Sunday, June 26, 2016
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
This Week In Not Surfing
1. Middle-aged Italian hostess Flavia finds herself overwhelmed by her tyrannical Italian friends and Italian family and attempts to regain her self-confidence and independence with the help of a wise Italian psychoanalyst. Three Japanese sisters attend the funeral of their estranged Japanese father, encountering their shy Japanese half-sister and invite her to come and live with them. A shy Japanese high school student receives a letter from her future Japanese self and must decide whether to let fate run its course or save herself from regret. Educationless, motionless, purposeless and unsure of what the strike will bring, Mexicans Sombra and Santos begin to look for strange ways to kill Mexican time. Chie deals with her miraculous Japanese pregnancy that comes with a high risk of her cancer returning while she decides to prepare her Japanese child for life without her. These are the obvious choices. I go with the Italian sexual frustration, then the Mexican existential frustration. Both are excellent, but given half the chance I’ll gush about the Mexican one. Go rent Güeros. It is worth whatever time you sacrifice for it.
2. I am bitched at by a novice surfer in proverbial knee high slop. This creates a brief experiential parity as I’ve never been yelled at by a novice. Apparently I’ve infringed on he and his friend’s annual straight-to-the-beach buddy movie. Actually, I shouldn’t be so catty. I did paddle out a couple minutes after they did, to the same-ish sand bar they kept misaligning, on a beach the length of five football fields. But really. Really. We pulled up at the same time, to the same spot and all paddled out to this peak for a reason. It is the one that’s working. Even if they don’t use it quite right. After his tirade I invite him to choose a different peak a hundred yards down if my presence is cramping their style. They do just that, the aesthetic and technical results unchanged, for either of us. Still, I feel bad for unknowingly stressing them out and leave a note under their windshield wiper saying as much.
3. Having a conversation takes time. I attempt to have many conversations in Los Angeles, completing, satisfactorily, only two, both of which happen over the phone, stuck in traffic.
4. Jack Kerouac didn’t rate the over use of commas. Che Guevara didn’t rate democracy as much as Trotsky did in his later years. Aggressive capitalism leads to the wide acceptance of liberal values. I would surprised if, in ten years time, after the flowering of intellectually stimulating podcasts and the influx of New Yorkers into the lower echelons Los Angeles creative system thanks in part to a wide implementation of Uber, we don’t see a series of amazing, world changing methods and ideas coming out of this dry, traffic ridden and often vapid stretch of the West Coast. The sheer amount of racial, cultural and intellectual diversity driving around listening to thoughtful people saying interesting things about important subjects can only lead to something pretty amazing. You’d think. Renaissance might be the word.
5. South African Natalie and I take Midwestern Wes to San Onofre for his first-ever paddle out. It is full of all the joys that almost always accompany teaching someone how to surf. Especially at San O. The satisfaction I feel while explaining the basic concepts of surfing to Wes, and then watching him give it all a go, sticks with me for days.
6. I am told that the over-manipulation of steroids in the body can lead to cancer. That when the body gets an influx of testosterone it eventually balances out the system with an increase of estrogen. When the testosterone levels fall, due to nature or a fluctuation in treatment, the estrogen levels are left there, dangling. I am told that estrogen, left there, dangling, un-balanced perhaps itself, can be a breeding ground for cancer. This makes some sort of sense to my layman’s ears and makes me rethink my dreams of HGH treatment to try and heal my ankle-less ankle.
7. Unconventional wisdom and unpopular opinion. This is how I feel about pulling up to Old Mans in a rented silver Audi kitted with Arizona plates and a Costco soft top strapped to the roof on ancient Air & Speed soft racks. I have to say, riding a Wavestorm as a twin fin is way more fun that riding it as a thruster. Life’s lessons are never ending.
2. I am bitched at by a novice surfer in proverbial knee high slop. This creates a brief experiential parity as I’ve never been yelled at by a novice. Apparently I’ve infringed on he and his friend’s annual straight-to-the-beach buddy movie. Actually, I shouldn’t be so catty. I did paddle out a couple minutes after they did, to the same-ish sand bar they kept misaligning, on a beach the length of five football fields. But really. Really. We pulled up at the same time, to the same spot and all paddled out to this peak for a reason. It is the one that’s working. Even if they don’t use it quite right. After his tirade I invite him to choose a different peak a hundred yards down if my presence is cramping their style. They do just that, the aesthetic and technical results unchanged, for either of us. Still, I feel bad for unknowingly stressing them out and leave a note under their windshield wiper saying as much.
3. Having a conversation takes time. I attempt to have many conversations in Los Angeles, completing, satisfactorily, only two, both of which happen over the phone, stuck in traffic.
4. Jack Kerouac didn’t rate the over use of commas. Che Guevara didn’t rate democracy as much as Trotsky did in his later years. Aggressive capitalism leads to the wide acceptance of liberal values. I would surprised if, in ten years time, after the flowering of intellectually stimulating podcasts and the influx of New Yorkers into the lower echelons Los Angeles creative system thanks in part to a wide implementation of Uber, we don’t see a series of amazing, world changing methods and ideas coming out of this dry, traffic ridden and often vapid stretch of the West Coast. The sheer amount of racial, cultural and intellectual diversity driving around listening to thoughtful people saying interesting things about important subjects can only lead to something pretty amazing. You’d think. Renaissance might be the word.
5. South African Natalie and I take Midwestern Wes to San Onofre for his first-ever paddle out. It is full of all the joys that almost always accompany teaching someone how to surf. Especially at San O. The satisfaction I feel while explaining the basic concepts of surfing to Wes, and then watching him give it all a go, sticks with me for days.
6. I am told that the over-manipulation of steroids in the body can lead to cancer. That when the body gets an influx of testosterone it eventually balances out the system with an increase of estrogen. When the testosterone levels fall, due to nature or a fluctuation in treatment, the estrogen levels are left there, dangling. I am told that estrogen, left there, dangling, un-balanced perhaps itself, can be a breeding ground for cancer. This makes some sort of sense to my layman’s ears and makes me rethink my dreams of HGH treatment to try and heal my ankle-less ankle.
7. Unconventional wisdom and unpopular opinion. This is how I feel about pulling up to Old Mans in a rented silver Audi kitted with Arizona plates and a Costco soft top strapped to the roof on ancient Air & Speed soft racks. I have to say, riding a Wavestorm as a twin fin is way more fun that riding it as a thruster. Life’s lessons are never ending.
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Happening : Liz Clark at Pata NYC
"Not to be missed next week in NYC, the brave-beautiful @captainlizclark in conversation with @shaneyjo of @keepabreast, @caitierowe of @wavesforwater and other amazing women who have made activism their life's work. See you at @patagoniabowery on Thursday, prepare to be inspired (and possibly quit your job, fair warning). #NYC — at Patagonia."
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Respect
Do younger generations understand our heroes? Do we understand our parent's heroes? I don't understand Elvis, will my kids get Tom Curren? Sport in particular makes us do this as part of its mysterious joy. We compare Alfredo DiStefano to Cristiano Ronaldo, or Messi to Maradona, or Neco to Gabe. Maybe apples and oranges. Maybe not. But here, here is a best of all time, regardless of comparison. Respect.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
This Week In Not Surfing
1. Is there a difference between “denying that something happened” and “pointing out that something didn’t happen”? On the face of it, perhaps not, but I’m wondering lately about the psychological study of a word’s shifting meaning. Someone must study it. Probably it’s a cultural study. Or an etymological, lexicographical study. Probably all of them together. The idea that a word, innocuous in its usage, would connote over time a different meaning altogether thanks to its repeated context. Whereby “denial” conjures or equates a state of trial, a state of something already within the flow of dubious examination, when in fact, denial might simply be the statement of fact before that jurisprudence ever feels the need to be engaged.
“What’s the weather outside?”
“It’s sunny!”
“So, you are denying that it’s raining?”
Does the affirmation of one thing connote the denial of another? Can I simply tell someone they are denying something and make it seem like they are contradicting a fact? Something like that. Quizzical. I'm not worried about it.
2. Yesterday. I surf. It is my first surf since the last time I surfed, a span of misspent time documented in more than a few of these Not Surfing posts. It is my first surf after the Maiko & Shigeru move to Santa Barbara, those two stoked Japanese board-lovers. They are always a happy sight on the beach. Good luck Maiko and Shigeru! Say hi to Rincon for me! To Bedwetter! To Hammond’s!
3. It is also a day which feels like the first day of recovery. I can’t get the thought out of my head. I am in desperate need of recovery. Yesterday is the first day. The waves look high-tide junky, then shift to mid tide central peak fun, and I get tired and fall over needlessly, but also paddle into some fun speedy rights. Recovery.
4. As Kevin says: Danny doesn’t do platitudes. I wonder if I live my life through platitudes? The radio podcast yesterday says to always welcome a surprise. I’ve always hated surprises. Or maybe that’s just people jumping out of dark doorways to surprise me. But one might as well let people be people.
5. Watching one local professional soccer team lose to another local professional soccer team seven to zero. Our preferred local soccer team being the losing side it provides an opportunity to teach my son about being a sports fan. Loss is part and parcel to life. Death, life. Blah blah. Another radio podcast platitude: “The winner is the loser who evaluates defeat properly.” Blah.
6. Preventative medicine is just medicine in sheep’s clothing.
7. You know the chips are down when you keep finding money in your pockets.
8. Fetwa boulders arvo peert.
9. And one more thought, along this line of thinking: the word terrific. Whose etymology is not, as widely held, being that of "the fear of a small potted tree." In this way, the word horrific being a generally assumed misambiguated marriage of horror and terrific, rather is a combination of harangue and terrific, and has been the product of mispronunciation for so long that the meaning has been lost. Except, of course on the East Coast of the United States where the proper pronunciation hints at the real lingual lineage of the mot. Oh, the harror.
“What’s the weather outside?”
“It’s sunny!”
“So, you are denying that it’s raining?”
Does the affirmation of one thing connote the denial of another? Can I simply tell someone they are denying something and make it seem like they are contradicting a fact? Something like that. Quizzical. I'm not worried about it.
2. Yesterday. I surf. It is my first surf since the last time I surfed, a span of misspent time documented in more than a few of these Not Surfing posts. It is my first surf after the Maiko & Shigeru move to Santa Barbara, those two stoked Japanese board-lovers. They are always a happy sight on the beach. Good luck Maiko and Shigeru! Say hi to Rincon for me! To Bedwetter! To Hammond’s!
3. It is also a day which feels like the first day of recovery. I can’t get the thought out of my head. I am in desperate need of recovery. Yesterday is the first day. The waves look high-tide junky, then shift to mid tide central peak fun, and I get tired and fall over needlessly, but also paddle into some fun speedy rights. Recovery.
4. As Kevin says: Danny doesn’t do platitudes. I wonder if I live my life through platitudes? The radio podcast yesterday says to always welcome a surprise. I’ve always hated surprises. Or maybe that’s just people jumping out of dark doorways to surprise me. But one might as well let people be people.
5. Watching one local professional soccer team lose to another local professional soccer team seven to zero. Our preferred local soccer team being the losing side it provides an opportunity to teach my son about being a sports fan. Loss is part and parcel to life. Death, life. Blah blah. Another radio podcast platitude: “The winner is the loser who evaluates defeat properly.” Blah.
6. Preventative medicine is just medicine in sheep’s clothing.
7. You know the chips are down when you keep finding money in your pockets.
8. Fetwa boulders arvo peert.
9. And one more thought, along this line of thinking: the word terrific. Whose etymology is not, as widely held, being that of "the fear of a small potted tree." In this way, the word horrific being a generally assumed misambiguated marriage of horror and terrific, rather is a combination of harangue and terrific, and has been the product of mispronunciation for so long that the meaning has been lost. Except, of course on the East Coast of the United States where the proper pronunciation hints at the real lingual lineage of the mot. Oh, the harror.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
