The Kidman/Clams New Years Widowmaker

When it comes down to it, this is really all about surfboards. Looking at them, thinking about riding them and every so often actually riding them. This widowmaker collaboration by Joey Clams aka The Grey Ghost and Andrew Kidman aka Andrew Kidman seems like the perfect way to go out for 09. What could be better than well thought out, hand crafted pieces of beauty like these? (there's more pics at Joey's excellent blog here) Uncool as it is, I couldn't care less what people surf- if a popout longboard, generic lost Islands thruster or board shaped miles from your home makes you happy, then go for it. I do believe however that the truly creative and innovative minds out there deserve support and that's what we've been trying to do in our own half assed way here. The likes Kidman, Mackie, Griffin & Lynch, RK, Ekstrom and Bauguess deserve their due, especially in these times when a board can be knocked off and marketed within days thanks to the internet. What makes me happy is seeing people find the source and realize how great these boards are, and seeing guys like Clams and others over there in the blog list- Jamie at Head High, Rob Royal, Reverb, Manny Caro, Squire, Jeff Beck, Eli, Daniel Thomson and company who are all doing their part to keep surfing exciting. Thanks gents, and thanks to all of you who have supported our efforts over the last few years. Hopefully we'll have some good stuff for you in 2010.

Joe Curren Posters

Joe Curren made a quick visit through town on his way to another cold surf mission. He has an odd life, periods of small town domesticity, tucked away working on his creative outlets like photography and various aspects of woodwork (the guy inherited more than just his father's surf talent, he's got the serious craftsman vibe too) then all of a sudden he'll be scrambling around the country or the globe, three 12 hour drives in as many days and flights to places you'd not expect, and he maintains a quiet balance I can't manage even when I'm just driving to the beach. He's also just released two limited run posters through his website- they are the above shots of Rincon and Taiwan, they are 17" x 36" and available as a signed and numbered
run of 100. Visit his site for more info, and I hope he'll flow a few shots of his current trip for me to post once he's back and film is processed. I'm off for a surf.

Asymmetricals are go!

It would seem all is happening fortuitously on the asym front- there will in fact be available a run of the Ekstrom planing hulls available. Obviously a fairly eccentric and custom surfboard, but very functional. Here's Del Moro working one at the Hydrodynamica blog. If you're interested, email info at foamandfunction.com and we'll help send you down that path. Fins by Geppy or boxes if you want 'em.

Wood Sim

A guy in Australia named Rohan made this, and it works really well- I've seen the photogrsphic evidence. Nothing but respect for those who take the time to make their own surfboard, especially when it winds up looking like this.

Mackie Photo Round Up

The good thing about working with these guys who are mad talented is every so often I can throw out the 'send some photos' call, and someone will deliver big tome. Mick Mackie did the honors this go-around, and yes, that single fin would have been a pretty epic board to have had around this past swell. Not that I'm complaining, I did alright. Mick's off on a New Year bindingless snow surf mission very soon, so hopefully there will be some shots of that too. Nice shirt he's got. Don't forget the Kidman shows, Dec 16 and 19 for all you NE coasters.

Thread Monthly #3- The Long Brothers

Long Brothers backyard by Trefz

Greg Long also by Trefz
Both photos from 'Thread', available signed.

One of the better moments of surf cinema (in my humble opinion anyway) is the Long Brothers sequence the Trefz opus- huge waves, low fi backyard party, all set to a genius Can song. Seems even better now Greg has won the Eddie, not bad for a kid from San Clemente. Congratulations all round.

Kidman in NYC

The master of making good use of his time, Andrew Kidman, has not one but two upcoming east coast events. The above is a full blown gallery show featuring some epic new work, and a few nights later on the 19th there's an old school surf shop party with the Mollusk Brooklyn folks. It'll feature a full blown music experience with Andrew aided and abetted by New Zealand's own Hamish Kilgour, and you know it'll get fun.

Gift Giving Guide

My apologies for the mercenary nature of the post, but it 'tis the season and all that. We have a fine range of goods including DVDs, shirts, boooks, art and even boards if you're really generous or lucky, and it's all made by independent artists and craftsmen so the purchase of these items helps keep a small corner of the creativity of surfing alive. Thanks for looking, and as always info at foamandfunction.com if you have questions, comments or good stories.

Tim Griffin

I saw Tim Griffin briefly this past weekend, and that made me want to see this 2 + 1 diamond tail which seems like it's the sort of thing you might want around during winter. As would be the Lynch designed swallowtail single he makes. Time to start thinking about runs north, cold kelpy water and bigger, pointier boards- widowmaker season.

Ether Monthly #7

Larry Gephart by Andrew Kidman, from the book 'Ether'

Think how many keels Larry has crafted over the years, and think of the boards they went on and who rode and still are riding them. Many of us certainly- I think I ride some of his handiwork every week. Thanks Larry.

Geppy, Bernoulli and Kidman

The above tableau is largely the fruits of more coasting, this time to collect some keels from Larry Gephart which are destined for the hands of Mick Mackie. The fins are beautiful, and I'll be interested to see what Mackie bolts them onto. There was an outburst of interest in the Bernoulli formula via Daniel Thomson's use of it over at Swaylocks, quite a long post with all sorts of engineers and boffins weighing in, quite mathematical and actually interesting as far as I could follow it. Hence the shameless plug for the Bernoulli formula shirt, art by Jill Jordan, $25 ppd by emailing info at foamandfunction.com.




Meanwhile Andrew Kidman has emerged from his lair in deepest Convictland to score what seems to be an absolutely epic Autumn out in NYC as you've no doubt seen via Shipworm and Gribble. He's not just larking about the entire time though, there's two photo exhibits in the works for December 16 and 19 respectively. More info as I get it and in the meantime here's an excellent Trefz shot of the business taking place.

Ekstrom

Just in case anyone may be interested, there's talk of a run of these beauties. Asymmetrical mini Simmons by Carl Ekstrom, obviously quite custom to the rider. There's a little story on Carl and his boards here
http://www.surfscience.com/topics/surfboard-design-and-anatomy/tail/asymmetrical-surfboard-designs. If you're interested let me know via info at foamandfunction.com.

Coasting

Had to do a short road trip- a custom was dropped off, a demo Simster put in the hands of Joe Curren, who's book I promise is still going to happen, and I got a fading swell surf.




If you're in the LA area, head to Santa Monica and check this out- it's pretty brilliant and it's up for 6 months.

Weekend Update- I Heart Fins

Random Image For Update, but I wish I had this spray.

So there was some swell, a bit too north and a bit thrashed by the wind, but over the course of a few days and a few beaches it was from chest to head high and enough push to warrant breaking out the flextail with the new fins as seen in the pic below. Could not be happier, they felt utterly great- loose and with some very noticeable twang out of the turns. Sketchy late drops were no problem and they held in on some barely controlled hacks- I felt like an over caffeinated 21 year old at times, with the board turning like a thruster but driving like the fish it is. On a few good ones the board felt totally alive, like a puppy straining on it's leash and I came way from each go-out full of what it is that makes surfing so great- pure joy basically. A well designed surfboard is a wonderful thing, Mackie is a genius and I take back nearly every bad thing I've said about Australians over the years. Thanks for your time, back to out normal programming.

November

I love Autumn, there's some swell in the water, the warm spell has given a burst of life to the garden- aside from the Queen Emma lilies there's all sorts of greens coming in- and the temps are cooling off which is always nice. Of note to you surfboard fans is the fact that you can get a really nice hand shaped surf craft from Speedy Kidman- he's doing some customs while he's here in the States and he makes a decent board. Check Shipworm and Gribble for details or drop me a line- it'd certainly be a nice Christmas present for someone. I've also found a few of the black Casper with Casper shirts too.

Fins, and the lack thereof...

I'm coming over all obsessive about fins again, I do this occasionally. Lack of fins counts too, and this thing being foam and finless is really interesting. A Jon Wegener craft (I told you those shirts would make you cool), it's certainly the answer to kelpy spots and it felt good under the arm- it had that intangible air of 'Oh, this board is going to be fun.' The new keels are on the Mackie, there's some board delivery road trips to be done, maybe this swell sneaking in....

Thread Monthly #2- Jim Denevan

Jim Denevan LAnd Art, Big Sur.
from 'Thread' by Patrick Trefz, available from Foam and Function

Jim Denevan's outright incredible freeform beach art, definitely one of the moments that takes Thread (both book and film) beyond your basic surf imagery. Personally, I love these almost landscapey shots- the sense of place above and beyond a breaking wave is what makes this sort of work so fascinating to me. Fun fact time- aside from doing the above and riding a twinny really well, Denevan is an acclaimed chef and very much an early proponent of the whole local food/farm to table movement- he even got props from the A.A.A. in last months 'Westways' mag!

Wegener T-Shirts

For a decent chunk of the surfing population, the t-shirt is as much about proclaiming rank and status as any fancy Bird-Of-Paradise feather bonnet on a Sepik River tribesman in New Guinea. Admit it, if you saw some guy strolling through the parking lot proudly rocking a shirt from 9Fish or some inland action sports emporium you're not going to take him too seriously. (I'm ignoring the whole Marshall Bros./ironic valley dude deal here- arcane Mailbu trends no longer have the cultural weight they once did.) Meanwhile a good t-shirt still carries some of the thrill of being a kid and landing an exceptional item, maybe a relative or friend going to Hawaii or Australia would bring a good one back and you'd be set, strutting around like Fitzy himself because you had a new Bolt shirt. Here's a shirt that won't make you look a goose in the lot, full underground cred with the Wegener shirt, M, L or XL and he has a really nice OG Hanes, full CalTrans safety orange colour one as well. $25 bucks gets one in the mail to you, info at foamandfunction.com to order as always. Oh, and that's the back- the front has the image only on the left chest.

Ether Monthly #6

Martyn Worthington by Andrew Kidman. From 'Ether'

From the interview with Martyn in Ether:
"I think, when people try to control things too much, through advertising, through money, through marketing: trying to control it so, basically, they can profit out of it, it becomes sterile very quickly. And then you get the rebellion against it. It just seems that, maybe, we're on the cusp of something, of finding an expression again. I don't know how it's going to happen, I just feel people are searching for something, just in the work I'm being asked to do. They're getting pretty bored with the way things have been.
There's all sorts of things, there's Oscar Wright- that stuff's just fantastic. I mean, that's him, there's no mistaking it. And if people want to imitate that but do it in their own way, that's so much the better. I want to see a stage where it's alright for people t paint their own boards, or get somebody to do it for them, or whatever else and not worry about paddling out and thinking 'I don't look like whoever.'"

For those of you who are unaware, 'Ether' is an independently produced 252 pg, 12 x 12 signed and numbered book featuring photography, art and interviews by Andrew Kidman. It's limited to 1050 copies only, and comes in a screen printed box with a coloured vinyl 10" record featuring Kidman's music. It's $175 and available from info at foamandfunction.com.

Profane Directional Stabilisers...

and the board for them (the big flex fin anyway). New Mackies fresh off the aeroplane, a 6'6" bonzer for Paul here, felt like an absolute screamer under the arm so I'm hoping the decent little swell we've had the last few days sticks around a bit. Personally, I had probably the funnest surf I've had in a really long while yesterday at a spot I hit purely for proximity to a board drop off. Peaky, chest to head high but oh so crowded. Sat out the back a bit, got a few meaty rights and I am feeling mighty good.

Sacred Craft 2

Mirandon Twin Pin

Ekstrom Earwigs front and center

Eli finesses a dolphin board

A few more. Eli Mirandon was a high point, he had some really awesome looking boards on display, a 5'2" fish I would have walked with if I had some money, and a crazy agave stringered beauty. The Ekstrom finless tripped a lot of people out, there was no shortage of folks looking at them, looking at Jon's alaia's and foam finless then walking away shaking their heads. Each to their own I guess. Personally I like fins, but you've got to love what guys like Jon and Carl are achieving with this stuff. Change and progression are what life is about really.

Sacred Craft 1

Wegener Art Paipo

Bat tail channeled mini-Sim

Mini Sim Asym

Daniel Thomson shapes

A truly over the top weekend. I think the show was excellent but I didn't get to see too much of it as we were swamped. I did see a parade of very entertaining people stroll by- too many to name check really, but I was totally starstruck by seeing MR wandering around. Reno Abellira who was funny as hell and by getting to have a short chat with Maurice Cole. He was on fire- described the top 44's boards as being 'retro' and played some terrifying clip of RCJ and Tony Ray on a monster wave. It was like being a grom again. I'll post some more as I get through the photos and chores this week.