Ether Monthly #5

Well, sort of- given Mr. Kidman is out here in the US (East Coast) and hard at work he's getting all manner of blog press, so I'll keep it simple. The band is playing, 'Last Hope' is screening and there will be books and shirts for the punter who wants a souvenir. Here's the dates, the shows will undoubtedly be excellent in all conditions. Photos above are AK's quiver from the pages of Glide magazine. Few interesting ones in there, believe me.

-9/28 Monster Island Basement @ Secret Project Robot, 9pm
-9/29 Tiki Bar Long Beach, NY
-9/30 Third Ave Pavillion, Asbury Park NJ, 8pm
-10/1 Corner Store Co-Op, Bellport Village NY, 7pm
-10/2 Ocean Mist, Wakefield Rhode Island, 9pm
-10/3 Grain Surfboards, York Maine. BBQ 3-9pm
-10/4 Ashworth By The Sea, Hampton Beach NH, 7pm

Flex & Torque

Stringerless EPS, carbon rails, flexy tails. Good on ya Mick.
New Yorkers batten down the hatches, Brown Birds From Windy Hill play on the 28th in Brooklyn , more soon.

Earwig Spaceship

Coming soon, and this isn't the half of it. Just had one of those beach days with sunshine, warmish water, rail grabs and fine hand crafted surfboards that reminds me why I persist with beach breaks. To add to the simple joy of it all, there's a mussel brose going to happen for dinner and I may get some work done before that.

And Party We Did...

Another September, another celebration of that which is mad, chaotic and Simmons related in surfing. Number 7 was a really good one- Jamie Brisick, Jon Wegener, Ryan Thomas and Andy Davis all in the same room- any one of those gentlemen is entertaining enough to warrant the drive to San Diego, all four at once was classic. The Old Man Hands Gypsy Orchestra played briliantly again, Elwell, Bahne and co. brought the knowledge, photogs Ryan Field and Maggie Marsek were there with cameras in hand, crowds of international flavor came and went and a few just stayed, films were played, Tyler Warren showed with footage and a board, I talked to a very cool surfer from Senegal and the Manny Caro Mobile Disco wound out the night for the lovers and dancers in the parking lot. Boards too, some seriously fine ones- Bauguess, Ekstrom, Mackie, Mirandon, Thomson, Wegener and a few Fryes for good measure. There's a teaser above and more pics soon. Here's the new shirts, limited quantities in mens med and lg on the Ando Bodysurf, Casper in all sizes and the blue one is for the ladies.

Thread monthly #1- The Basques

Patxi Oliden by Patrick Trefz from the Thread book. Signed copies available for $30, email me.

The opening image of the Trefz book. Patxi is the first Basque shaper (check that Diff template behind him.) Before starting on boards, he shaped oars, and his label apparently translates to 'Democratic Surfboards' as he felt everyone deserved the chance to surf. This man is truly a legend, and I highly recommend you read 'A Basque History Of The World' by Mark Kurlanski. You have no idea how how badly I want to go to the Basque country, but for now I make do with the fact that we wound up with a run of 500 copies of 'Way Of The Bird' translated into Basque. I leave the last words to Patxi, from his manifesto also printed in 'Thread'.
'Nahiko zaila da detaile guztiak gogoratzea; nik uste, nahiko garbi dagela hemen estaen direnekin zer metaodo erabiltzen nuen.'

Eastward Ho!

Slowly it all comes together for the last 1/3 of the year. A flurry of t-shirt printing for the Swift party this weekend, including the Casper with Casper and new run of the old school Jill Jordan 'Bird' shirt. Not on yellow or tan of course, that would be too simple- black and a pale blue called 'Seafoam', blue shirts for the ladies too. I'll post pictures of the actual colors when I see the actual shirts. If you can't make it to San Diego, send me an email to info @ foamandfunction.com and I can get you sorted out with a shirt- $25, shipping included, inside the US of A. The Brown Birds shirts are also reprinted for the upcoming east coast tour for Andrew and boys. Mr. Kidman will be in the New York Groove for a couple of months, the band is playing some shows in the N.E., there will be an Ether show in the city and some film events. As I get actual dates I'll post them, and it'll be fun. I also moved a large piece of Trefz art so it too can be sent east as he's part of a show in NYC later this month, again, more info as I get it. Finally, and waaaay east, are the very cool folks at Revolver Surf in Newquay, Cornwall. They will have a selection of our shirts and goodies and we couldn't be more stoked to be associated with people who wear woolen bathing suits. They've done an alaia demo with Tom W and been a part of the World Bellyboard champs this past week or two, and they proudly support tea and tattoos. On the off chance that anyone reading this is in Cornwall (which would be pretty cool of itself), go check 'em out.

It's time....

So again, make your way to downtown San Diego for more fun and some seriously outstanding surfboards. Having had the sneak preview of what Bauguess has been cooking up all I can say is it's going to be good and the weaker willed surfboard fanciers should come prepared or leave that wallet at home. For those not able to attend, I'll certainly be taking some pictures and I'll be rolling in on Friday with a truckload of Mackies for perusal and purchase as well. It will be, as always, a really good time.