Friday, November 14, 2008

Surf Fridays!

Hi there! Well first, to those friends who live in LA, Jay and I decided not to come down this weekend for the TOMS Sole Surfing art show. Oh how we wanted to! It's a bit close to the holidays and we are thinking of our budgets. I thank those of you whom I was hoping to meet there and buy you a beer - one day it will happen, for sure! And man, I hope everyone near Santa Barbara is doing OK with those fires.

So to make up for the fact that we aren't heading down south, we are going to be with you in spirit by going to a rad show called LA Paints at the Oakland Museum. I want to see the work of The Date Farmers up close and personal. They are the two lads responsible for this awesome piece of work (which I first noticed on Quality Peoples).


Also, we are going to surf a fun spot in Santa Cruz (I haven't been in the water for too long). I hope I can still paddle. By the way, I should get this off my chest. You know I write about surfing all the time and it appears in my artwork - I feel it is in the core of my being, the passion I have for everything about it is so strong. But, I'm not very good at it. I also don't feel like I'm a natural, which makes it a little worse. However, it is one of my life goals to be good at it one day, with grace and tricks and toes on the nose (all 10). I want to feel on the surfboard the way I do when I paint. I know that as with many things in life, it is mainly a matter of simply carving out the time and doing it.

Last night, I watched a movie on PBS. It's called Of Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown. Have you seen it? It made me laugh and cry and I watched in amazement as I learned all kinds of things about this man that I never knew before! For example, I never knew that he built the first modern catamaran to take tourists on rides off of Waikiki Beach or that he was one of the first five or six people on the planet to surf Hawaii's big waves.

In the documentary, Woody talked about surfing Oahu's North Shore: "I always wanted to challenge death. I loved to get just as close to death as I possibly could and then dodge it. That was my thrill in life." He followed that statement by a hearty laugh.

Woody is featured in one of my favorite films, Surfing for Life - where one of the interviewees says, "I don't think you can ever be too old to be stoked". Woody passed away in April this year at the age of 96, and surfed until he was 90.


This brings me to cool Aussie Mick, of Safe to Sea - who reports that his award-winning film Musica Surfica is finally available for us on DVD! You can order it here.

Have a good weekend everyone. Remember, you're never too old to be stoked! Check it out.

4 comments:

Surfsister said...

I hear what you're saying about the budget. I do understand that consideration. We'll see you next time!

Look at Bob's locks! Sweet! Look at young Woody Brown's pecs. Sweeter yet!!

If you're not good at surfing, you should just quit. It's too late now! Girl, are you kidding me? I was afraid of the paddling out part for the first few years I surfed. I was almost frozen with gear whenever a wave or whitewater came rushing toward me. Someone recently told me he can tell I've had a lot of "T.I.W." over the last year. He said improvement really just takes time in the water. The more time you're in, the better you'll get. You're on your way. You'll get those toes over the nose before you know it!

Surfsister said...

I mean "fear," not "gear". LOL!

Jamie Welsh Watson said...

Thanks surfsister! What you said means a lot to me! And made me smile. You're awesome.

seamouse said...

haha! I think you just called mick an old man!
Mick'll probably be surfing for as long as woody did. More than likely still be charging too.