alive in the ether

inspiration is like the ether. if it’s there we cannot see it. Monday night’s amazing sunset session set some ideas straight for me and left me inspired.

one: learning the nuances of a board takes time and patience

two: that patience pays off grandly as I explore new parts of a wave

three: I can slide my foot back over the fins mid-face to power through a turn –just gotta be present in the moment to remember

four: slowing the wave down and watching it while it does its thing in front of you is stupid hard

five: if I can manage to slow it down then I can surf it with more poise than a flailing monkey dancing to an accordion on old cobbled streets

on a side note –stoked to have a new side project with Drift magazine. I will be writing a jazz inspired blog a few times a month.

oil and water: Canada's conundrum

it's hard to think about life without the energy sources we currently use. just last night I drove 25 minutes alone in my car to a remote point break to surf powerful overhead waves at sunset. I love surfing and would not be able to do it without a car.

I ride my bike to work everyday. the reasons for it have more to do with pleasure and convenience than wanting to avoid using fossil fuels. riding my bike is not enough.

when will  shit hit the fan? how much longer will our ecosystem sustain us before it starts to sputter in fits of exhaustion?

the video below highlights how Canada is managing its oil sands and water resources. the management style is that old one where maximizing profit trumps any other considerations -as opposed to valuing profit, people and environment equally.

I've said this before and I reckon most of you who come here would agree, that we as people are not separate from environment. we must come to terms with this fact and act accordingly.

the environmental movement has been painted with a green brush and many people see that colour and disassociate themselves, thinking that they are not green, that their values are red or blue.

but the environment is where we live.

it is our food, shelter and comforter. without it we won't survive, nor will our children. my son included.

what are we going to do?


H2oil animated sequences from Dale Hayward on Vimeo.

whacked

fuck Karl Rove
fuck Open Carry
fuck the American war on Iraq
fuck American economic policy

we have to be able to see that our leaders are some crazy fucking ego maniacs who could give two shits about "The American People"

style:natas

there was a skate shop when I was a teen that refused to carry that Natas Kaupas boards because they thought the name was Satan spelled backwards -which it is. the dude is also Lithuanian and the shop owners culturally inept zealots.

B's brioche

B's been making all kinds of breads lately. from Guinness molasses loaf, to baguette, to orange cranberry scones and finally her amazing brioche. mmmmmmm.

style: the hypnotic brass ensemble

my friend D$ just turned me on to these guys and I can only wish I'd come across them sooner. authentic vibes here -no posturing and no front.

elliot smith

feelin melancholy on a sunny saturday morning. nothin like elliot smith to set the sights straight

four on six

• surfed four of six days
• one day on three fins
• three days on four

Wes knew it before the big labels got to him

style: RT

RT of Warbles calm and collected


snagged this one from Grass is Greener

surfing is...

it’s not always about clean waves. surfing sometimes is about suffering through storm surges shortly after the fronts move through. the whole time paddling to stay away from stray sets and maybe, just maybe if I’m lucky to get the right one come my way, I go, and it’s good.

other times it’s about waist high little peelers –steep enough to speed me down the line drawing subtle lines across the small wavescape. one after the other the experiences add up to nothing, so quickly the memory fades from one ride to the next.

other times the pulse is strong and the swell stacks on the horizon like rows of energy moving through space. the crowd thinned by skill level and sometimes timidity. sometimes surfing is swinging around last minute for late take-offs. “damn I’m not gonna make it….” and then for the next ten minutes I'm bounced around like lotto balls at midnight, through the rock garden on the inside until the current lets go and I can make my way out front again.

surfing is not static.

it is not dictated by governing body.

there is no way to document mentally my experience.

it is in fact simply put –experience.

it is the moment of allowing intuition to take over -and muscles, bones and tendons to connect with neurons to ride time as it moves through space.

it is transcending sense perception and thought without the Buddha or the bahgavad gita.

it is experience and nothing more.

style: strauch

the morning benders

can't stop listening to this song this morning. winds are howling gusting from 60 to 90 kilometers. the waves are beyond big. now it's a matter of waiting...

for the swell to organize and the wind to switch.

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

dancing killer whales

most of us would not go to see a dancing bear -we would think of this 'circus' act as unethical and barbaric. yet we gladly support Sea World and other similar water parks who train their aquatic mammals to dance for spectators. why are these dancing mammals any different than the ones with fur?

reparations in Halifax: the Africville Legacy

the Halifax Regional Municipality will be making a public apology to the descendants of those removed from the community known as Africville for the purposes of constructing a new bridge.


the clip is quite telling. it shows how a community is marginalized over the years, the decades, and the leaders although stammering their words, explain how its OK.

this seems to be a time of apologizing. seems like it's a far enough gap that leaders are moved to make public and political amends. but is it just posturing?

I think so.

the people who were moved from Africville are still marginalized by HRM. and it's not unlikely that some strife comes from within the community. but self loathing is a characteristic present in all communities with generational poverty.

meanwhile in the suburbs someone burned a cross on the lawn of a bi-racial couples home. this is some KKK type shit way up here in Halifax.

it's not to say that Halifax is some maniacally racist place -on the contrary, for the most part, like the rest of Canada, Halifax is very tolerant. but beneath the beauty there is always a little filth.

style: robyn kegal

lines

got two two days of login in this weekend. cordless, five-over and glide and trim. you can see small kine lines comin in here. 4' @ 11 seconds is better than nottin. Blacks 'll tell ya

"when in doubt, just go. what else ya gonna do?"

why ride a bike every day?

"In the modern world it’s totally possible to live a completely safe existence. City riding adds thrills, danger, problem solving, social interactions, and adrenaline into my day. Better than coffee and goes well with beer."

from Urban Velo

bubs

breakfast 'o champions

got up this morning and went for a slow run. overnight runoff caused miniature frozen rivulets on the sidewalks and streets. most were easy to avoid but on the hill descending from my neighborhood there we so many frozen patches that it was like running around land mines. I ran slow, focusing on my foot falls and form. it was a good run.

then I took a shower and made breakfast while Moe sat in his rubber chair and bopped to the reggae blasting from the morning speakers. on the menu: course corn grits with cheddar and a little bacon, fried eggs, bacon, and toast with some good locally roasted French roast coffee.

give thanks

surf by bike trip

I've been kicking around the idea for some time now of doing a Nova Scotia surf trip by bike. the idea comes and goes each year and I've yet to commit to it. today I got the bug again.

when I first arrived in Halifax in 2006 I set out to scout some possible surf spots on my bike. I've always been quite skeptical of the interweb surf sites so I knew that I'd have to go and check for myself. the photo above is from one of my initial scouting sessions. this little spot can get good sometimes when the wind is right. the prevailing winds do not favour this spot however and I often go months without surfing there.

that photo was from the first and last time I ever took a ride to the ocean. seems silly not to do it more often.

perhaps if I could get an accomplice to come along on a bike to surf trip I may be more motivated to go through with it.