The '09 Sound

This is great:

Newspaper Tragedy

Our community newspaper has started covering surfing, I guess because its the summertime or something. It gives some coverage to the OLC team challenge which took place at the end of May in the latter part of the article. Despite spelling names and teams wrong, it was good to see the event get some coverage.

Distance and Meaning

Before paddling out, this bizarre momument was discovered. Message?

Somewhere in the Swamps of Jersey

I always dig a good ghost story or local legend and had heard that there had been a movie made about one of NJ's most notorious characters, I was amped to finally see it. After finally signing up for Netflix a while back, I had no excuses for not tracking it down and seeing it. The 13th Child, while not exactly what I was expecting, is a hilariously good horror movie on the Jersey Devil. Anytime you have Robert Guillame as a crazed hero you've got a recipe for success. If you're still on the fence even after hearing Benson's in it, watch the trailer:

Mindless

You never know what you're going to find in sleepy ol' Strathmere or Whale Beach. In the past week I've spied a lot of interesting stuff, but I will start with the most bizarre item. I realize we're in the age where people ride everything in the water, but to drag a box spring to the beach to ride or dump is so stupid. When you factor in the million dollar, beachfront homes around this spot, it is absolutely infuriating. A lot easier to just dump off on someone else than to pay your five bucks and haul it to the dump. The only part that makes me smile is that it looks as if someone used the $15, CVS special, boogie board as a pillow. Maybe it was just a latenight camp out?
A few blocks down, my wife snagged this picture of me trimming down the line on a tiny peeler, opting for my Ricky Schroeder Special (Bing Silver Spoon) rather than paddling out on the box spring. Notice the butterfly going left.

It's the Limit

I'll let JJ do the talking:

John Joseph New York City Urban Warfare Cro-Mag Training from Polygraph Productions on Vimeo.

John Joseph on what's really going green from Polygraph Productions on Vimeo.

The Setup

After giving up on the "too good to be true" turntable/mp3 combo that I had gotten as a gift and worked for only a month, I returned to my classic setup. It might be older than I am, but things never sounded better.

Ancient Head

Was in the neighborhood of this well known attraction and grabbed a quick pic:

Hairdresser on Fire

First off, I cannot take credit for this idea. Chaos did it a long time ago and a lot better than I did. If you want to check out his inspirational pictures, go here: The Many Faces of Chaos. My beard wasn't nearly as gnarly and Amy in Maryland so I had to take the pictures myself. Enough with the excuses...on with the show.

The Brawny meets Castaway: Has anyone seen my paper towels or Wilson?

The Alex Knost meets Billy Mays: Notice the gaps between the beard and the sideburns.

The Chinstrap: Yo, what time does Hatebreed go on? I own the pit!

The Dante: I'm not even supposed to be here today!

The George Armstrong Custer: We're talkin' how many Injuns?

The Hogan: Has anyone seen my feathered boa? I am a real American.

The Tom Selleck: Call Gutenberg about that Three Men Part 3 script.


The Wimpy: I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.

The Minor Threat: I was carded for the first time in about 7 months after shaving.

Mailed, Nailed and Failed

In honor of the first day of summer, the shortest night of the year and the summer solstice, I thought I would mention the new Cult Ritual LP rather that the usual rituals of lighting bonfires or some other Pagan tradition.
First off, all hype aside, Cult Ritual deserves the praise that everyone seems to be heaping upon them. I checked out their interview in the latest MRR, and it shed a lot of light on their vision of the band, record prices, other projects, goals...basically everything under the sun. I suggest if you dig them or hate them, you give it a read. Sincerity is a must, and Cult Ritual is straight up in what they are doing.

One of the usual first comparisons made with Cult Ritual usually has to do with Black Flag. Without listening to a note, its hard to miss. Looking at the MRR cover, it looks like a young Henry Rollins and somewhere in the interview, its mentioned that Dan lives in a shed when he is not touring, very reminiscent of Rollins' home at one point. There are parts of the LP that definitely sound like Black Flag, mainly due to the very Greg Ginn-like guitars. However, there are other parts that sound completely different, making the LP kind of all over the map. There are long breaks, noisy feedback that goes on at length, which definitely provides the LP with some diversity, but it feels a little uneven. I will definitely listen to it a few more times and there are some parts that I really dig, but there are some other parts, that make me feel like it was a stretch to make this a full length. Still, I respect what they are doing and was glad to pick it up and support a band that is out there doing it with the right intentions. Experimentation isn't always a bad thing. I don't know, that's my take, but I feel like most people will have their minds made up as to whether or not they will pick it up, regardless of what people have to say in regards to the sounds.

Do You Know Who You Are?

Today is International Surfing Day, a day to celebrate surfing. I'm sure there will be some real swell events going on around Ocean City for everybody to try and get a picture in Surfer or something, but I'll celebrate the same way I did yesterday, at the same spot, before the sunlight is good for photographs.



Did I mention I love how early the sun comes up these days?

Yeah We Know

Get your late passes out...already saw this on a couple of blogs, but it is too good not to put up. Turn your computer all the way up and get psyched:

Space Invaders

For Maeve and Macklin's space themed birthday party, Amy decided she wanted an old-fashioned wood cutout for the kids (and adults) to get their pictures taken in. Luckily, I had a pretty big piece of particle board layer around and began the cutting and painting process, before adding some detail to things with a paint pen:

Part of the finished product:
It was pretty difficult to get the kids to pose properly at the same time, so this was the best we could do:


Overall, I think the holes were a little on the big side, and I should of had the astronaut looking head on, but some of the adult pictures turned out ok.

Over the Edge

One of the best field trips of the year happens to be right in our own backyard (If by backyard, you understand I mean in town, not literally). Scenes from a day spent at one of Somers Point's finest natural treasures.

I think it is safe to say that this bench has the best view of any bench in South Jersey. Sure beats sitting on one in AC, waiting for a bus or something:

The view reminds me of an exotic island, until you notice the 9th street bridge in the background:

The seining was absolutely insane. Lots of cool specimens to check out:

Contemplating which boardwalk shop to sit outside of to terrorize people that have food:

Swiss Family Robinson? Not exactly...

Just a short swim to America's Favorite Family Resort, off in the distance:

Paper Thin

A monument to hell:

Beauty Mark

Bad Diary Days

A few years back I decided to start keeping a record of every time I get in the water. Just basic stuff, conditions, weather, and anything notable that happened. One of the better projects I have started and I am looking forward to finally filling up the journal some day.

Distracted

The only way to survive a trip to Mack n Mancos with Maeve is to be prepared. Luckily, Shaggy, Scooby and Freddie were willing to hang out.
Surfed tiny but clean, pre-dawn waves towards the south (not OC) this morning. Paddling out in clean surf and still being able to see the moon is pretty rad and while this was not a memorable session in the least, it was super clean until the wind kicked up a bit after sunrise.

With empty breaks all up and down the coast, some dude with an ironic mustache shows up and paddles out pretty much right next to me towards the end of my session. I could completely understand if it was the only spot breaking, but there were about three different places at this spot alone and by this time, low tide had turned everything to junk anyway. He seemed nice enough, but that dick move always amazes me.

Waste Land-scaping

Looks like we found what Rusty was up to after high school:

I hear they have jackets that say "Rusty, The South Jersey Tour" made up for work.

We Got the Beat

I stumbled upon Jive Beat zine through another blog and I gotta say that I'm glad I did. Completely DIY, it is a collection of photocopied pictures, poems, drawings and other assorted works all neatly bound in a half sheet booklet.
I really dig this because, let's face it, very few people are doing zines anymore, especially in the world of surfing. Why go through the hassle of manually putting something together and having to figure out how to distribute it when you can upload a couple of pics on your blog and post a link on a couple of messageboards to get the word out (like me and a 1,000 other bloggers). I think its important for anyone involved in surf culture outside the marketing/moneymaking side of things to document their experiences, because for most of us its not about WQS ratings, clothing sponsorships or video segments, but instead just finding time to get out and catch a few waves on top of everything else going on in our lives. Unfortunately, we rely on mainstream surf-magazines to define things when there are a lot more interesting things going on besides exotic boat trips to Mentawais or who is moving up the leader board on the WCT. So do it yourself.

I think once I hit the one year mark on this thing, I may be done, or at least not go with the daily update. In the works is an actual paper zine with some of the pics that have been used on the blog over the past year as a chance for me to do something beyond the digital world. Thank-you Mr. Knapp.

If you want to try and get a hold of Jive Beat, contact Johnny Knapp here:

♫

jive.beat@gmail.com

Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault

So many great views to be found around the area this time of year, especially in the automotive category. We found G Child's mother:


Not even some art school bullshit could save this picture. At first, it looks pretty good until you realize it is a BIC board sitting atop a car with a PA plate.


Ever been on a busy street and decide it was a good time to lose your pants? Apparently, this guy has:

Her parents must be so proud:

Senior week in Ocean City? That's huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge! Why not just go to a retirement home:

Much like the previous picture, it is not necessary to advertise that you are trailer trash, we can figure it out on our own just fine. Is this supposed to be a badge of honor or something? Seriously? Who would put this on their car?

Judgement Day

I thought I had posted this already, but I don't think I did. Unbelievable footage:

Is It Really So Strange?

The forecast for Saturday was looking good, but due to Maeve's birthday party, it was going to have to be a dawn patrol session or nothing at all. Despite the early rise, I knew that every spot would be overrun, so I decided to hide out a little bit to avoid the ever growing number surfing enthusiasts that populate the more crowded spots. These pictures were taken post-session, since there was little light when I paddled out. I had taken almost this exact picture after it snowed this winter:
Waist to chest and clean? Not exactly....more like the first three objects in the picture.
Trying to make art out of slop.
Flawless conditions:
I'm sure if I drove around I could have found a spot breaking better or waited until mid-morning, but unfortunately, I was on borrowed time. One bonus was watching two crazy girls yell on the beach, and then try to waive me down followed by one of them doing jumping jacks on the beach but lacking any pants. After all that, I felt this pretty much summed up my morning:
Luckily, while everyone was escaping the island Sunday night and headed up the AC expressway, I was able to sneak over for some leftovers that were kind of fun. I guess it's all in your perspective.

Setting Sun

A kid in my class drew this little guy and I thought it was pretty blog worthy:

The Best of the Smiths

This little girl is officially 730 days old today. Probably the best 730 days of my life. Rollin' out:


Ready to shred:

Weakness

Amidst the soccer balls, bicycles and hockey sticks in my nephew's garage, I found this:

It used to belong to his dad and it was loose as hell, but still rideable. Love the rail guards.