Carving Nostalgia

I don't like to rant on this blog, it ain't about that.  But occasionally I feel the need to air some of my thoughts on what I see happening in surfing, here is one of them. One of the things I love about surfing is that traditionally it is a great leveler.  It doesn't matter what social group you belong to, how far up the career ladder you have got, or how much financial wealth you have on land.  All that stuff is left behind and doesn't account for anything when you are in line up. But in recent times I have seen a significant shift in this paradigm.  For I have noticed wealth indicators have snuck in to the domain of surfing that was previously free from such things, on the whole.  These days it is becoming more and more about the purchase of kit, expensive kit at that.  Certain brands of boards are given vast amounts of kudos, not because they have been hand crafted by a master shaper, nor because they have any her...

While on the subject of California, I thought I would say a few words about one of the finest surf films there ever was, One California Day . This film sums up the California surfing experience for me perfectly. In fact when ever I am in need of some Cali sunshine, it goes on and never fails to lift my mood by taking me to the Golden State, by way of the DVD player. Having got the goose bumps when I saw the trailer for the first time, I got to see the full film early in 2008, when K had managed to get me a copy for Christmas, (I am fairly confident in saying that I had the first copy in the UK, coming straight from Jason Baffa).  This was a defining moment in my surfing life.  For here was a film that wasn't backed by one of the corporate surf companies, it didn't feature the main-stream pros of the time, no competitions, no groms and none of the ego driven BS that is so often found in surf movies.  No, it was pure California, fe...

I have spent a fair bit of time in Southern California, having made a number of trips there in the last decade.  I love it.  But, one of the things that really strikes me each time I am there is the level of development and the incredibly high density of people who reside on or near the coast, how people mange to co exist like that, I don't know. I often wonder what it was like before the population explosion, pre mass development, when much of the coast was concreted over? I'll bet the line ups were quieter, that's for sure, probably less polluted too. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy spending time there, else I wouldn't have been so many times.  It's just that being a nature lover, as I am, I can't help wondering how it would have been say in the fifties, which lets face it, ain't that long ago.  My guess is that it would have been a much more pleasant environment, more open space, more wildlife, less people.  To be fair while the beaches hav...

I went out cycling again last night after work, it was only a short ride, ten miles at most, but so much fun!  Now I am not what you would call a dedicated cyclist, I don't go out in bad weather, I don't time myself and I do it purely for the fun of it. I also try my very best to avoid roads, for me cars and bikes simply do not mix. I love to take the time to look at the view, say hello to people and generally appreciate being out in the countryside or on the coast having got there through using my own energy, and nothing else. They have opened up lots of new trails near to where I live, in fact you can see a section of one of them from my house.  And they are fantastic, the views are astounding and give a whole new perspective of an area that I thought I knew well.  They combine open countryside, with woodland and coast.  Last night the weather was super fine, so everything looked amazing, the land so green and the Atlantic sparkled in the evening sun....