Jaimal Yogis and "Salt water Buddha"

A couple months ago Jaimal Yogis sent me a copy of his soon to be released book. Actually the book is out on Friday. Often I've wondered if I relate to others based on generational similarities (music, art, current events, etc.) or sheer coincidence. Perhaps it's a mix of the two. Saltwater Buddha however resonated with me in so many ways it's uncanny. Here's a short clip about the author and the book. I'll be writing a more detailed book review on Phoresia.org in the coming week.

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.

bajan diy

style + speed.

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.

the abyssinians

good things

here's a good piece of Jamaica culture via U Roy from the late 1970's. these days there's Armageddon in Haiti, genocide in Darfur, cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe, food riots in Bolivia, mass exodus of migrant workers back to their impoverished homelands all over Europe and Asia... and I live here in this little bubble. free to surf and enjoy a life not of my choosing but indeed of my design.

we choose every day no? I vacillate sometimes but more times I begin to know what I want and which way to go.

easy -go easy. don't tread hard on the land. I heard that advise from so many Rasta singers and thinkers. "tread light pon de land." in some Rastafarian beliefs the individual is the I and the creator/creation is the I. therefore to be free, to achieve enlightenment you must be I and I. you must be one. you must tread lightly upon the earth and respect your fellow man.

Iz