earth day = humans day

what am I doing for earth day? well I rode my bike to work in the pissing spring rain. please hold your applause. riding my bike to work is not going to "save our planet."

this may get a little ranty so cool your boots.

We’ve been getting duped for a long time with this earth day bullshit. Now everyone is “green” and every company offers a “green” product line. You can pledge monthly tithing’s to save: whales, wolves, hawks, beaches, frogs and trees. Hell you can even pledge to send some poor belly full of worms kid in a developing country to school. You can put their picture on your fridge and smile each time you go for your next beer. But really what it all boils down to is saving our own asses.

Before I get too cynical let I re-direct.

We are animals. Unlike other animals like iguanas in the Galapagos Islands, we do not speciate. This means that we are not limited by geographic location as we can adapt to live in any part of our earth. Like the iguana, we have a habitat which needs a basic level of natural functioning to support the life of the iguana. Any radical changes in the Galapagos sea iguanas’ environment and it will die. This is the same for us. However, because we can adapt so easily, and we can eat and digest just about anything, our habitat is not as easily derailed as say that of a really specialized animals like the marine iguana of the Galapagos.

All I’m saying through the above obvious statement is that we need to be honest with ourselves and with the language we use. We are destroying our own habitats. Some have destroyed theirs so completely that it doesn’t support them any longer and they must rely on aid. Haiti is the perfect example. I won’t waste any virtual ink on the blaming game as to who is responsible for the most damage to our habitat (we all know it’s the developed countries). The bottom line is that if you shit in your cage then you gotta sleep in your shit.

So what is the answer? How do we fix things? According to some it may be too late but perhaps the most powerful thing anyone in a developed country can do to help preserve their “own” habitat is to radically cut down on their total consumption of resources. I will leave it that as I intended this to be more linguistic discussion than an ethical argument about consumerism environmentalism.

Happy Humans Day!

style: danny MacAskill

I spend a lot of time on my ass either behind my desk at work or in the evenings at home after work. but there is one lesson that I learned from years of skateboarding and the same lesson has been re-stamped in my will after the last three years of steady surfing. the only way to achieve anything is to put in the work and to be present and engaged during the process, learning from mistakes and successes. in the last few days I've been more sedentary than usual due to a lack of waves. I ran on the weekend and finally busted out few calisthenics yesterday. however,that is not even enough for maintenance.

luckily I found this newly posted gem. danny macaskill is amazingly fluid. he's like a mix between ryan leech and chase hawk. if your into cycling or human mechanics or will power then you'll appreciate this video. now I'm off to do some stretching.

stick out your chest: the book Chavez gave Obama

and not your ass

OK so some people think that the Hawaiian surf culture can take localism too far. that they use violence too easily. but what else is a people to do? the video below is very interesting and features a member of Da Hui reading an open letter to the people of Tahiti encouraging them to stand up against Billabong and the ASP and demand to be able to take a greater part in the contest both as competitors and organizers.

why? because it is their land, their wave, their culture, their capital interest and their sovereign right. I truly and sincerely hope that the Tahitian's take heed and move to force the ASP to comply.


this brings me to another point. I have often lamented here that the internet has questionable benefits in terms of human and personal relations. but the same way as Da Hui video will influence many so has the photo and story of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez gifting a communist book to America's Barak Obama.



the book is "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent." in the book author Eduardo Galeano explores the "various facets of Latin American history according to the patterns of five centuries of exploitation."

exploitation may seem like a harsh word to some North Americans, especially if you are a good law abiding citizen who works an honest wage and takes care of his family. but we need to open our eyes to the vast desert of social and environmental destruction which we are leaving behind in our wake of over consumption.


Chavez is brilliant in this public propaganda stunt. by this simple gesture he will effectively educate thousands of Americans in the way of economic and military exploitation that the US has been so successful at inflicting on Latin America. I hope that the Tahitians too will take back what is rightfully theirs and demand a major share in the earnings of the western companies who are exploiting Tahiti's natural resources.

reggae vibes de pon blogger

for all you lickele reggae vibes fans don forget to check pull up selecta for the best in old and young reggae videos

learnins

go and come

drove 710 miles from Fenway stadium in downtown Boston to our front door in Halifax yesterday. this morning the rising sun shone through my window at 6:30 waking me before the blasted beeping nightmare of an alarm.

I'm glad to be back in Canada where the greater good of the people is valued above that of the individual. thanks Canada for having me.

so I leave you with one of Canada's grandest musical performers

new hampshire beach break

B and I drove for 10 hours yesterday and arrived at our friends house just as the tide was going low. I suited up quickly and grabbed my fish and ran the two blocks to the beach. I had not surfed a beach break since New York last fall. the waves were small and a little weak but two or three turned out to be fun. I'm not one to complain about rideable surf. it was fun to be in slightly warmer water and to surf with no leash without fearing the rocky shores like back home.

I walked down this morning at sunrise hoping that there may still be a small pulse left. no luck. but I did find this nice video clip for ya. not sure what the soundtrack is but it sounds like Orange 9mm.


Fresh Fruit for Rotten Vegetables from Surf Craft Media on Vimeo.

first light sessions

12' @ 12 seconds
high tide
water temp 35
southwest wind
southwest swell
found shelter
but a bit drifty
did the walk back up the point a dozen times
rode a 5'11" twin for the first time
on my backhand
goooood times
in the water at 6:15
back to the car at 8:30
early bird scores
every time
seen

hey -if yer reading this and you live here then you should give 'er

three days

Rain is softly pattering outside as the low moves over the mainland. I sit at my desk, organizing my thoughts for the days toil. But I keep slipping back to feelings of paddling through ocean swells. I surfed three days straight. The first day in stormy overhead peaky surf, the fog so thick that the usual indicators were hidden on shore, forcing me to sit closer to the boils on the takeoff zone than I’m comfortable doing. A few late drops combined with several beatings made for some good cleansing after a weeks work. As the fog lifted in the early afternoon it let the onshore winds in like opening the flood gates, killing any hopes for those that waited.

On Sunday I rose an hour before my alarm was set. I was on the road by six, trying to make it to the lookout spot by first light at six seventeen. The fog still present but not dense enough to ward off the southwest winds, I coasted down the hill and up the coast looking for shelter and size. Nothing. Finally, I drove back to where I should have started and found an inside section perfectly sheltered and peeling. Mostly chest high with a few head high sets, I shared the drifty peaks with a small crew as they rinsed the previous night’s revelries by immersing themselves in the still icy cold Atlantic.

Yesterday the receding swell granted me another small window of opportunity. This time the waist high waves came scant, but clean and perfect as they wrapped into the bay. Just two friends and I shared the little jewel. Off in the distance we would see the plumes of breaking waves over a shallow reef. In the bay the wind was calm and the sky overcast. The grey light making it so that the steely colour of sea surface and grey clouds blended, camouflaging the tiny pulses until they hit the cobblestone bottom and stood for a second before crumbling into mellow shoulders. I surfed for over two hours, mostly on the eggy thruster which at 5’10” and foiled makes me feel like I can turn like never before.

On the bus ride to work this morning I stood and held on to the railing and the bus bobbed up and down on soft air shocks over the winter’s rain filled potholes. I could feel the muscles on my back and shoulders repairing after so much paddling. I look around the bus and wonder how many of my fellow passengers communed with the elements. I sincerely hope that the number is higher than my cynicism will allow me to guess at. I don’t feel disdain or pity for them if they are sedentary. I only wonder why? Why would we live in these amazingly tuned and functioning bodies and not learn to use them to move through space with the grace of birds and fish? And why did I leave my bike at work forcing me to take this blasted bus.

picaresque trailer 2009

this is the only film that I've been really excited to see. DeTemple is stylish. D$ has surfed with him in overhead Southbeach mackers and seen Mickey pull into tubes like the A in Manhattan. and for those of you who think that riding lonboards is for pussys -let's meet at the point on heavy single fin logs on a head high day and see what a gwaan.

seen.


Picaresque Trailer 2009 from High Seas Films on Vimeo.

two growllers

propeller IPA growler -best beer in town

and the growlers her command accoustic version

un-skunked

well after a hella sprint home on the mighty Cross Check after work yesterday I loaded up the blue flame still breathless and tried to beat rush hour traffic and the fading swell. I surfed for a couple of hours with some local heavies. even though the waves had dropped a bit and the peaks were shifty everyone seemed genuinely happy to be surfing on a Tuesday evening. local shredder Nico was out makin it look easy as usual blastin 360 grabs way up above the lip. other certain individuals were pickin off mackers from outside on quad fishes and snappin turns under offshore groomed lips. I got a few little ones on the 5'10" Stamps skillet which by the way is about as fun as a case of beer on a Wednesday night with an empty belly and a get out of work for a day pass. got home to turkey dinner with B and E and the in laws, enjoyed a couple of fine bottles of Keith's finest, and went to bed at 10. all in a days surf eh.

the latest issue of SBC Surf is out and this time it's packed with content. quite a few travel stories including gnar backpacking back country surf adventures. there's also some loggin photos from local lumberjack and Californios. I was able to somehow squeeze two little pieces in there. they are at the newsstands now so whateryawaitinfor?

tuesday email to D$

wind 23G31 N 32/33 9' @ 10 seconds


"yo

faaack. we're getting hammered by a fucking snowstorm. I busted my ass preparing everything for a DP this morning. woke up after restless sleep - [I dreamed that B was gut shot in a war and refused to get treatment] - I checked the weather and the roads were sketchy as fuck and the offshores gusting to 50 knots! back to bed. then I got up again had coffee and checked the work email and by boss is mad. then I shoveled for about a half hour, showered and rode my bike in. the ride was OK 'cause it was snowy and not icy. I had to get on a main road towards the centre of town and got fucking sprayed with dirty salty diarrhea like snow all over my jeans -why I didn't wear my rain pants is beyond me. I get to work and realize that both sets of car keys are in me jacket which means B and her visiting parents are stuck at home which in turn means that it's unlikely that I'll be able to go for an evening surf as they'll need the car. foiled again. skunked. office working is for people whose passion in life is not dependent on the weather."

pull up selecta!

started a new page over the weekend called Pull up Selecta. I'll be posting pure reggae vibes from youtube. reggae music is my favourite musical genre and I can't really say why. it's sorta like having a magic surfboard, it just feels right. so I'll try and cut down on videos here on KuYah and instead post them on Pull up Selecta.

respec every time

do it how you want

 

 

 

 

knee high to as big as it got and often cordless, buddy's one board quiver fit perfect on the side of his bike with tent and other living needs.

beachies

really looking forward to 5 AM dawn sessions at this spot inna couple months

wednesday II

blacks tuckin in.

photo cred. here

Dubcast #14 long time no dub

tek it easy man.
Dubcast #14 long time no dub

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all day surfing wednesday

here's JB making the best of a Wednesday morning. Doc posted up on the bank and took a couple of shots before suiting up. secret spot all the way. I'd have to kill ya. we surfed three hours in the morning then changed out of our wetsuits, had some lunch and watched the waves. then it was back in for another two hours. super heavy off shore winds all day. good times had by the small crew and I'm a tired one now. making some rose and prosciutto sauce with penne for B and then it's off to bed.

protec yuh neck bwoy

Marine Forecast
Winds
Issued 03:00 AM ADT 24 March 2009

Today Tonight and Wednesday Gale warning in effect.
Wind northeast 35 knots increasing to 45 early this evening then backing to north 35 Wednesday evening.


Waves
Issued 05:00 AM ADT 24 March 2009
Today Tonight and Wednesday Seas 3 to 4 metres building to 5 Wednesday morning.

listen to death

first I read about on Foulweather and then I saw it at Matt Chester's space -two of my favourite social critics. so it is that I pass it on...

death -what ever the hype that comes now what was done was done and that is what it is.

what it is

work

over the years I've had lots of jobs. always avoided restaurant work. wouldn't have the patience with someone being rude about their steak. here's a list jobs I've had.



- Printing press assistant on a 1910’s three color press
- Grocery store clerk
- Landscape worker (several years)
- Children’s librarian assistant
- University library clerk
- Construction worker (several years) building foundations, carpentry and renovations
- Customer service –phone and Internet
- Land surveyor – rod man
- Truck loader for a shipping company
- Community organizer
- After school program manager
- Peace Corps volunteer
- Administrative assistant
- International development organization administrator
- Free-lance writer

in an ideal world I would wake up early as I do now. make breakfast and coffee for B and look after the dog and other morning activities. then I'd go for a surf. after surf I'd do some writing for a few hours. have some lunch and perhaps do some gardening or tidying up around the house. go for an afternoon glass off session. make a nice dinner for B and in bed by 10. perfect. nice to dream no?

tired boss

winds 14 G 18-N 34/34 6'@ 13 seconds

the Doc and I met Blacks for an old time session. check two spots and decide on a secret location. no one out. north-north east winds. a few peaks here and there. paddle across the headland and get some lefts where there shouldn't be. swell straight out da east makin for some funny angles at the usual spots. no one out. two hours and our feets is numb. the Doc just in from out yonder freezing from lack of acclimation. two hour nap at noon and already had a full day.

no seal and hawk sitting like yesterday but I did manage a sub-zero sunburn on me face.

my.

B and are making food for birthday Doc.

on the menu: tacos 'al pastor with roasted pineapple and home made tortillas. salsa the agaucate picante with chips and scallop ceviche with cucumber and mango.

orale güey. dame tres por favor.

thinking ahead

street art in one of it's many forms does what it does best here. social commentary for the masses. too bad we seldom learn from our mistakes. more from Vinchen here

"the traditional teaching of the Church has proven to be the only failsafe way to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids".

Pope Benedict XVI

only one conclusion can be drawn from this statement. the world we live in is absolutely absurd and paradoxical. there are over 22 million HIV infected people in Africa. that's two thirds of Canada's entire population. and the best way to deal with it is through abstinence and prayer?

Nico's Lunch

Nico is one of those guys that makes surfing look easy. He's got a keen sense of positioning on the wave and hell of a lot of skill. I can't say that I know him well but the times we've been in the water together he definitely has a positive vibe and is well respected by his peers. Here's a short film done by local filmmaker Aaron Jackson featuring Nico and B.C.'s Pete Devries. These two are probably Canada's best surfers. Although the footage here is mostly from late summer early fall, it blows my mind to think of the hours these guys have put in in the most extreme cold conditions, wearing pounds of neoprene rubber and braving conditions that are outright dangerous.

Nova Scotia is arguably one of the coldest places in the world to be a year-round surfer. Yes colder than Norway on the average. The level of commitment from these guys who dedicate their lives to surfing is unparalleled.

Beware -> Tarrus Riley

been a long time now since I left Jamaica. one of the important lessons about living in developing countries is that I’ve learned how resource rich my life here is. it’s hard to be grateful sometimes. it’s easy to get vexed about trivial shit. but dammit at least I have a future filled with food, shelter and safety. that’s more than heaps of people have in Jamaica.

Jamaican music is a music of protest. I didn’t really understand that well until I’d lived there and learned to understand patois. many of Bob Marley’s songs are in patois and it’s funny to hear them played on advertising or at parties and people don’t understand how aggressive the lyrics are. or perhaps we don’t care, were oblivious to what’s happening outside of our culture.

but what Jamaican people may lack in resources they make up for with a passion for life and music. you can hear sound systems all over the island blasting the latest big tune. each month a new riddim will come out and every top dj will write lyrics and before long one or two or sometimes more versions of the riddim will be on everyone’s lips. taxis always blast the radio. in the country or in Town little kids rock and wine in front of the huge stacks of speakers. youths lean up against the sound and smoke spliffs and cigarettes and if there’s money they hold a Guinness. grown men play dominoes under mango trees on makeshift tables as the music from the nearest sound fills the steamy air with pulsing baselines. grannies make rice and tin mackerel on the coal stove and sing old church songs as if on stage. and the people live, survive and sing.

when there’s no future there is still music and community. that’s something. give thanks.

bajan diy

style + speed.

Zorba is recession proof

in times of bankruptcy and failing governments, and rising sea levels, and depleted fish stocks, and poisoned rivers, and suicide mass murderers in Germany and the US, and religious zealotry, and pollution, overpopulation, and consumerism over humanism -there's still always hope.

flow like water, subvert when necessary and be like Zorba, full of love of music and dance, fueled with a passion for good food, drink and friendships. this one goes out to Matty, the good Doctor and most importantly my dear Dad, who's always taught me the value of integrity and to avoid the love of things. for as Malcolm Johnson quotes from Snyder in his last entry : "the best things in life are not things."

the virtue of ego

on my way in to work this morning I was thinking about the ghetto boys. I felt like my mind was playin tricks on me and I was wrestling my way out. what kinda tricks? dirty ones. ones that make you feel like you know where you stand when in fact you’re about to sink in quicksand.

a while ago Foulweather wrote an insightful piece on community and the Internet.

“I fear people are seeking community here at the expense of real community, taking social risks 'online' but barely able to have meaningful interactions with their neighbors. It is going to catch up to us. There's nothing better than going a way from computers, cell phones and all that shit and having to actually interact with real live physical people.”

the internet gives us a false sense of community. I say false because although we do create some sort of community through our blogs or forums or the scourge that is social networking sites such as fecalbook, it is all based on words and images which may or may not reflect anything about our individual day to day lives. knowingly or not we build these virtual persona and social groups which exist primarily in our heads and fingertips.

you may ask what is wrong with that. isn’t it the way of the future?

remember that sci-fi film a while back when the guy goes into the future and meets a girl. he thinks that they are about to have sex when suddenly she sits him down and hands him some sorta helmet with which they will make a virtual romantic experience. the irony of course being that they are in a room, alone, sitting mere inches from each other –the perfect conditions for a true intimate experience.

the point I’m trying to make is that we are already separated enough from the natural world tucked away in our offices and cars and malls. and now with our “internet communities” we are separating ourselves even farther from a natural experience. humanity separated itself from nature a long time ago with its “taming” of nature and creation of the scientific method. this intellectual separation from nature has had many ill side effects which have been written about and documented by the same said scientists. however, this current separation that is taking place from natural human relationships is still new and can have massive potential downfalls.

in the immediate I write these words as a didactic self exercise –exorcism. I want to remind myself that what gives me meaning is making dinner with B each night, or meeting a certain dark one at the crack of dawn for a dip in the turbulent north Atlantic, or making lots of double shot espressos with my co-worker all day long to see if we can hallucinate from too much caffeine.

this space is no more than a sounding board for my ego, a way for me to learn to express myself with the ultimately ineffectual written word (more on this topic some other time).

I leave with the classic from Bushwick Bill and crew.

kalle lasn (monkey see -do)

L.A.: But what about the good ideas? Do they really come from cyber these days, as some people are saying?

Kalle Lasn: I don’t know, I’m from the old school. I don’t see it yet. I see a lot of frenetic activity in cyberspace, but a lot of it is like the postmodern hall of mirrors. It’s just people sending email messages to each other, hand on the mouse, and you think that you’ve done something great if you get some big idea here and send an email to your friend, and pass it on, and you think you have made some sort of a big thing for the day. I don’t actually see too many really new ideas coming out of cyberspace yet. I see a lot of new ideas still coming out of philosophers, musicians, thinkers, sociologists, a few economists. I think that the big ideas are still coming out in the traditional way, and then they start to reverberate within cyberspace. They are amplified there in cyberspace.

for the rest of the interview go to adbusters

soundbites for this reading provided by dub.com dubcast #6

Halifax -morning views

photos ras

going back to Hali

from PDX to Halifax and back. weird seems like deja vu. hope you guys out there in Stumptown are starting to feel spring. speaking of lack of spring, surfed this evening in -8 C air temps. unbelievable session, alone out there with reeling rights coming through head high. no one out. I made some sketchy ass drops on the 9`6`and then out to the nose for the steepest nose rides I`ve ever done. funny how different a chest to head high wave can feel on a log.

tonight`s video is josh martinez and other Halifax crew doing a play on L.L.'s classic tune. shot mostly downtown and on the McDonald bridge. rad.

my old Jamaican roommates les and hi-C grew with L.L. in NYC. lots of blunts in that Orlando apartment. they always looked at me like I was crazy headin out the door, six two 70's single under one arm.



oh and one more thing -I`ve surfed 4 out of the last 5 days. think I`m finally reaching the top rung in the ladder of success. workaholism is for the birds and boring folk.

"creation plantation"

another rad cy sutton film! peep Christian W. ripping on an alaia.

Tom's Creation Plantation Trailer from Cyrus Sutton on Vimeo.

sometimes all you need is a little ink.

weekend surfs

surfed the past two days. on saturday I waited all day long for the wind to come around as forecasted. and it did come around but the waves were tiny. I brought my fish and should have had the log. the dribbly knee high waves were barely rideable and I paddled around for an hour just to stay loose.

yesterday after making B some bacon and heart-shaped pancakes I got online to check the buoys. 5' @ 8 seconds meant that there should something somewhere. I grabbed my log this time and went for a drive. as I walked out over the bluff I could see way out to sea, the coast to the east zigging and zagging into the many bays and inlets. there was no one out, no one in sight at all for the matter. a three wave set rolled in at what looked to be waist high if a little smaller. perfect. I suited up and scaled the bluff,careful not to loose footing and end up with a broken neck.

the water is still ridiculously cold and the air temps was around -8 C. I paddled out and waited for a few moments for the first wave and it came, they came. for two hours I surfed mostly alone. the only memorable wave was a waist high wall that actually had some form. as I bottom turned the board drifted up into the lip as an egg railed sled will and I walked out to the nose. it felt locked as I was in the cheater five stance so I brought my left foot forward and stood tall, two boot tips over and the wave face below.

it seems crazy to go surfing in this terrible cold when the waves are barely big enough to push you along. but what else am I to do? it's too cold and icy outside to do anything else and the thought of sitting around all winter getting stiff and old is not comforting. at some point B and I will have to look south again, to somewhere where wearing a t-shirt outdoors is the norm. I don't care if the waves are tiny or sketchy or huge as long as I can surf. but for now I am in love with this cold place, its view-scapes, its customs and its people.



I like Tyler Warren's style. He's not too epileptic and yet not to easy.

bull bay

my good friend Felon used to keep two boards at Billy's place. he'd come outta the Manchester hills once a month or so and go down to Bull Bay for a surf and some reasonin at the Mystic house. I went down once. we paddled out at the zoo. hadn't surfed in over a year -bloated like a dead dog on the side of a sunny road from too much shitty livin. I caught naught a wave. meantime Felon and Icah and some of the other youth were ripping the little A-frame beachie.

in the evening after gettin some food on the street we had a little jam session. me on the bass and Felon on guitar. one of Billy's sons on the drums and the other on the keys. without a doubt one of the most interesting days I ever had while living in Jamaica.

Jamaica is a place of beauty and paradox. for young men growing up there in poverty there's little if any hope to make a living and support a family by any legal means. Zulu, I hope everting is alright me brejren inna Morrant Bay seen. respec.

counter --> culture

I have been alerted that we are in the midst of standardization boys and girls. yes, me and you are all lookin alike, with a few minor adjustments here and there. like the tract houses where you can get different paint colour and a round or hexagonal port window in the gable, we are all the same sane worker bees. and where's the counter culture?

-hell if I know. I got my sweater at the Gap. the home of weaves weaved by little fingers. yes, I am a supporter of homogeneity and ill will in the workforce of imperial money mongers.

where do we go in these dysthimic times?

"well Mr. Butrin let me tell you what. You just sit right there and let me get you a glass of water with that and in time you'll be feelin all right."

so I get on the bus with my headphones on and look over the harbour. in the corner of my eye I can see my fellow passenger. a downward twist in the corner of her mouth betrays her tension, her inability to feel at ease at all.

I see the stacks, newly painted in their red and white stripes. the three plumes today are moving up and then slightly east. the surface of the harbour oily near the dry docks and with a small ripple breaking the sky's mirror for the day.

my head is filled with thoughts of paddling into steep faces. I can visualize flexing my upper torso musculature to lift my chest from the deck and bring my feet under me, shoulder width apart in a parallel stance. I can see the nose of my board inches above the curve of the water and after an instant I can feel the pull of gravity one way as I redirect the sled up the face pushing water with rail and fin.

then the bus halts and I get up, adjust my bag on my shoulder trying not to squish my lunch and apple into a pulpy mess. as I step onto the sidewalk bordering the ancient cemetery I look up at the trees and the church steeple. blue bird skies mean minus something cold and the twiggy leafless branches appear crisply in the light.

I walk up the street and listen intently to the music piped into my ears for the last fleeting moments of free thought.

counter what? who? how?

offshore winds

photo ras

alone at an A-frame

wow. sometimes my luck is so good that I don't even wanna tell you for fear of sounding boasty.

the alarm went off at six I awoke startled and completely lost. after an instant I remembered that I was going surfing. I slipped into my wetsuit and booties and loaded up the blue flame after putting out the garbage and recycling. the drive was uneventful, if a little gray. the stacks were plumbing west but lightly so.

I arrived at the A-frame and took a peak. one guy out but in the wrong position, too far east. I watched it for a minute and then drove down to check two other spots. a small crew was floating out back waiting for sets. the horizon appeared flat. I went back to the A-frame. from the lot the left looked small. it always deceives.

mitts on and down the rocky icy path. I paddled out through the flat bay towards the peak and a little past where I thought I should sit. one came through and peaked up, wrapping towards me with speed and threatening to put me in too deep. I popped up to instant high speed down the face. bottom turn and tuck into the steep wall, always too far in front of the barrel. stand up straight and point the nose down for massive speed before compressing and whipping up into the face. I carve off the top, the west wind sending the spray like so much jet steam behind me. I pump down the face and compress on the bottom turn and right back up into the lip. a few more top to bottom speed pumps and kick out. stoked.

I surfed by myself for over an hour. the sets were overhead and the third wave in the set would swing wide and line up towards the west. there were barrel sections on the set waves. I tried a few, saw the lip above me on one but didn't get that fabled sound. foiled again. as I write these words my body is cold but completely relaxed. what an amazing opportunity I have to able to surf. for this I humbly give thanks.

jesus malverde protect us

it’s easy to demonize the cartel boys from Mexico as they slay each other by the dozen. how could they be so brutal, so inhuman? why have they allowed the drug trade to take over their communities? perhaps it’s better to break it down a little.

•during the mid to late 1800's the US fought a dirty war in attempt to capture as much Mexican territory as possible. Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian gives us a graphic, albeit fictional account of how that time transpired
•completion of the Glenn Canyon Damn in 1963, effectively robbing water from Mexico -“the Colorado River Delta in Mexico is deprived of silt and vital nutrients, which has changed a once lush environment to infertile land.”
•NAFTA

oh there’s a lot more in the history over the past 100 years that can help explain why Mexico is in the state that it is today. the war on drugs in Mexico is nothing more than an economic struggle. the people from the north of Mexico have no way to make a living. the lands are not arable. factories have closed due to cheaper labor in Asia.

the cartels exist because in North America and Western Europe there is a huge demand for drugs. at what point will we take responsibility? are we not to blame for the violence which happens in order to maintain the flow of drugs north? it’s the same with diamonds and hard woods from the Congo, or coal from Colombia, or garments from sweatshops in South East Asia.

at what point do we accept some responsibility for the slayings, the desertification of once fertile lands, the indentured servitude of millions of hands, deforestation, starvation, human trafficking, and on and on? I don’t mean to navel gaze. I’m completely aware as to how I benefit from our taking and taking. I just want to be honest, and see myself as no different than the cartel boys. the only difference between them and me is our weapon of choice. mine is my wallet while theirs is the pistol.

the long and the short

two right points in two days. saturday gone fishin, mid-mornin mid-tide. walked up to the point, waited for a lull. waded out through round rocks and kelp 'till it's deep enough to paddle fins free from danger. head high take offs and clean mellow walls. trying out a wider stance and fadin slow off the top. nothin to watch but fun enough for the pilot.

today paddled out to a different right point, same size but disorganized, like my desk at work. me, blacks and our other fishin friend and later a fellow fisherman on his new trifin. I traded off my log for the two fishes for a few reelin lefts into the point. paddle outside for a couple of bigger sets on the log. drop in, bottom turn to lock the rail and walk north.

interesting switching back and forth between the long and the short. fun. water is still 0 Celsius. the vibes mostly good. all in all good to be in the water with friends, sunshine and wind, piloting surfcraft across space.

open letter to Dog the Bounty Hunter

In the spirit Foulweather I would like offer up this open letter to Mr. Duane Chapman, aka Dog the Bounty Hunter.

First off let’s get the obvious out of the way. The people who gave you a contract for your show are clowning you. No doubt. Everyone knows that the ugly ass futuristic Oakley’s and dirt rock ultra-mullet, combined with the mini feather boas hanging down your temples are only there to drive the clowns home. You see, the thing is that people probably like your show because: a. there’s lots of violence and b. because it makes them feel like their lives are more meaningful than yours and your captives. Don’t get me wrong Dog, I’m not knocking your profession. I’m sure that it’s a good gig and perhaps even a necessary public service. But is it entertainment? And the prayer circles holding hands before you spray someone with mace in the face? Are you asking forgiveness before your pre-meditated attack? I don’t know how that would hold up at the pearly gates but surely in court pre-meditated violent acts are a no no.

Not sure how the locals in Hawaii feel about you and I dare not speak for them. However, I get the sense that in your holier than thou cavalier attitude going around arresting cracked out offenders you rarely show the Hawaiian people in anything but a negative light. And there’s not a whole lot of Hawaiians on TV so this really must make an impact on public perception. I wonder if you’re considered haole offender number one? Don’t you see that it’s people like yourself who are to blame for many of the social problems in Hawaii? I’m not gonna go into a deep discussion on the adverse social impacts of post-colonialism on local cultures but you get the idea.

Here’s the bottom line Mr. Dog. You represent all of the shitty American character traits that the world loves to hate. You are loud and overbearing. You use your religion like a badge to abuse people (by broadcasting for all to see their lowest moments) who you feel are in the wrong and lesser than you. You are a bigot. You willingly make an ass of yourself and your family for a fucking paycheck. And you flaunt all of it. But the biggest offense is that you have your little contrived self-deprecating act going making us think that you are working hard to be empathetic and god abiding for the good of society. You and GW Bush are the same excepting fashion.

So please stop playing yourself. Do your work and do it well but don’t use your captives as a means to add to the bond money you’re collecting. And stop proselytizing already it’s embarrassing. Maybe if you spend more time surfing you’d be less of a kook eh bra.

the fixed gear tricks are lame rant

some subculture splinter groups are just trite and lame. take for example the fixed gear riders who perform "tricks" on their bikes. stuff like flat ground bar spins, or one footed skids or wheelies. it's boring.

why not just ride a bmx?

it's actually pretty funny, the whole fixed gear hipster vibe. there seems to be such a fashion code for dress and bike looks. yesterday here in Halifax I saw two track specific fixes with the must have docked riser bars and bmx pad on the top tube. why not? everybody's doing it.

I guess the reason I find it annoying is because it's elitist. as in 'we're cooler and more urban than you' elitist. it's the same with any other subculture I reckon -like the Gothic Dolphins displacement movement, or the SoCal I don't give a shit loggin like an epileptic movement, or krumpers in Idaho corn fields claimin it, or coffee connoisseurs drinking the dregs shit out by civet cats in some far off rain forest for $10 a cup. damn!

yeah I can hear what yer thinkin. "man this guy just wishes he was in the clique." don't get me wrong, fixed gear bikes are amazingly fun to ride. one of my first posts here was about commuting on a fix and learning to flow. but for chrisakes its still just a bike!

or maybe 'ol Chinasky was right when he said: “To do a dull thing with style-now THAT'S what I call art.” bastard.

here's some fun fixed gear triockery for ya

quiver

my quiver has changed and morphed quite a bit over the past two years. when I started this page I had two Neilson's. now I have one remaining and in between that two more. not because I don't love Tom's shapes but because it's hard to get them up here in Canada without spending a ton of dough on shipping, especially for a log. probably the number one reason that my boards have changed over time is the fact that I've improved a bit. here's my first quiver shot form 2006. and here's one from last summer.

first up is the Rocky McKinnon log. dims are 9'6" x 23" x 3". single fin, t-band stringer and heavy heavy glass. so far I've surfed this baby cordless only and plan to keep it that way. It's the best longboard I've ever had and really digging it on the perfect little point waves here.


below is my shortboard and most used sled. I went from a 6'4" EPS Neilson FFF to a 5'8" x 2'5" Tim Stamps quad fish. although the green machine was rad, ultimately it was too buoyant for my weight and I couldn't sink the rail on turns. I stepped down to the 5'8" quad and it's been steadily improving my surfing. this beasty flies, especially going backside. surfed it from thigh high to way overhead and never felt life it wouldn't work -my magic board.



finally the mini-gun -made in 2003 specifically for Oregon from a green Clark blank, with a deep single concave and it's about 2.5 inches thick. I rarely use it and haven't used it now in over a year and really for the waves I frequent it's not necessary. B did the stencil and art direction so we keep it around as an artifact/art piece.


there was an interesting article written by my mate D$ on Phoresia.org a little while back about having a two board quiver. I've been surfing on and off now since around 1994. at first I floundered on a 6'4" Quiet Flight for a couple of months and then bought my first longboard. my surfing evolved from years of skateboarding and from riding longboards. I ride mostly off my front foot, with a narrow stance and basically just like to go fast. surfing helps to keep the type II belt around my waist to a minimum. and the two board quiver allows me the freedom to not have to struggle with what board to surf and just go out and surf with no doubts. as long as surfing is fun I'm on it.

after one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say 'I want to see the manager'

william s. burroughs

flow like chase

last friday was not as good as I'd hoped. gale force offshore's aren't uncommon with nice long period waves. figures. looks like another storm is coming at weeks end. keepin my fingers crossed cause it feels like a while since I've had a solid session.
found this photo on msw taken by frenchguy. I was out there at the time of the photo. there were some good lefts, fast down the line.


if I could flow on water the way chase hawk flows on land... no brakes, no corrections, just smooth lines.

I'm on it

Waves Eastern Shore - eastern half
Issued 05:00 AM AST 13 February 2009
Today Tonight and Saturday Seas 2 to 3 metres building to 3 to 5 early this afternoon then subsiding to 2 to 3 overnight. Seas subsiding to 2 Saturday afternoon.

Foul Weatehr on Kurungabaa

check out the little piece about Foul Weather on Kurungabaa. It's here kurungabaa.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/foul-weather/

Kurungabaa is a great surf journal from Australia. Check it out.

an dis wan goes out to me lickle B.

versions - "Let Down" by Radiohead

I love Radiohead. It seems that the more I listen the more it emblazons into my psyche. here is the original Let Down. The Easy Star All-Stars recently did a cover of this song with the golden voiced Toots. You can here that version here: Easy Star All Stars, Let Down.


and in other Easy Star news, the band is releasing their third tribute album. This time a Beatles tribute covering the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It's due out April 14th and "features guest vocals from an impressive list of reggae, dancehall and dub greats including Steel Pulse, Matisyahu, Michael Rose (Black Uhuru), Luciano, U Roy, Bunny Rugs (Third World), Ranking Roger (English Beat), Sugar Minott, Frankie Paul, Max Romeo and The Mighty Diamonds. The first single, “With A Little Help From My Friends,” featuring Luciano, will be released as an iTunes exclusive February 10. It will be paired with a b-side dub version featuring the legendary U Roy." bumbo clot bwoy!

phelps, kellogs, SNL, hypocracy

I'd like to dedicate this here clip to tres arboles who wrote a great rant about Kellogs dumping Phelps for smoking weed.




legalize marijuana already. this is getting ridiculous. the United States has more people incarcerated than any country on earth. yes even more than the axis of evil communist countries. of course business being business and profit margins the main priority, jails are a "good" way to make money. bullshit.

I support Michael Phelps. He's an amazing athlete. Oh and in case you didn't know, marijuana is not a sports enhancing drug. who gives a shit if Phelps wants to get stoned.

scary fast in the alpenrose velodrome

I rode the Alpenrose velodrome once with my friend T-Bone. We were newly arrived in PDX and we knew that one of the few outdoor velodromes in the US was but a short drive from downtown. Alpenrose is made out of concrete and I think it's one of the steepest tracks around. the day we rode it there was no one around but us. the track was a little moist. I got clipped in first and started down the straightaway. as soon as I hit the first bank I got nervy and drifted down to the flats without making it around. I was deflated and surprised at how intimidating it was.

of course T is and always has been ruthless. he's also got legs like Christmas hams. he hammered down the straight and went into the first bank with plenty of speed. as the bank curved he climbed higher and higher up the wall, his body almost perpendicular to the ground 8 feet below. after T's feat I had to commit. speed is the key and an even spin. fixed is a must as your cadence has to be smooth. my heart in my throat I charged again through the first turn and tried not to think about slamming. I made it around but not very high up. still the feeling was great. I realized two things by the end of our one hour trip the velodrome. I was in shit shape and it's much harder than it looks. you also need a bigger gear than you would use on the street. I wish we had one in Halifax.

thrillin in the phillipines

choreographed dance seems like a good prison activity.

mini simmons vs. what?

everyone's been raving about the mini-Simmons and it's had me thinkin. some prophesy that it's the next big thing. but what about this little clip from 2006 of a guy ripping a board that's shorter than the mini simmons and with no fins? it's a very similar outline with a wide tail.


I had a feeling the Simmons was too good to be true when I saw the video of RK surfing an alaia. he does that really well too.
you can get a top quality finless biscuit (aka sponge) for under two bills or a mini-simmons for $1,050.00. either way you won't be able to dominate on either one unless you can surf as well as RK.

lust - surf history in NS

this is abstract. however if you like film, surfing, eccentricity, anarchy then is is worth it.

plants and animals, bye bye bye

skunked

Today I woke up early and fought with the layer of ice enveloping my car. Then I scraped and picked at the knee high wall of frozen snow and ice blocking my driveway. After a sketchy ass drive I arrived at the first lookout point. The parking lot was completely iced over and I was worried about driving the blue flame in. I parked on the edge and slid down to take a look at the bay. It was big and disorganized still, even though the wind was practically dead. The bay had big sets closing out the a-frame and the point. Further down I could see sets hitting the other headland, some wrapping and pitching like some far off wave in the south pacific. But it was too big and shifty to make the solo walk and paddle. Water dropped down to 0 C. (32 F.) and the air temps are down to about -9C. Way outside you could see huge sets feathering on an outer reef. The swell is supposed to be straight out of the south but it almost seemed like it had some east in it.

The next point looked a little better but for a pre-work session it looked questionably rideable. The waves were breaking inside but off the headland. Again it was super shifty and it seems like the angle was wrong or the swell just needs more time to get organized. Skunked! I couldn’t believe it. After a second looksy I sucked it up and started the drive back home. The roads were just as bad as before except now there was the morning traffic rush. The worst part about getting skunked on a weekday morning is having to drive back into the city with rush hour traffic –especially the morning after an ice storm.

Now I sit here readying myself for a full days work. I’ll try and not think what the other point, that misto one that works like a machine on this type of swell, and how it’s probably overhead and barreling. I’ll try and pretend like the waves are terrible all day and I’m not missing anything. But you know how it is, I’ll sit here the whole time brooding about how I got skunked cause I couldn’t wait a little longer, or drive a little farther.

Today is three years since I started Ku Yah. Thanks for reading along all this time.

style: mad man spencer

found this over at happy feet

quiver check: skates

45" log, 28" convert concave banana cruiser, 8" blank and clay wheeled roller derby circa early 60's.


"what?"

chinese new year dinner for E