[ in the lineup with scott bass & sam george ]



The bro's over at Surfer Magazine had the web-cast of episode no. 3 today & it was epic! My long-time friend Kevin of Psylicyde & Surfer Magazine was good enough to bring me over to sit in live for today's show. Rob Machado showed up to show some love and talk about what he has been up to. Most recently, Rob had the opportunity to travel to the Maldives with Laird Hamilton & Mr. Pipeline - Gerry Lopez for an adventure.

Later on in the segment, Laird Hamilton called in from Kauai, where he just finished shooting a commercial for Davidoff cologne. The Hawaiian Islands are absolutely going off right now. Swells are forecasted in the 10'-15' range with good conditions. Laird is definitely having a ball over there. He has to be the most stoked person that I have ever heard speak. His energy definitely got everyone in the room pumped. Laird left the crew with the sure lesson of the day. This is a concept that I have been kicking around in my head for some time now: As a true leader, you must lead by example. He nailed it!

[ trestles - san clemente, california ]





California Myth No. 2: When a train comes blowing around the mountain at Trestles, you can bet that a set is rolling in.

This is the absolute truth. Perhaps this is a good segue into our 3rd piece of Cali folk lore: All people from California buy into myths. OK, so maybe that's a stretch, but I'm beginning to dig this superstitious behavior though.

On a side note, Kevin let me rock his twin fin today. I forgot how much fun those things are. Pete Arslanian shaped this board custom for Kevin. This board is fine like wine even down to the wooden skegs (which are outstanding)!

Tune in tomorrow at 3pm EST to the 3rd episode of "In the Lineup," Surfer Magazine's answer to weekly web-based radio programs. I will be making a special guest appearance and if that's not enough for you, Rob Machado will be in the place serving up all he's got for the listener's at home. Also scheduled to call in as a guest is Laird Hamilton. Tune IN!

[ lefty ]




Cali Mission: 8 days
Objective: Shred lips, destroy.

It's Day 4 and we scored solid 5' Middles at Salt Creek this morning. It had to be the most crowded spot ever. None the less, sick tubes went around for all. The water temperature was a smooth 63 degrees and the fog was dense. Local folk lore tells a tale of fog stopping wind dead in it's tracks, so as you can imagine, it was really clean.

I'm off to wreck the concrete at San Clemente Skatepark. After that, it's off to meet up with local shaper / ripper Pete Arslanian over at Hydroglas to talk about a new custom twin fin. Pete's shop is right next to The Victoria Skimboards factory and he hand-shapes custom skegs from the scrap they throw away from their projects. Way to be Pete.

More To Come Later!

[ Animal New York ]



The latest issue of Animal York is out and is available at select newstands. If you are stomping Lafayette, be sure to pop into Lafayette Smoke, [ 63 Sping Street ] you can cop an issue there. I did not make the party, but Vinny Peps said "it was all cashews and almonds!" Solid Vinny. Included in this quarterly issue is the Jeffrey A. Miron report. Print it out, it's a great read for the train.

[ photo courtesy of David Eschrich ]

Dave does it again. About a month ago, Dave, Pody & I took a trip out to Rockaway for a dawn patrol session. Waves were in the chest to head-high range and the winds were light. Pody & I sat on the jetty at B90th and scored some solid lefts. There were a couple of loud-mouths in the water heckling no one in particular. I remember thinking to myself, “man, these guys a really killing this vibe.” I couldn’t imagine how someone could even think of anything else that morning, but focusing on the near perfect conditions.

We ended the session and Dave had unloaded his camera. He really got some great shots standing on the jetty with his tripod. Pody and I got were checking out Dave’s flicks when the two loudmouths approached. “Hey did you get any shots of me?’ the first one asked. Dave responded, “yeah, I got a bunch of really good shots actually.”

To make a long story short, we all ended up at the loudest of the loud mouth’s home, Jeff Anthony, down the block eating breakfast sandwiches watching Fair Bits on his living room floor. After we bro’d out for a few, we made our way back to B91st and scored some smaller, but very fun swell. These dudes really were solid, stand-up guys afterall.

Here is a photo of the not-so loudmouth, but still making plenty of noise, Ron Shein.

I hooked-up with my friend Jessica from London on Tuesday and we had a blast. After a couple of cocktails, we shot up to Pier 63 for the 1^st Annual Surfrider Foundation Film Festival. There were some real talented film-makers showcasing unbelievable footage from around the world. If you didn’t make it this year, make it a point to be there next year.

Jessica gave me a copy of Aussie, Xavier Rudd’s Good Spirit, his first live album. You have to check this guy out. There is an irie quality to his presentation that is complemented by a harmonica. Such a wild sound.

My friend Dave is a really talented photographer. We have been traveling between Rockaway and Central New Jersey more often than ever and he is killing it with his camera. He snapped this flick on the Beach 90^th Jetty at far Rockaway. This was a fairly epic Friday session. We left the beach at sundown, hooked-up with Pody [ who just got in from HI ] and got back in the water for a Saturday morning dawn patrol [ more pics to follow ].

The style master Neck Face has collaborated with Baker Skateboards to drop a serious one. I slept on picking-up the last one he did for Mark Gonzalez, [ pictured below ] but I ordered mine this morning after the quick-tip from Tone.

Hats off to WK and his new book, Exterior-Interior: Act 2 [ Klanten, Robert & Hellige, Hendrik, 2005 ]. Take a walk over to his workspace and cop yourself one [ remember the weather is perfect ]. What a great addition to any art collection. You can find his studio at 101 Stanton Street, NYC. While you are in the neighborhood, definitely stop by Cafe Havana [ 229 Elizabeth Street, NYC ] for the grilled corn topped with butter, manchego cheese, paprika & fresh lime juice.

[ Above: Martial Arts, WK style ]

Here are a couple of very similar album covers from 2 very distant eras. I really admire the album cover design of classic jazz. It's very simple and typically incorporates great color. Note the similarities of the two shown above.


[ Left: Art Pepper, Art of Pepper Import - Aladd 1998 ]

[ Right: Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams - Universal 2005 ]