Wheels & Waves 2

We made it to Biarittz, Stevie Gee made it to Biarittz, we have an exhibit set up and tomorrow we get in the water hopefully....

Wheels & Waves 1

London. Sunshine, history, diversity, action, Tate Modern soviet poster collection & great coffee. The board is a teaser- shaped by Kidman it turned up at my place hours before I left. Something to look forward too when I get back....

Away I go...

Off to Wheels & Waves, updates as internet access allows....

And Finally, Still Better Thanks To Cronulla

Awesome. We now carry the Neal Purchase Jnr.  Wolfhound fins! Crafted to NPJ's exacting standards in Australia by The Salty Merchant, these are the real deal. No stunts, but plenty of base and nicely thick which in simple terms equals drive. There's the 7.5" in the beer tint and the 8.5" in the bottle tint, both coming in a nice canvas and cord pouch. Very excited to have these, email info @ foamandfunction if you want in on the action. Better yet, this isn't really the final batch of new and good stuff coming. Post Wheels & Waves adventures there will be more- new Parmenters are on the way and there's a potential retail space in the very near future. Thanks for your interest and stay tuned....

And better still, thanks to Newquay this time

Asymmetrical spoon by Cornwall's Squire Surf. Amazing! This is coming to Biarritz with us...

Better yet thanks to Huntington Beach

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we will be working with/retailing/order channeling/doing something with Jeff Beck and Ninelights Surfboards. This here is the first batch finished- a 5'2" balsa mini Bob, and a 6' balsa double bump quad with a redwood tail block. The big guy is a used board which looks brand new thanks to the compsand construction- 7'11 semi gun with fins and a bag. These boards are for sale and are totally custom, hand built in Huntington Beach and of quality rarely seen nowadays. You want something specific let us know and we will set you up with Jeff. There's some really interesting projects in the pipeline too- finless, wood tails- very stoked to be a part of this. As always, inquiries to info @ foamandfunction.com

It gets better, thanks to Uki....

Single - Studies of Movement - featuring Stephanie Gilmore from the Spirit of Akasha sessions by Andrew Kidman from Andrew Kidman on Vimeo.

The postman did his job beautifully and a box of goodness has arrived from Andrew Kidman's rural hideaway. Music and literature, what more could you want. Here's the goods: New Windy Hills album- best they've done without a doubt, slightly psyched out and very much it's own thing that's getting a lot of turntable time here. There's vinyl for $37 and CDs for $30. Soundtrack for 'Searching For Michael Peterson' by Tim Gaze and the Brown Birds From Windy Hill- CD $20. 'Spirit Of Akasha' soundtrack CDs- double disc in a slipcase arrangement, featuring  the likes of The Windy Hills, Atoms For Peace, 'Bonnie' Prince Billy, Dirty Three, Tom & Lee-Ann Curren and more- $37. 'Morning Of The Earth- Reimagined' - Awesome. 1 copy only and it's on vinyl, the original film soundtrack rerecorded by Mick Turner, 'Bonnie' Prince Billy Tom Curren, Goons Of Doom, Pond, Machine Translations, Windy Hills and more. $45. And finally, copies of the 'Single' book. Stephanie Gilmore rides Dave Parmenter's channeled single and advances surfing's aesthetics enormously. Limited to 1000 copies, $55. All the above goods are signed by Andrew and if you order before June 1st, shipping inside the US of A is free. Can't do better than that. We'll ship elsewhere but international postal rates being what they are you foreign friends pay a bit. You can order by simply emailing info @ foamandfunction.com and away we go. Much of this will be coming up to Europe with me for the Wheels & Waves event too....

The Windy Hills - Cars from Andrew Kidman on Vimeo.

It starts getting good, thanks to Ulladulla

That, good people, is a full resin tinted Smooth Glide (a 'light hull' according to Mick Mackie who shaped it) single fin. A 7'10" one will be in the United States as soon as we can arrange the transport. Nice! The wave photos are also from Mick, it's an offshore bommie that rarely breaks but our antipodean cousins have been seeing a glorious run of swell and sights like this seem to be more common. It's windy and big, but Mick thinks makeable. Rather you than me mate......

Barry Snyder

Every time I see a photo of one of Barry Snyder's boards, I'm stopped by it. They look consistently great, and this one is no exception. Apparently made to enter in the 'Best Of Show' deal at this weekends Boardroom event, it is a seriously fun looking concept. If you're in SoCal, the Boardroom is Saturday & Sunday at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and is absolutely worth whatever effort it takes to get there, especially if there's craft like this on display.

My apologies for lagging a little on blog posts, but I have been working with this Wheels & Waves thing coming up. The very positive side of that is the effort is paying off in places, and there is some seriously good stuff on it's way, and I mean seriously. Boards? Definitely, from three sources now and very soon. Fins? Yes indeed! Books? Music? The ever talented and efficient Andrew Kidman will have that cover by early next week if the international post behaves itself. Please bear with us, it's about to get really good....

Powder Surfing Video Contest

December Snowskates are good people.  They craft some very clean little boards, they operate in what you could term a niche of a niche market and just do their thing, they experiment wildly, surf off little boards and generally have a fine time. Good people, and our sort of people. Now they're doing this little contest and kicking down prizes- go at it people!

Surf Ride/Бурун Автомобиль

Sideburn has easily the most entertaining blog on the internet, even if you're not so concerned about motorcyles. A recent post of theirs sent me on an obsessive hunt for videos of Вездеход, or Russian off road/cross country vehicles, the best of which are garage built and just perfectly extreme. The above item for instance, add a roof rack (preferably welded on and made from a shopping cart or something, none of this branded soft rack capitalist weakness) and you'd be set for whatever Sakhalin Island or Baja has to throw at you. Meanwhile, as the previous Wheels & Waves post proves, there's a certain hip factor to the surf/motorbike crossover at present, and of course our Russian друзья have that sorted too...

As used to a nice looking motorbike as the crowd at the Venice Beach Deus cafe are for instance, I think that would turn heads as you roll up on it. And in true motorbike fashion Aleksandr manages to get the lovely (and probably blonde) Anastasia on the back, but best of all there's room for a board back there too....

It's On- Wheels & Waves 2014!

This insane influx of boards has not been without cause- they will be traveling to Biarritz in the south of France for a monster surf & motorbike event! The legendary J. Isaac of Cornwall has coordinated a fantastic bit of logistics so that we will be bringing the surf portion of the event. John has an unparalled selection of old ply sliders, finless madness and kneeboards while I'll be contributing the more mundane standup end of it all with a selection of Mackies (both flextail and 'normal'), Parmenters and a couple of Kidman shaped craft if I can get it all in the bags. It's an event celebrating custom bikes, so we're bringing the custom surfboards and should you attend and want a go on one, there will be some demos going down. Better yet we're overlanding from the UK in conjunction with the mighty Stevie Gee so this stuff is going to get seriously custom by the time we make it to la plage. Utterly stoked on it all obviously, and there will be a bit of time after the event spent in London, so if you're a UK or French reader and want to check these boards out let us know at info @ foamandfunction.com and we'll see what can be done. More on it all soon, and here's the event info

http://www.wheels-and-waves.com/

And Again....

Oh why not? A few more Mackies for your perusal....

These Will Also Do Nicely...

Yes, I am a sad case. 3/4's of the widowmaker selection, 2/3's of which are Parmenters.

Homeland Bonzer

Maz, from the old country, got in touch and in the course of an email exchange sent these amazing photos. He picked up a Russ Short model bonzer direct from Malcom Campbell not so long ago. Truly an iconic board in my mind, a classic bit of surf design and from the look of Maz's view an excellent tool in the circumstances. Could this be the most southerly Bonzer? Can't be too many further south than 41.34 degrees (roughly).

Garage Score

I love these stories- Rohan in Australia remembered his cousin having a pretty cool old Kryptonics board back in the day, and after a surf one day had a look in Cuz's garage, lo and behold the board is still there. Awesome old complete right down to the Sims wheels and skid plate, bit of grease and maybe some new bushings and you could bomb a hill I'd say. This is super cool, and the board Rohan pulled out of skip is making watertight is not a bad score either- hopefully pictures that when it's done will follow.....

Stephanie Gilmore by Andrew Kidman

Single - Studies of Movement - featuring Stephanie Gilmore from the Spirit of Akasha sessions by Andrew Kidman from Andrew Kidman on Vimeo.

Dave Parmenter made the surfboard, Stephanis Gilmore surfed it and Andrew Kidman conceived of it all and filmed it. Dave will make you one of the boards if you want, he made me one and I won't surf it with anything approaching even a tiny portion of the skill and grace you see Stephanie demonstrate here, but it's still going to give me some peak moments.