The day was done

Posted on by Bluebird Surf

An amazing spectacle of natural beauty yesterday.  Sat in front of the computer all day and then finally took a break to get some fresh air and witness a beautiful display of color that lasted all of ten minutes, if that.

The clouds had so much depth and the sky appeared to be on fire.

The crisp cold air was in stark contrast to the warm colors.

Going going

and gone…

temporarily.  It poked back through as it sunk below the horizon.

I walked back home to get warm again and reflected on the luck of catching that beautiful series of moments that came and went so quickly.  So focused all day that I didn’t even realize there was a little bump to be had as my reward.  It would have been only that much better to have witnessed it from the water.  Perhaps tomorrow.

Artful Awareness

Posted on by Bluebird Surf

I must be getting old since I’m blogging about vacuum cleaners, but bare with me on this…there is relevance.  Check out Electrolux taking a stab at raising awareness for the massive amounts of plastic waste floating in our oceans.  From the Pacific Garbage Patch, which is about the size of Texas, to locations in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans as well as the Mediterranean, Baltic and North seas.  Albatrosses and other sea birds die from malnutrition because their bellies get full with this stuff and they can’t absorb enough nutrients.  Whales, seals, sharks, dolphins, turtles get snagged and trapped in leftover fishing gear…it’s really horrible.

Volunteers were sent out to collect bits of floating plastic, from bottles and buckets, styrofoam, and abandoned fishing gear from the oceans and seas mentioned above.

The pieces were then used to create various models that will be auctioned off to raise awareness.

These won’t be available for the masses and will never be made into full production models.  I was kind of hoping when I read this initially that there were efforts being made on a large scale to start removing and reusing this waste.

A small effort to get people aware of the problems plastic consumption and waste can cause and will perhaps get us thinking of creative ways to recycle and live more simply in the first place.  Every time you’re about to buy something plastic, consider whether or not there is an alternative, since it will be around a long long time.

You can read about the models here featured in FastCompany.

Tame Impala

Posted on by Bluebird Surf

I’ve only done a few music reviews, but I’ve been listening to some killer music lately and felt the need to share.  I have pretty eclectic and varied musical taste. Some of the stuff I’ve been digging are like the modern 80’s throwback artists like Ariel Pink’s Haunted House of Graffiti, Neon Indian, Caribou, The XX, Man/Miracle etc.  The latest band to get me excited though is Tame Impala out of Perth.

These guys are not brand new, just to me, and have a really interesting mix of styles from the drug induced Beatles sounds, to a mix of Classic rock artists like Floyd, Cream, and maybe even a little Zeppelin or Hendrix-esque, but mostly trippy late 60’s and 70’s artists like Jefferson Airplane or even Syd Barrett’s solo stuff mixed in with a washed out 80’s sound.  Their debut album is InnerSpeaker.

I have gone through phases in my music interests and the eighties were one of the best decades for music and ‘classic rock’ has always been a solid favorite genre of mine.  The second track Desire Be Desire Go could have been made in 1970 as could The Bold Arrow of Time, but Alter Ego is definitely a fusion with a real modern twist, Lucidity is a throwback for sure and one of my favorites.  One of the tracks I could see becoming more main stream is ‘I Don’t Really Mind’.  I can’t say enough good things about these guys.

I don’t think they plan on coming to the states anytime soon, but they are traveling around their homeland of OZ next month before heading off to the UK and Germany the following.  Recommend checking these guys out!

New York Surf Film Festival

Posted on by Bluebird Surf

Aye Yo Doood, it’s time for the fuckin NY Surf Film Festival again!

I still have not got my act together to make it out to this thing even though its always a smashing success and gets better each and every year.  September is a pretty good month for swell too and I know that there are some good sessions that go down.

Don’t be like me.  Get on a plane and get your ass out there.  Say hi to Adam Cannizzaro from NewYorkSurf.com and Morgan Rae Berk, who with some other good people put this all together.

Get stoked here. Lots of good ones to check from Stoked and Broke to WestSiders to quite possibly the best east coast surf film ever made, Dark Fall.

Do it!