ALEX KNOST | CENTRAL AMERICA from RVCA on Vimeo.

Another Knost video? Yeah. I thought about it for a moment, lest anyone get the impression that I'm jocking a bit too much, but then I remembered that I don't give a damn. Dude has one hell of a cutback, not to mention, the inclusion of Count Five's seriously ace cut "Psychotic Reaction" as background music makes this a no brainer. Enjoy.

Surfing Dads and a Soltice Session

I've been fortunate to meet a small but elite cadre of surfing Dads in New England and on Father's Day, we took full advantage of our collective "carte blanche" status(being Dads and all)and regardless of the one blemish on my spotless record of rousing myself on time for the dawn patrol(still up by 5AM), we headed North. Our advance scout, Ed, let us know that "insert secret-ish spot here" was in fine form and the four of us spent 3 hours enjoying some really fun, waist to chest-ish sized waves in the midst of a spread out, but sizeable crowd. Party waves, Jay riding in my wake and exhorting me to make those last two steps that would allow me to dangle some toes(I'm working on it) and plenty of stoke followed by breakfast burritos at Secret Spot(not so secret) in NH made for a decidedly memorable Father's Day. I look forward to continuing the tradition in years to come and hopefully bringing the boys along at some spot. We had a good run of swell and even though the above photo was taken before a sunrise session at my local, I thought I would throw it in there as I spent last night on some very small but fun waves at said local with a surprise guest. A friend of mine and my wife's was passing by in the midst of a move to her new townhouse and had to pick up her board at her old apartment. She did a spot check, saw me suiting up and joined me out in the water where we played the occasional game of slaloms around the myriad speed bumps(swimmers). The tiny peelers kept coming and we stayed until the sun was a red ball on the horizon. Not a bad start to the summer.

Thoughts on Transportation

My current whip is a 2005 Subaru Forester. I got it after Thing 1 was born and I needed something that would accommodate a car seat a bit better than my beloved little ’98 Nissan Pick-up. Additional needs: cargo space, good to decent fuel mileage and racks to strap boards to (natch). I dig my car. My wife dug my car. She dug it so much that when it came time to dump her Saturn, she bought one. Tres dorky, I know. Fly in the buttermilk? Quite frankly, the backseat isn’t exactly cavernous. This was fine with one kiddo and then Thing 2 joined the ranks. Sometimes an extra person joins us and we are left to either caravan or someone has to wedge themselves in between two car seats. This isn’t exactly optimal for longer trips. I’ve begun pondering a bigger ride, although the Subie will be paid off next year and I plan to enjoy not having a car payment for at least the following year before I move to get something else….but I’m looking. The moment I started researching vehicles and mentioning it to people, the quips started. Both sisters sneered, “Gonna get a mini-van?” The Bollocks: “Just don’t get a mini-van.” And on and on. Let me point something out. I think in terms of function over form when it comes to certain things. That’s part of the reason I ride longboards. Besides the fact that thruster riding has nothing to do with what I like about surfing and that I find it be stylistically butt ugly, the bottom line is, the potato chip thruster has practically zero functionality in 85-90% of the waves we get on this coast and most dudes look pretty silly trying to make them work in knee to waist high beach break. I digress. When it comes to cars, I’m about function. I tote a lot of stuff around. I want something that will tote said stuff and has a good sound system. I don’t give a shit about luxury cars. Beemers don’t impress me. If I ever wanted a toy, it would probably be an SS El Camino or something like that or an old Ford Fairlane wagon. What I’m taking a lot of time in saying is…I need a van. Time to rant. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why we can’t get over here the cool little vans you can get in Japan and Europe. They don’t all run on diesel. I mean, shit, I could care less about the supposed “stigma” of driving a mini-van. They’ve got more cargo space and a nicer ride than some of these behemoth, gas guzzling SUV’s that are supposedly cooler and they’re probably more comfy to sleep in. And you can fit more people in them. Rob Gilley’s got it figured out: http://www.surfermag.com/blogs/rob-gilley/ode-to-the-man-van/ From a purely aesthetic perspective, why can’t the mini-vans look a little more like…vans? The ones in Asia and Japan look like vans. You know, the whole mini-bus camper thing. I’d look at the Euro Van but that thing is a piece of junk. Apparently VW had a micro bus concept car but scrapped it. Why? If mini vans looked a bit more like vans, maybe dudes wouldn’t feel funny about driving them. I don’t know. I’ll probably wind up with a Honda Odyssey or something and you know what? I’ll probably love it.

Punk Saturday

70's stylee reminiscent of stuff like The Buzzcocks, and LA dudes The Weirdos. Pogo you clowns. Otherwise...surfed one cleanish day during a string of shit conditions and had my remaining wisdom teeth yanked. Nitrous.