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

J-Bay

Derek Hynd, finless at J-Bay by Roy Harley

There's a very cool little art gallery in Jeffery's Bay at Supertubes. It's called Surf Art, they have a website here and they carry some of our books. I find that really quite satisfying, some sort of weird connection, even though I may never go there, and I certainly know I'll never surf anything like Derek does.

Yard Possum Ceilidh

It's that time again. The kind hearted folks at the Swift Movement are throwing open the doors to all and sundry on February 3rd and 4th, and will be displaying a very finely crafted array of surfboards, art and ephemera. This will take place at 340 16th St San Diego CA 92101. It's never been less than a wonderfully worthwhile night out with some sort of great musical entertainment, and as always it'll be a veritable potpourri of interesting folks from the non-mainstream of surfing. Come on by.

Thread Monthly #4- Tom & Tom

Curren and Carroll, photos by Trefz from his 'Thread' book. $30 for a signed copy, info at foamandfunction.com.

The Vernal Pools Of South Los Angeles

My backyard is now full of them. The rain has kept me at the workstation mostly, and things are getting done. Emails are answered, blogs perused and I'm feeling caught up and in touch. I know the legendary Jamie Brisick is in Brazil and going to coffee museums with Jair. I know the next Swift event is approaching rapidly, Feb. 3 and 4 in the usual San Diego hideaway, art and surfboards galore. Details on that soon.

GEF and Dogtown

all images Glen E. Friedman

Glen Friedman is in town, stoked as ever and checking some old haunts. The man is so excited by the new Venice Skatepark it's infectious, and who better to be among those giving the seal of approval to such a venture. He said everyone from 8 year old shredders to Pat Ngoho was there and ripping this weekend, and it's a great thing. He scribbled up some books too- there's a small stack of 'Dogtown- Legend Of The Z-boys' now signed by Glen and C.R. Stecyk. $35 each postpaid in the USA, and you can email info at foamandfunction.com to order. Dogtown has been good to me this week too, it's been home to some solidly good surf with size, tide and sandbars coming together perfectly at times. 5'5" mini Sim and 5'9" Mackie flextail gave me a run of exceptionally good sessions so I'm feeling good (if a little tired.)

Mr. Lord discusses hard rails

Of course, due to winds and a bit of rain all I've been doing is some gardening and making marmalade. Ah well.

Ether Monthly #8- Parmenter

Dave Parmenter surfing Victoria and shaping, all photos Kidman from the truly magnificent Ether. Available from info at foamandfunction.

'In the late ‘80s, my tourmates and I played a game called “Faces of Death,” in which we’d zap around beach towns in France, Spain, Portugal, and Australia pulling massive, screaming handbrake slides as close as possible to unsuspecting pedestrians, which drew some magnificent facial expressions as well as a few dives into nearby bushes. Once we pulled one on Top 16-ranked Dave Parmenter, who was notorious for his Clint Eastwood-like demeanor. Dave barely flinched. From this simulated near-death experience we concluded that he was the Real Deal.'

Jamie Brisick

Normal Transmission Is Resumed

Surfboards. They're fun. This one is a Fitzgerald Drifta. Sun of Sultan has a very decent blog here.

High Desert New Year

My decade started with an epic blowout- hot rods, puppies, a roast pig, many libations, the great outdoors and some really good friends. Couldn't have been better and I hope yours was good too.

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.