Angus showed up during my morning commute.

Philadelphia Surf & Snow Film Festival

So there is this interesting thing happening down in Philly. Antonio and I got a call from Christian Driggs about putting Lapsed Catholics in there to screen, and in typical slacker flake fashion I forgot to send him a copy. Not very sure that our film will screen in the proceedings at some time but it matters little as the lineup looks great as is. If you are up for a road trip, or you are in that area, check it out for sure.

At some point in the next couple weeks Antonio and I will wrap our collective head around making a docuvideo about the great party at Mollusk on Saturday night. It was undoubtedly epic (while I lasted anyhow.) Until we find that time, here is another in our ongoing of shockingly (insert your derogatory word choice here) series in the goofball NY Is For Surfers EBNY ad campaign. Um, enjoy.

2.19.09

Respite from the Winter of Our Financial Discontent- TONIGHT!

The friendlies over at Mollusk have been kind enough to give me another filmic platform. These guys really do have the community thing going strong. In times of financial crisis, it is the shop I'll spend my hard saved winter kitty to buy a new summer board. I just need to get finskys to stick to my pocket over the next few months.
I'll try to do it under some noses.
Anyhow, tonight, February 21st 6-10 pm, that great beacon of North West Brooklyn Surf Delight will be featuring some high art photo acts from Snapwater Colla, Matthew Clark and Jack Brull and festing into the winter eve. There will be some kind of intermission from the fun to take in a screening of "Lapsed Catholics" and a new short, "Colorfield Blue." The story on the new film is basically a broken digital camera left on the beach at Old Mans recording the vibe of it. Soundtrack by local hero Luke Temple.
Please show up tonight for a beer, some great photography and a good time.
- Toddy

Mollusk Surf Shop

Ok, so this is another absonsion. This time from the good people at 70% surf blog. But it doesn't happen much and this is too good.

THOUGHTS, HEARTS, LOVE out to those affected by the brush fires near Melbourne.

A Brooklyn Starting Point...

Nippon de Daisuki!

Japan is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places on this planet, it's kind of mesmerizing, whenever i'm there I feel Lovage for the place, just like Nathaniel Merriwether did for his Old Lady! The aesthetic juxtaposition in (mans & natures) landscape between different regions is astounding. I'm talking about booming skyscrapers & city of industry as far as the eye can see to rolling hills of temples,shrines & buddhas cascading off into coastline. With waves bashing up against the cliffs & the odd A-frame just off shore a desolate, black sand beach (one, i'm sure Charlie hasn't surfed).

Northern Japan was an area I was unfimilar of up until this recent visit. Me and the rest of my team were gearing ourselves for what we'd heard was going to be some of the deepest powder snow we'd ever ridden. Arriving in Niseko though we were greeted with the obligatory (Aussie) "How's it going mate?" a parlance that defenitely seemed way to close to home in this weird winter wonderland. I shunned it off knowing very well (after reading the odd snow rag & listening into the grapevine ) that the place had been swamped with Bronzed Aussies over the last 5 years all chasing that deep white stuff that we don't get down under. Luckily our team leader was Richy Langslow, snowboard guide extrordinaire & all round good guy who set us up in a lodge which was just off the beaten path (Moiwa). Unfortunately though it seemed as though we were sharing it with twenty or so young board rats who'd been sent over by mum & dad for the Australian summer so they could enjoy some "quality" time at the holiday house in Portsea. Huff!
Anywho, the old bones soon warmed up (with the help of the odd onsen) & the snow hit hard with 80 cm falling on a 2 metre base within the first 2 days of our arrival (the biggest single fall in 5 years), we were told by Par Dahlin, our other guide. Par is your quintessential Snow Man, he's Swedish & told us that he'd stopped in Japan on his way to Australia when he was 20 and never left! I think his veins pumped snow because the night we had that monstrous fall he was out the front of the lodge blowing snow for close to 4 hours!! Crazy Swede!! He was an absolute onsen connosieur aswell, he took us to some cool mixed sex onsens, where everyone has their pieces hanging out & told us stories of the place ten, fifteen years ago before it was inundated with "Gaijin" Powderhounds.
He lamented about these international aristocrats that had moved in,built monster lodges & capitalised on the place by bringing more & more of their friends. "This place used to be gold, I was one of the first ones here & now look at it, it's another Whistler" he said with a jaded tone on him.
Well I suppose it was treated as what it was....a goldmine & we all know what happens to them.
I fought with my mixed feelings on the Aussie asault on the place plus my own deep seeded adoration for the place & how I wasn't prepared for anyone including my team to effect my Japan & I just got out there & ripped into some big powder turns. Well, I tell you, I struck gold & almost died, got bogged & had to walk out of a remote spot with every footstep grinding my efforts down....pretty intense...but I soldiered through it & lived to write this article....phew!!
On that note, there were no serious catastrophies, there was one bung knee, a strained calf muscle, some imported bangkok flu (non- contagious), verbal assault & near fists of fury (avoided), late night love affairs, lost team members (on afew occasions). One night we decided to go into Hirafu which was about 30 kms from Moiwa, no one informed us that cabs don't run between the hours of 2 & 6 am (convenient), we exited the last bar around 2.30, the team made an attempt to stick together which was futile in our inebriated state....we were as the Japanese would put it "Honto ni yopparai"....translation...."Very Drunk".....the team members that managed to stick together were lucky enough to score a ride back to Moiwa Lodge with some nice Nihonjin, but Richy Langslow, our guide & all round good guy was left to fend for himself & ended up having to sleep outside a hotel after making every effort to pry the doors open with his bare hands just to warm his bones. Another lost team member ended up walking the 30 kms back to Moiwa, which we estimated would have taken around 3 hrs & when I asked Par whether he'd ever heard of anyone achieving this feat he replied with wide eyes " You must be out of your f#$&en mind!".
Everyone went ballystic in Nippon & i'm catching up with the team this Thursday to share photos & stories over some Vietnamese food! Should be a laugh!
Well to conclude, i'd say to any of you keen skiers or boarders out there, get your gear out & get to Hokkaido before the place becomes way too over populated with those Bronzed Aussies I was talking about earlier. Go Snow!

Oh yeah I heard "New Yorks for Surfers" these days, well "Melbourne is for Lovers" so get on down here for some Lovage you smooth smoothies!


A.

A SURF ADVENTURE FOR THE DORMANT

Itinerate EBNY Reporter Angus On The Move

Besides the nice little video knock up of the Noosa Byron adventure, Angus has promised a little extra article on his recent snowboarding trip to Japan. Make of this a bit of a "coming soon" as well as an effort to light the literary fire under the peripatetic Aussie.

Spring Street, Soho, Manhattan, New York, United States, Nine Thirty Ante Meridiem, February Five, Two Thousand Nine

A Better Indication of the Uncontrollable and Immoderate Nature of the New York Fetish

Noosa Heads & Byron Turn On!

Hi dudies, sorry 4 my slackness of late, been getting too many waves to blog..haha...no seriously though folks, it has been a pretty good start to the year on the waves front down here in this Great Southern Land. I just got back from a week up north & lucked into some epic waves via a consistent trade wind swell at Noosa Heads (National Park) & Byron Bay (The Pass), both great waves for all you natural footers out there who like getting the toes on the nose of your longboard. Or you might be suited to a quad fish (like mine) for some racey sections down the line & the odd barrell or two....if your'e lucky!!...oh & the freaky thing was that every surf I had I would see this sea turtle cruising around, it was like he/she was attracted to the green fish...weird....so enjoy the film & stay tuned for more to come! Oh & Antonio, love that pic dude, it makes the site!

cheers,

A.

Neither Here Nor There

2nd Annual New York Surf Film Festival Returns September 2009
Call for Submissions Now Open

Dunno if we'll have something for this one in time, but we'll try.
Maybe we can go wildcard.

More Adventures in Commuting*

*A return to more literal surf blogging is in the works. Coming soon, that is.

Morning broke beautiful in the city. An early false Spring in February as the birds were out with the sun, the coats lighter, the step with a little more bounce. The swell sounds like it's building for a midweek peak. Hopefully, one of us will make it out there.