Kidman and Keels

This photo by me


This Photo Kidman

Andrew has a blog for the Ether book. 2 posts and it's off to a fine start. I stole this shot of Santa Cruz from it and have linked it. Check it out, then go to foam and function and buy the book. The keels are on the newest Mackie which is going to Panama. They're foiled beautifully and really flexy. Tomorrow I'll hopefully try out the blue keels on the post below, even if it's still thigh high. I need a surf.

Mackie Flex Madness

Mick Mackie on the job. 5'10" sidecut flextail. Fully epic with some hand foiled ultra bladed keels I'll show soon. This one sold right out of the box, more will follow. Best of all, this came with a bonus- the 5'9" prototype board, ridden lightly in the gentle surf of central NSW. As soon as there's swell I plan on putting some pressure dents in it. Oh yeah, check those blue keels- the inside is slightly concaved. Go Ulladulla.

knuckleheads night out

The rain put pay to surfing but not to socializing. Some of San Diego's finest arrived in a white Benz and we hit the circuit coffee fueled. First Shelter which was mellow, friendly and had some great art courtesy of the Mattson's and Tyler Warren. (The kid can paint) Then up to 'town' and the Friedman circus at Subliminal Gallery. Chaos, line down the block and we only got in through Jeff Ho throwing his weight around and didn't last long in the crush. Ditched there to Alva's Fairfax store for yet more festivities. TA on the wheels of steel in skate grom heaven. The legend is relevant as hell for a new generation. The night was bursts of standing around outside places not saying much interspersed between lots of driving, and it was really fun. Griffin sent some single fin pictures and they rule- I'll have them up on the site next week I swear.

6' x 20 1/2" x 2 3/4"

Sweet little thruster from Tim Griffin, check that double bump tail. Tim has kindly allowed me sully his reputation and put his boards up on Foam and Function, so hopefully there will be a new page added in the near future. For those of you who were unaware, Tim is the Wayne Lynch approved shaper for the US and is doing a line of Lynchy's modern singles and thrusters all of which look epic. More soon I swear. Some adds over there on your right, This Rich Tapestry is Daniel Crockett's excellent blog and I'm hoping for class and intelligence by association. I've also linked to the MofoSurfer forum because I unashamedly love me a good surf forum. At their peak they can be an online parking lot bull session with a really good board pictures as a bonus. A truly entertaining way to while away time I should be spending working. Finally, if you're in the general LA area this weekend, it's all on for you. Shelter in Long Beach are hosting yet another excellent party, this time with art work from the very talented Tyler Warren, music from the Mattson 2 and some film goodies. Meanwhile up in the hip heart of the beast, Shepherd Fairey's Subliminal Gallery at 1331 Sunset will having the opening night shindig for Glen E. Friedman's retrospective show. Plenty to keep you occupied while the rain washes all those toxins into the surf....

Sailin' On

Richard Kenvin rolled into town with a van full of boards and a mission this past week. He collected myself and a couple more boards and we ducked up to a Cuban coffee joint on Sunset Blvd where we first handed off two very fine surfcraft to some Austrians heading to Indo (I'm a loser for not taking a photo of the red pintail gun, but needless to say it was exceptional). We then hooked up with dedicated Surfer's Journal reader Tony Alva and his friend Tere. It seems the folks at Shelter got TA on a mini Simmons, he loves it, calls were made and Richard set up a board loan for him. Tony and Tere were legendary, totally unequivocally stoked. So fully excited about surfing it was contagious. We drank some coffee, talked board design and checked out Alva's crazy little dogs. After a quick tour of the neighbourhood from Tere, RK and I headed back down to the hood via downtown to check the Bradbury Building and got to see the most Blade Runner-esque deal ever going off at the Staples/Nokia complex- searchlights, giant TV billboards and architectural madness. It was a very good day. Things are moving along, we're psyched and to cap it there will be Mackies arriving on Tuesday with a 5'10 flextail that will be up for grabs.

Big Daddy

So there I am, thinking Andrew Kidman is doing a fine job of keeping all the various projects going down there in Uki (when he's not washing dishes, scrubbing the roof or chasing the cows out of the laundry) and maybe I should send him a nice Christmas Card for all his hard work, when these pictures turn up. Being busy isn't good enough, he's got to be busy and shaping an epic 7'6" gunfish. I bow to his work ethic and shaping skill, and would like to remind everyone that we hope to soon have some of his boards over at Foam and Function. Only surfed once since Monday, but it was a good session despite the boggy tide. Been plenty busy though, certain boards have been passed to unnamed parties in different cities and there may be photos.