Heavy Rotation - Volume 1(and some stuff about surfing)

Have I mentioned that it's been a crappy summer for waves? One more time then. This has been a crappy summer for waves, ALTHOUGH, there's a nice little system pushing through that should bring some fun stuff to play on over the next few days.

The interesting thing about this summer's wave(or lack thereof) situation is that occasionally a little swell pops up and you had best be ready to jump on it son because if you sleep...it's gone the next day. I got lucky last week. I headed to Nantasket for an end of the day session. I almost bagged it but the buoy convinced me to go have a look. I got there an hour after high tide and the waves were pretty much dumping right on shore. One guy was out and he was making a go of it but not having much luck. The more I watched, the more I was convinced that it was going to get better so I suited up and went in. It was dicey at first. I took off on a left, had a high line on it and then had to bail as the bottom fell out of the damn thing in some less than deep water. And THEN. Well, it wasn't and then, it actually took about 45 minutes to an hour BUT all of a sudden, it got fun. Waist to stomach kind of fun(I think) and I was feeling my oats. I actually pulled off some stuff that I never pulled off before including a round-house cutback(it's true). Best sesh of the summer this far.

Now then....

Not too long ago, I promised to review some records that may not be brand new but provide me with a lot of enjoyment. First up is King Khan and the Shrines, "What Is?" Sounds a whole lot like Stax, the Stooges and Sun Ra in a blender. If I wasn't going for half-assed alliteration thing than I may have said "60's garage bands" instead of Stooges but since a pretty solid argument can be made that The Stooges were sort of an evolution of the garage band sound then... I don't know what I'm saying. Ahem. This album kills, brothas and sistas! From beginning to end your toes will tap and your butt will shake. There's also a fair bit of tongue in cheek happening with the lyrics and song subjects(give a listen to Welfare Bread and Lady Godiva...you'll see). Play it loud. El Meezy is also damn excited that he gets to see this juggernaut of a band play Boston in October. I hope to see you there.

Until next time...

A Little Bit of Everyting

Where to begin this one....

Well, today's Father and SoEM outing saw us at the Burlington Mall with SoEM enjoying the play area and some soft-serve and culminated in the wee scamp crawling into a locked dressing room in J Crew while dear ol' Dad was trying on a jacket. Thankfully, a very nice sales lady was there to let me in and him out, which didn't stop him from trying that little maneuver again. Two year olds. Yeah. He's two. Which sort of leads into another anecdote.

The upstairs neighbors have a little boy who has the same birthday and is the same age as SoEM. Trippy. SoEM's party was a couple of weeks ago, neighbor lad's was yesterday. I was awakened from a nap by WoEM leaning over me and exclaiming, "They're playing with his toys!" One quick shower later and I headed into the back yard to discover, yeah, a small army of kids that were all over SoEM's new birthday stuff. We're not selfish people but we weren't consulted or asked if this would be cool. Anyways, when SoEM wanted a turn in HIS car and vocalized this, a little girl snottily told him, "It's not yours." In a fit of protective snottiness of my own, I looked her dead in the face and said, "Actually...it is his." Don't mess with SoEM when Dad is around. You should have seen my reaction when I caught the little dirtbag at the park spitting on the back of SoEM's head. I digress. Yeah, the politics of neighbordom can be a bit much.

Surfing? If that's what you want to call what I was doing on the grovelers we've been getting recently. At least I've been able to dispense with the leash for another couple of sessions and it's been kind of cool seeing the sun come up from the water. See the ok cell pic taken at the unnamed beach break.

We're supposed to get a little something this week. I don't ask for much, just something with a little push.

Aquatic Therapy Part Deux - Leashless in New Hampshire

We're dying ovah heaaahh. I may have only been back for four years but so far I don't remember a flatter summer than this. You know it's bad when I'm salivating over the chance of it being knee high and clean.

Tension levels being what they currently are, however, I needed to get in the water. Mom of El Meezy offered to accompany me to New Hampshire and watch over my progeny so that I could indulge in a bit of head clearing.

I was not exactly overwhelmed at the size of the mostly non-existent waves but those that were rolling in off of a sand bar were just big enough to be loggable and not even near big enough to require that I wear a leash, so I didn't. Best ride of the day was a macker of a rogue wave from way outside that I caught lovely. That sucker might have topped my kneecap. Ah well. You take what is given and say "thank you" for it.

Stay tuned for the soon to appear, "Heavy Rotation", a few reviews of tunes that aren't new at all but may have missed your attention. You may begin with the baited breath and all that.

Aquatic Therapy(And It Ain't Whatcha Think)

I've said it before but it may have escaped your notice; I've been out of work for over a year. I've detailed the reasons why that hasn't necessarily been a bad thing, however, it's past time that I got back to it, for as much as I've enjoyed being home with my son, I need to move forward.

The frustration of what might be a normal job search has been compounded by the current state of the economy which has pretty much insured that the competition for each position that I pursue is rather heavy. I recently came close to a job that would have suited me just fine. I feel that I crushed the interview and the essay portion of the exam. I was moved into the final circle only to be told in the 11th hour that I lost out to someone else. My little family really needed this. I really needed it. With my head-a-reeling from the blow and sweat collecting on my brow from the summer heat, there was only one thing to do....

No, I didn't do that. I took SoEM for a swim.

There is something about watching my almost-two-year old go charging down a small slope towards the swimming area at the Arlington reservoir while yelling, "Splish splash!" at the top of his lungs that made my problems seem miniscule. Something about him laughing at the top of his lungs as I swam underwater to squeeze his legs that eased away my frustrations and fears. Digging with him in the mud was probably more relaxing than a mud bath at a spa. In short, an afternoon spent cooling down with SoEM saved dear ol' Dad from wallowing in the mire of despair.

Thank you little man.

Oh the Places I've Been

I'm full of excuses and not many of them are all that valid.

For starters, I promised to write up a show I saw on May 1st and could not get it done even though The Dawg and Poni Show tore it up with a sound that owed a lot to Living Color, Bad Brains and Prince and The 86ers also blew my head open although what else could I expect from a band fronted by George, formerly of Honkeyball(showing my age). Sorry for my slackness fellas, I promise something a little more indepth next time.

Then at the end of May, I wound up with my little fam and some friends in St. Augustine, Fla. There's a reason that most people I've talked to have raved about the place. Plenty of mellow, lots of history, good food, Yuengling and I did ok on the waves with a flat as hell Velzy tuflite. We'll be headed back there.

More to come and hopefully in a more timely fashion.

By the way, the above picture was taken by our good friend and photog extraordinaire, Jackie.

Back for More

Thursday and Friday of this past week saw some truly great weather in New England and also marked my return to the lineup after the obligatory "too damn cold" layoff. To prep, I had been watching surf flicks like I was watching game film and mentally listing all the stuff I was going to try to work into my (limited) repertoire. I have also been getting in some exercise and some yoga to stay flexy.

How did I fare?

Ha. Well, rust is rust. My paddling wasn't great and my timing was off so I whiffed more than connected and the water still isn't exactly bath water but at the end of the day, I'm chuffed that I got back out there and these sessions are just the first of many more. Not to mention, I'm heading to St. Augustine, Fla in a couple months. Surfing in trunks.

Escential

Perhaps some of you recall that after replacing the punk rock wetsuit, I intended to write a review of its replacement. Of course, I never got around to it, until now that is.

My original intent was to find a suit not built by one of the bigger companies. No doubt, some of these companies have their product wired but being a fan of the underdog, I figured on going with a smaller outfit. My decision came down to either a suit by then fledgling company Escential and UK based Nineplus. In the end, I went with the Escential suit.

Caveat time. It's probably riskier to go with a newer brand. Bugs need to get worked out and all that. That said, I still pulled the trigger. I ordered the suit(3/2) through Icons of Surf and got it fairly quickly, although it didn't see duty until May-ish.

The Pros - The fit was proper, flushing was minimal, and there is a fleece-like lining in the chest area for added warmth. The suit was also quite flexible.

The Cons - There was no key pocket or loop and within a couple of months, some seams on the inner thigh started to come loose and the glue around the smooth skin on the chest started to gap a bit.

As far as customer service goes, Escential are fantastic. I sent an email to Carl, the owner of the company about the seams and he had me send it back and replaced it with a brand new suit. The newer suit is the one pictured and has held up fairly well, although it has the same problem with the smooth skin around the chest. Apparently Escential has dealt with this problem by doing away with the smooth skin and it has added to the durability, although I don't have one of the newer versions.

So....do I recommend this product? I do. For the price, as well as the fact that the customer service is top notch AND that Escential is going to lengths to address any durability issues serves to make them a company worth checking out. I also dig the fact that they're based on the East Coast.

Once again, I don't get anything for the product placement. I just wanted to give with an unbiased review of a good product. If you need a new suit, support the small guy and check 'em out.