Hello and Happy Surf Fridays! Well, today is the one-year wedding anniversary for the Mister and I - and we're having a hard time believing it's already been one year. I won't say anything too mushy about that, but I will tell you that I learned that while Mr. Watson is terrific about helping to make dinner, he really doesn't like making salads. And that's OK with me, because he is so handsome. I love you Jay.
Today we are heading to the beautiful Lake Tahoe, the north shore to be exact. I am bringing a waterproof camera so I can get some shots from paddleboards and kayaks. I am nearly beside myself with excitement and must finish packing, so I'll leave something brief today if you don't mind...Something from a book about a very amazing person - Tom Blake.
- Surfrider & Swimmer -
The knowledge you get in schools and colleges is second-hand. The wisdom and know-how you get from the sea and waves, and water is virgen, new and flitting. By all means, get some of this kind of education.
Pinniped Studios is one of my favorite blogs. It's run by Seamouse, who is a very talented artist and surfer living in the UK. When I saw that he was making customized one-of-a-kind, hand-drawn tote bags, I put an order in with the letter 'J' to be drawn on mine.
I came home from work yesterday to find a package in my mailbox and on the back of it was written Sent With Aloha. I got soooo excited. At first I thought, I don't know anyone in Hawaii...who would be sending me Aloha!? Then I opened the package and saw my beautiful bag. Seamouse, you are TOO cool. I love it and I cannot wait to use it.
Make sure you check out the delicious recipe he left in the comments from yesterday's post... and the awesome drawings on his blog, which sometimes find their way on his limited edition t-shirts. You will also learn how surfboards are really made. Aloha!
I buy Israeli or Pearl couscous in bulk at my local Whole Foods. You can also find it at specialty and international stores. It's larger than regular couscous, about the size of a BB pellet. The first time I had it was at my cousin's wedding in Bolinas, and it was served up family style on a huge platter. I've been a fan ever since. This is how I make it:
Mediterranean Couscous
Makes 4 servings
2 cups couscous 3 cups water 1/2 c. sun-dried tomatoes 1/2 c. fresh apricots 1 c. broccolini 1 cooked chicken breast 1/2 c. olive oil 1/4. c. shredded parmesan cheese sea salt & ground pepper to taste
- Boil 3 cups water - Add couscous, cook for 5 minutes. Stir and watch closely so it doesn't boil over. - Remove from heat, put lid on pot for another 5 minutes. - Stir and transfer to a large bowl. - Add olive oil, salt & pepper and parmesan cheese. Mix well. - Add other ingredients.
You can make a combination of whatever sounds best to you. A lot of times we go vegetarian and just use sun-dried tomatoes and broccolini. Sometimes we add chicken. During summer we add the apricots. It's all delicious.
...And it's fast. Good to bring to BBQ's as a side dish. Goes well with red wine, white wine or Tecate.
Just a quick report today folks...our schedules forced us to eat cupcakes for breakfast again this week. My partner in cupcake crime and I chose the Carrot with Cream Cheese Frosting. Jess tasted hers first and said, "This frosting is Ridiculous". She was so right. It was so soft and creamy, with a touch of sprinkled nutmeg and the cake was soft with just the right amount of carrots, walnut pieces and a raisin or two. It was like eating the best carrot cake you've ever had, but it was a cupcake. I'm actually thinking about going and getting another one because you know, carrots are really good for you.
Is everybody ready for some live Jimi Hendrix, sick groundbreaking maneuvers and one awesome afro? From the archives...Larry Bertlemann, "The Rubberman" came across my radar from Surfsister. I didn't know anything about him but I really like what I've learned, especially his modern message to "be yourself".
Surfer's Journal said Bertlemann's low-rotation skateboard maneuvers seeded the new surfing school of the '70s, redefining surfing performance while inspiring the paradigm-busting pool riders of Southern California's Dogtown skate scene.
Dogtown skater Nathan Pratt told Jay Adams, "Everyone skated up at Stacy Peralta's house every night. We got a lot of practice riding those hills. We would pretend we were surfing, doing big bottom turns and cut backs. One night Stacy and I were skating in Bruno's parking lot on the corner of Venice and Centinela. We decided to go over to Mar Vista school and session.
At the time, Larry Bertlemann was our inspiration with his trademark cutback that was super low and tight. When we were leaving I did a cutback on the curb next to Stacy's car. Stacy said, 'That looks like a Bertlemann cutback'. We called that skate move a "Bert" ever since. It was also known as the Zephyr slide, but we always called it a Bert amongst ourselves."
Lawrence Mehau Bertlemann was born in 1955 in Hilo, on Hawaii's big island. His father was a former survival instructor in the U.S. Air Force and ran an auto shop. Larry's life started with adventures of hunting pigs and fishing with handlines without a thought of surfing, until he went to Waikiki with his mother at age 11.
"I still remember my first wave at Queens. I rented a board for an hour and stayed out all day. They had to chase me in. Rabbit Kekai was up there yelling at me, but then my mom told him who I was. Our family had a lot of pull at the time - on both sides of the law, so he left me alone".
Longboards were still all that was known, and Bertlemann borrowed anything he could get his hands on. He eventually found a 9'6" in the bushes and rode it for a month before snapping it. Rather than mend the hulking plank, he glassed a fin on the front half and set out for some serious fun. By this time, school had become a nuisance, so after eighth grade, he dropped out in favor of the beach. The only graduating he was interested in was going from the bunny slopes of Waikiki to the bowl at Ala Moana.
Without conforming to the restraints of competition, he experienced success by the early '70's. In the 1972 World Contest in San Diego, he finished third, followed by a victory in the 1973 U.S. Championships. Contrary to advice from his shaper, coach and mentor, Ben Aipa, Bertlemann turned pro.
At the time, Gerry Lopez' subtle, zen-like approach was considered the quintessential style, meshing with the wave being the ultimate goal. But Bertlemann, an avid skateboarder, envisioned translating his land-based repertoire of tricks to the water. Larry would say that visualization is what separated him from the pack. His buddy would take Super 8 movies of them surfing and when he watched them he'd think, "Wow, I could cut that line shorter. Anything is possible, I knew what I wanted to do, now I just had to get the boards to do it".
The forward-thinking Aipa was the perfect match, creating wide, short (less than 6-foot) swallowtail and stinger designs that offered Bertlemann total freedom of movement. Always running at top speed and on the verge of spinning out, Bertlemann's low gravity cutbacks, 360s and switchfoot antics were spontaneous, yet completely functional.
Photographer Warren Bolster met Larry in Leucadia, SoCal in 1973 and was blown away by what he saw. Bolster said, "Besides switch-footing with ease, Bertlemann boosted airs (and calling them 'Larrials'), carved 360s, threw tailslides - essentially he was Hawaii's first real shortboard 'hotdogger'. In terms of his presence in his era, he was more remarkable than Slater or Andy Irons. I can't think of anyone else in his time who was so far ahead of everybody."
In his experimentation, Larry was joined by fellow test pilots Buttons Kaluhiokalani, Mark Liddell and later his cousin Dane Kealoha. Ala Moana and the more rippable North Shore venues became ground zero for progressive surfing.
Bertlemann was also interested in shaping. He was a driving force in creating the swallowtail and helped in the revival of ultra-short twin-fins around 1980.
Despite his distaste for the conformity of competition, Bertlemann became one of the most popular and well-paid professionals of the early pro era. His focus always remained on progression and visibility. "I surfed for myself and the public, not for five judges".
Somewhere during the mid-'80s, Bertlemann vanished from the surfing radar, with rumors of his whereabouts fluctuating wildly. Bertlemann said, "I wanted to see how the world is without water. I went skysurfing in Arizona, lived in Palm Beach, Florida on the PGA National Course, but kept my deal with United and Southwest so I could go surf in Mexico, Puerto Rico or Rio on the weekends. I've surfed places nobody has ever seen".
Do you know how many titles and contests you've won? I have no idea. In fact, I wouldn't even keep the trophies. The first one that I won was the only one that I kept, and I gave that to my dad. All of the rest of them, I gave away to girls.
You gave them to girls? Yeah. I'd be like, "Here. You can have this." They only collect dust. I kept the check though.
Did you save any of your surfboards? No. I never saved any of them. I'm kicking myself in the head now. They've all disappeared. The only one I have is the one that I won the Duke with.
After the contest days, you got into other hobbies? I got into marital arts so that I could enjoy surfing more. Surfing had gotten kind of stale. I got tired of people chasing me all over the world. I had to have my own little privacy time. I started getting into martial arts. Then I started getting into motorcycle racing, cars, jumping out of airplanes… I did everything.
Well, all of the years of adventure did take a toll on Larry's body and in 1998 it resulted in two degenerating discs, leaving the right side of his body paralyzed. Thankfully he recovered with therapy and does get out in the water, but as he puts it, "Only cruising".
Make sure you check out this short interview from Larry in 2006 and we'll end with this famous quote: "The Rubberman opened the door. Arriving amid a period of flux, he demonstrated that no limits exist beyond our imagination. He didn't invent the shortboard; he just showed us how to ride it. No one had a greater influence on the way people surf - from the best in the world on down, than Larry Bertlemann".
A cut from the 1978 film "Standing Room Only", featuring Rabbit Bartholomew and Larry Bertleman. The track is Jimi Hendrix doing "Red House" at the New York Pop Festival in July of 1970.
The Mattson 2 with Ray Barbee photo by Embry Rucker
Last Wednesday you read about Jonathan Mattson and the band he shares with his twin brother Jared - The Mattson 2. I'm proud to bring you Part II of Jonathan Mattson's interview. Read on to discover how Jonathan is a bit of a renaissance man...
Where did you grow up and where is home now?
I was born in Encinitas, CA then moved to central California when I was 2, then back to Encinitas when I was 8. So I spent most of my childhood in Encinitas.
Please tell us how you both got started. Did you start as things are today, with you on the drums and Jared on guitar? Did you both ask your parents for instruments for your birthday or had you played in school...
Well we actually both started on guitar in junior high. There was a little guitar after school special - and we asked our mom if we could join, and she signed us up. We basically wanted to start playing guitar because our older brothers played also. But guitar wasn't right for me, so I switched to bass - then bass wasn't good for me - so I switched to drums.
Did you start out jamming together or learning separately?
Well once I took up the drums, we pretty much played all the time together and jamming would become our practice. And it was so nice to be together all the time because we really got to practice together and in a sense became one unit - which eventually created a tight, cohesive combined sound.
What was one of the first songs you learned how to play?
Well we pretty much started playing rock tunes like Led Zepplin. Probably the first jazz tunes we played (and we had no idea what we were doing) were Full House and Mr. P.C.
You mentioned your older brothers played guitar. So there are other musicians in your family?
Yeah actually our older brother Micah Mattson is a guitarist in a good punk/alternative rock band called Kut U Up.
Any other siblings?
Yes my twin brother Jared, older brother Micah, older sister Sarah and oldest brother Aaron.
Where did your appreciation for jazz stem from?
Well my dad listened to a lot of jazz, and he also listened to a lot of classical - I strongly credit him.
When you are not playing music, what do you most like to do?
I love reading books, and listening to music, doing my artwork, and largely association with my good friends. They are genuine supporters of our music.
Art by Jonathan Mattson (Click on the photos to make them larger)
Yeah, we play shows around San Diego, Oceanside, Encinitas, but we also play a lot in L.A. and San Francisco and perhaps where we have the most recognition is Japan.
What is your favorite local place to play?
Hmmmm I like to play art shows at Thalia Surf Gallery in Laguna Beach - that's always a fun and very appreciative crowd.
What is your favorite place to eat at home?
I really like a taco shop right by my house called Rico's - they have the best burritos.
I believe I learned about Ray Barbee just after I learned about The Mattson 2, due to your collaboration together. I noticed that your CD with Ray Barbee is no longer available. Any word on whether that CD will become available again?
Well that CD is only out in Japan right now...so we are waiting for it to be released in America. It will be out soon hopefully, I'm kind of not sure about all that stuff.
When can we look forward to the next CD from The Mattson 2?
We have an EP that is coming out on Galaxia - hopefully within the next couple of months at the latest. It features 2 songs with Ray Barbee as a special guest, also a performance by John McEntire from Tortoise and The Sea and Cake. It's recorded mostly all at SOMA music studios in Chicago by John McEntire. And the rest of the record is recorded and mixed in San Francisco at Function 8 Studios by Monte Vallier. So it's a good mix of two amazing recording engineers.
The last question is, what is the funniest thing you saw today?
A monkey...
Awesome. Thank you again, Jonathan. You can be sure I'll give a shout out on PineappleLuv when the new EP for The Mattson 2 becomes available.
The guys of Garage from l to r: Jay Watson, Dan Stoner, Brian Bounds
Ah yes, the reception for Full Custom Living: The Art of Garage Magazine. And what a night it was. Several hundred folks made their way to 111 Minna to revel in the photography, art and iron that so well represented this culture.
It was very special to see Jay so happy that night as he mingled effortlessly with the good and interesting people.
One of the best moments I had that evening was talking to a man named James (photo above) about this culture and what this show meant to him. With a serious tone James explained to me that it was a do it yourself culture, and that was why he and so many others love it so. He criticized just a little, the guys who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on cars, and don't touch the cars themselves.
He echoed the sentiment of others in the room that night, how meaningful it was to have this subculture represented so well in one big space. It was a long time coming he felt, as he explained how hard some of these people work. I could see for myself how happy everyone looked, as they talked story and admired the bikes that Jason Jesse and Max Schaaf built and the dragster that Tim Conder created. The builders who posed next to the beautiful photographs that had been taken of them, still had a little grease under their nails from a hard day at the garage.
If you didn't get a chance to catch the reception, the show is up until Aug. 1st. And if you don't live in the area, the full gallery is up on 111 Minna's website.
Yesterday evening, Jess and I went to Vanilla Moon Bakery for our new joint project of taste-testing cupcakes once a week. To our dismay, it was closed! (Well they have to get rest sometime don't they). Our dismay was short-lived, as we quickly thought of a plan to go the next morning. Yes, they open bright and early and this would be perfect. Cupcakes for breakfast!
So there we are this morning at 8am, peering through the glass cases and wondering what would be appropriate for breakfast. Of course they have cinnamon buns and freshly baked scones, but we do need to taste cupcakes. The chocolate looked a little heavy, and I had the vanilla last week, so a Key Lime Cupcake it was ~ for both of us it turns out.
It smelled heavenly. I touched the meringue frosting to my lips and it was so soft. I took a bite. Oh did I pick a good one! The cupcake was similar to vanilla but had the essence of key lime zest throughout. The frosting was light and creamy. Then I hear an excited voice from my partner in crime. She has discovered gold in the center. I took one more bite to discover that it's key lime sauce, which has the feel of custard but a very distinct key lime flavor. As we ooh and ahh to the Perego family about this creation (I think they might like us), we hear about the story of their delicious coffee.
Jess cheerfully rode off on her bicycle to write her review, and I went to work, happily knowing that I was probably the only person in my office who had cupcakes for breakfast. Until next week's capers...
Hellcat and The Gent
