Art

Grant Washburn’s latest documentary, Quest for Fear, showcasing the driving force behind the globe trotting athletes that chase massive swells from Dungeons in South Africa to our own backyard is having its theatrical premiere tonight at the Red Vic Movie House at 1727 Haight St.

Check out Grant’s site at GrantWashburn.com and here at Tall Tales Studios for more details about the film and location. The movie features music by the Mermen and since its playing all week you should have no problem with it being sold out.

My good friend Dante has been sending me photos and updates from Taiwan every month for most of the year. Everything from killer days on the West Coast to crap days on the East coast and vice versa.

He even took the time to send me photos of his trip to the Phillipines and the lineups there. I would love to post his emails too as they are a riot and always make me laugh out loud…although, he’d probably fly over and put his foot up my arse talking about Interpol…daaaamnit!!

Since I haven’t posted any of them for the whole year, I thought it a perfect time to do a year in photos or something to that effect, by Dante…well, all except this one where he is in front of the lens.

Check out the rippa. Raised in Santa Cruz and then tackled the North Shore before many of you readers were even born. This guy is a living legend and is still ripping it up all the way from the Maldives to the West Coast of the US of A.

Check out this photo from September of a mysto pointbreak that went unsurfed for years and was only recently discovered by a crew of burly ex pats…Dante being one of them. This is one of the better waves to be had when its on.

This next photo is one of my favorites as it looks so playful and fun. Having to wear the full neoprene get up these days, it is a shot like this that reminds me of the freedom of jumping in with just your trunks, feeling the warm sun on your back, eating mangoes galore, and washing it all down with a couple pijoes.

The Isle of Formosa is a beautiful place, sometimes you have to squint a little, but it has some real raw beauty not found in too many places anymore. I was lucky enough to experience a time when there were very few people in the water and we could discover and name new spots each weekend.

I think every one of our crew named a spot from Firsts and Seconds to Palm Point and leftovers to AK and BoardWalks. And who can forget ‘Tha harba’ or ‘Boulder Cove’. We certainly weren’t the first ones there, just ask Rene who has been there since Martial Law or other guys that were stationed there and surfing Taiwan back in the 60’s, but it sure felt like it at times.

The best sessions I’ve had there were with just a handful of friends. I think this is going to be the start of a series showcasing some of those sessions.

The fact that you can still find a slice of surf paradise all to yourself is something not to be taken for granted.

Dante gets much respect for being a good friend and sending me all these photos that I can share with the world, but more importantly his ninja talents of getting solo sessions in while everyone else is still sleeping and always finding that peak down the beach all to himself where he can find peace and meditation.

Thanks bro for the pics and may you be blessed with empty lineups in 2008. Happy New Year!!

With the Oil Spill having wreaked environmental havoc and shut down beaches, my longing for the Ocean continues to grow. This story is equally sobering, but I checked out this opening barrel ride from Timmy Turner’s latest documentary Cold Thoughts and starting dreaming of my own cold thoughts.

Check out this vid. It is a good one and aside from Timmy’s story being pretty horiffic it may be a good escape at this time. He has overcome a lot and this latest piece showcasing Vancouver Island should resonate with the Taiwan crew…many of which hail from those parts.

http://yousurftubes.magnify.net/embed/iframe/player/cid/80SGMDW42X9ZBC32

Timmy Curran’s debut album Word of Mouth is actually not bad. I was kind of weary hearing about some of the reviews and how he was being compared with Jack Johnson and the other Ocean inspired musicians. I am a fan of Jack Johnson…I think he is really talented. Ben Harper has some good tunes that I can get into like that Burn One Down song. I have varied tastes in music and can appreciate everything from Scott Joplin to the RZA to Creedence and Kruder and Dorfmeister. I generally prefer music with a bit of an edge to it, a strong baseline, good rhythm etc.

I listened to Donovan Frankenreiter a couple times and I don’t think I’ve made it through a whole song…I can appreciate his style for the most part, but not so much his taste in music. I should probably try listening to more so I can make an educated judgement, but everything I’ve listened to sucks too bad.

Timmy’s first song Daylight’s Coming starts out nicely….kind of trippy guitar almost surf guitar ish. His voice is pretty good, reminds me of a 70’s fly like an eagle type sound. His lyrics were ok…they’ve kind of grown on me, but my blink impression was that it was a bit corny and awkward. I do really like the little instrumental jam after the bit about the light bailing him out….certainly my favorite part of the song. He should have had a better ending though…kind of just ends could use some more polishing.

The second track Comatose has a cool mellow somber and reflective type message. He is on it and reminds me of a mix between this old Black Uhuru song and Paul Simon…weird mix I know. Selfish ways is a bit ok…not sure where that accent comes from. The lyrics are a little bit Christian rockish…if you just feel it with an open mind its doable. I really like Joan…that song is cool. Songs like that could take him somewhere…he sounds soo much like Paul Simon in Blue Eyes.

All in all its a solid effort from a man who rips. His voice is pretty cool, his band is musically talented and he sounds like he is having a good time. I look forward to seeing how he moves forward from this first creation. You can learn more about Timmy on his site and be sure to get the free download.

Don’t you hate it when you think you have this brilliant idea and then you realize that someone has been doing it for much longer than you had the thought and probably much better than you could have done it. Yeah, me too. It happens alot.

When I was living in Taiwan you would come across these beautiful empty beaches without a soul in sight. They didn’t get your usual beachcombers walking up and down picking up shells and interesting rocks as in some of the more frequented locales.

By the way, Taiwan is the only place I’ve ever been to where they have shops devoted to selling rocks that you would find on the many cobble lined beaches of the East Coast. Yeah, Rock Shops… but thats a whole nother story.

In addition to the beautifully shaped rocks you would also find the most interesting garbage.

I started photographing some of these pieces and wanted to eventually create a book showcasing some of this really weird and really cool stuff. From Doll heads, to weird plastic drums, to baby bottles, and all kinds of things you wouldn’t expect to see washed up on a beach. I still have those photos in boxes in the closet and will have to dig them out someday. Not incredibly spectacular, but interesting none the less.

Well, Andy Hughes, an artist from the seaside town of Cornwall in the U.K. has done a brilliant job of stealing my idea. Well not exactly, he has actually been capturing some of the beauty in this trash that floats ashore for probably much longer than I have had the idea and he has numerous awards and accolades to prove it. The images he captures are spectacular and his efforts and motivation stem from wanting to create awareness for what we dispose of and how and where it all will eventually end up.

By turning this careless disposal into fine Art, he has hopefully awakened many and shed some light on what we as Surfers know all too well. Everything you throw away could end up in the Ocean.

Take care of our planet, be mindful of what you consume and how you consume it, and keep our planet blue and green and all the other colors that Andy has done such a fine job of representing in his work. He has a book too! Dominant Wave Theory. That Bastard! 🙂

PS…All images are courtesy of AndyHughes.net.

I’m in love with PodSurf.tv. It is one of the top podcasts in iTunes for good reason. It has killer production quality with great content from interviews with legends like Albe Falzon to profiles of Koby Abberton and Bobby Martinez.

They are based out of Oz, but have a huge following developing around the world. The Kelly Vs. Andy piece is a must have, as is the Koby Abberton bits and the Shipstern episode.  Click the image above to see what I’m talking about…or click here and see what I stay talking about

Sign up through iTunes, grab a brew or two, sit back and enjoy.

The premier of One California Day is tonight at The Victoria Theatre in San Francisco at 8pm. It will also be showing through the 7th at 7pm and 9pm.

As stated on their site:

From the filmmakers who brought you Singlefin: yellow, DRIVE and Stylemasters, comes a story about surf culture and tradition. One California Day is a visual journey through six distinct coastal regions, capturing the California surfing experience through the surfers who live it. Shot in brilliant super 16mm color film, the movie examines the variety of subtle differences that make California so unique.

Check it out if you can!

Artist Profile:

Todd Essick is a fine artist that incorporates the beauty of creation and the creator in a liquid universe that is seemingly timeless. His images are set in some of the most surreal backdrops on this planet and with some of the most beautiful creatures. He photographs the female figure as representing the creator and being symbolic of Mother Earth.

His passion is driven by his love of the Ocean and its healing power. Through his images his goal is to raise awareness for the beauty of creation and help others to realize the link between us and the fragility of nature. Here is one of my favorite images from his collection.

Also check out his other images at essickphoto.com
including his recent shoot in the Bahamas.