Butts

On my way home from lunch at WB with friends at Tower 7 today I saw a young woman in a Mercedes SUV with a WRV sticker in the rear window throw her cigarette butt out at a light. For a moment I thought about getting out of the car and picking it up and giving it back to her. Instead I scribbled down her plate # to report to Swat-a-Litterbug online which I've now done. Still, it's not satisfying to me that she'll just get a letter in the mail that she'll probably scoff at and then carry on. Citizens should have more rights when it comes to correcting our wayward comrades when it comes to shit like this. KEEP YOUR BUTT IN YOUR CAR YOU ASSHOLES!

The Present by Thomas Campbell

Pete and I went to see Thomas Campbell's newest film, The Present, on Monday night at Level 5 City Stage. Thomas was there to show the film and tell us a little about his experience making it. I thought it was good of him to tour with the film and bring his brand of surf culture to our little backwater. The movie was great, and you should definitely find a way to see it. The California jazz duo The Mattson 2 were also on hand to play a 30 min set before the show started. They're also really cool and worth looking into. My favorite part of the movie was the alaia surfing. Some of the guys in the film are just flying down the line. They even paddle out in big Waimea. Nuts.

http://www.trimyourlifeaway.com/home/present/

http://mattson2.com/

Photo by Nakashima Masahiro, from Mattson 2 homepage

WBLA Surf Contest

The local longboard club is putting on their annual contest this weekend. I've never surfed in it, but I did meet my best pal P-Funk at the 3rd, where we were judges (how I got that job I'll never know). Anyway, that was the start of a long and fruitful friendship, and we've ridden a bunch of waves since then. Check it out.

Morning Glass

Not Me, This Morning, photo from WBLiveSurf.com

I paddled out at #10 this morning for almost two hours of surf before I had to be at work. It was great. No wind, waist-stomach sets, glassy and fast. I got into the water around 7 with about 3 other guys, all very nice. They left before 8 and then I shared a peak with a nice gal who teaches psych at UNCW, Simone. She gave me the best compliment I've ever gotten in the water from a complete stranger. I got a really good left (I'm a goofy footer) and had one of the better noserides I've ever had. She saw it all and asked how long I'd been surfing. When I replied, "7 or 8 years," she said "You're really good!" She said it with such enthusiasm too. I demurred and mumbled something about that being a really good wave in an otherwise mediocre career, but I was excited to get the compliment. I got my fill and paddled in as the crowd started to show up. It was a great session (you missed it P-funk). Water's warming on up. I think today was my last full suit session. I'm ready to move to the l/s springer until I'm comfy in trunks. Woohoo.

Sadly, there's a little delam starting to pop up on the nose of my log. What to do?

Surf!

Stole out for a pre-work dawn session this morning with the surfbrarian and had a blast on fun waist + zippers. It was a beautiful morning, pretty warm, no wind, sunny and glassy. I caught enough race for the shoulder peelers on my log to keep me satisfied for a few days. Hope you got some.

Playing Hookie

I slipped out of work for a couple of hours today (with permission) to go slide some waves. The report looked pretty fun with with glassy waist-high walls, but by the time I hit the water the sea breeze had kicked up a little out of the S, which is predictable this time of year. I went to the South End of WB, which probably wasn't the right call, and it was closing out pretty bad on the sandbar. Still, I got out and played in the ocean for almost an hour on a pretty day when I was supposed to be at work, so life could be a lot worse.

Anticipation

I'm meeting my boy Pete for dawn patrol in the morning after a couple weeks of no surf. Buoys are ESE 3' @ 9 seconds, wind light onshore, tide low at 8:25. It won't be spectacular, but I'm hoping for a few fun waves on the log. If all else fails, I'll at least get to chew the fat with my buddy and have a cup of coffee while we watch the sunrise, and that's alright too. Cheers.