Movin' on up...

My buddy Tony asked me recently if I could sneak out to go surf. My reply was a Mora-esque: "Surfing? What....surfing!? You kiddin' me? Surfing!?" We bought a house. The closing was a little less than two weeks ago and I've been up in the new place feverishly trying to get it ready. Dads(Dad, In-Law and Step) have been invaluable in terms of painting assistance and my friend Max has also been generous with his time and advice as he has gotten more than one place ready to move into.

More Style Files

I'm sorry, the dude gets better and better all the time.

Animalisms

Nat shakes things up on Sam in '66.

I'll save my rant about the irrelevance of the ASP for another day but I feel compelled to say this: Hey guys,this is called "style" and in your quest to get bigger air or spasm the wave apart, the only thing you're displaying is your lack of the aforementioned. Take notes.

Next Generation

My wife took the above with her cell phone as Thing 1 and I strolled along the wall at one of my favorite NH beach breaks. We did a little fam jam up to Portsmouth and I detoured us so that I could see what it was doing. There were only a couple of guys out doing what they could in the chop. Thing 1 enjoyed watching them, exclaiming, "Boom!" every time a wipe out occurred.

Afterwards, we stopped at Cinnamon Rainbows and I brought both lads inside. I promised Thing 1 that I would hook him up with a wetsuit and boogie board this summer so that his initiation into the joys of wave riding may begin. I can't wait.

Left Overs

Forgot the damn camera. Ah well.

I eschewed the Thanksgiving go out. From what I hear, it was a bit bigger and had a bit more power, however, I had a hell of a time with the Friday clean-up. Knee to waist, light wind, clean as a whistle and the Mini-Zombie made its case, yet again, for becoming the favorite of my massive two board quiver. Speaking of which, my wife and I just bought a house, so my next Fineline purchase has been sidelined...unless of course my sponsorship request has sparked a bit more interest. Anyone?

Special bonus was the sight of someone backing into a cop car in the parking lot at the local. That's gotta put a damper on your day.

New England by way of Windansea

Cobras- I Wanna Be Your Love

From York, Maine apparently.

S*#@t yeah, it's cool.

I was somewhat pissed after I got the new Boston Spaceships album and then read that Bob Pollard had announced it was the last one. Those records are, to my mind, the best of his post Guided By Voices output, so WHY in the name of all that is holy...



OH. That's why.

The new album from the classic GBV line-up drops on January 1st and I. Am. Happy.

Know Your Roots

Aka - The return of "Heavy Rotation". Albums I'm listening to.

An abbreviated timeline that has a lot to do with my current listenings. Those current listenings being 60's garage/punk and more obscure British Invasion stuff. Bo Diddley was a gunslinger and a lot of British cats(Stones, Pretty Things, Yardbirds and on and on) dug his trip and paid tribute to the sound. American teens try to imitate these British cats and a ridiculous amount of bands start playing with more enthusiasm than talent. Original punk rock, or garage if you like. Listen to the Back From the Grave comps and the Bo Diddley beat is prominent.

Fast forward. Late 60's into the 70's and rock gets bloated. Masturbatory solos are de riguer. Some New York dudes aren't buying what's selling and decide to bring back the 3 minute song. To them it's just rock and roll, to everyone else, it becomes "punk". The New York Dolls cover a Diddley tune...Pills. The Clash bring Bo with them on their '79 Pearl Harbor tour as an opener. Noone gets it. Noone gets that what they came to see, came from this(which is pretty damn punk rock):



So...I recently picked up Bo Diddley's Beach Party(apropos, neh?). The album came from a live set that Bo and his band did in 1963 down in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I have read criticisms of the sound for being kind of muddy or that Bo's studio output is as raw and sounds better. To me, that's missing the point. This is a blistering set that is raw and rollicking as hell and lends credence to Bo's sobriquet of "The Originator". The album opens strong with "Memphis"(Chuck Berry tune?), "Gunslinger" and "Hey Bo Diddley" and barely lets up from there. My only criticism is that it's too damn short. Hunt it down and give it a spin.

Goons

Variations on my Theme

Get that riff out of your head if you can.

This Morn

No alarm clock could possibly be more effective than the bottomless pit that is Thing 2* when it comes to rousing me for dawn patrol at The Local(before work even). The proof down below as submitted for your approval. Waves were actually pretty fun and drew a bigger crowd than I anticipated(although crowded at this spot is extremely relative). I must have snapped this one during a lull.




*Editorial Note - My lads shall heretofore be referred to as "Thing 1(the elder)" and "Thing 2(der baby)" and the break formerly known as "The Unnamed Beach Break" is now dubbed simply, "The Local" as it has become the stand by when I'm not on the road to nowhere.

The Constant Loop

New pristine copies are available. Time to replace my bootleg.

Kilgore Starter Kit

Apocalypse Now Yater shirt from Last Wave. 52 mil aviators from American Optical.

8' 6" Yater Spoon sold separately.

Zombie Bite

Looks fun doesn't it? I was instantly fished in. This is in Newport, RI and it looked great from the beach. Once in the water, you could make a legit drop but there was no shoulder to speak of unless you could grab something from outside and I was on the Mini Zombie, so sitting too deep wasn't going to work.

The end result of a beauty that jacked up and cycled me. The Zombie bit me. I didn't need stitches but it looked delightfully gruesome before it got washed off.

He Rants

The headline reads: "Sweeper narrowly avoids a face full of Mini Zombie while performing blatant act of stupidity. Camel's back broken by straw. Film at 11."

From the douche paddling up and down the line-up taking every damn thing he could and then having the nerve to tell my boy The Bollocks that he was in his way, to the clown who very nearly cleaned me out when he ditched his stand up canoe, to the woman who provided the above headline when she dropped in on me without looking while paddling on her knees(and this is merely a small sample of jackassery I have witnessed/been a party to)...the aloha has been used up. You done got your last click out of El Meezy.

The ocean is for everyone. Ride what you want, when you want and how you want but do it far away from me because I now reserve the right to drop in on all paddle assisted watercraft.

Have a nice day.

Tropics As Time's Gone

Still trippin' on the garage tunes. This is a good one.

Chants R&B - 07 - One Two Brown Eyes (1966)

I love Norton Records. Pummeling.

Therapy

3 hours. No clock ticking. No need to check the watch or rush things. 3 precious hours to myself. Arms, back, shoulders...all jello. Knees hurt from knee paddling while wearing trunks. Eyes sting from the salt water. Head is completely clear. And I came damn close to hanging some toes.

Dinosaur Jr -The Wagon

Been re-digging on these guys lately. Big time.

Down South with Endless Wave

Say what you will about the nascent ride anything retro soul hipster artistic scene that has been gaining steam in recent years, it has, at the very least, brought us some individuals looking to carve out a path different from the staid quikripabong crowd that for too long has typified what most people think of surfing. Not to mention, some pretty cool shops have been popping up. Mollusk, Thalia, Shelter, Almond, Etc... They're featuring hand shaped boards from serious craftsfolk and goods from companies you probably haven't heard about. And they're mostly on the other side of the country. Those that aren't are kind of far from here. Except for now.

A bit of backstory; I've kept tabs on and linked the Wax Buddy blog to mine for some time now. A chance comment about this choice looking pig brought a very enthusiastic response from Greg Pearson(of Wax Buddy/Endless Wave fame). An unexpected response as I've hit up other shops on their blogs(Brooklyn, cough, Brooklyn) and never heard word one. We emailed occasionally and so it was, that I finally got the chance to drop by his new digs.

Greg welcomed me warmly and we chatted for about 45 minutes as I ogled the shop goods and variety of boards from Almond, Gato Heroi and Endless Wave's own Aquatic Works Division. The shirts and hoodies all have a clean subtle style and I was chuffed to find issues of Slide available. All the while, folks that popped in were greeted by and engaged by Greg in a very non-too cool for school manner. Afer the hyperbole, it's simple. If you're down in Newport, stop in and give Endless Wave a look.

Salty Adventuring

Could this be an actual post with text attached? I'd call it laziness, however when a large part of my day is spent sitting at a computer and the remainder of my post dusk hours are often broken up by feedings at 3:30 in the AM, motivation to do anything but find a little time to watch the Red Sox is not the highest.

As summers go, it hit the busy/weird mark with a bullet. Epic flatness for one. I thought last summer was bad. Nah. The slide log goes something like this(recently):



Father's Day - Ogunquit Maine - Dig the Picture from Marginal Way>
Board - Mayo Soft Tail
Details - This was on our wee family vacation. We rented a cottage within walking distance of town. I love it up there. The forecast said there wasn't going to be anything but they were wrong. While far from epic, I had a blast working on getting my new noserider wired. I must be doing something right. As I exited the water, two teenagers playing paddleball told me that my last wave was "awesome!" Now if I could only remember what I did so that I can replicate it.

Tres Weeks Ago - Newport
Board - Fineline Mini Zombie
Flush with the promise of waist to stomach high, short-ish period windswell when everywhere else looked flat, my cohorts and I hit Newport. What we found was...not exactly as advertised. It was kind of rideable but overall, knee high closeouts were the flavor of the day along with that mungy red seaweed stuff that I was picking out of my non-existent hair. Perhaps I could have done better with a bigger board but I gave the MZ what I could. Warm water was welcome, though and we swapped boards around to keep it lively. With a sense of humor, even a shite session can be fun.

Two Weeks Ago - Unnamed Beach Break
Board - Mayo Soft Tail
Small but uber clean and peeling. Big time log conditions. All that The Bollocks and I had to deal with were a trio of janitors buzzing around us. Riddle me this Batman: How the hell do you not catch waves when you're using a paddle? Two of the three made flailing look effortless. Anyways...tons of rides for two hours and noone else out besides the aforementioned. I put in some solid work on fade turns and surfing from the tail. The only dark moment came when we got back to the whip and I realized my key had fallen out of my oh-so-secure wetsuit pocket. Big thanks to Maria and her husband, whose name escapes me, for loaning us a cell phone to call AAA and actually letting us hold on to said phone until our rescuer arrived(I had another key locked in the car). Notable interaction as my car was expertly slim-jimmed: The Bollocks to AAA guy: "You must be from Lynn." AAA Guy: "Nah...Reveah(Revere)." New England humor.

Topanga Beach ("The Living Curl" 1965, w/ Miki Dora, Johnny Fain)

Dora n Fain.

Contemplation

McTavish and Keyes digging on an outline.

I AM ready

Here we come RI.

More Summer Jams

Ain't nothing wrong with being Motown-ish.

Summer Jams

Droll

LNF: Lowers Raid! from Lastnamefirst.tv on Vimeo.

Initial Chariot

My first car. A 1976 AMC Matador wagon. My friends loved it and dubbed it, "The Madhatador". I was less than enamored of it but had to admit that it had a certain panache. I once packed 15 people in it, dusted a couple of dudes at the light on 146 who were clowning me even though all they were packing was a paltry V6, hosted roof rides, did doughnuts with it in slippery parking lots and took it flying over "The Bump" in North Smithfield.

My friend John and I had this mad scheme of acquiring an ice cream truck and turning it into "the ultimate surf mobile", while ignoring the fact that that's what we were rolling around in. Stupid kids.

Start Movin'

Small Wave Killa!

Laziness, thy name is...me. Or, why should I try to re-write a ride report that I already wrote. Say that five times fast, I dare ya. Transcribed below is a note I sent to Brian Hilbers concerning my second run with the Mini Zombie:

"Hey Brian.

I figured that I owed you a better report than last time. Sometimes the true test of a board is how it performs in less than perfect conditions. I took the MZ out at o'dark thirty this morning to one of my favorite beach breaks. Most other spots were chopped up but this one is a bit more sheltered. There was still a little bump on it but there were some clean faces to be had with a little patience. Again, I ran it with the Greenough 4c positioned halfway in the box this time. It worked very well.

So...I had a fuckin' ball and made some solid strides to figuring out what this stick is all about.

It turns so quickly and really shines on the front third. I couldn't believe some of the whitewater sections I was beating. Popped that first turn, moved up, got low and it was off to the races. Those rails really make a difference. Cut backs were effortless. I also figured out quickly that just a little subtlety is required. Ankles and balls of the feet. Each wave got better and better.

In any case, it's a honey of a board. I actually acquired a log and could have brought that today but decided not to and the MZ really shined in some 3.3 at 11 second somewhat bumpy waves. I'm really looking forward to seeing what it can do in slightly larger and cleaner conditions."

The sesh was this past Sunday. Can you suss that I had a far better time than my previous session? Must be the 3/2.

And in case I haven't stressed this in previous posts, Hilbers is the man and well deserving of your patronage.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

Looking over the scribblings contained herein, one of the themes that struck me was about being late to the party, which in some ways sums up, if not my whole life than large parts of it. The reason that I bring this up now is that I’ve got some resolutions to spew. Most folks come up with these as the New Year approaches but in keeping with my “late to the party” theme, I’m coming up with mine right now.
What brought this about?

I took my new Mayo log to the South Shore for its baptism. Conditions weren’t exactly optimal (kind of side-shore and a little bumpy) but were on the smaller side, so I felt ok about going in without a leash. Out of two hours, I got two good rides and have nothing but praise for the Soft Tail. On the first one, I took off on a right, beat a white water section with ease and then stepped to the front third of the board and just trimmed. The smoothness of the ride fell into the warm knife through butter category. Later in the day, a similar ride on a left had me once more grooving on that glide. How does this tie in to the above? Two good rides in two hours when I had plenty of opportunities for more of the same doesn’t cut the mustard.

I could blame the conditions or talk about having to get my new board wired but again, that doesn’t cut it. I’ve been at this for somewhere in the vicinity of 12 years and the source of my frustration at not surfing to the level I am capable of(and I’m not bad) lies squarely within the realm of consistency or lack thereof. I don’t want to be a weekend warrior anymore and yet, life dictates that that is the case and due to the arrival of my new grom, I may be more of a bi-weekly weekend warrior. And that’s life. And I had opportunities in my time in LA to surf constantly and I didn’t because for some reason that is a mystery even to me, I only became a true drooling wave zealot and board dork once I arrived back here where my increased responsibilities and decreased wave consistency shortened my time in the water.

Late. Party. Youth wasted on young. Blah.

Where does that leave me? Well, I’m only 41, so I’ve got plenty of time to enjoy the ocean. I also don’t subscribe to the belief that, according to my brother in law, “Life is O-VUH kid!” because I now have two little guys as opposed to a more manageable one. I have, however, consigned myself to the fact that stating I don’t want to be a weekend warrior anymore and making it happen in the present is unrealistic as painful as that may be. With that realization, I could breast beat and bemoan my situation but I’m not going to do that because it isn’t my style. Instead, I’ve decided to make some resolutions that I can make happen right now.

• Strength Training – I used to exercise a lot and then kept getting sidelined by tendinitis, back issues and excuses that were just that…excuses. I am able to use the athletic facilities where I work and so I have been heading over on my lunch break to work out at least 4 days a week. I picked up a copy of Mark Lauren’s “You Are Your Own Gym” as I wanted to do something other than banging weights and have found that the body weight exercises I’ve been doing are just as, if not more challenging and extremely functional for what I want to achieve. I don’t plan on having paddling strength and endurance be off just because I’m not out in the water.
• Yoga – I need to do more of it for the flexibility, which starts to go in your 40’s(natch).
• Get a winter wetsuit and use it. I’ve said it before, I hate cold weather and cold water but a two to three month layoff is excruciating. Time to truly join the winter surfing ranks.
• Obtain a goofboard and work on footwork in my apartment while watching surf flicks
• Maximize whatever time I will have in the water to dial in my new boards, particularly the Mini-Zombie. I love logging it up but I want to go a little bit shorter as repeat viewings of movies like Innermost Limits of Pure Fun and The Hot Generation have me wanting to play with updated transitional shapes and also give a hull a try at some point soon.
• Move somewhere closer to the water so that I don’t have to drive 40 minutes to an hour both ways for a surf. Ok, this one may need some time to work out but a guy can scheme. Can’t he?

Morning Jolt

Wax On

Got my new Mayo Soft Tail noserider and brought in the head waxer to prep it for its inaugural run some time in the near future.

Reality

If the below post is what I dream about...warm water loggin' waves, then this is my reality:






43 Degree water, thick ass rubber, stiff offshores. This is what passes for Spring in these yere parts. Still and all, it was my first go out since December and boy did I need it. Test drove the Mini Zombie and while I don't have it dialed just yet, man is the potential there. Magic board.

Warm Water

LEEROY LOGGINS' from Surf Station on Vimeo.

Quiver Overhaul Part 2

Shipping soon from Larry Mayo. My planned quiver is coming together.

Style Files

Nathan Adams Introduction from Almond Surfboards on Vimeo.

Style counts.

Latest Addition to the Quiver

He's a keeper.

And to my beautiful wife: Nice job love. You did good.

Captain Awesome

Big Audio Dynamite - Medicine Show

Quiver Overhaul Redux

The new stick deserved better representation. I got a new camera.

1963

Waxhead

The Waxhead Diaries #1: The Stomping Ground from Josh Simpson on Vimeo.

Brimstone Howl - Final Dispatch

Quiver Overhaul Part 1

Ladies and gennemen! May I present a mad creation from a mad craftsman...the Fineline Mini Zombie! Shape conceived and executed by Brian Hilbers. Thanks man! It's a beauty!

Relax. I'm getting a new camera soon and the
sub-par cell pics will cease.

Anticipation

This is a 9" Greenough 4a fin. It arrived in the mail today from the Mollusk in Venice. My new board arrives on Tuesday. Stay tuned.

Music to Slide By