"___" is here!

Well done Australia Post, less than a week and they're here. It's a really entertaining film, I'm stoked to be involved. The concept is simply the Byron crew doing their thing. This involves a lot of surfing, mostly on very nice boards from Dain Thomas and Sea Surfboards, a fair degree of partying, and some loitering between swells. They have nice waves, a good ear for music, substances to abuse and fantastic surroundings to be creative in. There's no message, no chest beating shredders, no dolphins are saved and it's the best surf film I've seen in a very long while. It comes as a 50 page b&w photography book with DVD for $50, or as a 25 page photo zine with DVD for $30, shipping included inside the USA. Foreign friends, you'll love it too as long as you have a NTSC compatible player and an extra $7 for postage. Ordering is done by emailing me at info@foamandfunction.com. Messrs. Abegg and Yeates, my thanks to you.

Mackie EPS Sidecut Quad- deal of the summer.

$725. Really. There's a 6' in the works that I'm keeping if no one claims it before it gets here, and as these things are all hand shaped customs, Mick can do whatever size you want, just email to the usual address- info@foamandfunction.com- and you're set. I've been frothing on these since I saw the first photos, and at that price you can't miss. Stoked mightily, just wish I had it now for this filling south.

Kids Korner

No really, this is actually a surf and book related post, even if it's a new-fangled form of book. Our good friend Aleks Petrovich, he of Aqua Surf Shop and some really brilliant extra low budget surf films, has a really quite brilliant project. He's produced a kids book about 'an old fashioned hand drawn American farm' that you download to your iPhone or iPad for $1.99 at www.gnomiekids.com I'm ashamed to admit that I have very little clue about the iStuff, but I'm sure it's all really simple. Petro rips solid Ocean Beach on a fish and does nice stuff for kids, what a champ.

Ether AND Thread Monthly

Andrew Kidman, photo by Trefz.

Bit of a cheat yes, but I dig that photo and both these gents have new projects on the way. Trefz debuted 'Idiosyncrasies' to much acclaim at the very awesome Surfilm Festibal in Spain. A bunch of basques putting on a giant surf/film festival? How can you go wrong. US dates will follow, I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile as Australia drifts towards winter, Kidman labours away in the shed. There's new stuff coming and it's epic, that's all I'm going to say. Again, I'll keep you posted. In the meantime both the 'Ether' and 'Thread' books are available by emailing info at foamandfunction.com.

"___"

"___" is a new surf film by Johnny Abegg and Matty Yeates of Byron Bay, Australia. It's not one of those movies with guys going to technicolour dream waves in exotic surrounding and shredding hard, nor is it one of those ones where someone gets soulful and jets around the world to share the love of surfing with cheerful indigenous locals and ride 'unusual' surfcraft in fantastic waves. It is a more experimental take on it all, "Exploring the fragmented world of a surf culture, through the blurred eyes of a few." as Johnny says. There is great surfing, cool boards and lots of dementia. The protagonists party and surf and do what you do when you're them and not surfing. It comes either with a hand assembled zine or a hand assembled book, and they're on their way from Australia now. Hopefully we'll have some screenings set up over the summer too. If surf movies were jam, "___" would be neither the slick supermarket version loaded with corn syrup and pectin nor the high end organic potage with a cute label and some fancy fruit (probably grown for next to nothing in Chile or China) but the homemade stuff in pickle jars the mad bloke down the road makes out of whatever grows in the neighbourhood, battered though it may be. Jam is good, homemade is good and "___" is good.

Nextstrom

Go a bit south of here and you'll find this wave (on the right swell). It's frequented by one of the most hard core Simmons fans I've come across, and he's the next in line for some of the Ekstrom asymmetrical handiwork. It'll go alright on this little gem I'm sure.

Coming Soon

"___"

a + b is to a as a is to b

Shirts here.
Ammonites here.
The future? here.

EPS Quad Sidecut by Mick Mackie

Boards and photos by M. Lumiere Mackie, talented bastard that he is.

Two quite phenomenal board posts in the space of a week? I know nothing about these beauties except they're EPS and quads. And sidecuts as you can see. And they look like they would be outstanding under the feet. Mick will custom build one for you if you want- I may well need one myself. Who knows, there may even be surf for it to be ridden in sometime too although there certainly wasn't this AM. The Ekstrom went to it's new home today and he was indeed stoked.

Hmm, a further note- Mackie's lawn looks nearly as bad as mine. He's been surfing a lot admittedly, I have no excuse.