North County Bureau o1.10.10

"The Rash"

Winter Wonderland

San Francisco Bureau, Princeton Jetty o1.o9.1o

That one year, it must have been 1998, or was it the beginning of '99? Anyhow, I am working at the TV studio, Wifey at the fashion place, we hear the contest was on and we both ditch work and drive down in our jalopy '72 Volvo sedan, or maybe it was the Golf? Either way, we stop at Taco Bell for bean burritos near Pacifica somewhere, or maybe it was Daly City? Wherever, we make it down to Half Moon in record time and find a lucky good parking spot, planting ourselves up on the bluffs. Lots of big name people were about. Lots of excitement. I still recall that day fondly. Mostly because Wifey unexpectedly sprung our trap. Full of surprises, that one. To this day.
-Toddy

Wategos Bureau, Sometime in the last Week, or So

Someone said, or many people have, that one of the magic mysteries of surfing, at least for now, is that we can meet the mythic heroes of our lore in person; we can paddle right next to them in the lineup. Jamie Watson's old man took some beautiful photos of Buttons Kaluhiokalni and has warm story to tell. Click on the photo...

I've had so many people tell me I'd just love Australia. That Australia would be the place for me. "You really gotta visit Australia. It would be perfect for you. You'll never want to leave."

I have friends go there, come back, go there, stay, never come back, go there come back and go there again. Sometimes things seem further away than they are. In thirty five years I think I have nearly perfected the process by which my mind needlessly puts things at arm's length.

Someday, Australia, I will visit you and you will be a like an old lover bumped into awkwardly at a twenty year reunion.

-Toddy

It has been a sufficiently difficult winter so far, and I am beginning to wonder if they make them any other way lately. This year I did not get my annual late season double holiday in California. Usually, it's Thanksgiving sessions, and fly back again for Christmas and New Years sessions. Plenty of relatively warm water surf, easy living and bean burritos packed into the last half dozen weeks of the year. Sure, there is an 800 pound gift horse of many colors in the room, and I'll stay away from its saddlebag of mixed metaphors from here on out, but damn if this winter isn't getting me down just a touch. The day after Christmas we took Sonny to see his first NYBT Nutcracker. He was enthralled, I was enthralled, we were enthralled. It was spur of the moment (sorry) and expensive, but it is one of those things that reminds you why you like New York. Why you live in New York. The principle dancers had the day off, so it was mostly core doing the lead stuff and they were still amazing. Last night I wore my flips to take the trash out and load some junk into the car. It felt good to give the city the finger like that.
-Toddy

More from Oz.

Our man in Melbourne. Grant doing his thing.

Angulus Spaceblip, covering space, making time, enjoying the moment in Oz on the board of long ago. Origin myth here.

AUSTRALIANS HEAR IT: Surf photog semistar Grant Cornett is down and under by going, I assume, up and over. He'll be there for a while, roaming and being his pleasant self. If you have a moment, or a bed, or a board and a will and a way and the time and the effort and all that, and if you are looking for someone to finally capture that once in a decade sort of shot, making you look good on a board in the process, speak up. He is around and taking offers on documentary assignments, both personal and other. Let us know. He has his cameras and his eyes in tow.

Grant's surfy work covered previously here, here, and of course, here.

Get yourself a good thing.

Sometimes, just sometimes the fashion subba subbas get something right.
And here it is. Getting it right.