieved keys to industrial space right next door to Moonlight. So now you've the best glass shop in the world, with one of the best shapers right next door.










Monday, January 14, 2008

Another good one

Everytime time I hear this one, visions on Neal Purchase Jr. get barreled out of his mind, at a perfect right point, go dancing through my head.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

My August Project Slideshow

Most of you have already seen this, but for those who haven't, the short story is that I found this old board in the trashcan on the beach in late July. I spent the month of August turning it into my first shaped blank. All glass work done by Moonlight. For bigger a step by step, click on the title or cut and paste:

http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=1265540&page=0&vc=1&PHPSESSID=#Post1265540

Here's to you Pauli

My Buddy Pauli sends me picks about once every two weeks of his envious dawn patrols. He also has three kids, but somehow is able to steal a little time in the wee hours of the morning. I have to give him credit, he's definately got his game on. These three pics, sent to me last summer, just about knocked me over.



Sunday, January 6, 2008

Surfboard Art by My Wife

About 6 or 7 so years ago my wife designed Josh Halls Logo. That was one of the last Art pieces she did. Then we had some gremlins and time kind of took it's toll on her artwork. This is her first real piece since then. It was a little tough for her to get used to the Posca Pens, but man if you could see the detail in this thing in person, you'd be amazed. I'm pretty proud of her. I think it looks great. More board artwork from her to come in the future. Special thanks to Mr. Pinliner for donating a brand new box of Poscas for her to use, she appreciated that more than you can imagine. Sorry for the somewhat blurry photos, someday I'll get a real camera.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Hynson Black Knight Quad

Can't say enough about how great this board rides. I supposedly had the best, but sold it to get this one. Guess what? Absolutely no regrets. The team over at Hynson has also started a Blog. Click on the title to check it out.


















Mr. Mattison doing his thing.

ART CAMP

My Five year old is going to ART CAMP over the break. This is his first introduction to art. I'm pretty impressed with the program. On the first 5 hour day they covered the art of Monet, Beardon Collage art, Stained Glass and Scherenshnitte, and techniques of Paint Blowing. After learning about each medium or artist, they then created their own. Here is his first days work.