I Hate Society

Finally got my camera back that had some weak Bill shots on it from last weekend. These were taken at the height of weakness, high tide and onshores, but oh well. I'm sure most people can figure out where they were taken. The pictures suck, there's no denying it, but at least it's a few shots to remember what Bill was like.

The water had an almost Carribbean feel to it.

If there was an East Coast Daily Donkey, this would get sent in. Goin' Straight meets Mr. Duckdive. The results had to hurt.
Two worlds:
Lines:
This was about the best lined up wave I saw as I shot. It looks makeable too, but further down the line, things get a little weird.

West Bay Invitational

Stoked on California Games being back...in Wii form. Getting a picture while getting shacked isn't as easy as it may seem.

At the Movies

Out of these surf DVDs, Mikey DeTemple's Picaresque takes the prize. The other two are good, but goddamn, I find myself re-viewing Picaresque at least once a week start to finish.

We're the Crew

My nephew on the boardwalk...

Bees of the Mind

I've gotten a lot of good records lately, but haven't had a chance to review them, so I thought I'd start with my favorite one of the lot. Two copies of this record were on my doorstep the other day and being that I was out of my mind excited to hear it, I it's gotta come first. Any description of Secret Cutter would not do them justice, so rather than come up with some clever analogies or stupid comparisons, I reccomend you visit their myspace and listen to all of their tracks.

http://www.myspace.com/secretcutterusa

I didn't think there would be a record that would top Fresh Meat's "Leather Daddy", but this one comes awfully close (Two completely different records, I know). The tracks on the record are the same that were available for downloadable demo, so if you've got that, you won't be hearing anything too new, but it is a must, nonetheless. Go see them live too. They are insane.

Finally, support Square of Opposition Records. Chris puts out a lot of good stuff that is way better than that stupid Artic Monkeys or Pearl Jam record you were going to waste your money on.

A Hell on Earth

A couple scenes from the Atlantic City airshow. There aren't many good ones, mainly because I was discovering that sitting on a boat in the bay makes me extremely nauseous. The Longport Bridge:

AC Skyline:

City of boats:

A-Alikes

Just in case your math skills have been getting rusty over the summer, let me add up the lame points on this car for you:

1) It's a Scion.

2) It's has a hardtop BODYBOARD case.

3) It has an airbrushed picture of a wave for its liscense plate.

To provide some commentary, I spotted this car yesterday after surfing in the a.m. I know that the owner of the car is a dude, because him and his buddy usually bodyboard the spot I was at. When I say bodyboard, I mean sit on the inside and get in everyone's way who is actually sitting where the wave breaks. I'm sure they're nice guys and all, but they completely clog things up. The liscense plate is so awful, that its almost hipster ironic, but since its attached to a Scion, instead of say, an old VW or Volvo, I know that its not supposed to be. Secondly, who has a hardtop case for their BODYBOARDS?? I've never ever seen that before, since, well, you can fit your board in your car, unlike a surfboard. I guess to let everyone know you are a serious sponger. I defy you to find a worse surf vehicle.

Stay Gold

Some horrible cell phone pictures from the show last night. Opener Tim Barry, formerly of Avail, doing the acoustic-guitar-guy thing. Very cool, but not really my cup of tea. He did a couples songs out in the middle of the crowd, which was cool. I was probably a real dick for hoping he'd play something off of 4 AM Friday.

Lifetime played next and I can honestly say I don't think they missed a song I wanted to hear, other than maybe "Records at Nite" or the song off the Anti-Matter comp. My favorite set of the night. Yemin gave a shoutout to Blacklisted and Witch Hunt which was cool.
Not that you can see it, but Scott Golley was wearing his LVHC shirt. Stoked!

Didn't take many pictures for the Bouncing Souls, mainly because I didn't want to get my phone annihilated by some random bro. Here they were covering "Hybrid Moments". It was weird that a lot of people didn't know the words.
Not only did hurricane Bill and the five surfers in attendance get a shoutout, but they played a handful of songs off of "The Good, The Bad..." which was nice to hear. Closed with "Gone" and I was glad to get out of the Troc, before I had heat stroke.

Irony is For Suckers

Tonight!

South of Heaven

Stumbled upon this painting this summer down in south oc. I think beliefs are a pretty personal thing whether your agnostic or a christian so I don't want to comment too much but the idea of requesting a higher power to send you waves is just plain silly.
But hey, that's me!

That Ain't Real Much

Almost to the point where I am tired of all the Hurricane Bill swell talk. Yes, it should be epic. When and where doesn't need to be discussed for hours on end on the internet attracting more and more people to come down and give it a go. Ugh. I think very few people are making it out Sunday (myself included), but unfortnately some will want to try anyway and get annihilated.

Bill-illerates

While everyone is hyping Hurricane Bill for the weekend, there was some smallish surf this morning. Figured I try a spot I hadn't been to in a while and it was sloppy, but kind of fun. At this rate, I would have taken anything rideable. Some great swell talk to be had by everyone as of late . Topics ranging from mysto-point breaks in OC to road trips to New England point breaks and of course the big wave chargers taking on the ridiculous numbers that will be coming our way Sunday. Somehow I don't think two weeks of flatness and an enormous swell can be good for anyone.

Circus Jerks

We ended up taking Maeve to the circus the other night, and despite some kind of weird things about the whole thing, she had a blast. Here's a tip, probably a good idea to find out about the show before you go to be sure they have their shit together. Here are some scenes:

The big top with no signs of the Yak Lady:

Needless to say, Maeve was pretty mesmerized by what she saw:

Terrible pic, but its guys riding motorcycles in a steel cage:

This dude ruled. Not only did he do this act, but he got shot out of a cannon too.

On some Circque Soleil shit:

These were the people that took our tickets:

Elephants and this particular circus don't have a very good track record. Its amazing what a google search will turn up mid -show.

It was a million degrees under the big top. Maeve getting her sweat on:

Cannon man:

Apparently, this circus travels and performs at least twice 7 days a week for 8 months out of the year which can't be good for the people or the animals. While Maeve definitely enjoyed the show, I don' t think we can support them when they come to town next year.

Sons of Nazareth

This came in the mail yesterday...



So I decided to draw this...


So pysched on the new album! Go get it!

TV Party

Grainy? Sure, but it has a real Poltergeist feel to it.

Nailed to the Ebay?

In between bidding on your limited Pushed too Far EP, you might want to go to Double Decker.

If you've never shopped here, you need to start. Like now.

This Project is Stagnant

Woke up early to drive over and be sure that the surf is still tiny. It is. A few shots from the other evening taken by a hack:

The Mathematical Invasion of Everything

Lack of surf over knee high means a lack of surfing related posts. This wave might be a half foot at best.

White Trash

The Grill Is Off & Beat It Jerk!

Let me help you with those bags:

Picture Postcard

Here's a few shots from the weekend shows. First up, 30 years of LVHC. Definitely a weird vibe being that I was at least ten years younger than most at the show. Seeing paramedics, wheelchairs, backstage passes and dudes trying not to spill their beers while they bobbed o the music was really strange to me. Middle America RIP. I'm sure the fest promoters will have them on the bill for a reunion show next year. They covered Breakdown and the crowd seemed to care less. That's just plain ridiculous.

Mr. Yuk, definitely a crowd favorite. I skipped out on their first reunion show at Scarlett's years back, so I was glad I finally got too see them. Wish I had a copy of the album ahead of time to know some of the songs.
Forthright were awesome. High energy, sing-alongs, and only a hint of fatigue by the end of the set. I did hear Steve ask if the band wanted to do an Antidote cover for one more song, but they declined, which was kind of a bummer.
I ended up getting the show at St. Bernard's late and missed Oxygen Destroyer and GSGA, two bands I would have liked to have seen. Saw a lot of good stuff from bands I don't normally listen to, but didn't get pics of all of them. Back to Back were great, so much so that I am going to give their CDR demo another listen this week. They covered Blood for Blood and had Ray come up to do two Carpenter Ant songs from the early catalog. Memes was really hyped and I didn't think they could live up to it, but I was really impressed with what they did. So good.

I had missed out on Fresh Meat twice now and was glad to finally catch them in person. They went off and so did the crowd. They tore through their set as the crowd ripped each other to shreds. Definitely a highlight.
It seemed like a lot of people left after FM, which I couldn't understand. I love the Secret Cutter demo so needless to say I was amped to be able to catch their set, seeing as I don't see them play as often as other bands. Holy fuck were they heavy. Another highlight of the weekend for me.
Wish I could get up there to see some shows more often. Having to pick and choose shows to drive up to see is a pain and since most of my friends have given up going to shows, flying solo to them can be a pain too. Adult crash I guess. Still, a great weekend.

As One

Sketchy:

Shadowtalker

Away from home, so an old random pic will have to do. Pics to come from this weekends shows when I return to south jers.

Seven Inches of Blinky

30 years is a long time for anything.

True Colors

In keeping with Floorpunch summer, I decided to redo the fin on my noserider in honor of one of my all time favorites. Started with a plain, white fin and using a few paint markers, ended up with the results below:

For some weird reason, the glare makes the hooded guy look like he has a smile, but he doesn't. I'm pretty stoked on how they turned out and am looking forward to getting that board out in the water again.