Sole Surfing in Venice!

I am so stoked to be a part of this art show, alongside these skilled artists and photographers. It opens on Thursday, Nov. 6, with a reception that evening and runs until Nov. 20. Please stop by if you are in the area.

TOMS Pop Up Store
1617 Abbot Kinney
Venice, CA 90291

Plus TOMS is only the coolest shoe company ever...for each pair of shoes purchased they donate a pair to a child in need. One for One. Check out their cause here.

If you aren't near Venice, you probably want to take a look at the list of the talented artists whose work will be exhibited.

* Corey Brindley
* Ryan Tatar...the one, the only, of Shakas and Singlefins
* Keiron 'Seamouse' Lewis...of Pinniped
* Liz Cockrum...check out her recent work 'Sirens'
* Cyrus Sutton...filmmaker and photographer extraordinaire
* Meegan Feori...enjoy a cool article about her on COTW
* Ty Williams...with a groovy video about one of his shows


Thank you Ryan and Garett.

Surf Fridays!

Dirt Farm Surf and Skate
Annual Scared Adventures Halloween Surf
Photos by Bischoff

Happy Halloween all you ghouls and goblins! I hope you are having a delightfully freakish day.

Some cool scary surf songs out there...The Ghastly Ones do Haulin' Hearse and The Surf Trio does Monster Beach. There are also a handful of Halloween surf albums. Who knew?

But if you really want to get scared, make sure you watch Murder Montage made by the guys at Svrf & Destroy. Halloween seems to be the perfect holiday for this crew.

I will leave you with a story about a young surfer who went out into the frigid waters on the Lost Coast on Halloween night, never to be seen again. His name was Jack Phillips and he'd lost a bet with his drinking buddies, Tom and Rico, the night before. The loser had to surf all alone on Halloween night, only by the light of the crescent moon. 11pm rolled around. Tom and Rico drove Jack to the aptly named 'Ghost Point' to make sure he fulfilled his bet.

A south swell had come in the day before and the waves were crashing hard onto the rocks. The sound was overwhelming in the dark. Jack suited up and felt a tight knot in the pit of his stomach. He'd surfed by moonlight on a trip to Cabo before, but this...this was different. He slipped a little walking down the rocks to get to the water. His heart was racing while his friends were hollering sounds of encouragement from up above. As he stepped into the water and paddled out, he immediately saw one of the biggest sets coming toward him. Roller after roller of heavy double overhead waves. He had to go NOW. Jack barely had to paddle as the wave lifted him and he felt that old familiar feeling. A tiny bit of confidence crept in as he dropped in and went left. He couldn't see a thing but he was in the tube.

Darkness and silence.

For hours they searched for him. And the next day and the next.

He was never found.

If you are driving along the coast after dark during the bleak light of a crescent moon, and you see a surfer catching a wave with a pumpkin for a head - it is not your vision playing tricks on you. It's the ghost of Jack Phillips.

BOO!

Surf Fridays!

I love this trailer!



One California Day is a film directed by both Jason Baffa, who also directed Singlefin: yellow and Mark Jeremias, who also directed DRIVE. One California Day showcases surfers from SoCal to NoCal and everywhere in between - in all conditions and with every manner of surfer - from Joel Tudor to Al Knost and Jimmy Gamboa. You can also watch the making of One California Day here.

The film, which was released last Fall, was shot on 16mm and took four years to make. From an interview on The Daily Stoke, Baffa said, “My crew was basically me and one other guy. At one point my girlfriend brought me tacos and a beer and I thought ‘Wow, this is great.’”

Yes, tacos and beer are great. I hope that in addition to salt water, there are tacos and beer in your weekend forecast.

Go get 'em.

Cars in my neighborhood: 12

Ford Fairlane
El Camino Real, Redwood City

I forgot I had hair like this

This is me and my very first car - a chartreuse 1974 VW Super Beetle convertible. I'm not sure why I am on top of it trying to do the splits (which by the way, I have never been able to do). I was about 21. I really dug that little green machine.

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update: Yeah Liss! I loved those Whitesnake vids. Tawny on the jags in this one and I loved this one too. Sexy!

Tales from Oxford - Poll Results

Celebrating at the Kings Arms

View from Nancy's table at the King's Arms
Noticing the lamp, it looks so cozy there
I truly wish we had proper pubs where I live

Surveys

Tales from Oxford is fabulous guest reporting from Nancy Langham in Oxford, England. A couple of weeks ago she wrote about her newly acquired British citizenship and today she has poll results to share with us. I found it fascinating and I think you will, too! Enjoy!

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How does one celebrate a new citizenship? It’s not exactly a “bake a cake” occasion - I don’t believe there are any greeting cards for it (but I could be wrong). When I told people that I was going to be sworn in as a British Citizen, all agreed it was a big deal- but short of going to the pub and getting slightly trollied, I had no idea how to mark the occasion.

Then it came to me- why not ask everyone why they love Britain? Now, I must explain to American readers (and those who are unfamiliar with Brits) that asking them for 5 reasons they love Britain made most of my respondents VERY uncomfortable. It’s a British thing - putting themselves down, sarcastically undervaluing their country and being very suspicious of any sincere patriotic nationalism.

So asking them to say why they love the place they live is like asking an American for 5 reasons America sucks: it’s just not the default option. Some people joked with me as I handed them the survey, “You mean 5 reasons to immigrate to Australia?” or “Five reasons I hate the awful weather?” Others asked to take it away and get back to me later, so they could really think about it.

So that’s how I celebrated my citizenship. I got 25 people (Brits and foreigners who live here) to think about this amazing country in a positive way. And their answers were great. Here are the general poll results, in order.

Top Reasons We Love Britain:

1. The beautiful countryside
2. The weather/changing seasons
3. History/historical buildings
4. Tea (including cream teas)
5. The British sense of humour
6. Tied for sixth: pubs, British “stiff upper lip”, freedoms (of speech, religion, etc) and a multi-cultural society
7. Tied for seventh: the Queen’s English, London, The National Health Service (NHS)
*Honourable mention for fish and chips!!

There are some surprising things there - firstly, that the WEATHER made #2! The changing weather, the thing EVERYONE complains about - the thing which is always too hot, to wet, too cold or too foggy is actually one of their favourite things about this place. Who knew? As a British friend commented when I remarked on this, “If not for the weather, what would we talk about?” Touché.

There were marked differences in the answers of native Brits and foreigners. In general, Brits appreciated the culture of Britain’s past, and foreigners its present diversity.

Except for the Americans I asked. They love things that are old. In fact, “old” was an actual Yankee response, along with “posh old ladies drinking beer”, “small children with English accents singing”, “grown men dressed head-to-toe in white playing cricket” and “political and religious wackos are not in charge”.

Other foreigners made a big deal of our democratic freedoms, along with lighter subjects such as “hairdressers that are open on a Sunday”, “the average-Joe (or should I say John Smith?) likes to read books”, and from a Swede: “I’ve suddenly become average height (I can look down on women for the first time!)”.

The Brits themselves were typically witty, with “queuing”, “the series of scandals the press and Royal Family give us every couple of years” and “ascorbic wit being acceptable as an alternative to emotional interaction” all coming from their biting biros (pens). Other Brit responses included “multiple flavoured crisps!!”, “world centre of motorsport” and “Marks and Spencer”.

They really do love it here…

So finally, because I get the last word, here’s my list:

5 Reasons Nancy Loves Britain:

1. A beautiful, green and pleasant land- inspiration to writers and artists
2. The history of law, justice and rule by the people (Magna Carta, anyone?)
3. The toughness and humour of the Brits
4. Rich history of Christianity
5. Pubs, salt and vinegar crisps and real ale!

Dear reader, don’t feel left out. Comment 5 reasons YOU love Britain. It’s not too late!!

Cars in my neighborhood: 11

1962 AMC Rambler Classic
For Sale $5,000
Brittan Ave., San Carlos

Zinnia garden next to the Rambler

Surf Fridays!

Matt Warshaw wrote the following in his book, Surf Movie Tonite!

Australian surf movies of the 1960s and '70s were for the most part cheaper and rougher than their American counterparts, which helped make Albe Falzon's sumptuous and mildly stoned Morning of the Earth one of the great surf media surprises when it debuted in 1972. Falzon had apprenticed with Aussie surf movie pioneer Bob Evans, then went solo to make Earth, which was backed by a $20,000 grant from the Australian Film Development Corporation.

The movie is remembered in part for its soundtrack album, which was a bestseller in Australia, and for introducing the surf world to the perfect waves of Indonesia. Surfer described Morning of the Earth as being "about the Garden of Eden, plus waves, minus serpent."




The film features legends such as Nat Young and Gerry Lopez but as Albe writes on the film's website, "I didn't set out to photograph any particular surfers for Morning of the Earth, although I was impressed by a certain style of riding to concentrate photographing where possible in that direction. The opening surfing sequence emphasizes the speed that some surfers travel."

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Something else entirely that I think the women will especially enjoy, is checking out the beach bungalow of San Francisco artist and surfer, Serena Mitnik-Miller. I love their style and it's inspiring what they do with their space. You can also see her tiny 100 sq. ft. surf shack in Santa Cruz before she moved in with her man in the Outer Sunset. She is also the gallery director at Mollusk Surf Shop.

Serena & Mason's home, as featured in Apartment Therapy

I hope you all enjoy your weekend! It's beautiful here, in the 70s and sunny. I am training for a half-marathon so besides printmaking I will be running a lot in my spare time. I'll get back to surfing after Nov. 9th, and in time for my birthday later that month. I am hoping to surf in San Diego with Jay and pay a much needed visit to my Grandma. xo

Gaviota Coastline

The Gaviota Coastline is my favorite section along CA 101. It's roughly 30 miles north of Santa Barbara and very close to the legendary, exclusive 14,000 acre Hollister Ranch.

Surf Fridays!

This is the film that we made which I talked about in yesterday's post. The theme song is Ride the Wild Surf, sped up and sung by Annette Funicello. It's a cover of the Jan and Dean hit, which was the theme song for the film of the same name.


The video below is from this 1964 film and after watching it, I am at a loss for words. Maybe that's how you felt watching our video above. But I secretly hope that if you go surfing this weekend, you think to yourself at some point, "I am riding the wild surf".



Barbara Eden: Isn't he something?
Shelley Fabares: mmmm, yes.
Barbara Eden: (accusingly) What do you mean, "Yes"?
Shelley Fabaras: Oh I mean, mmmMMMmmm!

Movie making for the broke

Movie Making for the Broke was a class we took, taught by artist and filmmaker Alex Kopps - part of the Make Something series happening last month at RVCA. (I just found out they pronounce it "rooca"). It was a super fun class, and the main point of it was that you can make anything with what you've got. Don't wait until you have the best equipment and don't put off your project just because all you have is a crappy digital camera that can shoot 3 mins of video.

So here's how it went down.

Each person in the class had to come up with one word that would end up being part of the film's title. Class was divided into two teams. Our team was responsible for putting the words together to make the title, then illustrating each word. The girl above made a nice bowl of chili. The title? Mister Agent Terror Gnar Safari Chili Faction is a Gigantic Seafoam Prune Chief

Jay illustrated GNAR

Now for filming the title. Each word was filmed with Alex's little digital camera, stop-action style. For a make-shift tri-pod, they taped the camera to a stick, which was taped to the chair.

The other team was responsible for making the waves and background for our surfing. They did an amazing job.

Everyone had to get on this broken surfboard in the green zone. Starting things off with a zen pose. That young man on the board was cool, he said he liked making skate videos.

Mister Kopps

We filmed everything in sequence to make Alex's job of editing much easier. Here is the final filming of the day, of the names of everyone who made the film.

When the class was ending, the Japanese Motors showed up because Alex Kopps had to go direct the video for their second single. Kopps is a calm, cool, friendly and funny guy. He said it would actually be his first time directing a music video and he didn't seem too worried. Al Knost rolled his equipment through the room in a baby carriage. Can't wait to see that video and there's a lot of talk about how good their new album is.

And speaking of videos, would you like to see what we made that day? Jay has a cool post about it and you can view the film on his blog. I hope you enjoy it because we all took it really, really seriously.

Experimenting with stencils and monotypes

Tales from Oxford - God Save the Queen

You may remember meeting Nancy Langham a few months ago, where she generously agreed to be a guest contributer to PineappleLuv. Today Nancy describes for us what it's like to become British, officially. Or in her words, "I'm both Yankee and Brit. It's how I feel on the inside, why not have passports to prove it?"

Here is her story:

A few weeks ago I went to Oxfordshire County Hall, in the middle of Oxford. I met my best friend Kerry in the lobby, and we went up to a very 1970s looking desk, with a slightly-unhappy woman behind the counter. I checked in for my appointment, and was lead, thankfully, into a much older and more graceful part of the building.

We queued up, registered and made ourselves a cup of tea. The room had huge windows, a golden chandelier and a long wooden table. On the walls were the pictures of all the past councillors and lieutenant governors, and as we were trying to guess how many people were going to actually take part in the ceremony, the current lieutenant governor came up to us and started to chat. He was very friendly and obviously terribly good at making small talk with soon-to-be-ex-foreigners. He asked which one of us was becoming a British citizen, asked me where I was from originally and if I liked Oxford. We chatted about the countryside and his house in Norwich, but all the time I was idly staring at his waistcoat (vest) and suit, which were very formal, and his gold watch chain.

Finally we were all asked to go into the councillor’s chamber, which was a round room that looked rather like a small version of the US Senate, with deer horns hanging where the American flag would be. We were told to sit on the right if you wanted to swear an oath (“I swear by Almighty God”) and on the left if you wanted to affirm (“I do solemnly and truly declare”). I’m quite good friends with Almighty God, so I sat on the right. To my surprise, most other people did too, and out of about 12 of us, only 3 affirmed their allegiance to the Queen. By the way, the Queen was very present- a huge 2x3 foot colour photograph that was nearly 20 years out of date half smiled at us from a golden easel at the front.

A small welcome was given by the Registrar of Oxford, who let us know the legal and cultural ramifications of citizenship, followed by the very friendly lieutenant governor, who gave us the history of Oxfordshire (in 10 minutes). We were made to feel that we were not only becoming British (and therefore citizens of the European Union) but also full members of our community- so Oxford was adopting me, basically.

Each of us new Brits was from a different country, I was the only American, but there was an Italian, a South African, a Nigerian, an Argentinean, etc. We were a pretty diverse bunch! We then stood up, said our names, and then repeated the oath together. After that, we were called up to receive our certificates of naturalisation- and I was first. I wasn’t really ready for it, and that may account for my super-lame smile as I awkwardly shook the LG’s hand while receiving my certificate. (You can see the blurry photo evidence- but the official photograph reveals more than I want to share with the world...)


As I sat back down I noticed my friend Kay had snuck in late- she had ditched work just to see the ceremony! After the certificates were presented, we were congratulated and told to stand for “God Save The Queen”. I proudly belted it out- I didn’t even need the words!


After the ceremony Kerry, Kay and I took some very silly photos outside the county hall, then went for a drink in a swanky bar, which was empty at 4pm on a Thursday, so we had plenty of time to decide which cocktails to order, and to flirt with the very good looking bartender. He made me the best gin and tonic ever, and I made him fill out one of my “5 Reasons I Love Britain” surveys- the results of which I will share with you soon.


We then headed to the King’s Arms (pub) where we were eventually joined by a few friends. We drank beer, ate bangers and mash, and told funny stories to each other for hours. I love being British already...!


Brilliant Nancy, congratulations! We are looking forward to those survey results. I'd like to dedicate a very special song to you because dual citizenship - now that's punk!

Letman Loves Letters!

Job & Gradus Wouters

There's this guy from Amsterdam and boy does he loves letters.

The film above is of him and his four year old nephew. After about 1:20 they draw the alphabet and it's fun to watch amid the groovy tunes. I love the heavy handed splashes and markings of the youngster.

If you hand-write anything today, even your grocery list, do it with flair!

Cars in my neighborhood: 10

Rosewood Ave., San Carlos

I forgot to note what type of car this was. I'll go back to that street this weekend and see if the car is still there.

Surf Fridays!

The Angry Sea
John Severson, 1963

I love the graphic image of the wave and board.

Outside the Third Dimension
Jim Freeman, 1964

The surf magazine ad for this film said, "Watch beautiful girls walk out of the screen at you." "Thrill as 50-foot walls of water come crashing down. You are there!" The only 3-D surf movie out there, that is until Slater's IMAX film comes out in 2009...

A Cool Wave of Color
Greg MacGillivray, 1964

Now here's a real DIY guy - Greg MacGillivray was a high school sophomore in 1960 when he began working on his first film, A Cool Wave of Color, with a budget that allowed him to buy just one roll of film per week. Unable to afford a plane ticket to Hawaii to shoot the big winter surf, MacGillivray instead focused on high-quality California point surf, at places like Malibu, Rincon, Trestles and El Capitan.

Locked In!
Bud Browne, 1964

Awesome photo. I love how simple this poster is.

The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun
George Greenough, 1970

Thought Jair would appreciate this one, since he's screening it at the Santos SurfArt Festival.

The Freedom Riders
Bruce Dowse, 1972

Got a kick out of this one. The tagline is, "They Searched for Ultimate Freedom, and Northern Wave Perfection". The film features music by Led Zeppelin. I'm sure no one got stoned while watching this movie.

I can't believe I nearly forgot that I have this awesome book by Matt Warshaw, called Surf Movie Tonite! It's page after page of surf movie poster art from 1957-2004. I may have never expressed this on the blog, but I freak out over posters and surf posters really do it for me.

If I can make like 15 good surf movie posters before I die, I will feel like a million bucks. I haven't even made a poster yet, but I know it's in my future - I can feel it in my blood! I'll start out by making one for my brother's band. He doesn't know it yet, but I think that's a good plan. Blues bands need all the help they can get. Hope your weekend rocks.

Steamers & Swing