Aaaaah

And again from Carl. 6'0" this time, boxes are an option.

Mmmmmm

Ekstrom. Doing it so old school that it's new school.

Ether Monthly #9- Art

Some of Andrew Kidman's screen print art, processed from images taken for the film 'Glass Love' and several photos featured in 'Ether'. There are framed originals of some of these pieces available and thre's a section of this work in 'Ether', which is in itself a limited piece signed and numbered art. A piece of art with a 10" record, but a piece of art none the same.

Little Black Wheels & Australian Efficiency

Down there on the sunny east coast of Australia, our mate Mick Waters has been quietly getting on with it all and deserves congratulations for two new deliveries. One is the proverbial bouncing baby (now months old- I'm late on things as always) and the other is the new film. 'Believe' was a very nice addition to the canon of surf film, and this new effort looks like another beauty in a similar vein (nice wave Mick Hughes is getting there too.) I'm hassling Mick to get copies of 'Little Black Wheels'and maybe a restock of 'Believe' too, so if you're interested let me know. Here's a link to an interview with Mr. Waters. Nice work indeed, and as one who's paternal relatives ran timber scows on the Murray for years, I wish a little of that Australian efficiency would show up in my character.

Thread Monthly #5- The Shirt

The movie and the book now have a shirt. A lot more user friendly than the 'Sketchy Business' shirts we used as tour merch (check the archives, there's an excellent shot of the svelte and lovely Ando Davis wearing one back in May 09 somewhere) and of the highsartorial standard you've come to expect from this group of people. Available through Trefz very soon. I have a few prints from the book, framed by SF legend Peter Kirkeby and all at what I believe will be a very reasonable price. Trefz promises he has a film on the way which is good news.

Surf & Tea

Some of you, like myself, may have seen Gerry Wedd's work in a Surfer's Journal article and had your interest piqued. He's had this blog going for while with a lot of ceramic work there, and it's really amazing stuff. There's a definite surfy element to what he does (He was involved in Mambo clothing for a while too) but it transcends being 'surf art'. That said, I really love the series of tiles with portraits of the great surfers on them- beautifully done and there's a nice sense of humor to it all, as you can see from the non ceramic related posts he's made. He's playing with some really interesting approaches to a traditional craft style, something I like a lot when it's done well and Mr. Wedd is certainly doing that. The man knows how to make a good looking teapot which is a wonderful art, and as an unashamed tea drinking obsessive (3 to 4 pots a day on top of the morning coffee) I'd also like like to direct your attention another favourite of mine, the Tea Appreciation Society, mad limeys though they may be, it's a fun way to while away a few minutes. My thanks to Kidman and Manny Caro for unwittingly steering me to this stuff too. Better yet the waves have been good and the weather lovely so I'm in full work/responsibility avoidance mode.

Domo Arigato Mackie San

Mick Mackie has sent snapshots from his visit to Hokkaido no less. Clueless as I may be about snow stuff, these bindingless swallowtail snowsurf boards look like some serious sort of fun. The level of board sport interchange is really nuts, the snowskate guys have been working the same basic line of thought from a skateboard angle, and the crossover with Mick's high tech flex fish is obvious.
...And furthermore, 3 days down the line I get an edifying email from Mr. Mackie himself. It seems I'm truly utterly clueless about the snowboard side of it all. Those boards do indeed have bindings (you can see 'em for chrissakes!). They are still totally awesome looking, and they're made by a company on Hokkaido called Gentemstick, the one on top is a Rocketfish and the one below a Spoonfish which makes sense just looking at them. Gentemstick have a pretty nice website here, their whole deal seems pretty epic- living a snow/surf lifestyle on Hokkaido, and living it with serious style.



Meanwhile I have this 5'9" on hand should anyone feel like acquiring some sidecut flextail magic, at pre-currency crash prices no less. These boards are a revelation for the fish enthusiast.

Lance Mountain's house last week.

G.E.F. kept himself busy while out west. Lance and Pat Ngoho sessioning as hard as any teenager makes me happy, and how's this as a backyard setup?

At Last, Last Hope

Finally have copies. It's a collection of short films about the sea by some of the more interesting surf film makers out there. Not so much a surf film collection but there is surfing in there. Music from the roster of bands on Spunk/Drag City. Perfect for a rainy day like the one that's happening now- chilly, sore shoulders from good sessions this past week, pot of Earl Grey or maybe Lapsang and this on the picture box. Perfect. You can have yours for $25, US shipping included, by emailing me at info @ foamandfunction.com.

Oh the fun we have...

Shiny surfboards, entertaining potpourri of folks, Alva DJing 5 hours straight the first night, couple of fun surfs- That's a good time. Some juicy surfboard portraits coming soon when I'm less sleep deprived. A big thanks to caffeine for all it's good work the last few days.

Yard Possum Roll Call