Carving Nostalgia

This weekend I had the pleasure of watching Bella Vita, Jason Baffa's latest surf film.  I had been looking forward to this for quite some time. Having treated myself to a copy of the DVD from Mollusk while in San Francisco, it received its debut in our house on Saturday evening. I had anticipated that it would be a great film, based upon Single Fin Yellow and my all time favorite, One California Day.  I wasn't disappointed, not at all. The film is made beautifully. For a start it is shot entirely in 35mm, giving it a really lovely look and feel, capturing the colours of the Mediterranean and the Tuscany countryside in their full vibrance. The narrative is absolutely lovely, providing an insightful look at so much, surfing related as well as Italian customs and culture. Put simply, the film has got soul. As for the surfing, well that is everything you would want it to be, plenty of great footage of CDM, styling in the Italian wave...

Whenever I get back from my travels I always hold on to the feeling by enjoying the things that I had while I was away,  if possible.  One of these things is beer. Beers sampled and enjoyed on European visits are usually pretty easy to come by at home, my favourites of American Craft variety less so. Many of these are produced by small, local breweries, as such they are only available in the immediate area, even some of the larger ones do not export.  However, luckily for me one of my all time favourite beers is Anchor Steam , which you can find over here, it's quite rare, but obtainable, with a bit of effort. So I thought that this would be a nice treat that reminded me of my trip. A quick search found several possible sources online, but I also tracked some down and found some in a shop just around the corner.  The guy on the phone told me that he only had a few cases left, so as the weather was conducive to beer drinking I feared that they would all be gone ...

Surf shops get me as excited now as they did when I was a grom, in fact I really struggle to pass one by.  Wherever I am in the world, if I spot one, I'm in it. I have my favourites that are both local and further afield, and I love discovering new ones too.  But I never fail to get excited when I visit a good one.  I get a real sense of anticipation when I enter through the doors, and then once inside I am hit with the sight of all that surf stuff, the smell of wetsuit neoprene and board wax filling the air. Every now and then I get to visit a Surf Shop that is on my wish list.  One such shop is Mollusk in San Francisco, which has been on my radar for quite some time, and recently I was able to visit it in person. I wasn't disappointed. As we were heading south from  Guerneville  to Monterey we would have been pretty much passing the door, so the zip code was plugged into the GPS and off we went.  The journey itself was outstanding in itself...

Every trip that I make to California gives me a fresh perspective.  I come back home feeling rejuvenated and inspired.  In short I always bring a bit of the vibe back with me. There are many, many things that I love about California, these include the climate, the light, the colour of the Pacific, the sunsets, the wildlife, the incredible variety of plants and flowers that grow naturally.  I love the surf culture, the car old scene, the emphasis on outdoors living, the list goes on and on.  In short I'm a big fan of CA, and have been for a very long time. This latest trip filled me with so much inspiration, perhaps even more so than on previous visits - yep, we are talking about a lot of inspiration. I think a big reason behind this is because the amazing trip that we had involved taking in a whole range of different places, a significant number of which were wholly new to us, alth...

For quite some time I have been a little bit disillusioned with surfing. I have mentioned this before and is part to do with the fact that I don't know how I fit in with it all, part because the world of surfing has changed beyond all comprehension, a lot to do with the fact that I live in a cold part of the world, and the fact that I am in my forties might be partly responsible too.  Okay, that las bit might be a lot to do with it.  But whatever the cause of my perceived despondency towards the very thing that has defined who I am and how I regard the world, for as long as I can remember, I have been very much at the sidelines of surfing, looking in at it.  Maybe a little too much. However, this has all changed, and I am very happy about that.  This shift in thinking is down to a number of different factors, principally a prolonged period of should searching has yielded many of the answers that I have been looking ...

This afternoon I was reunited with a very old friend. As a result my stoke levels are at an all time high. The friend I am referring to used to be very close to me, I grew up with them, they were there when times got tough and they inspired me. Sadly, in recent times I have neglected them.  Something that I now regret.  For having rediscovered just who special they are, I wish I had never let things drift as much as they had done. This afternoon, while enjoying quiet time at work I clicked on Surfer Magazine.  I cannot remember the last time I did this, but today I am so glad that I did.  I was instantly mesmerised by the photography and absorbed in the features.  Although I had been absent for a while, it didn't take long at all to become fully acquainted again. Also, having been a little bit disillusioned with the modern surfing world of late, I am thrilled to realise that this has now been dispelled, to a deg...